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Tag: angel

Hail Mary, humble wife of GOD
And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger.
Gospel of Luke 2:16 King James Version

Mary an Introduction
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Christians, Jews and unbelievers know parts of the iconic scene unfolding in Bethlehem through a virgin Jewish mother. 

Today I honor Mary most appropriately by retelling her story of Christmas mostly from the King James Version of the Holy Bible.
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Mary, Eve of the Virgin Birth

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem..

.. with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

Gospel of Luke 2:4-5 KJV excerpt

And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered.

Mary, wife of Joseph?

Not quite, according to custom and Jewish law.
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Do YOU know any young woman who has been pregnant (even near full term) yet not married to the man she knew?
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μνηστεύω – Strong’s G3423 – mnēsteuō – from a derivative of G3415; to give a souvenir (engagement present), i.e. betroth:—espouse.
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Recall that GREEK is the common language not only of Luke the Physician but also of all of the Roman Empire ruled by Caesar Augustus. 
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Now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise: When as his mother Mary was espoused G3423 to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

Gospel of Matthew 1:18 KJV

SCANDELOUS !

(as least in the A.D. First Century)

Mary, ENGAGED to Joseph

AND they both know that the Virgin Mary had NEVER come together with Joseph her fiancé!

Joseph, an honorable man
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(like his namesake and ancestor, Joseph, son of Jacob, who the LORD used to rule Egypt under Pharaoh.) 
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Gospel of Matthew 1:19- KJV

Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not willing to make her a publick example, was minded to put her away privily. 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 1:20b KJV

And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS:

for he shall save his people from their sins.

Gospel of Matthew 1:21 KJV

An angel of the Lord speaks to you!

What to do?

The adoptive father of JESUS believes God (of course). And Joseph is a righteous and honorable man.

Then Joseph being raised from sleep did as the angel of the Lord had bidden him, and took unto him his wife:

And knew her not till she had brought forth her firstborn son: and he called his name JESUS.

Gospel of Matthew 1:24-25 KJV

Signs and Witnesses

Prophesy of Isaiah and others centuries Before Christ.

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

Isaiah 7:14 KJV

a Failure of Kings Advent 4 of Christ

Witness by a heavenly host of Angels – Luke 2:8 KJV

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 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.

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Gospel of Luke 2:8-14 King James Version

Witnesses and worship

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. .. Then took he him up in his arms, and blessed God, and said,

Lord, now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace, according to thy word:

For mine eyes have seen thy salvation,

Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people;

A light to lighten the Gentiles,

and the glory of thy people Israel.

Gospel of Luke 2:25-32 KJV excerpt [context]

Signs before Jesus’ birth

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless. And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Gospel of Luke 1:5-11 King James Version
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An Angel of the Lord standing beside the Priest of God right inside the Holy of Holies! A pretty big deal.

Briefly, what happens next is a foretelling prophetic birth of JOHN the BAPTIST, preparing the way for the Lord Jesus, the consolation of Israel and Messiah sent of God the Father. 
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Elisabeth, John and the Holy Spirit
- Zacharias the Priest of God continued to serve his term in the Temple unable to speak.
  - Daily worshipers in Jerusalem must have know that something was up.
- He returns home.
- Elisabeth conceived.
- An angel of the Lord then appears in Nazareth prior to their trip to register for the census of Caesar and also tells Mary:
And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Gospel of Luke 1:36-37 KJV
- And Mary went into the hill country of *Juda
- And entered into the house of Zacharias
- and (knowing the the angel had revealed) saluted Elisabeth.
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:

Gospel of Luke 1:41 KJV signs confirming the Messiah when Mary greeted the mother of John the Baptist

In the Year of the most controversial birth in history

Jesus Christ born in a manger

Church fathers, theologians who study such things, took a few centuries to articulate the trinitarian Christology from the Apostles recorded in Scripture from the A.D. first century.

Creeds, Catechisms, Confessions & Christ – What do you believe?

The clarity of their CREEDS and CONFESSIONS of FAITH define our hope of eternal life in the Lord Jesus Christ.

I believe in one God, the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible.
And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the only-begotten Son of God, begotten of the Father before all worlds; God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God; begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.
Who, for us men for our salvation, came down from heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the virgin Mary,
and was made man…
Nicene Creed excerpt
AD 325 & AD381

Born of the Virgin Mary

Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?

