By Archimandrite Vassilios Bakoyiannis
Jesus is called the “son of Abraham” (Matt. 1:2) because He was born from Abraham’s lineage. He was born a Jew thanks to Abraham.
Abraham’s descendants left Canaan, Abraham’s homeland, and migrated to Egypt, where they remained for four hundred years (Acts 7:6). When the right time came, the Lord led them back to Canaan, today’s Israel, for one single purpose: to prepare the “ground” for Christ’s birth.
It was a journey undertaken and carried out by God through Moses. God Himself provided for the Israelites’ food; every morning they found their meal at the door of their tent (Exod. 16:35). Their clothes and shoes never wore out, and their feet never developed calluses (Deut. 8:4; Num. 12:3). And there were many other wondrous and unprecedented things like these.
Whenever they encountered enemies along the way, God acted: sometimes He stopped the sun from setting so darkness wouldn’t hide their foes; other times He “bombarded” the enemy with hailstones falling from heaven, hard as rock (Josh. 10:11–13). And again, there were many such signs.
At the same time, He was initiating the Israelites into the Mystery of Christ: they defeated the Amalekites while Moses held up his hands in the form of a cross (Exod. 17:8–13). They marched in a precise formation, three tribes to the east, three to the south, three to the west, and three to the north (3×4 = 12) forming the shape of a cross (Num. 2:1–34). And there were many other similar foreshadowings.
The devil understood that God was guiding the Israelites to Canaan so that Christ would be born, and he tried to deceive them, attempting to overturn God’s plan. He went to Moses’ tomb and tried to seize Moses’ dead body so he could enter it, reanimate it, and impersonate Moses, leading the Israelites astray into foreign lands. But God sent His commander, the Archangel Michael, who battled the devil and prevented him from taking Moses’ body (Jude 9). It was God’s decision, His will that His people should dwell in Canaan so that Jesus would be born. His birth was not something decided at the last minute; God had ordained it before the foundation of the world (1 Pet. 1:20).
God’s “profession”? Savior!
