5 Days of Christmas - Bethlehem - Bijou Planks 356/365
Saturday night at Tracy Parks' house, and the trio have finished their Bible study for tomorrow's Sunday School lesson with Audrey.* Before soda, a movie, more friends over, and the inevitable pizza rolls, some final discussion is taking place.
Briar: Gah! I've got to understand this. If there's anything I don't know, then for sure Miss Audrey is going to call on me and ask me that one thing!"
Tracy: So, the Micah prophecy, "“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” *"
Briar: Right! So Jesus is prophesied to be born in Bethlehem.
Tracy: Prophesied over 700 years before the event.
Briar: Right. So, Caesar Augustus comes on the scene and...?
Buckley: He issued the decree for the tax census! "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. *"
Tracy: This is what caused Joseph to take Mary with him all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The would never have gone otherwise. Mary was about to give birth, it was winter, Bethlehem was 70 miles uphill.
Briar: Right... Sooo...
Buckley: So, God's in charge!
Briar: Because... that's what I'm missing. I mean, I know, God is God. He's not running for God, He's already got the job. He's in charge. But the connection here...
Tracy: Okay, that's why we looked at Daniel 2:21: “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.” So Augustus is the Caesar because God raised him to that position.
And, then Isaiah 40:23-24: "He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.” So, Augustus has no power but what God allows Him, and God will remove that at His discretion. Augustus will fulfill God's will.
Buckley: GAH! You've memorized all these verses!
Tracy: You could too. Study more. Anyway, then, Proverbs 21:1: "The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.” So, God raises Augustus for His purpose and uses him for His purpose.
God has promised that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. Mary was pregnant in Nazareth. So God moves Caesar Augustus like pawn on a chessboard, causing a decree to be passed, causing Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem in spite of harsh conditions, causing the Micah prophecy to be fulfilled. So, when Miss Audrey asks how Caesar, a pagan emperor, served God, I think this is what she's looking for.
Briar: Okay. I think I got it. But why did that make Augustus an Epic Caesar?
Buckley: Oooohh, I have no idea what you're talking about. Let's heat up piiiizzaaa roooollls!
Briar: Tracy just said it! God makes epic kings, or something like that! The Daniel verse.
Tracy: Epoch. Not 'epic.'
Buckley: AHAHA!!
Briar: The difference being...? Gosh, I'm sorry for being so dumb!
Tracy: You're not dumb, it's fine. Buckley's just being Buckley. An epoch is a period of time that's known for something in particular. God establishes those times. Here it is the fullness of time, the perfect time in which Christ came into the world, which is talked about in Galatians 4:4.
Briar: So Augustus is not epic! He was at the right time because God established all that. Woo-hoo! I think I got it!
Tracy: Augustus was also a very impressive Caesar, but, right, you got it! Okay, call the others and get ready for movie time?
Buckley: PEE-ZAH-ROW-HULLLS!!
═════════════════════════════════════
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
We celebrate seven days of Christmas 2024! Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. God come to save His people. Without Christmas, without the Incarnation of the virgin birth, the work of Christ would not have begun and we would have no hope.
Born in lowly, despised conditions, lived a life of poverty and struggle, brutally executed on a cross. This is not how we would have written the story of our Redeemer, but that's because we always fatally miss the reality of the vast difference between our sin and God's holiness. We think we're 'not that bad' and thus we fail to recognize the distance that must be bridged and thus the harsh magnificence of the required exchange.
Jesus was born to die that we may live. If you have not, seek God and beg His mercy today.
"But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’" Luke 18:13
* Audrey has been seen leading the ladies Bible study since way back in 2015!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/21059005784/
** Micah 5:2
*** Luke 2:1
Previous Days of Christmas in Paprihaven!
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23653029120/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31484893530/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/39290257241/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/44592748250/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49254147916/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50743084058/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51762441561/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52577462151/
2023:
5 Days of Christmas - Bethlehem - Bijou Planks 356/365
Saturday night at Tracy Parks' house, and the trio have finished their Bible study for tomorrow's Sunday School lesson with Audrey.* Before soda, a movie, more friends over, and the inevitable pizza rolls, some final discussion is taking place.
Briar: Gah! I've got to understand this. If there's anything I don't know, then for sure Miss Audrey is going to call on me and ask me that one thing!"
