Matthew 2:15

‘That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt did I call my son.'

And all this was to be seen as a ‘filling full' of God's purposes for Israel. Matthew here refers back to a passage in Hosea 11:1. That verse had referred to God's call to Israel as His ‘firstborn' in the time of Moses (Exodus 4:22), and it was at that time that He had ‘called them out of Egypt'. He had looked on them as His son. But Hosea does not stop with that. He then goes on to point out that they had not obeyed the call. They had not responded to God's love. They had left Egypt physically, but their hearts had remained in Egypt (Exodus 4:2). And thus God had caused them to return again to Egypt until such a time as they were ready to truly respond (This is described in Matthew 2:5, in MT by taking it as a question, ‘shall he not return to Egypt, and Assyria shall be his king?', (which is what is required in context) or in LXX by literal translation ‘they will return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria will be their king, because they refused to return to Me'). Then He would one day call them again. But this had never happened. Israel's heart had remained in Egypt, and a million Jews were still there in order to prove it. Now, however, God was going to call them one last time in the person of their Messiah. For He had sent Him to Egypt too, as an exile, and He would call Him from there and He would come. His heart would not remain in Egypt. The idea would seem to be that through Him their call out of Egypt would also become a reality, at least in so far as the faithful were concerned, for they would come out in Him. Their hearts would be wooed from Egypt once and for all through the activity of this child Who was His Son as no other had been. For He was the Saviour.

And that this would now proceed with reasonable urgency comes out in that what has been spoken has been spoken directly by ‘the Lord'. He will Himself act to bring it about, as the next few years would reveal. There was nothing of Egypt about Jesus.

The idea contained here is important if we are to understand what follows in Matthew. God is calling His King to come out from Egypt. But with what purpose? There could surely only be one purpose, so as to fulfil the original purpose of God in calling His son out of Egypt, in other words to initially establish in Palestine the Kingly Rule of God. That had been the original intention previously, and Moses had gone into the mountain in order to view that kingdom afar off, but God's purpose in this had failed because of Israel's failure to truly come out of Egypt in their hearts. Now God was in action again, and was bringing His Son out of Egypt. It is no accident that John the Baptist will shortly declare that, ‘The Kingly Rule of Heaven is at hand' (Matthew 3:2) as he begins to prepare the way for the King, and that God will declare of His King, ‘This is My beloved Son in Whom I am well pleased.' It was His coronation.

In view of the complexity of this verse we will now consider it in more detail, on behalf of those who are puzzled about it, in an Excursus.

EXCURSUS. On ‘Out of Egypt Have I Called My Son.'

In considering this quotation one or two factors need to be born in mind. And the first is as to what is meant by ‘prophecy'. The prophets are not to be seen as a kind of glorified fortune-teller. That is not how they saw themselves at all. Rather they are to be seen as men who spoke from God, and who spoke in God's name, and who in that speaking sought to cover the whole range of history. They were forth-tellers rather than fore-tellers. Thus the greatest of the prophets ‘prophesied' about the past, they ‘prophesied' about the present and they ‘prophesied' about the future. And they sought to bring it all together as one, as descriptive of the purposes of God. In other words they were God's mouthpiece as regards the whole of the past, the present and the future. And thus all their writings were to be seen as ‘prophecy', the forth-telling of the mighty ways and acts of God.

That means that they were not all to be seen as simply foretelling future events. Far from it. Rather they were to be seen as relating the future to the past and the present. Clearly the future was important to them, but it was important, not as something to be forecast so as to show how clever they were, but as something that was in the hands of God, and as something in which God was going to act in fulfilling the promises of the past, precisely because of that past, taking into account the present. And their main aim in speaking was in order to affect that present. So even in the case of their looking into the future it is better to think of them as declaring what God was going to do in the future in fulfilment of the promises and warnings of the past, rather than as simply an attempt to discern the future. That is not to doubt that sometimes they did specifically act to discern the future, and did even lay claim at times to be heard because what they said came about (for they were confident that God was speaking through them), but it was not to be seen as the central purpose of prophecy. (It is the modern not the ancient view of prophecy that prophecy is merely about foretelling).

