God Moves in Mysterious Ways

Introduction

Miraculous events are not foreign to scripture. Throughout the Old Testament, God used miraculous and even supernatural events in order to work His will in the World. From His acts in creation, to the flood, to confusing languages, and the replacement of a ram as a substitute for Isaac - these events in the book of Genesis are just a few of the many miraculous things that Scripture has chronicled for us.

God seems to use miraculous and mysterious events as a means of inserting himself into the timeline of history in order cause his people to pay attention to what he is doing.

Arguably, the most mysterious and miraculous event is the birth of Jesus. In one being, we experience hundreds of fulfilled prophecies, a unique and miraculous birth, one who is able to live a perfect life because he is fully God and yet able to sympathize with the weaknesses of humanity because he is fully human.

Surrounding the birth of Jesus, God did some other mysterious and miraculous things - communicating through dreams, angelic encounters, opening an aged and barren womb, and even astronomical anomalies.

Because of what we can see in the birth of Jesus, we can deduce a few principles.

First of all, we see that...

God does extraordinary things to bring people to Him (Mt. 2:1-12)

As we read earlier, we got a glimpse into some extraordinary things that God did in and around the lives of the Magi in order to bring them to Jesus. In fact, it seems like God spoke in three specific ways in this passage of scripture.

First of all,

God spoke through astronomy

Matthew 2:2 “saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.””

There is a lot of debate regarding the nature of this “star.” Some think it had to do with planetary alignments, others postulate that it was a comet or meteor, some suggest it may have been a supernova that exploded, and still others postulate that it was an angel. At this point, we have no clear way of knowing. Scripture simply tells us of a star.

There are some challenging elements to this star.

It would have appeared and been visible for a couple of years. The text suggests that the wisemen didn’t see Jesus until he was close to 2 years old. I know, a lot of our nativity scenes show the wisemen at the stable and the manger. The text however says that Jesus was a child - not a baby. It also states that the star seemed to direct them to a house - not a stable.

The star may have only been visible to the Magi. - It doesn’t seem like the other people around Herod had noticed this astronomical anomaly. Finally,

The star seems to be moveable. It led them in the direction of Jerusalem, to Herod, and then led them to toward Bethlehem - some six miles away, and then directly to the house where the family was residing.

Whatever the nature of this star was - it certainly was clear enough to be noticed by the Magi. God clearly communicated something to those who could understand.

Secondly,

God spoke through Scripture (prophets and writings)

Once the wisemen/Magi made their way to Jerusalem and told their story to Herod, Herod summoned the priests and scribes. They scoured scripture in order to ascertain that the Christ or Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem.

Matthew 2:5-6 “They told him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for so it is written by the prophet: “ ‘And you, O Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah; for from you shall come a ruler who will shepherd my people Israel.’ ””

The fact that we have scripture so available to us - multiple translations, in print and digitally - we sometimes fail to realize that God’s written work is an extraordinary means of communication. We have on these pages the inspired word of God - His very thoughts and instructions for us. In fact Peter states:

2 Peter 1:21 “For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.”

The written word of God is a treasure for us. It is in his written words that the scribes and priests found God’s revelation about the Messiah. It is in His written word that we find biblical truths for living today. It is where we can learn about what is to come.

Do we treasure his word the way it deserves?

Not only do we see that God spoke through his scripture and through astronomy, but finally, we see that...

God spoke through dreams

What are dreams? I often think of dreams as being the way that my subconscious and my imagination weave reality and fiction into a fantastic series of moving images.

But in this scene in Scripture - we actually see that God spoke through dreams on a few occasions. Specifically here, he communicated to the Magi that they should return home a different way (v. 12). In the very next verse (v. 13), we learn that Joseph is told in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt and then later is given instruction in a dream that the way was clear for them to return to Nazareth (v. 19).

Of course, speaking through dreams is nothing new for God. He put dreams inside of people like Joseph, Pharoah, Nebuchadnezzar and others in order to convey his plans.

Even today, God still uses dreams awaken people to his plan. A dream confirmed for my father-in-law that a position for which he applied was going to be his. God frequently uses dreams and visions for Muslims to help them see the salvation that Jesus brings.

If God were to communicate through dreams to you and me, would we pay attention? Would we notice? Would we seek him?

So God did extraordinary things to bring the Magi to Jesus. Here we really only discussed the ways that God spoke.

Even though God is doing all of this, we have to recognize that...

Some people will always try to oppose God’s plan (Mt. 2:16-18)

The birth of Jesus Christ is arguably some of the best news in history. And yet King Herod saw Jesus’ birth as a threat - so he did what he had always done - eliminate threats.

