Daniel Unlocked #65

The first time the name “Israel” appears in Scripture is when Jacob had wrestled all night with a powerful angelic opponent. The heavenly stranger finally said, “Your name will no longer be Jacob, from now on you will be called Israel, because you have fought with God and with men and have won.” (Genesis 32:28 NLT). Therefore, the name “Israel” is of heavenly origin and applied to Jacob alone. It represented his spiritual victory over sin, through wrestling in prayer and claiming God’s grace.

After this event the name is applied to Jacob’s descendants. As Yahweh, through Moses, declared to Pharoah; “Israel is my son, even my firstborn … Let my son go” (Exodus 4:22, 23). Then, about 800 B.C., Hosea, said, “When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out of Egypt” (Hosea 11:1). Yet by the time Hosea said this Israel had failed to live up to the spiritual meaning of the name. However, this verse in Hosea is of tremendous importance, when we look at the New Testament. Matthew quotes Hosea 11:1 and applies it to Jesus! He wrote that the child Jesus remained in Egypt “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” (Matt. 2:15).

About 800 years after Hosea’s prophecy, we learn, “Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king” (Matthew 2:1). Because Herod felt threatened by this new child king, he murdered all the children in Bethlehem (v.16). Joseph was warned of the impending crisis in advance when “The angel of the Lord” appeared to him in a dream. They fled to Egypt.

A careful study of Matthew reveals that Christ’s story repeats the history of ancient Israel, point by point — the difference being that Jesus overcame where they had failed. Notice the following amazing parallels from Matthew’s gospel between the history of ancient Israel and Jesus Christ:  In the Old Testament a man named Joseph has dreams and goes into Egypt so that his family could be preserved (Gen 45:5).  In the New Testament, another Joseph likewise has dreams, and he also goes into Egypt to preserve his family (Matt 2:13).

When the young nation of Israel comes out of Egypt, God calls it “my son” (Exodus 4:22). When Jesus comes out Egypt, God says “Out of Egypt have I called my son” (Matt.2:15). When Israel leaves Egypt, they travel via the Red Sea. The apostle Paul says they were “baptized into Moses … in the sea” (1Cor10:2). Jesus is also baptized “to fulfill all righteousness,” and immediately afterward God proclaims Him, “my beloved Son” (Matt3:15-17). After the Red Sea, the Israelites spent 40 years in the wilderness, being led by a pillar of fire, representing God’s Spirit. Immediately after His baptism, Jesus was “led by the Spirit into the wilderness” for 40 days (Matt 4:1, 2).