A further thing that we need to keep in mind when considering the application of Old Testament Scriptures to the days of Jesus was the Jewish sense of being a part of their past. They did not see the past as something that was of little concern to them apart from being a matter of historical interest. They felt themselves as bound up in that past. Thus each year when they met to celebrate the Feast of the Passover, they felt that they were at one with those people in Egypt who had first celebrated the Passover. As they ate ‘the bread of affliction' they saw themselves as sharing in their experience. And they looked ahead for a similar great deliverance for themselves. They believed that the past would be repeated in their own futures. And it was not only so with the Passover. In the whole of their worship there was the same sense of unity with the past, for they saw themselves as connected with Moses and the past in all that they did. Thus prophecies concerning Israel could very much be seen as equally applying in their day. They felt that the promises of Moses and the prophets had been made to them. For they considered themselves to be the same as the Israel of the past, the same as those to whom the promises and warning were originally given, they were YHWH's firstborn son. So when Matthew spoke of ‘fulfilment', of prophecy being ‘filled to the full', it would be an idea close to their hearts

The next thing that must be recognised as we consider these ‘prophecies' is that Matthew saw Jesus as very much a continuation of the promises and history of the Old Testament. Indeed he saw Him as the One Who summed them up. Jesus is the son of Abraham (Matthew 1:1). He is the son of David (Matthew 1:1). He is, in His family, One Who has, as it were, endured Exile (Matthew 1:12; Matthew 1:17), just as the patriarchs with their families had long before (Exodus 1:1). And now He is One Who has left behind the ties of Egypt (Matthew 2:15) and is therefore the hope of all who are in exile. His coming spurs again the weeping of Rachel as she awaits the deliverance of her children (Matthew 2:17). He is One Who bears the name of being despised and rejected, ‘a Nazarene' (Matthew 2:23). Like Israel of old He goes into the wilderness to be tested, although in His case He emerges from it as triumphant (Matthew 4:1). He is the One Who confirms and establishes the Law, bringing out its deeper meaning (5-7). He is the Servant of the Lord of Isaiah (Matthew 12:17) Who has been described as ‘Israel' by God (Isaiah 49:3). Thus in His person He is to be seen as representing Israel in every way, and in such a way that God would be able to say of Him, just as He did of the Servant in Isaiah 49:3, ‘You are My Servant Israel, in Whom I will be glorified'. This idea that Jesus represents Israel is elsewhere most obviously emphasised by John in John 15:1 where Jesus declares Himself to be ‘the true Vine' in contrast with the old Israel, the degenerate vine, and in the other synoptic Gospels by, for example, the cursing of the fig tree. It is also confirmed by the fact that the New Testament writers saw the new people of God as being the continuation of the true Israel of the Old Testament, what are often called the Remnant. They saw them as the new ‘congregation (of Israel)' set up on the rock of Christ and His Apostles and on what they believed about Him (Matthew 16:16). Or to put it in modern parlance, they believed that the true church, as made up of all true believers, was the true Israel (so Romans 11:16; Galatians 3:27; Galatians 4:26; Galatians 6:16; Ephesians 2:11; 1 Peter 2:5; etc.).

And this therefore is partly why Matthew can see Him as ‘fulfilling' certain prophecies. But in saying this we must not stop there. We must also note again what the content of the word ‘fulfilled' has for Matthew, as for Judaism. The word means ‘to fulfil', ‘to complete', and often ‘to complete something already begun'. Thus Matthew is not necessarily saying that the prophecies that He ‘fulfils' referred solely to Jesus, so that first we have the foretelling out of the blue, and then He fulfils that foretelling. The argument is often rather that in the end things which are stated by the prophets, which have never really come to their final completion, do find their completion in Him (see above).

So even if we stopped there we could see good reason for Matthew applying this verse to Jesus on the grounds that 1). He was Israel. 2) Because they were His people and had come out of Egypt He could see Himself as being involved with Israel in coming out of Egypt. 3) Because it could be seen as a further fulfilment of the prophecy.

