Christmas at Matthew's House

Scripture: Revelation 12:1-5

C.I.: Satan is Out to Get You!

In this series… - (Explain Scripture Reading) – Today we are concluding our series.
Yet what we will learn from this account from Jesus life – should help us as we face evil in our lives today!

•  Satan is Out to Get You, (Matthew 2:13-23)

A. The Hatred against the King, (vs. 13-18)
1. ( v. 13 ), “…an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, ‘Arise and take the Child and His mother, and flee
to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; - for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.'”
a. Satan sought to destroy Jesus - and he is still out to destroy God's people, ( cf. Rev. 12:17 ).
b. Yet don't miss the point of the dream; God not only reveals danger but also the means of escape!!


2. ( vs. 14-15 ), “And he arose and took the Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt; - and was there until the
death of Herod, - that what was spoken by the prophet might be fulfilled, saying, ‘Out of Egypt did I call My Son.'”
a. Don't miss Joseph's response – Obedience!
1) Obeying God's will is what gives us the victory over Satan!!
2) ( Rev. 12:7-9 ), “And there was war in heaven, Michael and his angels waging war with the dragon. –
And the dragon and his angels waged war, - and they were not strong enough, and there was no longer a
place found for them in heaven. – And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is
called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; - he was thrown down to the earth, and his
angels were thrown down with him.”
3) ( Rev. 12:10-11 ), “I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, ‘Now the salvation and the power, and the
kingdom of our God and the authority of His Christ have come, for the accuser [Satan] of our brethren
has been thrown down, - who accuses them before God day and night. – And they overcame him by the
blood of the Lamb [ quote Rom. 6:3-4; Mk. 16:16 ] – and because of the word of their testimony, [ quote
Mk. 16:15 ] - and they did not love their life even to death, [ Rev. 2:10; Mk. 8:35 ] , “Do not fear…” -
“…whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel's shall save it..'”

b. When God's people listen to and obey the word of God – He has promised to keep us spiritually safe.
1) But Satan is not happy about this – so he will use others (e.g. Herod) to destroy God's people..
a) ( Matt. 4:8-9 ), “Satan took Him to a high mountain and showed Him all the kingdoms….”
b) ( Rev. 13:2 ), “And the dragon gave him his power and his throne and great authority.”


3. ( v. 16 ), Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, - he became very enraged, and sent and slew all
the male children who were in Bethlehem and its environs, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had
ascertained from the magi.”

a. As we saw last week, Herod had an unspoken agenda – which was different from what he said.
1) ( vs. 7-8 ), “Herod secretly called the magi, and ascertained from them the time the star appeared. – And
he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, ‘Go and make careful search for the Child; and when you have
found him, come and report to me, that I too may worship him.'”

b. When someone has an agenda and power – Satan can use them to destroy those whom God loves…
1) We see this all around us: wars in Darfur, beheadings, Twin Towers, abortions…!
2) As the Lord's people – if we want to be spiritually safe - we need to listen to God's words!!!

4. ( vs. 17-18 ), “Then that which was spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled, saying, ‘A voice was heard in Ramah,
weeping & great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; and she refused to be comforted, because they were no more.”

a. King Herod was truly an evil person (give stats on those whom he had killed – incl. Eusebius)
1) Killed all the members of the Sanhedrin (except for 1) for bringing charges against him
2) Killed the Jewish high-priest.
3) Killed several of his wives and a number of his children for fear they plotted against him.
4) Thus his plan to kill a bunch of babies because one of them may one day become King is not surprising

B. The Humility of the King, (vs. 19-23)

1. ( vs. 19-22 ), “But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying,
‘Arise and take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child's life are dead.' –
And he arose and took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. - But when he heard that Archelaus was
reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. - And being warned by God in a dream, he
departed for the regions of Galilee”

a. This is the 3 rd time we have God instructing Joseph - how to provide for the safety of his family.
1) Clearly Satan is out today to destroy all families (not just the one Jesus belonged to).
2) Families are destroyed when they choose divorce - instead of working hard to keep their marriage intact
Eph. 5:22, 25 , “Wives, be subject to your husbands…” – “Husbands, love your wives just as Christ….”
3) Families are destroyed when parents chose abortions of convenience instead of parenthood, Jgs. 21:24 ,
“In those days there was no king in Israel. – Everyone did what was right in their own eyes . ”
4) Families are destroyed when children are not given godly discipline & instruction, Eph. 6:4 .

b. On the other hand; Joseph lived his life according to the will of God…
1) He married the woman God wanted him to marry, ( 1:20; I Cor. 7:31 ), “…an angel appeared to Joseph in
a dream and said, ‘Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in
here is of the Holy Spirit.'” – “…she is free to marry whomever she wishes, only in the Lord.”
2) He named & reared the Child as God desired, ( 1:25; Pro. 22:6 ), “…she gave birth to a Son; and he named
Him Jesus.” – “Train up a child in the way he should go – even when he is old he will not depart from it.”
3) He did by faith whatever God wanted, e.g., go to Egypt, Galilee, ( 2:7, 14; Matt. 28:19 ), “He arose and
took the Child and His mother to Egypt … Israel.” – “GO therefore and make disciples of all the nations….”
4) When parents live as God desires – He can bless them and keep them safe from Satan!!!

2. ( v. 23 ), “…and he came and resided in a city called Nazareth, that what was spoken through the prophets might be fulfilled,
‘He shall be called a Nazarene.'”

a. Nazareth, according to historians was near a N-S and E-W crossroads of two different trade routes.
1) Since it is located so near to Gentile trading routes – the people who lived there were tainted.
2) The “proper Jews” would not have anything to do with people who lived in Nazareth.
3) Which is why Nazareth said, “Can any good thing come out of Nazareth?” ( Jn. 1:46 ).

b. Satan has always sought to destroy God's people – but he has not succeeded.
1) He tried to destroy the life of Jesus – from the point of His birth - all the way to his adulthood.
2) He tried to destroy Him on the cross- but because of an empty tomb – he still didn't succeed, Col. 2:15 ,
“When He had disarmed the rulers & authorities, He made public display of them, having triumphed over them
through the cross.”
3) Now in this lesson – we see that Satan is out to get us!!!

CONCLUSION: Success against Satan can only happen if we are willing to obey what God says to the letter!

Members here may need to be reminded – Guests may need to be encouraged, ( Mk. 16:16 ).