Out of Egypt I Have Called My Son
(Matthew 2:1-13)
The visit of the wise men give us a great example of how God can use unusual circumstances along with unusual people to accomplish his plan. In this sermon we will look at how God fulfilled his word not only in producing the promised seed from Genesis 3:15 but also in providing the means for Mary, Joseph, and Jesus to escape the wrath of Herod. We will also show a spiritual application that we can take from the wise men to show us that simply being faithful letting God work out his plan is the best thing we can do.
The Promised Seed:
- Genesis 3:15 (First promise of virgin birth)
- Genesis 15:13-10 (Seed promised to come from Abraham)
- Genesis 17:19 (Seed is through Isaac not Ishmael)
- Genesis 35:12 (Seed will be through Jacob)
- Exodus 4:21-22 (Israel is God’s Son)
- Hosea 11:1 (called my son out of Egypt ; hence Matthew 2:15)
- Galatians 3:16 (the seed is Jesus Christ)
How did the wise men know about the birth of Jesus Christ?
- Judah was taken into captive by Nebuchadnezzar for 70 years (Jeremiah 25:1-14)
- Daniel along with the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were of the kings seed and became wise men in Babylon (Daniel 1:1-4)
- The copies of the Law would have been taken to Babylon as well the knowledge that Daniel had concerning the Old Testament Law. This would lead other wise men of Babylon to know of Balaam’s prophesy concerning the Star and Scepter out of Jacob (Numbers 24:17).
- Daniel was given the Seventy Weeks Prophesy while in Babylon which could be used to give the date of the crucifixion within a few years. The wise men of Babylon would have known that the time was right for the star that appeared. (Remember a priest must be thirty years old to begin ministering (1 Chronicles 23:3), Jesus was thirty when he began his earthly ministry that was about 3 ½ years long (Luke 3:23).
*The wise men provide the means (Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh) that are necessary for Mary and Joseph to sojourn in Egypt. So God was able to use the prophesy of Balaam, captivity of the Jews (which they could have avoided if they had followed God’s word), wise men from Babylon to fulfill his prophesy that Jesus would come out of Egypt. What a plan!
What can we learn from this?
God uses the most unusual events and the most unusual circumstances to accomplish his plan. The thing that he requires is faithfulness (1 Corinthians 4:1-2). What we must do is forget results and trying to figure out God’s plan and just be faithful to do what he has told us to do and let God do the rest. We can learn from the faithfulness of the wise men.
How were the wise men faithful?
1) Sought for Jesus (Matthew 2:1)
- This was all based on believing God’s word. We must do the same. Believe the book and do what God tells us to do.
2) Gave of their treasures (Matthew 2:11)
- The wise men gave out of their treasures. You may not feel that you have treasures from which to give but the truth is that everyone has something to give God. It is just a matter of being faithful to give it and let God use it how he wants to.
3) They worshipped Jesus (Matthew 2:11)
- We must focus on God getting the glory and not on the results that we think we see or think we see (1 Corinthians 10:31). Remember we could not figure out God’s plan if we tried and if he showed it to us it would probably scare us to death.