God's miracles abound before and after the birth of Jesus to ensure that we have a Savior for our sins. Just think of all the people God is looking out for in His will. This includes you and me! Amen.
When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea, Herod was the king. King Herod and all of Jerusalem were troubled when wise men from the east came to inquire of the birth of the King of the Jews. The wise men had seen Jesus' star in the east and had come to worship the newborn King.
King Herod assembled the chief priests and scribes of the people to demand an answer to where Christ was to be born. "And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall rule my people Israel" (Matthew 2: 5, 6 KJV).
King Herod privately met with the wise men to ask of them the time when the star appeared. "And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also" (v. 8).
The wise men left Jerusalem to follow the star to the young child Jesus who was "...with Mary his mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures, they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense, and myrrh" (v. 11).
The wise men were warned by God in a dream not to return to Herod. Heeding God's warning, the wise men traveled a different way to their country. "And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him. When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into Egypt: And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken of the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son" (vs. 13-15).
"Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not" (vs. 16-18).
But when Herod was dead, behold, an angel of the Lord appeareth in a dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life. And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts 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" (vs. 19-23).
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