<p>1:20 <em>But as he thought on these things, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying: Joseph you son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit</em>- The descriptions of Jesus as a &quot;man&quot;, a human being, have little meaning if in fact He pre-existed as God for millions of years before. The descriptions of Him as &quot;begotten&quot; (passive of&nbsp;<em>gennan</em>&nbsp;in Mt. 1:16,20) make no suggestion of pre-existence at all. And the words of the Lord Jesus and His general behaviour would have to be read as all being purposefully deceptive, if in fact He was really a pre-existent god. There is no hint of any belief in a pre-existent Jesus until the writings of Justin Martyr in the second century- and he only develops the idea in his dialogue with Trypho the Jew. The Biblical accounts of the Lord's conception and birth just flatly contradict the idea of pre-existence.</p>
<p><em>He thought</em>- The Greek&nbsp;<em>en-thumeomai</em>&nbsp;could mean to be angry or indignant, for that is how&nbsp;<em>thumeomai&nbsp;</em>is usually translated in the NT. His anger and frustration would still be possible even if he correctly perceived that the child was from God (see on 1:18).&nbsp;</p>
<p>&quot;Do not be afraid&quot; was a feature of Joseph's life at this time. The three Angelic appearances to him which are recorded show him immediately responding. Such immediacy of response is typical of God&rsquo;s faithful servants; delay in these cases is so often an excuse for inaction and disbelief.&nbsp;The Greek&nbsp;<em>phobeo</em>&nbsp;is also used of reverence and awe before God. Perhaps he understandably thought that he could in no way marry and sleep with a woman who had been the channel of God&rsquo;s Spirit to produce His only begotten son. Those thoughts surely did cross his mind, whatever view we take of&nbsp;<em>phobeo</em>&nbsp;here. We see here the sensitivity of God to human fears and feelings; He knows our thoughts and fears perfectly, and gives the needed assurance. The message that &ldquo;that which is conceived of her&nbsp;<em>is</em>&nbsp;of the Holy Spirit&rdquo; would therefore have had the emphasis upon the word &ldquo;is&rdquo;, confirming Joseph in his perception (see on 1:18- he had perceived [AV &ldquo;found] that the child was of the Holy Spirit).</p>
<p>The implication of &quot;take Mary as your wife&quot; could be that they were about to marry, when it became apparent Mary was pregnant. He immediately married her (:24), seeking to protect her from the shame of the situation, thereby giving the impression that the child was his.</p>