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Rabbi
Loren: Although we don’t know the
exact day when Yeshua was born, it is always appropriate
to consider the Incarnation of the Son of God.
Yeshua’s Incarnation is something so amazing,
something so miraculous, and so profound; it is
one of the very most important events in human
history, so much so that much of the world marks
time based on the birth of the Greatest Jew of
All!
Prophets
predicted His birth. Righteous people were given
visions, dreams, and prophetic utterances about
His birth. Heavenly signs attended His birth,
guiding wise men from far away lands to worship
Him. Angels announced His birth. Jewish shepherds
praised God at His birth. A virgin miraculously
conceived to bring forth His birth.
The very
first prophecy in the Word of God is about the
incarnation of the Son of God. As soon as Adam
and Eve sinned, by disobeying God, they instantly
became alienated from the Lord. Adam and Eve,
and all of their descendants, all of mankind,
became estranged from our wonderful and good Creator,
who is the Source of Life and blessing. Because
of this disobedience, sin and death dominated
the human race, and God cursed the entire physical
world.
But the
Lord, being gracious, slow to anger, abounding
in love and mercy, didn’t leave mankind
to die in our sins; nor did He leave us to despair.
He immediately informed our first parents that
He would reverse the Fall; bring blessing instead
of the curse; create peace where there was alienation;
and bring eternal life instead of eternal death.
He would accomplish this redemption, this salvation,
by means of the Incarnation - the coming of the
eternal Son of God into this world. This supremely
important event would be carefully prepared through
a special line of men, and then though one chosen
people.
When the
very first prophecy was given, millions of powerful
angels existed, and only two human beings, but
humans were chosen to bring God’s salvation
to humanity - not angels. The Lord said to the
serpent, “I will put enmity between
you and the woman, and between your seed and her
seed; He shall bruise you on the head, and you
shall bruise him on the heel” (Genesis
3:15). The Son of God would become a human being;
and in a special way, be uniquely the “Seed
of the woman.”
Centuries
later, after the great flood destroyed the first
civilization of men, Noah survived with his three
sons. From those three sons, the Lord of the universe
chose Shem, not Ham or Yafet. Noah, speaking prophetically,
blessed his children, and foretold their future,
when he said, “Blessed be the Lord,
the God of Shem; and let Canaan be his servant.
May God enlarge Yafet, and let him dwell in the
tents of Shem” (Genesis 9:26 27). The
Son of God would be a human being, and He must
come from Shem. He must be a Shemite.
The descendants
of Shem numbered in the thousands, but the Mighty
God chose only one of them - Abraham. The Lord
said to Abram, “Go forth from your country,
and from your relatives and from your father's
house, to the land which I will show you; and
I will make you a great nation, and I will bless
you, and make your name great; and so you shall
be a blessing; and I will bless those who bless
you, and the one who curses you I will curse.
And in you all the families of the Earth will
be blessed” (Genesis 12:1-3). The Son
of God would come from Abraham.
Abraham
had many sons, but God chose Isaac, not the oldest
son, Ishmael, or the sons of Keturah, to further
His plan to bring redemption to humanity. The
Eternal One said to Abraham, “Sarah
your wife will bear you a son, and you shall call
his name Isaac; and I will establish My covenant
with him for an everlasting covenant for his descendants
after him” (Genesis 17:19). The Son
of God would come from Isaac. He would not be
an Ishmaelite or from one of the Arab tribes.
Isaac
had two sons, but God chose the younger son Jacob,
not the older son Esav. The Almighty said to Jacob,
“I am the Lord, the God of your father
Abraham and the God of Isaac; the land on which
you lie, I will give it to you and to your descendants.
Your descendants will also be like the dust of
the Earth, and you will spread out to the west
and to the east and to the north and to the south;
and in you and in your descendants shall all the
families of the Earth be blessed” (Genesis
28:13 14). The Son of God would come from Israel,
and not be an Edomite.
