When Herod died where did God command Joseph to bring the infant Jesus?

Answer 1

According to Matthew the command came to Joseph in this manner:

Matthew 2:19-23

19 But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, 20 Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.21 And he arose, and took the young child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. 22. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee: 23 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.

Comment:

There are a number of interesting observations to be made about this return from Egypt.

1. Firstly, Joseph received instruction to go 'into the land of Israel'.

It must be remembered in this connection that this is not the Old Testament nation of Israel during the time of the divided kingdom. Of the total of 78 references to Israel in the New Testament not one refers to this 'Northern Kingdom' of Israel. All references are to the nation of Israel as a whole or to Israel in a Jewish ethnic sense, of course remembering that Jacob, the father of the twelve tribes, was re-named Israel at the Jabbok. Thus the 'land of Israel' refers to Judea.

Thus, the 'land of Israel' refers to the promised land, at that time inhabited by the descendants of Israel (Jacob) not to a particular political entity from the Old Testament, nor to any political entity in Jesus' time as this did not exist under this name. The term Israel was the term used here by Matthew for the entire land inhabited by this particular group of people without referring to any particular part.

2. Secondly, Joseph, in coming from Egypt would first have come to the southern part of Judea.

The first places to which Joseph would have come would have been in the southern parts of Judea. This could have been Beersheba, or some other southerly place.

Wherever it was, it is clear that here Joseph heard of the accession of Archelaus to the throne of Herod. This did not inspire confidence in him returning to Bethlehem.

In a similar manner to when he was thinking over what to do about Mary's pregnancy, God spoke to him and gave him further directions to proceed 'up north.'

3. Obedience to a command is a common theme in scripture, as also here, and a condition to receive further instruction:

Abraham was told 'go to a land I will show thee.' And he left Ur not knowing exactly where he was going but God gave him 'further instructions' along the way.

Similarly Joseph obeyed the command of God, given by the angel and later received further instructions.

Frequently God gives His people a test of faith to see if they will trust Him and obey. Joseph did what he knew to do in a general sense and then later received more specific instructions about where to go.

4. Israel is a generality and Nazareth is specific.

Firstly, Joseph and family had to be going to the land of Israel - not Samaria or Galilee.

Secondly, once they reached the land where the Israelites dwelt, they then were given more specific instructions to go to Nazareth, a specific town that fulfilled a prophecy.

Summary:

In short, God commanded Joseph to take his family to Israel and when they reached the southern parts they received more specific instructions to go to Nazareth.

Answer 2

In the Gospel According to St Matthew, much of the story of the flight to Egypt has parallels with the Old Testament story of another Joseph in Egypt. Apparently, Matthew was drawing analogies between Moses and Jesus.
The return from Egypt begins when an angel told Joseph to return to their home in Bethlehem. This appears to have been bad advice, because shortly afterwards God told them not to do so, as Herod's son had succeeded him in Judea and may have had some reason to kill Jesus. Instead God told Joseph to migrate to Galilee.