The Christmas Story, Part 2

Luke 2: 1-7

In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register.

So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and lineage of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was engaged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a Son. She wrapped him in swaddling cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 

Ta-daa! Here is the Birth of our Savior! God broke into our World, the same way we all enter it, by being born as a helpless baby! This is amazing. That the Lord God of the Old Testament would give up all His Divine prerogatives to dwell here on this Earth among us humans as one of us! This is incredible.

He didn't bake a cake, but God celebrated this Birthday with a Grand Announcement: 

Luke 2: 8-20

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were terrified! But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all people. Today in the Town of David a Savior has been born to you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on Earth peace to men on whom His favor rests." "Happy Birthday to You, Jesus!"

When the angels had left them and gone back into Heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."

So they hurried off, searched, and found Mary and Joseph, and the Baby Who was lying in the manger. When they had seen Him they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this Child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 

But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 

The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

It's always, "just as they had been told." It was done to Mary just as Gabriel said, too. God always describes the future accurately, because He sees all Time as Now. He never mistakes anything. 

 This is also the time a very special Star appeared in the Far East to some scholars who were looking for it. So they started out on their long journey to see this wonder. 

Matthew 2: 1-12

After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Wise Men from the East came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the One Who has been born King of the Jews? We saw His Star in the East, and have come to worship Him."

When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teachers of the Law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born.  "In Bethlehem in Judea," they replied, "for this is what the prophet has written: 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a Ruler Who will be the Shepherd of My people Israel.'" (Micah 5:2)

Then Herod called the Wise Men secretly and found out from them the exact time the Star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find Him, report to me, so that I too may go and worship Him."

After they heard the king, they went on their way, and the Star they had seen in the East went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the Child was. When they saw the Star, they were overjoyed.

On coming into the house, they saw the Child and His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold and of incense and of myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.

Now we see His birthday gifts: gold because He is a King; incense, frankincense, because He is our High Priest; and myrrh, which will be used to anoint His body in death. Very symbolic. Also, these gifts are all very costly, which they will need to finance the next part of their story.

Matthew 2: 13-18

When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. "Get up," he said, "take the Child and His mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the Child to kill Him."

So he got up, took the Child and His mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled what the Lord had said through the prophet: "Out of Egypt I called My Son." (Hosea 11:1)

When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Wise Men, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Wise Men. Then what was said through the prophet Jeremiah was fulfilled: "A voice is heard in Ramah, weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted, because they are no more." (31:15)

Sometimes when we are obedient to the Lord, it causes hardship on someone else. How many times have I considered the other's hardship over obeying my Lord? That would be putting an obstacle between me and God, an idol. 

God is responsible for what happens to others when we obey. Just because someone else may suffer, doesn't mean the Lord hasn't spoken to me, or I misread the signals. This is one of God's ways that is not our way. I want to still trust Him above all others, and trust the others to His care. I know He loves them more than I do anyway, and I can't see the whole picture, just the tiny portion that is my circumstance right now. 

Matthew 2: 19-23

After Herod died, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt and said, "Get up. Take the Child and His mother and go to the land of Israel, for those who were trying to take the Child's life are dead." 

So he got up, took the Child and His mother and went to the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning in Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Having been warned in (another) dream, he withdrew to the district of Galilee, and he went and lived in a town called Nazareth. So was fulfilled what was said through the prophets: "He will be called a Nazarene."

Joseph and Mary started off in Nazareth, where they were both from. So they went back home. They had stayed in Bethlehem for a couple of years after Jesus was born, as we see that they were in a house when the Wise Men came, and it had been that long since the Star first appeared in the Far East (2:7). Travel back then was slow by our standards, and it would have taken them years to come from that far away. 

Someone counted that Jesus fulfilled over 400 Old Testament prophesies during His first coming, to be our Savior. That's a lot of details. These cited here were things that just happened to a small Child, through no choice of His own.

So, since they were still in Bethlehem, and Joseph wasn't home at the time, he was probably gone to work, and planning to settle there--until Wise Men came, and Joseph started to have dreams again. I'm glad Joseph trusted the angel in his dreams, and didn't question him, but obeyed instantly. 

He woke up in the middle of the night, packed up, and left before dawn, to escape into Egypt. That's instant obedience. 

O my Father, help me to always obey You instantly, like Joseph did, whenever I hear Your still, small voice in my spirit, and instantly do what You tell me to do. Don't let me "just finish this first," or "tomorrow," that never comes. Strengthen me to do today what You ask of me today. Help me to never put You off to some future time; delayed obedience is disobedience. 

I love You, Father; I love You, Jesus; I love You, Spirit. I know You love me more than I can even imagine, and everything You do comes from Your love, because You are Love. 

