Matthew 2:19-23
Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.
There is a map at the bottom of this post showing the cities where Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus were at from His birth in Bethlehem to returning to Nazareth.
“Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.” Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.” Matthew 2:19-21
Herod was mentioned in the post on Matthew 2:1-18. His heart was full of the sin of treachery and murder as he plotted to kill the newborn Christ child. When that failed, the darkness of his soul began to thunder as he began to slaughter all newborn babies in the attempt to kill baby Jesus. Mary and Joseph fled to Egypt with the Child to escape the slaughter.
After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, not in bodily form. Joseph was in Egypt when the angel appeared and said to him to return the Christ child and Mary to the land of Israel. They would be safe and back in a land that they were more familiar with. Our Lord wants us to be safe and secure and would never lead us into danger; He is the good Shepherd who has laid down His life for us. He tells us plainly that Satan is like a lion roaming around to seek someone to devour, but Jesus Christ does not feed us to the lions. He came to save not to destroy. Our Lord wants us to be harmless as doves but wise as serpents because we are like sheep in a sin-plagued world where the heart of people are really the heart of predatory wolves.
“But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, “He will be called a Nazarene.” Matthew 2:22-23
Archelaus was the son of Herod, and every bit as cruel with a heart controlled by the power of darkness. He was the ruler over Judea. Although Joseph was happy to be able to return to Israel, he feared drawing the attention of Archelaus. That is the fear of a righteous person knowing the evil of those who seek to do decent people harm who are walking with Jesus Christ. It’s a fear that leads into the path of safety, not the fear that Arhelaus and his father had of the coming King. The fear of a righteous person leads to peace and safety, but the fear rooted in sin leads to conflict, violence, and murder. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and that wisdom is what we sheep need.
We live in a culture today where those of society wants us to fear the afflictions that they are able to unleash upon a person. They want us to fear coming into the territory of their social network with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They serve the beast that empowers them with the tools to be able to afflict people in many ways. They know things, they are highly intuitive, they have amazing physical abilities and have uncanny authority over others. The beast gives them what to say, do, think, and feel. All of that they use to instill fear. They want us to fear believing in God, to fear speaking of Jesus as the Christ, the King, and Lord of our life. Even so, fear does not cause us to turn away from Jesus Christ who gave all He had, to the point of His own life, to bring forgiveness to us by His death on the Cross. We know the evil within the carnal heart, and we gladly avoid them by walking the narrow and difficult path that leads to life. Few people find that path.
When we welcome Jesus into our heart and soul, His Cross comes within us as well. The Cross crucifies our sin day-by-day to enable more of Christ to live through us by the presence of the Holy Spirit. At the Cross is where I first saw the Light and the burden of my sin rolled away. The more we suffer for the name of Jesus, as we take up our cross and follow Him, the more we are cleansed of bitterness, anger, vengeance, arguing, fear, etc. You know you have the Holy Spirit when you do not speak against Jesus and you say that He is Lord, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:3
God confirms the fears of a righteous person, not to scare us, but to lead us beside the still waters. God calls us to peace. Herod feared the birth of the coming King, and he used worldly force, brutality, and cruelty seeking peace for his kingdom. His son Archelaus was just like him. The peace that our Lord Jesus Christ gives is not like the peace that this world offers, He gives us peace through the Comforter and Helper, Who is the Holy Spirit.
As seen on the maps at the bottom of the page, Nazareth was in the region of Galilee. The Bible verse above says that it was spoken by prophets about Jesus Christ, “He will be called a Nazarene.” The reason it was spoken by “prophets”, instead of just one specific prophet, is because His hometown being Nazareth comes from numerous sources of Scriptures, not just one that specifically says that He would live in Nazareth.
We know that Nazareth was a disgusting place by social and economic standards and known to be populated by the lowest of the social class, was economically destitute, and very infamous, as quoted, “Philip found Nathanael and said to him, “We have found Him of whom Moses in the law, and also the prophets, wrote—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.” And Nathanael said to him, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” John 1:45-46
Nazareth was sandwiched between Nephtali and Zebulun, as seen on the map below. Those inhabitants were known to be living in the shadow of death. One prophet, Isaiah, described that as the area of the home of our Lord Jesus, who is the Great Light shining in the darkness, “The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, and afterward more heavily oppressed her, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, in Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great Light; Those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a Light has shined.” Isaiah 9:1-2
Our Lord Jesus lived in that area for 30 years, with Mary and Joseph [Joseph died before Jesus reached the age of 30]. After those thirty years, “Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17
King David also prophesied about Christ Jesus being among the despised and rejected of society, “But I am a worm, and no man; A reproach of men, and despised by the people. All those who see Me ridicule Me;” Psalms 22:6-7
Below, on the map in the middle shows the places where Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus traveled to. They started in their hometown of Nazareth, to the north by the Sea of Galilee. Caesar August ordered a decree for a census to be taken, so Joseph had to go to the hometown of his heritage to be counted [for taxation purposes], which was in Bethlehem. That was about an 85-mile one-way trip directly south of Nazareth [no busses, no cars, no helicopters, no trains]. Mary went with Joseph, who was pregnant with Jesus. While in Bethlehem, Mary gave birth to Christ Jesus.
From Bethlehem, they traveled to Jerusalem [Jesus being 8 days born] and Jesus was circumcised as was the Jewish custom and law, at which time He was given a name, Jesus. 40 days later, after the purification custom for a mother who just gave birth, Mary and Joseph went to the temple in Jerusalem to present Him to God. They then returned to Bethlehem where the wisemen/Magi bring their honor and gifts to the Christ child. Around that time, Herod slaughtered newborn babies trying to kill Jesus, but Mary and Joseph escaped to Egypt [about 40 miles] with the Christ child. Egypt was a place away from Herod’s jurisdiction. After Herod’s death, they began traveling back to the region of Judaea in Bethlehem [that is seen on the map to the right, circled in blue].
The Lord warned Joseph in a dream to flee Judaea because Herod’s son was ruler there and was a tyrant like his father. They then returned to Nazareth, which was about 140 miles from Egypt. Jesus remained in Nazareth for thirty years, before beginning His ministry. He then stationed Himself in Capernaum. On the map to the left, Nazareth can be seen in the reddish colored area and Capernaum is written in red, located on the north part of the Sea of Galilee.
On the map to the left, you can see Naphtali in the green area, bordering Nazareth and Capernaum, and Zebulin borders Nazareth to the south. “And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: ‘The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great light, and upon those who sat in the region and shadow of death Light has dawned.’ From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, ‘Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.’” Matthew 4:13-17
“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.
I am coming soon.
Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.’”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:1
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