Welcome to this Daily PBJ Devotional. Read Matthew 2 today. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem, asking, Where is the one who has been born King of the Jews? We saw his star in the east, and have come to worship him. When King Herod heard this, he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. In Bethlehem, in Judea, they replied, for this is what the prophet has written. But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah. For out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel. Then Herod called the Magi secretly and learned from them the exact time the star had appeared, and sending them to Bethlehem, he said, Go and search carefully for the child, and when you find him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship him. After they had heard the king, they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stood over the place where the child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with great delight. On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they fell down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures, and presented him with gifts of gold, and frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they withdrew to their country by another route. When the Magi had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Get up, he said. Take the child and his mother and flee to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him. So he got up, took the child and his mother by night, and withdrew to Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. This fulfilled what the Lord had spoken through the prophet. Out of Egypt I called my son. When Herod saw that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was filled with rage. Sending orders, he put to death all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, according to the time that he had learned from the Magi. Then what was spoken through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled. A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more. After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt. Get up, he said, take the child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those seeking the child's life are now dead. So Joseph got up, took the child and his mother, and went to the land of Israel. But when he learned that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there, and having been warned in a dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was spoken through the prophets. He will be called a Nazarene. This is God's word. Verse 3 here in Matthew 2 told us that King Herod was disturbed when he heard that the king of the Jews had been born. Again, that's in verse 2. He was so disturbed that he made sure the Magi knew where to look for Jesus, as we saw in verses 4 through 8, and then told them to return to him and give him the baby's precise location, as we saw in verse 8, so that he could kill Jesus before Jesus could grow up and become king. And we saw that in verse 13. The star the Magi saw and the fact that the Magi came looking for Jesus were important clues that caused Herod to take the idea of another king of the Jews seriously. But that Herod died, according to verse 19a, long before Jesus was old enough to be any kind of a threat. So, it was irrational for Herod to be so consumed with jealousy that he killed all the young boys under age 2 in Bethlehem as we read in verse 16. Yet, that's what Herod actually did. He killed all the young boys under age 2 in Bethlehem, despite how irrational it was. Why? Well, his personal insecurity was one factor, I'm sure. But I also believe that Satan was working in his heart as well. The greatest threat to Satan's will is the Lord Jesus Christ. If Satan could lead Herod to kill Jesus in infancy, then God's plans and promises would not be fulfilled. Our Father God protected his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, so that Christ could complete his mission to save us and bring us into his kingdom. And God accomplished this salvation while fulfilling other prophecies of Christ, as we saw in verses 17 through 18 and verse 23, in the process of protecting Christ from an early death. So think about the extent to which God was faithful to his promises to us in Christ. Then think about this. Your salvation and your sanctification are also promised by God, so he will not fail to protect those just as he did not fail to protect our Lord Jesus Christ. Remember this when your faith is weak, when doubts are numerous and strong, God will not let His enemies defeat His plans and promises. So keep your trust in Him. Keep following the Lord. God will keep His promises to us. If you found this devotional helpful, go to my website dailypbj.com and sign up by email to receive them. Every day you'll receive an email from me containing a link to these devotionals and a link to the daily scripture readings, which is more important actually, and that will help you develop a Bible reading habit. This is completely free and you can unsubscribe at any time. There's an unsubscribe link at the bottom of every email, so there's no risk to you. Give it a try. Go to dailypbj.com slash subscribe and enter your email address to get started. 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