There is no known age of Jesus after His Return from Egypt, but there are supporting facts that give hints. Like this post? how old was jesus when they fled to egypt. Well, for starters, as a rule in the ancient world births werent officially recorded as they are now, people didnt have birth certificates, etc. Joseph and Mary leave town without the 12-year-old Jesus, thinking him to be in another part of their caravan. Mary was Blackthat makes Jesus Black. But a part of me does hope he was black. The final four verses of Luke 24 (vss. Interesting. Paul writes furthermore that through Jesus we have received adoption, meaning that God, having bought us from others who held us as slaves, didnt bring us into his household to be his own slaves, but instead made us his sons and daughters. Heres an interesting and related issue. These commands make it compulsory for all Jewish males to journey to Jerusalem. I cant help but laugh at the thought. Matthew. Please put more melaine in the skin of Mary and Joseph and Jesus! The Nativity and the Flight into Egypt took place in the last years before the death of Herod the Great which is known to have taken place in late March or early April, 4BC. October 23, 2011. Matthews account seems to have been structured so that the prophecy in the Book of Revelation of the Woman with 12 Stars giving birth to a child and being confronted by the dragon should be fulfilled Matthews gospel is riddled with accounts of events happening so that the prophecy should be fulfilled to the extent that his account of the Nativity is not taken seriously by scholars. Here is my question, if the Magi began their journey at the birth of Jesus and it took 2 years to reach Him, and the visitation and giving of gifts took place in a manager, wouldnt that suppose that Jesus lived in a manger after His birth for 2 years? Matt. Some children see Him bronzed and brown, Humphreys and Waddington therefore suggest a scenario where Jesus was crucified and died at 3pm on 3 April AD 33 , followed by a red partial lunar eclipse at moonrise at 6.20pm observed by the Jewish population, and that Peter recalls this event when preaching the resurrection to the Jews (Acts of the Apostles 2:1421). What I understand before, a few days after Mary delivered our Lord Jesus, the wise men came and then a few days later they escaped to Egypt. According to local traditions, the first stop for the Holy Family was Farma, east of the Nile river. 8 AD approx. So depending on when Jesus was born, the journey to Egypt lasted no more than two years, and perhaps as little as a few weeks or months. I dont understand how you can say Jesus was born in 6 B.C., when B.C. means Before Christ. ESV Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.". As the apostle John proclaimed, Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book, but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name (20:30-31, emp. Herod the King was known as Herod the Great, and was made King by the Romans in the year 43 BC Historians tell us that his death occurred approximately 4 BC According to Matthew Henrys commentary on the book of Matthew, page 10, Christ was born in the 35th year of Herod the Greats reign. The broad consensus of the community of Jesus followers was that this view did not faithfully represent Jesus, as his life and teachings were passed down from those who knew him. 2:13 After they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, "Get up, take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt, and stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to look for the child to kill him." 2:14 Then he got up, took the child and his mother during the night, and went to Egypt. The calendar has remained fixed even though our understanding has changed of when Jesus was born. The Holy Family had to leave Bethlehem because of the wickedness and cruelty of the Jews, and had been warned to do so by the Angel Gabriel . He was also a consultant to Tyndale House for the Immerse Bible, an edition of the New Living Translation (NLT) that similarly presents the Scriptures in their natural literary forms, without chapters and verses or section headings. It was true that Herod died within a relatively short time, but his son still took over. Did Ruth seduce Boaz to get him to marry her? The flight into Egypt is a story recounted in the Gospel of Matthew (Matthew 2:13-23) and in New Testament apocrypha. It would be a shame for children to lose the magic of Christmas Nativity but sooner or later they have to learn the reality of Santa Claus. This passage identifies the place of Christs birth as being Bethlehem of Judea and the time of His birth was in the days of Herod the King. Why was Moses not allowed to enter the Promised Land? It seems to me that the most likely scenario is that Jesus was born around 6 B.C., the wise men (by their own account) arrived in Jerusalem two years later in 4 B.C., and in that same year . I believe that this is how Jesus would have looked too. Bethlehem is only 5 miles from Jerusalem while Nazareth was a journey of several days. and with thy heart as offering, Any likely candidates? It is probable that the Magi were led by the star to Bethlehem, offered their homage, departed, Joseph was warned, and the holy family started to Egypt, all the same night. Listen to our Bible studies now from your browser. He says, for example, that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christrestoring a broken relationship. I thank you for your efforts. How did the shepherds know where to find babyJesus? What evidence is there for the divine inspiration of the NewTestament? Oral traditions were the norm. Heres what I say in response to your questionWhat exactly was Jesus death all about?in my guide to Pauls Journey Letters. Thus began the first of the persecutions that Christ Jesus would undergo on earth all throughout history, whether against Himself or against members of his Mystical Body. And when He was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem according to the custom of the feast. This concept is so rich in meaning that it needs to be seen from more than one perspective to be fully appreciated. 