And the angel answered and said unto her,

The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee,

and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee:

therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Gospel of Luke 1:34-35 King James Version

εὐλογέω – eulogeō

.. Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

Luke 1:42b KJV

κύριος – kyrios

And Mary said, My soul doth magnify the Lord,

And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden:

for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

Gospel of Luke 1:46-48 KJV [familiar beginning of the Magnificat of Mary]

As were Joseph and others to whom the Lord sent His angels:

The soul of Mary is humble, as is JESUS from her womb to the Cross.

For he that is mighty hath done to me great things;
and holy is his name.
And his mercy
is on them that fear him
from generation to generation.
Gospel of Luke 1:49-50 King James Version – from the Magnificat of the Virgin Mary declaring that the Lord is mighty and holy is His Name.

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December 24, 2024
His Angel at the gate
A messenger after an angel

Today we’ll move around between scenes and times hoping for a glance at an angel.

(Have you ever seen one?)

Acts of the Apostles 12:

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.
Acts of the Apostles 12:5 ESV

~ A.D. 42

Scene: Likely the same upper room where Peter and the Apostles have proclaimed the Gospel to the Church with great power. It is above a palatial home of Mary mother of Mark, who will record his Gospel during these next several years.

Like James, this time the Apostle has been seized in Jerusalem and led to prison.

Here in Mary’s house, the church prays continually for their pastor Peter, who Herod will soon execute to please the Jews.

A servant girl, Ῥόδη [Rhoda] comes up to them as claimed she saw Peter.

..and they kept saying, “It is his angel!”
Acts 12:15c ESV

These believers in the resurrected Christ seem pretty insistent that Peter wasn’t knocking at Mary’s gate as her servant girl insisted, but that Rhoda just saw an angel at the gate.

Just what is it that this flock of Peter’s believes about angels?

ἄγγελος – angelos
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 KJV Translation Count — Total: 186x
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- a messenger,
- envoy,
- one who is sent,
- an angel,
- a messenger from God
..in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.

15 They said to her, “You are out of your mind.”

But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!”

Perhaps some in the room had witnessed the risen Christ! (Jesus, though, IS more than just an angel). He demonstrated both spirit-like and human traits during those forty days after the resurrection a dozen years ago.

Perhaps Peter has sent a messenger from Herod’s prison, even a messenger sent from God.

Philip the Evangelist or Cornelius the Centurion

Luke does not account for who is present among those praying for Peter. Maybe John is mourning in a family home for his slain brother James. But Philip might be present, traveling from Caesarea even as Agrippa frequently does. Or maybe Cornelius, now a Roman brother in the Lord and follower of Peter, could have been there (or some of his family).

These men and others had seen angels and delivered the Lord’s message.

He distinctly saw an angel of God

Philip: Evangelizing Christ’s Sheep Beyond Gaza

But an angel of the Lord spoke to Philip, saying,
“Get ready and go south to the road that descends from Jerusalem to Gaza.” (This is a desert road.)
Acts of Philip, disciple of the Apostles, 8:26 NASB20

A.D. 2022

Scene: In a neighborhood near my own home

I saw an angel. I understood her message, a graceful and timely gesture sent to me.
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Want to know more?
Comment on this post about angels, especially sharing any contemporary experience of your own, and I will privately share the rest of my brief recent encounter - RH
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Having experienced the mysterious and powerful work of the Holy Spirit personally on a Good Friday more than twenty years ago (even as many witnessed its mysteries on that first Pentecost more than a decade prior to our account from Acts of the Apostles 12), I do not marvel that those praying for Peter suggested that Rhonda, servant of the household of John Mark, had seen angel.
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Peter’s witness of Angels

It happens here in Acts 12, that this servant girl had not seen an angel at their gate.

¹³And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.

Peter, however, has seen an angel – even as Luke records in Acts of the Apostles that he has before.

Arrested AND Released

“The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”

Were some of those won to Christ by Peter’s preaching and powerful signs in the Temple (even before the stoning of Stephen) now present in this upper room where a servant girl has announced that Peter is at the gate?

Also, of course, there was the Voice Peter heard from the housetop when the angel of the Lord brought Cornelius to him: “Rise up, Peter, slaughter and eat!” .. “What God has cleansed, no longer consider defiled.”

