Matthews gospel, which tells us about the Magi, also specifies that they followed the star from Jerusalem to the place where the child was, and that they went into a house to see him. You may want to look for further items of interest by using the resources below: the search bar; the lists of posts; and the list of categories. He adds that God wasnt counting peoples sins against them. That is, God extended forgiveness. So what exactly was Jesus death all about? Where they lived after Jesus born. ii. 2, p.8). But a part of me does hope he was black. If youre not yet familiar with the term and concept of recapitulation as used in Christian theology, you have some wonderful discoveries ahead of you. They escape by night, just before Herod orders the murder of all baby boys born in and around Bethlehem during the last two years. Like this post? Thank you for your reply and clear explanation, Christopher. An interesting question that also arises is, since Jesus did find shelter as a refugee in Egypt for some length of time, whether He still feels a debt of gratitude to his briefly adopted homeland, and whether this provides an even further incentive for God to want to see justice done for all sides in current Middle Eastern disputes. Keep in mind that the Bible is a book that covers approximately 4,000 yearsfrom Creation to the end of the first century A.D. Gods purpose in giving us His Word was not to tell us about everything that every person ever did up to that point in time. Good Question, Where did Jesus live in Egypt? The Nativity and the Flight into Egypt took place in the last years before the death of Herod the Great which is known to have taken place in late March or early April, 4BC. Jonathan Cahn has explained how Jesus birth date was Nisan one, 6BC; or March 20th. Dr. Christopher R. Smith, shares his reflections about the Scriptures and answers questions from users of the guides and from others who want to find out more about the Bible. Most scholarship places the date of Herods death around 4 BCE. Once again, Luke, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit (cf. There are several hundred posts here, on a wide range of biblical topics. Answer (1 of 6): Right after Jesus was born, Saint Joseph took baby Jesus and his Mother Mary to Egypt! from Northwestern College in Minneapolis, Minnesota, a M.A. If you have a question, please use the link at the top left of this page to reach the comment box. If you were to go to MANY old European towns and visit their churches you would see statues and pictures if a Black Madona and child. Herod died 4 BC, five days after he had put his son, Antipeter, to death and a little before the Passover. Firstly, thank you for your work and this excellent hypothesis. "Herod is looking for your child and wants to kill him.". You say, And since Jesus was born around the time of the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, his birth occurred some time between 6 B.C. Published Its thought by Christian denominations and Muslims that Our Lady was trying to help peace outlook by appearing in the traditional town thought to have been the Familys refuge. CHRIST IS RISEN.TRULY RISEN. the baby Jesus born this night. They reached Egypt after a 65 kilometers journey where they lived for three years until after the death of Herod in 4 B.C. Can a man from another planet not set foot on earth except he be born of a woman on this earth? Unavailable on an ad-supported plan due to licensing restrictions. At the age of about 30 , he d returned to the Middle East and the life that is familiar to us from the New Testament. The reference to revelation 12:1-6 could be highly symbolic. The Wise Men/Toddler Jesus crowd agree with Herod's conclusion. But I suppose there are many places with similar stories. So if Jesus actually had spent 430 days in Egypt, recapitulating Israels 430 years there, Im sure Matthew would have specified the number. 2:19-23 says that Joseph Mary and Jesus returned from Egypt around that same time. See Revelations 12:6. As the apostle John proclaimed, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name (20:30-31, emp. And since, according to the gospel of Luke, Jesus was born around the time of the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria, his birth occurred some time between 6 B.C. The 1951 language might be considered a bit politically incorrect today, but look past that to the sense of the words: Some children see Him lily white, So we dont know which angel this was. And researchers found a tree where the Virgin Mary came to relax,and the branches are bent in strange way. We have a better idea of when the sojourn in Egypt ended. 