BY Argie Simonis
Today we will study the first two chapters of Matthew and Luke. They speak of the birth of Jesus, and I encourage you all to study them.
In this message we will see some awesome revelations from the Scriptures.
We will see 7 prophetic reasons that God gave us, which had to do with the birth of His Son. Seven different people, either received a prophecy, or gave a prophecy concerning the birth of Jesus.
7 is the number of completion. Prophecy means that God speaks, and we know that these things were spoken by the Lord, because they are in the Holy Bible. There is a specific word in each of these 7 prophecies, and this is what we will see in this message.
----------------------------
-- 1. SALVATION (Zechariah)
This prophecy was given to Zechariah, the father of John the Baptist.
Let us quickly recall what happened. Zechariah is married to Elizabeth and Elizabeth is barren. Zechariah prays for her to conceive, and then an angel of the Lord visits Zechariah, as he is in the Temple, and says to him:
" But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John." (Luke 1:13)
" And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years." (Luke 1:18)
" And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season." (Luke 1:20)
A little further down, the same angel, Gabriel, visits Mary, who asks the same question, but with faith:
" Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?" (Luke 1:34)
Abraham asked the same question in faith. God knew the heart with which the question was asked.
So Zacharias remains mute and cannot speak until John is born. They asked Elizabeth what his name would be, and when she told them John they were surprised, because they had no one with that name in their family.
When Zacharias comes, since he could not speak, he takes and writes that his name is John. As soon as he does this, his tongue is loosed and he can speak.
Let's start from here:
" And his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Ghost, and prophesied, saying," (Luke 1:67)
" Blessed be the Lord God of Israel; for he hath visited and redeemed his people," (Luke 1:68)
" And hath raised up an horn of salvation for us in the house of his servant David;" (Luke 1:69)
" And thou, child, shalt be called the prophet of the Highest: for thou shalt go before the face of the Lord to prepare his ways;" (Luke 1:76)
" To give knowledge of salvation unto his people by the remission of their sins," (Luke 1:77)
~ Never forget that Christmas represents SALVATION; it is the day that God sent His Son to save us from sin and death, because:
" For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;" (Romans 3:23)
" For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." (Romans 6:23)
This is the main message of Christmas. The Savior will be called Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.
The Hebrew word Yeshua is a derivative of the word Joshua. Two such names are found in the Scriptures. One is Joshua, who served and succeeded Moses, and led the people of Israel to the Promised Land, and the other is the high priest when the people of Israel came out of exile.
Joshua, the son of Jehozadak, was the first High Priest in the rebuilding of the Jewish temple after the Jews returned from the Babylonian Captivity.
" Then stood up Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and his brethren the priests, and Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and his brethren, and builded the altar of the God of Israel, to offer burnt offerings thereon, as it is written in the law of Moses the man of God." (Ezra 3:2)
" Then rose up Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel, and Jeshua the son of Jozadak, and began to build the house of God which is at Jerusalem: and with them were the prophets of God helping them." (Ezra 5:2)
------------------
Jesus' name at birth was not Joshua, but Hoshea. Moses added the letter -J- to the front, from what is the name of God, Jehovah, and made it Je-Hoshea, which then became Joshua.
Hoshea means salvation, and Jehovah means God, so Joshua means "The God Who Saves". But why did the Lord change it and make it Yeshua?
He did it because it refers directly to God, and it refers to His name -I AM-, when the Lord introduced himself to Moses:
" And Moses said unto God, Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What is his name? what shall I say unto them?" (Exodus 3:13)
" And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you." (Exodus 3:14)
So here is what the name Jesus/Yeshua means:
~ I AM GOD YOUR SALVATION ~
This is one of the reasons the Pharisees were so angry when Jesus said
- "I am the door"
- "I am the way, the truth and the life"
- "I am the good Shepherd"
Every time he said this, he was essentially saying "I AM GOD"
" Therefore the Jews sought the more to kill him, because he not only had broken the sabbath, but said also that God was his Father, making himself equal with God." (John 5:18)
- "I am God, the door"
- "I am God, the bread"
- "I am God, the way".
This is what Jesus said EVERY TIME when he spoke. That is why, no matter how busy these days are, with the gifts, the food, and all the preparations, we never forget that the first thing that Christmas represents is our salvation!
