Page:PracticalCommentaryOnHolyScripture.djvu/465

 The punishment  of  this  dreadful  crime  was  not  long  delayed. A few years  after  the  bloody  deed,  Herod  was  stricken  with  a most  loathsome  disease  and  died  in  fearful  torments. Then the angel of  the  Lord  appeared  again  unto  Joseph  in  Egypt  during his sleep,  and  said:  “Arise,  take  the  Child  and  His  Mother,  and go into  the  land  of  Israel; for  they  are  dead  that  sought  the  life of the  Child.”

Joseph, therefore,  taking  Mary  and  the  Child,  went  back  to the  land  of  Israel,  and  retired  into  the  parts  of  Galilee. And He dwelt  in  Nazareth,  that  the  word  of  the  prophet  might  be fulfilled:  “He  shall  be  called  a Nazarene.”  In  the  peaceful  retirement of  that  town  the  Child  Jesus  grew  in  wisdom  and  in  grace before God  and  men. What a heaven  on  earth  was  that  thrice-hallowed,  though  humble  home  in  Nazareth!

The Omniscience  of  God.  God  knew  that  in  the  morning  Herod would send  soldiers  to  Bethlehem,  to  slay  the  little  boys  under  two  years old; therefore He  ordered  St. Joseph to  flee  in  the  middle  of  the  night. The Lord  God  knew  also  the  moment  of  Herod’s  death,  as  well  as  the evil disposition  of  his  son  and  successor,  Archelaus. He therefore warned St.  Joseph  not  to  return  to  Judaea,  but  to  take  up  his  abode  at Nazareth  in  Galilee.

The Justice  of  God.  Herod’s  horrible  disease  and  miserable  death were evidently  a punishment  for  his  cruelty,  and  especially  for  his  desire to kill  the  Child  Jesus. And as  Herod,  in  spite  of  his  sufferings,  persevered to  the  end  in  evil  and  impenitence,  the  torments  of  his  illness were but  a prelude  to  the  eternal  torments  which  awaited  him.