Matthew 2: 12-23, Matthew 3 1-6, Day 4. Jan 4th, 2011.

Matthew 2

¹³ When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream.

And how can God break through to us with something so absolutely, totally alien to us, almost surreal that we might not be able to receive its wisdom even in our time of prayer? A dream is one way.

“Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.”

Stay there until I tell you. Joseph is moving into a highly dangerous, tricky, smoke-and-mirrors situation in which you cannot take people’s words at face-value, and things are not as they seem. Being able to hear God’s voice is of crucial importance to him in this situation. What Moses told his people is even more true here, “They are not just idle words for you–they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.”

Again God does often warn us of danger through premonitions of it.

How do we know if these premonitions are from God?

The more we hear and listen to his voice, the more we are certain that it is him. “My sheep hear my voice.” It’s probably an art, not a science. We learn by trial and error.

¹⁴ So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, ¹⁵ where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

¹⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi. ¹⁷ Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled:

¹⁸ “A voice is heard in Ramah,
   weeping and great mourning,
Rachel weeping for her children
   and refusing to be comforted,
   because they are no more.”

I love Matthew’s interweaving of ancient Biblical prophecy with the events of Jesus life^.God’s protection and blessing over our lives and emotions is a very real thing. Who would have supposed that the carpenter’s child could escape the King’s designs?

It is wise to ask God for protection, and to rely on it.

¹⁹ After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt ²⁰ and said, “Get up, take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the child’s life are dead.”

People who have a strong and distinct gift of hearing God’s voice hear it in various ways. I hear it as a clear (though not audible) inner voice, accompanied with a buzz of excitement, like an electrical thunderstorm in the brain, when it says something which delights me, or like a clear, definite fiat when it says something which surprises or saddens me.

Joseph obeyed the first time he heard an angel speak to him in a dream. And so, not surprisingly, he heard the angelic voice more and more. In dreams. If he had disobeyed, he would never again be sure of the voice of the angel was his own imaginings or indeed the voice of God.

On such small acts of obedience or disobedience destiny hinges.

²¹ So he got up, took the child and his mother and went to the land of Israel. ²² But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there.

Though the great words which angels always speak is “Do not be afraid,” prudence is also a gift of God, and a gift of the Holy Spirit. Joseph is a mixture of one who hears God, and so can take great risks but also has natural prudence, which is the application of common-sense.

So when is fear, fear and when is it prudence? If we do not do the right thing or show kindness because of fear, then it is fear. If common-sense suggests the dangers of a course of action, and so we decide not to embark upon it, that is prudence.

Prudence judges when fear is fear (an irrational emotion) and when it is mere common-sense. To avoid a druggie’s alley after dark is prudence. To never travel to beautiful places because of the dangers is fear.

I tend towards fearlessness and am a natural risk-taker. Teach me sensible prudence, Lord.

Having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, ²³ and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets, that he would be called a Nazarene.

Joseph’s prophetic gift obviously operated through dreams. To be more aware of our dreams seems to be a commonsensical strategy for Christians.

Matthew 3

¹ In those days John the Baptist came, preaching in the wilderness of Judea ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

The Kingdom of heaven has come near. These are wonderful words. And I believe it is ever coming nearer.

We can step into it at any time. And all it takes is repentance.

Repentance. Metanoia, a change of heart. You are going in one direction. You stop, turn 180 degrees, and go in the opposite direction. That is repentance.

Lord, please show me the areas of my life in which I need to turn around 180 degrees. I can’t do everything at the same time, so please show me just one or two. Thank you.

3This is he who was spoken of through the prophet Isaiah:

“A voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”

What makes straight paths for God? I would say repentance, first and foremost, and then just the actual simple act of hewing paths for him. Paths of time. This is difficult in a world in which the addictions of cyberspace have been added to our previous busyness in meatspace. I set my timer to hear from God for half an hour a day, after an hour of study of scripture, and spiritual blogging (which I consider a spiritual discipline.) Is it easy? My iPhone summons me, my laptop summons me with its myriad siren calls—blog comments, emails, facebook. And then, we make our livelihood through a small publishing company, so our work world with its news and distractions comes to us through our laptops. It is not easy to make a straight path for the Lord, to have mind and heart still enough to hear him. It is nonetheless an immensely rewarding discipline. I often achieve it, and more often fail to. When I realize that I am too hassled and distracted to have my conscious and unconscious calm enough to hear God should he speak, and to be in tune with God, I do a “stop, drop, repent” routine. Lock my door, lie face down on my bed or carpet and quieten and align myself again. And it is amazing how much more productive the next hours are.

Over-busyness is one sure way for me not to experience shalom, and God’s presence. I must be careful not to fall into that trap this year.

⁴ John’s clothes were made of camel’s hair, and he had a leather belt around his waist. His food was locusts and wild honey. ⁵ People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. ⁶ Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

Someone who lives in a radically different way attracts attention. Whereas I don’t feel called to radically different—I eat and dress and furnish my house more or less like other people, I hope my life with Christ has left its mark, and there are subtle differences, not radical ones. The blessing promised to Abraham was that he would be a blessing. That is something I want to be true of me—to be a blessing to my family, friends, and those who spend time with me.