Joseph (12-18-12)

Proverbs 16:9 - "The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps."

Over the last couple of weeks I've been considering the first few chapters Matthew and Luke, thinking about the incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ and the events surrounding His birth. In the first two chapters of Matthew we're given the account of how the birth of Christ affected Joseph in particular. We don't know much about Joseph, the adopted father of the Lord Jesus and husband of Mary, and interestingly enough, Joseph never says a single word in all of recorded Scripture. Even so, we can learn a great deal from the life of the man whom God chose to raise His Son.
Proverbs 16:9 states that - "the mind of a man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." This was certainly true in the life of Joseph. I'm sure he had a plan set up for the future, he was a skilled carpenter, engaged to be married to a young Hebrew girl and I'm sure he had no idea the plans that the Lord had in store for him. In these first two chapters in the New Testament, Josephs life has more ups and downs than a roller coaster. And in these verses we see Proverbs 20:24 worked out - "Man’s steps are ordained by the Lord, how then can man understand his way?"

Matthew 1:18-19 - "Now the birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: when His mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child by the Holy Spirit. And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly." Like I said, Joseph was engaged to be married to a wonderful young lady, a godly young lady, but out of the blue she comes to him with the news that she is pregnant. What a shocking blow this must have been. Not only is she pregnant, but she claims that she's pregnant by the Holy Spirit. Everything was going along according to plan, but suddenly this ruins everything. He decides that the only thing to do is divorce her. However, he still loves her. He doesn't want her to be disgraced or punished so he decides to divorce her secretly. He is brought to a very low place, but when he considers this an angel appears to him in a dream. Matthew 1:20-23 - "But when he had considered this, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife; for the Child who has been conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. She will bear a Son; and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.” Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”" Joseph is visited by an angel who reveals to him that Mary really was the chosen virgin to bear the Christ child. And Joseph now has the opportunity to raise Him. What a wonder, this must have taken him from that very low place to a very high place. His circumstances went from being the worst that they could be to being the best that they could be. But that didn't last long, for in Luke 2:1-5, when Mary was nine months pregnant, we read this - "Now in those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria. And everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city. 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 family of David, in order to register along with Mary, who was engaged to him, and was with child." At this time when Mary is ready to give birth, all of the sudden the government issues a decree that the whole world is going to be taxed. How inconsiderate can you get, Caesar doesn't even care about pregnant women. Now they have to travel all that way, eighty miles, in order to pay taxes. What an uncomfortable time to be traveling. Nine months pregnant, traveling eighty miles probably on some beast of burden, how low can you go?

Luke 2:6-7 - "While they were there, the days were completed for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn." Even in Christs birth, there was no room for them in the inn. They weren't in a room, they may not have even been in a stable. They had no bed to lay Him in, only a manger, a feeding trough. They had no blanket to wrap Him in, only a bunch of rags, swaddling clothes. We continue to see the ups and downs in the early life of Christ as we read Matthew 2:11-23 - "After coming into the house they saw the Child with Mary His mother; and they fell to the ground and worshiped Him. Then, opening their treasures, they presented to Him gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. And having been warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod, the magi left for their own country by another way. Now when they had gone, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the Child and His mother and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you; for Herod is going to search for the Child to destroy Him.” So Joseph got up and took the Child and His mother while it was still night, and left for Egypt. He remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.” Then when Herod saw that he had been tricked by the magi, he became very enraged, and sent and slew all the male children who were in Bethlehem and all its vicinity, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the magi. Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children; And she refused to be comforted, Because they were no more.” But when Herod died, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, and said, “Get up, take the Child and His mother, and go into the land of Israel; for those who sought the Child’s life are dead.” So Joseph got up, took the Child and His mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus was reigning over Judea in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. Then after being warned by God in a dream, he left for the regions of Galilee, and came and lived in a city called Nazareth. This was to fulfill what was spoken through the prophets: “He shall be called a Nazarene.”

The circumstances surrounding the early life of the Lord Jesus went up and down, good then bad, back and forth, and Joseph and Mary probably didn't see Gods full plan as it was being unfolded. I'm sure that they were affected by their circumstances just as much as you're affected by yours. When good things were happening they probably praised the Lord just like you do, and when the circumstances were trying and taxing and uncomfortable I'm sure they asked God why things were happening this way, just like I do. But through it all God was accomplishing His perfect plan. He was fulfilling Scripture to the letter. When we read of Mary becoming impregnated by the Holy Spirit, we read "Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child and shall bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which translated means, “God with us.”" When Joseph and Mary had to travel 80 miles in order to pay taxes to the Roman government we know that this was to fulfill the prophecy given in Micah 5:2. When Joseph had to flee to Egypt because Herod was seeking to kill Jesus, we read - "This was to fulfill what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”" Even when all those children were killed in Israel we read - "Then what had been spoken through Jeremiah the prophet was fulfilled." Throughout all these circumstances, these ups and downs surrounding the birth of Christ, while they may have taken Joseph and Mary by surprise, they did not take God by surprise. God purposed and planned each one of these circumstances in order that His Word would be fulfilled to the letter.
And this is the way that He is working in our lives as well. We don't always understand why things happen the way they do, but we can trust God, who said in Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope." We don't know the plans that God has for our lives and all that that entails, but we know that He knows the plans that He has for us, and He is working out those plans for His own glory whether we see it now or not.
Throughout the Christmas story in Matthew and Luke, the words joy, rejoice, and words like these are used a number of times, even though the circumstances were going back and forth. We read of joy and rejoicing even when circumstances were terrible. And here's a lesson we can learn from these things, even when our circumstances are horrible we can rejoice, because our joy is not found in our circumstances, and neither is our rejoicing. Our joy and rejoicing are only in the Lord, despite the ups and downs of life. In Philippians chapter 4 Paul says - "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!" We can rejoice because of who He is and what He has done. "Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift."

Jeremiah 10:23 - "I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps."