Matthew explains that after Herod’s death, Joseph again received direction from the Lord:
“Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, ‘Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child’s life are dead.’ Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.” (Matthew 2:19–21)
Joseph originally intended to return to Judea, but when he heard that Herod’s son Archelaus ruled there, he was afraid. God then warned him in another dream:
“And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, ‘He shall be called a Nazarene.’” (Matthew 2:22–23)
Luke also affirms that after the early events in Bethlehem, the family returned north:
“So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.” (Luke 2:39)
By settling in Nazareth, Jesus grew up in a humble town with no earthly prestige, fulfilling prophecy and identifying with the lowly. The Messiah did not come to be raised in a royal palace in Jerusalem but in an ordinary village, showing that God’s salvation is for all people, not just the great and powerful.
