When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
Read in its own context, this line is a memory: God recalling the exodus, calling Israel his son when the nation was young and helpless in Egypt. It's tender in a way that's easy to skim past — a parent's affection for a child, expressed as history rather than sentiment.
Matthew later applies this same line to Jesus, tying his early life to Israel's story in a way that surprises a lot of readers on first encounter. Whatever you make of that connection, the underlying claim carries through both settings: God's love shows up before there's anything impressive to love. A helpless nation, an infant refugee — the love comes first, not as a response to achievement.
If you've quietly believed that love from God, or from anyone, has to be earned through being good enough first, this verse pictures something different — love directed at a child, at a people, at a moment when none of them had done anything yet to deserve it.
If you've assumed love has to be earned first, it's worth asking whether this verse describes a different order entirely.
A short video on this is coming soon — for now, read on.