Anchor My Faith

An Angel and a Dream

Scripture: Matthew 2:19-22

We ended the previous lesson with Jesus in Egypt, but in time Herod dies, allowing Jesus to return to Israel. “But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt” (Luke 2:19 ESV). As I looked at this verse, a thought occurred to me about the number of times we have encountered angels that God employed in selecting people and in giving instruction to people. Starting with Zachariah we have witnessed them at various times and now we encounter another angel who appears, after the death of Herod, to Joseph in a dream. What was the angel’s mission this time?

The angel appeared in a dream to Joseph, “saying, “Rise, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the child’s life are dead.”” (Matthew 2:20 ESV). The urgency to get up immediately and leave was not like it was in Matthew 2:14, when he got up and left at night. Here the sense is, when you get up make ready to leave in a timely fashion. The angel didn’t say where in Israel to go. That information will probably be given later. The angel also indicated that the threat to Jesus was gone, so it is safe to return.

Having received this information and direction from the angel, “[Joseph] rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel” (Matthew 2:21 ESV). As Joseph enters the land of Israel, he still had not been given direction about a specific location. Probably from travelers he met along the way he heard things that bothered him: “But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and being warned in a dream he withdrew to the district of Galilee” (Matthew 2:22 ESV).

Archelaus was a son of Herod and succeeded Herod’s throne over Judea, Samaria, and Idumea. He was hated by the Jews because he was much like his father in his display of cruelty. After he had reigned for nine years, he was exiled by Augustus, the Roman emperor, to Gaul, where he died. Hearing about the cruelty of Archelaus, Joseph was afraid to go back to Bethlehem, which was located in the land of Judah. This time God uses a dream to inform Joseph to go to the district of Galilee, a place of greater safety.

There are still two more verses to cover in this section, so we will save them for the next lesson and have two short lessons in this section instead of a very long one.

Prayer

Father, it is interesting to note how many times you have used angels and dreams in the selection and instruction of people to serve you. It is also interesting to note how frequently you use dreams and visions today in sharing Jesus with people of other religions. As we study early Christianity and the growth of Christianity in the east, we are finding many parallels. We in the west should take note of this because of cultural influence on our interpretation.