Christ’s Blessed Exit from Egypt

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¹³ Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” ¹⁴ And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt ¹⁵ and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Matthew 2:13-15
It is always a blessing to meditate on the great and indescribable gift given to us by God during the Christmas season by focusing on the birth of Christ and the purpose for which He came into this world. And in the Christmas story there are some curious and interesting incidents that the authors of the Gospel present that the readers should give thought and attention to. One such puzzling text for those seeking to carefully comprehend the meaning of the birth of Christ may be Matthew 2:13-15.

Jesus is the first fruit for our own ultimate exodus from this earth to our heavenly Canaan.

Christ’s Exit in Context
The facts mentioned in Matthew 2:13-15 are not puzzling. In context, Matthew mentions how God supernaturally led the wise men till they found the King of kings. And it is also well attested in secular history that Herod the Great was a wicked and insecure man who did terrible things including killing some of his wives and sons, and arresting his own citizens all because they posed a threat to his throne even when he knew that his own death was near.¹ Therefore, it is not surprising that Herod would send his soldiers to kill every male child below the age of two in Bethlehem. And as believers, we are not puzzled whether God would emerge victorious over His enemies. For we see in the text that God sends His angelic messenger to warn Joseph to flee to the land of Egypt.

But the puzzling detail is how Matthew uses the Old Testament. At first glance, Matthew seems to be taking Old Testament verses (specifically, Hos 11:1 and Num  23) out of context, forcing it into this story of Christ’s flight to Egypt. Furthermore, the text says, “out of Egypt” and not, “into Egypt.” The reader’s most natural expectation would be to ask “Did Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus make it successfully into Egypt?”

Understanding Old Testament Prophecies
Yet to understand the wonderfully encouraging message in v15 to know the full meaning of the blessings of the incarnation of the Son of God, we must understand some things about how Old Testament prophecies work as they are used by the Spirit-inspired writers of the New Testament.

Most Old Testament prophecies which we hear as fulfilled during the birth of Christ are direct fulfillments; like Micah 5:2 being directly fulfilled in Matthew 2:6. But, in these verses (vv13-15), when Matthew says “This was to fulfill” concerning Jesus’ exit from Egypt, He is saying that the great Exodus of Israel out of Egypt in the Old Testament had something pending. For its true and ultimate “filling up” is only found in the ultimate Son, Jesus Christ.²

This teaches us that the One Author behind the human authors can use more than direct prophecy and fulfillment. What is the ‘more’? We can discern at least two other types of prophetic fulfilments.

Firstly, the Bible has “recapitulation.” Incidents that happen in the past repeat in later biblical history to help the reader understand that it is God who is working out His great purposes in history. Secondly, the Bible also uses “typology” wherein a person, place, object, or event in the Old Testament stands as a symbol or a sign (called the type), anticipating a greater and ultimate fulfillment in the New Testament (the antitype), particularly in Christ.³

Now we are able to see that the Spirit, through Matthew, uses the text of Hosea to show us that Israel’s call out of Egypt in the Old Testament is recapitulated in Jesus’ call out of Egypt, showing that God is at work. And the Spirit also shows us in Matthew’s use of Hosea, by means of typology, that the Exodus of Israel out of Egypt (the type) becomes a powerful display of what was to come: the greater and ultimate exodus that Christ would accomplish and gift His people (the antitype). By being exiled on the cross yet triumphing over the grave, Jesus is the first fruit for our own ultimate exodus from this earth to our heavenly Canaan.

Present Implications for the Reader
Having considered how Matthew, through the Spirit, understands Hosea 11:1 in a full-orbed manner, we need to ask, what relevance this has for us.

Therefore, though the Christmas season may be over, let us be full of gratitude and joy through the year that the Son of God came into this world to redeem us out of all its present misery.

Firstly, the statement “this was to fulfill” shows us that even though mankind had rebelled against God, and God’s chosen people, Israel, also time and again failed, God was always at work progressing His story of redemption through the promised seed. How great is the script writer! It is not just direct prophecies but even Israel as an adopted son was to point to the true and ultimate Son, Jesus Christ.

Secondly, Matthew definitely knew the whole book of Hosea and the context surrounding Hosea 11:1. Israel was wonderfully brought out of Egypt but continued to fail to trust God in the book of Hosea. But Jesus’ very name means “He shall save His people from their sins.” And so we have great news that Jesus, having come out of Egypt, will march on in full obedience and safely take us home by that obedience.⁴ Thus, Matthew is not interested to tell us about Jesus’ stay in Egypt. But he is very eager to tell us that the true Son came out of Egypt never to fail like Israel.

Thirdly, we need to look at every aspect of Christ’s obedience and faithfulness and, by faith, say “He Himself is my redemption,” (1 Cor. 1:29-30). Truly the one who came into this world and was laid in the manger would be the very Passover lamb that would lead His people in exodus out of slavery to freedom, from darkness to light, from fear of death to hope of glory.

Therefore, though the Christmas season may be over, let us be full of gratitude and joy through the year that the Son of God came into this world to redeem us out of all its present misery.

1.  The wickedness of Herod the Great is documented here.
2. God’s Son is Called
3. More about typology in the Bible can be found here.
4. Matthew deliberately arranges his writings in such a way as to show how Jesus Christ is the true Israel and the ultimate Son. Just as the nation Israel walked for 40 years in the wilderness and were tested, so Christ was for 40 days in the wilderness and tested. Israel failed to trust God and be faithful to Him in the wilderness but Christ was faithful and passed every test as our perfect Mediator.