All Went to Be Taxed - Luke 2:3

Luke the physician wrote how, “ there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)”, and in chapter two and verse three of his book Luke shares how,“all went to be taxed” where we read:

And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.

The verse reads, “And all went to be taxed, ...” Luke began with the words, “and all went” or “and each, every, the whole and everyone left and departed” “to be taxed” which means “to be enrolled and entered into a register or record for taxing”. Luke shared how everyone within the “civilized” world went to be “enrolled” in a “register” for taxation.

The verse goes on to say, “... every one into his own city.” Luke continued with the words, “every one” which means “each, the whole and all of the people” “into his own city” or “went to their own dwelling place, habitation, abode or town”. Luke shared how each of the people who were being “taxed” went to their personal originating “dwelling place” for this “census”.

When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we see how each person was to go to their family's “birth” place for this “census”. As we shall see, this served to bring about the birth of Jesus in “Bethlehem” as was prophesied in the scriptures. (See Micah 5:2) God's plan was unfolding for the birth of the Messiah, and though these events appeared to be only among “men”, they were actually being employed and directed by God to implement His purpose and plan. God desires to “save” people from their sins through His Son Jesus, and those who carefully examine all these details for their spiritual significance should understand God's truth and yield their lives to Him as their personal “Savior and Lord”.

Next time Luke shares how, “Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judaea, unto the city of David, which is called Bethlehem”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".