by Adam Lustig
400 years had passed since the prophet Malachi had held the nation of Israel’s feet to the fire. On the night that Jesus was born in the city of Bethlehem, yes the angels declared, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace among men on whom His favor rests!”, however Rome had besieged the land of the Jews and just a few years after Jesus’s birth a tyrannical Jewish king by the name of Herod would order a decree to kill every male child in Bethlehem, and some 70 years after Jesus was born, Jerusalem would be decimated by the Roman Empire.
There was quiet at the time of Christ’s birth, for the most part in Israel , except for the outside interloping of the Roman Empire in the affairs of the place that Rome called the dregs of the Roman Empire. The boot of Rome had come down hard on the neck of the Jews, there was anything but peace in the land that had given us, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Israel was asking loud and hard again, where is the messiah promised to us by Jehovah since the days Isaiah and King David, but than, just as God’s Word tells us, the creator of the universe spoke words that reverberated from one end of the heavens to the other,
“My Son It Is Time To Go!”
As God does so many times than not, He uses ordinary people to accomplish His work, and such was the case with a young virgin by the name of Mary, who did not understand why God chose her to deliver the Prince of Peace, but who also told God, “Thank you for choosing me to be part of what you want to do here on the earth.”
As you and I look around the world today, we may say just like the Jews of Jesus’s day, “God there is not a lot of peace in our earth today!”, from the middle east to the shores of the USA, you may also say, as I do so often, “God bring your peace quickly!”
Yes, in God’s timing there will one day be everlasting peace ushered in by His Son, but for now, the peace that God give us is one that the Bible calls, “Passing all understanding.” So it was with Mary and Joseph and so it is with us who call Jesus our Lord and Savior.
If you are not experiencing this type of peace right now, take a moment during this time of year to ask Jesus into your life. It will be the best Christmas gift ever.
Marry Christmas to you and your family!! and Thanks for Listening
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