In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth and made human beings in His own image. God placed both man and woman in the Garden of Eden to tend the land. There, they lived a blessed and fulfilling life according to God’s standards. God would walk in the garden in the cool of the day, and they lived peacefully in His presence.
Then one day, tempted by the serpent, they ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, which God had forbidden. This was humanity’s first sin. This sin created a divide between God and humanity, and sinful people could no longer live face to face with God, the source of life. Life after being expelled from the Garden of Eden was a series of difficult days, but they endured the hardships by looking to the children they bore after leaving the garden. Their two sons became seeds of hope for Adam and Eve’s future, proof that life could go on even after leaving God’s presence.
However, when their firstborn son, Cain, killed his younger brother Abel, the hope they had believed in and relied upon vanished, and in their despair, they clung to God once more. God gave them a third son, Seth—a sign that true hope for humanity lies in walking with God. When Seth grew up and had a son, people began to call on the name of the Lord and worship Him.
As the world became populated, people began to judge by their own standards rather than God’s, corrupting the world with evil. God patiently endured as the world became corrupt and lawless, but people’s sins continued to grow. Eventually, God had no choice but to judge the world with a flood and start anew through the righteous Noah.
However, subsequent generations repeated the same evil deeds as those before the flood. To lead humanity towards salvation rather than judgement, God chose a single family—Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Over time, this family chosen by God grew into a nation called Israel, or the Hebrews. After suffering as slaves in Egypt, they were led out by the prophet Moses and settled in Canaan, the promised land flowing with milk and honey.
Later, the Israelites gained renown through King David, who loved God deeply. God revealed His love for humanity to the whole world by promising David that an eternal saviour—the Messiah—would be born from his lineage.
Despite this, people still failed to understand God’s heart and continued to commit numerous sins based on their own judgement. Solomon, David’s son, was a great king who built the temple in Jerusalem and ushered in Israel’s golden age. However, he sinned by marrying foreign women for political stability. The idols these foreign women brought became the catalyst for turning the hearts of Israel—the chosen nation for the Messiah’s arrival—away from God.
After Solomon, his son Rehoboam became king. Under his reign, the Israelites were divided into the southern kingdom of Judah and the northern kingdom of Israel, but they did not return to faith in God. God sent numerous prophets to turn their hearts back to Him, but the two kingdoms could not break free from idolatry. Eventually, the northern kingdom fell to Assyria, and the southern kingdom to the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Though both kingdoms fell, just as a stump remains when a tree is cut down, a remnant—a holy seed that remembered God’s promise—remained in this devastated land.
The Samaritans, descendants of the northern kingdom, displayed a dual nature by believing in God while also worshipping idols due to intermarriage with other relocated peoples. This led to the Samaritans being severely rejected by the Jews, descendants of the southern kingdom. Nevertheless, the Samaritans did not completely abandon God and awaited a saviour who would restore them, guided by the Pentateuch and their own Samaritan Pentateuch.
Many Jews from the southern kingdom were taken as captives to the Neo-Babylonian Empire after their fall. However, when the seventy years prophesied by Jeremiah ended, they began returning from captivity under the decree of Cyrus II of Persia. The Jews who returned in three waves rebuilt Jerusalem’s fallen walls and, under Governor Zerubbabel, reconstructed the temple to restore the practice of offering sacrifices to God.
Thus, the people of the covenant continued their lives wherever they were, awaiting the promised Messiah until the appointed time.
Whilst the Israelites were seeking God, the world around them was rapidly changing. The powerful Persian Empire fell to Alexander the Great of Macedonia, and after his death, Alexander’s vast empire split into several kingdoms due to internal conflicts. The Canaan region, including Jerusalem and Samaria, frequently changed rulers. When the Seleucid dynasty took control, a major crisis befell the Jews.
Antiochus IV of the Seleucids—who claimed to be the manifestation of god—Epiphanes—erected a statue of Zeus in the Jerusalem Temple, burnt the books of the law, and plundered the temple’s vessels. His radical Hellenisation policy stripped religious freedom, provoking the Jews to initiate the Maccabean Revolt.
After twenty-five years of struggle, in 142 BC, the Jews established the Hasmonean dynasty and gained independence. This occurred six centuries after the northern kingdom of Israel fell and four centuries after the southern kingdom of Judah’s demise. However, this joy of independence did not last long, and seventy-nine years after the establishment of the dynasty, it was again destroyed by Pompey of Rome, whom the brothers had drawn into their struggle for the throne.
At this time, Antipater, scion of a family of Idumaean governors under the Hasmonean dynasty, became administrator of Judaea, and his second son Herod emerged on the historical stage as governor of Galilee.
Herod faced a major crisis when his father was poisoned and his brother, the administrator of Judaea, was killed in a rebellion led by Antigonus—a prince of the former dynasty—supported by the Parthians. After escaping Jerusalem at night, Herod contemplated suicide, but with Roman military support, the backing of Galilean forces, and the support of many Jews, he managed to turn the tide. He suppressed the rebellion and became a client king of the province.
Herod, being of Idumaean—Edomite—descent and a convert to Judaism, was not considered a true Jew and therefore lacked many traditional qualifications to be king. However, he secured legitimacy by marrying a Hasmonean princess and overcame numerous crises through his exceptional political and military skills. He also earned the trust of Roman leaders, from Antony to Octavian, and was eventually appointed as the official King of Judaea, not merely a client king.