Let this Christmas Story sink down deep into my heart and my understanding. Let me know ever more of Your love in sending Your only Son, and give me the words to share that understanding, that others may also know You.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

And Merry Christmas to you all!

The Christmas Story, Part 1

Luke 1: 26-38

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy One to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God."

"I am the Lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be to me as you have said." Then the angel left her. 

Matthew 1: 18-25

This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.

But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins."

All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a Son, and they will call Him Immanuel"--which means, "God with us."

When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. But he had no union with her until she gave birth to a Son. And he gave him the name Jesus.

Luke 1: 39-49

At that time (after the angel left her) Mary got ready and hurried to a town in the hill country of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting, the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, "Blest are you among women, and blest is the Child you will bear! But why am I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blest is she who has believed that what the Lord has said to her will be accomplished!"

And Mary said: "My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for He has been mindful of the humble state of His servant. From now on all generations will call me blest, for the Mighty One has done great things for me--holy is His Name."

O my goodness, there is so much here for Christmas Eve! I think I will just focus on a couple of things here, and maybe come back another time for the rest.

Let's look at who Mary was. She was a simple, young girl who loved the Lord, and had gotten engaged to a man who also loved the Lord, named Joseph. We find that, in Matthew's genealogy of Jesus (Matthew 1:1-16), Joseph, the legal father of Jesus, was directly descended from King David through Solomon and the whole list of kings, the regal line. And, from Luke's genealogy (Luke 3:23-38) we see that Mary also traced her line back to King David through his other son, Nathan (v. 31), so she also had royal blood. This gives Jesus the legal right to claim the Throne of David.

Even though Joseph traced his line directly back, he could not claim this throne, because his ancestor, King Jehoiachin (or Jeconiah, or Coniah), the last king over Judah, was so evil that Jeremiah pronounced a curse on him, that, "No man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah" (22:30).

But Jesus was not the "seed" of Joseph, just his legal Son, and His mother also was of King David's seed, his direct line. So Jesus does have the right to claim David's throne!

And Mary admitted that she needed a Savior (Luke 1:47), because she, like the rest of us, was born of Adam, with a human father. 

And God did bless her, beyond all the other young women, in allowing her to be the mother of our Savior; and He also "pierced her heart [soul] with a sword" (Luke 2:35), when she witnessed the execution of her Son as a criminal. 

God often "scourges" His most favored children (Hebrews 12:6), as we see in the Old Testament with Job and some of His prophets. Look at Hosea, who was told he'd fall in love with and marry a woman who would break his heart with infidelity to show Israel how she was breaking God's heart (Hosea 1:2); and God had Ezekiel's beloved wife die and he was not even to mourn for her, as a picture to Israel how God saw His wife, Israel (Ezekiel 24:15-18). He broke His own beloved, faithful prophets' hearts, and made their lives miserable. 

Are we any less loved? When God breaks our hearts, it isn't to be mean to us, He still loves us more than we can imagine. But He trusts us, to still trust Him even when things go wrong for us.

When Mary was found to be expecting, she could've been stoned to death. She knew the consequences of her obedience. And can you imagine how Joseph looked at her when she told him she was pregnant? That must've hurt. So she took off to see Elizabeth. And stayed with her the last three months of her pregnancy to witness the birth and know what was in store for herself. (Luke finished one story before starting on the next, in 1:56.)

So, we find Mary pregnant and not yet married, and Joseph having to dream of an angel to convince him to trust her. And Mary did not doubt that her loving God was sovereign over her life in all of this. 

Merry Christmas! We will continue this story tomorrow.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Miriam & Aaron

Numbers 12

V. 1)  Miriam and Aaron began to talk against Moses because of his Cushite wife, for he had married a Cushite.

Evidently, her complexion was darker than the tan of the Hebrew skin. 

V. 2) "Has the Lord only spoken through Moses?" they asked. "Hasn't He also spoken through us?" And the Lord heard this.

Okay, they were really envious of Moses' leadership.

So God called them out. He had Moses, Miriam and Aaron come out to the Tent of Meeting for a conference (vs. 4-9).

V. 10) When the cloud lifted from the Tent, there stood Miriam--leprous, like snow. Aaron turned toward her, and saw that she had leprosy.

The verb of complaint is in the feminine-singular, which shows that Miriam was the instigator and spokesperson. So God, in effect, said, "Okay, Miriam, you want to be white? Poof! You're lily-white!" 

Vs. 11-13) [Aaron] said to Moses, "Please, my lord, do not hold against us the sin we have so foolishly committed. Do not let her be like a stillborn infant coming from its mother's womb with its flesh half eaten away."
So Moses cried out to the Lord, "O God, please heal her!"

What a dramatic moment in this family. They were all obviously upset at the complaint and it's result, and cried out passionately. 

