Matthew 2: God’s Plans Will Always Prevail

On By The DiscernerIn Bible Study

Reading Matthew chapter 2, a theme really stood out to me. Read these verses below!

“And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son.” (Matthew 2: 12-14)
“But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child’s life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.” (Matthew 2: 19-21)

The theme that stood out to me is the truth of God’s plans always prevailing. As we can see, His will can not be thwarted. Herod wanted to murder Jesus because he felt threatened by this newborn King. He thought that because he was such a powerful man, that he could take it into his own hands and murder this King. Little did he know, that this King wasn’t just any King, this King is the King of Kings, including King over Herod. This newborn baby was God in the flesh, and Herod’s plans to murder Jesus could never have come to fruition.

As a believer, this gives me great comfort. Life is so wish-washy. Life is so fickle. We think we will live to 90, when in reality we can’t even control our next breath. We think we can’t know the truth of our existence, when in reality the truth is right in front of us, in all of creation.

This theme of God’s plan prevailing gives me great comfort because in a world full of fickle randomness, to know that I am a child of God, literally His child, I know that my life is no longer random. Being in Christ means that I have benefits that start here and lead to eternity. Benefits, such as having God’s direct care and provision, knowing that my prayers are heard, knowing that I am cared for, knowing that He has a plan for my life and He will fulfill that plan through me, knowing that my pain has a purpose and I am not here to suffer and die, but suffer and be glorified, knowing that I am loved, forgiven, set free, redeemed, and covered in God’s protection…there is nothing comparable to that.

Before I trusted in Christ, I had no one to turn to. Yes, there’s always a person, a family member, a friend…but they are imperfect and can’t be everything you need at every moment. But when I was redeemed, that all changed. I now have God, who is unchanging, always the same, and always there for me. He’s the King of Kings, and in control of my life and is benevolent and graceful towards me.

“Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

If people only know this immense treasure and gift was right at their heart’s fingertips, they would turn to Jesus in a blink. They would no longer walk in this world lost and wandering, they would have purpose, hope, and a calling. They would experience a love so deep that they could never experience within this fallen world.

“But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” (Romans 5:8)
“You are altogether beautiful, my love; there is no flaw in you.” (Song of Solomon 4:7)

To have the God of Heaven feel this way about us? What a beautiful God. A God so great He created all of the beauty we see in the world. A God so intelligent that He created Math. A God so loving that He gave His son for us. A God so sweet that He comforts us with fuzzy kittens.

The amount of beauty from this God is indescribable. And the greatest miracle of all? That He came as a vulnerable newborn baby, to redeem humanity from the fall that occurred in the Garden of Eden. What kind of loving God do we have, that would do such a thing?! He was born to sacrifice His precious, Holy, unstained life – for our miserable, wretched, vile and foul sins.

This God could have let us just die and go to hell without even a thought of dying on the cross for our sins. But, because God is love, He would never do such a thing. He is love. Love comes from Him and there is no such thing as love outside of Him.

“Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” (1 John 4:8)

This loving God belongs to me, and I belong to Him. That’s because I came to Christ and now I am His Bride.

“I am my beloved’s, and my beloved is mine.” (Song of Solomon 6:3)

Because I have this close relationship with Christ, I know that my life on earth is no longer random. His plans and desires will prevail in my life and no mere human can stop his plans from taking place. And this is true for every believer in Christ. But to have this, a person must come to Christ and put their faith in Him.

Reading Matthew 2 really comforted me when I saw this theme and honed in on it. And I hope it comforts you. If you are a believer, know how powerful God is over your life and nothing can thwart His plans. If you are an unbeliever, know that you too can have this.

All you have to do is receive it.

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name: Which were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:12-13)

38 thoughts on “Matthew 2: God’s Plans Will Always Prevail”

  1. No evidence at all for the massacre of the innocents. The story also speaks to how this god has no concern for the lives of children. Your god intentionally allowed Herod to kill kids, per the story. So much for *their* free will.

    “The theme that stood out to me is the truth of God’s plans always prevailing. As we can see, His will can not be thwarted.”

    hmmm, so, everything is this god’s plan?

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      1. and not one thing in the bible or anywhere else supports that claim. Indeed, the early chrisitans were quite sure that unbaptized children went to hell. If everything is your god’s will, why does it ever *need* to allow evil to triumph?

        Josephus, a historian that Christians like to cite, wrote a huge amount about the Herods. He really hated them for some reason yet he never once mentions this supposed massacre.

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      2. Roman Catholics? They’re a cult and the whole baby baptism thing is literally the opposite is what scripture clearly states: “But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.” Acts 8:12. You believe, then you are baptized merely as a picture of what took place when Jesus died and rose again, and it’s a public testament of faith in christ. Just because one group of people felt a certain way, doesn’t mean it’s true and doesn’t mean it’s what God says. If you needed to be baptized to be saved, then the thief on the cross wouldn’t have been able to experience paradise like Jesus stated – because he wasn’t able to be baptized.

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      3. Every Christian claims that those who disagree with them is a cult. And none of you can show your version as the right one.

        As you know, there are exceptions invented by humans for every problematic part of the bible. Unsurprisingly, just like other Christians, Catholics claimed that God isn’t limited to what God said was needed. It’s rather like excusing this god for doing heinous things because it’s god.

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      4. people can disagree with me all they want, I don’t call them a cult for disagreeing with me – but there are blatant obvious groups out there that say exactly the opposite of the Bible. I’m talking about those people. No one is right 100% on everything, we are all fallible humans. But scripture for the most part is easy to interpret and there are groups which go against what the bible easily outlines.

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      5. Again, every Christian claims that the Christians they dont’ agree with are “blatant obvious groups out there that say exactly the opposite of the Bible.” And none of you can show your version is the right one to compare this to.

        That scripture, it becomes ever so easy to understand when you agree with it, eh?

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      6. So as a Christian, do I have to understand every iota of the Bible to be a Christian? Do I have to agree with all Christians of their understanding in order for God to be real?

        Are you Canadian? because I thought only Canadians said “eh”😂 (Canadian here!)

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      7. well, considering that Chrisians claim that it is their manual for being “saved” one would think you’d at least have a passing familiarity with it.

        and nope, you don’t have to agree with all Christians for the Christian god to be real. For it to be real, you’d have to have some evidence for it. Since chrisitians all claim to worship the same god but have entirely contradictory ideas on what wasn’t isn’t helping.

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      9. “So question: do you think there is a chance that Christians can make mistakes on bible interpretation without it meaning God doesn’t exist?”

        No, if this god supposedly wants everyone to come to it, as many Christians claim.

        Why would this god allow itself to be misunderstood?

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      13. Toronto is great! I met the love of my love in Toronto, so it is a super special place for me. (though he lives in New York City!) I grew up going to Toronto and had family there. I’m from about 4-5 hours north of Toronto (this is where we’re talking reeeally north, -30 degree winters!) and now I’m in Ottawa Ontario. Ottawa is a beautiful city, and its architecture is quite like Europe. You should check it out sometime. Great place 🙂

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      15. You should! Canada is definitely lovely 🙂 sadly, I haven’t seen my significant other in almost 2 years, since January 2020 when I last left NYC to drive back home to Canada. Never did I thought that would be the last time I would see him in almost 2 years! Let’s just say, I am SO thankful for FaceTime, Zoom, Skype etc! 🙂 hopefully this will all be over soon…

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      20. I’m not trying to come off as prideful here, because this is not at all coming from a place of pride. But I don’t think I am right about Jesus Christ being the One true God and Saviour of all mankind…I know He is. I am 100% certain. I can go on forever. I know that’s not enough for you and it’ll turn you off, but I know He is true. And real.

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      21. And again you make a claim that you and only you are right. “But I don’t think I am right about Jesus Christ being the One true God and Saviour of all mankind…I know He is. I am 100% certain.”

        Every theist claims their version of their god is true and real. It would be very silly if they didn’t.

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      25. Interesting that you bring up Josephus to use as a proof that Herod’s massacre of babies never happened, thus proving that you yourself trust Josephus’ writings. Well then, by your own testament, you must believe his other writings, correct? Or are you cherry picking?