Jacob
had twelve sons, but only Judah was chosen. Jacob
said to Judah, “The scepter shall not
depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from
between his feet, until Shiloh comes, and to him
shall be the obedience of the peoples”
(Genesis 49:10). The right to rule the Chosen
People would be given to Judah and his descendants.
The Messiah, the One approved by God to have the
leadership of Israel, would come from the tribe
of Judah.
The tribe
of Judah had many families within it, but only
the family of David was chosen. The Lord, who
is the King of Israel, speaking through the prophet
Nathan, said to king David: “I will
raise up your descendant after you, who will come
forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom...
Your house and your kingdom shall endure before
Me forever; your throne shall be established forever”
(2 Samuel 7:12 16). The One who is rightly called
Immanuel, God With Us, would come from king David’s
royal family.
I like
to call this narrowing process, the “Messianic
Process of Elimination.” The numbers of
those qualified to be the Savior get smaller and
smaller and smaller. Based on genealogical considerations
alone, only the minutest percentage of humanity
could qualify to be the Messiah, the One Anointed
and chosen to meet our deepest needs - reconciling
the world of lost and fallen human beings to God,
ending our alienation and estrangement with our
great Creator; reversing the Fall; bringing blessing
instead of the curse, giving life in place of
death.
Rabbi
Glenn: Having suffered for many centuries
under the hands of godless kings and tyrants,
and now once again languishing under the tyranny
of Rome the mightiest nation the world at that
time had ever seen, many of our Jewish people
longingly prayed and kept watch for the promised
Redeemer; the One of whom God thousands of years
earlier had spoken, and whose coming had likewise
been forecast by our true prophets. And God, who
keeps all His promises, would keep this one. ...when
the fulness of the time came, God sent forth His
Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, in order
that He might redeem those who were under the
Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons
(Galatians 4:4 5).
But Messiah
was not born to just any woman, for, indeed, the
promise had been made concerning a particular
woman a descendant of Shem, a descendant of Abraham,
of Isaac and Jacob, a descendant of King David,
as Luke tells us: Now in the sixth month the
angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee,
called Nazeret, to a virgin engaged to a man whose
name was Yosef, of the descendents of David; and
the virgin's name was Miriam... and the angel
said to her, "Do not be afraid, Miriam; for
you have found favor with God. And behold, you
will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and
you shall name Him Yeshua. He will be great, and
will be called the Son of the Most High; and the
Lord God will give Him the throne of His father
David; and He will reign over the house of Jacob
forever, and His kingdom will have no end”
(Luke 1:26 27, 30 33). An enduring kingdom, the
fulfillment of God's promise to David; a promise
to which Matthew also referred: The book of
the genealogy of Yeshua the Messiah, the son of
David, the son of Abraham... (Matthew 1:1).
Rabbi
Loren: God, speaking through the prophet
Michah, around 700 BC, informed us exactly where
the Son of God would be born. But as for you,
Bethlehem Efrata, too little to be among the clans
of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to
be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from
long ago, from the days of eternity (Micah
5:2). Of all the cities of Israel, in some mysterious
way, One who precedes His birth, who originates
in the distant past, and who, in the future, is
destined to be the ultimate ruler of the Chosen
people, the Messiah, He who is the Bread of Life,
would be born in little Beit-Lechem, which means
“the House of Bread.”
The One
who would give life and strength and sustenance
to the world, and rule Israel and the nations,
would not be born in Rome, Moscow, Athens, Paris
or London. He would not be born in Jerusalem,
our capital city; nor in Hebron, one of our oldest
cities; nor Gilgal, rich in history; nor any of
the cities of Galilee, nor any other city or village
on Earth, but only in Bethlehem - a small town,
some five miles from Jerusalem, known for being
the place where King David came from. The Son
of David would be born in the city of David. The
Bread from Heaven would arrive in the House of
Bread.
