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Answer
Matthew recounts that an angel of God warned Joseph to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt to escape King Herod, who intended to murder Jesus (Matthew 2:13-15). Joseph, Mary, and Jesus promptly departed «When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: », (Matthew 2:14) and stayed in Egypt until Herod’s death. Afterward, they returned to Israel. Matthew concludes by stating that this event fulfilled the prophecy “Out of Egypt I called My son” «and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son. », (Matthew 2:15).
The prophecy first appeared in Hosea 11:1, where Hosea records God’s words: “When Israel was a youth I loved Him, and out of Egypt I called My son” (NASB). In Hosea’s context, it is evident that God refers to the people of Israel. The symbolic representation of Israel as God’s son is initially established when God called Moses to lead Israel out of Egypt. God told Moses, “Israel is My son, My firstborn” «And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my son, even my firstborn: », (Exodus 4:22). Due to the special bond between God and Israel, the people would acknowledge God as their Father for generations, extending beyond Abraham and Jacob (Isaiah 63:16;Isaiah 64:8). God confirms this enduring relationship long after the time of the patriarchs.
S “They shall come with weeping, and with supplications will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble: for I am a father to Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn.”, (Jeremiah 31:9). God had a covenant relationship with the people of Israel that started with the Abrahamic Covenant (Genesis 12, 15—17) and would extend into eternity. When Israel was in captivity and bondage in Egypt, God would call His son—the nation of Israel—out of Egypt. Hosea 11:1 accurately sums it up, then, with “out of Egypt I called My son.”
There is an important nuance of biblical prophecy that helps us understand how a historical happening with Israel (“out of Egypt I called My son”) can be fulfilled with Jesus. Often, we think of Bible prophecy as the prediction of an event and then that event taking place—and that certainly is the case in many instances of Bible prophecy. But there is another aspect of prophecy. New Testament writers (like Matthew and John, for example) show that an Old Testament prophecy can sometimes simply be an event that prefigures something similar and more significant that would happen in the future. Rather than simply make a prediction about a future event, sometimes Bible prophecy records an event that points to a similar but much later event.
In this case, when Matthew quotes “out of Egypt I called My son” “and was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.”, (Matthew 2:15), he is suggesting that the exodus of Israel is the earlier event that prefigured or pointed to a later event that would be even more significant: the “exodus” of Jesus from Egypt. As Jesus was God’s only begotten (or uniquely begotten) son “For…”God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, so that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” (John 3:16), it was once again true that “out of Egypt I called My son.” However, this time, the calling out of Egypt completed or fulfilled the previous event—a purpose of the earlier event was to illustrate something significant in the future, and that later event of importance had now occurred with Jesus. If historical events were shaped to point forward to Jesus, it is clear that Jesus is the central figure in biblical history.
There is another crucial aspect of this prophecy that should be encouraging to us. Just as Israel has a unique relationship with God as their Father, we too can call Him “Abba, Father” (abba is a Hebrew word for “father”), as Paul explains in Romans 8:15. When we believe in Jesus, we are adopted as children, and we also have an intimate relationship with God. The Creator of the universe has ordered history in such a way as to show that He desires a relationship with the people He created—loving and caring for us enough to overcome our frailty and failure. “Out of Egypt I called My son” is not an irrelevant historical event. It is a significant historical sign (Israel out of Egypt) pointing to the arrival of the Messiah who would deliver people from sin.
