Many good questions
@Ziggy, have a look at this
Luke 1:28 KJV
So, I see this "outside the box" so bare with me.
This angel, is a messenger. This messenger is a son of God. Not "the" son of God, but one of many messengers, like a prophet or perhaps a priest, that has come to Mary to give her the good news.
Jesus says in heaven there is neither male nor female. This means to me, that when interpreting the bible the same rules apply to either gender.
Instead of reading the nexr few versus seeing men, try seeing women instead:
Dan 1:3 And the king spake unto Ashpenaz the master of his eunuchs, that he should bring
certain of the children of Israel, and of the king's seed, and of the princes;
Dan 1:4 Children in whom was no blemish, but well favoured, and skilful in all wisdom, and cunning in knowledge, and understanding science,
and such as had ability in them to stand in the king's palace, and whom they might teach the learning and the tongue of the Chaldeans.
Dan 1:5 And the king appointed them a daily provision of the king's meat, and of the wine which he drank:
so nourishing them three years, that at the end thereof they might stand before the king.
I believe the history of Mary is that her parents gave her over to the syngogue for the service of the church.
So Mary spent some time of her youth growing up among the priesthood.
When she began to become of age a husband was found for her, Joseph.
They were engaged to be married but not yet wed.
During these years Mary would have been taught in the ways of the priesthood. She would have had access to the Torah and the scriptures.
She would be unblemished, well favoured, skilful in wisdom and in knowledge, she would also be privy to science (yesterdays science, perhaps astrology, how to read the signs of the times and such) .
And yet not fully learned because she didn't understand what the message being sent meant.
Kind of like Saul/Paul.
The Bible interprets what a son of God is:
Rom 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
Gabriel is an intriguing character. The Bible calls him an angel and a man.
Dan 9:20 And whiles I
was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God;
Dan 9:21 Yea, whiles I
was speaking in prayer,
even the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening oblation.
Dan 9:22 And he informed me, and talked with me, and said, O Daniel,
I am now come forth to give thee skill and understanding.
Dan 9:23 At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth, and
I am come to shew thee; for thou art greatly beloved: therefore understand the matter, and consider the vision.
Luk 1:26 And in the sixth month
the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
Luk 1:27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name
was Mary.
Luk 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail,
thou that art highly favoured, the Lord
is with thee: blessed
art thou among women.
Luk 1:29 And when she saw
him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.
Luk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luk 1:34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her,
The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.
and herein lies the question:
Genesis 6:4 KJV
[4] There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown.
I have a really hard time wrapping my head around a virgin birth. A literal birth.
Gabriel came to tell Mary she was going to get pregnant and it wasn't going to be Joseph.
And although this goes against all fundamental christian theology and beliefs, I believe Mary was impregnated by
Caiaphas.
Mat 26:3 Then assembled together the chief priests, and the scribes, and the elders of the people, unto the palace of the high priest, who was called Caiaphas,
Man is a fascinating creature. A little power goes to their head when their "integrity" and "righteousness" is challenged.
Mar 14:60 And the high priest stood up in the midst, and asked Jesus, saying, Answerest thou nothing? what
is it which these witness against thee?
Mar 14:61 But he held his peace, and answered nothing. Again the high priest asked him, and said unto him,
Art thou the Christ, the Son of the Blessed?
Mar 14:62 And Jesus said,
I am: and ye shall see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.
Mar 14:63 Then the high priest rent his clothes, and saith, What need we any further witnesses?
Mar 14:64 Ye have heard the blasphemy: what think ye? And they all condemned him to be guilty of death.
It was Caiaphas who came up with the idea that it would be Jesus who would be sacrificed for the nation.
Jhn 18:14 Now Caiaphas was he, which gave counsel to the Jews, that
it was expedient that one man should die for the people.
Show me in the OT where God requires human sacrifice for his people.
I believe Caiaphas the High Priest got Mary pregnant. But the spirit within Jesus came from God.
Caiaphas sitting on the "throne" in no way could be found out to be the father. Thinking David and Bathsheba here.
So he decided to hide his own sin, he would have Jesus killed to save his own arse.
When Jesus was asked if he was the Son of the Blessed, he didn't lie, because Caiaphas considered himself as High Priest the Blessed one.
Caiaphas would not be unthroned by an illigetimate son.
But we know that what man devises for evil, God turns into a blessing:
Gen 50:20 But as for you, ye thought evil against me;
but God meant it unto good, to bring to pass, as
it is this day, to save much people alive.
cont: