From Nazareth to Bethlehem

My Bible copyrighted in 1872 lists many prophecies about Jesus and their fulfillments. Among them are ones concerning his birth (Christmas - remember?) One of the ones I think is so creative of God, is the timing. Since Mary was chosen to be the mother of the Messiah, AND since she and Joseph lived in Nazareth in the north part of the land of Israel called Galilee, AND since the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, how would God get them to move?

Actually there were more problems than that!

Mary and Joseph were engaged - a binding agreement, but they hadn't lived together yet.
Matthew 1:18 "This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about. His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit."
Isaiah 7:14 (written some 700 years beore Jesus' birth) "Therefore the Lord, himself, will give you a sign: the virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel."
Matthew 1:21-23 "She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins. All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: 'The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel' which means, 'God with us.'"

Whew! I understand. Now about Bethlehem:

Micah 5:2 (also 700 years before Jesus was born) "But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times."
Matthew 2:3-6 "When he (Herod) had called together all the prople's chief priests and teachers of the law, he asked them where the Christ was to be born. 'In Bethlehem in Judea,' they replied, 'for this is what the prophet has written: 'But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah, are by no means least among the rulers of Judah: for out of you will come a ruler who will be the shepherd of my people Israel.'"

Now the creative part:

Luke 2:1-3 "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world. (This was the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria.) And everyone went to his own town to register. "

Imagine such a simple occurance as a census, yet a monumental event in the life of Mary and Joseph.

Luke 2:4-7 "So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and place him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn."

Was that easy on Mary and Joseph? It wouldn't be on me, I can tell you! Don't you ever wonder why God doesn't make our circumstnces easy? Me, too. But in regard to this event, maybe He wants us to experience surprise discoveries and a-ha moments as we put together the puzzles in the Bible.
Merry Christmas,
Paulita