Robin Harris Kimbrough
One of the most disturbing events attached to the birth of Jesus is Joseph’s decision to escape to Egypt with his wife and newborn son. Joseph made this decision because King Herod, not receiving word back from the Magi, decided to go on a killing spree of male children who were two years old or younger (Matthew 2). King Herod had no problem in executing this solution to eliminate Jesus Christ because he had a record of murdering people who threatened his power and leadership.
This account of Jesus’ birth should remind us all of the story of Moses’ birth, as Pharaoh went out on a killing spree, killing every male born to a Hebrew woman to control the population of the Israelites, because he felt threaten by their numbers and strength. The biggest struggle associated with both of these stories is that many innocent babies were killed to preserve Jesus Christ. Why didn’t God warn those parents in a dream to go to Egypt to avoid King Herod’s massacre? The “why” question is difficult to answer in this situation. It is also difficult to answer when we witness innocent people die at the hands of sin and unnecessary suffering. There are a lot of unfortunate circumstances that happen which we do not understand, but we do know that God has a divine plan, and God is in control. We do know that it was not Jesus’ time to die, as his destiny was not to be killed, but to give his life freely on the Cross. We need to know that our survival of stuff that could have taken us out is not about us, it is about God’s divine plan on our lives. As long as we are willing to follow that plan, the devil, no matter how hard he tries to take us out, God’s protection will be all around us. Yes. Others will not survive his attacks, or the stuff that happens in our lives that has nothing to do with Satan.
But we, who have been given the gift to move pass it, need to give God the glory, and live the life that Jesus did, healing the sick, making the blind to see, rebuking the demonic spirits, and bringing life to dead places. When God chooses us for a particular work and placed certain promises over our life, we can rest assure that whatever conflict, hurt, disappointment, or sickness, roles our way, the devil cannot touch this. He may be able to do stuff to us on the outside, but our souls he cannot have. There are plenty of King Herod’s around. They are everywhere, even in our families, workplaces, and the church. They feel threatened by our anointing and appointment with God. They do not want us to meet our divine destiny, and they will stop at nothing to make sure that we cannot make it to our next step. They would mess with us if they did not see God over our lives.
The innocent babies were killed, only because Herod thought they were a threat to him. He thought they were Jesus. Brothers and sisters, we better recognize that King Herod has been after us since we were born. Sometimes we wonder why we had such a rough childhood or why we are faced with more struggle than others, it is because we have greatness on our lives and King Herod is after us. During these times when we are being hunted, God will hide us out in Egypt. God will hide us from King Herod if we let him. If we are willing to go where he tells us to go, stay put even in places where we do not want to be until he tells us to leave, and listen to his divine instructions to us, even though they do not make sense or pose a grave inconvenience. When we act in this way, God will not expose us to the evils of the world. God wants to keep us safe. Unfortunately, many of us fail to obey him, and we end up in very dangerous places, but God is still able.
This is why the songwriter wrote, “I am a safe in his arms.” We are the Christmas to come, and the devil can’t touch this!!
