Joseph, Mary and Jesus. God did not make
easy for Joseph. But He gave him dreams that saved his marriage
By Julio
Severo
The
correct way for people to be married is no sex and no pregnancy before
marriage. But this did not happen in Joseph’s case — not because of his
decisions or sexual impulses. He was not to blame.
His
bride told him she was pregnant. And she said that God did it to her.
By
the knowledge he had from the Scriptures, there was absolutely no case of God
doing it to any woman in the Scriptures. If Joseph discussed it with
theologians, they would assure him: “There is no Scripture support for a
pregnancy by God. This goes against Scriptures!”
The
sense of human righteousness would say to Joseph: “Your bride betrayed you! She
could have chosen to leave you to have sex with another man, but she chose to
do it while officially engaged to you! Betrayal!”
Any
other man, with this sense of righteousness, would leave her and make sure that
everyone learned about her infidelity and betrayal. After all, in a way or other
he was also being humiliated by her “betrayal.”
Yet,
Joseph’s righteousness was not grounded on human feelings. It was grounded in
the Scriptures, in a righteous and merciful God.
“Her husband Joseph was an honorable man
and did not want to disgrace her publicly. So he decided to break the marriage
agreement with her secretly.” (Matthew 1:19 GWV)
“Joseph, chagrined but noble, determined to
take care of things quietly so Mary would not be disgraced.” (Matthew
1:19 Message)
“Joseph, because he was kind and
upstanding and honorable, wanted to spare Mary shame. He did not wish to cause
her more embarrassment than necessary.” (Matthew 1:19 The Voice)
In
Joseph’s mind, there was a sin: Mary pregnant outside marriage by other man. It
was his moral right to bring embarrassment to her for what she did against him
and his marriage. But he chose mercy in a situation involving sin.
In
that time, women could be stoned by sex outside marriage.
What
made him change his mind? Some powerful theological advice? No such advice
would be available, because all theologians would agree that God was not
involved in such pregnancy.
“While he was trying to figure a way out,
he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: ‘Joseph, son of David, don’t
hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy
Spirit has made her pregnant.’” (Matthew 1:20
Message)
When
God’s Word and its official interpreters (theologians) seem not to have an
answer for such dramatic situations, God speaks — in dreams, in visions and
other powerful ways, even a voice. And God spoke to Joseph.
Joseph
did not understand why only his bride was chosen to get pregnant outside
marriage by the Holy Spirit. Obviously, no one else would believe it, perhaps
even with the assistance of a dream.
Of
course, the followers of Jesus would believe, because they had contact with the
same Holy Spirit who had impregnated Mary. They had dreams, visions and
supernatural gifts from the Holy Spirit. When theologians are unable to explain
what God does, the Holy Spirit explains. And often He does not explain why and
how, but only that it was God.
God
could have sent his angel to Joseph to say: “After your marriage to Mary, I
want you to live in abstinence for some months, because the Holy Spirit will
impregnate her.”
Of
course, Mary would also need a dream or vision to confirm such humanly
ridiculous declaration. Such arrangement (a divine pregnancy after marriage)
would spare Mary and Joseph public embarrassment and would greatly facilitate
the maintenance of their sexual and religious reputation.
Yet,
God chose not to spare her and him. Now, this was only between God and both of
them. No one else would understand it. Even theologians in their time would not
understand it, because there was absolutely no Scripture support for it.
God
did not make easy for Joseph and Mary. If He had let them choose if they wanted
or not an embarrassing pregnancy outside marriage, they would answer NO. They
would ask God for a non-embarrassing way.
But
the total choice was His, and their only answer should be: to accept His
supernatural interventions, including angel visitations and dreams.
When
they did not understand, they let God speak. And He did. And they listened.
Yet,
there are no theological dreams. They are from God, not theology. Later, after
the birth of Jesus, Joseph had a dream telling him to flee for Egypt. (See
Matthew 2:13) He fled with Mary and boy Jesus and saved His life. But if he had
consulted the Bible for literal direction and advice about fleeing for Egypt,
he would never do it. Why? Because there are many Bible passages where God
commands not to flee for Egypt.
So in
an attempt to conciliate his personal dream with the Bible, Joseph would never
flee for Egypt. Evidently, his case was prophetically in the Bible, but there
is no evidence that in that time Joseph understood it.
Joseph
had and accepted the dreams not to produce new doctrines, but to save first his
marriage and later his son.
Dreams
are not to produce new core doctrines, but to guide men and women who believe
in the Bible how to save their lives, marriages, jobs and other people.
If
Joseph had depended only on the literal teaching of the Scriptures, which were
silent on his particular case, or on their official interpreters (theologians),
he would have left Mary.
But a
dream changed his life. A dream saved his marriage. A dream helped him save
baby Jesus. God’s strategy is often to confront enemies. David, with God’s
assistance, did it to Goliah. In contrast, God wanted Joseph to flee to a
nation He had told often to Israel: Do not flee to there!
Dreams
do big miracles when the individual receiving them has his mind and heart
filled with God’s Word.
If he
were a non-theological unbeliever, Joseph would say, “God saved my marriage
from a problem He himself provoked!” He would add: “Instead of provoking
problems, God should have given me houses and riches.”
If he
were a theological unbeliever (a modern cessationist), he would have rejected
dreams, visions and Mary and her pregnancy by the Holy Spirit. If a woman said
to a cessationist that that she received an angel visitation, he would send her
to a psychiatrist. Thank God, Joseph was not a cessationist!
Evidently,
Joseph would have loved if God had told him: “I will give you a major
government job!” After all, God is powerful and can give powerful blessings.
And
if Mary were a modern woman and the angel had given her an opportunity to
choose between a high-paying job and a pregnancy, she would choose the first
option, and both she and Joseph would jump for joy!
Yet,
there was no dance in the case of Joseph, who did not understand what was
happening. He loved God’s Word. And he respected Word’s masters (the Jewish
theologians). But all of them were not enough to explain the strange events in
his life, especially the very strange pregnancy of his bride. To go through his
hard times, he chose to give preeminence to Word’s God and His dreams.
The
God who helped Joseph with a dream promised to help people in our last days
with the same supernatural resources:
“And in the last days it shall be, God
declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your
daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old
men shall dream dreams” (Ac 2:17 ESV)
“In the Last Days,” God says, “I will pour
out my Spirit on every kind of people: Your sons will prophesy, also your
daughters; Your young men will see visions, your old men dream dreams.” (Ac
2:17 Message)
With
such resources, the impossible becomes possible and a prophetic God, with his prophetic
plans, makes himself available to save your life and marriage.
Without
dreams, it would have been impossible for Joseph to marry Mary.
His
walk by faith with dreams from God is an example to everyone who love Jesus.
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