Matthew 2:13
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.
After the wise men left, God sent His angel to Joseph in a dream telling him to get up at once, take Jesus and Mary to Egypt and stay there until called back, because Herod was about to hunt the child to kill Him. Joseph obeyed immediately, leaving hurriedly by night for safety. Herod's search was no sincere desire to worship, but a jealous king's determination to destroy a rival he feared would take his throne. Behind Herod stood Satan, seeking from Christ's birth to destroy the rival who would overthrow his kingdom. Yet God watched over and preserved the infant Redeemer, giving Him refuge in a foreign land and supplying the poor family's needs abroad through the costly gifts of the wise men.
Warning and Flight to Egypt
After the wise men had departed, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream with warning that Herod would seek the young child to destroy Him. The command was to arise, take the young child and His mother, flee into Egypt, and remain there until further word should be brought. By this warning God gave Joseph a way to escape the king's threat and preserve the child's life. Joseph obeyed at once, taking them and setting out hurriedly by night for greater safety.
Herod wanted to find Jesus in order to have Him killed, because he feared the infant King of Israel would grow up to be king and take his kingdom. His claim that he wanted to find the child to worship Him was dishonest, and his search was part of an effort to destroy Israel's king as a rival.
He waited anxiously and impatiently for the wise men to return with the knowledge of the child he desired, because he was impatient to destroy the infant King. After waiting long he feared his purpose might be thwarted, and reasoned that the wise men could have read his dark premeditated deed and purposely avoided him. This he took as insult and mockery, and with impatience, envy and hatred increased and stirred by the devil his father, he resolved that if he failed by pretense and subtlety he would by power and authority accomplish his purpose. The most cruel act he decided upon was meant to strike terror to the hearts of all the Jews and make an example of what their king would meet if they sought to place one on the throne in Jerusalem.
Behind Herod, Satan was acting from Jesus' birth to destroy a rival who would contest his power and overthrow his kingdom. He stirred Herod's envy and jealousy and filled him with his own fears until Herod sought to rid the earth of the infant king. That purpose issued in cruelly massacring the innocent children in Bethlehem two years old and under in the attempt to destroy the king of Israel.
Protection, Provision, and Aftermath
Against Herod's plan a higher power was at work, for God through His angels watched over, guided Joseph's course, and protected and preserved the life of the infant Redeemer. Warned in a dream to take the young child and His mother and remain until further word, Joseph was given a way of escape from the tyrannical king, and Egypt, though a heathen and foreign land, was provided as an asylum and refuge of safety. God also provided for the journey and the stay there, for the poor family, as strangers in a foreign land, were sustained and supplied by the valuable gifts the wise men had been moved to bring. Those gifts were enough to meet their needs on the way and during their sojourn in Egypt.
The flight was a temporary exile, for driven from Bethlehem by a jealous king, Jesus found temporary refuge and safety in a strange, foreign city. That early danger to Joseph and Mary from Herod's effort to destroy the infant explains their later anxiety, for when Jesus was missing they remembered His threat and cruel massacre of the innocent children and feared harm had come to Him. The escape did not end opposition, for Satan followed Christ from infancy to childhood and from childhood to manhood, inventing means and allurements and subtle temptations to draw Him from allegiance to God and overcome Him. Yet all fell harmless before the Son of God, unable to taint His unsullied purity or move Him from steadfast integrity, and the hurried flight itself was later taken up in taunt to portray the Son of God as helpless and threatened.