The mystery and the miracle of the birth of Christ was the fulfillment of the promise that God would be with his people.

The very name Emmanuel means God with us, and Jesus Christ is our Emmanuel.

In this study, Scott Pauley reminds us of our ever-present Savior, God with us.

The presence of God is a great comfort to us, but it is especially so in dark and difficult days.

Did you ever notice that throughout the Word of God, whenever this expression is used,

the Lord was with him or the Lord was with them, almost invariably, it is in a season of great trial.

Something challenging is being dealt with. It is as if the Lord says to his people, look, I know what you're up against, but just remember this, I'm with you.

I'm with you in this. You're not alone in this. What a tremendous help to our faith. This principle is God with us. Now, we've learned

already that the Lord, of course, was with Adam and Eve in the garden. That's where it all started.

Sin separated that. Aren't you glad for the mercy of God that the Lord would still pursue us?

We run from God, but he chases after us. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me

all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever. This is God's desire

to be with his people and for us to be with him. We've learned in our study that God was with Abraham,

with Isaac, with Jacob, with Jacob, with Joseph's children.

And so generation to generation, God continues to work and manifest his presence.

And then we spent some time in the book of Joshua because it was very important to understand

that when Moses passed off the scene, the Lord was with Joshua in the very same way

he was with Moses.

He's the same great God.

Now we turn our attention to the book of Judges,

and if ever there was a stark contrast,

it is the contrast between Joshua and Judges.

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