LLLV17 12-14-2017 Caesar Augustus and the Christmas Story
It’s unlikely that there are any verses more used, talked about, believed, loved or hated than the following:
Luke 2:1 “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (NKJV).
In the passage the power of God over the hearts of the mightiest of earthly kings is clearly demonstrated in the opening line. Caesar Augustus the Emperor of the World, was moved by God to declare a tax on all subjects. He flaunted his temporal power, yet God quietly moved a couple to a tiny spec in the Empire to fulfill an ancient prophecy from the days of Micah, a minor prophet:
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." Micah 5:2.
The prophecy was given some seven hundred years prior to Christ! Yet, God the Master Hand pulling the strings of history, moved on a heathen king, unbeknown to the king, to implement state power to accomplish the will of the Celestial Realm!
As our nation is in turmoil, at a level unseen in my 76 years, I take heart in the knowledge that even a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without God knowing and noting, that with a heathen kings’ heart under the control of my Father, I must, by faith, enjoy His care for His children, even in times like these.
Copyright © 2017 Larry Lilly
Great It work. Oral Deckard
It’s unlikely that there are any verses more used, talked about, believed, loved or hated than the following:
Luke 2:1 “And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.
2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria.
3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David,
5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child.
6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered.
7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” (NKJV).
In the passage the power of God over the hearts of the mightiest of earthly kings is clearly demonstrated in the opening line. Caesar Augustus the Emperor of the World, was moved by God to declare a tax on all subjects. He flaunted his temporal power, yet God quietly moved a couple to a tiny spec in the Empire to fulfill an ancient prophecy from the days of Micah, a minor prophet:
"But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Though you are little among the thousands of Judah, Yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, Whose goings forth are from of old, From everlasting." Micah 5:2.
The prophecy was given some seven hundred years prior to Christ! Yet, God the Master Hand pulling the strings of history, moved on a heathen king, unbeknown to the king, to implement state power to accomplish the will of the Celestial Realm!
As our nation is in turmoil, at a level unseen in my 76 years, I take heart in the knowledge that even a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without God knowing and noting, that with a heathen kings’ heart under the control of my Father, I must, by faith, enjoy His care for His children, even in times like these.
Copyright © 2017 Larry Lilly
Great It work. Oral Deckard
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