I formerly thought that they all had converged in the same place at the same time, but coming from 3 different locations and time via travelling distance. This is how it has been depicted, but this is not what Matthew is indicating here.

According to the way this is written, the Magi did not get there until about one year after he was born. This is why Herod went after baby boys 2 years old and younger.

Now, from past studies, I have found that the word “Egypt” means ‘land of copts,’ or ‘land of the dead.’ Thus I found that the idea of Jesus having to escape as a babe into the land of the dead and interesting one, being that basically, His presence there proverbially, was one of bringing life or light to the dead.

However, when I looked up Egypt this time, I found the meaning to be “double straits.” Unsure of what that meant, I looked up the word ‘strait’ in dictionary.com, and found that it means a position of difficulty, distress, or need.

Coming back to the word Egypt, it means “double” straits. This means they were in a doubly dire situation. Yet God told them to escape or flee there.

This made me think that sometimes when people believe they are going through hardship, and questioning within themselves as to “Where is God?” they need to recognize that sometimes the dire situation they find themselves in, is an escape from a worse situation.

Sometimes they need to just wait on God without whining, to adjust the circumstance and situation and restore them, because it could be much worse than it is.

Someone told me the other day that none of us should ever think we have it hard, no matter what is going on, because none of us ever had to deal with what He went through for us. THAT was hard. We can’t even begin, in our minor troubles or issues, to compete with that, so NONE of us have it hard.

Mat 2:15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.

Aside from all I said above, this was done for the fulfillment of prophesy as well, a double purpose. I dare say a triple one, because I see an example to us in the fact that ‘Out of Egypt have I called my son,’
or out of double straits; out of the land of the dead; out of trouble, I called my son. I see an example to us; an assurance even in this, of God’s saving grace and of our salvation.

Mat 2:22 But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:     
Mat 2:23 And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

When Joseph heard that Archelaus, whose name means “prince of the people,” was reigning in the place of “heroic,” which was Herod, his father, he was afraid to go there. Rightfully so, considering the lineage, and the intent of these people. Also considering the fact that he was a “prince of the people,” not “prince of the Lord.”

Being warned in a dream, Joseph takes the family to a place that offers some protection. He takes them to Galilee, which means “Circuit.” When I looked up this word I found several meanings, but the one that struck me as applicable here is this one: the line going around or bounding any area or object; the distance about an area or object.

He took this special child and his mother to a place that was encircled with protection. Nazareth means “the guarded one,” so the purpose of this place was to ensure Jesus’ safety as he grew up; until such time as He was ready to step into His ministry.

It’s also interesting to note that this double barrier of protection is because as a Nazarene or Nazarite, He is “one separated,” and this is why He had to come from that particular place.

In all of this, I see a parallel for us. Jesus was in the land of the dead/copts or was in double straits; a very dire situation. As a people lost without a savior; so were we. He was brought out from this dire situation or the land of the dead, and brought into a guarded situation within a circuit of protection as “one separated.” So were we. Merry Christmas.

Mat 2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,

Bethlehem is a village about six miles (10 km) south of Jerusalem. It means “house of bread.” I found this fact interesting in light of this:

Luk 22:19  And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake [it], and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me.

Even his birth place foretold of his body being broken for us.

Judaea means “he shall be praised.”

So he was born in the house of bread; ‘to be broken,’ and ‘he shall be praised.’

Despite the fact that Jesus is also called Emmanuel, he was not named that because it means God with us; which is more of a characterization of who he was. The word Emmanuel is a description of Christ.

This happened during the time of king “heroic,” which is the meaning of Herod. I found a lot of information on Herod and his battles and how he alienated the Jews by his cruelty. However, there is another interesting thing I also discovered about Herod.

My pastor recently was talking about the differences between Jacob and his twin Esau, and the fact that because of these differences, Esau fell outside the blessings of God. In the course of recognizing his regret, Esau blamed Jacob and wanted to kill him.

Esau’s lineage birthed the Amelekites, the Horites, and the Edomites. The Edomites were wiped out, but I find it interesting that Esau’s lineage all carried the same murderous desire towards Jacob’s lineage all the way through the old testament, and subsequently, into the new testament as well. There were many exchanges and battles that Jacob’s descendants had with Esau’s descendants.

What does this have to do with Matthew 2:1? In looking at king Herod, I discovered that he is also from Esau’s lineage, and here in this chapter of Matthew, he is attempting to get information so as to destroy Jesus, who is of the lineage of Jacob. Talk about an example of attitude transfer; this is it.

I recently read something about the star that the wise men followed. It was in the Good News newspaper we get here. The information indicated that at that time period, two stars came together to create this one unbelievably bright and large star. Allegedly, this is historically recorded that this astronomical event happened.

The other thing I noted was this:

Mat 2:11 And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh.

Now remember that Jesus was born in a manger. But this says that the wise men, who were not kings, but astrologers, came to a house. Here are the definitions for wise men:

1) a magus
a) the name given by the Babylonians (Chaldeans), Medes, Persians, and others, to the wise men, teachers, priests, physicians, astrologers, seers, interpreters of dreams, augers, soothsayers, sorcerers etc.
b) the oriental wise men (astrologers) who, having discovered by the rising of a remarkable star that the Messiah had just been born, came to Jerusalem to worship him
c) a false prophet and sorcerer

These guys were astrologers. They had been studying the stars and knew of the foretold coming of Christ. How do we know this?

Mat 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.