2, p.8). Also, to Elaine (no reply link was under her comment about progressives). But he came in a very different way for an important reasonto show us that whoever would be the greatest must be the least and the servant of all. Thank you! It is also believed that Joseph, the carpenter, might have worked at the Babylon Fortress nearby. According to local traditions, the first stop for the Holy Family was Farma, east of the Nile river. Later that night, Joseph had a frightening dream where an angel of God appeared to him. He has a B.A. Joseph with Mary and Jesus remains in Egypt till he hears through Matt. The Church of St Sergius in Cairo stands where . Joseph is 56 and Benjamin is about 40. Firstly, thank you for your work and this excellent hypothesis. Jacob is 147 years old. Why was only Miriam punished with leprosy when she and Aaron rebelled against Moses? There are traditions in Egypt that Mary and Joseph took Jesus to Elephantine for safety and to be in a Jewish community. Will God really give us anything we ask for if we ask in Jesusname? Some children see Him lily white, Opening up another front against the atomization of the Scriptures: A review of the ESV ReadersBible, The Birth Of A King Part 21 | Joseph Bias Ministries, Did Joseph and Mary take Jesus to Egypt because they could blend in there, Which angel told Jesus parents to take him to Egypt? Receiving rich presents from mysterious eastern magi at Bethlehem after Jesus' birth, he then fled to Egypt to avoid the wrath . I think this Christmas carol by Alfred Burt says it all. 13-15. 2:13-18 Joseph is warned by an angel in a dream to take Jesus and Mary to Egypt to escape King Herod's wrath (see 3 on Map 4). Luke 4:1-3; Matthew 4:1-11). His wife Samantha maintains this site as well as their missionary outreaches. Most scholarship places the date of Herod's death around 4 BCE. Unavailable on an ad-supported plan due to licensing restrictions. from Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, a Th.M. When Muslims capture a city like Jerusalem they destroy every bit of history documenting any civilization before them. Wells, Steve (2011), Skeptics Annotated Bible, http://www.skepticsannotatedbible.com/contra/egypt.html. Jesus' childhood . . Do you know how long it would take to travel from Bethlehem to Egypt by foot? Luke 1:39-56. they love Him, too! (Even though A.D. dating is supposed to begin with the birth of Christ, it wasnt quite calculated correctly in the first place and so it actually begins a little way into his lifetime.). That is, he paid a price to buy us out of slavery, because we were enslaved to things that by nature are not gods. I hope these comments were helpful. Jews originally were a brown people, you cant have zero melanin in a hot climate or desert climatic zones, would give you skin cancer. The family traveled to Nazareth which took them a journey of at least 170 kilometers. When he is eight days old, Jesus is circumcised as is traditional for Jewish boys. In addition, Paul, who was indeed literate and the one who taught the world to be Christian, didnt live through Jesus time on earth, he interpreted what Jesus himself (the Holy Spirit?) But Matthew discreetly does not say where Jesus actually was when they arrived, just that the Magi followed the star from Jerusalem to that place. How old was Jesus when his dad died? Egypt has a very intimate connection with Bible history. Thank you for your reply and clear explanation, Christopher. To few do not care. Matthew 2King James Version. The term refers to how, as Gods redemptive plan unfolds and reaches its climax in the person and work of Christ, it can be discerned that the end looks like the beginning, although what happens in the end makes right whatever went wrong in the beginning. I think Joseph and Mary may have sought out friends-of-friends or extended relatives there. If Jesus is a Greek translation. Any idea where in ancient Egypt Christ may have stayed? The point is not that Jesus could not have set foot on earth any other way, its that he chose to identify with us by actually being born a human in order to take on our life and redeem it with his. Did David ever seek Gods guidance aboutmarriage. It would be just as hard to feed 30,000 people in the barren Sinai territory as it would 2 million ( Nehemiah 9:20-21 ). Sometimes people now use the terms BCE (before the common era) and CE (common era) to avoid precisely the confusion youre pointing out. (Reference) https: . I say in this post that Jesus parents took him to Egypt no more than two years after Jesus was born. So he was no more than two years old, and as I suggest in the post, the family was there no more than two years, and perhaps as little as a few weeks or months, so they would have returned by the time he was four. So many of the dates in the Bible are vague or unascertainable, but here for once is an event that can be confidently dated. This was before news, media, and the web. The starting point for the journey that Joseph, Mary, and Jesus took down to Egypt is shortly after the end of the wise mens visit with them, before Herod realized, after a few days or a couple of weeks, that they werent coming back to his court as they had promised. History. Some children see him dark as they, A quick intro and overview of our ministry and this website, plus some best-of articles and Q&A. A book about stones in the life of Jesus can hardly ignore the Pyramids of Egypt. (Clicking on a category will display all of the posts it, in a continuous scroll with the most recent at the top.). Why were some books removed from the Bible and is it a sin to read them? He has written over 2,000 reference and/or popular articles and received six honorary doctoral degrees. Why did God reject Saul as king for making one small mistake? Egyptian Christians date their first bishop to the days of Mark the Evangelist.. In fact, if there hadnt been a Roman census in 6 B.C., wed have even less idea of when Jesus was born.