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NASB | Matthew 1:19 And Joseph her husband, being a righteous man and not wanting to disgrace her, planned to send her away secretly. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Matthew 1:19 And Joseph her [promised] husband, being a just and righteous man and not wanting to expose her publicly to shame, planned to send her away and divorce her quietly. |
Subject: Why did Joesph wait to divorce Mary? |
Bible Note: Searcher, I quote you: "It was an option he (Joseph) had by the Law" (to divorce Mary). Under ordinary circumstances what you say is true, and I would agree with you. But Joseph found himself in a supremely extraordinary circumstance and God intervened. Look at what Matthew says in 1:19,20: "...an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, 'Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit.'"........ This closed the door forever on any viable options that Joseph may otherwise have had, for now he could not put Mary away without breaking a command of the angel of the Lord (v. 24). No angel from heaven had ever spoken words like this before to a human being. It was clearly a unique event in which Joseph found himself involved. Further evidence that God intended for all these events to unfold according to His predestined plan is given in v. 22: "So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet...." --Hank |