manger

Vision of the manger and of the inn/Rachel wept for her children

by Job Anbalagan

Vision of the manger and of the inn

“And she (Mary) brought forth her first-born Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, and laid Him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn” (Luke 2:7)

Oh, the Baby Savior was laid in a manger! Had the rich Jews known this, they would have opened their houses to the Baby. But God had chosen only a manger for His Son. God chooses only the foolish things of the world to confound the wise, the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty, base things of the world, and things which are despised…That no flesh should glory in His presence (I Cor.1: 27-29).

Dearly beloved, as you read this message, do you feel that you have no enough money to buy the goodies of this world? Look at the manger of your Savior and thank God for saving you from the sin through this manger, a despised thing. Dear minister of God, do you feel that you do not have the talent to preach? Do you think that you have no sufficient funds to run your ministry? I am not going to pray for a financial miracle for you, saying that Jesus was born in the manger so that you can have abundance of material blessings. I entreat you to thank God from the depth of your heart for having chosen you as His minister, because you are of the foolish, weak or base things of the world. I will not urge you to get first all the material blessings for your ministry and then go out to preach the gospel. The Holy Ghost implores you to go out for God’s work in the same financial position as you are now. Looking at the manger, go out for His work! We need to look at the manger of our Savior and not at our bank balances. Looking at the manger of the One Who was born for us, we should empty ourselves of our pride and of our own righteousness. Oh, the manger, a despised thing we, the despised, need for our ministries!

No room in the inn for a godly couple with their Child in the bitter cold! No room in the inn for the mother of the Savior! Many ministers of God go on extending or raising up their towering buildings or church buildings and expanding their empires on this earth, when there are thousands of the poor saints in their own nations and in the other nations who are of the Body of Christ that worship God in thatched huts. These godly people have no room to lay their heads because they have no roofs over their heads. Do you, YOU, YOU, care for the poor saints in the under-developed and developing nations who are of the same Body of Christ, of which you proudly claim to belong? Have you denied shelter to the godly people by not sharing your material blessings with the poor widows, the women forsaken and divorced by their husbands, and the needy people in your church or in your town? “Hearken, my beloved brethren, Hath not God chosen the poor of this world rich in faith, and heirs of the kingdom which he hath promised to them that love Him? But ye have despised the poor…” (James 2:5-6). Let us confess before our Lord during this Christmas season that we have despised the poor.

Paul collected funds from the people of God and went to Jerusalem to minister to the poor saints, whereas the present day ministers extract “tithes” from the poor saints in their churches. Paul, while writing to the Corinthian churches, commended the house of Stephanas, the first fruits of Achaia that they had “addicted themselves to the ministry of the saints” (II Cor.16: 15).

Apostle James in his epistle to the “twelve tribes, which are scattered abroad”, (James 1:1) lamented over the “rich men” and asked them to weep and howl for their miseries “that shall come upon” them. Today the Holy Spirit gives the same message to the members of the Body of Christ scattered all over the world. “Your riches are corrupted, and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver is …….Ye have lived in pleasure on the earth, and been wanton...” (James 5:1-5).

In Delhi, I minister to some young people of God who live in the hutments which lack the basic amenities like toilets, bathrooms, kitchens, pipes carrying drinking water, etc. The other day, we were led of the Holy Spirit to visit their hutments. With very great difficulties, we entered the hutments. You cannot reach the same by any vehicle at all. You cannot go there riding on your two-wheeler. There is a dear servant of God, namely, Birender Kumar, who has his wife, three young children and aged father. All of them live in a single-room hut which lacks all the above amenities. During the rainy season, the rainy water enters their living room. During the summer, the fresh air cannot enter their hut because there is no window. However, there is a ceiling fan but it is within the reach of the children because of the low roof. If they have to answer the call of the nature, they have to go to the open space, preferably under the cover of darkness. In this hut, this servant of God lives happily with his big family. He ministers to the people living in his neighborhood. After visiting his house, I have decided not to ask the Lord for adding any more comfort to my life here. Many of you do have a house to live in with the basic amenities like toilets, etc. Do not fall into the snare of the devil who is tempting you to covet the best limousines, the best dresses, the best houses, the best gadgets, etc.! I am proud of having this dear servant of God as my co-worker. I share the burden on my heart with him and seek his prayers of intercession.

