Stability and Obedience
In the first two chapters of Matthew, there are five mentions of dreams through which directions are given about what to do next.
Matthew 1:20-21
But, while he was considering this, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream. 'Joseph, son of David, the angel said, don't be afraid to get married to Mary. The child she is carrying is from the Holy Spirit. She is going to have a son. You are to give him the name Jesus; he is the one who will save his people from their sins.'
Matthew 2:12
They were warned in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they returned to their own country by a different route.
Matthew 2: 13
After the Magi had gone, suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. 'Get up, he said, and take the child, and his mother, and hurry off to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you. Herod is going to hunt for the child, to kill him.'
Matthew 2:19-20
After the death of Herod, suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. 'Get up, he said, and take the child and his mother and go to the land of Israel. Those who wanted to kill the child are dead.'
Matthew 2:22
But when he heard that Archelaus was ruling Judaea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go back there. After being advised in a dream, he went to the region of Galilee.
Joseph experienced four of these five dreams. I wish I could talk to him about his experience. I have so many questions.
I want to know who he shared these dreams with - were they talked about around the dinner table?
How did he feel encountering God in this way?
What were his thoughts on the Holy Spirit - what did that mean to him at the time?
Was it hard to trust what he heard in his dreams?
Did he laugh at the idea of getting to Egypt quickly, knowing it would be a long walk?
How much time passed from the first dream to the last dream - it seems like years if I had to guess.
Was this the only time in his life when God spoke to him in dreams, or were there other times?
The wise men experienced the other dream mentioned. I also have questions for them.
Did they all have the same dream? Or did just one person have the dream and share it?
Who did they tell about their dream?
How did they know it was true and they should obey?
Had they had other dreams that guided them?
Let's imagine that somewhere between 3 and 5 years passed in these first two chapters. There is a lot of speculation about the dates, but even though we might not have an exact timeline it was for sure more spread out than the two chapters of text we read.
I'm trying to put myself in Joseph's shoes and consider what he might have experienced.
He's discovered that Mary is pregnant and knows he isn't the father. He doesn't want to embarrass her but also wants to part ways. He probably spends a few days thinking about what to do, and then an angel of the Lord comes to him in a dream and tells him it is okay to go ahead and get married while also telling him about the baby that is coming.
It all must have felt very overwhelming.
But he marries her, and they start their family together. They settle into life at home, and some time, maybe around two years, passes, and then a group of wise men show up at their door to worship their son. Shortly after this arrival, their lives are turned upside down when Joseph has another dream.
I wonder if he just embraced it, or was he like, oh no, not again?
I imagine Joseph waking Mary up and telling her they must get out of town, that it isn't safe anymore - telling her he had a dream and they must leave for Egypt immediately. I wonder if she knew about his previous dream? They fled from their home and life and headed to a land that was not their home.
Matthew doesn't tell us how long they were in Egypt. Some people think the passage in Revelation 12:1-6 gives us a clue as to how long they were there - 1,260 days. However, these 1,260 days seem to begin with the birth of Jesus, so I wonder if 3.5 years is the time from birth to returning to Israel and settling in Nazareth. Others offer different timelines based on the history of Herod, his death, and when his son came into power.
Regardless of how much time has passed, after being in Egypt for however long, Joseph gets another message in a dream - it is safe to return to Israel.
Once again, they are packing up and crossing borders. Heading back to their home. Only Joseph realizes that Herod's son is the ruler of Judaea and feels unsettled about returning there. Once again, he has a dream directing him to Galilee.
They settle in Nazareth, and then we don't really hear much more about Joseph. I'm not sure when he died, but it seems likely it was before Jesus's public life began.
What stands out to me, though, is Joseph's stability and obedience.
Walking away would have been easy. Marrying this girl was going to complicate his life - there was no way around it. An angel had told him she would give birth to a baby conceived by the Holy Spirit and who would save his people from their sins.
That is a lot to take in - dream or no dream.
Yet, he didn't walk away. He stayed. He was a husband to Mary and a father to Jesus. His ability to recognize God in his dreams protected his family - protected the Messiah.
I wonder if we heard Joseph's story today if we'd think he was crazy or if we'd lean in and want to know more.
~ Melissa