Gomen for this chapter being so late on this story. I meant to have this
chapter finished three days ago. I've been very busy preparing the baked
goodies as well as cleaning the house today. My house dreadfully needed it.
Anyways, I informed you that this chapter would be about the history and the story behind what I wrote for this story. I wasn't concentrating so much on our favorite characters. I was concentrating on the characters that I will be telling you about in this final chapter. I hope you enjoy the story.
Disclaimer: Just like I don't own Cardcaptor; I don't own this one. This is just an important story!
Duckyinsane: I like your name. There are either two things behind it though. One is that it is German for Thank you and the other is that there is a duck insane somewhere. (Sorry just making an observation don't want you to kill me.)
I want to thank you for all the support that you gave me and letting me know that there were people reading just not reviewing. That is alright though because I thank them as well. This chapter is however dedicated to God and to you because you were the only one that reviewed the story. I will be hunting down one of yours and reviewing it soon. I look forward to reading your work. Happy New Years, arigato and ja ne!
Chapter 4
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us. Just as they were handed down to us by witnesses and servants of the Lord. Therefore since I myself have carefully investigated every thing from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things that you have been taught.
The birth of John the Baptist foretold
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of the God, observing all of the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they gad be children because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.
Once Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as a priest before God, he was chosen by lot according to the custom of priesthood. To go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense, when the time for the burning of incense came all assembled worshippers were praying outside.
Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the alter of incense. When Zechariah saw him he was gripped with fear. The angel saw this and said unto him, "Do not be afraid Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and a delight to you and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the lord their God. He will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and the power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the father's to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous-to make a people ready prepared for the lord."
Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."
The angel answered. "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. Now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day that this happens, because you did not believe my words which will come true at the proper time."
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized that he had seen a vision. For he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
When his time of service was completed he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he ahs shown his favor and taken away my disgrace from among the people."
The birth of Jesus foretold
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth of Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting that this was. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, fop you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord god will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign in the house of David forever; his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "when I know not a man?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born of you will be called the son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is with child in her old age, and she who is said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with god."
"I am the lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Mary visits Elizabeth
At that time Mary got ready for and hurried to a town in the hill of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child that you will bear. But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed what the Lord has said unto her will be accomplished!"
Mary's Song
And Mary said:
My soul glorifies the Lord and my heart rejoices in God my Savior for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant/
From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the mighty one has done great things for me-holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him from generation to generation.
He ahs performed might deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their innermost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said this unto our fathers."
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
The birth of John the Baptist
When it was time for Elizabeth to give birth, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy and they shared in her joy.
On the eighth day the came to circumcise the child and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said,, "No! He shall be called John."
They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives that has that name."
Then they made signs to her father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosened and he began to speak, praising god. The neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it asking, "What then is this child going to be?" Fro the Lord's hand is with him.
Zechariah's song
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
"Praise be to the Lord, be the Lord the God of Israel because he has come and redeemed his people.
He raised up a horn of salvation for us unto the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all of our days.
And you my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our god, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; he loved in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.
The birth of Jesus
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) Everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went too from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town off David, because he belonged to the house of the line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there the time came for the baby to be born and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no room for him in the inn.
The shepherds and the angels
And there were shepherds loving out in the fields nearby; keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared before them, "Do not be afraid I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the t own of David a Savior ahs been born to you: he is the Christ. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest and in earth to men on whom his favor rests."
When the angels had let them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they told them about this child, they spread the word concerning what had been told about this child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen which were just as they had been told.
Jesus presented in the temple
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.
When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord.) and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: a pair of doves or two young pigeons.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting of the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him. He had revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple of courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God saying:
"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all your people, a light of revelation for the gentiles, and for the glory of your people Israel."
The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, "This child is destined to cause the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. A sword will pierce your own soul too."
There was a prophetess Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage and then was a widow until she was eighty four. She never left the temple but worshipped night and day fasting and praying. Coming up to them that very night she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
When Joseph and Mary had done everything that required by the Law of the Lord they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of god was upon him.
Luke 1 and 2:1-39
The birth of Jesus Christ
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
After he considered this though, and angel of the Lord appeared before him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is form the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.
All this took place to what the Lord has said through a prophet: "The virgin will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us."
When Joseph awoke, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. He had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. She gave him the name Jesus.
The visit of the magi
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teacher's of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem of Judea," the replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be a shepherd of my people Israel."
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him report to me so that I too may worship him."
After they had heard the king they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped in the place where the child was. When they swathe star they were overjoyed. On coming to the house the saw the child with his mother Mary and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Matthew 1:18-2:12
What I have written here is taken directly from the Bible. This is one of the many stories that have been told in the Bible. Many times we don't understand what is said and done. We don't understand the whole reason for this season. We take for granted the fact that we have trees, holly, mistletoe, presents and etc. We have a tendency to forget what it is really about.
