Hosea 11:1

God called Israel out of Egypt. This is also a prophecy about Jesus Christ.

“When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called My son.”
Hosea 11:1

This verse is also seen as a prophecy which would be fulfilled by the Messiah. We believe that this was fulfilled by Jesus.

“When Israel was a child”
God is talking about the first days of Israel as a people. The Exodus from Egypt is often seen as the beginning of Israel. The 12 tribes later became one nation under the kings Saul, David, and Solomon. The prophet Jeremiah also spoke of Israel’s youth.
- Jeremiah 2:2: “Go and cry in the hearing of Jerusalem, saying: Thus says the Lord: ‘I remember you, the kindness of your youth, the love of your betrothal, when you went [or followed] after Me in the wilderness, in a land not sown.’”

“I loved him”
God loved His people. He always had. That is why He saved Israel from the hands of Pharaoh. He made a promise to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob that He would make them into a great nation. In Egypt, God multiplied the people of Israel until they were as numerous as the stars in heaven.
- Deuteronomy 7:8: “But because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.”
- Genesis 15:5: “Then He brought him outside and said, ‘Look now toward heaven, and count the stars if you are able to number them.’ And He said to him, ‘So shall your descendants be.’”
- Deuteronomy 10:22: “Your fathers went down to Egypt with seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as the stars of heaven in multitude.”

“And out of Egypt I called My son.”
God freed the people of Israel from slavery. He brought them out of Egypt and protected them. In the book of Exodus, God had already called Israel His son.
- Exodus 4:22: “Then you shall say to Pharaoh: Thus says the Lord: ‘Israel is My son, My firstborn.’”

Matthew describes this verse as a prophecy that was fulfilled by Jesus. He went down to Egypt to flee from Herod. After Herod’s death, Joseph took Mary and Jesus and went to Nazareth.
- Matthew 2:14-15: “When he [Joseph] arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, ‘Out of Egypt I called My Son.’”

Today’s lesson: God loves His people. He brought them out of Egypt. Jesus, being the eternal Son of God, was also called out of Egypt. He is the true fulfillment of this prophecy.