God’s Plot and Purpose
Stanley Samuel
Here is an outcome of our Israel trip....Something the Lord helped me see, as I read the gospel text!!....My devotional and notes!!! I will be sharing on FB too.
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The story in Luke 2 starts with a decree for census from
Caesar Augustus. This forces Joseph and Mary to move from Northern Israel town
of Nazareth to the Southern Israel town of Bethlehem. As the events unfold, we
see the birth of Jesus, angels pronouncing the birth of Jesus and shepherds
rejoicing at the good news. In Luke 2:22 we see Jesus is presented to the
temple after the period of purification of Mary. In the temple we see two
people Simeon and Anna coming to worship Jesus, who have been waiting for this
day for many years. As we meditate this story we can see the plot that God is developing,
such that he is working towards meeting the needs of His people along with fulfilling
His plan.
The distance from Nazareth to Jerusalem, as the crow flies,
is about 63 miles. Now having walked through the rugged terrain of Israel, I
can comprehend that the walking distance is much more, and a journey for Joseph
and Mary would take about 4-5 days, especially with Mary being pregnant.
Interestingly, I see God moving the king of the land to make it possible for
Mary to be very close to Jerusalem during her delivery period so that after
purification (66 days per Lev 12:8), she can easily go to the temple and offer
the sacrifice. God knows how fragile Mary would be after the delivery of Jesus (esp
without all the medical systems that we have today) and that it would be very challenging
for her to come to the temple to offer a sacrifice from Nazareth. I see God
moving to make it more comfortable for His servant who said, “Behold, I am the
servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word”. Interestingly, we can also see the
fulfillment of prophesy from Micah 5:1-2, that Messiah will be born in
Bethlehem. We also see the fulfillment of promises to Simeon and Anna. Who knew an edict by Caesar would be the
trigger for the fulfillment of God’s work. No wonder we read in Prov. 21:1 “The
king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever
he will”. Through this census decree God took care of Mary’s needs to ensure
that she does not have to walk too much through the rugged terrain from Nazareth
to Jerusalem for the sacrifice, he fulfilled the prophesy made through Micah, he
fulfilled the promise given to Simeon and Anna.
How many times we wonder why God is not working for our benefit.
We become so self-centered that we fail to see God’s perspective. If we were in
the place of Mary we could have asked, God you know I am pregnant, then why are
you moving me to Bethlehem, can I not have the baby in Nazareth? Or perhaps if we were in Simeon or Anna’s shoes,
how much longer Lord? However, we fail to realize that God can move kings and
presidents (even if they are not believers) to take care our needs and His promises.
His will and purpose will always prevail and that moment we will rejoice like
Simeon, Anna, and the shepherds. The sovereignty of God is evident as He answers
our and others prayer needs and also fulfills His purposes for the community as a
whole. The community of the Body of Christ!!
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With love and Prayers
Stanley Samuel
1 John 3:23 And this is His commandment: that we should believe on the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love another, as he gave us commandment