In the above picture, you can see Brother Birender preaching in an open air crusade held in Delhi

We celebrate Christmas. If we do not have the vision of the manger of our Savior and of the inn, which denied shelter to His parents, Christmas has no meaning in our lives at all. At times, we abbreviate the word “Christmas” by writing “X Mas”. This means we have a celebration without Christ. We have cut “Christ” the Word with a big ‘X’. In our lives, we do the same thing. Woe unto us if we do not remember the poor saints in our churches, the poor people or the orphans in our town, the poor widows in our town, the homeless in our town and the women divorced and abandoned by their husbands in our midst!

Iif you are not able to minister to the poor saints in your midst, you should be content with what you have in this life. Do not ask the Lord to add comforts to your life. "And having food and raiment let us be, therefore, content" (I Tim.5:8).

Rachel wept for her children!

When we all rejoice over the birth of our Savior during the Christmas season, we see on the other side of the good news the slaughter of the innocent babies by Herod. Herod slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. This was fulfilled in accordance with the word of prophecy spoken by Jeremy the prophet saying, “In Ramah was there a voice heard, lamentation and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not. (Matt.2:16-18).

What a paradox! When the Savior was born for the salvation of the whole world, bringing the people “good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10), there were voices of weeping, lamentation and great mourning. Many women in Israel lost their children and could not be comforted, because they were not.

An angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream and told him to take the young Child and His mother and to flee into Egypt because Herod sought to kill the Child. They came into Egypt and were there until the death of Herod. After the slaughter of the children by Herod, Herod was dead. Then an angel of the Lord asked Joseph to go into the land of Israel. Then the parents along with the Child came into the land of Israel. But when Joseph heard that Archelaus did reign in Judea in place of his father Herod, he “was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee”. Then the parents came and dwelt in Nazareth (Matt:2:13 to 23).

First, all the young children in Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof were murdered by Herod and there was a great mourning in all these places. Then the parents carrying the Baby Jesus on their shoulders were fleeing from one place to another. God first took them to Egypt, then to the land of Israel and finally to Nazareth. God revealed His whole plan to Joseph in a phased manner. The parents of the divine Child were full of anxiety and fear with their young Child in their hands, spending sleepless nights.

Why the children who were born at the time of the birth of Jesus were slaughtered so that there were voices of weeping, lamentation and great mourning in Bethlehem and in all the coasts thereof? There is no other answer to this question except that the word of prophecy spoken by Jeremy was fulfilled. Just for the sake of prophecy, the heads of innocent children rolled! The Baby Jesus was also ultimately killed after completion of His mission of salvation, on the Cross and that too, in accordance with the words of prophecy in the Old Testament books.

Oh, Rachel wept for her children who were not there! The love of a mother towards her child or children is incomparable with any other form of human love. This word of prophecy is still applicable to the present day Christians. Many mothers wept over the loss of their children due to the terrorists' attack in America on Sept. 11th, 2001. Similarly, many Christian mothers continue to weep throughout the ages all over the world when their beloved children are being killed due to terrorism, civil wars, wars with other nations, persecutions etc. Gladys Staines, the wife of the Australian missionary Graham Staines, who was burnt alive along with his two sons Philip and Timothy by the Hindu fanatics in India on 23rd January 1999 wept for her two sons who were not there! Rachel continues to weep today. How apt is the word of prophecy for us today! We cannot ignore the cries of Rachel today when we celebrate Christmas. Christmas without remembering Rachel has no meaning at all.

Dear Christian, do you weep for the children who were slain by the Devil in your nation? The Devil is fast destroying the young people in your nation through drugs and alcohol, music and entertainment, illicit sex etc. Many spiritual children could have been born in your nation if you had wept before God for their salvation. Alas, they were lost in eternity. You should now rise up from your deep slumber and weep for the lost souls in your nation so that these precious souls are restored to God’s Kingdom.

Second, the persecution and afflictions undergone by the parents of the divine Child at every stage of their warning by God are not different from the persecution and afflictions of the Church, the Body of Christ, who are giving birth to the spiritual children in these days. Dearly beloved in Christ, as you celebrate Christmas this year, do you remember that there are many spiritual parents in Communist prisons and in non-Christian nations who undergo horrible persecutions and afflictions in their bodies so that the spiritual children are born in this world?

I exhort you to set apart some money for the persecuted Church, and to send the same to them or their families. You should find out on your own the organization concerned which is involved in helping the persecuted Christians in your nation or other nations. Praising God for His wonderful gift of His Son within the four walls of your church with all comforts and with the religious freedom in your nation, will have no meaning at all if you do not take time, at least during the Christmas season, to think about the Christian brethren and sisters who undergo untold persecutions and afflictions.

-Job Anbalagan