Tonight, as I read part of the Christmas story from chapter two of Luke with my family, we discussed the fulfillment of prophecy through the circumstances of Jesus’ birth. Specifically, we highlighted how it was Caesar Augustus who decreed the census of the entire empire that compelled Joseph to take Mary, whose time to deliver Jesus was coming quickly, to Bethlehem. Now, it was the most powerful man in the world who gave the order, but who was it who decreed it long before Caesar was even born? It was the Lord who spoke it into being in Micah 5:2.
Throughout the Bible, we can see the most powerful men on earth, who believed that the authority to shape the world and determine times and circumstances was in their power, rendered utterly impotent in their attempts to frustrate the Word of God. The Pharaoh of Egypt was unable to keep the Hebrew people. The Philistine army, championed by Goliath of Gath, was unable to take land that the Lord had given to the tribe of Judah. Sennacherib of Assyria lost 185,000 men without so much as a battle because he boasted that he would deal with the Lord the same way that he had dealt with the idols of the other kingdoms that he had terrorized. The great Nebuchadnezzar was unable to destroy three powerless captives who refused to play into his god-fantasy. Nebuchadnezzar also spent seven years as an ox because he forgot that there is only one God. Belshazzar perished because he made a mockery of the Lord. King Herod slaughtered the sons of his own kingdom in an attempt to defeat the Word of the Lord. The devil himself reports to God and asks His permission in the book of Job.
As we, like those who have gone before us, await promises from the Lord, we should always remember that He and He alone is in control. As the world rages against the Lord and against His Anointed, remember that long ago, He decreed it for its purpose. Lamentations 3:37 reads: “Who is he who speaks and it comes to pass, when the Lord has not commanded it?” There is none.