This Day in History: 0000-12-12

December 12 – Hosea 11:1

When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called My Son out of Egypt.

PROPHECY

God would call His Beloved Son (the Messiah) out of Egypt.

FULFILLMENT

Matthew 2:13-15 – After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and His mother,” the angel said. “Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill Him.”
That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, His mother, and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: “I called My Son out of Egypt.”

Yesterday we read about Herod sending out a decree for all the male children 2 years and under to be killed. He did this because he believed his power was under threat from the coming of the promised Messiah, and he was trying to outwit God by killing the child before He could become a threat. Yet, in these verses we see God had a plan for this long before Herod was even born.

All the way back from the days of Hosea the prophet God said He would call His Son out of Egypt. He knew then (and before) that He would tell Joseph to flee to Egypt with Mary and Jesus. He knew then that Herod’s murderous rampage would be fruitless in stopping the Messiah’s reign.

Something that really hits me hard in this account is Joseph’s immediate obedience. We’ll talk some more about that with tomorrow’s prophecy and fulfillment, but in the meantime, may we be inspired to trust our God whose plans are sure. What He says will happen WILL happen. There are no loopholes. We can’t manipulate Him. What we can do is trust, and like Joseph, quickly obey Him. Because we can KNOW His plans are good, for our God is good. All. The. Time.