Charles Spurgeon Commentary Matthew 2:12

"And being warned [of God] in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way." — Matthew 2:12 (ASV)

And being warned by God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way.

I remember a long disquisition by a learned man, to show that we may sometimes break our promise if, upon further consideration, we find we were wrong in making it, saying that these wise men, though they had promised to go and tell Herod all about the young child, did not do so when warned of God in a dream.

After reading his very ingenious dissertation, I turned to the text and there discovered that the wise men never made any promise of the kind; so it was a sermon on a non-existent text. They never agreed to return; Herod told them to do so, which is one thing; they did not promise to do so; that would have been quite another thing.

They broke no promise and therefore needed no excuse. They were in supernatural communication with God; he had guided them by a star, and now he speaks to them in a dream and tells them to go back to their own country another way. May we all be under like unerring guidance!

Amen.

Probably, they half suspected Herod already, and the Lord by a dream led their thoughts further in the same direction. Wise men need to be warned of God. When they are so, they alter their minds at once. Though they had planned to return by one route, they took another. They did not linger but departed into their own country another way.

Oh, that I may never be disobedient to a hint from the throne! You shall guide me with your counsel.