So Miriam had to spend a week away from people so she wouldn't spread the disease while she healed. Leprosy referred to any of several communicable skin conditions, and God healed Miriam within that week.

And Miriam and Aaron learned not to promote themselves over their little brother any more.

How hard does God need to lean on me when I am in the wrong? How serious are the circumstances I need to suffer, to learn my lesson? 

God is a good, good Father to us. He will allow us to experience the consequences of our choices, even when they put us in dire circumstances. But when we turn to the Lord, agreeing with His assessment of our attitudes, and turn around our thinking processes, then He will heal our emotional hurts as well as Miriam's physical condition.

O my Father, please show me my erroneous opinions, my wrong attitudes, and my negative thinking processes. Forgive me these sins, Lord, and wash me clean again. Help me to recognize these faults before I fall into them; let me be mindful of my surroundings and my responses, so I will project Christ in me, not my flesh. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

Manna And Quail

Numbers 11

This is the chapter that relates how the people got tired of only manna three times every day, so God sent them quail. God brought all these birds "out of the blue"! God can do anything! 

But the people still suffered the consequences of their refusal to accept God's gracious provision. They just really found it hard to trust Him.

Psalm 78: 23-25 says, He gave command to the skies above and opened the doors of the Heavens; He rained down manna for the people to eat, He gave them the Grain of Heaven. Men ate the bread of angels; He sent them all the food they could eat. 

The people still ate the manna; they could prepare it in all kinds of different ways, and it tasted good, like fresh olive oil, or honey wafers. It met all their nutritional needs, and it didn't cost them anything, either (vs. 7-8).

But they weren't satisfied with Angels' Food bread. 

How often do we think we can take care of ourselves without God, or what He's already provided isn't good enough? How often do we complain, and overlook all the good He has already given us? Whatever we focus on becomes larger in our view, and will fill our vision; everything else just fades into the background. 

That's why God wants us to control our own thoughts and attitudes, to focus on what is true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or worthy to be praised (Philippians 4:8). When we're focused on thanking Him for all the blessings He showers on us every day, then all the unpleasant and negative stuff will fade into the background. 

We won't end up as Pollyannas, but we will have a more positive outlook on life. And if we all had a more positive outlook, we'd be more pleasant to be around. I think this is why, "have a nice day!" got to be such a popular good bye. 

When we have a positive, thankful attitude toward God, He will continue to bless us with more. But if we choose to focus on the problems, the deficiencies, the wrong stuff; then the good things will fade and our vision will be filled with the negative, and we won't even be looking for things to get better. 

So God sent the quail, so many that they got sick of quail! 

And God still sent the manna, all the years they wandered in the desert, and even when they entered the Promised Land, until they harvested their first crop (Joshua 5:12).

But even with all these miracles, the people still didn't really trust Him, they kept getting pulled away by every opinion out there. 

Let us not get distracted by all the allures of this World. God is God, and there is none other even similar to Him. He is our Source of everything we need to live and prosper and have fun. 

When we follow His ways, we will reap and harvest His good crop of virtues and good times, and the freedom to enjoy them. Until He comes.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

490 Years & 70 Years

Leviticus 26: 34-35, 43-44

Then the land will enjoy its sabbath years all the time it lies desolate and you are in the country of your enemies; then the land will rest and enjoy its sabbaths. All the time that it lies desolate, the land will have the rest it did not have during the sabbaths you lived in it.

For the land will be deserted by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected My laws and abhorred My decrees. Yet in spite of this, when they're in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking My covenant with them. I am the Lord their God.

God is saying that when they don't follow the Lord's statutes, and they will carried off to their enemies' lands, their own good land, the Promised Land, will get their sabbaths, that they didn't observe while they were in the land.

And since they will be in Babylon (and scattered into all the Nations) for 70 years; then the land will have it's 70 sabbaths, that it didn't have the 490 years the people lived there.

Why is it so hard to just take God at His Word? He says what He means, and He means what He says.

Now only God knows who His 10 "lost tribes" are. 

But He will always have a remnant of Hebrew people, because He made promises to them, and He always keeps His promises.

The Good News today is that Jesus fulfilled that first sacrifice in Leviticus, the personal sacrifice, and anyone anywhere (not just those who can trace their genealogy back to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob) can admit that they deserve death (because the paycheck for sin is death) and let Him take their place in death for them; then God will place His own Holy Spirit into their spirit, making it alive. And this new life you will have is so much better than the old one. You'll still have the old one, too, but you'll have a truly free choice now. That's what I experienced, and you can, too.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

The Feasts

Exodus 23: 14-17
Leviticus 23: 4-43
Deuteronomy 16: 1-17

The Feasts.

God has given Israel these six feasting times so they will remember all the powerful and wonderful things He had already done for them; and also to show them the whole story of what their Messiah will accomplish.

