00:00Day 4 Archileus
00:09Reflection
00:11It is a delight to be allowed to speak in a Christmas devotion about Archileus.
00:17It made me smile when his name came up because Archileus is part of a deeply held belief of
00:23mine about the Bible.
00:24You will find three verses that talk about where Jesus will be born.
00:29Or better to say where Jesus will come from.
00:33They are, Hosea 11 verse 1, Out of Egypt I called my son.
00:38Micah 5 verse 2, But thou, Bethlehem Ephrata, though thou be little among the thousands
00:44of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel.
00:51Matthew 2 verse 22 to 23, But when he heard that Archileus did reign in Judea in the room
00:57of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither.
01:01Notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee.
01:07And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken
01:12by the prophets, he shall be called a Nazarene.
01:16The third one, Matthew 2 verse 22 to 23, is the verse about Archileus.
01:23Joseph feared him and did not want his family near him.
01:27Instead of settling his family in Bethlehem, he chose to settle in Nazareth.
01:32I use these verses a lot when someone tells me the Bible got something wrong.
01:37Have you heard the lists?
01:39Jesus is wrong on.
01:40And there's a list.
01:42I've had people say, I can't take the Bible as the literal word of God because of.
01:48Add in whatever the problem is.
01:51And my response is, the Bible told us Jesus was from Bethlehem, Egypt and Nazareth.
01:57Anyone who read those verses before Jesus was born would say the Bible is wrong.
02:03It has to be wrong because Jesus can't be from three places.
02:07But the reason for that is easy to see now.
02:11Simple.
02:11Jesus moved.
02:13The prophets had a deeper knowledge of Jesus' life than anyone could imagine.
02:18And when someone says the Bible is wrong I say, look to your own understanding.
02:231 Corinthians 13 verse 12
02:26For now we see through a glass, darkly, but then face to face.
02:31Now I know in part, but then shall I know even as also I am known.
02:35Archelaus, with that one tiny mention in the Bible, in the midst of Jesus' childhood, becomes
02:42a lesson that has helped me through Bible studies.
02:45It has helped me give greater respect to the limits of my own understanding.
02:50Pray, dear Jesus, in this holy season when I celebrate the sacred beginning of the greatest
02:56story ever told, your birth, your life, your death and resurrection, your saving grace.
03:02Grant me a deeper understanding of your word.
03:06Bless and nurture my mind to be open to your leading when I read the Bible, and forgive me
03:12when I fail.
03:13And please give me an open heart for those who find stumbling blocks in Scripture.
03:19Give me wisdom that can lead me, and with your help lead others, to a full faith in you.
03:24Thank you, dear God in heaven, my Savior Jesus Christ, and Holy Spirit, in this blessed Christmas
03:32season, for surrounding me with your love.
03:35In Jesus' holy name, Amen.
