Shepherds experience the angels' message...
Illustration
Object:
Shepherds experience the angels' message at night. Our modern world doesn't experience "night" the way the ancient world did. At night we look outside our dwellings and with so much artificial light we can't see stars even when the sky is clear.
The way to experience night is in a Third World country (and when you go, take a flashlight) where people don't even keep a fire burning long into the night because fuel is precious. On a moonless night, or with an overcast sky, being outside is like being in a cave.
Starting in the book of Genesis, "day" begins for Hebrews when the sun goes down. So, a "day" starts first with a "night," seen clearly in: "There was evening and there was morning, the first day."
Outside Bethlehem God starts another creation, the first day beginning at night. When else do people most need "the light of the world"?
The way to experience night is in a Third World country (and when you go, take a flashlight) where people don't even keep a fire burning long into the night because fuel is precious. On a moonless night, or with an overcast sky, being outside is like being in a cave.
Starting in the book of Genesis, "day" begins for Hebrews when the sun goes down. So, a "day" starts first with a "night," seen clearly in: "There was evening and there was morning, the first day."
Outside Bethlehem God starts another creation, the first day beginning at night. When else do people most need "the light of the world"?
