Matthew 2:15 and Hosea 11:1
One example where
Matthew shows a correspondence between Israel and Jesus is Matthew 2:15 and its
use of Hosea 11:1. According to Matthew 2:13-14, Mayr and Joseph took the child
Jesus to Egypt to escape Herod’s attempt to kill Him. Matthew 2:15 then relates
Jesus’ return from Egypt with Israel’s journey in the exodus from Egypt
centuries earlier: “He [Jesus] remained there until the death of Herod. This
was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘OUT OF
EGYPT I CALLED MY SON.’” Jesus’ return from Egypt is said to “fulfill” [pleroō]
the event of Israel’s journey from Egypt as referred to in Hosea 11:1. Hosea
11:1 reads: “When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My
son.” But how can Jesus’ return from Egypt be a fulfillment of a historical
event for Israel that occurred centuries earlier? Hosea was referencing the
historical exodus of the Hebrew people from Egypt seven-hundred years earlier.
So how can an event that occurred centuries earlier be fulfilled with Jesus’
return from Egypt? Can a statement about a past event also be a prophecy about
a coming person?
The answer is found
in corporate representation in which events for the “many” are linked
with events of the “One.” This involves Israel and Jesus. While Israel has
several purposes in God’s plans, one is to be the vehicle for the Messiah. Paul
made this point in Romans 9:5: “and from them [Israel], by physical descent,
came the Messiah” (HCSB). Because Jesus is the ultimate and ideal “Israelite,”
Matthew wants to show his readers that Jesus is the Messiah of Israel. To do
that, Matthew connected events in Israel’s history with events in Jesus’ life. For
Matthew, the fact that both Israel and Jesus came out of Egypt was not an
accident or coincidence. God intended this correspondence.
Significantly, the
connection between Israel and the Messiah concerning Egypt was not invented by
Matthew. This connection is made in Numbers 23 and 24. Compare the following
oracles of Balaam in Numbers 23 and 24:
·
“God brings them [Israel] out of Egypt, He [God] is for them like the
horns of the wild ox.” (Num. 23:22)
·
“God brings him [Israel’s king (see Num. 24:7)] out of Egypt, He is for
him like the horns of the wild ox.” (Num. 24:8)
In these verses both
Israel and Israel’s King are said to be brought out of Egypt. Thus, even before
Hosea wrote Hosea 11:1, Numbers 23 and 24 connected Israel as a whole
who came out of Egypt with the King of Israel who also would come out of
Egypt. Hosea likely knew this when he wrote Hosea 11:1. If so, while he
primarily had the historical exodus event in mind, he also may have had the
coming King of Israel in mind.
Also, the use of
“son” by both Hosea and Matthew is strategic. Terms like “seed” and “son” are
strategic in the Bible and often carry both a collective and individual sense
in the Ot. And when these terms were used collectively, they also could imply a
coming “Seed” and “Son”. So when Hosea referred to Israel as God’s “son” who
came out of Egypt, he may also have had a messianic hope in mind. This is not
an argument for double meaning, but a realization that certain terms in the OT
carried both a corporate and individual sense. Even if one sense is primary,
the other could be present as well. This is true in Genesis 3:15 when “seed” is
used in both a collective sense of mankind and an individual sense [“he”] of
the one who would defeat the serpent.
So to answer the
original question—how does Jesus “fulfill” Israel’s exodus from Egypt according
to Matthew 2:15? The answer is that Jesus is the ultimate Israelite. He is
related to Israel, and His return from Egypt is connected to corporate Israel’s
exodus from Egypt centuries earlier. Jesus is Israel’s Messiah who can restore
Israel and bring blessings to Gentiles (see Isa. 49:6). As Luke 2:32 states,
Jesus is “A LIGHT OF REVELATION TO THE GENTILES, And the glory of Your people
Israel.” (Michael Vlach, The Old in the New: Understanding How the New
Testament Authors Quoted the Old Testament [The Woodlands, Tex.: Kress
Biblical Resources/Sun Valley, Calif.: The Master’s Seminary Press, 2021],
140-41)