------------------
--2. GRACE (Mary)
This is the prophecy given to Mary:
" And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth," (Luke 1:26)
" To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary." (Luke 1:27)
" And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women." (Luke 1:28)
" And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be." (Luke 1:29)
" And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God." (Luke 1:30)
What grace is Gabriel talking about here?
Noah found grace before God. This is what God spoke when His Son was born. He spoke salvation and grace! This is the age of grace we live in. We are full of grace!:
" Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will," (Ephesians 1:5)
" To the praise of the glory of his grace, wherein he hath made us accepted in the beloved." (Ephesians 1:6)
" In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;" (Ephesians 1:7)
We are His beloved! And beloved are those in whom the grace, the favor of God is found! Therefore, in all this hustle and bustle that exists these days, let us not forget that above all these days are characterized by the grace of God.
-------------------
--3. BLESSED (Elizabeth)
This is the prophecy that was given through Elizabeth.
" And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda;" (Luke 1:39)
" And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth." (Luke 1:40)
" And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:" (Luke 1:41)
Here Elizabeth is filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesies, and it is also the same moment that John the Baptist in the womb is filled with the Holy Spirit, and we also saw Zechariah being filled with the Holy Spirit:
" And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." (Luke 1:42)
" And whence is this to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?" (Luke 1:43)
" For, lo, as soon as the voice of thy salutation sounded in mine ears, the babe leaped in my womb for joy." (Luke 1:44)
" And blessed is she that believed: for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the Lord." (Luke 1:45)
- Blessed = the happy, the joyful.
Jesus came to make you happy. The devil tries to trick you and tell you that if you give your heart to Christ you will not be happy. Many people fall into this trap and believe that if they come to Christ they miss out on all the fun.
Believe me, before I came to Christ I was on the other side. I have seen the night, and I assure you it was not pleasant at all! You may find some apparent and temporary pleasures there, but you will never experience real joy that will last, which only Christ can give you.
Many say, "I will live my life as I want, I will have as much fun as I want, and when I get old, before I die, I will give my life to Christ."
This is a delusion, because
- you will never be truly happy (only Christ offers true happiness),
- nor will you know when you will die.
" Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent Him TO BLESS YOU, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities." (Acts 3:26)
----------------
-- GUIDANCE (Joseph)
This prophecy was given to Joseph.
" Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily." (Matthew 1:19)
" But while he thought on these things, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared unto him in a dream, saying, Joseph, thou son of David, fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife: for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost." (Matthew 1:20)
" And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins." (Matthew 1:21)
" And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him." (Matthew 2:13)
" But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt," (Matthew 2:19)
" Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life." (Matthew 2:20)
" And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel." (Matthew 2:21)
" But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:" (Matthew 2:22)
" And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene." (Matthew 2:23)
These prophetic words are awesome! The message I personally get from these words is that God will guide me! I don’t need to worry, be sad or stressed, because the Lord here tells us that one of the reasons He sent Christ to earth was to guide us and warn us, even through dreams!
He will tell us when to leave, when to move to another city, which city to go to, when to change jobs, which school to put your children in... The Lord will show us all of this. I hope you all are receiving these words. This is what Christmas means. God became man not only to offer us salvation, but also to bless us, to give us Grace,
to guide us every day, for our own good and that of our family.
This is what he did with Joseph, He was his GPS! Many times we don't listen to the Lord and we do our own thing, or other times we don't hear clearly what he shows us and we take the wrong path. That's where the GPS re-calculates our course and brings us back to the right path.
The Lord continues to speak through dreams, but don't forget that at that time they didn't have the entire Bible that we have today, and even available on their mobile phones at all times, as we have today. Only in the Temple did they hear the word of God. That's why we see greater activity of God speaking to them through dreams back then.
But the Lord speaks to us about many things and guides us through His word.
We enjoy the awesome privilege of having the word of God available in books, on our mobile phones, and yet we don't read it.
When you go to the doctor and wait for your turn in the waiting room, open your phone and read the word of God. Maybe the Lord has something to say to you while you wait.