Matthew 2:16–18 ESV

Then Herod, when he saw that he had been tricked by the wise men, became furious, and he sent and killed all the male children in Bethlehem and in all that region who were two years old or under, according to the time that he had ascertained from the wise men. Then was fulfilled what was spoken by the prophet Jeremiah: “A voice was heard in Ramah, weeping and loud lamentation, Rachel weeping for her children; she refused to be comforted, because they are no more.”

Herod has been known in history as Herod the Great. His greatness may have been simply because he was the eldest of his father’s sons. As a politician he was shrewd and seemed to make decisions that would garner favor among various people groups and authorities. But as a ruler, he was paranoid. The solution for his paranoia was death. At a time when he thought that a couple of his sons were planning a coup - he had them executed. After having his favorite wife’s parents killed, he had his sister tried and executed.

So the birth of this “King of the Jews” was seen as a threat to his reign.

He had no way of knowing which child this was and so he was going to wipe them all out - every boy under age 2 in the region.

An event like this can easily bring up lots of questions.

How could a loving God allow such a thing to happen?

Why did God lead magi to Herod and not straight to the house?

I wish I could fully understand why God allows certain things. This tragedy would have been devastating to those families whose innocent boys were murdered.

In our modern arguments and mentality, we want to assume that God is only going to allow good things. He is like a cosmic Santa Claus - giving us only what we want and pleasant experiences. We end up wanting God only on our terms.

But we have to recognize that God has also granted us some semblance of a free will. We have abilities to choose to do things his way or choose to rebel. Because of the reality of our sinful nature, we have to recognize that our sinful behaviour has consequences.

The Sovereignty of God (God’s reign over all things) - has been a topic of debate for centuries. How can God be sovereign AND humanity be responsible for the consequences of their actions? Does God ordain evil by allowing it? If humans have volition - or free will - then can God be sovereign?

We could spend hours reflecting and debating this topic. Rather than getting too far in the weeds on this, let’s think about it in this way.

God created the universe and ordered it by certain principles. He has granted some natural consequences for the sinful choices we make. Herod’s choice had grave consequences for the families in that region.

But God is also a God of redemption. He redeems our worst failures and greatest fears. He did so most clearly on the cross.

We may want to put a lot of weight on Herod’s wickedness, but we have to recognize that the same sinful nature lives in us. You and I are capable to vile and cruel acts. We may not do things that cost the lives of others, but we can easily do evil with our words, our posts online, with our unforgiving and unrepentant actions.

Herod’s rebellion against God cost him dearly. A few years after these events, Herod died an excruciating death. He is now eternally separated from God - because He refused to submit to God’s sovereign authority.

So God used extraordinary means to bring the Magi to Jesus. We’ve also seen that some people will always oppose God and his ways - just as Herod did. So what? What should we do in response?

I’m glad you asked.

I think our response is to...

Pay attention and follow (Mt. 2:12-15)

After the wisemen had a chance to see Jesus - God spoke to them again - through a dream. He also spoke to Joseph. Their responsibility at that point was to follow or obey.

Matthew 2:12–15 ESV

And being warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they departed to their own country by another way. Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and said, “Rise, take the child and his mother, and flee to Egypt, and remain there until I tell you, for Herod is about to search for the child, to destroy him.” And he rose and took the child and his mother by night and departed to Egypt and remained there until the death of Herod. This was to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet, “Out of Egypt I called my son.”

Consider what God did for you

He bridged the gap between time and eternity by sending His Son - to be born in a miraculous way, to live a perfect life, to die a death he did not deserve in order to make a way for you and me to have a relationship with him. What an extraordinary and miraculous act of God!

He inspired people over a couple thousand years to write down His words and reflect on His work in their lives - so that we might have a record - and a specific revelation of God.

He brought people into your path who introduced you to Jesus - maybe it’s a friend, maybe it’s a relative, maybe it’s even your spouse.

If you are not yet a follower of Christ - will you respond? Will you receive his free gift of life - as outlined in the Word of God and proclaimed through the people of God?

If you are already a follower of Christ - are you making the most of what God has given you? Are you paying attention to His word? Are you paying attention to the still small voice of the Holy Spirit? He may or may not use dreams, but I believe He is frequently speaking - prompting us to engage others in conversation, prompting us to be reconciled with others, prompting us to repent, forgive. God is still using extraordinary means of drawing people to him. I believe you are I are part of those means.

The Magi followed a star, the Word of God and dreams in order to come to Jesus. What will it take for you and me to come to Him and to walk with Him?

Benediction:

2 Corinthians 13:14 ESV

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ and the love of God and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.

References

Carson, D. A. “Matthew.” In The Expositor’s Bible Commentary: Matthew, Mark, Luke, edited by Frank E. Gaebelein. Vol. 8. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, 1984.

Jennings, Mark A. “Star in the East.” Edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.

Winstead, Melton B. “Herod the Great.” Edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.