When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph
in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and His mother and escape to
Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child
to kill Him." So he got up, took the child and His mother during the night and
left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled
what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my
son."
Good Friday Evening, my brothers and sisters. One of these
days I am going to get my days and nights straightened out again. Anyway, it is
Friday, almost over but still Friday, and when you get this e-mail, please take
time to pray for all those who work for God, bringing in the lost. Pastors,
preachers, priests, Sunday School teachers, nuns, Gospel singers, missionaries,
and please remember those who go to prisons and talk to those behind bars and
all the lay speakers and teachers, etc. etc. and so on.
The Escape: Matthew 2:13 - When they had gone, an angel of the
Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the child and His
mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to
search for the child to kill Him." 14 So he got up, took the child and His
mother during the night and left for Egypt, 15 where he stayed until the death
of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet:
"Out of Egypt I called my son." (NIV)
The reason that Joseph was told to escape and go to Egypt was
this, and it comes from
Matthew 2:16 - When Herod realized that he had been outwitted
by the Magi, he was furious and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem
and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time
he had learned from the Magi.
The Magi that we had talked about, those that brought gifts to
Our Lord and Savior Jesus after His birth, were warned in a dream not to go
back to Herod. Herod wanted the Magi to tell him where Jesus was located
because he wanted to harm Him, not give Him gifts. Herod was upset because
Jesus was referred to as "King of the Jews."
I want to point out a few things. First, the earthly father
of Jesus is really taking good care of Jesus and also Mary. Joseph has been
and is obedient to the angel of the Lord who comes to Joseph in dreams. This
is not the first time the angel of the Lord talked to Joseph in a dream. If you
recall the angel came to Joseph to tell him about Mary being with
child.
The next thing I want to point out is how people wanted to
kill our Lord Jesus even when He was just a few weeks old. Now let's relate
this down over the years. People have wanted to kill Jesus and then they did
and we know that even those who don't believe in Him don't want anyone to talk
about Him. Thus we see the non-believer wanting anything that points toward
Jesus squashed. Examples, the Bible and even talking about Jesus has been
removed from our schools, our government buildings and it keeps going on. This
is why it is so important for us to get out the word for Jesus.
Next week we are going to start talking about the "Wild One", John the Baptist.
Dear Father in Heaven, we are so happy about Your word and
seeing it unfold before our eyes. Please protect those who are working In Your
fields of Harvest, please answer our prayers according to Your will for us. In Jesus' name. Amen.
Time to say, go forth and share your blessings, and tell you
this. I love ya, Pastor Dan.
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