16-18. by the wise men, gives orders that all the children in Bethlehem of two years and under be slain. (Revelation 1:13-15). The aforementioned art work is interesting. The inspired physician then writes: So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returnedto Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth (Luke 2:39, emp. Why is it that people west of the Atlantic pay no heed to the Egyptian Christians account of our Lords sojourn of THREE YEARS AND A HALF in Egypt to which He was taken when two years of age, and thereby see that contrary to all Western Christians theories He had to have been born in 9 B.C? and 4 B.C. Also, to Elaine (no reply link was under her comment about progressives). Apologetics Press is a non-profit, tax-exempt organization dedicated to the defense of New Testament Christianity. I hope these comments were helpful. It seems probable that He was between one and two years oldbased upon the account of Herods order to kill all the children two years and under. If Jesus family were in Egypt for much less than a year, why then does it say in the Revelation Prophecy of the Woman with 12 stars round her head, generally interpreted (incorrectly I believe) as Mary giving birth to Jesus, that she was transported to a place prepared for her for 1260 days, which equates to nearly 3 and a half years? Sign up for our free daily newsletter. In unreserved obedience, Joseph "rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod.This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, 'Out of Egypt I called my son'" (2:14-15). Luke 1:39-56. Including photos each week from our outreaches and the weekly review. On a recent visit to Cairo ,I visited a place where it was claimed Jesus lived with his parents. Thankyou. Joseph immediately heeded the warning from the angel and woke up Mary and Jesus. Did Jesus ever visit Egypt? Fill in your details below or click an icon to log in: You are commenting using your WordPress.com account. A reader has asked this follow-up question: Which angel told the parents of Jesus to go to Egypt?. He holds visiting professorship rank in five seminaries. There were two main roads to Egypt. Matt. Jesus circumcision in Bethlehem: Luke 2: 21: 2 nd of February 4 BC: Purification of Mary in Jerusalem: Luke 2: 22: February and/ or March 4 BC: Fled to and dwelt in Egypt: Matthew 2:13-15: April 4 BC: Herod death, Mary family left Egypt and went to Palestine when Jesus was 4 months old. Hi Christy. 1:18-25. Now after they had left, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, 'Get up, 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.' Then Joseph got up, took the child and . They remained there until the death of Herod. So if this isnt in any of the gospels, how do we know that it happened? But a year and a half seems too long anyway, at least as I figure it, as I explain in the post. Even a literal read has the child being caught up to God then the the women flees . He says, for example, that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christrestoring a broken relationship. Jesus could just as easily, and far more logically, have arrived as a fully-grown adult on the day he presented himself to John for Baptism. Joseph is 56 and Benjamin is about 40. Thanks, Chris. You can also read or download the study guides in my Understanding the Books of the Bible series by using the Free Study Guides link at the top of this page. In many traditional societies, such locations of clans are maintained, even with social disruptions. All he had to do was to explain to us that we needed to repent and apologise for our sins, otherwise we would be killed. There is no right way to god or mind power. Coptic Christians believe the Holy familyJesus, Mary and Josephrested here in Wadi Natrun more than 2,000 years ago as they fled the persecution of King Herod shortly after Jesus was born . The writer cited Luke and Mathew as a reference. There are many monestarys and very old churches,were monks,priests and even nuns live a very dedicated lives to serve our lord. 3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was . This same gospel shows how Jesus recapitulated the history of Israel in several other ways as well, for example, by spending 40 days in the wilderness, where Israel spent 40 years. Listen to our Bible studies now from your browser. After that they stopped at Sakha, and is the site of a rock that has an impression of the baby Jesus . A common knowledge among those who are familiar with the little facts provided in Scripture concerning Jesus' early life is that following the visit from the wise men, Matthew reports that Joseph and Mary took Jesus and fled to Egypt at the order of God (Matthew 2:13-14). Herod died in 4 B.C. I will be looking it up. they returned to Jerusalem, seeking Him. Therefore, Moses was at least 80 years old at the red Sea and at Sinai when he received the 10 Commandments from the LORD. I read one article from (another website) stating that our Lord Jesus was probably 2 years old or at least near to that age when the Wise Men arrived. Of course you are free to hold the view if you wish, but it should be acknowledged that it is not the consensus view. According to some scholars the earlier manuscripts of Josephus writings state that Herod died in 1 BC, not 4 BC. What I say in that post about Joseph, Mary, and Jesus would also apply to Joseph many centuries earlier: In terms of skin color, really anyone who went to Egypt at this time would have fit in, because people had long been coming there from Sub-Saharan Africa, farther west in northern Africa, and the Middle East, and so it was a place where people of many different skin colors lived together and interacted. