Matthew 2:15
And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.
Warned in a dream, Joseph took Jesus and His mother to Egypt and stayed there until Herod died and the danger had passed, fulfilling what the Lord had spoken through the prophet about calling His Son out of Egypt. Herod had waited anxiously for the wise men to return so he could destroy the infant King, then concluded they had seen through his purpose and mocked him, and, stirred by envy, hatred and the devil, resolved to accomplish by cruel power what he had failed to do by pretense. Though Egypt was a foreign, heathen and strange land, God made it by His direction an asylum and refuge where the infant Jesus was preserved and protected from Herod's wrath. God provided for the journey and the stay in a foreign land through human means, leading the wise men to bring valuable gifts that sustained the poor family. A higher power worked against Satan's plan to destroy the infant Christ through Herod, and angels protected the life of the world's Redeemer, though Satan still followed Him from infancy to manhood with temptations he could never make prevail.
Flight Into Egypt
Herod waited anxiously for the wise men to return so that he could destroy the infant King of Israel, and after long waiting he feared his purpose would be thwarted and concluded they had seen through his dark, premeditated deed and deliberately avoided him, which he took as insult and mockery. His impatience, envy and hatred grew until, stirred by the devil his father, he resolved to accomplish his murderous purpose by a most cruel act, doing by cruel power, authority and terror what he had failed to do by pretense and subtlety. He would strike terror to the hearts of all the Jews and make an example showing what would meet any rival king sought to be placed upon the throne in Jerusalem.
Warned in a dream, Joseph took Jesus and His mother to Egypt and remained there until Herod died, when the danger had passed. Egypt, though a foreign, heathen and strange land, became by God's direction an asylum and refuge where the infant Jesus was preserved, kept safe and protected from Herod's wrath, tyranny and attempt to kill Him. Jesus was thus driven from Bethlehem by a jealous king to a temporary refuge, facing mortal danger already in infancy. God directed the journey so the child would be preserved, and angels protected the life of the world's Redeemer.
God provided for the journey to Egypt and the stay there through human means, leading the wise men and magi to bring valuable gifts that sustained the poor family while living in a foreign land. Those gifts supplied the means for their needs on the journey and during their stay, showing God's care for His Son through human gifts. The stay in Egypt until Herod's death fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet about calling His Son out of Egypt. The early expulsion from Bethlehem began a pattern of rejection and persecution that continued later when Jesus faced rejection and persecution in Jerusalem.
Protection Against Satan
Behind Herod's murderous intent stood Satan's plan to destroy the infant Christ, and against it a higher power was at work to defeat it. Joseph was warned in a dream to take the child to Egypt, and he remained there until Herod's death when the danger had passed. Though a heathen land, Egypt thus became by divine ordering an asylum and refuge for the world's Redeemer. Angels of God guarded and protected the life of the infant Redeemer from the destruction sought through Herod.
Satan did not stop with that failure but still followed Christ from infancy to childhood and from childhood to manhood. Through all those years he kept inventing means to allure Him from allegiance to God and to overcome Him with subtle temptations.
Yet the childhood, youth and manhood of Christ kept an unsullied purity and steadfast integrity that no temptation could taint, move, or mar. All Satan's darts and arrows of temptation fell harmless before the Son of God. He walked the earth with moral power to withstand every bribe to sin, and Satan could gain no advantage to separate Him from God, leaving the tempter perplexed, annoyed, enraged and fearful before such spotless purity. Later Satan even turned the flight to Egypt itself into a taunt, urging that such lowly circumstances did not befit the honor due the Son of God.