Proof The Bible Is True

Hope is birthed out of some of the most surprising of places.

If you have been a Christian for even a small amount of time, you have heard the biblical Christmas story many times. We sing peaceful songs like Silent Night and Away in a Manger. You can feel the magic of Christmas when the lights are hung on the tree and the smell of cider is in the air. The reality is though, the first Christmas probably didn’t appear very peaceful or magical to those who lived in that time. Surely most of us are even aware of the absurdity of the King of Kings being born in a stable, of the strangeness of a manger instead of a cradle.

HOPEBut sometimes we forget the violence that also surrounded the first Christmas. The people of Israel were living under the cruel oppression of Rome. After King Herod couldn’t find this rumored Christ child he declared all children under the age of two to be executed. Children executed (Matthew 2:16-18). Joseph spent his first few years as a father, fleeing to another country through a warning he received in a dream that Herod was seeking to kill his son (Matthew 2:13-14). Even those who associated with this young Jesus such as the wise men had to intentionally avoid the authorities (Matthew 2:12).

And in the midst of all this chaos, hope was born. Hope such as the world had never seen before. The prophecy of Christ’s birth in Isaiah 9:2 says “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.”

Read More  Persecution Blog: Finding Hope in the Darkness.