Surely the Lord continues to speak today through prophetic dreams:
" And it shall come to pass in the last days, saith God, I will pour out of my Spirit upon all flesh: and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams:" (Acts 2:17)
Through a dream that my wife Peggy saw, and actually she saw it three times, the Lord led us to Norway, where we have been living since 2011.
-------------
-- JOY (Shepherds)
" And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night." (Luke 2:8)
" And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid." (Luke 2:9)
" And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." (Luke 2:10)
" For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11)
Jesus is not just the fruit of joy, but the SOURCE of joy! Without Christ in your life you cannot have joy. And the good thing is that this joy does not depend on the circumstances around you.
The devil never takes a break. He and his demons are constantly trying to find opportunities to steal, destroy and destroy. They will show you no mercy and no pity, even if a tragedy has happened in your life. In fact, these are their favorite opportunities to attack you. Did you know that one of the times when the devil attacks the most is Christmas?
Christmas should be one of the happiest times of the year, and yet, many people feel incredibly sad these days. There are reasons for that. It usually has to do with family, with relationships. There may be a break-up, a divirce, perhaps the loss of a loved one. Perhaps there is an illness afflicting someone in the family, perhaps there is a serious financial crisis. I understand if you are going through something like that.
As Christians, we have the power to grieve and rejoice at the same time!
Especially for those who have lost a loved one, I will say this:
" But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope." (1 Thessalonians 4:13)
" For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him." (1 Thessalonians 4:14)
So even in sorrow, you can have joy. No matter what happens to you this Christmas, know that you can have joy! Because one of the reasons for Christmas is joy.
Or will a lack of money prevent you from celebrating Christmas? If money is what brings you joy, then, yes, you will not be able to enjoy Christmas.
-------------
--6. REDEMPTION (Anna)
This word was given by a prophetess, Anna, in the Temple:
" And there was one Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Aser: she was of a great age, and had lived with an husband seven years from her virginity;" (Luke 2:36)
" And she was a widow of about fourscore and four years, which departed not from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day." (Luke 2:37)
" And she coming in that instant gave thanks likewise unto the Lord, and spake of him to all them that looked for redemption in Jerusalem." (Luke 2:38)
Something is happening at the same time here, and this is no coincidence at all. If Anna got married at 14, which was quite common at the time, and lived with her husband for 7 years, that means she was at least 21 when she lost her husband. She had been a widow for 84 years, so she was 105 years old. Simeon, who I will talk about later, according to tradition, was 112.
The reason I mention this is that you are never too old for God to use you. God chose 2 old people to prophesy about His Son!
Anna prophesies redemption. What does redemption mean? Redemption means to buy back. That is, God came to redeem us, because while we were His in the Garden of Eden, Adam and Eve, His own children, whom God lost because of sin. So, Christ came to redeem, that is, to buy back what was His from the beginning. This means redemption, or deliverance.
A very beautiful example is the story of the prophet Hosea. Mainly in chapters 1 and 3. You can study it too. The Lord tells Hosea to go and redeem for Him a woman who is a prostitute. And he uses the word "take":
" The beginning of the word of the LORD by Hosea. And the LORD said to Hosea, Go, take unto thee a wife of whoredoms and children of whoredoms: for the land hath committed great whoredom, departing from the LORD." (Hosea 1:2)
Hosea obeys the Lord:
" And she conceived again, and bare a daughter. And God said unto him, Call her name Loruhamah: for I will no more have mercy upon the house of Israel; but I will utterly take them away." (Hosea 1:6)
" Now when she had weaned Loruhamah, she conceived, and bare a son." (Hosea 1:8)
But she then leaves her husband and returns to prostitution. And in chapter 3, God says to Hosea:
" Then said the LORD unto me, Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend, yet an adulteress, according to the love of the LORD toward the children of Israel, who look to other gods, and love flagons of wine." (Hosea 3:1)
" So I bought her to me for fifteen pieces of silver, and for an homer of barley, and an half homer of barley:" (Hosea 3:2)
That's what Hosea did. Even though she left him and abandoned him, the Lord told him to buy her back to be his wife. That's what the word redemption means. It's a great story! It's a prophetic picture of the people of Israel, who left God, but the Lord bought them back, redeemed them. Jesus said he came for the lost sheep of Israel.