So Peter was kept in prison..

It’s ten years beyond A.D. 30, when Jesus appeared to the Apostles and an angel released Peter from prison to preach in the Temple. And it’s a few months beyond A.D. 40, when an angel of the Lord appeared separately to Peter and Cornelius.

Scene:

A.D. 42 – a high-security prison of King Herod in Jerusalem at the time of the Passover

Agrippa’s timing is not unlike that of twelve years earlier, when Jerusalem’s former Prefect, Pontius Pilate, had crucified the Lord Jesus.

But now is the night before Herod Agrippa is about to make an example of Peter in front of the Passover crowds of Jerusalem, just as he had pleased the Jews so much (remember: *Herod really isn’t a Jew) by killing James with the sword of an executioner.
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*source: Herod the Great's father was half Edomite. Agrippa grew up around Rome. 

For more READ: Herod Vexing Opposition of the Church from our introduction to ACTS 12
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Acts 12:

τετράδιον – When he [Herod] had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four [sixteen men] squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people.

[During every watch of the night..]

Peter was sleeping..
- between two soldiers,
- bound with two chains,
- and [two] guards in front of the door were watching over the prison.
No one is going to escape these Roman guards of Herod’s standing watch over Peter all night.

And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared

and a light shone in the cell;

and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying,

“Rise up quickly.”

And his chains fell off his hands.

And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and [bind] your sandals.” And he did so.

And he said to him, “[Bind] your [cloak] around yourself and follow me.”

[So Peter] went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but was thinking he was seeing a vision.
Acts 12:9 of an angel leading Peter from prison

When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now truly I know that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.”

FREE from prison & certain death

Peter, standing in the early morning hours alone in the streets of Jerusalem.

And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer…

ACTS of the Apostles – To be continued…
August 23, 2022
Gardener, Shepherd and Hunter: 7 Scenes Unseen by Man

ACT 2 – Scene 1 – in an unseen place

Where am I?

I have brought you to a place unseen by man.

You showed me a scene I had never seen of the death of Abel.. and Eve mourning the loss of her son murdered by her other son… and about sin in Eden. Was this story of Moses true?

I have shown you scenes revealed to Moses from near the beginning of time. His story was true, though Moses was not there.

Tell me, why did Moses leave Egypt?

By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter..
[Click here to read NASB in context]
Hebrews 11:24

By faith he left Egypt, not fearing the wrath of the king; for he persevered, as though seeing Him who is unseen.
Hebrews 11:27 NASB

Moses was sort of a shepherd then, wasn’t he?

Yes, in a sense.. But a later shepherd led his followers to the right answer from Scripture to your question. Do you recall what David said?

מִזְמוֹר לְדָוִד יְהוָה רֹעִי לֹא אֶחְסָֽר׃

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.

Moses followed the unseen Shepherd as he led the Hebrews from slavery in Egypt.

So is this place like when you showed me what happened east of Eden?

These scenes take place in the unseen places above the heavens — or beneath the earth — places connected to the timeline of man yet separate from the mortal life of any one man or woman.

I don’t think I understand, I thought as my Guide explained unseen places where He has evidently led me.

Allow me to show you one such unseen scene from around the time of Moses. The actions here impact a righteous man who lived in a different land. But this scene does not take place there.

Unseen in Uz

One day the angels [sons of God] came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan [the adversary] also came with them.

The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?”

Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth on it.”

Job 1:6-7 NIV

Do you know this story?

Yes. It’s about Job, who suffers all kinds of evil without knowing why.

Is Job part of this conversation with the LORD in the unseen place? So who is the main character in this story of Job?

I knew the obvious answer. Job was clueless about God allowing him to suffer severely for some time.

Satan.. And didn’t you also say that Moses called him the Serpent?

You yourself recognized the Serpent as the hunter. And what prey does he hunt?

Souls! The soul of Cain.. the soul of Eve.. the soul of Adam..

So too is Satan hissing at God when he calls for evil to tempt Job’s soul toward the pit of darkness.

So the Serpent’s name is really Satan.

