Journey to Egypt. Question. Lessons

Journey to Egypt

King Herod lied when he told the wise men he wanted to worship Jesus. He was afraid this new " king" would replace him as king of Judea. He did not understand that Jesus would grow up to be king of God's spiritual kingdom, not king of Judea.

What Herod really wanted was to find Jesus and kill Him! Herod was furious when he realized the wise men had not come back to tell him where to find Jesus. He sent his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all the children under two years old, thinking Jesus would certainly be one of the ones killed.

But God had told Joseph in a dream to flee to Egypt. Joseph took Mary and Jesus to live in Egypt where they would be safe from Herod. Joseph, Mary and Jesus stayed in Egypt until Herod had died, and then they returned to Nazareth.

Question

Was Jesus born on Christmas day? We celebrate Jesus' birth on Christmas, but no one really knows what day Jesus was born, or even exactly what year. In 336 A. D., the Western Church, based in Rome, chose December 25 to celebrate as Christmas, meaning " Christ's Mass. " The Eastern Church chose January 6. The day was named Epiphany, meaning " appearance. " Eventually the period from December 25 to January 6 became known as the Twelve Days of Christmas.

Lessons

The stories of Jesus' birth link to both the past and the future. The circumstances of Jesus' birth show He fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies of a Messiah (Isaiah 7: 14, Matthew 1: 23). He was born in Bethlehem (Micah 5: 2, Matthew 2: 5-6). He was called out of Egypt (Hosea 11: 1, Matthew 2: 15).

Jesus was born in a stable - the most humble of circumstances. Similarly, Jesus showed us how God's favor rests with the poor and downtrodden. The Gentile wise men came to worship Jesus. Later, the Gentiles would make up most of the Christian world. Herod's attempt to kill Jesus foreshadows His crucifixion about 33 years later.

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