Luke 2:1-5 KJV
1 And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
4 And Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem; (because he was of the house and lineage of David:)
5 To be taxed with Mary his espoused wife, being great with child.

Dealing with prophesy and understanding that some things that sound prophetic maybe in fact only for that day and time, but it is a cultural reference to events that will and is believed religiously to be coming in the form of prophecy. It like the miracle of Hanukkah only representing in the darkness of faith that hope of Israel, to the time of the Messiah. With that in mind where are we in the Christmas story, but almost at the beginning of the end of it. If I could place the birth after the announcement to the shepherds and the announcement to the wise men I would. Have the picture setting of everyone ending up at the very birth of Christ. Yet we must stop and remember there is order to things in scripture and what must be the way God intended it to be as we go through the scripture text. One can not bring the wise men to the stable without understanding by the time they got there Mary was now in a house. If we look at all the misrepresentations of the inactment of Christ's birth, and fail to see the truth in the renactments we fail to see the interpretations are not wrong, just condense so the world can see the Prince of peace in a manger not fit for the gifts of kings and yet it did not stop the wise men from the east from giving.

Now scratch all that, and let us begin the Christmas story part of what brought Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem. Joseph himself was the bloodline of King David, and when Caesar August set forth a taxation upon the world, man had to travel back to the place of their ancestory. Think what if we had to do that today, how far would some of us have to travel and would we be able to walk in our sneakers or bare feet to get there because of the gas prices of our world today? People of my county born and raised here that walk or drive, it would not be that bad, just difficult if having to walk it in our world today. Actually everything would be electronic and it be only the walking of our fingers through a government website with a load of questions of who we are and our background and heritage based on our knowledge of it. For some it take two seconds and others it take months. From what Bible scholars know of the region of Israel we know it probably took a few days maybe a week to get to Bethlehem by foot. Had Joseph and Mary even thought about the birth of their prophetic baby. If they had wouldn't they have planned to be there early enough, to maybe even set up housekeeping. We can speculate all day on things that if understood might of changed the course of how things were done to get to Bethlehem. Yet Joseph and Mary seem not to travel to Bethlehem tell her time to have Jesus. Whatever the reason in not going to Bethlehem early does not change prophesy, God was making sure they went, because He used the time of taxing to get them to Bethlehem through a government that was not his own.

What can we learn from just the trip to Bethlehem it is not ordinary trip, it planned by God, because his Son had to be born not only in the lineage(ancestory of King David) but he also had to be born in the king's city. David birthplace, but also had to line up with all prophesy of the Messiah. For the rulers of Israel came from Bethlehem and from the tribe of Judah(one of Jacob(Israel) offspring), who he prophesied that the sceptra would not depart from him until Shiloh(Messiah) came. We have to understand at the time of the prophesy in Genesis there was no king, nor was there a king until the time of Samuel and the first King from Judah, son of kish King Saul, but this line would be cut off and given to King David. Why is any of it important as far as prophesy? It is a sign of the Messiah has come. It is evidence that speaks to the children of faith. To the rest of the world Jesus is not just a baby that grew up and became a prophet and not an earthly king. Jesus being only king to the Jews and they rejected him as King, because of the religious leaders desire for peace to be reestablished with Jesus death, only for Christ to rise again. It all boils down to leadership, and yet God already on the throne, not made by man. God throne being the first and the last. God was placing Shiloh in the hearts of the people to rule their heart and their ways. Because in truth man was evil. When understands laws are design for order, for government control of the country, then we understand that only thing left to deal with is what government can not control and that is the thought and heart of man.

Understanding the Messiah Israel was looking for was a ruler that would not leave Israel, and one God was sending was the one to rule and shepherd our hearts. Samuel was to be a prophet of the heart, but even God knew that Samuels role as prophet his heart would be broken with the destruction of king Saul, who God and he had anointed to rule. Christ coming was to teach us how to live, die and live again. How to live, fail man's laws and live again by God's word. Payment for man sin accomplish in our life by governmental laws, when we break them. People fail to see these laws are establish for all mankind, because believers break the laws of man, despite the laws of God remain in their heart and soul and brings them to repentance of wrong against God and man.

The importance of the prophetic word of where Jesus was born, is crucial to divine authority, power, to be proven. God's divinity shown through prophecy. Yet not all prophetic word that points to the Messiah is necessary about Jesus himself, it may be dealing with the prophetic word of that day and time of events happening, coming or have past. Scholars can prove past, present and one day future, when God's word is fulfilled. Science can prove past, present and future, but it never means it will be. A catepillar going into a cocoon coming out a butterfly is almost a guarantee, unless something goes wrong because the catepillar is unhealthy and dies before the process of transforming is complete. The sun maybe dying and half it age, and plasma/gas surrounding it surface, but the heat from the sun is only a reflectant use to cause our own gases in our atmosphere to produce heat and light. With that in mind the reflectant light from the sun on those gas have power as long as the Sun continues to burn.

What is power in the Messiah coming evidence of the light that lights every man. Evidence and proof his shadowing in a darken world did not produce evil, because evil is not by God's light. Does God exist even without his word, he still can hover but how. Christ light only shine in one place as a man, yet it shining as the prophetic world in every believer it shines forth bright light of God. The light of the Sun in our solar system can only define if we can live on another planet, based on if the light of Sun can produce light else where in the solar system by the gases in the atmospher of another planet. Without something to produce light the atmospher would probably be different then our own.

The consistency of the synthetic gods of our world, is not God or Christ. Many people try different synthetics only to discover it is not God or the power of the prophetic word of God. We might find a planet that can house humans but it is not earth, nor the New Jerusalem, Science is often a synthetic, because it can not predict in the same way God of scripture does through prophecy. If we play the numbers game sooner or later the slot machine will have a match of three lemons, but you use God's word you land up with a prophetic mess, but if God speaks through you, and speaks as he spoke to Abraham, Moses, the Apostles and other believers that evidence of God is very clear and concret as being truth and will not be a prophetic mess. When God's word says the Messiah must be born in Bethlehem and yet his people do not go running to Bethlehem, he devises away to get them there through a census. Science can see New Jerusalem in the form of Mars, but God's word says Christ is returning the same way he left, and there was no flying spaceships then. Mark my word, and God's word is Christ is returning not the way he first arrived, but how he left ascending from the sky and returning descending. Keep exploring our universe, but do not think that you can imitate God for a moment, only help with a population crisis in the future.

Dear Heavenly Father, the number count maybe the sound of explosion of population, but Mars is not the earth, and the New Jerusalem is not Mars. Yet you designed our world in such away to show us heaven and hell. Sun being like eternal lake of fire and planets being a new home. Yet that not how you said Christ would be, and so I holding to the return of your Son as you declare it, because your word is true. Your signs and wonder prove your authority and power shown through the prophetic word of the Messiah. In Jesus precious name, Amen.

Continual Scripture Study: Genesis 49:10 KJV
10 The sceptre shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh come; and unto him shall the gathering of the people be.

Micah 5:2 KJV
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.