Birth of Jesus - Luke 2: 1 - 6 & 7; Matthew 1: 25
The Gospel of Matthew shows Jesus as the Jewish Messiah. The verse Matthew 1: 25 tells that Joseph did not consummate the marriage until after Jesus was born. By doing this Joseph confirmed that his wife Mary was a virgin when Jesus was born. The Prophet Isaiah said in Chapter 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 (God with us). Prophecies in the Bible are 100% accurate. We need to remember this since there are many Bible prophecies still waiting to be fulfilled. There is no expiration date on these prophecies, they will all be fulfilled.
The Gospel of Luke shows the historical facts concerning Jesus. Chapter of 2 of Luke starts out with the decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered, Luke goes on to say that this was the first registration, meaning there are more than one, when Quirinius was governor of Syria. God can use all men to further His plan. Caesar Augustus was not a believer in The Most High God, he believed himself to be a God. So why would he ask for a registration that the whole world as they knew it should be taxed. It costs a lot of money for a country to carry on a war. Augustus needed the money to keep his army moving and maintaining the land they already occupied. The army has to be strong to keep all of their occupied lands in line. We will see that Israel was an unusual occupation, it will be hard to see who really is in power, Israel or Rome. This sounds far fetched, if you do not know the history of these countries. Luke goes on to say that Quirinius was governor of Syria, this on the surface seems pretty straight forward, until you start doing research. You find that Quirinius was indeed governor, but twice and not successively. Either 7 B.C., or 4 B.C. Luke goes on to say in his Gospel, that this took place during the first registration of the whole world at that time should be taxed. There are other facts that we can look at to help to nail down the exact date. We know that King Herod was visited by a group of Wisemen from the East, looking for the King of the Jews. King Herod dies not long after this. Since Herod was a historical figure, his death is part of history. Herod also died during the Lunar eclipse, which also can be researched.
In the 1950's, when I was a child, we had to take much of what was mentioned above, by a "leap of faith." Our knowledge of what happened during that time, is becoming more and more clear, as this happens, it becomes easier to believe and understand the facts as facts and not conjecture.
Thursday, June 1, 2017
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