Egypt

When King Herod heard from the wise men that a “king of the Jews” had been born, he was disturbed and determined to destroy Him, but God arranged for His Son to be protected in Egypt. He ordered the wise men not to return to Jerusalem and He warned Joseph and Mary to take the Child and flee to Egypt. When Herod realized that the wise men had outwitted him, he ordered his soldiers to kill all the boys in Bethlehem who were two years old and under. Since Bethlehem was a small town, it’s likely that no more than fifteen or twenty boys were slain, but even one is too many. Simeon had told Mary that a sword would pierce her soul because of Jesus, and when she heard about the slaughter in Bethlehem, she must have remembered that prophecy (Luke 2:25–35).

Many centuries before, the Lord had told Jacob and his family to go to Egypt where Joseph would protect them (Genesis 46). Because Joseph had saved the nation from starvation, Pharaoh welcomed his family and provided for them. But when a new ruler and a new generation arose that didn’t remember or revere Joseph, the Egyptians turned against the Jews and enslaved them. God raised up Moses and Aaron to deliver the Jews from Egyptian bondage (Exodus 12–14), and for centuries the Jews have celebrated this event at Passover.

It was about seventy-five miles from Bethlehem to Egypt, and once there, Joseph and his family would be out from under Herod’s jurisdiction. There was a large Jewish population in Egypt and it’s likely that Joseph and Mary found relatives there who would take them in. The gifts from the wise men would have helped to meet their expenses for the journey. After Herod died, the Lord told Joseph and Mary to return with the Child to their own land, and Matthew saw in this the fulfillment of Hosea 11:1, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

This suggests a parallel between the nation of Israel and the person of Jesus. Both are called “God’s son” (Exod. 4:22–23; Deut. 1:31; 32:6; Matt. 3:17) and both were protected in Egypt and then called out. Israel began national life by passing through the Red Sea (“baptized into Moses”—1 Cor. 10:1–2), and Jesus began His public ministry by being baptized in the Jordan River by John the Baptist (Matt. 3:13–17). After the exodus from Egypt, Israel went into the wilderness where God tested them (Deut. 8:2), and Jesus went into the wilderness after His baptism where Satan tempted Him (Matt. 4:1–11). Israel failed miserably, but the Lord Jesus was triumphant.

Bible geography tells us not only where events occurred but often why they occurred. Israel is the people of God, but Egypt typifies the world and its opposition to God’s people. To Israel, Egypt was a place of slavery and persecution, just as believers today suffer opposition from the world (John 16:33). The land of Canaan was Israel’s God-given inheritance and He delivered Israel from Egypt that He might take them into Canaan. To Christian believers today, Canaan represents our rich inheritance in Jesus Christ, the victorious life of faith described in the Epistle to the Hebrews.

But Israel didn’t believe God; instead of claiming their inheritance in Canaan, they rebelled and planned to go back to Egypt (see Numbers 13–14). God disciplined them by making them remain in the wilderness for thirty-eight more years until that unbelieving generation died off. The wilderness represents the aimless life of unbelief and disobedience that Christians experience when they refuse to trust God’s promises and obey His will. Jesus said that believers are not of the world but are hated by the world even as He was hated (John 17:14–16).

Like Israel and our Lord Jesus Christ, Christians have been called out of Egypt—the world—because their citizenship is in heaven (Phil. 3:20–21) and they have been rescued “from the present evil age” (Gal. 1:3–5). But we are not to isolate ourselves from the world, because Jesus has sent us back into the world to share His gospel with the lost (John 17:11, 14–18). One day He will return and call us out of the world to spend eternity with Him (1 Thess. 4:13–18).

 See: Herod the Great, Jesus, Joseph, Mary, Questions

Elijah

The prophet Elijah stepped onto the stage of Scripture with no introduction. His style was direct and confrontational; there was no finesse in Elijah. He was a man devoted to God and he hated the idolatry that plagued Israel. His faith and courage were almost unshakeable.

The wilderness was Elijah’s home. His clothing was suited to that environment but was not the height of fashion: he wore a garment of hair with a leather belt around his waist (2 Kings 1:8). Elijah’s values were old-fashioned: worship Jehovah, obey His law, pursue justice, and do right. He was truly countercultural, resisting the false gods and those who worshiped them, which brought him into conflict with rulers.

Elijah’s first confrontation with King Ahab was over the king’s leading Israel to worship Baal (see 1 Kings 16:29–33). As God’s representative, Elijah declared there would be no more rain until he said so (17:1). Judgment came on Israel through a three-and-a-half-year drought. At the showdown on Mt. Carmel between the priests of Baal and Elijah, Elijah prayed down fire from heaven on his sacrifice and then killed 450 priests of Baal. Then he prayed, and the rains came (1 Kings 18; James 5:17–18).

