SUNDAY SCHOOL LESSON 15 January 15, 2006

Escape to Egypt-Mary and Joseph Again Must Trust God
Theme: Living by Faith in Christ Alone
Theme Verse: "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me." Galatians 2:20 NIV
Readings: Matthew 2:13-23
Memory Verse: "So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called my son." Matthew 2:14-15a
Background Herod: Remember Herod from lesson 14, an evil and violent king. His son, Archelaus ruled Judea from 4 BC to 6 AD (present calendar).
Egypt: There were many Jews living in Egypt since the time of the Exile. Are we living in exile away from the place God has prepared for us ? Are we still captives of something from the past that we need to give to Jesus to free us from it?
The Septuagint was written in Alexandria, Egypt, by 70 Hebrew scholars (The word in Latin means 70 and is often written LXX) and Hellenistic Jews between 250 BC and completed by 150 BC. It is a Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible which translated some texts now lost. Part of its importance lies in the fact that it was the version used by Greek speaking Christians including St. Paul and is still used in the Greek church. (Columbia Encyclopedia,2nd edition.)
Bethlehem: was only 7 miles from Jerusalem and could be reached on horseback very quickly. (About the distance from Christ Church to Colonie Center.)

      The story continues. After worshiping and giving gifts to the young child Jesus, the wise men must have gone to a local inn that night rather than returning to Jerusalem. While they were sleeping, God warned them in a dream not to return to Herod. [There are a number of places in scripture where God speaks to people through dreams. That was the way He communicated with Joseph. There are stories these days that some Muslims have encountered Jesus in dreams.]

      The Wise Men obey promptly. and return to their own country another way. Obviously,( because it wouldn't take Herod long to figure out the Wise Men had outwitted him) God spoke to Joseph that same night by an angel in a dream. Word received: I will use what I know you will respond to, to accomplish My will and purposes.

      The angel said, "Arise" "Get up" (the word contains the idea of collecting one's faculties after being aroused from sleep and inactivity). "Take" the young child (this implies standing up and taking action). Have you ever been wakened from sleep suddenly and had to take action? "Take" also implies to associate with oneself in an intimate way, tenderly). Get up, take them and get out of town, flee, hurry up and get out of here and get out of Herod's reach--to Egypt because Herod is about to act. Word received: You've been in slumber too long. Now is the time to follow My direction in action. Is God trying to wake you/us out of "slumber" into a response of obedience?
(The phrase :"the young child and his mother" is in harmony with the prophecy of a virgin birth. However, Joseph was the legal father and the head of the family. He is the one to take care of them.)

      So Joseph got up, took his family and fled. Joseph obeyed at once, in the middle of the night! Do we respond promptly when the Lord asks us to act? Word received: When you hear Me ask you to do something, I want you to obey. Obedience like that takes trust. Joseph must have had a close walk with God to be able to trust Him like that. Four times an angel speaks to him in a dream and four times he obeys promptly. (NOTE at end on Discernment- how did he know it was God?)

      See Verses 14-15. Word received: What are you willing to leave behind out of obedience to Me? Count the cost. Look at Mary and Joseph. They are not cardboard figures. They are real people with a real baby and they are willing to leave all behind at My word.

      Look at Luke 7:29-30. Word received: Look at the choices you have before you: tax collectors who repent and priests and lawyers who don't. The people, even the tax collectors wanted new life from Me. Mary and Joseph were willing to trust Me and go where I led them. So were the people who received John's baptism. How am I leading you now? Are you responding?

      This lesson is full of dreams, obedience and prophecy fulfilled. The prophecy, "Out of Egypt have I called My Son" is from Hosea 11:1 and originally referred to the nation Israel, delivered from Egypt. A number of times, prophecies from the Old Testament find a later, parallel or fuller fulfillment in Jesus and the New Testament.
The earlier fulfillments are historical but at the same time patterns or types of how God acts. At the cross, Jesus is the one, true Israel. Another example is that the historical Exodus becomes a pattern or type of the greater exodus of Jesus on the cross that delivered God's people from the slavery of sin. (Luke 9:31-"departure" is "exodus" in Greek.) Once again Gentiles in Egypt are called on to shelter God's people as in the days of Joseph, son of Jacob. Another parallel is a symbolic repeat of Abraham's journey leaving Ur and going to Canaan in obedience to God.

      Verse 18 is a prophecy from Jeremiah 31:15. "Rachel" symbolizes the grieving mothers because Rachel, Jacob's wife, died in childbirth and was buried near Bethlehem. There is not an explicit prophecy preserved for us that says, "He shall be called a Nazarene" but there is a similarity in sound and possibly in meaning between the Aramaic word for Nazareth and the Hebrew word translated "Branch", which is a Messianic term. See Isaiah 11:1f.

      Another obvious theme in this lesson is how God is in control in spite of all that the Herods of this world do. God had a plan to protect and provide for the Holy Family and the right timing for action. We too can trust God to carry us through bad circumstances just as He did with Joseph and Mary--obey Him.

       Herod ran true to form when he was in a "furious rage" and sent and killed all the little boys two and under in Bethlehem--and in the surrounding region. He had been very careful to find out exactly when the Star first appeared. He was afraid of losing his throne to some unknown baby king. After all he killed several of his immediate family for the same reason. Today some people are afraid that Christ wants to take away things from them, when in reality he wants to give them real freedom, peace and joy. Don't fear Christ! Give him the throne of your life! Another Old Testament parallel is the massacre of the baby boys in Egypt which Moses survived.

NOTE Discernment is a gift of the Holy Spirit given so that God's people can know whether it is God -or some other source like our own minds or even Satan- who is speaking. The first Test is always Holy Scripture. There are many kinds of literature in the Bible but God is the same, yesterday, today and forever and doesn't contradict himself. Some things like food laws were only given till Christ came. As we have experience obeying the Lord we learn to recognize his voice but we still have to test it. Sometimes a verse of scripture will jump out at us, but again we need to test it. We do this by testing against scripture, praying for discernment, asking others who hear the Lord to test it. Messages or words from the Lord are NEVER on the same level as scripture, but are given to help us in a particular situation.

How to teach word for SS teachers: Obedience. I want the children and the adults to see obedience to Me. Look at Joseph and Mary and their obedience. Think of what a model of obedience they were for Jesus to grow into. (See Hebrews 5:8) I want you to be models for the children. (We learn obedience by doing it. No other way.)

Teaching Ideas for Lesson 15
Please read the Study Guide first. Go over Memory Verse to make sure the children understand it and then if they have memorized it.

      Remind them their parents need to sign a report slip monthly if they have read the lessons, so they will get credit at the end of the year.

      Make sure they know what happened in the story. Get them to tell you.

Basic points of the lesson for little ones:
1.God had a plan to protect his Son, Jesus.
2. God made his plan known to Joseph and the Wise Men.
3. Because Joseph and the Wise Men heard and obeyed God's plan, baby Jesus was safe--and so were the Wise Men.
4. God wants to protect and guide us too. We must listen and obey him.
5. Obedience is a choice. Do you know of something Jesus wants you to do? Are you obeying or acting like you are asleep or didn't hear?