When Israel was a child, then I loved him, and called my son out
of Egypt.--Hosea xi. 1.
We cannot entertain a doubt that this verse alludes to the call
of the children of Israel from Egypt, yet we are not to suppose
it refers exclusively to that event, but we are to behold it
pointing to Israel's Lord. Christ is said to be the husband of his
Church, and they are both called by the name of Israel;[34] and
this verse is only one amongst the many instances which occur in
the Old Testament. The patriarch Jacob, or (as he was surnamed by
God) Israel, went with his descendants into Egypt, for shelter and
sustenance in the days of famine, but they were afterwards cruelly
entreated four hundred years; from which state of oppression and
bondage, the Lord called and delivered them. In after ages Jesus,
God's beloved son, our Israel, was taken into Egypt, to avoid the
persecution of Herod; and when that tyrant was dead, God called the
holy child Jesus from that land of heathens, by the ministration
of an angel. In Egypt, Israel was first formed into a church; and
thither did the great head of the Church also go; and the Holy
Ghost, by the evangelist Matthew, has stated, that it was on purpose
to fulfil this prediction. That Jesus was as much the beloved of
the Father, when tabernacling here below, as when he lay in the
Father's bosom, cannot be doubted;[35] indeed, all the honours of
his mediatorial kingdom, are the fruits of his humiliation and
suffering. We hear him saying, "for this cause doth my Father love
me, because I lay down my life, that I might take it again."
[34] Isaiah xliv. 21., xlix. 3.
[35] Matt. iii. 17. xvii. 5. Mark i. 11., ix. 7.