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. 2:13 After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him." 2:14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and went to Egypt. Paul writes furthermore that through Jesus we have received adoption, meaning that God, having bought us from others who held us as slaves, didnt bring us into his household to be his own slaves, but instead made us his sons and daughters. Joseph is . Why did Joseph take Mary and Jesus to Egypt? The Early Days of Jesus. Learn how your comment data is processed. Those people are brown to black skinned in those days. The tree is still there after thousands of years in the middle off desert with nothing around it. So many of the dates in the Bible are vague or unascertainable, but here for once is an event that can be confidently dated. Manasseh, Ephraim are between 19 and 26. It could have been done in the home. y su fama de Hablar a la gente llega hasta Egypt y ahi le hacen This was before news, media, and the web. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him., We dont know exactly when to date this historically. come worship now the infant King. sweet Marys Son to whom we pray. The Egyptians [at that time] had a variety of skin tones themselves., I love reading stuff like this, very interesting:). Given all this, its most likely that the Magi arrived sometime shortly after Marys purification. He has written over 2,000 reference and/or popular articles and received six honorary doctoral degrees. The Gospel of Matthew, chapter 2, gives a biblical summary of Christ's early infancy and childhood. Rather, just as we oftentimes tell stories today and include certain details that others omit, so did the inspired writers of Scripture. There is no known age of Jesus after His Return from Egypt, but there are supporting facts that give hints. 14, note), and take the young Child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou . According to local traditions, the first stop for the Holy Family was Farma, east of the Nile river. He took his family and fled to Egypt to fulfill the prophecy found in Hosea 11:1 that God's beloved Son would be called out of Egypt. A quick intro and overview of our ministry and this website, plus some best-of articles and Q&A. Why arent his life events such as how long he was in Egypt, just to name one, more obvious? Or that he is depicted to be white because white Europeans painted him that way. Ehrman, Bart (2005),Misquoting Jesus: The Story Behind Who Changed the Bible and Why (San Francisco, CA: Harper). 50-53), however, took place more than five weeks later (see Acts 1:1-12). But such an omission is in no way proof of dishonestyanymore than if, at the funeral of a 90-year-old man, someone gives a synopsis of his life, and omits the two years he spent in Warner, Oklahoma in junior college. What evidence is there for the divine inspiration of the NewTestament? Jesus at the age of twelve accompanies Mary and Joseph, and a large group of their relatives and friends to Jerusalem on pilgrimage, according to the custom that is, Passover. Why must all questions, regardless to its relevance, lead to race? Jesus was hid where he could not be seen. They spent a lot of time in Sun also. Jesus was brown to olive skinned, not white. Was He dedicated at the Bethlehem temple? And that reminds us in this season when we are anticipating the Feast of the Incarnation (Christmas) that he truly did come to earthas you say, to save us. Thats the life of Jesus in Egypt which is 1260/365 = 3.45. Deuteronomy 8:3, which Jesus later quotes when tempted by Satan, mentions these provisions from God - although it . This view strikes me as being very close to the so-called Docetic idea, held by some in the early centuries of the Christian era, that Jesus was not really human (as he would have to have been born of a woman to be), but only appeared human. Copyright 2023. Sin has to be paid for. how old was jesus when they fled to egypt. . How did the shepherds know where to find babyJesus? Interesting. In Matthew's Gospel, Joseph fled to Egypt with Jesus and Mary, and remained there until Herod died. John 21:25). Change). Some children see Him bronzed and brown, If Jesus stayed one year or