Joseph had been considering his actions after he had found out Mary was pregnant by someone else. This devotional reading looks at how Jehovah intervened to ensure His plan was followed.
Nuggets
- Dreams were often used as a way for Jehovah to reveal himself to humans.
- Joseph was reminded of his royal lineage.
- Jehovah laid out very clearly what option Joseph should pick.
- The angel made it point-blank clear to Joseph that Mary was not unfaithful to him.
- Yeshua means God saves – which is Yeshua’s mission.
- The first-century Jews would know the context of the Messianic prophecy even if we don’t.
- The Hebrew word ʿalmāh (עַלְמָה) means young woman.
- How can Yeshua be anything but divine?!?
- Joseph obeyed immediately.
When we last left Joseph, he was in a conundrum. Mary, the teenaged girl who he was all but married to, had ended up pregnant – and he wasn’t the father.
Think of all the emotions he was probably going through. He was angry, heartbroken, and confused and probably a bit ashamed.
But Joseph was a righteous man. He wanted to obey Jehovah, but he didn’t want to disgrace Mary.
Enter Jehovah.
Let's Put It into Context
To read devotions in The Battle for the Heart theme
Devotions in the Preparing for the Christ Child series
Jehovah Intervenes
“As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. ‘Joseph, son of David,’ the angel said, ‘do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins’” (Mt. 1: 20-21 NLT)
An Angel Appeared to Him in a Dream
Dreams were often used as a way for Jehovah to reveal himself to humans.
Sometimes, angel of the Lord means it is an angel. However, there have been times when angel of the Lord meant Jehovah Himself.
Matthew never slides in his presentation of the angel to say, “Jehovah said.” He addresses the angel the same way throughout.
Then again, Matthew didn’t identify the angel as Luke did. It could have been Gabriel – and I would say most likely was.
But that wasn’t the focus of Matthew’s telling of this dream.
We see several times in the Book of Genesis alone where Jehovah uses dreams to reveal Himself to humans. We know of His dreams to Joseph.
We also see that Jehovah also can and will talk with Gentiles. We see that in Abimelech, Pharaoh, the cupbearer, and the baker.
We have seen, especially in the dreams in Egypt, symbolism that the dreamer must interpret – or have interpreted for them.
That is not the case in this dream.
Did Jehovah have to come to Joseph and explain? Well, not really. He is Sovereign God.
But He didn’t. Jehovah came to Joseph, explained His purpose, and explained Joseph’s part in it.
Son of David
Joseph was reminded of his royal lineage.
The common way to identify Joseph in first-century Israel was to say that he was Joseph ben Jacob. The angel didn’t do that here – and for a very good reason.
The angel identified Joseph as Joseph ben David. And not just nay David – King David.
This would not only have reminded Joseph of who he was, but he would have also been reminded of prophecy. “‘For the time is coming,’ says the Lord, ‘when I will raise up a righteous descendant from King David’s line. He will be a King who rules with wisdom. He will do what is just and right throughout the land’” (Jer. 23: 5 NLT).
Just as Gabriel used covenant language with Mary to identify Who her Son was, so, too, did the angel in Joseph’s dream. It was important both parents realize the mission of the Son they both would raise.
Take Mary as Your Wife
Jehovah laid out very clearly what option Joseph should pick.
No, it wasn’t an option that Joseph had considered to this point – and we probably wouldn’t have either. Joseph was supposed to marry Mary as planned.
We have to remember that Mary had spent two to three months with Elizabeth (Lk. 1: 56). We assume that she told Joseph about the baby before she left.
If not, Mary may have been starting to show by the time she got back from Zechariah and Elizabeth’s house. But then the townspeople would know at the same time Joseph did.
Think about it. Mary would have left town right after telling Joseph. From what little is said here, we get the impression that he was struggling with what he knew.
And Mary isn’t there to ease his struggles. She not only can’t reassure him, but she also can’t answer many questions.
Conceived by the Holy Spirit
The angel made it point-blank clear to Joseph that Mary was not unfaithful to him.
The angel made it very clear to Joseph that Mary had not become pregnant by another man. This would have been very important.
Joseph didn’t have to begin the marriage always questioning who was the father of the child. He didn’t have to worry that Mary would be unfaithful to him again.
Being human, this may have helped Joseph accept the Baby more readily. He didn’t have to question about Him having another Father.
Name Him Jesus
Yeshua means God saves – which is Yeshua’s mission.
From the very beginning, the angel announced the mission of the Messiah. Yeshua did not come merely to teach, perform miracles, or establish an earthly kingdom. He came to save His people from their sins.
We consider Yeshua as our Savior – and He is. He willingly gave up His live for us.
Yet His saving work was never separate from the Father’s purpose. From before the foundation of the world, Jehovah planned humanity’s redemption, and through His Son He accomplished it.
Yeshua and Immanuel – Jehovah saves because God is with us. The name Yeshua reminds us that salvation belongs to Jehovah from beginning to end.
By explaining this to Joseph, he realized why the name mattered. Every time he called His name, he would be reminded of the purpose for which this Child had come.
Joseph would have been reminded of the honor that Jehovah bestowed on him. He entrusted His Son with him to raise and nurture – to love.
Prophecy Fulfilled
“All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet: ‘Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel, which means “God is with us”’” (Mt. 1: 22-23 NLT)
Through His Prophet
The first-century Jews would know the context of the Messianic prophecy even if we don’t.
Isaiah would have written those words around 734 BC. The nation of Israel was in deep trouble.
An alliance of kingdoms – Syria under King Rezin and the Northern Kingdom of Israel under King Pekah – wanted King Ahaz of Judah to join the coalition against Assyria. When he refused, Rezina and Pekah tried to invade.
Enter Isaiah on direction from Jehovah. His message was clear – don’t panic, trust Jehovah.
Ahaz said, “I won’t trust Jehovah.” In his heart he said, “I’ll trust Assyria.”
Jehovah was even going to give Ahaz a sign. When Ahaz tried to act humbly and say he wouldn’t ask Him for a sign, Jehovah gave him the sign anyway.
Now, remember, prophecy usually was for that day and for a future time.
The sign in Ahaz’s day was that, before a child was old enough to know right from wrong, the two threatening kingdoms would be gone (Isa. 7: 15-16).
Matthew quoted that verse to show that Israel was again in a crisis. A Child was once again a covenant sign. This Child would be “God with us.”
Virgin
The Hebrew word ʿalmāh (עַלְמָה) means young woman.
Some may believe, since the Hebrew word used means young woman, that Mary might not necessarily have been a virgin. I don’t think so.
The word was used to identify a young woman who was of marriageable age
Jehovah would not have picked a woman who was sexually active with a man. He wanted the Son to be identified as His Son, not some human’s son.
I could be possible to identify a lady of marriageable age by. Using that wording. A girl of marriageable age but not marriageable would have been a virgin.
The Greek word used to translate Matthew into Hebrew was hē parthenos (παρθένος), meaning the virgin.
Immanuel
How can Yeshua be anything but divine?!?
Long through the ages, people have wanted to deny that Yeshua was the Son of God, that He was divine. They would be wrong.
For one thing, Yeshua’s birth was foretold. “All right then, the Lord himself will give you the sign. Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son and will call him Immanuel (which means ‘God is with us’)” (Isa. 7: 14 NLT).
Another thing, Yeshua Himself told us He was divine. “The Father and I are one” (Jn. 10: 30 NLT).
There are other verses that are evidence of Yeshua’s divinity.
- “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Word was with God and the Word was God.” (Jn. 1: 1 NLT).
- “For in Christ lives all the fullness of God in a human body” (Col. 2: 9 NLT).
- “The Son radiates God’s own glory and expresses the very character of God, and he sustains everything by the mighty power of his command. When he had cleansed us from our sins, he sat down in the place of honor at the right hand of the majestic God in heaven” (Heb. 1: 3 NLT).
- “Then the disciple who had reached the tomb first also went in, and he saw and believed —” (Jn. 20: 8 NLT).
- “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”” (Mk. 2: 7 NLT).
- “So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!” (Mk. 2: 28 NLT).
- “Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form” (Phil. 2: 7 NLT).
The meaning of Immanuel is also important. It is God is with us. Jehovah had always wanted to live among us – and He had in the past.
- In the Garden of Eden
- In the Tabernacle
- In the Temple
Jehovah has always wanted us to have a relationship with Him.
Joseph Obeyed Immediately
“When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus” (Mt. 1: 24-25 NLT)
Joseph obeyed immediately.
Once he had guidance from Jehovah, Joseph went through the ketubah. Mary became his wife.
But Matthew included one important aspect. The marriage was not consummated.
This is important. If Joseph would have consummated the marriage, it could have been argued that he was the father of the baby.
In other words, Joseph protected the testimony of Yeshua’s divinity. No one could honestly claim that Joseph was the child’s father. He preserved the integrity of the prophesied sign.
Was Joseph himself the Savior? No. But his actions during the pregnancy and during Yeshua’s childhood raised Him as a. human. That was an important part of Who the Messiah was.
Why did Joseph do what he did – was it just because he was a good person? No. Joseph’s actions showed his belief in the angel’s communication and faith in the One Who sent the angel and designed the Plan of Salvation.
Making the Connections #1
Jay said something interesting. He said salvation was from sin. Many think we are saved in sin.
Resource
Unfortunately, after we have confessed Yeshua as our Savior and Jehovah as Sovereign God, we can – and do – still sin. It is what we have inherited from Adam and Eve.
So, if we say we are saved in sin, our lives are full of sin without Yeshua saving us from the disease of sin.
But we have to turn from sin toward Jehovah. If we keep consciously, purposefully committing sin, have we truly been saved?
Making the Connections #2
Many want to make Yeshua into a social savior. Bennet explained that this way – but then shows how He does that. He wrote, “Some would rather that He had come to save them from poverty, pains, death; not knowing that to save from sins is to save from all these.”
Resource
Those who champion the Matthew 25 to do list as the road to salvation believe that we must address physical needs before social needs.
The last point of what Bennet wrote is true. But how often do people searching for Jehovah realize that?
Being saved from our sins is the most important aspect of salvation. Is poverty still going to be a part of society? Yes.
Are we still going to have money problems? Yes – but we have a Savior and Heavenly Father Who will provide for us.
Heart Check
Think about the battle Yeshua is engaged in for your heart. Ask yourself the following questions.
- When Jehovah’s direction doesn’t make sense to me, do I trust Him enough to obey?
- Am I allowing what I think I know to keep me from hearing what Jehovah is telling me?
- Do I want Jehovah to explain everything before I am willing to obey?
- When Jehovah makes His will clear, do I obey immediately—or look for reasons to delay?
- Am I trusting Yeshua to save me from my sin, or am I trying to make peace with the sin He came to save me from?
- Have I merely learned about the Christ Child—or am I trusting Him enough to obey Him?
How Do We Apply This?
- Trust Jehovah when circumstances are confusing.
- Check your assumptions against God’s Word.
- Obey when Jehovah makes the way clear.
- Remember what Yeshua came to save you from.
- Let obedience demonstrate your faith.
Father God. Thank You for providing examples such as Joseph for us to learn from. When our lives are have been upended as his was, let us be obedient, too. Amen.
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