When Ahab had his neighbor Naboth murdered to take his property, Elijah confronted the evil king again, predicting Ahab’s line would be cut off because he sold himself “to do evil in the eyes of the LORD” (1 Kings 21:20–22; 22:34–40). Twice Elijah called down fire on the soldiers of King Ahaziah, and he predicted the king’s death (2 Kings 1:1–17).

God ended Elijah’s life on earth by taking him to heaven in a whirlwind (2:1–12). He appeared with Jesus at His transfiguration (Matt. 17:3). Malachi 4:5 states that Elijah will appear again before the Day of the Lord, and some Bible students understand one of the two witnesses in Revelation 11:3–6 to be Elijah, because the rains cease.

The prophecy of Malachi ends with God speaking these words: “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the LORD comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse” (Mal. 4:5–6).

The Jews expected that before the Messiah came, Elijah would appear to prepare His way. The angel Gabriel told John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah, that his son John would bring the people of Israel back to God by going before the Lord “in the spirit and power of Elijah” (Luke 1:17). Gabriel ended his announcement by quoting the words of Malachi 4:6a. When Zechariah could speak again, he predicted that John would “be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him” (Luke 1:76). The phrase “prepare the way” is also found in Isaiah 40:3.

John the Baptist modeled himself after the prophet Elijah, although he did not believe himself to be Elijah (John 1:21). His dress was similar to Elijah’s (Mark 1:6), his home was the desert (Luke 1:80), his preaching was powerfully direct (Matt. 3:7–12; Luke 3:7–17), and he predicted a judgment of fire (vv. 9, 16–17). Like Elijah, his stand for truth brought him into conflict with rulers (Mark 1:14; 6:17–18). Jesus said that John had fulfilled Malachi’s prophecy about Elijah (Matt. 17:10–13).

Neither Elijah nor John the Baptist saw himself as doing anything novel. Rather, they were pointing the way back to God by calling people to obey God’s commands. There are times when God has to speak forcefully and threaten judgment; these two prophets were in that mold. Both men experienced discouragement in their ministry (see 1 Kings 19:14; Matt. 11:2–3). Neither prophet saw a nationwide revival in Israel even though they were faithful to the call.

One insight we gain from Elijah and John is that God fulfills prophecy precisely, but creatively. John is like Elijah yet different. Instead of calling down fire from heaven, he baptized sinners who sought to be right with God. He preached law but also provided grace. Another insight is the importance of knowing history. Only by knowing about Elijah could anyone recognize that John the Baptist was ministering “in the spirit and power of Elijah.” Often today’s believers miss what God is doing because they haven’t learned Bible history. A final insight about these two prophets is that they reveal the price of taking God’s side. Both were perceived as rebels by the ruling power, each suffered for obeying God, and John the Baptist was martyred.

 See: John the Baptist, Zechariah

Elizabeth

The reign of King Herod brought dark and difficult days to Judea, but if any woman in Jerusalem at that time had reason to be joyful, it was Elizabeth, the wife of Zechariah the priest (Luke 1:5–23, 39–80). To begin with, she had been born into the nation of Israel, the only nation chosen by the Lord and enjoying a special covenant relationship with Him (see Rom. 9:1–5). It was through Israel that God promised to bless the whole world by sending the Redeemer (Gen. 12:1–3), and Elizabeth would play an important part in that drama. Her name means “God of the oath,” and the God of Israel would indeed keep His promises to Abraham and his people.

Elizabeth could also rejoice because she was married to a priest and could devote her life and home wholly to the service of God. Both of them were descendants of Aaron, Israel’s first high priest (Luke 1:5), and her name, Elizabeth, was taken from Elisheba, the name of Aaron’s wife (Exod. 6:23). The law of Moses required priests to marry virgins from their own tribe so that the priesthood would not be defiled (Lev. 21:7, 13–15). Zechariah and Elizabeth were people of godly character and obedient to the Lord in every area of their lives.

But there was one shadow over their marriage: Elizabeth was barren, and God had not answered their repeated prayers for children. Now both Zechariah and Elizabeth were very old and, like Abraham and Sarah centuries before (Genesis 15; 18:1–15; 21), they were beyond the time of having children. God gave them a long life, but it must have been a lonely life without children to raise for the Lord. You would think that God would especially bless a godly praying couple like Zechariah and Elizabeth—and He did, in His own time. Their prayers were not forgotten.

It is estimated that there were some eighteen thousand priests available for the temple ministry in that day. They were divided into twenty-four “courses” and each course served two weeks out of the year. The high priest cast lots to see which priest would perform what ministry, and by the providence of God, Zechariah was chosen to burn incense in the holy place on the golden altar that stood before the veil. “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD” (Prov. 16:33). Burning the incense was the closest the priests came to the Holy of Holies, except for the high priest who entered that sacred place only on the annual Day of Atonement.

