Prince Charming vs. Prince Christian Part 2

The next man out of the Bible that I want to discuss in the next part of Prince Charming vs. Prince Christian is that of Joseph (Jesus’ earthly Father). As we were reading about the birth of Jesus in my Bible Study class, and just looking more intensely at the role of Joseph gave me ” a whole nother” outlook of him. Let’s take a look at a few verses. Again it’s great when we are dating someone who will go to the ends of the Earth for us, but it’s even greater when he has gone to God for us.

Matthew 1:18-24 (NLT)
18 This is how Jesus the Messiah was born. His mother, Mary, was engaged to be married to Joseph. But before the marriage took place, while she was still a virgin, she became pregnant through the power of the Holy Spirit. 19 Joseph, her fiancé, was a good man and did not want to disgrace her publicly, so he decided to break the engagement quietly. 20 As he considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream. “Joseph, son of David,” the angel said, “do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife. For the child within her was conceived by the Holy Spirit. 21 And she will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.”22 All of this occurred to fulfill the Lord’s message through his prophet:23 “Look! The virgin will conceive a child! She will give birth to a son,and they will call him Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us.’”24 When Joseph woke up, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded and took Mary as his wife. 25 But he did not have sexual relations with her until her son was born. And Joseph named him Jesus.

There are a few things that I want to look at starting at verse 19.
1) It stated that Joseph was a good man (some versions say that he followed the law) and did not want to publicly disgrace her so he broke up with her privately….Due to the fact that during their engagement period she had become pregnant and the baby was not his, he had the option of having her stoned, that’s what publicly disgrace her meant, but he chose not to go that route. A man of maturity should never want to disgrace you/put you on blast whether you are at fault or not, but is quick to defend you regardless.

2) Joseph knew the word. The angel spoke to Joseph in verses 20-21, but in my opinion, one of the reasons why it made it so easy for Joseph to follow the instructions of the angels is because what the angels were speaking in verses 22-23 was mentioned in the book of Isaiah (Isaiah 7:14). So what the angel clicked on the inside of him! It’s important that when we are dating that the one that we are with knows the Word and has an active relationship with God where He’s hearing from God, so that when God is speaking He will know. Side note: Also in later scriptures we see how Joseph to Jesus to be circumcised, dedicated, and how the family made their yearly trips to Jerusalem to celebrate Passover and other festivals. So Joseph helped to raise up his family in a Godly household.

3) Verse 25 stated that even after Joseph and Mary was married they did not have intercourse until after Jesus was born, which confirmed the scripture in another aspect of Jesus being born to a virgin. This means that Joseph did not have intercourse with her even during their courting/dating/engagement period. A man should respect your body, and not try to get you in bed. Not only should he respect your body, but also how he views the bodies of other women.

Characteristics of Joseph: Defender, studier and doer of the Word of God, led the family into worship, and believed in “No Wed, No Bed”

I pray that we all will wait for the one that God has for us. Ask God to give you discernment to see who is actually a sheep, and a wolf in sheep’s clothing. No the man of God won’t be perfect, but don’t settle. We must allow God to make a man out of him, before we make him a husband. We are in this together. Let me know if you want a Part 3, and if so what you would like to see in Part 3.