September 17, 2013

From Jim McGuiggan... Matthew 2:13-15 and Hosea 11:1

Matthew 2:13-15 and Hosea 11:1

"Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.' Then Joseph got up, took the child and his mother by night, and went to Egypt, and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfil what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet, 'Out of Egypt I have called my son.' " (Matthew 2:13-15 with Hosea 11:1)
The phrase, "This was to fulfil" what the Lord said through the prophet makes it sound like Hosea 11:1 is a simple prediction. That is, it looks like Matthew says Hosea was speaking of an event many centuries after him when it's plainly the case that Hosea 11:1 is not a prediction at all but a comment about something that occurred centuries before Hosea was born.
Why would I say it is "plainly the case" that Hosea 11:1 is not a prediction but a comment on a past event? You only have to read the text to recognise that. Here's the text. "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." What could be plainer? Ask fifty people to tell you what that sentence speaks of and I would venture to say all fifty would agree that it was talking about the time when God brought Israel out of Egypt at the Exodus. It could hardly be plainer!
Would it be that plain to Matthew? If it is so plain to us we'd have to conclude that it was that plain to Matthew or we'd think Matthew was intellectually/religiously and theological challenged. That won't do; it would be better to think Matthew knows as well as we do what the bare and isolated text indicates. That being the case, we need to look a bit deeper at how Matthew uses the notion of "fulfilment," his method of telling the Story and what in this case he has in mind. [Matthew's use of the "fulfilment" motif is a question for another time.]
The words in Hosea 11:1 are plain and the Exodus under Moses is clearly the event in view but why does God mention it? Has it no connection with the setting in which it occurs? We'd fully expect that it does and if so, how exactly does it fit in; what does it contribute to the overall context?
Let's suppose it's mentioned not only to underline God's past loving faithfulness to Israel but also to give assurance of his present and future commitment to Israel. What he did in the past—despite Israel's unfaithfulness even in Egypt—he will do in the future for an Israel that is now unfaithful. What if he's saying something like, "I have loved Israel from the beginning—as I showed at the Exodus—and you can be sure I will continue to love her"?
The prophet says (11:5) that faithless Israel who was brought out of Egypt (11:1, and see 2:15 and 12:13) will "return to the land of Egypt." He had already said this in 8:13, "...the Lord does not accept them. Now he will remember their iniquity, and punish their sins; they shall return to Egypt."
In historical fact, Israel (the northern kingdom) went into Assyrian captivity (11:5) but the prophet characterises that as a "return to Egypt."
Returning to Egypt is the undoing or the reversal of the Exodus so if God is to do her good in the future it would be a second Exodus (compare Isaiah 11:11). Once more God would call his son out of Egypt. That's what we would expect and it's precisely what we get in 11:11 when the faithful Lord delivers his faithless people. "How can I give you up, Ephraim…My heart recoils within me; my compassion grows warm and tender…I will not come in wrath…his children shall come trembling from the west. They shall come trembling like birds from Egypt…and I will return them to their homes, says the Lord." (Hosea 11:8-11)
Hosea doesn't see "Egypt" as a merely geographical term. For him as, I would suppose, for every Jew that takes his roots and heritage and theology seriously "Egypt" speaks of their fears, their past unfaithfulness, God's generous and holy grace and other profound truths. The idea that Matthew is simply matching the word Egypt with the word in Hosea 11 is a shallow approach to both writers and to the Spirit who speaks in them
In any case, Hosea's entire eleventh chapter is God's assurance in the face of human betrayal and Matthew believes that that assurance is fulfilled in Jesus. In Jesus Christ, Israel's representative and bearer of her hopes, the loving and faithful God calls Israel out of her Egypt once more and Matthew sees the life and ministry of Jesus as reflecting and fulfilling that deliverance. Matthew has more than geography on his mind when he sees the hope of Israel (Jesus) coming back home (see again Hosea 11:11 and see paragraphs 26-27 of this).
©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, the abiding word.com.
Note: I am unsure as to whether or not I agree with Jim on this, but it is something I will consider... Gary

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