Escape

Joseph got up. During the night, he left for Egypt with the Child and His mother Mary. (MATTHEW 2:14) 
 

When the wise men came to Judea in search of the newborn King of the Jews, they stopped first in Jerusalem. There, they talked with King Herod, the ruler of Judea. He said, “Go and search carefully for the child. As soon as you find Him, report it to me. Then I can go and worship Him too” (Matthew 2:8). 
 

Of course, King Herod didn’t want to worship baby Jesus! Instead, he wanted to kill Him to prevent Him from growing up to be a king. It was a dangerous time for Joseph, Mary, and Jesus. Fortunately, God had plans. 
 

God’s plan started with a message to the wise men: “But God warned them in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they returned to their country on a different road” (Matthew 2:12). God made sure that King Herod didn’t get any information about Jesus. 
 

Still, Herod knew that there was a baby boy somewhere in the area. God sent an angel to Joseph in a dream. “‘Get up!’ the angel said. ‘Take the child and His mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you to come back. Herod is going to search for the child. He wants to kill Him.’” (Matthew 2:13). 
 

Joseph obeyed! He took Mary and Jesus to Egypt and stayed there until King Herod died. It was hard to go to Egypt because it was a different country with a different language and a different culture. Joseph had to find work in this strange country. Living away from family would have been hard too. Remember, Mary had already given birth away from her family. Grandparents and other family still wouldn’t be nearby to babysit or help raise the child. 
 

Obeying God in this situation meant escaping bad times. Jesus was safe from King Herod. But obedience isn’t always easy. It meant a couple of hard years for Mary and Joseph. 
 

Prayer: 

Lord, thank You that You have a plan for me to avoid trouble and evil. Give me faith to obey when You ask me to do something hard. 
 

This is an excerpt from The Wonder of Christmas by Shanna Noel - a devotional book now available on DaySpring.com. Learn more about this book, or shop other books & devotionals from DaySpring.