n of Galilee; but, as they were "of the house
and lineage of David," they were obliged to repair to Bethlehem, a
village about six miles south of Jerusalem, to be entered in their
proper place in the imperial registry. "And so it was, that, while they
were there, the days were accomplished that Mary should be delivered,
and she 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." [14:2]

This child of poverty and of a despised race, born in the stable of the
lodging-house of an insignificant town belonging to a conquered
province, did not enter upon life surrounded by associations which
betokened a career of earthly prosperity. But intimations were not
wanting that the Son of Mary was regarded with the deepest interest by
the inhabitants of heaven. An angel had appeared to announce the
conception of the individual who was to be the herald of his ministry;
[15:1] and another angel had been sent to give notice of the incarnation
of this Great Deliverer. [15:2] When He was born, the angel of the Lord
communicated the tidings to shepherds in the plains of Bethlehem; "and
suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host
praising God and saying--Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace, good will toward men." [15:3] Inanimate nature called attention
to the advent of the illustrious babe, for a wonderful star made known
to wise men from the east the incarnation of the King of Israel; and
when they came to Jerusalem "the star, which they saw in the east, went
before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was."
[15:4] The history of these eastern sages cannot now be explored, and we
know not on what grounds they regarded the star as the sign of the
Messiah; but they rightly interpreted the appearance, and the narrative
warrants us to infer that they acted under the guidance of divine
illumination. As they were "warned of God in a dream" [15:5] to return
to their own country another way, we may presume that they were
originally directed by some similar communication to undertake the
journey. It is probable that they did not belong to the stock of
Abraham; and if so, their visit to the babe at Bethlehem may be
recognised as the harbinger of the union of Jews and Gentiles under the
new economy. The presence of these Orientals in Jerusalem attracted the
notice of the watchful and jealous tyrant who t