PROTECTED BY AN ANGEL OF THE LORD

PROCLAMATION

“And when they were departed, behold, the angel of The Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word; for Herod will seek the young child to destroy Him."  Matthew 2:13 (KJV)

 

EXPLANATION

These words are from the gospel, the good news regarding Jesus, The Christ, as recorded under the influence of The Holy Spirit of God by the Apostle Matthew.  After the birth of Christ, there came wise men, the Magi, from the east to worship Him. (Matthew 2:1-2)  When King Herod was disturbed when he heard that The King of the Jews had been born.  He gathered together all the chief priests and the scribes and sought information from them regarding the place of the birth of Christ.  They told Herod that the prophets said that Christ would be born in Bethlehem.  Then Herod secretly called the Magi and inquired of them the exact time of His birth based upon the time when the star appeared.  Herod told the Magi to go and find the child, and then return to him and let him know the child’s location so that he could go and worship Him, but he really wanted to kill Him not worship Him. (Matthew 2:3-8)  Then the Magi left Herod and followed the star and went to the place where the Christ-child lay.  There they worshiped Him and gave Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh.  Afterwards they left and returned to their country by a different route, having been warned in a dream not to go back to King Herod. (Matthew 2:9-12)  When the wise men left, Joseph was also warned in a dream by the angel of The Lord that Herod wanted to kill the child.  Joseph did as he was directed and took Mary and The Christ-child to Egypt to escape King Herod. (Matthew 2:13-15)  The Christ-child was protected from an unseen danger by an angel of The Lord.

 

APPLICATION

It is clear that in these verses of this chapter that the angel of The Lord protected Jesus, The Christ, while He was a child.  Not only was Jesus protected then but, as believers we also have angels watching over us now. (Matthew 18:10)  When we are under attack, there are a host of angels surrounding us and ready to come to our defense. (2 Kings 6:16-17)   We have guardian angels who protect us from dangers seen and unseen.  As believers we have God’s protection.