The First Born Son

"22 And when the time came for their purification according to the Law of Moses, they brought him (Jesus) up to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every male who first opens the womb shall be called holy to the Lord”)" - Luke 2:22-23

Our grandson is visiting my wife and I. He's still sleeping in the other room after a fun-filled night spent wearing his grandparents out. My wife and I loved every minute of it. At one point in the evening I was watching over him as he played in the bath tub. He and I had a few moments alone so I chose to pray over him as he played. This is the second time I have done this, prayed with my grandson. There is a reason I am doing this.

You see, something strange is happening in my family. It's kind of rare actually, at least I think it is. What significance it has I do not know but for four generations in my family, each head of their household has fathered a son - a first-born son.

My father, who died last year, was a first-born son to HIS father. I too was a first-born son to my dad. So was my son, first-born to me and my wife, and his son after him. Four generations of first-born sons.

My mother is a genealogist. Her hobby is tracing our family tree back in time. She has made some pretty interesting discoveries but the most important, at least in my mind, is that our family line extends back to Charlemagne and beyond. Charlemagne is my grand father . . . with quite a few "greats" attached!

Charlemagne began what became known as the Holy Roman Empire - a uniting of church and state. People who are much smarter than I have said this Holy Roman Empire is in prophesy. The Book of Daniel . . .

"39 Another kingdom inferior to you shall arise after you, and yet a third kingdom of bronze, which shall rule over all the earth. 40 And there shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron, because iron breaks to pieces and shatters all things. And like iron that crushes, it shall break and crush all these. 41 And as you saw the feet and toes, partly of potter's clay and partly of iron, it shall be a divided kingdom, but some of the firmness of iron shall be in it, just as you saw iron mixed with the soft clay. 42 And as the toes of the feet were partly iron and partly clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly brittle. 43 As you saw the iron mixed with soft clay, so they will mix with one another in marriage, but they will not hold together, just as iron does not mix with clay. 44 And in the days of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed, nor shall the kingdom be left to another people. It shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and bring them to an end, and it shall stand forever, 45 just as you saw that a stone was cut from a mountain by no human hand, and that it broke in pieces the iron, the bronze, the clay, the silver, and the gold. A great God has made known to the king what shall be after this. The dream is certain, and its interpretation sure.” - Daniel 2:39-45

That Empire, started LONG ago is still in existence today. Today it goes by a different name - The European Union. The symbol of the European Union is a woman riding a beast. Seems weird yet here it is.

It remains just "weird" until one reads the Book of Revelation.

"Then one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls came and said to me, “Come, I will show you the judgment of the great prostitute who is seated on many waters, 2 with whom the kings of the earth have committed sexual immorality, and with the wine of whose sexual immorality the dwellers on earth have become drunk.” 3 And he carried me away in the Spirit into a wilderness, and I saw a woman sitting on a scarlet beast that was full of blasphemous names, and it had seven heads and ten horns. 4 The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and jewels and pearls, holding in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the impurities of her sexual immorality. 5 And on her forehead was written a name of mystery: “Babylon the great, mother of prostitutes and of earth's abominations.” 6 And I saw the woman, drunk with the blood of the saints, the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." - Revelation 17:1-6

And so it is that I stare at my grandson and wonder, "What will be the things he sees in the future? Will prophesy be fulfilled in his lifetime? I'm not bragging that this grandson is a descendant of the one who began this "beast" - the Holy Roman Empire. But I AM saying study your biblical prophesy. There is a great story in the Bible of the return of Jesus and prophesies are being fulfilled in our lifetimes. The real question is not "When will Jesus return?" The real question is, "Are you ready?"

Four generations of first-born sons

 This guys theology is a little different than mine but he does do a good job of talking about the Holy Roman Empire. :)

Holy Roman Empire Reborn - Irvin Baxter