Dec 20, 2020
To establish Himself as the strength of Israel, God required every firstborn male—which was considered the ‘strength’ of the herd or family—to be presented to Him (Ex. 13:2). As the firstborn son was set apart for God, the parents had to redeem or ‘buy back’ their son from service to the Lord with 5 shekels...
Dec 13, 2020
Throughout history, shepherds have been primarily lower class and often poor and uneducated. In a family, shepherding was usually done by the youngest son or hired out by owners that could afford it. Bethlehem was a rural town five miles from Jerusalem with open fields for grazing sheep. Though shepherds graze sheep any...
Dec 6, 2020
Joseph was probably in his late teens to early twenties, living in his father’s house in Nazareth, when he met Mary. For Joseph, becoming a responsible man able to support a wife meant learning a trade or occupation—probably from his father, Jacob. God has tied masculine responsibility to occupational reality. While...