        External (Secular) Historical Evidence:
        [63] Now there was about this time *Jesus,* a wise man, if it be lawful to call him a man; for he was a doer of wonderful works, a teacher of such men as receive the truth with pleasure. He drew over to him both many of the Jews and many of the Gentiles. He was *[the] Christ.* And when *Pilate,* at the suggestion of the principal men amongst us, *had condemned him to the cross,* those that loved him at the first did not forsake him; *for he appeared to them alive again the third day;* as the divine prophets had foretold these and ten thousand other wonderful things concerning him. And the tribe of Christians, so named from him, are not extinct at this day. — Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews Books 18 and 20 (AD 93 to 94)

        So if you look at Josephus’ writings and claim that because he didn’t write about Herod’s massacre, then it must NOT have happened, then you must also believe what he says about Jesus’ crucifixion, that it *had* to have happened. Unless, you are cherry picking?

        I also notice that you first say that Herod’s massacre must not have happened because no proof, yet you are angry at God because He “murdered babies” through Herod. So which is it? there is folly and error in your logic & belief.

        Can you prove that the massacre didn’t happen? Please prove to me that Jesus Christ didn’t exist nor was crucified.

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      26. “Interesting that you bring up Josephus to use as a proof that Herod’s massacre of babies never happened, thus proving that you yourself trust Josephus’ writings. Well then, by your own testament, you must believe his other writings, correct? Or are you cherry picking?”

        I have no problem with Josephus writing about the beliefs of Christians. Those writings do not support the claim that JEsus Christ is real.

        The part you quoted is known to have been partly forged.

        I’m “mad” at your god for its failure in the story. It doesn’t have to be real to be a dick.

        “Can you prove that the massacre didn’t happen? Please prove to me that Jesus Christ didn’t exist nor was crucified.”

        Everything in Palestine and Jerusalem went on as usual with no one noticing a Jewish man being followed by a Roman legion’s worth of men in Roman-occupied Palestine and no one noticing the dead wandering around Jerusalem on a Passover, being accompanied by a major earthquake and the sky darkening. Both evidence of absence and absence of evidence.

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      27. 1. Can you prove to me that it’s been forged?
        2. Prove to me nobody noticed “a dead man wandering around Jerusalem”
        3. provide me proof that Christ isn’t real please
        4. Again, why are you using Josephus to prove something and then discounting him when it “disagrees” with you?

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      28. 1. I gave you the link to a good overview on wiki pedia. here it is again: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus

        2. There would have been riots if Jews saw their patriarchs wandering around on a Passover. We have no evidence of anything happening, and we do have evidence that nothign special happened on any date you would care to claim for the date of the crucifiction
        3. There is no evidence for your Christ. As I noted, we have no one noticing very obvious events from the story. In that time period, the Romans had been dealing with insurrection in Palestine. Do you wish to claim that they would not have noticed a Jewish man with 5000 other Jewish men wandering around together? 5000 men is an entire Roman legion.

        You also have the problem that the gospels stories do not match, especially the crucifixion and resurrection parts. No one noticed the darkening of the sky and no one noticed the supposed major earthquake too. Earthquakes leave marks. We find none at any date claimed for the crucifixion.

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      29. 1. Why are you and atheists allowed to disagree on points of atheism and the origin of the universe, yet it is *still truth* according to you – yet if christians disagree, it means that Christianity isn’t true? (if you are going to say that all atheists agree on every iota of atheism and like-theory you are delusional).

        2. Why are you holding Christians to a standard of perfectionism, as though we are perfect like God?

        3. Why are atheists allowed to “still learn” about how the universe came about, yet Christians can’t be learning anything and they have to have perfect knowledge of all things, in order for God to be real?

        4. You claim that there is no evidence to say that Jesus rose from the dead or that Christ existed, even though I have provided a secular text proving that Christ was real and spoken of even outside of scriptural reference. This is an author that you yourself have used, yet the part that I provide as evidence is “forged” (how convenient). Can you provide proof that the Big Bang was witnessed? Because by your assertion, there needs to be a witness for it to be true.

        5. Hypothetically envision that God exists in your mind for a moment. Do you think a God who created the Earth, moon, stars, oceans, hurricanes, tornadoes, sunsets, animals, humans, space, time, math, and everything in existence – do you really believe that God would be fully comprehendible and understandable in your human mind? do you expect to have a full understanding of God for Him to be true? Would He even be God at that point, if your mind can fully understand Him?