longer in Egypt he would not have been able to observe the day of atonement and various festivals commanded in the law of Moses. There is a spring near the . Speculative, but intriguing. Did Adam lie before sin entered theworld? He is 100% Middle Eastern and when we went to the beach this summer I was shocked at how white his (ordinarily) unexposed skin is. This has been a very good and interesting discussion, and the information you provided is informative, helpful, and much appreciated. Any idea where in ancient Egypt Christ may have stayed? Some children see Him bronzed and brown, It is argued that this example in Matt. Upon learning that Herod Archelaus had succeeded his father in Judea, they continued on to Galilee. But, according to Galatians 1:17-18, Paul actually went to Arabia, back to Damascus, and then after three years he went up to Jerusalem. 2 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? Luke 2:39; Matthew 2: 15, 19-23 Esto no esta en ningun evangelio . and filled with holy light. The Israelites set out towards Succoth (the ancient Egyptian town of Tjeku in the Wadi Tumilat). Humphreys and Waddington therefore suggest a scenario where Jesus was crucified and died at 3pm on 3 April AD 33 , followed by a red partial lunar eclipse at moonrise at 6.20pm observed by the Jewish population, and that Peter recalls this event when preaching the resurrection to the Jews (Acts of the Apostles 2:1421). And if this was an important feature of his visit, why do we not have a complete record in the Bible of His birth and the rest of his life up to the time he presented himself to John for baptism, to support this allegation. The following two tabs change content below. How long did Jesus family stay in Egypt? Matt. Jesus name in Hebrew was Yeshua which translates to English as Joshua. This passage identifies the place of Christ's birth as being Bethlehem of Judea and the time of His birth was . Jesus said that only God knew the time but God always warns us. Egypt had been the traditional place of refuge for Jews both in biblical times (see 1 Kgs 11:40; Jer 26:21) and in the Maccabean era when the high priest Onias IV fled there [emphasis mine]. Ex 12:37-51 The Israelites set out from Avaris (Raamses) on the 14th day of the Jewish month of Nisan in c.1447BC. According to Matthew, after Herod killed John the Baptist, When Jesus heard what had happened, he withdrew by boat privately to a solitary place. Its unlikely that this solitary place was Egypt because: (1) Jesus wouldnt have gone there by boat, but rather on foot; by boat suggests across the Sea of Galilee, as the context in Matthew confirms (when they went back to the other side, they landed at Gennesaret, on the northwest shore of the Sea of Galilee, and (2) a solitary place suggests an unsettled place like the far shore of the Sea of Galilee, not a major civilization such as Egypt. Thank you for your explanations, which are helpful. The term refers to how, as Gods redemptive plan unfolds and reaches its climax in the person and work of Christ, it can be discerned that the end looks like the beginning, although what happens in the end makes right whatever went wrong in the beginning. and 4 B.C, as if the census helps us date the birth of Christ. Why were some books removed from the Bible and is it a sin to read them? 13-15. As it was halfway through the lunar month, the night sky was lit by a full moon. Change), You are commenting using your Twitter account. The Israelites flee from Egypt. Can you please explain further so that we can understand better? Revelations 12:5 She gave birth to a male child [Jesus], one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child[Jesus] was caught up to God and to his throne, 6 and the woman [Mary] fled into the wilderness [Egypt], where she has a place prepared by God, in which she is to be nourished for 1,260 days. Then they continued traveling to Mostorod, a city north of Cairo. Bethlehem is only 5 miles from Jerusalem while Nazareth was a journey of several days. Heres an interesting and related issue. His Apostles were fishermen and, most probably, illiterate. Luke 1:57-80. Mary was Blackthat makes Jesus Black. This concept is so rich in meaning that it needs to be seen from more than one perspective to be fully appreciated. Id read Heliopolis and surrounding towns as candidates, but Alexandria makes sense w/ the Jewish community there. The way the gospel writers see Jesus reliving the experience of Israel is another biblical example. The events that Luke recorded in the first 43 verses of chapter 24 all took place on the very day of Jesus resurrection. It was for justice. When Jesus was still an infant, King Herod of Judea ordered him to kill all "firstborns.". There is a spring near the city that reportedly sprung up after they arrived. The same is true with the Greek conjunction kai, which Luke used in 2:39.