Subsequently, Herod’s kingdom expanded to rival Solomon’s era in territory, enjoying political and economic stability. However, beneath this glorious exterior, signs of severe internal division were emerging.
The kingdom was divided among numerous groups: the worldly Sadducees—priests and nobles; the strict Pharisees, who adhered to the law and elders’ traditions; the ascetic Essenes, who sought pious lives in the wilderness; radical elements who would later become the Zealots and opposed foreign intervention; the Herodians, who supported Herod and Roman law; and Hellenised Jews. As Herod aged and became increasingly paranoid, killing family members and those close to him, Jewish society descended into chaos.
In these troubled times, people inevitably longed for the Messiah whom God had promised. For most, this meant longing for a kingly Messiah who would deliver the Jews from foreign rule. Whenever news spread of such a person appearing, crowds would flock to see him. Yet those who were hailed as the Messiah soon vanished, leaving not even their names behind, proving they were not the true Messiah. The deaths of these false Messiahs showed that human desires might differ from God’s will, though people had yet to realise this.
At this time, there was a small mountain village that should have been at the centre of attention, but was forgotten as people searched for their hoped-for Messiah or were worn down by harsh realities. This place was Bethlehem, located in the Judaean hills, a little south of Jerusalem.
Long ago, God had promised through the prophet Micah, “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, being small among the clans of Judah, out of you one will come out to me who is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings out are from of old, from ancient times.” This was the village promised as the birthplace of the Messiah.
On the mountain path leading to this promised place, a couple appeared. A young man carefully scanned the darkening surroundings as he slowly led a donkey, while a woman sat on the donkey, her hands protectively cradling her visibly swollen belly.
The cool evening wind blowing from the mountaintop down into the valley made them huddle even closer together. The couple tried to wrap their travel-worn clothes more tightly around themselves, but couldn’t keep out the cold air seeping through the holes and tears.
The man looked unkempt from the long journey, but his determined eyes, shining through his dust-covered face, revealed a firm resolve to protect his wife from any danger. The woman’s face was hidden by a headscarf, but her delicate hands and wrists, gently cradling her full-term belly, hinted at her youth.
The man placed his scarred hand over the woman’s delicate one and held it gently.
“Are you not tired? Should we rest a bit?”
“I’m fine. Don’t worry.”
“Then I’ll try to go as quickly as possible, so please endure just a little longer.”
The woman smiled as she looked at the man.
The man’s name was Joseph. Having left his hometown to live in Galilee during troubled times, he was now travelling to Bethlehem—the town of his ancestor David—with his heavily pregnant wife, to register for the census ordered by the Roman Emperor.
His wife’s exhausted appearance worried him, but he also had faith that God, who had guided them thus far, would continue to watch over them. After all they had been through in the past year, what was left to fear?
* * *
Joseph had first met his wife, Mary, at dusk—just as it was now.
Before King Herod fell into paranoia and repeatedly purged his family and those around him, numerous construction projects were underway throughout the kingdom. Large cities like Caesarea—a port city on the Mediterranean coast built in honour of the Roman Emperor—and Sebaste, constructed on the ruins of ancient Samaria, as well as strong fortresses like Herodium and various other structures, were built. Among these, the most significant to the Jews was the reconstruction of Zerubbabel’s Temple.
After the First Temple—Solomon’s Temple—was destroyed by the Neo-Babylonian army, the Second Temple, known as Zerubbabel’s Temple, was built following the return from exile. King Herod began a massive expansion of this temple, even persuading Jews who opposed the reconstruction. While the main facilities, such as the altar, were completed in about a year and a half, Herod’s ambition to create the most splendid temple in the world meant that construction had continued for over fifteen years, with no end in sight.
In such circumstances, it was only natural for a poor man like Joseph to work as a carpenter.
Joseph worked in the Galilee region, but with the economy not as good as before, he often travelled to various cities in search of work. Finding it difficult to afford the high cost of living and to adjust to the foreign cultures in the cities, Joseph would often stay in small villages nearby. This time, he was staying in Nazareth, a village located near Sepphoris—the capital of Galilee—and not far from the town of Cana.
Nazareth was a small village in a high basin surrounded by mountains on all sides. With its mild climate and abundant rainfall, not only grains like wheat and barley but also various plants such as olive trees, cedars, fig trees, pomegranate trees, and grapevines grew abundantly around the village. Although the village population was not large, unlike the Hellenised cities, Jewish culture was still well-preserved here. This made it a comfortable place for someone like Joseph, who strove to live a pure life.
The farmers in Galilee were living difficult lives due to various taxes paid to both Rome and King Herod, often mortgaging their land and becoming tenant farmers. However, even in these circumstances, the people of Nazareth still maintained their smiles and served as strong pillars of support for each other. This touched Joseph’s heart deeply, and before he knew it, he was becoming captivated by the village of Nazareth. While part of him grew increasingly fond of the idea of living in this village, he knew from experience that a poor carpenter had few options unless there was steady work in the surrounding cities.
The verses from Micah 5:2 cited in this narrative are taken directly from the World English Bible (WEBBE) translation.
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