But in fact we do not have to stop there, because when we look at what Hosea actually said we realise that there is an even greater significance in the words. So keeping these ideas in mind we will now consider these words cite in Matthew 2:15 in their original context. There we read, ‘This was to fulfil (or ‘bring to completion') what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt have I called my son”.' Here Matthew is undoubtedly referring to the fact that Jesus had been taken to Egypt, and would therefore return from there as the representative of Israel in accordance with God's calling and purpose. But while at first it might seem as though Matthew has simply done this, he did not in fact do it by simply selecting a convenient prophecy, and then giving it a new meaning on the basis of the ideas described above. He did it as something which was to be seen as genuinely ‘completing' the original prophecy.

Many fail to see this because they do not sufficiently consider the context in Hosea. They suggest that here Matthew (or whoever previously brought this citation to notice in connection with the coming of Jesus) has merely taken the words of Hosea 11:1 out of context, and has given them a meaning which has little to do with what Hosea prophesied or meant, and that he (or they) have done this in order to give the impression (to ignoramuses?) of ‘fulfilled prophecy'. They then speak of a list of such ‘prophecies' as occurring in Matthew, which are all treated in the same way, that is simply as proof texts wrenched out of context, and they therefore look on Matthew also as naive. But the question that must be asked is, ‘is that really what Matthew was doing? Is that really what he saw himself as signifying?'

Having this in mind let us first consider the words of Hosea 11:1, and see them in context so as to understand what their significance was  to Hosea. Hosea 11:1 reads, ‘when Israel was a child I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son'. Now it cannot be doubted that this was in a sense a clear ‘prophecy' about the past. That is, that initially it was looking back to the original calling of Israel out of Egypt. Hosea is here declaring that God had said that He had set His love on Israel, had seen them as His son and had ‘called them out of Egypt' (see Exodus 4:22), and this with the purpose of delivering them from Egypt and all that it stood for. And not only was this so, but we should also note that the events that appear to demonstrate this are themselves recorded in Israel's history, as Hosea was well aware. At first sight then it seems clear that this prophecy cannot strictly be applied to Jesus because it had already been fulfilled.

But before we come to too hasty a decision on that question there is something else that we ought to do. We ought to ask ourselves why Hosea said this? For when we do we will see that he makes it clear that it was not in fact just his intention to speak about something that happened in the past. He had a specific reason for saying it, a reason that applied to the future. And the reason for his declaration is in fact then made crystal clear. For these words are spoken in a context in which we discover that in Hosea's eyes that ‘calling' failed,  it did not happen. For to him the problem was that although bodily the people of Israel had moved from Egypt, in their minds they had brought Egypt with them. Mentally and spiritually they were still in Egypt. Thus the point was that they had not truly responded to God's call. God's call had not been effective. It had not been fulfilled. Yes, he said, they had left Egypt in their bodies. But the problem was that they had brought Egypt with them. They were still indulging in the same old idolatries and spurning God's love in the same old way. And thus, because he knew that God could not in the end fail in His calling, he recognised that that calling which had been made had not been fulfilled, and that as yet that calling had not proved effective. He saw that that calling was in fact still a continuous process, which was in process of fulfilment. It was something that went on and on, and would go on and on, until it was finally achieved. God had called His people out of Egypt, and out of Egypt therefore they would surely have to come, even though as yet they had not done so.

This is made clear in the verses which follow, for if we follow texts on which the Septuagint was probably based, he then says, ‘The more I called them the more they went from Me' (Matthew 11:2 RSV, which takes into account LXX. LXX has here the 1st person singular). There the idea is quite clearly that up to this point the calling of God had been ineffective because their hearts had remained in Egypt. They had brought Egypt with them. He continued to call them, but the more He did so the more they rejected Him. They had not really been delivered from Egypt at all, because they still continued with the same old idolatry as they always had, and looked to other gods, spurning the love of the Lord (Matthew 11:2). They were still refusing to listen to His calling. It was a calling that had as yet not been made effective. Thus while He had called them out of Egypt, with the intention that they leave Egypt behind, they had not truly come. In their hearts ‘His son' was still in Egypt.

