A Child
Coming Out Of Egypt
The Old Testament Messianic
prophecies include prophecies foretelling the geographic habitation of the
Messiah. For today’s devotion will be
looking at the promise that the Messiah would come out of the land of Egypt.
THE
SCRIPTURES:
Hos 11
1) When Israel [was] a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt.
2)
[As] they called them, so they went from
them: they sacrificed unto Baalim, and burned incense to graven images.
3)
I
taught Ephraim also to go, taking them by their arms; but they knew not that I
healed them.
4)
I
drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love: and I was to them as they
that take off the yoke on their jaws, and I laid meat unto them.
Num 24:4-9
4) He hath said, which heard the words of God,
which saw the vision of the Almighty, falling [into a trance], but having his eyes open:
5)
How
goodly are thy tents, O Jacob, [and]
thy tabernacles, O Israel!
6)
As
the valleys are they spread forth, as gardens by the river's side, as the trees
of lign aloes which the LORD hath planted, [and]
as cedar trees beside the waters.
7)
He
shall pour the water out of his buckets, and his seed [shall be] in many waters, and his king shall be higher than Agag,
and his kingdom shall be exalted.
8)
God
brought him forth out of Egypt; he hath as it were the strength of an unicorn:
he shall eat up the nations his enemies, and shall break their bones, and
pierce [them] through with his
arrows.
9)
He
couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up?
Blessed [is] he that blesseth thee,
and cursed [is] he that curseth thee.
Matt 2:13-21
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.
14)
When
he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into
Egypt:
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…
19) But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of
the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,
20)
Saying,
Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel:
for they are dead which sought the young child's life.
21)
And
he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of
Israel.
THE
STUDY:
We have already seen that
the Messiah was said to be called a “Nazarene” (part #6). This prophecy was fulfilled by Jesus as He
lived His boyhood life in the city of Nazareth.
In today’s study we will be seeing that the Messiah is said to be
“called… out of Egypt”. What does this
mean? How does this harmonize with His
boyhood home of Nazareth? We will see
that this seeming contradiction is actually another piece of evidence that
Jesus is the Messiah promised to come in the Old Testament Scriptures.
THE
PROPHECY:
Hos 11:1-4
In this section of
Scripture, we find that Hosea reminds the Jews of God’s great love for them,
which was proven by their deliverance from their Egyptian captivity by Jehovah…
“When
Israel [was] a child, then I loved
him, and called my son out of Egypt.” This prophecy then continues with mentions of
other acts of His love for Israel. He is
explaining that, in spite of the Lord’s great demonstrations of love for the
nation of Israel, they still chose to disobey and reject His worship and
service.
How is this prophetic of
the coming of the Messiah? Certainly,
there seems to be no evidence in the immediate context that this speaks of the
Messiah. However, as we will see below,
the New Testament clearly points to Hos 1:1 as a prophecy that applies to the
Messiah in Matt 2:13-21.
Num 24:4-9
In this prophecy
delivered by Baalim, we find a PROBABLE dual fulfillment. King Saul and the
physical nation of Israel is described here.
But this time in Israel’s history is a faint picture of events
surrounding the coming, life, and Kingly ministry of the Messiah. In this prophecy, we are given several
interesting points about Jehovah’s “seed”, which is also described as His “king”…
He
shall pour the water out of his buckets, -
The
Lord’s great blessings poured upon His people with the coming of this His “seed”
( “king”) .
and
his seed [shall be] in many waters, - The blessings brought by His
“seed” would flow into all the nations of the world.
and
his king shall be higher than Agag, and his kingdom shall be exalted – At this time in history Agag of the
Amalekites was the most powerful king in existence. Jehovah’s “king” would be
greater and His kingdom would be placed above all others.
God
brought him forth out of Egypt; The Messiah would come
out of Egypt
he
hath as it were the strength of an unicorn: he shall eat up the nations his
enemies, and shall break their bones, and pierce [them] through with his arrows. The Messiah would be absolutely victorious
over all His enemies
He
couched, he lay down as a lion, and as a great lion: who shall stir him up? The Messiah’s Kingly
authority, strength and sovereignty over all
Blessed
[is] he that blesseth thee, and
cursed [is] he that curseth thee. The Messiah would be a source of all
blessings to those who come to Him in saving faith and a source of judgment to
those who reject His ministry.
We certainly can see where ALL the various aspects of this prophecy easily
apply to the Messiah and His rule over all mankind.
THE
FULFILLMENT:
Matt
2:13-21
In Matt 2:13-21, we find
the entrance into, and exit out of, Egypt by Jesus during His infancy. This
took place prior to His boyhood in Nazareth. “…When
he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into
Egypt: 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… But when Herod was
dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, Saying,
Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel:
for they are dead which sought the young child's life…”
Please note that the
prophecy found in Hosea 11: is quoted word for word in this text. It is being pointed to as a prophecy of the
Messiah’s departure from Egypt.
PRACTICAL APPLICATION:
What a blessing it is to learn that
two seeming contradictory prophecies about the home of the Messiah can be
clearly seen to be harmonized and fulfilled in the life of Jesus. Prior to Jesus’ boyhood in Nazareth, as an infant,
He lived in Egypt and was brought out due to a call of God issued through an
angel of the Lord. These two historical
facts result in the fulfilling, and harmonizing, of the two separate prophecies
concerning the Messiah’s habitations during His early life on earth .
May the Lord bless our study of His
Word.
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