If we study world history with spiritual insight, we will see that since the ascension of the Lord Jesus, the entire world history has been completely under the direction of the Lord’s gospel. It is the gospel that directs the world; it is not the world that directs the gospel. By the Lord’s mercy, I have studied this matter a great deal. Actually, even before the birth of the Lord Jesus, the world situation was working in different ways to coordinate with the gospel. On the political side, approximately thirty years prior to the birth of the Lord Jesus the Roman Empire rose up and conquered the regions of North Africa and Egypt, thus unifying the entire region around the Mediterranean Sea, including Canaan, the good land. Therefore, when the Lord Jesus was about to be born, the political situation in that area was stable under the rule of the Roman tetrarchs and governors.
The conception of the Lord Jesus is a mysterious matter. He was conceived of the Holy Spirit in the womb of Mary. At that time Mary was already engaged to Joseph, but the marriage was yet to be consummated. Amazingly, they were both descendants of David. Joseph was a descendant of David’s son Solomon, while Mary was a descendant of Nathan, another son of David. The two lines of David’s descendants brought forth Joseph and Mary and were joined in their marriage. When these two were married, however, both were poor, so they lived in Nazareth, a despised city in Galilee, which was a despised region. For the presenting of the Lord Jesus in accordance to the law of Moses, they could afford to offer only a pair of turtledoves or two young doves, which represent the smallest offering (Luke 2:24; Lev. 12:8). This proves that they were a family in poverty.
According to the prophecy in the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus had to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), but at that time Joseph and Mary were residing in the city of Nazareth. Today we have airplanes, cars, and other modern means of transportation, but two thousand years ago it was not as convenient for people to travel. From Nazareth to Bethlehem was about seventy-five miles, which required a road trip of many days. Considering their financial condition, they would not have traveled this far to Bethlehem only to give birth to the Lord Jesus. If the Lord Jesus were to be born in Nazareth, however, the Old Testament prophecy could not have been fulfilled. Therefore, for the fulfillment of the prophecy, God prepared something for them under His sovereign authority. When Mary was great with child and about to give birth, Caesar Augustus, the emperor of the Roman Empire, sent out a decree for a census to be taken of all the inhabited earth. Therefore, all went to be registered, each to his own city. Joseph and Mary were of the house and family of David and were therefore people belonging to Bethlehem. As such, they had to travel many miles back to Bethlehem. Because many had come back, the town’s inns were all occupied and there was no place for them. It was at such a time that the Lord Jesus was born (Luke 2:1-7).
Mary had been pregnant for nine months and was living in Nazareth with Joseph. Just when it was time for her to give birth, the emperor gave the decree to take a census, paving the way for the Lord Jesus to be born in Bethlehem. This proves that the Roman Empire’s ruling the whole world was for the birth of the Lord Jesus, that He might truly be born in Bethlehem, the hometown of His ancestor David, in order to fulfill the prophecy in Micah chapter five.
When an Israelite slaughtered a lamb for the Passover, the priest would first put two pieces of wood together, one horizontal and the other vertical, to make a cross. Then he would “crucify” the lamb with its front legs fastened to the horizontal piece of wood and its hind legs to the vertical piece. Finally, he would cut the lamb open from the chest to the abdomen. Thus, according to the type in the Old Testament, the Lord Jesus, who died as the Lamb of God for our redemption, also had to be crucified.
Until the time of the Roman Empire, in human history there had not been a people or nation that used the cross as a way to put people to death. Although in the Old Testament the children of Israel might hang an executed criminal on a tree (Deut. 21:22-23), that could not be considered crucifixion. After the unification of the Roman Empire, a law was enacted which imposed a death penalty by crucifixion on anyone convicted of a heinous crime. At the time the Lord Jesus was arrested and convicted by the Jews, according to the law in the Old Testament He could only be stoned to death. However, since the Jews had already lost their nation, they did not have the authority of execution. Instead, they had to turn the authority over to the Roman Empire. It was in this way that the biblical prophecy concerning the crucifixion of the Lord Jesus was fulfilled.
From the birth and death of the Lord Jesus we can clearly see how the Roman Empire was used by God to accomplish what He had spoken in the Old Testament concerning the Lord Jesus. The Lord’s birth was a fulfillment of the prophecy in the Old Testament, and His death was a fulfillment of the type in the Old Testament. However, the circumstances of His birth and His death were arranged by God through the Roman Empire. Afterward, the Lord Jesus resurrected and ascended for the spread of His gospel to propagate Himself. The subject of the book of Acts is that after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus ascended to heaven, was enthroned, poured down Himself as the all-inclusive Spirit, and sent His disciples to preach the gospel everywhere for the producing of the churches and for the spreading and propagating of the kingdom of God.