The Two Edged Sword

The Christmas Story from the Old Testament and the New Testament

Baby Jesus
Old Testament: “For unto us a child is born, and unto us a son is given; and the government will rest on His shoulders; and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.” Isaiah 9:6 (KJV)

New Testament: “…while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:6-7 (KJV)

Joseph
Old Testament:“Behold the days are coming declares the Lord when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch and He will reign as King…’” Jeremiah 23:5(NASB)

New Testament: “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and linage of David.” Luke 2:4 (NASB)

Mary
Old Testament: “…behold a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call his name Immanuel.” Isaiah 7:14 (NASB)

New Testament: “Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin…and the virgin’s name was Mary.” Luke 1:26-28 (NASB )

Bethlehem
Old Testament: “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.” Micah 5:2 (NASB)

New Testament: “And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and linage of David.” Luke 2:4 (NASB)

Star of Bethlehem
Old Testament: “…a star shall come forth from Jacob, a scepter shall rise from Israel.” Numbers 24:17 (NASB)

New Testament: “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and have come to worship Him.” Matthew 2:2 (NASB)

Wisemen
Old Testament: “The wealth of the nations will come to you. A multitude of camels...of Midian and Ephah; all those from Sheba will come; they will bring gold and frankincense, and will bear good news of the praises of the Lord.” Isaiah 60: 5b-6 (NASB)

New Testament: “Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the east, and have come to worship Him. And they fell down and worshipped Him; and opening their treasures they presented to Him gifts of gold and frankincense and myrrh.” Matthew 2:1- 2, 11 (NASB)

But what about the shepherds and the angels? Are they prophesied in the Old Testament? Well, if they are, I was not able to find the verses. However, I did find an abundance of references to shepherds in general in both the Old Testament and New. Shepherds played such an important role in God’s plan for the ages, it is no wonder He told the good news to them first!

“The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…” Psalms 23: 1 (KJV)
(Jesus speaking) “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep.” John 10:11 (NASB)

And the angels, well…they filled the air above the shepherds causing the heavens to “tell of the glory of God…(and)…declare His handiwork.” Psalms 19:1 (NASB)

Through My Kitchen Window

Angels and Demons - Part 1

It’s October – the month when people think of scary, haunting things. So, in keeping with the season, I am posting a two part blog about strange happenings.

Angel Encounter – or was it a dream?

Life for a foreign missionary can be quite challenging. During a particularly difficult time in his mission career, my father grew discouraged to the point of questioning his effectiveness as a missionary. One night, he received an unusual phone call. We had phone service in Nigeria. It was not what one might be accustomed to in the US, but it was phone service of a sort. Our service only connected the missionary houses to each other and to the hospital. An operator at the hospital worked a switch board which allowed Doctors like my father to be reached at home in the case of an emergency.

This particular night, the phone beside my parent’s bed rang and my father answered. But the voice on the other end of the phone was not the hospital operator; it was my grandmother, my father’s deceased mother. The conversation went like this:

“Ma! Is that you??!!”

“Yes, it’s me.”

“Ma! How are you calling me? You are dead!”

“I know, but sometimes God allows us to reach across the gulf to help those we love when they are in need. God has given me permission to call you and to tell you to hold on to Christ.”

Hold on to Christ

This statement had special meaning to my father. When he was a child he had heard the story of Adoniram Judson, missionary to Burma, suspended in a well. He had been hoisted up by his thumbs and suspended for hours at a time that way. (I tried to research this fact and only found a passing reference to it in an article by Dr. Jack Van Impe called, “The Judgment Seat of Christ”)

As my father remembered the story, during the time Adoniram Judson was suspended by his thumbs, his wife, Ann stood vigil over him. He cried out to her, complaining that he felt like he was falling. He could not grip the rope tied to his thumbs so he had nothing to hold on to. Ann encouraged him to, “Hold on to Christ.” This story made a huge impression on my father as a child. And now in his own personal struggle, his mother was calling him from heaven to remind him to “Hold on to Christ!”

He asked his mother what heaven was like but she said she was not allowed to tell him that. He kept asking her anyway. Finally, she said, “Heaven is more wonderful than you can ever imagine, but I did not call to tell you about that. I called to tell you to hold on to Christ!”

Then her voice fell silent. My father found himself sitting on the side of his bed with the telephone in his hand. Was this an angel or a dream? It was characteristically different from most dreams in some specific ways. It was oriented to reality where as dreams are often abstract from reality. In this “dream” my father immediately told his mother, “Ma, you are dead.” and she agreed saying, “Yes, I am.” In addition, my father was a physician. He received calls in the middle of the night on a regular basis. He had learned to quickly become awake and alert enough to make decisions about patient’s care – sometimes life and death decisions.

So, was it a dream or an angel? Or was it actually my grandmother reaching across the gulf as she said? We may never know the answers to these questions until we are in heaven. But whatever it was, God sent it for His purposes – to encourage my discouraged father in his work.