Matthew 1:18-25
Click for a description of the mark of the beast.
Click for a description of the image of the beast.
“Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:18
Matthew explains how the birth of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and Savior of the world came to be. Right from the beginning, His birth was marred by how other people saw Mary, His mother, and marred by laws and legalisms. Mary was engaged to Joseph, and before they had a sexual experience Mary was with Child. She was an unwed mother. In those days, being engaged was equivalent to being married, but before living together and before “coming together”. They were legally and formally bound to a marriage agreement and considered to be a married couple. To break that “engagement” would require a formal divorce.
The Holiest and purest of all events in the history of humanity was the virgin birth of Mary who would give birth to the Christ and Savior of the world. The Holy Spirit born birth became embroiled with controversy because of the scrutiny coming from sinful and wicked hearts and legalisms that bound people to recognize “sin” by formal proceedings. God doesn’t do His work to appeal to the right images of those of this earth. Christ Jesus died a criminal’s death on the Cross, regardless of the mockery and scrutiny of those who couldn’t see past their own sin. He suffered public shame in order to nail our shame to the Cross and to forgive our unbelief and sins.
“Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” Hebrews 12:1-2
“Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.” Matthew 1:19
Joseph was a just man, meaning that he obeyed all the laws of Moses, as described when he brought Jesus to be circumcised and offered the offering required for the first-born son [Luke 2:21-24]. Even then, his justness went beyond the legalisms of the letter of the law but reached into the heart and soul. That is the type of man that God wants us to be through Jesus Christ, even as Jesus grew in favor with people and God, “And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and men.” Luke 2:52
Joseph didn’t want to expose Mary to the wrath of the law, so he decided to call off the marriage secretly, to hide from the public Mary’s perceived unfaithfulness and fornication.
If Joseph would have exposed Mary’s pregnancy publicly, everyone would have believed that she committed fornication with another man, and both were to be stoned to death. “If a young woman who is a virgin is betrothed to a husband, and a man finds her in the city and lies with her, then you will bring them both out to the gate of that city, and you will stone them to death with stones, the young woman because she did not cry out in the city, and the man because he humbled his neighbor’s wife; so you will put away the evil from among you.” Deuteronomy 22:23-24
Sin and unbelief do not go away by legal laws, nor by scorning people publicly, nor by public executions, but “…your life is hidden with Christ in God.” Colossians 3:3
Mary had a very difficult life because the chief priests, Pharisees, and Jewish people were seeking to rid themselves of anyone connected with aiding the spread of Jesus being the Christ and Son of God. Revelations 12 is a chapter that reveals the life of Mary as the mother of our Lord Jesus. “Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth…And the dragon was enraged with the woman, and he went to make war with the rest of her offspring, who keep the commandments of God and have the testimony of Jesus Christ.” Revelations 12:1-2, 17
We live in a culture today, which is global, that seeks to put to public shame and scorn all of we who have the birth of the Holy Spirit within us. They seek to destroy everyone who believes in the word of God and have the testimony of Jesus. They are those who live by the power of darkness through the beast that gives them what to say, do, think, and feel. We know we have the Holy Spirit when we do not speak against Jesus and say that He is Lord, “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God calls Jesus accursed, and no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit.” 1 Corinthians 12:3
“But while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.” Matthew 1:20
Joseph was thinking about Mary being pregnant, the child wasn’t his, she was apparently committing fornication, so the only option was a permanent separation. The last thing that Joseph wanted to do to his precious Mary was to put her to public shame and to make her subject to being stoned to death. Joseph was mindful of the letter of the law to divorce her but was mindful of the righteousness of his heart to give her a secret divorce and spare her from the wrath of the Jewish culture. Our Lord Jesus gives us that righteousness from within the heart, “…who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.” 2 Corinthains 3:6
An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?” Hebrews 1:14 Angels are very real beings that are messengers of God and also fulfill His purpose on this earth. Angels are mentioned everywhere throughout the book of Revelations, from Revelations chapter 1 through Revelations 22. The events of the book of Revelations would not occur without the role of angels working on behalf of God.
We also understand that the Lord speaks to us primarily through the Holy Spirit and through the Holy Bible to guide us in the important decisions that determine the course of our life, “Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.” Psalms 119:105 We can have many dreams, but in our waking hours we make a decision about those dreams according to our walk with Jesus Christ. All dreams and visions are verified according to how they align with the work that Christ Jesus did on the Cross to atone for sin. If those dreams and visions do not align with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, in the presence of the Holy Spirit, then they are not of God.
The dream that the Lord gave to Joseph started out calling him the son of David. That meant that Joseph was from the lineage of king David, who was from the tribe of Judah. The Lord said that to remind Joseph that he is from the lineage in which the Christ would come, “He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will.’ From this man’s seed, according to the promise, God raised up for Israel a Savior—Jesus—” Acts 13:20-23 After waking from his dream, Jospeh would have begun reasoning that he was indeed from the tribe of Judah, of the lineage of David, from where the Christ and Son of God would be born from.
In his dream, the Lord said to Joseph that the Child that Mary was pregnant with was of the Holy Spirit, not by any semen of any man. She was having a virgin birth! Joespeh must have been astonished as he would have remembered the passage in Isaiah that said a virgin would bring forth the Christ Child, “Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin will conceive and bear a Son and will call His name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14
The Lord said to Joseph not to be afraid to take Mary as his wife. Joseph knew the dream was of the Lord because everything could be verified in the Scriptures about the birth of Christ being of a virgin. Joseph and Mary were both verifiably of the tribe of Judah, the lineage of king David. There was no question in the mind of Joseph about what he must do. He must take Mary as his wife as soon as possible, to make her an honorable woman in the sight of the Jewish culture and to spare her the shame and anguish of being an unwed mother.
“And she will bring forth a Son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Matthew 1:21
In his dream, the Lord said to Joseph that Mary would give birth to one who would save His people from their sins. Joseph must have been astonished beyond anything that we could envision. Everything he heard in the dream was perfectly in alignment with the Holy Scriptures and aligned with the reality of all the circumstances around him. Mary was having a Child, a virgin with Child, from the lineage of king David, and that Child was indeed the Christ and Savior of the world. In his dream, Joseph was given the name of Jesus as the Child’s name! And that is what the Child was named, Jesus, the Christ and Son of God.
“So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin ll be with child, and bear a Son, and they will call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.” Matthew 1:22-23
“Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus.” Matthew 1:24-25
I would envision that as soon as Joseph woke up, he ran to where Mary was as quickly as he could, gave her a huge loving embrace, explained every detail of his dream, and they were married that same day, or as soon to “now” as was possible. Everyone would have thought that Joseph made the Child with his own semen, but for nine months Joseph and Mary did not have sexual relations. When the Christ child was born, He was given the name of Jesus.
“….to you who do not hold to her teaching and have not learned Satan’s so-called deep secrets,
‘I will not impose any other burden on you, except to hold on to what you have until I come.
I am coming soon.
Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown.’”
Revelation 2:24-25, 3:11
Discover more from Spiritual Society in Jesus Christ
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