Rabbi
Glenn: Luke goes on to tell us the circumstances
surrounding Yeshua's birth: Now it came about
in those days that a decree went out from Caesar
Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited
earth...and all were proceeding to register for
the census, everyone to his own city. And Yosef
also went up from Galilee, from the city of Natzeret,
to Judea, to the city of David, which is called
Beit lechem, because he was of the house and family
of David, in order to register along with Miriam,
who was engaged to him, and was with child. And
it came about that while they were there, the
days were completed for her to give birth. And
she gave birth to her first born son (Luke
2:1-7a).
Angels
joyously announced Messiah's birth to the humblest
of all society, to a group of shepherds, declaring,
"...I bring you good news of a great
joy which shall be for all the people; for today
in the City of David there has been born for you
a Savior, who is Messiah the Lord (Luke 2:11)."
The Incarnation, the birth of Messiah Yeshua,
was sovereignly ordained to take place at precisely
31.42N latitude and 35.12E longitude: in Bethlehem
of Judea. The birth of Messiah Yeshua was ordained
by God to occur at the right time in history,
in the right village, to the right family, and
all to bring about our eternal salvation.
Rabbi
Loren: Concerning the incarnation of
the Son of God, the prophet Isaiah said: “For
a child will be born to us, a son will be given
to us; and the government will rest on His shoulders;
and His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor,
Mighty God, Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace.
There will be no end to the increase of His government
or of peace, on the throne of David and over his
kingdom, to establish it and to uphold it with
justice and righteousness from then on and forevermore.
The zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish
this.”
In place
of all the thousands of corrupt rulers the world
has endured, and all of the lousy administrations,
mankind’s perfect and final and coming ruler
is described for us. He is a human being - a child
who is born to us - to us - the people of Isaiah
- Israel, the Jewish people. Salvation is of the
Jews! When this Jewish child grows up, He will
be a perfect leader who will rule Israel and the
nations justly, fairly and forever. He has all
the resources to be the perfect leader, because:
He is
Pele - Wonderful: a miracle, a wonder, something
super-natural - something above ordinary nature.
The nature of this son is different from that
of an ordinary man. His very nature miraculous
and supernatural.
He is
a Yoetz - a Counselor: He is our chief Rabbi,
our Supreme Teacher who guides us into all truth,
who is available to give us the best counsel in
every situation. He always gives miraculous advice,
unfailing in the depths of it wisdom, to everyone
who asks Him for it.
He is
El Gibor - God, the Mighty One. He is fully human
- a son born to us, but also fully God. In some
mysterious way, this is Immanu-El - El - God,
with us, the fulness of God in a human body, the
Word made flesh dwelling among us; the Temple
of God living among us. As the One who is fully
God and fully man, He is the perfect mediator
between God and man. He is the ultimate High Priest
that enables God and man to be reconciled; the
only one who can completely bring us closer to
God, and bring God closer to us. He is the bridge
that joins us, Jacob’s Ladder that connects
Heaven and Earth. He is where God and Man meet.
As El Gibor, He contains within Himself power
so great that it can atone for all the evil that
is in the world, and bring us forgiveness, reconciliation
and peace with God. He has the power to overcome
sin and death. He has the power to raise us from
the dead, and enable those who love Him to live
forever!
Avi Ad
- Father of Eternity: Messiah Yeshua is the creator
and the possessor of eternity. He is the One who
will enable His people to live forever. He is
able to meet all the needs of His people throughout
eternity. Avi Ad can also mean “Eternal
Father” indicating that the Son of God shares
the same eternal, uncreated, life-within-Himself
name and nature, character and essence as God
the Father.
He is
the Sar Shalom - the Prince of Peace: A prince
is a leader who has great authority. The Son of
God has authority to restore shalom - wholeness,
completeness, peace to a broken, shattered universe.
He is able to establish peace between man and
nature, between Jews and Gentiles, rich and poor,
blacks and white, peace between man and God. This
wonderful peace that He will bring will not be
temporary, but will last forever. Once He begins
His reign on the throne of David, there will be
no end to His glorious administration or of peace.
All the zeal, all the enthusiasm of Adonai Tz’vaot
- the Lord of Armies, the most powerful Being
in the universe, whom no force in the universe
can overcome, will ensure this supremely blessed
outcome.
