Verse 16 Herod is pretty mad. And he knows the age of Jesus has to be under 2 years because he had asked the Wise Men about when that star first appeared.

Verse 17-18 The writer here connects the weeping of these parents for their persecuted children to the parent’s weeping in Jeremiah’s day (this verse appears in Jeremiah 2:17) for their children in exile who were barred from their native country.

The hard part to reconcile in our hearts here is why did God allow that kind of evil to take place? Why does He allow evil today? It was not an unrighteous thing for God to allow this to happen. God is holy and good. Always. He cannot do anything different than that. These children that died were not allowed to die because they were worst sinners than anyone else in Israel. No, God’s work and judgments are very deep. Sin that entered this world by Adam and Eve’s disobedience introduced death with it. But with God, every life taken will be met with His justice.

These verses also tell us how far back people were being persecuted for Jesus’ sake. All the way back to His infancy! But wherever crafty cruel intentions are in men’s hearts, the Word of the Lord shall stand.

Extra information 😊, in verse 18, Ramah is a city nearby Bethlehem. In this instance with Herod killing the children, even cities nearby each other can hear the weeping for their children. This ordinance to kill all the sons under 2 years old was for many cities under Herod’s rule. The second part about Rachel’s weeping refers to Genesis 30. Rachel had her heart much set upon children but it seemed she couldn’t have any. She wept for children. She eventually gave birth to two sons but died while giving birth to her second son called Benoni— which means “the son of her sorrow.” (Genesis 35:16-20) This verse is saying that these mothers were like Rachel weeping.

Verse 19 Some think Herod died less than three months after this ordinance. Proud oppressors, who terrorize God’s children in the land of the living, will one day fall and go down to the pit of hell.

Versus 20-22 Notice that God doesn’t give all the instructions at once as to where Joseph should go. God gives Joseph an instruction to go to Israel because Herod is dead. As Joseph is traveling, he realizes he can’t return to Bethlehem because Herod’s son is now in power and he will most likely want to kill this child. His fear stirs God in a dream to give him more direction. This is often the case with the Lord. He doesn’t lay out all of our future plans. He gives us a little bit at a time and that keeps us wanting and waiting for God to speak again for more instruction.

Another thing to note in these verses is that God will not put us in danger unless it is for His glory or our own trial. What does it mean for His own glory? God created us to give Him praise and credit, that is glory, for all things. When we are in a dangerous situation, God rescues us for the sake of His glory and His love for us. He expects that we glorify Him by telling others, “only by God was I able to escape” or “only by God was I able to…”. God equips and strengthens us and expects the credit for that. It is not by our own power or strength. In dangerous situations especially! But this is also for all situations. The fact that we woke up this morning is only because of God. The fact that we have breath moving in and out of our lungs is by the grace of God for His glory. As human beings, we take too much for granted and think it is in our own strength, our own smarts, our own doing that we have what we have. I didn’t work out enough at the gym to have healthy lungs. God gave me healthy lungs. And though workouts did help my lungs stay healthy, it was God’s strength and discipline in me that got me to the gym every day and helped me push through. So the next time you are in a dangerous situation, remember what the purpose of that is for. It is for God’s glory, not your own credit. You are not smart enough or strong enough to get yourself out of a bind.

Sometimes we are put in a dangerous situation as a trial to also refine our dependence on God, to refine our trust in Jesus’ steadfast peace in a storm, to surrender our desire to take control without God.

Verse 23 Joseph, Mary, and Jesus moved to Nazareth (that’s where they were before they went to Bethlehem to register for taxes, and then Mary gave birth there). Nazareth was a despised community. In the book of John, Jesus is walking around asking people to follow him. He introduces himself as Jesus of Nazareth and one guy says, “can anything good come out of Nazareth.” (John 1:46) So this town was known to not offer much. Its people are considered worthless and no good. They deserve to be scorned. Isn’t that interesting that God chose that town to be where this Messiah would live? From a “nothing” town. It really actually displays so many lessons about the way God works. All throughout the Bible God uses the weak, meek/quiet/humble, young, small, people to do His great things. God wants a heart surrendered to Him and not clinging to their own strength, size, bank account, house, health. God will use those we least expect. That’s how He works! And here he calls Jesus to grow up in a town people least expect.

Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you that You are a Just God, a God of great Justice for your children. Not a hair on our head is plucked without you noticing. Your word says that you have the hairs on my head numbered. Thank you that nothing gets by You, God. You are always watching and fighting my battles behind the scenes. You have my back and nothing escapes you. Thank you, Father, for being such a good God that I can trust You to lead me to safe places. I can trust You in all the dangerous places. You are a God who will not be mocked. You will help me escape for the glory of Your name. Thank you for loving me so much that even in danger, it is refining my character to be more like You. I can trust You to lead me for Your best purposes. I trust You and am fully dependent on You, God. Speak to me today and show me the next step in the way to go. Help me, Holy Spirit, to live with a heart of gratitude that I would give You credit for all things in my life. Help me to see in every situation that it is only by Your grace that I am here, it is only by Your grace that I’ve been given what I have, and it is all for Your glory. In Jesus’ name, Amen.