#DailyDevotion Do Not Fear. The LORD Knows What He Is Doing.

Matthew 2:13–18 ¹³After the wise men left, Joseph saw an angel of the Lord in a dream, who said, “Get up, take the little Child and His mother, and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him.” ¹⁴Joseph got up at night, took the little Child and His mother, and went to Egypt. ¹⁵He stayed there until Herod died. In this way what the Lord said through the prophet was to come true: “I called My Son from Egypt.” ¹⁶When Herod saw that the wise men had tricked him, he became very angry and sent men to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and in all the country around it, up to two years old, according to the exact time he had found out from the wise men. ¹⁷Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah came true: ¹⁸A cry is heard in Rama! Weeping and bitter wailing: Rachel crying over her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are gone.

There are things that make you shake you head in wonder when you read the bible thinking, “Just what is God thinking here? Why did he let that happen?” Sometimes I too certainly do wonder about that. I may wonder when God predicts something. Is he arraigning it or is he just letting us know what’s going to happen as things just run their course? Is he perhaps planning something while letting things run their course? Is he letting things run their course and picking elements of those things to accomplish what he is planning on doing. Well I guess I could ponder those things for an eternity. But this lesson from the Bible certainly makes me think such things.

Because of the sinfulness of Herod, who wants to keep his throne (he holds the throne in Jerusalem in contradiction to the Davidic House ruling), he sets out to kill the new born King of the Jews. Since he doesn’t know exactly when the child was born his solution is to kill every male child in the town Jesus was born in who fit the age of when Jesus could have been born. Joseph is about this in a dream and is told to flee to Egypt. Now all this happened to fulfill what the prophet had said, “I called My Son from Egypt.” (Hosea 11:1)

So Herod killed every male in Bethlehem and the surrounding area up to two years old. This was to fulfill what Jeremiah predicted, “A cry is heard in Rama! Weeping and bitter wailing: Rachel crying over her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are gone.” (Jer. 31:15) We read this and are shocked. We are shocked because the LORD would allow this to happen to his people, to his infants. This passage is surrounded by Good News Jeremiah. This passage is followed by these words, “¹⁶The LORD says this: ‘Stop your weeping, and don’t cry, because you will be rewarded for your labor,’ says the LORD. ‘They will come back from the enemy’s country. ¹⁷There is hope for your future,’ says the LORD. Your children will come back to their own country.’” What can this mean than God, the LORD who at the very least allowed this to happen plans are raising their infants from the dead with all believing Israel and giving them the kingdom of God, the New Heavens and the New Earth.

Now where does that leave us? First and foremost, Jesus has indeed fulfilled the prophecies concerning the Messiah. Secondly, God the Father knows what he is doing when he allows evil to happen. It does not have the upper hand with him but he knows how to use the evil men do, the evil that occurs around us and use it for good, especially for your good.

Heavenly Father, in the midst of things we cannot understand, grant us faith to trust in your mercy and kindness so we may not fall away and do not receive our reward you promised to all who put their trust in Jesus. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.