All the World Should be Taxed - Luke 2:1

Luke the physician wrote how Zacharias and Elisabeth's, “child grew, and waxed strong in spirit, and was in the deserts till the day of his showing unto Israel”, and in chapter two and verse one of his book Luke shared how, “all the world should be taxed” where we read:

And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus,

that all the world should be taxed.

The verse reads, “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, ...” Luke began with the words, “and it came to pass” or “and it happened and came into being” “in those days” which means “within that time period”, “that there went out a decree” or “there came forth, spread, proclaimed, declared and was made known an ordinance, rule or law” “from Caesar” which means “by Caesar which refers to the surname of Julius Caesar, which was adopted by Octavius Augustus and his successors which afterwards became a title, and was appropriated by the Roman emperors as part of their title” “Augustus” which means “venerable” and was “the first Roman emperor and became the title of the Roman emperor”. Luke shared how a “mandated law” went forth from the Roman emperor “Caesar Augustus”.

The verse continues, “... that all the world should be taxed.” Luke added the words, “that all the world” which means “that each, every, the whole and everyone of the people within the inhabited earth” “should be taxed” or “were to be enrolled or entered into a register or records”. Luke shared how every person in the world was to be “enrolled” in the Roman register like a census.

When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we see a transition from the birth of “John”, who was the “fore-runner” of Jesus, to a time when a “mandate” went forth to all the world for every person to be “registered” with the government of Rome. Rome was the ruling empire, and they were the fourth monarchy to rule according to Daniel's prophesy. (See Daniel 2). “Caesar Augustus” was the “emperor” at this time, and because all the “civilized” world was to be “censored” and “taxed”, Rome demonstrated their rule over all nations. Because God loves people, He sent forth His Son Jesus during this perfect time in history. Jesus was to be the “Savior and Lord” of all who believe and trust in Him, and those who are wise will carefully look into the details of His birth and yield their lives to Him.

Next time Luke shares how, “this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria”, 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".