THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT by W. N. G.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Jan 18, 1899

THE FLIGHT INTO EGYPT.

By W. N. G.

"AND the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her Child as soon as it was born." Rev. 12:4. That the dragon was Satan is shown by verse 9. The agent of Satan in the attempt to destroy the infant Saviour was the Roman Government, under whose auspices Herod had been made king of Judea, to which was added Trachonitis and the district of Paneas.

When certain wise men came from the East to Jerusalem seeking for Him who was born King of the Jews, having seen His star and been guided by it into Judea, Herod's jealousy was greatly aroused. He determined to destroy the One whom he supposed was to be his rival in the kingdom. Having learned from the priests and scribes that Christ was to be born in Bethlehem, he sent the wise men to that city with instructions to find the Child and bring word back to him. He pretended that he also wanted to go and worship the One who was born King, but his real design was to put Him to death.

Herod was a most cruel and ambitious man, and would stop at nothing by which there was any probability of his gaining his object. This was shown not merely by the appalling deeds which he did accomplish, but especially by his deliberate attempt to put Christ to death. That this was his purpose is shown by his demanding of the chief priests and scribes where Christ should be born, and then plotting to kill the Child who was announced as the Christ. Herod is the only man, excepting Judas, who, professing to believe that Jesus was the Messiah, deliberately set about to destroy Him. This shows that he was actuated by the spirit of the "dragon," and was indeed the active agent of the "dragon," under the Roman Government, in the attempt to "devour" the Man Child "as soon as He was born."

But the Lord had not sent His Son to earth without ample provision for the protection of His life until His work should be finished. God's ministering spirits, the angels, were on hand to keep the Only-begotten from the jaws of the devourer. And this is just what they do for the disciples of Christ to-day. "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" Heb. 1:14. Then, no matter what danger may confront the people of God, the entire angelic host is at their service; and "all things work together for good to them that love God." Rom. 8:28.

God, having given His Son to the work of redemption, had given all. "He that spared not His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?" Verse 32. So if the "dragon" could, through the agency of Herod, who proved a most willing tool, put to death this Child before His earthly ministration was finished, Heaven's resources for the redemption of the human race and the destruction of the adversary of souls, would be exhausted without avail. Satan knew this, and had been awaiting the opportunity. He "stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her Child as soon as it was born." He was confident of success; he had overcome the first Adam in the vigor of manhood, while he was yet untrammeled by the consequences of sin; surely he could manage to destroy a mere infant.

Everything seemed favorable to the success of the scheme. The purpose was locked in the secret chambers of the king's breast, and he was not aware that he was actuated by any other than his own arbitrary will. The messengers whom the king sent to find the Child were men of God whose sole purpose was adoration of the new-born King. They supposed that Herod was just as honest in his expressed desire to come and worship the Child as they were. There was no doubt of Herod's power to kill all the children in Bethlehem, for he had absolute sway throughout his jurisdiction. So it seemed that there was nothing for the "dragon" to do but to spring the trap that had been so cleverly prepared.

But the all-seeing, never-sleeping Eye had long comprehended the whole scheme, and the heavenly host which had announced the holy incarnation were still on guard in Bethlehem. The wise men of the East came by heavenly guidance to the humble abode of Joseph and Mary and the Child. They offered their tribute of praise and adoration, and presented their material gifts. ("Bring an offering, and come into His courts." Ps. 96:8.) Then the Lord quietly spoke to the wise men in a dream and told them not to return to Herod; so "they departed into their own country another way." So quietly, so wisely was it all done that to this day it is not revealed by what way they went. It was the "still small Voice" that upset the Satanic scheme.

"And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young Child and His mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him." Matt. 2:13. God was equal to the emergency, for the reason that He knew the end from the beginning. He knew that the "dragon" would be "wroth," and not only pursue the world's Redeemer to the bitter end, but would have revenge because of his failure to carry out what seemed to him an impenetrable scheme. The Lord had long before, by his prophet, depicted the scene of Herod's Satanic retaliation: "A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rachel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not" Jer. 31:15.

But the Lord could take care of His own, tho He had to send Him into Egypt to do it. Now Egypt is the synonym of the grossest darkness. Yet such was the condition in the land which had been the most highly favored of all lands that the infant Son of God was safer in Egypt than in Israel. Another point in this connection is that when God sent His Son into the world that the world through Him might be saved, He sent Him into the darkest corner of it. The Father's care over Him while there is indicated in the expression, "be thou there until I bring thee word." Then the Lord's people are to be patient under whatever circumstances until He brings them out. That the Lord foresaw all this experience is shown by the prophet Hosea in the statement, "Out of Egypt have I called My Son."

From that day to this the "dragon" has been persecuting "the woman [the true church] which brought forth the Man Child." As the end nears, the most dangerous place for the true people of God will be in the professed church, the synonym of apostate Israel in Herod's day. The apostle John says: "I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. . . . And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, My people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues." Babylon means confusion, and stands for the apostate church, of whatever name or combination of names, which has departed from the plain Word of God. For their own safety, those who stand for the Word are called out into the world—in the world, but not of it—and when the Master brings them word again, it will be to call them out of Egypt into the heavenly mansions.