Called A Nazarene

THE CHRISTMAS STORY IN MATTHEW’S GOSPEL — 5

Matthew 2:19-23

Now when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother, and go to the land of Israel, for those who sought the young Child's life are dead." Then he arose, took the young Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel.
But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea instead of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned by God in a dream, he turned aside into the region of Galilee. 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."
[NKJV]

Now we have the fourth and fifth of Joseph’s ‘dreams’, where the Angel of The Lord appeared to him, with each one, directly or indirectly related to Old Testament prophecy. The fifth dream of six mentioned in Matthew (the sixth was to Pontius Pilate) directs the Holy Family to Nazareth in Galilee.

Galilee (meaning ‘to roll’) represents ‘trusting in God’ as we have already seen, and a Nazarene, someone from Nazareth means ‘the separated one.’ Separated unto God is the state of being we aspire to, and even as an infant, Jesus is showing us the way. We hope to live in spiritual Nazareth in spiritual Galilee — separated to God in a place of trusting in Him.

May your Christmas be filled with joy in The Lord, whether with family or alone, nearby or far from home, we can rest, assured that God is with us. Have a Happy Christmas.

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“O Come All Ye Faithful”

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A HOLY COMMAND: Oswald Chambers on Love
— Love With All Your Mind --

Never let anything push you to your wit’s end, because you will worry, and worry makes you self-interested and disturbs the nourishment of the life of God.
Give thanks to God that He is there, no matter what is happening.
The secret of Christian quietness is not indifference, but the knowledge that God is my Father, He loves me, I shall never think of anything He will forget. Then worry becomes an impossibility.
[from ‘If Ye Shall Ask’)

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