The Sovereignty of God in Christmas (4)

The king’s heart isin the hand of the LORD,
Like the rivers of water;
He turns it wherever He wishes. Proverbs 21.1

Everything is politics?
Listening to the news and paying attention to the events of the day, it’s easy to believe that politics is the most important field of human interest and endeavor. After all, just about everything is politics these days – from how we raise our children to who cares for our health to what we can manufacture to who defines the borders and destinies of nations.

Politics is about power, the ability to compel the actions of others. National politics is about power wielded over an entire people, and international politics involves the most powerful people in the world in a perpetual chess match of worldwide proportions and with potentially deadly ramifications.

Given the importance of politics, and the power of those who occupy political roles in society, thoughtful Americans try to choose their leaders wisely, in order to rest the political fortunes of the nation in the most qualified and competent hands.

But when our lives begin to be ruled by politics, so that we are alternately fearful or relieved, or consider ourselves blessed or bummed by politicians and their policies, we have lost sight of an important truth of which the message of Christmas can remind us: The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord. We see this especially in two ways.

The Roman census
The Old Testament prophesied that the Christ should be born in the little town of Bethlehem (Mic. 5.2). Bethlehem was the birthplace of King David, and it was fitting that He Who was to be Heir to David’s throne should have His birth in David’s hometown.

The genealogies of Jesus point to Mary and Joseph as the ones to whom the Christ was to be born. But there’s a problem. Mary and Joseph live in the north, in the town of Nazareth in Galilee of the Gentiles. Bethlehem is in the south. How can this ancient prophecy be fulfilled?

Not hard to tell: The sovereign God moved the heart of the Roman Emperor to declare a census, probably for the sake of updating and improving his tax rolls, and part of the stipulation was that each person should enroll in his place of birth (Lk. 2.1-3). All over the Roman world people who lived elsewhere than their place of birth dutifully made a trip to their hometown and checked off or added their names to the lists, which were managed by people like Matthew, who wrote the first gospel.

And so we find Joseph and Mary, his espoused and pregnant wife, making the journey from Nazareth to Bethlehem, not merely to enroll for the tax, but to introduce a new King to the world. God had said the Christ would be born in Bethlehem, and Caesar dutifully – albeit unmindfully – made it happen.

The slaughter of the innocents
The second event is that which is recorded in Matthew 2, the tragic murder and wholesale slaughter of innocent male children in and around the environs of Bethlehem. This event actually must have taken place somewhat later than the first Christmas, since Herod was careful to destroy children two years old and younger. It’s possible that Joseph and Mary lingered in Bethlehem, living with relatives, while she regained her strength and as the Child was being weaned.

At any rate, and for reasons known only to God, it pleased the Lord to highlight the glory of Christmas against the backdrop of humanity’s wretchedness. In a section of his prophesy in which Jeremiah is dealing with the promised restoration of the Lord, he includes the verses quoted by Matthew (Matt. 2.18) to account for the slaughter of the children of Bethlehem. These words, in their context in Jeremiah, are immediately followed by words of comfort, including the promise that the people would see their children again (Jer. 31.17) because of the work to be done by One Who was returning to them from the land of their enemies, presumably, Egypt. The passage includes these words (Jer. 31.20):

Is Ephraim My dear son?
Is he a pleasant child?
For though I spoke against him,
I earnestly remember him still;
Therefore My heart yearns for him;
I will surely have mercy on him, says the LORD.

Further, the rescue of Jesus into Egypt would have recalled the rescue of Moses from the slaughtering hand of Pharaoh, once again signaling a great work of redemption was about to begin.

Those grieving parents in Bethlehem would have taken comfort to know that God grieved with them, but that His greater plan for His people was as surely unfolding according to His sovereign purposes, as this tragic slaughter had likewise come to pass. The mothers and fathers of Bethlehem would not have questioned the goodness of God. They would have clung to His promises and rested in His sovereignty, the awesome and fearful power of which they had experienced under the hand of a wicked king who was but an instrument of the mysterious but righteous sovereignty of God. Herod acted out of political self-interest, but his actions only fulfilled the eternal and inscrutable wisdom and will of God.

Next steps: What are some ways that politics affects people’s sense of wellbeing? How can we remind ourselves, in the face of any political situation, that the king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord? Talk with some Christian friends about these questions.

T. M. Moore

We’re taking a 3-week intermission from our series on The Disciplined Life to review three archive series on the meaning of Christmas. This week’s study, The Sovereignty of God in Christmas, is part 3 of a 3-part series on Christmas, As Advertised, and is available as a free download.

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.