When God became man: Protection for a King

"Now when they had gone, behold, 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 going to search for the Child to destroy Him'" (Matthew 2:13).

God warned the magi in a dream not to return to Jerusalem and thereby aid Herod in his conspiracy against the new King. He warned Joseph through an angel's message in a dream to take Jesus and Mary immediately to Egypt in order to escape jealous Herod's murderous intent. God was protecting His Son, but He was giving Joseph the earthly responsibility for guarding the life of this Child born to his wife.

Again, Joseph acted obediently without delay, as he had done when an angel told him in a dream to take Mary as his wife. Joseph remained obedient, waiting until Herod was dead before leaving Egypt. In this, Matthew saw another fulfillment of prophecy, apparently citing Hosea 11:1, where it says God called His Son out of Egypt. God's promises continued to be carried out in the details of His Son's infancy.

-- Photo by Aleks Dahlberg on Unsplash