2. POWER GREATER THAN ANY POWER

5. Herod is a powerful man, but a vilified man, complex with ‘a lot of baggage.’

6. Herod orders the killing of “…all the boys in Bethlehem and [surrounding areas] who were two years old and under…” (Matthew 2:16)

7. Distance Yourself From Anything/Anybody That Tries To ‘Out-God,’

8. And so [Joseph] got up” “[and] took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod…” (Matthew 2:14)

11. Replace Frantic Insecurity With Faithful Trust And Reliance.

12. And an angel “…appeared to Joseph in a dream… [and said]…‘get up, take the child…and escape to Egypt” – Matthew 2:13

13. Then “after Herod died an angel…appeared [to Joseph] in a dream and said…’get up, take the child… [back] to the land of Israel…” – Matthew 2:19

14. But then after Herod’s son Archelaus took over in Israel more ‘out of control’ than his daddy, an angel appeared to Joseph in yet a third dream and said, get up and go “…to…Galilee…[to] a town called Nazareth…” -- Matthew (2:22-23)

15. Pascal called such shaky, unglued space: “…an empty print and trace…” only filled “…with an infinite and unchangeable object….in other words -- by God himself…” (Pensees 10:148)

16. God, "You have made us for yourself -- and our hearts are rest-less till they find their rest in you." (Confessions 1:1)

17. Nothing Is Ever Wasted!

18. Surrender: For ‘Battling God’ Is A Losing Battle.

19. Why Herod attempted to manipulate and trick the wise men (Matthew 2: 7-8); that didn’t work.
Then Herod got furious and threw a temper-tantrum (Matthew 2:16); that didn’t work.
Then Herod killed all the boys of Bethlehem (Matthew 2:16); that didn’t work.

20. Bottom line, as Matthew 2:16 puts it: Herod was “…outwitted…” (Matthew 2:16) or more literally: out maneuvered, fooled, ‘done-in,’ ‘coming up short,’ in the end.

21. at Christmas, Haggai 2 reminds us: “… [God shakes] all nations, and the [desire] of all nations [Jesus] will come – and [God] will fill [the whole earth] with glory…a glory greater than [any other] glory…” (Haggai 2:7; 9)