Alternately if we go by the MT it says, ‘as they called them, so they went from them'. In this case there are two possibilities.

One is that ‘they' here must refer to Moses, Aaron and Joshua and ultimately the later prophets. In that case it is saying that those who were appointed by God had continually called on them to truly fulfil God's call out of Egypt, but that the people had turned away from them. They had continually refused in their hearts to obey ‘the call of God out of Egypt'. Here then this ‘they' must seen as referring to the prophets as the voice of God, commencing with Moses.

Alternately it may be seen as referring to God Himself in an intensive plural (thus, ‘as He called them so they went from Him'). This might be seen as being made clear from the whole context which is largely in the first person singular. In this case it is saying the same as LXX.

So whichever way we take it Matthew here saw Hosea as declaring that God's call from Egypt was a continuing process that had not yet been completed. God had called but as yet His people had not truly responded. And then he saw Hosea as going on to describe the continuation of that call as outlined in the following verses. For the idea all the way through Hosea 11 is that while Israel may have left Egypt physically, they had not done so spiritually. In their hearts they were still in Egypt, as was evidenced by their idolatry and lack of love for the Lord. And thus the call of God had not been inwardly effective. Their hearts still needed to be ‘called out of Egypt'. But because the call was the call of God it was still active, and would have to remain active until it came about.

Thus Hosea sees that there is only one solution to this problem. In order to achieve His purpose God would have to return His people to Egypt so that He might be able to call them out again, so that this time, hopefully, having learned their lesson, His previous call might be made effective, with the result that they would be wholly delivered from Egypt. Thus, (following RSV, again translated with LXX in mind), he says in Matthew 2:5, ‘they will return to the land of Egypt, and Assyria will be their king, because they refused to return to Me'. In other words, God is saying, the initial result of their calling out of Egypt will have to be temporarily reversed by their being returned to Egypt (and to Assyria) to await another deliverance. And that theologically there must be another deliverance comes out in the fact that, although the calling of God may be delayed, it cannot be cancelled. ‘The gifts and calling of God are without repentance' (Romans 11:29). For the promises to Abraham must be fulfilled.

Alternatively, if we read in the text the negative as in MT, we must translate as, ‘Shall they not return to Egypt, and Assyria be their king, because they would not return to Me?'. (This is an equally possible translation of MT). That this translation is required is evidenced in Matthew 2:11 which again shows them as later being in both Egypt and Assyria. So whichever way the text is taken, whether as in LXX or as in MT, the same thing is in mind. The idea basically is that their particular calling has been reversed because of their disobedience, so that they are being returned to Egypt, and to its equivalent Assyria, but that that calling will then need to be ‘fulfilled' or brought to completion at a later time. God had indeed called His son out of Egypt, but because as yet ‘he' had not fully and completely come out, God will repeat His call, or ‘make it full'. For as God's original call must finally be effective because of Who He is, there will have to be a further re-calling out so that His purposes are really fulfilled.

That this is so comes out in that in Matthew 2:11 Hosea once more sees Israel as again coming out of Egypt. ‘They will come trembling like birds from Egypt and like doves from the land of Assyria, and I will return them to their homes (or ‘make them dwell in their houses')'. The idea here is that God, having first removed them from their homes and having taken them back to Egypt and Assyria because their hearts had proved to be still there, would once again ‘bring them out of Egypt', and this time would bring ‘home' not only their bodies but their hearts, so that they would worship and serve Him only. His call out of Egypt would therefore at last be fully effective, it would be carried out to the full. It would be ‘fulfilled'.

So, to Hosea, God's original call was seen to have failed, and was seen as something still in process of completion, and ‘out of Israel have I called My son' was thus to be seen as still having to be fulfilled. This is not just Matthew's view. This is Hosea's view which Matthew accepts. But even then, as always, we must assume that its completion will depend on their final obedient response to Him. For if the calling is really God's it must finally be effective. Until that was so the call of God could not be said to have been ‘fulfilled'. And the problem was, as Matthew saw clearly, that that kind of obedience had never really happened. Even in his own time he recognised that their hearts were still ‘in Egypt',  and that in fact over a million Jews literally were still there, largely in Alexandria..

