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Is “christmas” Christian? – UPDATED – (VIDEO)

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Your CREATOR says: Do not imitate the ways of the pagans . . .

They cut down a tree and decorate it with silver and gold.

(Jeremiah 10:2-4)

Thinking of “christmas” brings a lot of memories of eating, drinking, and material reward, yet to be quite honest, none of these remembrances of bliss and debauchery has to do with the birth of the Savior of the World.  The reason is simple.  “christmas” is not about Christ, and never has been.  It is a menagerie of ancient pagan customs that have been forcibly labeled as such, like the hammering of a square heathen peg into the round opening of a righteous church door.

If I put a swastika on a cross while I praise the Messiah,

does that make the swastika symbol Christian?

 “Come out from the unbelievers and be separate,

Says THE ETERNAL,

And do not touch pagan things . . .

Then I will receive you.”

(2nd Corinthians 6:17)

The Truth is in the Word.

Look at the word itself . . . “christmass“.  “Mass” means funeral or death, not birth.  Right from the start there is a lie.  Who is the Father of lies? . . . Satan.  The day is a celebration of Christ’s death not birth.  Who would be reveling in Christ’s death on the cross? . . . Satan and his followers . . . even though, unbeknownst to them at the time, Christ’s death was to be their later eternal undoing.  What people are unwittingly saying in the greeting “merry christmas” is “Happy Creator’s Death!

“If I bear witness of myself, my witness is not true.

Yet, there is another who bears witness of me.”

(Two Witnesses, Father and Son, Together in One)

(John 5:31-32)

The above quote from the Messiah was in debate whether or not His testimony alone was worthy of acceptance as Truth, as the Divine Law states, “two or more witnesses” is required.  (Deuteronomy 17:6)

“Those on earth rejoicing at the Two Witnesses death,

making merry, and sending gifts to one another.”

(Revelation 11:10)

Many devout theologians of the book of Revelation agree that the “Two Witnesses” spoken of here (while they may also be proven later to be literal in the last days) are preeminently figurative, that of the Creator and the Son, or the Old and New Testament.  If the latter, and Christ is The Word (both old and new testament), then the “Two Witnesses” is also therefore a reference to Christ Himself.  Can you think of any other day of celebration best known universally for gift giving . . . and that because of a death (mass) of a righteous prophet other than “Christ-Mass” ?

If “christmas” were really about the Messiah, malls would have an actor dressed like Christ in the middle of them instead of “Santa Clause”.  There would be sheep instead of elves.  Children would sit on the Messiah’s lap and tell Christ what they wanted.  The beloved Savior would be at the end of the “Thanksgiving Day” parade, walking with a staff and lambs (representing the Word and the children of the Creator), instead of “Santa Clause” riding in a sleigh with presents (representing the competing allure of material self-gratification).  Who is “Santa Clause” anyway?  You guessed it.  The Savior’s competition and nemesis.  Who else?  Satan himself.

Santa” riding a sleigh in the sky originated from the pagan god “Saturn” (the Death Angel; the Devil), celebrated for thousands of years as “Saturnalia“, a gift giving holiday at the end of December, which the Church of Rome “christianized” as “christ-mass“.  The pagan death-god Saturn also rode a chariot in the sky, had a long white beard, and was often depicted with a child on his lap . . . to eat them for dinner!  Scandinavians later adapted Saturn into “Odin” (Lucifer), the bearded god of war, death, intoxication, and seduction.  The Europeans adapted “Odin” into “Robin the Hobgoblin” (or Satan), who announced his dreaded arrival with the warning laugh of “Ho! Ho! Ho!”

(Old bearded Saturn-Satan-Santa Eating a baby)

Incredible isn’t it!  We willingly put (sacrifice) our children on the lap of Satan, bring pagan idols (trees), decorated with silver and gold, into our homes and church altars, where they become the center of attention and festivities . . . just like the pagans did 4000 years ago . . . and on the very same day . . . all the while we have the audacity to call it “christian!

When the Eternal your Creator drives out from before you the pagan nations which you go to possess, and you replace them and live in their land, beware that you do not follow or imitate their pagan customs or ways of worship, inquiring ‘How did they worship their false gods?  We will worship the true Creator likewise.’  You shall not worship the Eternal your Creator the same way the pagans worship their false deities.

