Dec 25 Wednesday wisdom and worship

1 God rest you merry, gentlemen,

let nothing you dismay,

remember Christ our Saviour

was born on Christmas day,

to save us all from Satan's pow'r

when we were gone astray;

Refrain:

O tidings of comfort and joy, comfort and joy,

O tidings of comfort and joy.

2 From God our heav'nly Father,

a blessed angel came;

and unto certain shepherds

brought tidings of the same:

how that in Bethlehem was born

the son of God by name, [Refrain]

3 "Fear not, then," said the angel,

"let nothing you affright;

this day is born a Savior

of a pure virgin bright,

to free all those who trust in him

from Satan's pow'r and might." [Refrain]

4 The shepherds at those tidings

rejoiced much in mind,

and left their flocks a-feeding,

in tempest, storm, and wind,

and went to Bethlehem straightway,

the Son of God to find. [Refrain]

[The entire Old Testament] ground-plan is the whole scheme of Messianic prophecy, from the germinal revelation in Genesis concerning the suffering, yet triumphant Seed of the Woman to the coming to His Temple of the long-absent “Angel of the Covenant” in Malachi. That hope alone explains the Book, giving meaning and consistency to its story. Was it a chimera, an hallucination? According to the prophecy of Micah, the messianic Shepherd of Israel had to be born in Bethlehem. It is unthinkable that an heir to the throne of David could be born in Bethlehem now, and be also able to prove his legitimacy by documentary evidence. The event must clearly have taken place already, or Micah is a false prophet, a raiser of false hopes, along with the other writers in the Old Testament. 

… Max I. Reich (1867-1945)