So when Matthew cites this verse in respect of Jesus coming out of Egypt, having first represented Jesus as the expected seed of Abraham, and as thus the representative of Israel; as David's son, the Messiah who was to be Israel's representative before God (for the king always represented his people); and as the One who had in His ancestors previously been in Exile (Matthew 1:12), it is with these factors in mind. Matthew is saying, ‘as yet, while it is true that God did call His son Israel out of Egypt, this calling of Israel out of Egypt has not yet been fully consummated', and we should note that this is not just what Matthew says, it is what Hosea had also declared. Indeed it was the whole point of what Hosea was saying. God did call with a call which must eventually be effective because it was His, but the problem was that in their hearts Israel had up to this point not fully responded to the call. So at the time of the birth of Jesus Israel was therefore still to be seen as ‘in Egypt' in their hearts. And this could not have been more emphasised than by the fact that in the time of Jesus there were over a million Jews in Egypt just as Hosea had said.

‘And thus,' says Matthew, ‘God has now acted in Jesus in such a way as to commence the final deliverance from Egypt that Hosea had spoken of so long ago.' He has now brought out of Egypt the One Who represents in Himself the seed of Abraham, the son of David, and the children of the Exile, He Who is the new Israel, the Messiah, the Servant, the One Who embodies in Himself the whole of Israel, so as to bring back Israel to Him and also in order to be a light to the Gentiles (Isaiah 49:3; Isaiah 49:6). His heart will not be left in Egypt. He will come out totally, in body, soul and spirit. Nor will the hearts of those who follow Him remain in Egypt.

Through Jesus therefore this ‘prophecy', says Matthew, which had never been fully completed, will come to its final consummation, so that the true Israel might finally be delivered from ‘Egypt'. By this means the prophecy is being ‘brought to completion', it is ‘being filled full'. His return from exile is the beginning of a genuine ‘coming out of Egypt' for the true Israel. In Jesus God's purposes for Israel will now come into fulfilment. Thus far from Matthew's quotation being naive, it is full of deep significance, and that by taking it in its true context. (Some may not like Matthew's interpretation, but they have no right to despise it, for it is based firmly on what Hosea was saying, and it was an interpretation that would certainly have spoken quite clearly to his Jewish readers. They still very much saw Israel as not fully established in Palestine. This is a further indication of how much Matthew, in his Gospel, has in mind the Jews, both Christian and otherwise).

That Jesus did in fact see Himself as Israel in this way comes out in His description of Himself as the Son of Man (which in Daniel 7 represented both Israel and their king) and especially in John 15:1, where He depicts Himself as the true Vine. It is also found in His recognition that He Himself would need to found a new nation (‘My congregation'). This last comes out clearly later on in Matthew, for there He speaks of founding ‘My congregation' (the new congregation of Israel - Matthew 16:18; Matthew 18:17) on the rock of His Messiahship. Furthermore He also speaks of the ‘bringing forth of a new nation' in Matthew 21:43, which will replace the old. So the thought in Matthew's words in Matthew 2:15 is to be seen as far more complicated than just a simplistic ‘fulfilling' of some convenient words which have been misapplied. It is not an attempt to ‘prove' anything by a rather conveniently worded prophecy. Rather it is indicating that Jesus is an essential part of Israel's ongoing history and promised deliverance, and is evidence of the fact that the final fulfilling of that first call of God to His people is about to take place. God had called them out of Egypt, but the calling had not succeeded, and now therefore He will finally make that call effective so that they will never yearn to return there again, but will at last respond to God's cords of love (Hosea 11:4), and this will be through Jesus Christ, just as Isaiah had in his own way promised (Matthew 19:23).

Rather therefore than being a naive claim to be a successful piece of fortune-telling, this is a declaration that God's calling is always finally effective, even though its fulfilment might take over a thousand years.

End of EXCURSUS.