Matthew 2:13

11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, ^athey presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.

12 Then, being divinely warned ^ain a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.

The Flight into Egypt

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you 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 for Egypt,

15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ^a“Out of Egypt I called My Son.”

Massacre of the Innocents

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying:

18 “A ^avoice was heard in Ramah,
Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children,
Refusing to be comforted,
Because they are no more.”

The Home in Nazareth

19 Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt,

20 ^asaying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who ^bsought the young Child’s life are dead.”

21 Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.

22 But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a ^adream, he turned aside ^binto the region of Galilee.

23 And he came and dwelt in a city called ^aNazareth, that it might be fulfilled ^bwhich was spoken by the prophets, “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

Commentaries:

Forerunner Commentary
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What Does Matthew 2:13 Mean?

Matthew 2:13-14

Notice, the message for them to flee came from God! Does God expect us to flee, or does He expect us to stay put and let Him put an invisible shield around us so that we are impervious to what is happening around us? No, God Himself sent a message by an angel to Joseph, and he fled immediately by night.The implication of those two scriptures is that he hopped up out of bed, gathered Mary, Jesus, and their things, and took off for Egypt while it was yet dark. Apparently, he did not even wait until morning to leave. Joseph, hand-picked by God to be the surrogate father (or stepfather) to His own Son, had enough spiritual know-now to flee. There is nothing cowardly about fleeing.

Why would God want us to flee? Obviously, there are things to be learned from fleeing that cannot be learned if God is always protecting us from the damage that we may sometimes bring on ourselves.

John W. Ritenbaugh
A Place of Safety? (Part 2)

Other Forerunner Commentary entries containing Matthew 2:13:

Hosea 11:1

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Matthew 2:14 >>

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The Flight into Egypt

Massacre of the Innocents

The Home in Nazareth

What Does Matthew 2:13 Mean?

A Verse and a Thought,Every Morning

A Verse and a Thought,
Every Morning