Not Merry & Bright: What Revelation Reveals About Bethlehem

Christmas can be painful for people with broken hearts. We’ve reduced it to a holiday of sweet carols, softly lighted worship services, and snowflakes falling from a starry sky upon a manger scene. No doubt, that all makes for a well-deserved break at the end of a challenging year. But the night Jesus Christ was born would have been a far cry from all that.

Luke warns us at the very beginning of his account, “In those days, a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered.” That’s not just poetry. Augustus could demand compliance at any cost because he was the first Emperor of the Roman Empire. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, the old Roman Republic had fallen apart, and the Senate finally extended full control to Augustus. He was revered as a god, and his name was often inscribed in marble and granite with the suffix divi filius, son of God.

We have romanticized the fact that angels sang their announcement to gentle shepherds abiding in the fields. Yes, God is inclusive and wanted to include outsiders in this event. But have you ever wondered why He didn’t send angels singing in downtown Jerusalem, in the streets of Rome, and throughout the Empire? Why were only a handful of shepherds invited to the birth?

The Dragon & The Beast

In the vision delivered to John in Revelation, Jesus likens the devil to a dragon. And he warns that an ambitious, ever-expanding government will always become a beast that wages war against the people of God. Augustus was a dictator who felt no shame in ordering everyone in his world to travel to their place of birth to be registered for taxation. Travel was no privilege in the Roman Empire. Making a long trip home at the whims of Rome was generally expensive, brutal, time-consuming, and dangerous. Sadly, it wasn’t as dangerous as the beastly emperor who considered himself the son of God.

Had Caesar been informed of what was happening in Bethlehem, he would have instantly dispatched a legion of armed centurions to assassinate this Son of God. By the end of Christ’s ministry, the Gospels remind us that Pontius Pilate didn’t want to crucify him. He followed through only because the mob warned Caesar would be outraged if this king of the Jews were allowed to continue undermining Roman authority.

The Dragon was likewise poised to destroy the incoming Messiah. The Gospels demonstrate that the coming of Jesus was accompanied by an onslaught of demons unlike anything seen previously in the Old Testament or in the New Testament after Acts. Hell launched a strike force of demonic angels to undermine the Gospel.

When the wise men arrived sometime after the birth of Christ, King Herod quickly co-opted them to locate this “newborn king” so that he could be destroyed. Don’t forget that when the magi were warned to depart in another direction, Herod ordered the murder of all baby boys two years old and younger in Bethlehem. Beasts are not ashamed to leave behind scorched earth in their quest to be regarded as gods. Satan still has that power to sear the conscience of hollow men.

What the Shepherds Said

In the ancient world, the rise of a new king was a very unsettling event. It could lead to a bloody civil war between the incumbent monarch and the challenger. It could prompt the people already in power to become irrational, angry, or paranoid. That explains why Luke writes, “And all who heard it wondered at what the shepherds told them.” That doesn’t sound like a spontaneous block party, does it? Some people must have dreaded what would happen when Augustus and his cronies finally got wind of this. Others must have hoped this was just the rambling of intoxicated sheep herders!

The Treasure was In the Manger

When regal magi from a distant land arrived to honor the Messiah with gold, frankincense, and myrrh, Joseph and Mary may have suspected something else was afoot. After all they’d gone through to deliver and nurture the Son of God, perhaps they anticipated a new challenge awaited them. Not long after the wise men departed, an angel warned the holy couple to pack up the baby and escape quickly to Egypt.

Joseph would not be able to take his family back to Nazareth for a few years. The gifts of the magi would finance their costly journey through the desert to a new life among strangers in Egypt who would be wary of foreigners. The proceeds were never intended to build a palace for the Son of God back home in Nazareth.

On the Earth, Peace

The shepherds said the angels sang, “Glory to God in the highest, and on the Earth peace among those with whom he is pleased.” The promise was that there would be no further hostilities between a holy God and sinful men and women who came to him in faith. It did not mean that wars would end, that people would no longer be carried away as slaves to other nations, or that anti-Semitism would come to an end. The promise was that the wall of separation between us and God would be obliterated, and the blood of Jesus Christ would cover our sins, healing our consciences. Rebirth was now a possibility.

With the dawn of a new year approaching, it’s a wonderful season to celebrate the miracle of God’s Word becoming flesh and dwelling among us. Let’s sing with joy, give generously, and pray without ceasing. Because of Jesus Christ, we celebrate his birth in peace, freedom, and prosperity again this year; not at all like the night He was born.  Selah.

The Epic Life; Revelation, Resistance & Revival is Timothy's brand new book introducing the key ideas of Revelation in 10 short chapters. Read it in a couple of hours or use it as a 10-week Bible Study. You'll find links to all the major booksellers plus more blogs like this one at our website, TimothyFloydAuthor.com