Do you know what that means? That even if I leave, even if I make a mistake, even if I fall back into the sin I had come out of, the Lord is always there, true to His word, to redeem me! To bring me back home:
" ... I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee." (Hebrews 13:5)
" Be strong and of a good courage, fear not, nor be afraid of them: for the LORD thy God, he it is that doth go with thee; he will not fail thee, nor forsake thee." (Deuteronomy 31:6)
In chapter 3 we also see another word that excites me. In chapter 1 the Lord says "take unto thee a wife," and in chapter 3 he says:
" ... Go yet, love a woman beloved of her friend,..." (Hosea 3:1)
And then the Lord says to the people of Israel: This is what I do for you too! So this is a prophetic picture of Jesus who came to redeem us, to redeem us and to bring us back to Himself.
--------------------
--7. PEACE (Simeon).
This prophecy was given through Simeon.
" And, behold, there was a man in Jerusalem, whose name was Simeon; and the same man was just and devout, waiting for the consolation of Israel: and the Holy Ghost was upon him." (Luke 2:25)
" And it was revealed unto him by the Holy Ghost, that he should not see death, before he had seen the Lord's Christ." (Luke 2:26)
Now look at the "coincidence" I mentioned earlier with the prophetess Anna:
" And he came by the Spirit into the temple: and when the parents brought in the child Jesus, to do for him after the custom of the law," (Luke 2:27)
Simeon goes to the Temple just as Joseph and Mary arrive there.
" Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said," (Luke 2:28)
" Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:" (Luke 2:29)
And of course, God spoke peace to the shepherds who witnessed the birth of Jesus.
The Lord uses people regardless of their age. Mary was very young, and Simeon and Anna were very old.
In summary, the Lord spoke:
-- To three men:
Zacharias, Joseph, and Simeon
-- To three women:
Anna, Mary, and Elizabeth.
-- And to the shepherds.
The reason I say this is because:
" There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28)
Jesus came to restore order and correct the damage and all injustice that sin had caused to the world. The Lord was the first to restore women to society, who at that time were objects of trade. To understand, a woman's testimony could not be taken into account in a court of law, even if she was an eyewitness to a murder!
And only a man could give a divorce, and for the slightest reason!
So the Lord, through Simeon, spoke peace, but what peace exactly?
" And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." (Luke 2:10)
" For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord." (Luke 2:11)
" And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." (Luke 2:12)
" And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying," (Luke 2:13)
" Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." (Luke 2:14)
The peace that the heavenly host sang about was not peace among men, but peace between God and men. Jesus said:
" Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword." (Matthew 10:34)
The angels rejoiced that the war between God and man was over.
Simeon speaks a prophetic word directly to Mary, which I believe also has to do with peace:
" And Joseph and his mother marvelled at those things which were spoken of him." (Luke 2:33)
" And Simeon blessed them, and said unto Mary his mother, Behold, this child is set for the fall and rising again of many in Israel; and for a sign which shall be spoken against;" (Luke 2:34)
" (Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also,) that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed." (Luke 2:35)
In other words, what Simeon is saying is that Jesus will come as a stumbling stone for many, and many will fall before Him, because He will reveal the thoughts of the hearts of men.
Mary also understands that not everything will be rosy. Pain and difficulties await her, because in the middle of his speech, Simeon stops, looks her in the eyes and says to her that:
"...Yea, a sword shall pierce through thy own soul also..."
This prophecy was fulfilled when Mary stood before her crucified son. And Jesus even said to her:
" When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son!" (John 19:26)
" Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home." (John 19:27)
Do you know what we understand from this? That her husband Joseph was already dead. Jesus would have never told her to go home with another man if her husband was still alive. So, Mary loses her husband Joseph, becomes a widow, and then loses her son.
So all of this was prophesied, and these prophecies are so accurate, that only God could have done it.
The message we get here from Christmas is that even in the midst of difficulties, we can have peace, because the prince of peace has come:
" For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace." (Isaiah 9:6)
------------------
So 2000 years ago, Jesus came into the world to offer us:
-- Salvation,
-- Grace and favor,
-- Blessings and guidance,
-- Joy,
-- Redemption
-- Peace
Amen!
