The story continues, Part 1

Hello, my LORD,
Well, it is a few days after Christmas, so the world and popular culture have dropped all the secular signs that they use to mark the season. All the ornaments and Christmas trees have been taken down. Thank You, oh God, that radio stations have stopped playing Frosty the Snowman and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Stores have moved on to the POST-Christmas sales.
All of these things reflect the world’s lack of spirituality, knowledge and understanding about what Christmas is really about. Sadly, though, the same can be said for many Christians, who do not know that the story of the LORD Jesus coming to this Earth does not end at the manger. Today I want to start posting the rest of the story, as told in the Scriptures, with the hopes that others may learn more about our LORD Jesus and thus grow in knowledge of the Bible, Your Holy Word.
So, we all know about the announcement and birth of the Savior. Now, eight days after the birth, to be exact, another event occurred, an event that may seem small and even non important to some. Here is what Your Word says:

Luke Chapter 2
21 And when eight days were completed for the circumcision of the Child, His name was called JESUS, the name given by the angel before He was conceived in the womb.

It is important to remember that the laws given by You, God, through Your servant Moses, were the moral laws of the land, and it was the correct thing to follow them, as Mary and Joseph did, even though the laws of Moses were not, and are not, the way to salvation. So, according to the laws of Moses, on the eighth day after His birth, Jesus was circumcised and named, the same way it was done for every male child born at that time.
And then more things happened shortly after the birth of the LORD, as the Bible teaches us. The following events occur forty days after the birth of the Messiah:

Luke Chapter 2
22 Now when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were completed, they brought Him to Jerusalem to present Him to the Lord

In this verse, the days of her, that is, Mary’s, purification, were forty days after giving birth, as stated in Your Word:

Leviticus Chapter 2
1 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2 “Speak to the children of Israel, saying: `If a woman has conceived, and borne a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean.
3 `And on the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.
4 `She shall then continue in the blood of her purification thirty–three days. She shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor come into the sanctuary until the days of her purification are fulfilled.

So, Mary and Joseph went to the temple in Jerusalem to present Jesus forty days after His birth. The story continues:

Luke Chapter 2
23 (as it is written in the law of the Lord, “Every male who opens the womb shall be called holy to the LORD”),
24 and to offer a sacrifice according to what is said in the law of the Lord, “A pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons.”
25 And behold, there was a man in Jerusalem whose name was Simeon, and this man was just and devout, waiting for the Consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him.
26 And it had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not see death before he had seen the Lord’s Christ.
27 So he came by the Spirit into the temple. And when the parents brought in the Child Jesus, to do for Him according to the custom of the law,
28 he took Him up in his arms and blessed God and said:
29 “Lord, now You are letting Your servant depart in peace, According to Your word;
30 For my eyes have seen Your salvation
31 Which You have prepared before the face of all peoples,
32 A light to bring revelation to the Gentiles, And the glory of Your people Israel.”
33 And Joseph and His mother marveled at those things which were spoken of Him.
34 Then Simeon blessed them, and said to Mary His mother, “Behold, this Child is destined for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign which will be spoken against
35 ”(yes, a sword will pierce through your own soul also), that the thoughts of many hearts may be revealed.”
36 Now there was one, Anna, a prophetess, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was of a great age, and had lived with a husband seven years from her virginity;
37 and this woman was a widow of about eighty–four years, who did not depart from the temple, but served God with fastings and prayers night and day.
38 And coming in that instant she gave thanks to the Lord, and spoke of Him to all those who looked for redemption in Jerusalem.
39 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.

LORD, if the world knew how much there is to the story of the first years of the LORD Jesus on this Earth, everyone would be amazed. I personally feel that Christmas is so diluted, the only thing that is spoken and sung about is the babe in the manger, and yet there is so much more. As I said before, even many of us believers are ignorant of these things, including the story of the three kings. I will come back later to write about this one.
Thank You, LORD,
Zoraida

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