Birth Of Christ Prophecies and His Life Troubles
Genesis 3:15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her Seed; He shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise His heel.”
2 Samuel 7:12-16 ”’When your days are fulfilled and you lie down with your fathers, I will raise up your offspring after you, and I will establish his kingdom. He shall build a house for my name. and I will establish his throne of his kingdom forever. I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son. When he commits iniquity, I will discipline him with the rod of men, with the stripes of the sons of men, but my steadfast love will not depart from him, as I took it from Saul, who i put away from before you. And your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me. Your throne shall be established forever.'”
Psalm 22: 6-8, 14-18 But I am a worm and not a man, scorned by mankind and despised by the people. All who see me mock me; they make mouths at me; they wag their heads “He trusts in the Lord; let him deliver him; let him rescue him, for he delights in him!” . . . . I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint; my heart is like wax; it is melted within my breast; my strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to my jaws; you lay me in the dust of death. For dogs encompass me; a company of evildoers encircles me; they have pierced my hands and feet—I can count all my bones—they stare and gloat over me; they divide my garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.
Isaiah 7:14 Therefore the LORD himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Isaiah 9:6, 7 For to us a child is born, to us a son is given; and the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and of peace there will be no end, on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with justice and with righteousness from this time forth and forever more. The zeal of the Lord of hosts will do this.
Hosea 11:1 When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son.
Micah 5:2, 4, 5 but you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who is to be ruler in Israel, wo coming forth is from of old, from ancient days . . . And he shall stand shepherd his flock in the strength of the LORD. In the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. And they shall dwell secure, for now he shall be great to the ends of the earth. And he shall be their peace.
Matthew 1:18-25 Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. . . . but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Matthew 2:4-6 and assembled all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “’Arise, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’”
Matthew 2:13-15 Now when they (the Magi) had departed, behold, an angel of the LORD appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I call for you, for Herod is about to search for the child to destroy Him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herold. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken to the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my Son.”
Matthew 2: 19-23 Called out of Egypt back to Judah; they went to Galilee and settled in Nazareth, “so what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that He would be called a Nazarene.”
How overwhelmed, humbled, anxious and fearful the young maiden must have been to meet Gabriel and hear God wanted her to carry a child by the Holy Spirit to be the Messiah, the Promised One. I can’t imagine. Although God’s account do not indicate she was nervous, it is difficult being here and not thinking how overwhelming it must have been. She was willing, without argument or apparent hesitation, and she assured God through the angel that she would do it.
What would her parents say? Would they want to ban her, stone her? She was not yet married to Joseph. Oh! What about Joseph? He would think she betrayed him, she laid with another! But it wasn’t true. How would she ever be able to let him know the truth? And no matter what she said, would he believe her? They didn’t know one another that well. Why should he trust her? All knew how babes came to be, how all animals mated. Yet, she had NOT been with another, and there was no way to prove it. She would be shamed, perhaps stoned until dead. Her parents would forever be shamed, stigmatized That wonderful, poor carpenter who had asked her father for her hand, and been guaranteed she was a virgin, he would be hurt, and also shamed. What should she do? She had agreed to carry the Messiah, to raise the Messiah. How could she do that? She was young herself. She had no standing in the community. She had no experience. How could she raise the Promised One? Had she dreamed this, and it was all a vision? Oh, what, oh what had she agreed to? ‘Oh, Father God, I think I have made an error. I don’t think I can do this. Look at all the people who will be hurt and shamed by me—and yet I have done nothing wrong. But who can believe that? Who?’
And God, in His wonderful ways, had an angel appear to Joseph in a dream and told him Mary had conceived a son by the Holy Spirit—she was not tainted, and she would deliver a Son who would “save his people from their sins.” Because he was a son, he had been educated about Torah, and would have heard the prophecies that the Messiah would be born of his own clan, Judah. I am willing to bet he had some doubts, but he was open enough to believe and follow God’s directions. He trusted and went forward with the plans and when the census was ordered, went to Bethlehem to register, taking his future bride carrying the babe.
After the child was born, they took Him to temple for the presentation ceremony, and while there, an elderly woman, Anna, who basically lived in the temple saw the child and knew He was the Savior. Her deepest prayer was answered when she saw Him, and the Holy Spirit told her this was the child she had longed to see. And Simeon, an elderly gentleman had been promised he would see the Messiah before his death, and when he held Him, he knew He was the Messiah, and let God know that he was willing to die now at any time he was called.
A few months before the Child’s second birthday, Joseph was told in a dream to flee Bethlehem and go to Egypt. It always surprises me to think they were going to Egypt where the Jewish people had been finally turned into slaves of the Egyptians sometime after Joseph died. Why Egypt? Would I have hesitated if I were Joseph? Were the Egyptians so much more welcoming to a small Jewish/Hebrew family now? And perhaps it was not so hostile, after all several hundred years had passed, but I think I would have been hesitant. “Did You really say Egypt? Is that really what You said? You want me to take my wife and child to Egypt?” Thankfully, he obeyed—probably not with any of my own doubts. And Jesus, the Son of God as a toddler escaped death when Herod had his soldiers come into the area slaughtering all the boys between 1-3 years. Many were put to death, children and frantic mothers trying to protect their sons.
The Bible does not say how old Jesus was when they left Egypt. Did He have a younger brother, James by then? Perhaps there was a sister before the birth of James. Did Jesus play games and run and do what other children do—without the sneaking, plotting mischief, inventing stories of majesty and heroes? We do know He was very smart. At one of the yearly festivals, He was in the temple asking questions and commenting to the scholars, and they were amazed to listen to Him.
I am sure Mary and Joseph did not know all their son would endure, and all the difficulties His presence and teaching would arouse. And it must have been difficult at times to see this very intelligent boy/man and realize that according to God’s word, the prophet Isaiah had said He would have the government on His shoulder. He had a loving, gentle nature—is He really going to conquer governments, be a Savior to the World? How can this be possible?
But that is about all we know of Jesus until He actually started His ministry. At a young age He was educated regarding the Torah–little did the priests and teachers know this was because He helped inspire the words written about creation, that He would be descended of David and would rule forever. Now, since we also have the New Testament as well as the Old, we can see how the entire book is tied together and predicts Jesus coming and His life on earth, and then His great sacrifice to save all who are willing to say “YES!” to His invitation to follow Him.
And Father, what You and Your Son accomplished in the three years of His active ministry. . .how amazing! But You are truly amazing and the Creator. Thank You that many men received Your Words and recorded what happened, how He lived and loved and cared for others–all who came to Him. Just as He will forgive any and all who choose to follow Him, believe in Him and confess Him to others. I thank You that You also chose me with this task and thank You for all You do and have done for me and ‘mybellaviews.’
Comments