The magi found Jesus two years after he was born. Except that he wasn't in Bethlehem he was in Nazareth. As is told to us in Luke. After they left and went another direction to their homeland King Herod that all boys under the age of two were to be killed. An angel warned Joseph in a dream. He was commanded to get up and go to the land off Egypt where they would be safe.
I also promised you some history behind some of this. In the time of the Bible a young woman was considered a woman at a much younger age. She was considered grown by the time that she was thirteen. At this time they were able to take care of a household and children. They were chosen also by her husband's family and had to pay fro the brides dowry because they were taking the family help. The families back them would have extremely large families.
They were also married to someone that would at least be twice their age if not three times because they needed to have someone that could support them. If they were to marry someone their own age as we do in out time they wouldn't have the financial support that they needed.
As for the Law of the Lord that actually began in the time of Abraham. He was told by the Lord to circumcise all the males of the household. This was a covenant between them and God that they would always worship the Lord. The circumcision after the first time was to be done eight days after the birth of a boy because a male was to lead a household.
I wish I could give you the full history of everything that was in here seeing that would take until the end of next year to explain all that happened. I wouldn't want to do that because I have several other things that I need to do between now and 2005 so I guess I won't.
Anyways, I informed you that this chapter would be about the history and the story behind what I wrote for this story. I wasn't concentrating so much on our favorite characters. I was concentrating on the characters that I will be telling you about in this final chapter. I hope you enjoy the story.
Disclaimer: Just like I don't own Cardcaptor; I don't own this one. This is just an important story!
Duckyinsane: I like your name. There are either two things behind it though. One is that it is German for Thank you and the other is that there is a duck insane somewhere. (Sorry just making an observation don't want you to kill me.)
I want to thank you for all the support that you gave me and letting me know that there were people reading just not reviewing. That is alright though because I thank them as well. This chapter is however dedicated to God and to you because you were the only one that reviewed the story. I will be hunting down one of yours and reviewing it soon. I look forward to reading your work. Happy New Years, arigato and ja ne!
Chapter 4
Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us. Just as they were handed down to us by witnesses and servants of the Lord. Therefore since I myself have carefully investigated every thing from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things that you have been taught.
The birth of John the Baptist foretold
In the time of Herod king of Judea there was priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were upright in the sight of the God, observing all of the Lord's commandments and regulations blamelessly. But they gad be children because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both well along in years.
Once Zechariah's division was on duty and he was serving as a priest before God, he was chosen by lot according to the custom of priesthood. To go into the temple of the Lord and burn incense, when the time for the burning of incense came all assembled worshippers were praying outside.
Then the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the alter of incense. When Zechariah saw him he was gripped with fear. The angel saw this and said unto him, "Do not be afraid Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call him John. He will be a joy and a delight to you and many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink; and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the lord their God. He will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and the power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the father's to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous-to make a people ready prepared for the lord."
Zechariah asked the angel, "How can I sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years."
The angel answered. "I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news. Now you will be silent and not able to speak until the day that this happens, because you did not believe my words which will come true at the proper time."
Meanwhile, the people were waiting for Zechariah and wondering why he stayed so long in the temple. When he came out, he could not speak to them. They realized that he had seen a vision. For he kept making signs to them but remained unable to speak.
When his time of service was completed he returned home. After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. "The Lord has done this for me," she said. "In these days he ahs shown his favor and taken away my disgrace from among the people."
The birth of Jesus foretold
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth of Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting that this was. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, fop you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord god will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign in the house of David forever; his kingdom will never end."
"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "when I know not a man?"
The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the Holy One to be born of you will be called the son of God. Even Elizabeth, your relative, is with child in her old age, and she who is said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with god."
"I am the lord's servant," Mary answered. "May it be as you have said." Then the angel left her.
Mary visits Elizabeth
At that time Mary got ready for and hurried to a town in the hill of Judea, where she entered Zechariah's home and greeted Elizabeth. When Elizabeth heard Mary's greeting the baby leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit. In a loud voice she exclaimed, "Blessed are you among women and blessed is the child that you will bear. But why am I so favored that the mother of my Lord should come to me As soon as the sound of your greeting reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for joy. Blessed is she who has believed what the Lord has said unto her will be accomplished!"
Mary's Song
And Mary said:
My soul glorifies the Lord and my heart rejoices in God my Savior for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant/
From now on all generations will call me blessed, for the mighty one has done great things for me-holy is his name. His mercy extends to those who fear him from generation to generation.
He ahs performed might deeds with his arm; he has scattered those who are proud in their innermost thoughts. He has brought down rulers from their thrones but has lifted up the humble.
He has filled the hungry with good things but has sent the rich away empty. He has helped his servant Israel, remembering to be merciful to Abraham and his descendants forever, even as he said this unto our fathers."
Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months and then returned home.
The birth of John the Baptist
When it was time for Elizabeth to give birth, she gave birth to a son. Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown her great mercy and they shared in her joy.
On the eighth day the came to circumcise the child and they were going to name him after his father Zechariah, but his mother spoke up and said,, "No! He shall be called John."
