Egypt Exile

(The audio version of today’s blog can be found at this link on FAB’s podcast.)

After the scholars were gone, God’s angel showed up again in Joseph’s dream and commanded, “Get up. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay until further notice. Herod is on the hunt for this child, and wants to kill him.” Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness. They were out of town and well on their way by daylight. They lived in Egypt until Herod’s death. This Egyptian exile fulfilled what Hosea had preached: “I called my son out of Egypt.” (Matthew 2:13-15)

~~~~~

Mary rubbed her eyes, half asleep. The light of the oil lamp was faint, and flickering. She summoned the strength to say, “Joseph, what time is it?…you’re up early. In fact, it’s still dark…Why are you packing? And, I might add, packing in the middle of the night? You aren’t leaving me, are you?!” Her mind was suddenly on overdrive, trying to put together the unexpected pieces of this behavioral puzzle.

“Well, Mary, I just had a dream. Actually, there was a visit from an angel in my dream…I’m sure you know what I’m talking about. You had a visitor like that once before! Anyway, the instructions were very specific. It’s time to go.”

“Go?! What do you mean, go? We are in this together, aren’t we? I mean, isn’t this a family decision? I respect the words of angels and everything, but I’m in the nesting phase…I just had a baby, remember?”

“We are going to Egypt.”

“Egypt? What?! Wait! Are you serious? I’ve always wanted to see the pyramids, but don’t you think we should put a little planning into this! Sarah down the street said they visited, and the place was phenomenal, but she stressed that good, advance planning was the key. Besides, that’s a long walk!”

“There’s no time to lose. The angel said that Herod is on the hunt for our baby boy. Not to worship him, but to kill him. We’ve got to get cracking.”

Mary was silent, catching her breath, gathering her thoughts.

“Ok, I’m getting the picture. You are the one who got the memo. But I’m needing a little time here to catch up with you…How long will we be there?”

“We don’t know.”

“So, we are just heading out to Egypt to ‘stay until further notice.’ That’s very unsettling, Joseph. Besides, what will the neighbors say when they come to our house and find we have vacated?”

“It’s going to be hard, Mary. Believe me, I’m as upset about this as you are—the sudden move, the logistics of the journey including time and cost, and no time to say goodbye to friends. Abandoning my workshop, not to mention my, our, livelihood. It’s probably best for them that they don’t know…they will have plausible deniability when Herod’s goons come.”

“I see what you are saying, and I think I’m fully awake now. Yes, angels have indeed spoken to us and I’ll be the first to testify, they have some life-changing news to share! But there is something that I don’t understand.”

“What is it, darling?”

“Our son is supposed to be the Messiah. Being the Messiah means that he will live in Israel, because that’s the place the Messiah is tied to. Not Egypt. Does this mean he might not be the Messiah—especially if you think we might be gone for an indefinite amount of time? And what if something happens to him on the journey?!”

Joseph stopped stuffing his bag, and took Mary’s hand. He peered into her eyes, which were brimming with tears. Her tears caused his to start. He held her close.

“Mary, I don’t know the answers to these honest and insightful questions of yours. They deserve answers. I’m sorry I don’t have them. All I do have is a very definite word of instruction: we have to go. Now. We will trust Yahweh to make clear to us what we need to know. When we need to know it.”

~~~~~

The Scripture says, “Joseph obeyed. He got up, took the child and his mother under cover of darkness. They were out of town and well on their way by daylight.” It doesn’t say what the weather was like. I wonder: was it a moonlit night, or totally dark? Was it rainy, or a bit windy? Did any neighbors see them go, or did the dream-commandment come at a time when they were able to slip away without anyone seeing them? Did a dog start to bark, and Joseph had to shoosh it? We aren’t told these details but are left to wonder. We are only told that their departure was “under cover of darkness.” They obeyed, and departed.

A somewhat parallel experience with Abraham comes to mind: he left for a land that “the Lord would show him.” Where is that? You will know it when you get there. He just had a word to go, and he left. Joseph actually knew the destination, at least in a general sense. And like Abraham, he departed. Solid faith in action.

They were obedient, and safe. Curious and stunned by this news. But they knew what needed doing, and did it.

The Messiah was exiled! That experience seems far, far away from the words we softly sing in O Little Town of Bethlehem and Away in a Manger. Instead, Get up and Go! Now! seems like the title of the Advent hymn we’ve never heard.

 “Father, thank you for Joseph’s obedience, which saved his child’s life. Thank you for giving Mary the strength to get moving and make the long journey, even though it was uncomfortable, inconvenient, and unexpected. This really is an unusual story! We continue to be in awe of how you put all these story-details together in the life of baby Jesus.”