The context here is the birth and infancy of Jesus Christ. After the wise men left, Joseph and Mary did not take Jesus back to Nazareth, but slipped down to Egypt. They took this precaution because God had revealed to them that they were in danger from Herod. After Herod’s death they returned to Palestine, and it is at this point that Matthew notes, “This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet, ‘I called my Son out of Egypt.’ ” At first, we are taken aback. Nothing in Hosea prepares
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