Rabbi
Glenn: It was not only Shepherds who
witnessed this great promise fulfilled. Wise men,
most likely from Chaldea, experts in Astronomy
and natural sciences, and aware of ancient promises
made to the Chosen People, saw signs in the sky,
and interpreted it to mean the time had come.
Had not God, on the fourth day of Creation, declared
that the luminaries would be "for signs
and for seasons and for days and for years"?
These wise men saw the heavenly sign, sought out
the One who would one day rule over all the Earth
in righteousness; and what did they do when they
found Him? They worshiped! Matthew tells us: And
they came into the house and saw the Child with
Miriam His mother; and they fell down and worshiped
Him; and opening their treasures they presented
to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh
(Matthew 2:11).
The Messiah,
in being born into this world, took humanity upon
Himself; not in part, but entirely. And yet was
He not at the same time altogether Deity? This
is the great mystery the unique and only God man.
This is what the writer of Hebrews affirmed: And
when He again brings the first born into the world,
He says, "And let all the angels of God worship
Him." And of the angels He says, "Who
makes His angels winds, and His ministers a flame
of fire." But of the Son He says, "Thy
throne, O God, is forever and ever, and the righteous
scepter is the scepter of His kingdom (Hebrews
1:6 8)."
And so
Yeshua's glory was, for a brief time, veiled as
He dwelt among us. But we do see Him who has
been made for a little while lower than the angels,
namely, Yeshua, because of the suffering of death
crowned with glory and honor, that by the grace
of God He might taste death for everyone
(Hebrews 2:9). His light shone in our midst, demolishing
the darkness that had enveloped the world. Yeshua
declared, "I am the light of the world;
he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness,
but shall have the light of life (John 8:12)."
But why would He willingly set aside His glory?
What could move Him to leave an unimaginably wondrous
and holy celestial abode to be born into a world
of such sadness, such madness, such suffering
and betrayal? And why would the Father willingly
see His Son endure scorn at the hands of the very
ones He created? We are given that answer by John
the great Emissary: By this the love of God
was manifested in us, that God has sent His only
begotten Son into the world so that we might live
through Him. In this is love, not that we loved
God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to
be the (atonement) propitiation for our sins.
Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to
love one another (1 John 4:9 11).
Rabbi
Loren: To sum up, Yeshua is the eternal
Son of God, who existed before He was born on
Earth. He was the only person who could choose
how and where and when to be born, and He chose
to be born not into a rich and influential family,
but into a poor Jewish family. The One who experienced
all the riches and glories of Heaven didn't choose
to be born in a palace but in the most humble
of circumstances, and then He was placed in a
manger - a feeding trough where animals ate. He
did not choose to be born into a free people,
but into a nation that was living under occupation.
His birth
is not just ancient history that happened 2,000
years ago that is not relevant now. There are
present and eternal consequences as a result of
His birth. As a result of the Incarnation, Messiah
is our kinsman redeemer. He is bone of our bone,
flesh of our flesh. He became a man so that He
could redeem mankind. He is mankind’s only
Savior, able to buy us out of the satanic slave-market
of sin and death. Is He your Redeemer?As a result
of the Incarnation, the Son of God is our eternal
sympathetic High Priest. Someone observed: no
one can ever say to God, “Creator of the
universe, You can't possibly understand us. You
are perfect, eternal, distant, far removed from
humanity." No, He does know. He does understand
us. Because of Yeshua's birth, God knows very
well. He knows us from the inside. As the Book
written to the early Messianic Jews tells us:
We do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize
with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted
in all things as we are, yet without sin
(Hebrews 4:15). Is He your High Priest that knows
you and loves you and right now is interceding
and helping and saving you?
As a result
of the Incarnation, humanity is forever exalted.
Yeshua is fully and forever God, and now He is
fully and forever Man. He will eternally be united
with us, bringing us close to God, lifting humanity
up to the Highest Heights! Thank God for the Incarnation!
This season,
and forever and ever, may the Son of God become
ever more incarnate in all of us!
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