Soon after this the decree of Augustus, the Roman emperor, that all the world should be taxed, was promulgated, and Joseph and Mary traveled to Bethlehem to have their names enrolled in the registers of their tribe. It would seem that the Israelites still clung to their genealogies and tribal relations, and, though the undertaking was a severe strain upon Mary, and notwithstanding, according to the Roman custom, her name could have been enrolled without her personal presence, this woman, who was to be the most blessed of women, greatly preferred to accompany her husband on this journey of over seventy miles, much of the way up and down steep, rocky hills. Traveling in the East, under its most favorable conditions, is a slow, tiresome affair, especially for women. But Mary drudged along the mountain path, in company with her husband, all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem. Her love for the city of David seems to have overcome all difficulties. Possibly a contemplative mind like hers may have perceived that this decree of Cæsar Augustus was but an instrument, in the hand of Providence, to fulfill ancient prophecy with respect to the birthplace of the Messiah, for Micah had declared that out of Bethlehem Ephratah, though little among the thousands of Judah, “yet out of thee shall He come forth unto Me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” So, while it would seem that an arbitrary decree decided where Christ is to be born, God had manifested His wisdom in the choice of the time, place and circumstances, and was faithful in the fulfillment of the word of prophecy, ever carrying out His plans through the free acts of men. In this instance the great Roman Cæsar, even without his knowledge, became an official agent in the kingdom of God. So it came to pass, in the fullness of time, and in the beloved city of David, Bethlehem Ephratah, Mary brought forth the Saviour of the world, and humbly laid Him in a manger. Here, amid these humble surroundings, in the stall of an inn, among the beasts, was the advent of the Son of God, the Saviour of the world. And, behold, the Life which was to lift “empires off their hinges” and turn the “stream of centuries out of its course”--a life which was to revolutionize the world and transform humanity--had begun.