Out of Egypt: The Greatest Story Ever Told

There's a curious danger that lurks in the familiar. The greatest threat to truly experiencing the wonder of Christmas isn't the secularism we see around us or even the rampant consumerism that dominates the season. It's something far more subtle: our own boredom with the most thrilling story ever told.
We've heard it so many times—the manger, the shepherds, the wise men. We can recite the details almost by rote. But in our familiarity, we risk missing the breathtaking reality of what actually happened when God entered human history as a vulnerable child.
When Prophecy Becomes Reality
Consider for a moment the prophet Hosea, writing in the 8th century BC. Israel was spiraling into idolatry and judgment. The northern kingdom faced imminent destruction at the hands of the Assyrians. In the midst of pronouncing God's judgment on a wayward nation, Hosea looked back to Israel's infancy and recorded these words from God: "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son."
On the surface, this appears to be simply a reference to the Exodus—that magnificent moment when God delivered over a million Israelites from Egyptian slavery. And it was. But here's where it gets remarkable: this backward glance was simultaneously a forward prophecy.
Hundreds of years after Hosea penned those words, a young Jewish couple received a terrifying message in the middle of the night. An angel appeared to Joseph in a dream with urgent instructions: "Rise, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy him."
The Paranoid King and the Sovereign God
King Herod the Great—a title that drips with irony—was a man consumed by paranoia. When he heard rumors of a newborn king, he saw only one thing: a threat to his throne. This was a man who killed his own sons to protect his power. The slaughter of male children two years old and under in Bethlehem was entirely consistent with his character.
But here's what Herod never grasped: you cannot outsmart God. The sovereign Lord of the universe sits in the heavens and laughs at the futile schemes of earthly rulers. While Herod plotted murder, God was orchestrating salvation. While a paranoid king raged, the King of Kings was being preserved according to an ancient plan.
God could have simply stopped Herod's heart. He could have intervened in a thousand different ways. But instead, He chose to fulfill prophecy—to demonstrate that every detail of His redemptive plan unfolds exactly as He intends.
The Cost of Obedience
Let's not romanticize Joseph and Mary's situation. This young couple had already traveled from Nazareth to Bethlehem while Mary was pregnant—a difficult journey for a census they didn't ask for. They arrived to find the town overflowing with people, ending up in a barn where their son was born and placed in an animal feeding trough.
And just when they might have hoped for some stability, they're awakened in the night and told to flee. Not to the next town over. Not to a relative's house nearby. To Egypt—350 miles south, into a culturally different part of the Roman Empire, a place of displacement and discomfort.
Joseph didn't flinch. He didn't negotiate. He didn't suggest a more prudent alternative. He got up and obeyed, leading his family into greater hardship because God commanded it.
This raises an uncomfortable question for us: How do we respond when obedience to God makes life harder rather than easier? We're quick to judge the Israelites for grumbling in the wilderness, but would we do any better? What if God is simply calling us to stop that secret sin, to love that difficult person, to speak truth when it's costly?
American Christianity has often shown itself allergic to uncomfortable obedience. We prefer our faith convenient, our discipleship easy. But the Christmas story reminds us that following God has never promised comfort—only His presence.
The True Israel
Here's where the story becomes even more profound. Matthew, writing his Gospel, quotes Hosea's prophecy: "Out of Egypt I called my son." But notice what he's doing. Hosea was originally referring to the nation of Israel coming out of Egyptian slavery. Matthew applies it to Jesus.
This isn't sloppy interpretation. It's inspired revelation. Jesus Christ is the true Israel—the perfect Israelite who succeeded where the nation failed. Israel went into the wilderness for 40 years and rebelled. Jesus went into the wilderness for 40 days and emerged victorious over temptation.
The Exodus of Moses was glorious—over a million people delivered from bondage, plundering Egypt on their way out. But it pales in comparison to the greater Exodus accomplished by the greater Israel. Through Jesus Christ, people from every nation, tribe, and tongue are being delivered from slavery to sin into glorious freedom.
Christmas and the Cross
Those tiny arms in the manger would one day grapple with the monster of death and destroy it. The child born in Bethlehem was born to die—to live the perfect life we should have lived and to die the sinner's death we deserved.
Christmas and the cross are inseparably linked. The nativity scene is not an end in itself but a means to a greater end: Christ's death, resurrection, and reign. We cannot celebrate the birth without remembering the purpose.
Living in Light of Sovereignty
So what do we do with this ancient story? We remember that the same sovereign God who orchestrated these events—who planned them centuries in advance, who protected His Son through political upheaval and murderous schemes—is still sovereign today.
When you're worried, when you're discouraged, when life feels out of control, remember: God works all things according to the counsel of His own will. The same Jesus who was preserved as a child now reigns as King, worthy to govern all of human history.
This Christmas season, may we not be bored with this story. May we see it afresh—not just as a sweet tale of a baby in a manger, but as the hinge point of all history, when God Himself entered our world to accomplish our redemption.
The heavens still declare His glory. The prophecies still testify to His faithfulness. And the invitation still stands: trust the Son of God for the forgiveness of your sins. Today is the day of salvation.