When Adam and Eve in Eden first heard the promise of the Savior’s coming, they expected it to be fulfilled very soon. They welcomed their firstborn son, hoping he might be the Deliverer. But those who first received the promise died without seeing it fulfilled. The promise was repeated through patriarchs and prophets, keeping alive the hope of His appearing, yet He did not come. The prophecy of Daniel revealed the time of His advent, but not all interpreted the message correctly. Century after century passed. Occupying nations oppressed Israel, and many were ready to exclaim, “The days are prolonged, and every vision fails.” Ezekiel 12:22.3TC 17.2

But like the stars that cross the sky in their appointed path, God’s plans know no haste and no delay. In heaven’s council, the hour for the coming of Christ had been set. When the great clock of time pointed to that hour, Jesus was born in Bethlehem.3TC 18.1

“When the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son.” Galatians 4:4. The world was ripe for the coming of the Deliverer. The nations were united under one government. One language was widely spoken. From all lands the Jews who had been scattered gathered to Jerusalem for the annual feasts. As these returned to their homes in foreign lands, they could spread the news throughout the world about the Messiah’s coming.3TC 18.2

The heathen systems were losing their hold on the people. People longed for a religion that could satisfy the heart. Those looking for light were craving for a knowledge of the living God, for some assurance of life beyond the grave.3TC 18.3

Many Longed for a Deliverer

The Jews’ faith had grown dim, and hope had nearly ceased to brighten the future. To the masses of people, death was a fearful mystery; beyond it was uncertainty and gloom. In “the region and shadow of death,” mourners sat unconsoled. With longing they looked for the coming of the Deliverer, when the mystery of the future would be revealed.3TC 18.4

Outside of the Jewish nation, there were some who were looking for truth, and to them God gave the Spirit of Inspiration. Their words of prophecy had kindled hope in the hearts of thousands in the Gentile world.3TC 18.5

For hundreds of years, the Scriptures had been available in the Greek language, then widely spoken throughout the Roman Empire. The Jews were scattered everywhere, and to some extent, the Gentiles shared their expectation of the Messiah’s coming. Among those whom the Jews called heathen were men who had a better understanding of the Scripture prophecies concerning the Messiah than the teachers in Israel had.3TC 18.6

Some who hoped for His coming as a Deliverer from sin tried to study into the mystery of the Hebrew system. But the Jews were determined to maintain the separation between themselves and other nations, and they were unwilling to share the knowledge they had about the symbolic service. The true Interpreter, the One whom all these symbols represented, must come and explain their significance. God must teach humanity in the language of humanity. Christ must come to speak words they could clearly understand and to separate truth from the chaff that had made it powerless.3TC 19.1

Among the Jews were some firm believers who preserved a knowledge of God. They strengthened their faith by remembering the assurance given through Moses, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.” Acts 3:22. They read how the Lord would anoint One “to preach good tidings to the poor,” “to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives,” and to declare “the acceptable year of the Lord.” Isaiah 61:1, 2. He would establish “justice in the earth,” and the isles would “wait for His law.” Isaiah 42:4. Gentiles would come to His light, and kings to the brightness of His rising. See Isaiah 60:3.3TC 19.2

The dying words of Jacob filled them with hope: “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh comes.” Genesis 49:10. The fading power of Israel testified that the Messiah’s coming was near. Many people expected a mighty prince who would establish his kingdom in Israel and come as a deliverer to the nations.3TC 19.3

How Satan Almost Succeeded

“The fullness of the time” had come. Humanity, degraded through ages of sin, called for the coming of the Redeemer. Satan had been working to make the gulf between earth and heaven deep and impassable. He had made people bold in sin. He intended to wear out the patience of God so that He would abandon the world to Satan’s control.3TC 19.4

Satan’s battle for supremacy seemed almost entirely successful. It is true that in every generation, even among the heathen, there were those through whom Christ was working to uplift the people from sin. But these reformers were hated. Many suffered a violent death. The dark shadow Satan cast over the world grew deeper and deeper.3TC 20.1

Satan’s great triumph was in perverting the faith of Israel. The heathen had lost a knowledge of God and had become more and more corrupt. And so had Israel. The principle that we can save ourselves by our own works lay at the foundation of every heathen religion. It had now become the principle of the Jewish religion.3TC 20.2

The Jews robbed the world by a counterfeit of the gospel. They had refused to surrender themselves to God for the salvation of the world, and they became agents of Satan for its destruction. The people whom God had called to be the pillar and ground of the truth were doing the work Satan wanted them to do, living in a way that misrepresented God’s character and caused the world to look on Him as a tyrant. Priests in the temple lost the meaning of the service they performed. They were like actors in a play. Laws and ceremonies that God Himself had established were made the means of blinding the mind and hardening the heart. God could do no more for humanity through these channels.3TC 20.3

God Pities the Lost World

All the agencies for corrupting human hearts had been put in operation. The Son of God looked on the world with compassion and saw how men and women had become victims of satanic cruelty. Bewildered and deceived, they were moving on in a gloomy march toward death in which there is no hope of life, toward night after which comes no morning.3TC 20.4

The bodies of human beings had become the habitat of demons. Supernatural beings worked people’s senses, nerves, passions, and organs in indulging the most shameful lust. The stamp of demons was imprinted on human faces. What a spectacle for the world’s Redeemer to behold!3TC 21.1

Sin had become a science, and vice a part of religion. Rebellion and hostility were violent against heaven. The unfallen worlds had expected to see God sweep away the inhabitants of earth. And if He had done this, Satan was ready to carry out his plan to gain the allegiance of heavenly beings. He had claimed that the principles of God’s government make forgiveness impossible. If the world had been destroyed, he would have blamed God and spread his rebellion to the worlds above.3TC 21.2

But instead of destroying the world, God sent His Son to save it. He provided a way for its recovery. “When the fullness of the time” had come, God poured on the world a flood of healing grace that would never be obstructed or withdrawn till the plan of salvation would be fulfilled. Jesus came to restore in us the image of our Maker, to expel the demons that had controlled the will, to lift us up from the dust, and to reshape the marred character into the likeness of His divine character.3TC 21.3

The People Who Should Have Welcomed Him

Born in a Stable