Tracy: So, the Micah prophecy, "“But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, Too little to be among the clans of Judah, From you One will go forth for Me to be ruler in Israel. His goings forth are from long ago, From the days of eternity.” *"
Briar: Right! So Jesus is prophesied to be born in Bethlehem.
Tracy: Prophesied over 700 years before the event.
Briar: Right. So, Caesar Augustus comes on the scene and...?
Buckley: He issued the decree for the tax census! "And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be taxed. *"
Tracy: This is what caused Joseph to take Mary with him all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem. The would never have gone otherwise. Mary was about to give birth, it was winter, Bethlehem was 70 miles uphill.
Briar: Right... Sooo...
Buckley: So, God's in charge!
Briar: Because... that's what I'm missing. I mean, I know, God is God. He's not running for God, He's already got the job. He's in charge. But the connection here...
Tracy: Okay, that's why we looked at Daniel 2:21: “It is He who changes the times and the epochs; He removes kings and establishes kings; He gives wisdom to wise men And knowledge to men of understanding.” So Augustus is the Caesar because God raised him to that position.
And, then Isaiah 40:23-24: "He it is who reduces rulers to nothing, Who makes the judges of the earth meaningless. Scarcely have they been planted, Scarcely have they been sown, Scarcely has their stock taken root in the earth, But He merely blows on them, and they wither, And the storm carries them away like stubble.” So, Augustus has no power but what God allows Him, and God will remove that at His discretion. Augustus will fulfill God's will.
Buckley: GAH! You've memorized all these verses!
Tracy: You could too. Study more. Anyway, then, Proverbs 21:1: "The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the LORD; He turns it wherever He wishes.” So, God raises Augustus for His purpose and uses him for His purpose.
God has promised that the Messiah would come from Bethlehem. Mary was pregnant in Nazareth. So God moves Caesar Augustus like pawn on a chessboard, causing a decree to be passed, causing Mary and Joseph to go to Bethlehem in spite of harsh conditions, causing the Micah prophecy to be fulfilled. So, when Miss Audrey asks how Caesar, a pagan emperor, served God, I think this is what she's looking for.
Briar: Okay. I think I got it. But why did that make Augustus an Epic Caesar?
Buckley: Oooohh, I have no idea what you're talking about. Let's heat up piiiizzaaa roooollls!
Briar: Tracy just said it! God makes epic kings, or something like that! The Daniel verse.
Tracy: Epoch. Not 'epic.'
Buckley: AHAHA!!
Briar: The difference being...? Gosh, I'm sorry for being so dumb!
Tracy: You're not dumb, it's fine. Buckley's just being Buckley. An epoch is a period of time that's known for something in particular. God establishes those times. Here it is the fullness of time, the perfect time in which Christ came into the world, which is talked about in Galatians 4:4.
Briar: So Augustus is not epic! He was at the right time because God established all that. Woo-hoo! I think I got it!
Tracy: Augustus was also a very impressive Caesar, but, right, you got it! Okay, call the others and get ready for movie time?
Buckley: PEE-ZAH-ROW-HULLLS!!
═════════════════════════════════════
A year of the shows and performers of the Bijou Planks Theater.
We celebrate seven days of Christmas 2024! Jesus is Emmanuel, God with us. God come to save His people. Without Christmas, without the Incarnation of the virgin birth, the work of Christ would not have begun and we would have no hope.
Born in lowly, despised conditions, lived a life of poverty and struggle, brutally executed on a cross. This is not how we would have written the story of our Redeemer, but that's because we always fatally miss the reality of the vast difference between our sin and God's holiness. We think we're 'not that bad' and thus we fail to recognize the distance that must be bridged and thus the harsh magnificence of the required exchange.
Jesus was born to die that we may live. If you have not, seek God and beg His mercy today.
"But the tax collector, standing some distance away, was even unwilling to lift up his eyes to heaven, but was beating his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to me, the sinner!’" Luke 18:13
* Audrey has been seen leading the ladies Bible study since way back in 2015!
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/21059005784/
** Micah 5:2
*** Luke 2:1
Previous Days of Christmas in Paprihaven!
2015:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/23653029120/
2016:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/31484893530/
2017:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/39290257241/
2018:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/44592748250/
2019:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/49254147916/
2020:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/50743084058/
2021:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/51762441561/
2022:
www.flickr.com/photos/paprihaven/52577462151/
2023: