Key Thought

Isn't it interesting how the same place can mean different things for us? Egypt was that way for Israel. Egypt was a place of bondage, but it was also a place where they found food to preserve them during a famine. Egypt was a place of oppression and yet at the same time it was a place of God's great deliverance. Egypt wasn't home, but it was a place where God still was active in guiding and protecting his people and fulfilling his promises to them. As Matthew relates how Jesus was protected in Egypt even though it was not his home, all these connections with Israel's past fill our hearts and remind us of this great truth: If we are seeking to live for our Father, he knows us, he knows our situation, and he is working for our ultimate deliverance no matter where we are!

Today's Prayer

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Ever-present Father, I am comforted to see how you protected your Son when he was vulnerable. I am thankful to know that there is never a place or time that your presence is not with me. Please make yourself known in my life each day, as I seek to live for you right where I am, until that day you bring me home. In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.

Today's Verses in Context

After the wise men left, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream. The angel said, "Get up! Take the baby and his mother and escape to Egypt. Herod will start looking for the baby. Herod wants to kill him. So stay in Egypt until I tell you {it is safe}." So Joseph got up and left for Egypt with the baby and the baby's mother. They left during the night. Joseph stayed in Egypt until Herod died. This happened to make clear the full meaning of what the Lord said through the prophet. The Lord said, "I called my son to come out of Egypt." Herod saw that the wise men had fooled him. Herod was very, very angry. So Herod gave an order to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and in all the area around Bethlehem. Herod had learned from the wise men the time {the baby was born}. It was now two years from that time. So Herod said to kill all the boys that were two years old and younger. So the thing God said through the prophet Jeremiah happened: "A sound was heard in Ramah. It was bitter crying and much sadness. Rachel cries for her children; and she cannot be comforted, because her children are dead." After Herod died, an angel of the Lord came to Joseph in a dream. This happened while Joseph was in Egypt. The angel said, "Get up! Take the baby and his mother and go to Israel. The people that were trying to kill the baby are now dead." So Joseph took the baby and the baby's mother and went to Israel. But Joseph heard that Archelaus was now king in Judea. Archelaus became king when his father Herod died. So Joseph was afraid to go there. Joseph was warned in a dream. So Joseph left there and went to the area of Galilee. Joseph went to a town called Nazareth and lived there. And so the thing happened that God said through the prophets. God said that {the Christ} would be called a Nazarene.

— Matthew 2:13-23 (ERV)

Easy-to-Read Version copyright © 2001 by World Bible Translation Center. All rights reserved.