of His undeserving people. Repeatedly, Hosea stressed God’s love for His people (1:10–11; 2:16–23; 3:4–5; 6:1–3; 11:1–11; 14:1–9). Similarly, in Matthew’s infancy narrative there is stress on God’s preservation during the child’s early years (1:20; 2:13–18). However, by itself this thematic approach establishes little more than an analogous relationship between the two events. Something else must have been involved. It is in the deliberate application of what had become by