Throughout history, shepherds have been primarily lower class and often poor and uneducated. In a family, shepherding was usually done by the youngest son or hired out by owners that could afford it. Bethlehem was a rural town five miles from Jerusalem with open fields for grazing sheep. Though shepherds graze sheep any time of year, because of winter storms, most would put them in pens near the towns after October. As these were in the open fields at night, Jesus’ birth may have been in the summer or early fall. God’s interaction can come at any time of the year or at any time of our lives! The shepherds were watching over their animals by taking three-hour shifts to protect them. Then, an angel descended and terrified the shepherds with his presence (Gr. megas phobos; ‘feared with massive fear’). Sometimes God uses divine reality to startle us awake from human complacency. The angel told them that in King David’s birthplace, the ultimate King had been born! Unexpectedly, God revealed the greatest news in history to illiterate, lower-class men with no social clout. God delights in using the forgotten and marginalized to witness the unforgettable and central!

Joseph was probably in his late teens to early twenties, living in his father’s house in Nazareth, when he met Mary. For Joseph, becoming a responsible man able to support a wife meant learning a trade or occupation—probably from his father, Jacob. God has tied masculine responsibility to occupational reality. While it isn’t known how well they got along, Joseph may have developed a deep love for his heavenly Father from his love for his earthly father. God often uses earthly examples to teach heavenly principles. Although we don’t know what kind of man Joseph’s father was, we do know it was customary in Jewish culture for the father to find or approve a wife for his son—often a distant relative. While Mary was probably a teenager, Jacob likely saw her devotion to God and approved of their marriage (Luke 1:38, 46-49). Marks of loving God are submission to the authority over you and incorporating godly counsel into decisions (Prov. 12:15; 1 Cor. 15:33; Eph. 6:1-3).

Growing up in a rural area of northern Israel in Nazareth, Mary came from a family with no great social influence. Like most young women of her time, she would have been happy to marry a man she loved, start a family, and please God by being the wife and mother she was called to be. While not special by cultural standards, Mary knew she was special to God. Believers know their value is in God’s evaluation (2 Cor. 5:17; Eph. 2:10)! Mary was probably a teenager when introduced to Joseph, who was likely a distant relative. In Jewish marital customs, after spending time together, Mary would make her feelings about Joseph known to her father and he would present Joseph’s father with the marriage agreement. God often works through cultural norms to do something culturally spectacular. Just as with Joseph, Mary agreed to sexual abstinence and purity as part of the contract. As a young Jewish woman, her desire was to honor God and her husband by preparing herself for marriage. This would involve learning domestic skills and preparing to become a wife and mother. Mary was an ordinary woman in an ordinary town with ordinary looks expecting an ordinary future. Sometimes the mundane sets the stage for the miraculous!

Once Gideon gathered the Israelite army of 32,000, God sent 22,000 scared men home then reduced the 10,000 men that were left to 300 by drinking at a stream (Judg. 7:2-7). Knowing they will get slaughtered by the massive Midianite army, Gideon is apprehensive about his calling from God. Not only are his men overmatched by the size of the army, but he is overwhelmed by the size of his self-doubt. God will often put believers in a situation where there is no doubt about Who accomplished the victory. In the face of overwhelming odds, God doesn’t lessen the risk but increases the trust. Your faith should never be smaller than the size of your God!

Because of disobedience, the nation of Israel had fallen into serving their enemies, the Midianites. When God was ready to rescue, He raised up a rescuer and asked Gideon to start by tearing down the local cultic altars owned by his father (Judg. 6:25). Seeing that God had protected him on a small scale, Gideon then calls Israel to go to war on a large scale. Being clothed (Heb. lâbash, ‘to wrap as with a garment’) by the Spirit of God, he has gone from hiding in a wine press to calling the nation to war! The Spirit of God can empower the willing heart for new faith-filled journeys. There is not a calling without a clothing (Luke 24:49; 1 Cor. 12:4-6)! While God can do all the work Himself, He often raises people up in God’s time to do God’s work, God’s way, in God’s power. If God presents the war, He prepares believers for the war (Eph. 4:11-16; 6:10-12).

Because of disobedience, the Israelites became ruled by their enemies (c. 1150 B.C.). The Angel/messenger of the LORD (possibly pre-incarnate Jesus) sits under a tree owned by Gideon’s father and finds Gideon threshing wheat in a wine press as he feared Midianites would steal his crops. The Angel calls Gideon (Heb. ‘to cut down/destroy’) a ‘mighty man of valor’, though he has never been to battle. God sees more in us than we see in ourselves. Gideon recalls to the Angel his knowledge of God’s promise and his heart’s desire for change. The Angel affirms his desire to serve the true God and assures him He will be with him. God often raises up those who know God’s word and refuse to live in syncretism! 

The city of Sodom, along with the entire region, had fallen under the control of a confederation of four rulers from Babylon. After paying a tribute for 12 years, in the 13th year they refuse, and the four kings marched out to bring them under control. Upon arriving, they defeat the rebels and plunder Sodom and the region. They take all the possessions and people, including Lot and his family. When the godly are under the control of the godless, the godly seek God! The army continues and overtakes or threatens Salem (ancient Jerusalem) where Melchizedek lives. As a king, his city is threatened; but as a priest, he trusts God with his problems until an answer comes in the form of Abraham. Even the godly will see days of difficulty while they wait for God’s answer!

After the ark landed on the mountains of Ararat, Noah and his family, with the animals, step onto dry ground for the first time in over a year. God then commands Noah and his sons to spread out and repopulate the earth (Gen. 9:1). Disruption is designed to help us refocus and realize God’s mercy. As the clan grows larger over hundreds of years, they move east and south from Ararat to the fertile Mesopotamian valley (modern Iraq). These pre-Sumerians decide to stay and build a city and a tower. God, who recently destroyed billions of living things in His judgment against sinful humanity, recognizes people are already rebelling against His word. When humanity discards God’s word, it invites divine disruption.

After rescuing His people from Egypt as slaves, God gave His covenant requirements in the form of the Law (Ex. 19:3-6). God then gave Moses a special declaration of blessing to be proclaimed over the nation by Aaron the high priest. This would often be done after the sacrificial services were performed to forgive the sins of Israel. At the completion of the ceremony the priest would lift his hands and bless the people (Lev. 9:22). Sometimes God disrupts our lives just because He wants to bless us! This blessing contained three sections—the first was of general security, the second of external success and the third of internal serenity. This is God’s ‘love note’ to Israel and the only blessing commanded to be perpetually spoken to the people. While God loves all people, He uses His personal, covenant name (LORD=YHWH; Ex. 3:15) to bless His people specifically. Being in a family has requirements and blessings!

At the beginning of creation, God creates Adam from the dirt and breathes life into him (Gen. 2:7). As God named universal things (day, night, heaven, land, etc.), He allows the man (Heb. adamah, ‘dirt/earth’) to have authority to name animals and birds. As no suitable mate is found, God creates a woman from Adam’s flesh (Heb. ‘ish/ishah’; English ‘man/woman’, ‘male/female’ show the relationship of woman as feminine counterpart of man) and gives him authority to name her ‘Eve’. By God’s design, Adam’s authority is over creation, his home, and the human race. Adam and Eve were created as unblemished, innocent humans living in an ideal setting worshiping and enjoying God together as a married couple. God’s plan was for His creation to have His attention with no disruption!