MORNING SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 3/30/2026
9:23 AM
My
Worship Time Focus:
PT-1 “The
World Setting”
Bible
Reading & Meditation Reference: Luke
2:1-3
Message of the verses: “Now in those days a decree went out
from Caesar Augustus, that a census be taken of all the inhabited earth. This was the first census taken while
Quirinius was governor of Syria. And
everyone was on his way to register for the census, each to his own city.”
(NASB)
I mentioned earlier that the prophecy stating that Jesus
would be born in Bethlehem was found in the OT book of Micah: “2 But you, O Bethlehem Ephrathah, who are too
little to be among the clans of Judah, from you shall come forth for me one who
is to be ruler in Israel, whose coming forth is from of old, from ancient days.”
(ESV).
Now to fulfill this prophecy seen
above the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, and in God’s providence moved the
heart of the most powerful man in the world at this time, the ruler of the
mighty Roman Empire. The emperor, seated
on his throne in the great capital at Rome, was very far removed from an understanding
of the purposes and plans of God, but that really did not matter for God is in
complete control of the things that were going on. This ruler was even further removed from an understanding
of the purposes and plans of God, being utterly ignorant of His Word. However he played a crucial role in
fulfilling God’s design concerning the birth of His Son. MacArthur quotes I.
Howard Marshall who wrote “The census…serves to place the birth of Jesus in the
context of world history and to show that the fiat of an earthly ruler can be
utilized in the will of God to bring his more important purposes to fruition. (The
Gospel of Luke, The New International Greek Testament Commentary [Grand
Rapids: Eerdmans, 1978], 97-98).”
Now we see that Luke first noted
that Messiah’s birth took place in those days; that is, “in the days
of Herod, king of Judea” (1:5). Herod,
the Idumean (Edomite) vassal king under Rome, was nearing the end of his long
reign and soon would die after the birth of Christ took place. These were also the days when the hated Roman
Empire ruled over Israel, which the Jews found especially galling for different
reasons. Now first, the Romans were
Gentiles, whom the Jews viewed as unclean, and were outside of God’s covenants
(Ephesians 2:12). “12 remember that
you were at that time separated from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of
Israel and strangers to the covenants of promise, having no hope and without
God in the world.” Now as much as
possible, the Jews would avoid contact with the Romans. Peter told the Gentiles gathered in the house
of Cornelius, “You yourselves know how unlawful it is for a man who is a Jew
to associate with a foreigner or to visit him (Acts. 10:28). It was after hearing of his visit to Cornelius’s
house some of the Jewish believers in Jerusalem said in shock and disbelief, “You
went to uncircumcised men and ate with them” (Acts 11:3). The Jews also abhorred the Romans’
blatant idolatry; they had been cured of their own penchant for idolatry when
they were in captivity in Babylon. They
also found the Roman’s taxation oppressive, and hated both it and those Jews
such as Matthew and Zaccheus who helped in gathering taxes from the Jews for
the Roman Empire. “11 The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed
thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust,
adulterers, or even like this tax collector. 12 I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that
I get.’ 13 But the tax collector, standing far off, would not even
lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his breast, saying, ‘God, be merciful to
me, a sinner!’” (Luke 18:11-13) ESV.
MacArthur writes:
“Though in other places (e.g., 3:1) Luke was precise in his dating, here
he gave only a general time frame. Thus
it is impossible to deduce the exact date of Christ’s birth from this
passage. Another clue in the text
however, helps make the time a little more specific. Luke connected the Lord’s birth with a
particular decree or imperial edict, which was handed down by the
emperor and binding on his subjects (cf. Acts 17:7 where the same Greek word is
used; see also Acts 18:2).”
Acts 17:7
“7 and Jason has received them, and they are all
acting against the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another king, Jesus.’”
Acts 18:2
“2 And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of
Pontus, recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had
commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. And he went to see them,”
“This particular decree was issued by the reigning
emperor, Caesar Augustus. That
was not his name, but rather his title; Caesar means ‘emperor,’ while Augustus
means, ‘revered,’ ‘honored,’ or ‘esteemed,’ and reflects the great respect
that he commanded. Augustus’s ascension
to the throne marked the beginning of the Roman Empire. He restored unity and orderly government
after a long period of destructive civil wars, and ushered in the Pax Romana,
an era of peace and prosperity throughout the Greco-Roman world that lasted for
two centuries. He is arguably the most
significant person in Roman history.”
MacArthur goes on to write “Augustus
was born Gaius Octavius on September 23, 63 B. C. His grandmother was Julius
Caesar’s sister, making Octavius his grandnephew. After Julius’s assassination in 44 B.C.,
Octavius learned that Caesar had adopted him and made him his heir. In keeping with Roman custom, he then took
the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavanus (Usually shortened in English to Octavian).
“After Caesar’s murder Octavian shrewdly
used his status as Caesar’s adopted son to build up his power. After initially clashing with Mark Antony,
Octavian joined with him and Lepidus to form the Second Triumvirate (the First
Triumvirate had consisted of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus). They then
attacked Caesar’s assassins, Brutus and Cassius. The forces of the Triumvirate decisively
defeated their armies near Philippi, after which Brutus and Cassius committed
suicide.
“The Second Triumvirate lasted for
less than a decade. While Antony was in
the east fighting the Parthians, Octavian forced Lepidus from power. Then in 32 B.C. Antony divorced Octavian’s
sister, Octavia, whom he had married to cement his political alliance with
Octavian. He then resumed his affair
with Cleopatra (with whom he had two children before he married Ocavia). This affront to his sister naturally
infuriated Octavian. Even worse, Antony
declared Caesarion, Cleopatra’s son from her affair with Julius Caesar, to be
Caesar’s legitimate son and heir, thus undercutting Octavian’s position as
Caesar’s heir. War broke out between the
two rivals and Octavian decisively defeated the forces of Antony and Cleopatra
in the naval battle of Actium (31 B.C), after which Antony and Cleopatra
committed suicide. Octavian was now the
sole ruler of the Roman world. In 27
B.C. the Senate conferred on him the titles Augustus (see the discussion of
this term above) and Princeps, or ‘First citizen.’ Octavian’s immense wealth, the respect he
commanded, and his control of the army made his rule absolute.
“Octavian died in A. D. 14, and was
succeeded by his stepson Tiberius, who was the emperor during the ministry of
Jesus Christ. Octavian left a legacy of
peace, prosperity, wise administration, and a commitment to public works. There is an element of truth in the boast he made
on his deathbed that he found Rome brick and left it marble. The network of roads he developed aided in
the spread of the gospel by Christian missionaries. Octavian was intelligent, decisive, bold, and
not afraid to take risks when necessary.
He was a patron of the arts, a friend of such noted writers as Ovid,
Horace, Virgil, and Livy. Such was the
respect that he commanded that his loyal subjects deified him after his death.” This looks like a good place to end this
morning’s SD, and Lord willing I will pick up here in this evening’s SD.
Spiritual Meaning for My life
Today: To live a life that is
pleasing to the Lord, and trust the Lord to work out the things that He has
called me to do for His glory.
My Steps of Faith for Today: I desire to continue to be in prayer for what
is going on with my wife’s issues with cancer, to trust the Lord in the health
issues that I am going through at this time, and pray that they will be worked
out by the Lord for His glory.
3/30/2026
10:28 AM
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