The Passover: Jesus is our Passover Lamb, the Lamb of God, Who shed God's own Blood to not just cover, but wash away all our sins from each of us.

The First Fruits: Jesus is the First Fruits of the Resurrection (I Corinthians 15:20). 

Pentecost: is the birthday of Christ's Bride, the Church. This is the only feast celebrated with leavened bread, because we are not yet saved from the presence of sin.

These three feasts have been fulfilled. 

The other three feasts will all take place within days of each other, all during the first two weeks of the 7th month: the First, the Tenth, and the Fifteenth.

Trumpets: This was essentially a concert. I see this as what theologians today call the "Rapture of the Church," (a term not used in Scripture, except its meaning to "catch away") when the last Trumpet will sound and Jesus comes with clouds and calls us out of this World, into the air to be with Him (I Corinthians 15: 51-52, and I Thessalonians 4:14-18). That's when we will be changed, our bodies will be like His Resurrection Body, and we will ever be with Him wherever He is.

The Atonement: This was the corporate sacrifice to cover the sins of the Nation Israel for the year. When Jesus fulfilled this sacrifice on Calvary, He purchased the whole World with His precious Blood; now He is our Owner by purchase as well as by Creation, giving Him the right to be our Judge. 

I see Him fulfilling this Feast by scouring this Earth, cleansing it of all the sin; all the wrong, all the cruelty, all the pollution; everything that detracts from this Earth being the Paradise that the Garden of Eden was before the Fall. To set up His Kingdom here to rule in Righteousness for that 1000 years (Revelation 20:1-7).

The Feast of Booths, or Tabernacles: After Jesus scours the Earth of its cities we will need to rebuild, so we will be living in these temporary Booths while we build homes for us all. 

These Feasts all looked back to what God did for His People Israel. And they also looked forward to the story of our Messiah, our Savior, our Sovereign King. 

Our Father has told us the whole story. He has laid out through the whole body of Scripture, how everything began; how the corridor of Time will proceed in how He directs the Nations; and how the whole story of this Earth and our World upon it will conclude; and even hints to what will come after this Universe has accomplished its purpose.

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!

God's Glory

Exodus 29: 43

And I will meet there with the sons of Israel, and it shall be consecrated by My glory.

God's glory appeared as a consuming fire on the Mountain. Now His glory is consecrating all these things of the Tabernacle, and also consecrating these people by His glory.

His glory had some kind of effect on the Priests (and Levites, too) to protect them from the impact of the Ark of the Covenant. That's why God directed them to camp around the Tabernacle, between the Tabernacle and the other Tribes, to act as a barrier to protect the people (Numbers 2 & 3). 

Later, when the Philistines captured the Ark in battle and took it to their own towns, to the temple of Dagon, they found their idol with its face on the ground in front of the Ark. Then the next day, their idol was not only on the ground before the Ark, but its head and hands were broken off. The demon behind the idol was compelled to bow before the Ark of the Lord God. (See Isaiah 45:23-24, Romans 14:11-12, Philippians 2:10-11, and Revelation 5:12-13.)

And God caused the people of those towns to have serious health problems, wherever they brought it (I Samuel 5). Finally they decided to return it to the Israelites (I Samuel 6). 

We need to be careful how we approach our God--He is dangerous to us. That's why He gave so many specific instructions for the Ark and the Tabernacle: God told Moses to, Make this Tabernacle and all its furnishings exactly like the pattern I will show you (Exodus 25:9). This "pattern" is the actual Temple in Heaven (Hebrews 9:11), which God showed Moses, so the people would be safe from it's powerful effects. 

God's glory is something that I can't even imagine. That His glory would consecrate the items and equip the people who would serve near them to protect them, is something out of a fantasy novel to me; but I know that it's true, because God's Spirit of Truth lives in me, and teaches me what is true and what is deceptive. 

I'm not even going to try to count all the times, all through God's Word, where we are cautioned to, "be careful," to, "give attention," to, "listen closely" to all that God tells us. Every book, every chapter, every word has been specifically given to us, God-breathed to His prophets who wrote down His Words (II Timothy 3:16).

Our God is Love, and how we love Him and one another is according to how He has loved us, and He has told us how in His Word. 

God says what He means, and He means what He says. That's why He gave us His Spirit, not only to keep us from falling away, but also to teach us how to understand what God is saying to us in His Word. God wants us to know Him, and He wants us to welcome His knowing us--let Him in to our thoughts and attitudes, so that our words and actions will be according to how He wants us to relate to Him and to one another. 

O my Father, Your glory is beyond what I can imagine. Help me to know You better each day, love You more every moment, and show Your love to others at every opportunity. 

Even so, come, Lord Jesus!