
http://christianaudio.com/god-is-in-the-manger-dietrich-bonhoeffer
Read Through the Bible in Three Years. (DropBox constantly "improves" their site and breaks my long established links. Please put a comment here if it does not work, and I will fix it.)
![]() |
Advent Wreath Glow Photo by Carol Weaver. Please ask permission before copying |
Advent (from the Latin word adventus, which means "arrival" or "coming") is the first season of the liturgical year. It begins four Sundays before Christmas, the Sunday falling on or nearest to 30 November, and ends on Christmas Eve. Traditionally observed as a "fast", it focuses on preparation for the coming of Christ, not only the coming of the Christ-child at Christmas, but also, in the first weeks, on the eschatological final coming of Christ, making Advent "a period for devout and joyful expectation".[8] This season is often marked by the Advent Wreath, a garland of evergreens with four candles. Although the main symbolism of the advent wreath is simply marking the progression of time, many churches attach themes to each candle, most often 'hope', 'faith', 'joy', and 'love'. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Advent)
While the emperor may give peace from war on land and sea, he is unable to give peace from passion, grief, and envy. He cannot give peace of heart for which man yearns more than even for outward peace.
(The Bible Exposition Commentary: Volume 1, p. 176)The Hebrew word for peace, Shalom, that is translated as eirḗnē in the Septuagint (Greek translation of the Old Testament), "has to denote, not merely rest, but a state of well-being or wholeness [emphasis mine], so that one can even be said to die in peace (as distinct from suffering violence). Nor is this well-being restricted to material welfare" (Theological dictionary of the New Testament, p. 208).
![]() |
"The Annunciation" By Paolo de Matteis (Saint Louis Art Museum official site)
[Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons
|
The Septuagint often used the term “Most High” (hypsistou) to translate the Hebrew ‘elyôn (cf. v. 76). Mary could not have missed the significance of that terminology. The fact that her Baby was to be called the “Son of the Most High” pointed to His equality with Yahweh. In Semitic thought a son was a “carbon copy” of his father, and the phrase “son of” was often used to refer to one who possessed his “father’s” qualities (e.g., the Heb. trans. “son of wickedness” in Ps. 89:22 [kjv] means a wicked person).
(The Bible knowledge commentary: Volume 2 p. 205)God promised David that his kingdom would last forever (2 Samuel 7:16). Jesus fulfilled this promise.
![]() |
The Birth of John the Baptist by Jacopo Pontormo [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
![]() |
Hans Holbein the Elder [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons |
![]() |
Ancestral Land, Cross Fork, Pennsylvania, July 2012 |