Advent Devotional - Week 2

by Stephanie Loomis on December 12, 2024

GOD'S LOVE IS BIGGER THAN TIME


So all the generations from Abraham to David were fourteen generations, and from David to the deportation to Babylon fourteen generations, and from the deportation to Babylon to the Christ fourteen generations. Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet: “Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and they shall call his name Immanuel” (which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus. - Matthew 1:17-25


When Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil (Genesis 2:9, 17), God could have easily replaced them by creating new, more obedient people, Instead, He showed mercy on them by letting them live, covering them with animal skins, and protecting them from further disobedience by sending them out of the garden. They had to live with the consequences of their disobedience: hard work, painful childbirth, power struggles, and death.


But God also gave them a promise: from them would come a person who would defeat the serpent once and for all. From that moment, every generation hoped they would see the promised savior. In every generation, God demonstrated his faithfulness to ensure that His chosen people would live, no matter how bad their circumstance or how dreadful their rebellion. The genealogies remind readers that God knew exactly what his people were doing and how He would redeem them--and when. Through each generation, God showed khesed (חֶסֶד), His steadfast, loyal love that he revealed and maintained through His covenant to the Israelites.


God never stopped loving His people. He never broke His covenant. Through wars, exiles, and oppression by empires from Assyria, Babylon, and Rome the people waited and wondered how God would rescue them. Generation after generation, things continued to get worse, but the faithful people continued to wait and watch for the Messiah. Four hundred years after the last prophet spoke, angels started coming to visit the people who would play a role in introducing the Messiah to the world.


First Gabriel came to Zechariah and told him that his elderly wife, Elizabeth, would have a baby who would announce the coming of the Christ. Then Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her that she would be the mother of God. With Elizabeth, Mary's song recalled the generations past who feared the Lord and looked ahead to generations future who would remember her obedience.


Finally, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. Poor Joseph didn't know what to think but he obeyed God. It had been somewhere around 4000 years since God made his covenant with Abraham, and 400 years since God had spoken, but God's covenantal love, His khesed, had not stopped, nor had it been delayed. Joseph, to his credit, didn't argue with the angel, but "did what the Lord commanded him." Joseph knew the Scriptures, the history of how God preserved his people through all generations, and what the prophets had said regarding the Messiah, who would embody God's great love.


For millennia, God preserved and protected His people by his steadfast love. The Old Testament illustrates how God protected armies, provided sustenance, and led the people to a land they could call their own. Even in exile, God was with them (Jeremiah 29). Angelic messengers to Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph told them of their special roles in continuing the pattern of God's eternal plan to save his people because He so loved the world.


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