[QUOTE=FreelancePoliceman;1370504]It should be noted that Quirinius was instated by Rome after Herod Archelaus (the son of Herod the Great, who was long dead at this point) was deposed from his rule, so it's impossible for both stories to be true.
Luke doesn't say Jesus was born when Quirinius was governor; it says that's when the census took place. Traveling to Bethlehem would have been in preparation for the census.
I would say no such thing.
It wasn't expected by Rome; it was expected by Israel. Because people's identities were so closely tied to the land: the promised land, the land portioned out to their ancestors at the time of Joshua. They were heavily invested in genealogies, and that involved the place of their ancestry. Whenever a census was taken in the Old Testament, it was according to the tribes, so when Rome ordered a census, Israel would again have tried to do it according to tribes.
That'll be at the second coming.
You have exactly the same mindset of the Jews at Jesus's time: expecting the messiah to be as one of the judges of old who rose up to save them from a political enemy. But as Jesus explained to Pilate, "My kingdom is not of this world." (John 18:36-37; cf. Ephesians 6:12)
Yes, my pastor mentioned that the word means "young woman" and the passage quoted about the child in his sermon Sunday, as well as the fact that Jesus's name was Joshua not Immanuel and the reasoning for that.
https://www.lakemeadbaptist.org/uplo...n_12.22.19.mp3
It's clear that it's all addressed to the children of Israel. Except for chapter 45, which is addressed to a gentile ruler, and chapter 47, which is addressed to Gentiles though clearly with the intent of being overheard by the Jews. It's not all about them as a people. For example, chapter 49 speaks of the "Redeemer of Israel" who will "raise up the tribes of Jacob." This evidently isn't about the nation as a whole, and from the last verse it is shown that this Redeemer is God Himself...who is also His Servant.
But things can refer to both the Christ and to the nation. In the seed of Abraham the nations of the world would be blessed. This is both in the seed as in descendants and in the Seed singular (Galatians 3:16-17). Israel was meant to be a light to the gentiles, but they failed in that calling. Yet One came from Israel who is a light to the Gentiles, and in that it is fulfilled that they have been.
Can you explain how chapter 53 could be about the nation of Israel as a whole?
I'll try to get back to this later (perhaps tomorrow). I need to close up and commute.