Ghost. She spoke as the Spirit di rected, giving praise to God for all that He had done. The visit appar ently was not planned and was un expected for no one came out to meet Mary, as was the usual cus tom. She had come to share the testimony of what the Lord had done. Before she could speak, how ever, Elizabeth was giving Spirit- directed praise to Jehovah. Mary cries out, "My soul doth magnify the Lord!" She acknowledged that she was no different from all the other peoples of the world who al so need a Saviour. This showed not only the concept she had of God's truth, but also her sincere and deep humility. She admitted that God was no respector of per sons in choosing her. She adored and worshipped the Lord. In Matthew 1:18-25 we have the account of Joseph who is to be come the natural stepfather of the Lord Jesus Christ who was virgin born of Mary. Because of this the devil starts an unrelenting attack against these chosen young peo ple. He now intensifies his "con flict of the ages." Satan was very upset by the turn of events and purposed to invalidate the prom ise of God in preventing the com ing of the Seed. The attack was now to come through Joseph with the tool of doubt. This young carpenter was a just man and wanted to do that which was right. He desired to pro test this lovely young woman to whom he was engaged. Mary's condition was a real concern to him. It troubled him deeply and he did not feel that he could take her as his wife until the matter was properly resolved. The devil did not want Joseph to have any
peace. He hoped to have Mary's character and purity brought into question. He would have liked to have her stoned to death, accord ing to the law. Joseph did not make any hasty decisions. He waited before the Lord. There could have been a temptation to place Mary as a pub lic example. This the devil doubt less urged. The law of Moses was very stringent on the subject of pregnancy apart from marriage. This was exactly Mary's condition. Because of his love for her, how ever, Joseph would not expose his betrothed before the city's magis trates and prying eyes. The angel, probably Gabriel, appeared to Jo seph in a dream. God brought the answer with this vision of peace and purpose. Christ was to be called "the Son of David." This was a very sacred title among the Jewish people. It showed Joseph that he, too, was being honored with the coming of the Messiah, who would be his adopted son, and the undisputed heir to the throne of Israel. The angel told him not to fear for the name of the child would be Jesus, because He would save His people from their sins. Not until the actual birth of Je sus was the devil really completely defeated in his current attack. He had used every effort to keep the Seed from coming into the world. He even employed wicked King Herod to obliterate any possibility of a Redeemer. It was thus neces sary for Mary and Joseph to leave their home so that they might es cape the edict which had gone^out concerning the slaughter of inno cent Jewish babies two years old and under. Again, the plot of the Page 47
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