And out of Egypt I called my son. – Hosea 11:1
You have seen Jesus throughout the Old Testament, in preincarnate activity such as creation, in Christophanies where He appears as a man, and in other instances when He shows up as the Angel of the Lord. You have seen revealed prophecies concerning His birth. Today’s verse is considered by theologians to be in the category of a “typology.”
An article from Ligonier describes typology as “the way that God used history to bring His promises to life.” It is not prophecy but it “uses the experiences of God’s people, as particular individuals and events illustrated the promises of God in the covenant of grace.” Events in the history of Israel attest to His coming and His saving work. In Hosea 11, the prophet is recalling God’s love for Israel, and how He brought them up out of Egypt at the time of Moses. It is a type of what will come in the life of Jesus.
When the Magi came to pay homage to Jesus, they asked Herod, who was king over Judea, how to find Him. The idea of a new king over Israel threatened Herod who ordered that all male children under the age of two be slaughtered. But an angel had warned Joseph in a dream to flee and go to Egypt until it was safe to return. Herod died in 4 B.C. Professor Aaron Gale of West Virginia University, a researcher in the Book of Matthew and its importance to the Jews, writes, “Most scholars estimate that Jesus was born between 6 and 4 B.C.E., during Herod’s reign, as Mathew’s Gospel indicates.” That would make Jesus a toddler, both when the family fled to Egypt and when they returned.
The words of Hosea relate literally to the people of Israel who came out of Egypt, but also as a type of things to come. They were fulfilled in the young Jesus, as Matthew will recite (2:15). Dr. Craig Blomberg, professor at Denver Seminary, writes that there are “striking patterns of repeated activity throughout history that were attributed to the intentional design of God.” In the Father’s economy, nothing is ever wasted… including some obscure typology words written by Hosea some 700 years or more before the time of Jesus.
This season as you hear “What Child Is This,” recall these words “What child is this who fled that night from Herod’s awful order? As Rachel wept, the family kept on pressing toward the border.”
Today’s Verse: Hosea 11:1
When Israel was a child, I loved him,
and out of Egypt I called my son.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Recommended for further reading: Matthew 2:13-23
13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” 14 And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt 15 and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah:
18 “A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping and loud lamentation,
Rachel weeping for her children;
she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”
19 But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 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.” 21 And he rose and took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. 22 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. 23 And he went and lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene.
All Scripture quotations and audio are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
