Egypt in the New Testament

In the Gospel of Matthew, part of the New Testament, it is said in Matthew 2:13-23 that Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus of Nazareth, is visited by an angel in a dream, who tells him to take Mary and Jesus and go to Egypt, to avoid Jesus being slain by King Herod I, called the Flight into Egypt. After Herod’s death, they return to Nazareth.

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.(KJV, Matthew 2:13) Egypt has a tremendous symbolic significance in the Bible. Israel’s redemption from Egypt is a picture of our deliverance from sin and death through faith in Jesus Christ. (Galatians 3:13; 4:5; Titus 2:14). While initially seen as a place of refuge in famine or threat, Egypt becomes a place of oppression and slavery. For New Testament believers, Egypt represents our old life of slavery to sin. All people are, by nature, slaves of sin, and Satan is a much harsher taskmaster than the Egyptian overseers. The natural man labors powerlessly under the weight of sin (Romans 7:22–25). God redeemed His people from slavery in Egypt by the blood of the lamb on the first Passover (Exodus 12), and He redeems us from sin by the blood of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29; 1 Peter 1:18–19). Just as God called His people, the Israelites, out of bondage in Egypt, He calls us, His children, to “come out and be separate” and live holy lives in His kingdom (2 Corinthians 6:17).