Luke 2:9 Context
6And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. 7And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. 8And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. 10And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. 12And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.
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People’s Bible Notes for Luke 2:9
Lu 2:9 The angel of the Lord. An angel announces the conception of Jesus (Lu 1:28-37); a host of angels publish his birth (Lu 2:13,14); in his temptation an angel strengthens him (Mr 1:13); in his agony an angel comforts him (Lu 22:43); at his resurrection an angel rolls away the stone from the door of the sepulcher (Mt 28:2); at his ascension the angels attend him up to heaven (Ac 1:10); and at his second coming to judge the world he shall be “revealed from heaven with his mighty angels” (2Th 1:7).
“The angel of the Lord encamps around those who fear him, and he delivers them.”
Psalms 34:7 NIV
https://www.bible.com/111/psa.34.7.niv
Psalm 91:11 says(NLT) “For he will order his angels to protect you wherever you go.” The footnotes for this verse says: (NLT) “ One of the functions of angels is to watch over believers ( Hebrews 1:14). There are examples of guardian angels in Scripture (1Kings 19:5;Daniel 6:22; Matthew 18:10; Luke 16:22; Acts 12:7), although there is no indication that one angel is assigned to each believer. Angels can also be God’s messengers (Matthew 2:13; Acts 27:23,24). Angels are not visible, except on special occasions ( Numbers 22:31; Luke 2:9). Verses 11 & 12 were quoted by Satan when he tempted Jesus (Matthew 4:6; Luke 4:10, 11). It is comforting to know that God watches over us even in times of great stress and fear.”
What a beautiful picture of the angel and the lamb and how the light “shone”.
The scriptures you gave, Sara, of how the angels were there near Jesus so many times, seem to say to me that where Jesus is, the angels are. And those that fear Him are near Him… and, there the angels are.
Thinking more on your scripture from Psalm 34:7 reminded me of the teaching series on the Book of Judges by Pastor Reggie Webb that was posted on the Lily in 2018; specifically, I was reminded of his teaching about the angel of the Lord. I went back to some notes from Pastor Reggie’s teaching on Judges 2 and listened to some of this again.
He had a good explanation about what the angel of the Lord meant. He told us that the angel of the Lord appeared to expose them (the Israelites at Bokim). And he said “the angel of the Lord is an appearance of God Himself – Theophany – God taking on a physical form.” He went on to explain that “those that encountered the angel of the Lord thought they were dealing with a human being – but they were dealing with God Himself, case in point, Abraham.”
Angels and their varied duties sure delight the being when we rest in the Lord.
Hebrews 13:2 “Do not forget to entertain strangers, for by so doing some have unwittingly entertained angels.” Have you often wondered after an encounter with a person that maybe that was an Angel? Tammy’s footnote say some angels are messengers.
Love the beautiful Angel and lamb. Always learn so much from your comments.
Angels made the announcement to Mary and Elizabeth and to JOSEPH and Zachariah
They were messenger Angels from God!
GOD’s messages all pointed to Jesus.
God worked and works today through unexpected circumstances and people to accomplish His purposes.
Mary and Joseph had no reason to go to Bethlehem but God arranged it. Bethlehem means “house of bread. In John6:35 Jesus called himself self the Bread of life.”
Luke 2: 1-2 in those days a decree went out from Emperor August that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration and was taken while Quirinius was governor of Syria.
Luke 2:4. Joseph also went from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judaea, to the city of David called
Bethlehem, because he was descended from the house and family of David.
Jesus was wrapped in strips of cloths which in that time was to help them grow straight and as much as two months babies would be wrapped this way until infants limbs became firm. (Info from NRSV
CULTURAL BACKGROUNDS STUDY BIBLE). Interesting shepherds viewed as lowly and as sometimes rough or even dangerous. The shepherds were watching their flocks outside at night, indicates the season was warm. An Angel of the Lord (a messenger Angel) stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, the Angel said, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy for all the people. To you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, Who is the Messiah, the LORD…there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host,” praising God. When the angels had left …the shepherds decided to go to Bethlehem and see this thing that had taken place.. this NRVC Bible said Bethlehem was so small that it probably didn’t take much time for the shepherds to find a baby in a feeding trough. ( unexpected persons to hear about birth of Jesus first, as shepherds were thought as lowly)(unexpected place for a baby to lie in.)
