Today's Scripture
TODAY’S READING SCHEDULE: Numbers 26 -28; Matthew 2
Directions from God- Matthew 2:13-23
13 When the magi had departed, an angel from the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod will soon search for the child in order to kill him.”14 Joseph got up and, during the night, took the child and his mother to Egypt.15 He stayed there until Herod died. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: I have called my son out of Egypt.[b]
Murder of the Bethlehem children
16 When Herod knew the magi had fooled him, he grew very angry. He sent soldiers to kill all the children in Bethlehem and in all the surrounding territory who were two years old and younger, according to the time that he had learned from the magi. 17 This fulfilled the word spoken through Jeremiah the prophet:
18 A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and much grieving.
Rachel weeping for her children,
and she did not want to be comforted,
because they were no more.[c]
Return from Egypt
19 After King Herod died, an angel from the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 20 “Get up,” the angel said, “and take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel. Those who were trying to kill the child are dead.” 21 Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. 22 But when he heard that Archelaus ruled over Judea in place of his father Herod, Joseph was afraid to go there. Having been warned in a dream, he went to the area of Galilee.23 He settled in a city called Nazareth so that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled: He will be called a Nazarene.
What does this passage mean to me/us?
‘How do we understand God’s will?’
As Christians, we might all want and struggle to answer this question. There might have been experiences when we thought we were following God’s will and learn it wasn’t. There might have been experiences when we didn’t know we are intentionally following and it turns out to be God’s will. Sometimes it might feel like we are playing a guessing game. Only if God will clearly tell us… right?
In this chapter, we see Joseph hearing God’s direction from a dream. He heard this direct voice of God that was so vivid, he packed everything and refuge to Egypt, a foreign country. Do you wonder how vivid a dream has to be for him to make that move? Wouldn’t there have been a possibility that he disregarded the direction?
That is why I believe there needs to be a prerequisite to hear God’s voice. One needs to have the will to follow. Joseph already pledges to follow, when his fiance announced that she was pregnant with God’s child. He was already on a journey, where he needed to follow God’s will. Another element to follow God’s will is through the help of the Holy Spirit. Relying on the Holy Spirit to guide us and reveal the truth of God in our hearts helps us to faithfully follow the way, even though it does not make sense.
In that way, Joseph was able to hear, ‘Those who were trying to kill the child are dead’ and safely guide God’s child and Mary from the danger that threatened their life.
Are we willing to listen and follow today?
Prayer
Lord, help us to hear your voice, leading us to your will. When we hear that voice, help us to know and trust it is your way, and faithfully follow. In the name of Jesus, we pray, AMEN.
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