26In the
sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee
named Nazareth, 27 to a virgin
betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. And
the virgin’s name was Mary. 28And he
came to her and said, "Greetings, O favored one, the Lord is
with you!" 29But she was greatly
troubled at the saying, and tried to discern what sort of greeting this might
be. 30And the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid,
Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31And behold, you will conceive in your womb and
bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus.32He will be great and will be called the Son
of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne
of his father David, 33and he will reign
over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no
end."
34And Mary said to the angel, "How will
this be, since I am a virgin?"
35And the angel answered her, "The
Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will
overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be
called holy— the Son of God. 36And
behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and
this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. 37For nothing will be impossible with
God." 38And Mary said,
"Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to
your word." And the angel departed from her.
Isaiah 7
14 Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold,
the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name
Immanuel.
2
Samuel 7
12 When your days are complete and you lie down with
your fathers, I will raise up your descendant after you, who will come
forth from you, and I will establish his kingdom.13 He shall build a house for
My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. 14 I will be a father to him
and he will be a son to Me; . . . 16 Your house and your kingdom
shall endure before Me forever; your throne shall be established forever.
Yesterday, one of the blogs I read (called The Feast of Booths) had a post that talked about God's covenant faithfulness and how Advent is an especially good season to celebrate this, and it even referenced one of the very same scripture verses I did today. Way to steal my thunder, Booth! (Btw- It was good. You should read it.) Granted, this is not a very original connection to be made :) We have such a perfect picture of God's covenant faithfulness in the coming of Jesus Christ, the Promised One who came, the newer and better Covenant. I especially like the idea of God's faithfulness through the generations. Think about how long it was before Jesus was born that God told David his throne would be established forever! And think about all the terrible (or, at least, terribly disobedient) kings that came later on in the line of David. And yet God was still faithful to his promise. I love King Solomon's prayer as he was dedicating the temple:
1 Kings 8
23 "O LORD, God of
Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth
beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who
walk before you with all their heart, 24 who have kept with your servant David my father what you
declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have
fulfilled it this day. . . 56 Blessed be the LORD who has given rest to
his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed
of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 57 The LORD our God be with us, as
he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, 58 that he may incline our
hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his
statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. . . . 60
that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is
God; there is no other.
I praise you O Lord, my God because you fulfill what you promise. Lord, incline my heart to you to walk in your ways and keep your commandments, that all people may know that you are God; there is no other!
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