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      30. 1. What are the “points” of atheism? Atheism is a conclusion: no god/gods. Atheists have many different worldviews but we don’t disagree that there isn’t a god or gods.
        2. Because Christians claim to have the one and only “right” answer. E.g. “But I don’t think I am right about Jesus Christ being the One true God and Saviour of all mankind…I know He is. I am 100% certain. “

        3. Because Christians claim to have the one and only “right” answer. E.g. “But I don’t think I am right about Jesus Christ being the One true God and Saviour of all mankind…I know He is. I am 100% certain. “
        4. You provided a secular text that has been altered, and the parts that have not been altered refer to a Jesus, no mention of magical abilities. I suspect you do not worship the possible delusional Jewish fellow that some scholars like Bart Ehrman posits, but only the magical one presented in the bible. Josephus’ is not evidence for that supernatural character.

        I have indeed used it since one would expect that Josephus, who for whatever reason did not like the Herods, would have presented such a heinous act in his histories as evidence of how awful the Herods were. Those parts I have used are not under suspicion for being forged.

        Why does something have to be witnessed to be true? I never said that. If you are asking for that, your bible suffers greatly. The Big Bang Theory was hypothesized from what has been observed. The theory predicted things that have been also shown to be true. The theory has proven valid so far. The claims that a god exists and that it send a part of itself to be murdered by torture so it could “forgive” people have yet to be shown true after 2000+ years of looking.

        5. If there was a god like as you describe, there is no reason it can’t be understood. It is supposedly omnipotent, so it can do *anything* by definition. What would make a god not a god if I could understand it? There is nothing in the definition of god that says “has to be incomprehensible”.

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      31. 1. If God exists (hypothetically think about this), would He not have a right to do with His creation as He pleases? Like if He’s the creator, and we’re the creation, would it not be His prerogative to decide if He wants to give like or take life, and if He decides *not* to be fully understood by humans? Would God have this right?

        2. When I told you that those who do not believe the fundamentals of the Bible, for instance, that Jesus Christ is God, then those people are not Christian – why is that unacceptable, when the same goes for you and your atheism? For instance, if a person said “I am an atheist” and also “I believe that there’s a God” would he be an atheist? No. So, I can ascertain that those who “say” they are Christian yet deny the deity of Christ, the triune God, that Jesus died for our sins…that they are indeed *not* Christian. There are many side sects of Christianity that actually deny these truths, and they are not Christian. Just like you would say that an atheist isn’t really an atheist if he “maybe” believes in God. Why are you holding me and Christians to a standard that you yourself do not follow?

        3. You are making a claim that Christianity is false because there weren’t enough witnesses, enough writings about Christ outside of the Bible. Yet, nobody witnessed your big bag theory. Key word *theory*. Yet it’s still true, correct? Nobody witnessed the in between evolution of orangutang to man, yet it’s still true (according to you), correct? Yet Christ is false because according to your standards, there isn’t enough to witness it, enough evidence. Can you answer this?

        4. So, are you 100% certain that atheism is true?

        5. do you absolutely believe there is no God whatsoever?

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      32. 1. Why *would* it have such a right? That is the thinking of a tyrant and its sycophant. I, as an artist, do not think I have the right to destroy something I make if someone else likes it. IF your god decides to not allow humans to understand it, then it is malevolent since it requires obedience without knowledge.
        2. Again, every Christian claims that they and only they have the real fundamentals of the bible and understand them correctly. You do all love to claim each other aren’t Christians. An atheist, by definition, doesn’t believe in a god or gods. You are an atheist too, you don’t’ believe in all of those gods you are sure aren’t real. Your attempt at your accusation fails.