שָׂטָן

śāṭān – noun

superhuman adversary, הַשּׂ׳ :
a. of Job, one of בְּנֵי אֱלֹהִים Job 1:6, 7 (twice in verse); Job 1:8, 9, 12 (twice in verse); Job 2:1, 2(twice in verse); Job 2:3, 4 (twice in verse); Job 2:6, 7.
b. of high priest of Israel before י׳, Zechariah 3:1, 2(twice in verse); Greek Version of the LXX. ὁ διάβολος.
c. as proper name שׂ׳ Satan 1 Chronicles 21:1 (interpret 2 Samuel 24:1), Greek Version of the LXX διάβολος (Greek Version of the LXX σατάν 1 Kings 11:14, 23; Σατανᾶς Matthew 4:10; Mark 1:13; Luke 10:18 + 33 times NT).

Source- [Lexicon :: Strong’s H7854 – śāṭān

And as Moses said, this Tempter is cunning; and as a spirit shepherding evil in the unseen places he has many names, sometimes even appearing as a wolf in sheep’s clothing.

שָׂטַן

śāṭan – verb

Outline of Biblical Usage
(Qal) to be or act as an adversary, resist, oppose

Strong’s Definitions
שָׂטַן sâṭan, saw-tan’; a primitive root; to attack, (figuratively) accuse:—(be an) adversary, resist.

Strong’s Number H7853 matches the Hebrew שָׂטַן (śāṭan), which occurs 6 times in 6 verses in the WLC Hebrew.

Job seemed helpless; not able to do anything about the evil.

Satan requested permission from God to contend with him on earth.

My thoughts and countenance were really quite dejected by now..

Remember what David said about the valley of the shadow of death? .. It is the place of evil.

I recalled briefly the Lord’s words to Cain before he murdered Abel.. The LORD cautioned Able BEFORE he turned against his brother and against the LORD who was with him and leading him along the valley of the shadow…

So how can any man resist evil from these unseen places and remain faithful to the LORD?

Do you know how David petitioned the LORD when God was angry at him for his sin?

Just like Moses, I thought, David had murdered a man. He had blood on his hands.. NO LESS THAN CAIN!

A psalm of David. A petition. NIV

LORD, do not rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your wrath.
Psalm 38:1 NIV

Some prayers are praises to God who we cannot see, while others are petitions from our place near the valley of the shadow to the unseen place — a place above time and circumstance where the Lord sits on the Throne of justice and the Mercy Seat of redemption.

Psalm 38 NASB, KJ21, OJB, WLC

Yᵊhōvâ

Hashem, rebuke me not in Thy wrath; neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure.

2 (3) For Thine khitzim (arrows) pierce me, Thy hand presseth me sorely.

3 There is no soundness in my flesh, because of Thine anger; neither is there any rest in my bones, because of my sin.

4 For mine iniquities have gone over mine head; as a heavy burden, they are too heavy for me.

5 My wounds are foul and corrupt because of my foolishness.

6 (7) I am bent down; I am brought low

I go in mourning all day long.
7 For my sides are filled with burning,
And there is no healthy part in my flesh.

8 I am feeble and sorely broken; I have groaned because of the disquiet of my heart.

David pleads for mercy, confessing his guilty deeds by which he deserves the WRATH OF GOD.. He then bows down to God acknowledging:

Lord, all my desire is before You;
And my sighing is not hidden from You.

I know now after seeing these unseen places that I have NO right to expect anything from God…

David is quiet before the LORD, then pleaing:

Yes, I am like a person who does not hear,
And in whose mouth are no arguments.
¹⁵For I wait for You, Lord;
You will answer, Lord my God.

AND listen to David’s plea to the Judge of all men. Read it:

(WLC 38:21) וּמְשַׁלְּמֵי רָעָה תַּחַת טוֹבָה יִשְׂטְנוּנִי תַּחַת רדופי־ טֽוֹב׃

They also that render evil for good are mine adversaries; because I follow the thing that good is.
Psalm 38:20 KJV

Eve encountered an adversary opposed to God! As did the first adam and the sons of adam.. Job.. and David.. And yes, so have you. And WHY? David tells us.

Because those who follow God and do what is good suffer evil by the hand of the adversary of the LORD God lurking in the unseen places. For Satan is an enemy of all Light which overcomes the darkness.

21 Do not abandon me, Lord;
My God, do not be far from me!
22 Hurry to help me,
Lord, my salvation!

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
Gospel of John 1:5 NIV

To be continued…

May 14, 2022