Dem Run for Night: Di Journey Go Egypt

Darkness. One hand touch shoulder. Mary. Wake up. We must go. Now now. No lamp. No goodbye. Only one donkey, one small bundle of property, and one small pikin wey dey sleep for im mama arms.

Di wise men from di East don come and don go. Dem follow one star reach Bethlehem, kneel down for front of di pikin Jesus, and open dem treasure: gold, frankincense and myrrh. King Herod don tell dem make dem come back tell am where di pikin dey, so dat e go fit worship am too. But na lie. And God warn di wise men for dream make dem no go back to Herod. So dem follow another road go house. Now, inside one small house for Bethlehem, Joseph dey sleep. And e wan get im own dream.

Angel of di Lord appear to am. Get up. Carry di pikin and im mama, run go Egypt. Stay there until I tell you. Herod go search for di pikin to destroy am. Joseph no wait for morning. Matthew say e get up, carry di pikin and im mama for night, and comot go Egypt. Think about dat journey. Plenty days of waka, go south and west, comot from di hill country, cross dry land go one foreign country wey dem dey speak different language. Joseph, Mary and Jesus don become refugees. Dem no get house. Only one promise. Stay there until I tell you.

Back for Jerusalem, Herod come see say di wise men don outsmart am. Im vex well well. And e do one terrible thing. E give order make dem kill all di boys for Bethlehem and di places around am, wey be two years old and under. Matthew no stay long for di matter, and we no go stay long too. But e remember di word of di prophet Jeremiah, about one voice wey dem hear for Ramah, crying and big mourning, Rachel dey cry for her children, and she no gree make anybody comfort am, because dem no dey again. Di Bible no pretend say di world safe or say wicked rulers no dey harm people. E call di sorrow by im name. And God people don dey mourn together with those mothers since dat time.

For dat time, for Egypt, di family dey wait. We no know how long. Then Herod die. And again, angel come meet Joseph for dream. Get up. Carry di pikin and im mama, go di land of Israel. Those wey dey find di pikin life don die. Matthew see say one old word dey come true. Long time ago, di prophet Hosea hear God talk say, I call my son comot from Egypt. One time, God bring di whole people of Israel comot from Egypt. Now di Messiah of Israel dey make di same journey come house.

So Joseph start di journey again. But for road e hear news. Herod son Archelaus dey rule Judea now for im papa place. Joseph fear to go there. And after God warn am for another dream, e turn go north to di area of Galilee. Dem settle for one small town wey dem dey call Nazareth. Na there Jesus go grow up, far from palace, for ordinary village, as di son of carpenter. And Matthew talk say dis one too fit wetin di prophets don talk: dem go call am Nazarene.

Joseph get correct reason to fear Archelaus. Di Jewish historian Josephus, wey write later for di first century, describe Archelaus as ruler wey hard and wicked. Im rule bad reach di level wey big men for di Jews and di Samaritans send complaint about am go Rome. For di end, di emperor Augustus remove am from power and drive am go Gaul, di place wey dem dey call France today. But Galilee, na im brother Herod Antipas dey rule am. Na there, for quiet Nazareth, di family make dem home.

Di journey go Egypt. You go find am for Matthew chapter two, verse thirteen to twenty-three. Three times Joseph dream, and three times e get up and obey. E no know di whole plan. Only di next step. So see one question wey you go carry dey go. Wetin be di next step wey God fit dey ask you make you take, even before you see di whole road?