Joseph and Mary moved to Egypt in order to avoid King Herod's cruelty in seeking to kill Jesus. Herod died shortly thereafter which gave Jesus' parents the opportunity they needed to return to their home country. But... when they heard rumors that Herod's son Archelaus had taken the throne, Joseph was afraid to go back to Bethlehem. God confirmed his fears and in a dream and sent the young family to Galilee instead, where the Herods' other son Antipas was just made ruler.
Why did Joseph fear Archelaus and not Antipas?
Before Herod died he had a large golden eagle placed on top of the temple that he was having rebuilt. Two very eloquent Jews who won the hearts of the people, named Judas and Mattbias, taught how the Law forbade the making of such images. As Herod was dieing these two convinced their young followers to tear down the idol even if it meant death, which it did.
The two men and fellow insurrectionists were burned alive by orders of Herod. In response, many of the Jews rioted, so the new ruler Archelaus killed almost 3,000 people during the Passover Festival. Upon further insurrections while he was in Rome, 2,000 more people were crucified.
He was a bad ruler and only lasted 10 years in his position, nevertheless, his short reign was marked with extreme violence. No doubt Jesus' parents wanted to stay away from this.
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