Good points, FredSFredS wrote: ↑24 Jan 2023, 12:20 But really . . .
What was His purpose for delivering the Christ to a poor, displaced, family? The One that all history has looked to - both before and after that birth in a barn. Why do it in that exact fashion? If it's simply because it was foretold, then why was it foretold?
Why is it assumed that Joseph's little family was deep in poverty?
Joseph probably wasn't wealthy, but he could afford to take care of his family after tithing, he could afford his carpenter's tools, he could afford journeys to Jerusalem and he could afford a donkey to travel to Bethlehem to pay his taxes.
He could also have afforded a room at the Inn, but the Inn didn't have a room to rent.
Jesus wasn't born in a stable because Joseph didn't have the dough for a room (get it? Bethlehem---dough? )
Joseph was a carpenter---a very valuable trade at the time, and Mary's family was well connected through her Cousin Martha who was married to a rabbi who took turns being responsible for the Temple.
That's not the same as being a pin setter at a bowling alley. Not even close.
The Holy Family was displaced because the government was murdering the children in the province.
They weren't looking for a free $600/night midtown Manhattan hotel room and a cell phone.
Did they assume the Egyptian culture while in Egypt?
I don't know---those commercials certainly don't tell us.
We're only getting a part of the elephant, the part that supports a particular narrative.
The only migrations the Bible which God appears to support (and I'm not a Bible scholar) are the migrations of Jews. OTOH, those that threaten to invade Israel are dealt with impunity unless it is otherwise willed by God.
And even then it's temporary.