The Word of the Lord
December 20th
Angels and The NAME of the King
“And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.”
Luke 1:26-27 (KJV)
Daily Devotional
December 20th
The name “Jesus” is made up of two parts in Hebrew. The “J” is part of the name of God. The rest of the name is from the Hebrew verb “to save.” Normally in a Hebrew sentence the verb comes first. When the subject/noun comes first, as in the name “Jesus,” there is emphasis. The angel was saying, call His name “the LORD saves” for He [“the LORD”/referring to the child] will save His people from their sins.
The angel Gabriel was the angel who gave to the prophet Daniel the timeline that announced the events that would mark the countdown to the coming of the Messiah (nearly six hundred years before the birth of Christ). When the time had come, the LORD sent Gabriel to announce to Mary the birth of God’s Son. The angel told Mary the name for the child, Jesus, and that He would be called the “Son of the Highest.” Gabriel announced that she would be the mother of the future King who would sit on David’s throne and reign forever (Luke 1:26-33).
In Matthew 1, the angel gave a message of comfort to Joseph. The heavenly messenger gave to Joseph the name of the child to be born of Mary. Revealing much in so short a sentence, the angel said, “… call His name Jesus: for He shall save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).
The angel who appeared to the shepherds outside of Bethlehem delivered another short but full announcement: “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord” (Luke 2:10-11).
Suddenly the sky was filled with the heavenly army. Their Commander and King was below in the manger. In the book of Joshua, the Lord Jesus was standing outside of the city of Jericho and identified Himself to Joshua as the “Ruler of the Army of the LORD” (Joshua 5:13-15). The Lord Jesus led the army on many occasions (see Micah 5:2, “whose goings forth are from of old…”).
In the announcements of the angels, they heard about the fulfillment of the message of the prophecies of the Branch, of the rightful heir to the throne who was born, and of the King who had come and whose Kingdom shall never end.
Luke 1:26-33
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, 27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. 28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women. 29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be. 30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
King James Version (KJV)
Publisher
Public Domain
Matthew 1:21
And she shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name JESUS: for he shall save his people from their sins.
King James Version (KJV)
Publisher
Public Domain
Luke 2:10-11
And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
King James Version (KJV)
Publisher
Public Domain
Joshua 5:13-15
And it came to pass, when Joshua was by Jericho, that he lifted up his eyes and looked, and, behold, there stood a man over against him with his sword drawn in his hand: and Joshua went unto him, and said unto him, Art thou for us, or for our adversaries? 14 And he said, Nay; but as captain of the host of the LORD am I now come. And Joshua fell on his face to the earth, and did worship, and said unto him, What saith my lord unto his servant? 15 And the captain of the LORD’s host said unto Joshua, Loose thy shoe from off thy foot; for the place whereon thou standest is holy. And Joshua did so.
King James Version (KJV)
Publisher
Public Domain
Micah 5:2
But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah,
though thou be little among the thousands of Judah,
yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel;
whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.
King James Version (KJV)
Publisher
Public Domain
About Lakeland FBC
Lakeland First Baptist seeks to glorify God by encouraging all people into a relationship with Jesus Christ, discipling them in spiritual growth, and equipping them to make disciples of the nations.