Father God, I didn’t realize how much you communicated with Joseph while he was asleep until I re-read Matthew Chapter Two. You sent an angel to appear to him in a dream and encouraged him not to be afraid. You told him to take Mary as his wife, and explained that the child within her was conceived by your Holy Spirit. You told him Mary would have a son, and that he was to name him Yeshua - for He would deliver people from their sins.
After Jesus’s birth in Bethlehem, the angel of the Lord appeared again. Once again, in a dream, the angel of the Lord gave Joseph a message. The angel told Joseph to get up and go, take Mary and Jesus to Egypt, right now! King Herod was angry and ready to kill, because he did not want to be thrown off the throne. Matthew 2:14 to 2:18 says that Joseph listened and left immediately for Egypt. He took the child and Mary his mother, and they lived in Egypt until the death of Herod, thus fulfilling the words Hosea 11:1. During their time in Egypt, Herod did awful things, he sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under. And these disgraceful acts fulfilled the Word that God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah, in Chapter 31 verse 15: “A voice is heard in Ramah, mourning and great weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more.” The angel of the Lord came again, through a dream to the man Joseph, while he was still living in Egypt. The angel told him to get up and go back to the land of Israel, and assured him that those who were trying to kill the child would no longer pose a threat to them. And then the Lord’s message came again, when Joseph was redirected from Judah to Nazareth. And this is where baby Jesus would grow up, like a shoot extending from the Branch. The truth that God speaks to people through their dreams was also seen when God spoke to the wise men from the East. Matthew 2:12 says when it was time to for the Wise Men to return to their own country, they took another route for they had been warned by God in a dream not to return to King Herod. After reading Matthew Chapter 2, two things became abundantly clear to me. God speaks to people through dreams when they are asleep, and angels absolutely do exist! The Lord finds a way to direct our steps, especially when it comes to protecting the legacy of his beloved son, Jesus.
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