The Prince of Peace in a Hostile World

“After the wise men were gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. ‘Get up! Flee to Egypt with the child and his mother,’ the angel said. ‘Stay there until I tell you to return, because Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.’ That night Joseph left for Egypt with the child and Mary, his mother and they stayed there until Herod’s death. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet: ‘I called My Son out of Egypt.’ Herod was furious when he realized that the wise men had outwitted him. He sent soldiers to kill all the boys in and around Bethlehem who were two years old and under, based on the wise men’s report of the star’s first appearance. Herod’s brutal action fulfilled what God had spoken through the prophet Jeremiah: ‘A cry was heard in Ramah; weeping and great mourning. Rachel weeps for her children, refusing to be comforted, for they are dead.’ When Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. ‘Get up!’ the angel said. ‘Take the child and his mother back to the land of Israel, because those who were trying to kill the child are dead.’ So Joseph got up and returned to the land of Israel with Jesus and his mother. But when he learned that the new ruler of Judea was Herod’s son Archelaus, he was afraid to go there.

Then, after being warned in a dream, he left for the region of Galilee. So the family went and lived in a town called Nazareth. This fulfilled what the prophets had said: ‘He will be called a Nazarene.’” (Matthew 2:13-23) (Also read Isaiah 63:7-9; Psalm 148; Hebrew 2:10-18) Many times during a year, we rejoiced in the coming of Immanuel. We marvelled that the Creator YAHVEH of all the universes, the Sustainer of worlds without end, would stoop to meet us as one of us. We pondered how YAHVEH would enter humanity as we all enter humanity; choosing a village maiden as the channel for that entry and a carpenter-farmer to partner with her in the rearing of this Adonai-child. Now the first excitement of the event is past. Eastern astrologers and mystics have identified this child as the longed-for world King. The news is out, at least to those in the court of the reigning king of Judea, who is a brutal Eastern potentate. What seemed like such wonderful news of a world redeemer quickly turns into a vicious, heartbreaking story, for although the Prince of Peace has come to the world, the world was; and yet remains; a hostile foe to peace and goodwill among men. In this teaching we walk through the first instalment of the aftermath of HaMashiach, YAHVEH’s only Son, coming to dwell among us.

I.) First, rather than see Him receive a joyous welcome throughout the land, we see that powerful people resented His arrival and plotted to rid the world of His presence. Matthew tells of Herod’s underhanded method to discover the identity of HaMashiach (Matthew 2:7-8). His desire for information from the Wise Men was not so he could worship HaMashiach but so he might find Him and destroy Him. History is replete with countless rulers who see HaMashiach as a threat to their position, not as One Who can, if allowed, enhance their position. Herod was, in reality, the first among many who saw HaMashiach as a threat to be removed, not an ally. Kings and rulers are not alone in their view of HaMashiach as a threat to their desires and plans. Countless common people have and still do see HaMashiach as a burden-bringer rather than a burden-lifter, a hindrance to full life rather than the giver of meaningful, lasting and full life. Their voices join the chorus of rejection rather than acceptance of Immanuel, YAHVEH with us.

II.) No matter the ruler’s or man’s attempt to remove HaMashiach from life, such is not allowed in YAHVEH’s plan to dwell among us as one of us. Matthew tells of loyal, staunch Joseph, who, dreaming and obeying the dream, moves quickly to protect his young family, slipping away in the night to Egypt, there to live in one of the many Jewish communities. Joseph becomes the instrument for saving the life of the Elohim-Child whose time had not yet come to die. YAHVEH always seems to move in His quiet, powerful way to preserve His presence with us. This He does against the most ominous foes. Roman might was unable to annihilate Him in the primitive Church. Other hordes could not drive Him into oblivion. Communist power could not erase Him from society. Once He has come, He remains, even if just below the surface, hidden no deeper than the human heart. Times without number, some Joseph or groups of Josephs have risked life and limb to protect the presence of

Immanuel: early believers, hiding in limestone caves, protecting the good news they had found; medieval monks voluntarily removed from society, guarding libraries of discovered truth; persecuted Christians in a godless Soviet Union and a communist China, keeping the faith in Immanuel and being guided by His ever-present Spirit. All have confounded evil rulers bent on the destruction and presence of the Prince of Peace in the world. Brutal effort has followed brutal effort, as Herods through the ages have slaughtered the innocents (Matthew 2:16), thinking such brutality would eliminate HaMashiach and intimidate to silence any who would proclaim Him. Such strategy has failed and HaMashiach still prevails. Sometimes He resides quietly in some Nazareth, as He did when the primary enemy Herod, was gone (Matthew 2:19-23). There He waits until the time has come for Him to move powerfully to the forefront again. Christian history records those quiet Nazareth years over and over again, only to be followed by revival fires that bring majestic change to the world. The hostile world and the Prince of Peace seem ever to be at odds.

III.) Yeshua HaMashiach is the Prince of Peace and peace among men is still absent; how does HaMashiach’s peace become a reality in our world? First, we must realize that HaMashiach’s peace is not the kind of peace the world seeks. The world wants cessation of war; the sheathing of the sword and the mothballing of guns. The world wants laws enforcing peace, powers enforcing the laws (good or bad) and the removal of anyone who resists this method of ensuring peace. The world through the ages has thought that power can force and enforce peace, no matter the attitude and spirit of human beings. Over and over this legalistic, power-enforced method has failed. The Pax Romana of Yeshua’s day was not the kind of peace Yeshua came to earth to give. Second, the peace of YAHVEH; the kind of peace that Yeshua offers; begins within the individual and works outward. It does not begin outside and work its way inward through force. Yeshua offers a gift to be received, not a law to obey. It comes through our individual invitation for the Prince of Peace to enter our warring and sinful hearts and lives and take control. When He comes, He rearranges the furniture, casting out what is broken and useless, cleaning what has been tarnished by misuse and installing new what is needed to complete the furnishings we will need to live at peace within. Once we are inwardly at peace through His abiding Spirit, we learn to live peacefully in our tumultuous world. Like an oasis in a desert, we then become a source of lasting refreshment for strugglers about us, as we help them find their inward peace in a warring world. Thus “the kingdom of this world becomes the Kingdom of our YAHVEH and of His HaMashiach where He shall reign forever and ever” (Revelation 11:15).