The angel Gabriel, who would later visit Mary, appeared to Zechariah and told him that Elizabeth would bear him a son! The aged priest was frightened, his faith was weak, and God had to discipline him by making him unable to hear or to speak (see Luke 1:18–20). Imagine Elizabeth’s surprise when her husband came home and could only make signs to her or write on a wax tablet. How excited she must have been when she discovered she would give birth to a son who would prepare the way for the ministry of Messiah! As He did with Abraham and Sarah, God “gave life to the dead” (Rom. 4:16–25), and Zechariah knew his wife and she conceived their son (Luke 1:24). Zechariah had to remain silent in a silent world, but he and Elizabeth rejoiced at the precious gift that God was sending them. After all, their son would be the forerunner and herald of the Messiah!

Why did Elizabeth “remain in seclusion” for five months after becoming pregnant? Certainly Elizabeth wasn’t ashamed of being pregnant, for the Jewish people considered children the best blessing of God, and she rejoiced that she was no longer barren. In small communities, news gets out and spreads quickly, so the neighbors must have discovered her condition; but it seems they didn’t understand its full import until the baby was named (vv. 57–66). The combination of aged Elizabeth’s pregnancy and her husband’s inability to hear and speak must have aroused a great deal of curiosity, and the couple didn’t want to become the center of attention. Their best option was to remain at home as much as possible and prepare for their son’s birth. After all, if the forerunner is about to be born, the Messiah can’t be far behind!

Six months after Elizabeth became pregnant, Gabriel visited Mary in Nazareth and announced that she would become the mother of the promised Messiah (vv. 26–38). He gave her a special word of encouragement when he said, “Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God” (vv. 36–37). Mary believed the words of the angel and hurried to visit her relative “in the hill country of Judea.”

How could Elizabeth and Mary be related when Elizabeth descended from Aaron, the first high priest, and Mary from the family of David (Luke 3:31)? Aaron had been married prior to being called to priestly ministry and his wife Elisheba came from the tribe of Judah (Exod. 6:23; Num. 2:3–4). You will find Nashon and Amminadab mentioned in Mary’s genealogy (Luke 3:32–33). It’s interesting that Aaron’s marriage united “king” and “priest” and prefigured the ministry of Jesus Christ as the King-Priest “after the order of Melchizedek” (see Heb. 5:10; 7:1–28). Melchizedek was the king-priest of Salem in the days of Abraham (Gen. 14:18–20) and is a type of Jesus Christ in His present heavenly ministry as King and Priest (Heb. 7:1–3).

When Elizabeth heard Mary’s voice, the babe in her womb leaped for joy, and Elizabeth was filled with the Spirit and began to praise God. Note that she said to Mary, “Blessed are you among women” (Luke 1:42) and not “above women.” She also said, “Blessed is she who has believed” (v. 45), because it was Mary’s faith in God’s promise that was commendable. Zechariah had doubted God’s promise and been silenced, but Mary believed the Word and broke out in song.

In her hymn of praise, Elizabeth magnified Mary’s Child, the Son of God. Mary’s presence was a blessing and a privilege, primarily because of the Child she would bear. The unborn John leaped for joy at the voice of Mary because she was the “mother of [the] Lord.” Elizabeth commended Mary for her faith in the Word of the Lord and for what the Lord had accomplished and would yet accomplish. The two mothers-to-be spent three months together (v. 56), and since Zechariah wasn’t able to hear or speak, Mary’s presence in the home was a special help to Elizabeth. Mary remained there until John was born, although she isn’t mentioned in the birth narrative. When you remember that Zechariah and Elizabeth were elderly people and that Mary was probably fifteen or sixteen, you realize how wonderful it is that faith in the Lord brings people together and unites them in heart. If we are walking in the Spirit, there are no generation gaps.

 See: John the Baptist, Mary, Zechariah

Epiphany

The word epiphany means “revealing” or “revelation.” The early Christians considered the coming of the Magi to worship the Christ Child (Matthew 2) as a fulfillment of Isaiah 60:1–3—“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you. Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn.” Jesus was a Jew, but the salvation He brought was for all peoples. Jesus was and is “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your [God’s] people Israel” (Luke 2:32).

Epiphany was established by the third century, before any official celebration of the nativity. The birth of Christ, the coming of the shepherds, the adoration of the Magi, and the Lord’s baptism were all originally connected to the January 6 festival. Eventually, in Western Christendom, Epiphany focused on the Magi worshiping the newborn King, and in the East the focus was on the Lord’s baptism. By highlighting the truth that Jesus is the world’s Savior and that Gentiles are saved through faith in Jesus, the Church declared its mission to take the gospel to the world.

Once December 25 was established as the Feast of the Nativity, the Christmas season filled the days until Epiphany (January 6), creating the twelve days of Christmas (start counting with the day after Christmas).

 See: Christmas, Gifts, Wise Men, Xmas, Yuletide