Lots of angels praising the new born king. God chose a teen age girl from Nazareth who wasn’t married yet to be the mother of Jesus ( Unexpected choice). Nazareth about the time of Jesus’s ministry in John1:45-46
Nathanael said, “ can there any good thing come Nazareth (NRVC says village rivalry was common. This statement is perception than on the quality of individuals. Great people also were expected to come from famous places like Jerusalem and not a small village. (Thus from unexpected place).
Recommendation of a book to share with your children – summary of the book for THE LEGEND OF THE CANDY CANE by Lori Warburg.
There was a store for sale and a man bought it. People speculated what kind of store it would be? Children wanted it to be … but it was unspoken by them. One day a little girl- Lucy peered in the window and the owner asked her if she wanted to help unpack items. She unpacked big jars and all kind of shape jars one after another.
The owner said now is the time to fill them up. To Lucy excited little eyes she unwrapped one different candy after another. Her wish had come true. Then she unwrapped a candy she had not seen before. Lucy looked at it again a saw it was in the shape of a J. The man said to turn it and said it’s a shepherd’s hook now. There was stripes of red and white.
I know you all out there know what J is for and shepherd’s hook. I had to help a little bit with the latter as the class didn’t quite understand. What else do you see?
Here is an object lesson – to be clear I found this on line but don’t remember where.
Take two bags. One beautiful and put a beautifully wrapped box with beautifully wrapped stone in it.
The other bag choose a bag that is ugly, torn and soiled I I used spray butter) and place inside it a unbroken candy cane.
Have the children decide which bag they want.
Have them unwrap the package in beautiful bag. They have all yelled “MS O, A ROCK!! You may have to lead here. One child said I know, it is like the Pharisees. Looks nice on outside but a heart of stone on the inside. What does heart of stone mean?Another said oh they didn’t want Jesus.
The second requires a little more leading.
What are we all born into? Sin which is ugly
What about the gift. Oh they said we have Jesus in our hearts.
What about the red and white?
What about the stripes?
Why a Shepherd’s hook?
Was this gift unexpected?
Think of some other ?’s you would like the children to think upon.
At the end of class give each child a candy cane to eat and one to share the story about Jesus
I then sing, “ Go tell about Jesus, go tell bout JESUS EVERYWHERE TO GO!
Merry Christmas to all!
Rena, the gift God gave you for teaching children has much beauty woven into the eternal benefits! It seems you must make God smile often as the children take the words of truth and run into His arms!
The children are learning Cradle to the Cross. Merry Christmas to the children! 🎄
Sara writes, “Have you often wondered after an encounter with a person that maybe that was an Angel? Tammy’s footnote say some angels are messengers.” And Rena gave an example and said, “They were messenger Angels from God!”
This reminded me off an example in Judges 13 where Manoah, father of Samson, had an encounter with an angel and wanted to make a meal for him. He, apparently, did not recognize the man as the angel of the Lord (Judges 13:16). However, his wife did when the angel brought her the initial message about giving birth to a son; and said to her husband, “A man of God appeared to me! He looked like one of God’s angels, terrifying to see.“ (Judges 13:6). Manoah finally realized him as an angel when the angel of the Lord ascended in the fire from the sacrifice on the rock that he had offered up (vs. 19).
I would like to share a portion of a devotion from my early morning readings. I love this type of study with people as live wires in my life. I pray as I believe and expect to move in this challenge for 2022 that I don’t get bogged down with whiners that enjoy the rear view window. But, those that look forward thru the expansive forward window of the mind. The last lines in this devotional are hope when we heard with action the first few. Yay!
“The power of a believing community can do wonders in how we wait in hope. A community helps us discern how God calls us and speaks into our lives, keeping us accountable to spiritual integrity and affirming or challenging our discernment as necessary. It is important to have people with whom we can prayerfully share our spiritual journeys and who can help us name the new realities that God might be birthing in our lives. A community can support us as we name these new realities and learn to live into our expanding or changing sense of identity as flourishing children of God.”
—Enuma Okoro, Silence and Other Surprising Invitations of Advent