        It is your opinion, nothing more, that the only Christians are those who agree with you. Christians have also been antitrintarians for a very long time; they are not always about a triune god. Isaac Newton, the fellow Christians love to trot out as a Christian, was an antitrinitarian Christian.
        3. Yep, I am indeed making the observation that we have no evidence for your religion, including that there are no witnesses. We also have no other evidence. WE have plenty of evidence for the BBT e.g. background radiation, measured expansion, evolution of galaxies, etc. You also are ignorant on what a theory means in the scientific community. A theory is not a hypothesis, which is how most people use the term. This is from the American Museum of Natural History: “A theory is a well-substantiated explanation of an aspect of the natural world that can incorporate laws, hypotheses and facts.” And “A theory not only explains known facts; it also allows scientists to make predictions of what they should observe if a theory is true. Scientific theories are testable. New evidence should be compatible with a theory. If it isn’t, the theory is refined or rejected. The longer the central elements of a theory hold—the more observations it predicts, the more tests it passes, the more facts it explains—the stronger the theory.”

        Orangutans did not evolve into humans. You are ignorant about that too. Orangutans and humans share a common ancestor. We are both primates, but we did not evolve from them. We have evidence of how humans evolved. We don’t need witnesses. You have no witnesses nor other evidence.

        4. I am 100% certain that atheism when it comes to the gods humans have invented so far is true. If there is another one invented, I’ll look for evidence for that one. I suspect it won’t have any either. Define a god, please. Merriam-webster has this “a being or object that is worshipped as having more than natural attributes and powers” I absolutely am sure that there is no god as Christians claim there is or any gods as any theist claims there is. Why? No evidence.

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      33. 1. I’m sorry, but if Isaac Newton was an antitrinitarian, he was in no wise a Christian or any of the sort. You sorely do not understand what a Christian is, if you believe that.

        2. Do you believe in capital punishment? If a pedophile got caught in the act, and went to a judge and the judge said “you’re off the hook, be free” I’m pretty sure you would be outraged. Yet, when God punishes, “he’s so bad and horrible”. Can you explain your reasoning?

        3. I am not an atheist, I am a Christian and that’s my identity. I believe in the One true God, and He is real, whether you believe in Him or not. He says that He made us, so the idea of evolution is null and void and is ridiculous speculation as to what happened billions of years ago. You are satisfied in this, even with no eye-witnesses, eh? Yet make claims that Jesus is false because..not enough eye-witnesses.

        4. Interesting you call me ignorant on what theory means, yet you are ignorant yourself on what real Christianity is.

        4. I’m sorry, but you do not have evidence that we came from a “common ancestor”. You have speculation. Please show me proof of this. At least Jesus had eye-witnesses! You have none for your bbt.

        5. You say that the God of the Bible can’t be true because He hasn’t “revealed Himself perfectly” and because not everyone understands him, yet you claim there “might” be another God that hasn’t revealed Himself to us? So your claiming this God who hasn’t revealed Himself to us might be real, yet my God of the bible isn’t true because he hasn’t shown us *enough*. Makes sense? No. If you did discover a God who revealed Himself to humanity and gave enough evidence sufficient for you personally to be satisfied, you would still hate him, because he’s not doing everything you want him to do. Am I correct in this?

        6. Define God? The uncreated everlasting Creator of all things who has no beginning and no end, who IS benevolent in all things, who IS love, and longs to save people from their sins. This God is not fully comprehendible, BUT HE has revealed Himself in scripture, as much as we human beings need to know and can perceive about our existence, why we are alive, the state of our soul, our sin, our beauty in that we were made in the image of God, how this world came into existence, and how we can be saved and have everlasting life. In this, He has revealed His character of love, grace, patience, long-suffering, justice, mercy, forgiveness. That should be sufficient for every human being, yet it’s not for you and other atheists. It’s because you have pride and can’t humble yourself to your Maker.

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      34. Interesting that your gripe is about Christians not agreeing, yet you use Flavius Josephus to prove against the Bible, and you say his writings were “forged” when I show that he agreed with Christ’s existence and crucifixion. Who’s the one picking and choosing? You’re doing exactly what your complaining Christians do. I mean, if I were to make such a complaint, I would at least try to make sure I wasn’t being a hypocrite and doing the same exact thing.

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      35. Do show where I’m picking and choosing. I would recommend that you read about the writings of Josephus. Wikipedia has a good article on Josephus on Jesus and the forgery. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josephus_on_Jesus

        I stated that josephus doesn’t mention the massacre of the innocents, when it would be expected that he would. I also stated that the quote from Josephus you gave is not accurate. We have early Chrisitans writing about josephus, and they never mention that passage as you have given it when it would have been a great thing for their apologetics.

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