Good morning, dear ones.
I rose from bed about 6am, engaged in some devotions with Becki and Thano, did my little old man jog, ate some breakfast, took a shower, and mused over what in the world I’m going to do with myself today. While there’s a lot of commercial work pressure, none is pushing on me very hard—so I decided to work with Thano on this his day off to focus on processing firewood here on our property. There are a number of firewood logs out there waiting to be busted up.
Becki just approached me with the reminder that today is her sister Charlotte’s birthday. So after I send this off, I guess she’ll place a call to her sis and we’ll join together to sing HAPPY BIRTHDAY.
For you, I sing HAPPY TODAY!
Blessings. Ray
Four more “supernatural dreams” are cited in this passage—one for the “wise men” and three more for Joseph. While we may wish we could get in on that level of specific divine guidance, I have to reason that we, by comparison, are not engaged with the same degree of specific NEED. After all, we are already gifted with availability to His Word, the Bible, which is designed to be for us a general guide for our own choices and behavior. David describes the practical function of the Word this way: “Truth’s shining light guides me in my choices and decisions: the revelation of your word makes my pathway clear” (Psalm 119:105, The Passion Translation). Furthermore, God’s protection of His Promised Messiah was on a far grander level of importance for the human race than anything we face. Nevertheless, by embracing His Messiah, we of today still get to be participants in that grand level of importance. Awesome!
I wonder if King Herod can serve as a general representation of a politician. He was clearly a self-centered power-hungry tyrant—launching one of the most despicable orders ever made in human history—the massacre of all baby boys under the age of 2 in the vicinity of Bethlehem. While most all politicians today are not allowed to become that despotic, they still face a huge amount of temptation to fall in love with their own importance, power, and control. If that is even close to true, I raise this reasonable question again: What are the chances that mankind, by political means, will ever usher in universal peace or utopia on planet earth? Without hesitation, I answer, “Zero!” They never have—and they never will! The glaring fact remains that “Peace on earth” can only established individually by means of a personal relationship with the “Prince of peace.”
My quote from Matthew 2:23 probably caught your attention above when it reads, “…fulfilling the prophecy that he would be known as the ‘Branch.’” Branch? Where did that come from? In that regard, I am choosing to quote here an interesting footnote taken from The Passion Translation Bible:
“2:23 Or ‘a Nazarene.’ The Hebrew Scriptures give us a wonderful truth about the Branch (Sprout) of the Lord that would come and establish righteousness. The word for ‘branch’ or sprout is netzer, the root word from which Nazareth, Nazarene, and Nazarite come. The teaching of the branch of the Lord is a concept taught throughout the Bible, from the Tree of Life, to the seven branches of the Lampstand, to Jesus the Vine calling us his branches. Jesus is a Scion, a Branch that can be transplanted and grafted into a human life. Another variant form of this amazing word netzer can be translated ‘keeper, watchman, one who keeps secrets, guardian, one who keeps watch.’ All of these words are true of Jesus, the Branch who was raised in the village of the Branch (Nazareth). Additionally, the Aramaic word for Nazareth means ‘heir of a powerful family’ or “’victorious one.’ So it is entirely possible to translate this ‘he will be called the Victorious Branch (of Nazareth).’ See Dan. 11:7; Isa. 11:1; 60:21. See also Isa. 4:2; Jer. 23:5; Zech. 6:12, which uses a Hebrew synonym for Branch, tsemach.”