PROPHECIES OF JESUS’ BIRTH: The Messiah’s Birth Would Trigger a Slaughter Of Children

December 12th, 2023

The Birth of Jesus Christ occurs in the New Testament, but its prophetic origins can be found in several passages of the Old Testament. Through the month of December our Devotional Team will take a look at Old Testament Prophecy and the New Testament Fulfillment of the birth and life of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ! Be encouraged as we celebrate our Savior this Christmas Season!

SCRIPTURES:
OLD TESTAMENT PROPHECY: Jeremiah 31:15
Thus says the Lord: “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation and bitter weeping, Rachel weeping for her children, refusing to be comforted for her children, Because they are no more.”

NEW TESTAMENT FULFILLMENT: Matthew 2:16-18
Massacre of the Innocents
16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men. 17 Then was fulfilled what was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: 18 “A voice was heard in Ramah, Lamentation, weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, Refusing to be comforted, Because they are no more.”

The invitation and challenge of the noise of life is to discover and extract of it, hope's uncomplicated song - it is as the flower within the wild of weeds. Beauty, as well, may also abide replete with her imperfections, and in the company of her whelming opposites.

"Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed..." Psalm 2:1,2.
As to the matter of love, for the power of it, how might it be without the sting of risk, and the reality of its adversary? Who knows this better than the parent awaiting their newborn's first breath and cry, or that of its untimely last? These, the noisome, the unseemly, and the unlovely are our hard prevailing realities... influencers that press upon the message of grace.

Now, beneath the thick of each Christmas tree's brightest surface is an abrasive tree with prickly needles, an earthy smell, and a dirt-laden base. It is a dull oddity reaching cozily within dark spaces, until lit. At the heart of every Christmas, and its symbolic tree is the invitation for the fallen and failed of us to receive the gift of light, and life, and to discover love and its brightening source, to marvel thereof... to remind us of the God of all grace, and His most gracious act.
Ye brought of grace, be golden.

Pray faith set free be as wings within the winds of His ways. May our every 'Rachel' find relief... in Jesus, Lord of Lords. Him, born in Bethlehem. He was raised the child of promise, kinsman-redeemer. May our every 'Rachel' find relief ... in Jesus, King of Kings. Him crucified. Him risen. He lives... the Giver, and given of prophecy. Bless His holy Name. Appreciate the embrace of Mercy, and praise God for His goodness.

Prayer: Pray, continue holding fast the word of life that in the day of Christ's return our faith in Him will evoke joy that we neither ran the race, nor labored in vain. Do, to the glory of God in Christ Jesus, remember 'the' gift and live. Amen.
By Bro. McNeal Brockington