Christ’s First Coming

“And they shall call His name Immanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.” Matthew 1:23b (KJV) “And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, art not least among the princes of Judah: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.” Matthew 2:6 (KJV) Many years before Christ came into the world as a baby, God had promised through the prophets that He would send a Messiah—a Savior—for the people, because they needed a way to get right with God. He told them that He would be born in Bethlehem, which was — at that time—a small town about six miles from Jerusalem. There must have been many who knew what the Scriptures said, and some were actually waiting for Christ to come. But for the most part they were not concerned about it, as we see in the case of the priests and scribes that Herod spoke to. Even though they were told about a King being born in Bethlehem, the Scriptures do not tell us that any were concerned or excited about it. The Bible doesn’t tell us that any of them were interested in making a short trip to find out if this was the One that their forefathers had been waiting for over the years. It did not seem to cause any excitement in the community at all. However, it was different with the people who asked Herod where Messiah was to be born. These men had come many miles from the East in a caravan to worship Christ. We can understand unbelief—as we see many in our day that are not concerned about the second coming of Christ, even though they have heard that He is coming again. Lord, we pray that we will all take Your coming back seriously and be ready to meet You. – Bill Jackson   Council Fire is a collaboration with Intertribal Life Ministries and Native Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. The Council Fire Daily Devotional Book Set is available on the Intertribal Life Ministries website. Learn more about Council Fire at councilfire365.org