A Flight from Egypt

In Mathew 2:13-14 we’re told that in order to avoid King Herod’s wrath in Bethlehem, Joseph, Mary, and baby Jesus are to (at the instruction of an angel) flee to Egypt and await Herod’s death.

It’s in the next verse, Mat. 2:15, that we find out that Mathew the tax collector may have had an ideological axe to grind.

Mat. 2:15 “and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet [Hosea]: “I called my Son out of Egypt.”

Here Mathew is referring to Hosea 11:1 (Chapter 11 is so named “God’s love for Israel”).

Hos. 11:1 “When Israel was a child, I loved him, and I called my son out of Egypt.

God appears to simply be recalling when he guided his nation Israel, through Moses, out of Egypt— and of slavery. It’s not clear how any honest interpretation of the book of Hosea reveals a messianic prediction. 

Hosea likely recorded his prophecies while living and professing in the Northern Kingdom of Israel (755- 715 BCE), during the reign of Jeroboam II. During this period, Israel found financial as well as military success through expansion and Israel-Assyrian trade agreements. 

With the worship of idols and an increase in foreign influence, it’s no surprise that Israels spiritual strength was considered to be at an all time low— which is precisely what Hosea was prophesying about (or what God was speaking about through Hosea). His people were supposedly worshipping Asherah poles, golden calfs (As the ones built in Dan and Bethel) and only making sacrifices so that they may feast. 

In the book of Hosea, God anthropomorphically states his displeasure with his people (specifically the Northern kingdom of Israel, or Ephraim). Several time’s God uses analogies to describe his relationship to Israel.

Israel as it’s mother and as God’s wife:

Hos. 2:2 “But now bring charges against Israel—your mother— for she is no longer my wife, and I am no longer her husband.”

And,

Hos. 2:19 “I will make you my wife forever,”

Also,

Hos. 4:5 “So you will stumble in broad daylight, and your false prophets will fall with you in the night. And I will destroy Israel, your mother.”

Israel as a baby:

Hos. 11:3 “I myself taught Israel how to walk, leading him along by the hand.”

Furthermore, God continues to describe the conditions for Israels downfall and several time refers to when he rescued them out of Egypt. Nowhere is there a singular mention of Jesus or a future messiah and half-baked prophesies like this one damage the authenticity and reliability of the gospels as a source of divine inspiration. 

“The person who is certain, and who claims divine warrant for his certainty, belongs now to the infancy of our species.”

— Christopher Hitchens

References: Any bible will do

Photo: Calin Stan