They said to her, "There is no one among your relatives that has that name."
Then they made signs to her father, to find out what he would like to name the child. He asked for a writing tablet and to everyone's astonishment he wrote, "His name is John." Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue was loosened and he began to speak, praising god. The neighbors were filled with awe, and throughout the hill country of things. Everyone who heard this wondered about it asking, "What then is this child going to be?" Fro the Lord's hand is with him.
Zechariah's song
His father Zechariah was filled with the Holy Spirit and prophesied:
"Praise be to the Lord, be the Lord the God of Israel because he has come and redeemed his people.
He raised up a horn of salvation for us unto the house of his servant David (as he said through his holy prophets of long ago), salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate to show mercy to our fathers and to remember his holy covenant, the oath he swore to our father Abraham: to rescue us from the hand of our enemies, and enable us to serve him without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all of our days.
And you my child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for him, to give his people the knowledge of salvation through the forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our god, by which the rising sun will come to us from heaven to shine on those living in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the path of peace."
And the child grew and became strong in spirit; he loved in the desert until he appeared publicly to Israel.
The birth of Jesus
In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) Everyone went to his own town to register.
So Joseph also went too from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town off David, because he belonged to the house of the line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there the time came for the baby to be born and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger because there was no room for him in the inn.
The shepherds and the angels
And there were shepherds loving out in the fields nearby; keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared before them, "Do not be afraid I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the t own of David a Savior ahs been born to you: he is the Christ. You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel praising God and saying,
"Glory to God in the highest and in earth to men on whom his favor rests."
When the angels had let them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about."
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they told them about this child, they spread the word concerning what had been told about this child and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen which were just as they had been told.
Jesus presented in the temple
On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.
When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord.) and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: a pair of doves or two young pigeons.
Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting of the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. It had been revealed to him. He had revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord's Christ. Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple of courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the law required, Simeon took him in his arms and praised God saying:
"Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all your people, a light of revelation for the gentiles, and for the glory of your people Israel."
The child's father and mother marveled at what was said about him. Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother, "This child is destined to cause the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. A sword will pierce your own soul too."
There was a prophetess Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage and then was a widow until she was eighty four. She never left the temple but worshipped night and day fasting and praying. Coming up to them that very night she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.
When Joseph and Mary had done everything that required by the Law of the Lord they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of god was upon him.
Luke 1 and 2:1-39
The birth of Jesus Christ
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.
After he considered this though, and angel of the Lord appeared before him in a dream and said, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because what is conceived in her is form the Holy Spirit. She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus because he will save his people from their sins.
All this took place to what the Lord has said through a prophet: "The virgin will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means God with us."
When Joseph awoke, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife. He had no union with her until she gave birth to a son. She gave him the name Jesus.
The visit of the magi
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, "Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him."
When King Herod heard this he was disturbed and all Jerusalem with him. When he had called together all the people's chief priests and teacher's of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. "In Bethlehem of Judea," the replied, "for this is what the prophet has written:
But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for out of you will come a ruler who will be a shepherd of my people Israel."
Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. He sent them to Bethlehem and said, "Go and make a careful search for the child. As soon as you find him report to me so that I too may worship him."
After they had heard the king they went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped in the place where the child was. When they swathe star they were overjoyed. On coming to the house the saw the child with his mother Mary and they bowed down and worshipped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold, incense and myrrh. And having been warned in a dream not to go back to Herod, they returned to their country by another route.
Matthew 1:18-2:12
What I have written here is taken directly from the Bible. This is one of the many stories that have been told in the Bible. Many times we don't understand what is said and done. We don't understand the whole reason for this season. We take for granted the fact that we have trees, holly, mistletoe, presents and etc. We have a tendency to forget what it is really about.
The magi found Jesus two years after he was born. Except that he wasn't in Bethlehem he was in Nazareth. As is told to us in Luke. After they left and went another direction to their homeland King Herod that all boys under the age of two were to be killed. An angel warned Joseph in a dream. He was commanded to get up and go to the land off Egypt where they would be safe.
I also promised you some history behind some of this. In the time of the Bible a young woman was considered a woman at a much younger age. She was considered grown by the time that she was thirteen. At this time they were able to take care of a household and children. They were chosen also by her husband's family and had to pay fro the brides dowry because they were taking the family help. The families back them would have extremely large families.
They were also married to someone that would at least be twice their age if not three times because they needed to have someone that could support them. If they were to marry someone their own age as we do in out time they wouldn't have the financial support that they needed.
As for the Law of the Lord that actually began in the time of Abraham. He was told by the Lord to circumcise all the males of the household. This was a covenant between them and God that they would always worship the Lord. The circumcision after the first time was to be done eight days after the birth of a boy because a male was to lead a household.
I wish I could give you the full history of everything that was in here seeing that would take until the end of next year to explain all that happened. I wouldn't want to do that because I have several other things that I need to do between now and 2005 so I guess I won't.