20,500 Visitors…and Counting…

As we approach the end of 2007 our blogsite has reached another milestone — one we never dreamed we’d even come close to approaching.  We’ve recently had our 20,000th visitor!  For a site that doesn’t try to lure visitors with promises of scantily clad women or filthy videos, that’s an amazing number.  In the last 5 months, we’ve had over 10,000.  I mention the numbers only to give thanks to the LORD for using this site to accomplish His purposes.  If only a small handful of people ever knew of its existence, then that’s OK.  What matters is not what we want to accomplish with this site or its companion website, but what God in His sovereign decree has in mind for it.

Despite being spammed throughout the year and the ever-present hate-mail for anything related to Christ, we’ve tried to fulfill our vision for this site by posting a variety of topics intended to generate dialogue and spark conversation.  We remain surprised at how much attention the few postings (less than 7% of the total postings) related to Harold Camping have received — and apparently continue to receive.  These “Campingites” as we affectionately call them are definitely a small but spirited and opinionated band of followers.  And once again, though we strongly disagree with their positions on Depart Out/Latter Rain/2011, we nevertheless thank them for their comments and for the discussions they’ve sparked. 

We’d like for those reading this posting to think about the following and, if they desire, to offer their comments/opinions: why did Mary & Jospeh remain for so long in Bethlemen after Christ’s birth? 

The Magi definitely visited Joseph, Mary & Jesus in Bethlehem — and we know the couple was living in a house and no longer in the stable.  When you consider Herod’s decree to kill all male children 2 years old and under, we can infer from Scripture that as much as 18 mos to 2 years had passed before the arrival of the magi.   In our minds, that begs the question: why did they remain in Bethlehem for so long?

Scripture doesn’t tell us, so all we can do is speculate. 

Perhaps one reason was the difficult nature of the journey back to Nazareth — and with an infant, the trip would be all-the-more dangerous. 

Perhaps they decided to stay in Bethlehem because no one there was aware of the circumstances surrounding Mary’s pregnancy.  The same could not be said about their neighbors in Nazareth.   No doubt she and Joseph would have been subjected to scorn and hostilities in Nazareth, with gossip and innuendo about Mary’s “unfaithfulness”.

Perhaps the Augustan census took several years to complete and they needed to remain there to be counted.  This doesn’t seem plausible however because there was certainly an urgency to get to Bethlehem right away.  The Romans were an efficient bunch and they could probably effect a census in a small, rural village quite quickly.

So we’re left pondering why they remained in this village for so long – far from their families, friends and Joesph’s occupation.  The only thing we can say with confidence is that they remained there because it was the LORD’s will for them.  They remained there so that the magi could pay homage to the King of Kings.  They remained there to fulfill all that the Scriptures had predicted about the coming Messiah. 

Does anyone else have any other ideas as to why they called Bethlehem home for so long after Christ’s birth?  Let us know.

May You Have a Joyous 2008!

To God Be The Gloria (in excelsis deo too!)