Him.

But the time came when they must

go home. What were they to do? Were they to go and tell the wicked Herod where they had found the Saviour? No. God spoke to them in a dream, so they went back to their own country another way, and did not go near Jerusalem. Herod waited until he was sure they never meant to come to him. Then, in a great rage, he sent out men to kill every little child in Bethlehem, or near Bethlehem, who was less than two years old. And now he felt quite sure that he had killed Jesus; but had he? Oh, no. God had spoken in a dream to Joseph, and had told him to take Mary and the infant into the land of Egypt. Joseph did as God commanded. He took the young child and his mother by night, and went into Egypt. There they stayed until Herod was dead. You will not be surprised to hear that he died soon after in the most dreadful suffering and misery. We do not read this in the Bible, but in a history,

which was afterwards written by a clever man, named Josephus. As soon as Herod was dead, God spoke again to Joseph in a dream, and told him to return to the land of Israel. When he found that Herod's wicked son was king, he was frightened to go near the part of the country were he lived. But God again spoke to him, and he turned aside into the parts of Galilee, and went to live at Nazareth.

Now there are three things in this history, in which God's word was shown to be true. The Prophet Jeremiah had said 600 years before, that many poor mothers in Ramah (that was near Bethlehem) would weep and mourn for their dear babies. (Jer. xxxi. 15.) And do you not think those poor mothers, whose darling little ones were killed by Herod, would cry bitterly? Oh! yes, they "would not be comforted, because their little ones were not." (Matt. ii. 18.

Again, nearly 800 years before, God had spoken these words by his prophet Hosea,

"Out of Egypt have I called my Son." (Hosea xi. 1.) And did not God call his Son out of Egypt when Herod was dead? And again, it was said by the prophets, "he shall be called a Nazarene." (Matt. ii. 25.) I have just told you that Jesus went to live with Joseph and his mother at Nazareth. I want you, dear children, to learn to love God's word for its wonderful truthfulness, as well as for the many sweet and precious things in it.

When Jesus was eight days old, and before He was taken away from Bethlehem, He was circumcised. Circumcision was used by the Jews just as we use baptism. Abraham, you know, was the father of all the Jews. God had commanded him to be circumcised, and every little baby boy among the Jews, after that, was circumcised when he was eight days old. At the same time the parents used to give their little boys a name. Perhaps you may remember, if ever you had a little baby brother or

sister, that it was not quite certain for some time what its name would be. But at last, after talking about it a good deal, your parents fixed upon a name.

Do you think Mary would find it difficult to fix upon a name for her baby? Oh, no! And why? God had fixed that long ago. When the angel Gabriel came from heaven, to tell Mary that she should have a son, he said, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus." (Luke i. 31.) And after that, when God spoke to Joseph in a dream about Mary having this son, He said, "And thou shalt call his name Jesus." Now I want you to remember, that Jesus means a Saviour. Learn this little verse before we go on, "Thou shalt call his name Jesus, for He shall save his people from their sins." (Matt. i. 21.) Now you will understand how it was that Mary called her child her Saviour. In her sweet song of praise, you know, she said, "My spirit has rejoiced in God my Saviour."

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What a sweet name this makes the name of Jesus, does it not, dear children?

We are not quite sure how long Mary remained with her sweet baby at Bethlehem. We know, however, that when He was about six weeks old she took Him into the Temple at Jerusalem, "to present Him to the Lord." When a Jewish mother brought her baby into the Temple, she was commanded to offer to God a lamb, and a young pigeon. But if she was too poor to afford a lamb, she might bring two turtledoves, or two young pigeons. Mary was poor, so that was what she had to offer.

Now, there was a good old man living at Jerusalem, named Simeon. He had often read all that the prophets wrote about the coming of Jesus, and he longed above all things to see the blessed day, when a Saviour should be born. by the Spirit, that he had seen Jesus.

God had told him, too, he should not die until This good old Simeon