The Greatest Gift of Christmas in ASLSample

God Save Christmas

But God warned the wise men in a dream not to go back to Herod. So they went home to their own country a different way. After the wise men left, an angel from the Lord came to Joseph in a dream. The angel said, “Get up! Take the child with his mother and escape to Egypt. Herod wants to kill the child and will soon start looking for him. Stay in Egypt until I tell you to come back.” So Joseph got ready and left for Egypt with the child and the mother. They left during the night. 

Joseph stayed in Egypt until Herod died. This gave the full meaning to what the Lord said through the prophet: “ I called my son to come out of Egypt.” Herod saw that the wise men had fooled him, and he was very angry. So he gave an order to kill all the young boys in Bethlehem and the whole area around Bethlehem. Herod had learned from the wise men the time the baby was born. It was now two years from that time. So he said to kill all the boys who were two years old and younger. 

This gave the full meaning to what God said through the prophet Jeremiah:

A sound was heard in Ramah-

Bitter crying and great sadness.

Rachel cries for her children,

And she cannot be comforted,

Because her children are gone.” Jeremiah 31:15

While Joseph was in Egypt, Herod died. An angel from the Lord came to Joseph in a dream and said, “Get up! Take the child with his mother and go to Israel. Those who were trying to kill the child are now dead.” So Joseph took the child and the mother and went to Israel. But he heard that Archelaus was now King in Judea. Archelaus became king when his father, Herod, had died. So Joseph was afraid to go there. Then, after being warned in a dream, he went away to the area of Galilee. He went to a town called Nazareth and lived there. This gave full meaning to what God said through the prophets. God said the Messiah would be called a Nazarene.

How did God save the greatest gift of Christmas? First, He started by telling the wise men in the dream to not go back to Herod  because the Lord knew what Herod was planning to do. Second, He told Joseph in a dream to leave Egypt because Herod was planning to kill Jesus. Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt and stayed there until it was safe for them to come out. Herod may have killed many two year olds and young boys but that didn’t stop God's plan for all of us, because God knows how much His greatest Gift meant to us.

Questions to think about:

1. What did God warn the wise men not to do? Why?
2. Why did the angel of the Lord tell Joseph in a dream to take Mary and Jesus to Egypt?
3. When King Herod found out that the wise men had fooled him, what order did he give?