 (Deuteronomy 12:29-31)

If I asked my spouse if it would be okay with them to celebrate our anniversary on the same calendar day as my previous spouses’ anniversary, because I was accustomed to celebrating it on that day, what do you think their reaction would beDo we not realize that the same jealous feelings are felt by our heavenly Father and His Son?

You have let go of the commands of The Creator . . .

So that you may take hold of your (pagan) traditions.

(Mark 7:8)

To those who see the Truth in theses words of the Messiah to the degree to which they keep the Seventh Day Sabbath instead of the one instituted nearly four hundred years later by the Church of Rome, repeatedly saying from the altar of the Highest in a Sabbath keeping church during the last month of the year, “We know that Christ was not born in December, yet we are going to act like it anyway“, is no different than saying, “We know that the Sabbath is Saturday, yet we are going to worship on Sunday anyway.

If we claim we are compromising with the world’s pagan customs in order to win people over to Christ, we will simply win over compromising people, and such will fill the church.  On the other hand, if we take an unpopular stand against the world’s pagan customs to righteously honor the Son with all possible purity, then will we likewise win over uncompromising people who are willing to take an unpopular stand against the world for the integrity of the Son, and this kind of believer will fill the Creator’s church.  Which of the two types of people would the Son prefer in His Church?

“Do not love the world or the things in the world.

If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him.”

(1st John 2:15)

The world’s revelrous, debaucherous, materialistic, and pagan “christmas” directly competes for focus with the Messiah, it does not enhance it.  As such, “christmas” brings a big smile to Satan’s face, and a sorrowful tear to the crucified Savior’s eye.  The Savior of the world was not born to instigate a commercial enterprise, nor to promote additional worldly debauchery, materialism, drunkenness, and competitive violence.

(“Black Friday”, the beginning of the “christmas” season

I was in Wal-mart last spring at “easter-time”.  I noticed symbols (idols) of rabbits and eggs everywhere, yet I did not see a single representation of the Messiah.  “Easter”, I discovered, was originally “Ishtar”, the pagan celebration of springtime sex, hence rabbits and eggs.  Get it?  What amazed me is that this tradition is more than 4000 years old (traced specifically to the fallen Nimrod, great-grandson of Noah; the conduit through which nearly all worldwide pagan “holiday” rituals began), and here we are doing the exact same thing, with bunnies and eggs, on the exact same day, 4000 years later!  Wow!  Nothing has changed in 4000 years!  The exact same pagan tradition has been passed on from parent to child all this time, only now we try to claim the exact same pagan rituals as “christian”.

Nimrod, after he died, was immediately deified by the pagans and worshiped as “Baal” (the “sun-god”), the number one direct competitor in the Old Testament for the affection and worship of the true Creator.  Nimrod’s wife Semiramis (also known as “Ashtoreth“), was the number two Old Testament competitor for the Father’s true worshipers.  After she died, she too was  deified, allegedly reborn at sunrise on the spring solstice out of a red egg laid by a menstruating rabbit .  Her reborn name was “Ishtar” (Easter).  To commemorate this, the pagans held a sunrise worship service at the beginning of spring (birth) and painted eggs red, from the blood they attained from the babies they had just sacrificed in their pagan ritual.  When we tell our children to paint their “easter” eggs, this IS where the “tradition” (pagan ritual) comes from.

Cupid” was the nickname of Nimrod’s son Tammuz, who had sex with his mother Semiramis in another pagan ritual.  When you celebrate “St. Valentines Day” of alleged “romance”, it is that of incest between a mother and a son.  When Tammuz (Cupid) died prematurely, in the prime of life, this was commemorated for thousands of years on December 25th as a funeral mass (messiahmass), at the beginning of winter (or death), by cutting down a tree, in its prime of life, making it an idol, and then decorating it with silver, gold, and lit candles, created from the fat of children sacrificed on their pagan alter.  This “holiday” later turned into “Saturnalia” which turned into “christmas“.

Your CREATOR says: Do not imitate the ways of the pagans . . .

They cut down a tree and decorate it with silver and gold.

(Jeremiah 10:2-4)

The children of Israel did evil in the sight of  THE CREATOR . . .

They forsook the Father . . .

who had saved them from the pagans and their ways . . .

From BAAL and ASHTORETH.

(Judges 2:11-13)

December 25th is really the “Tammuz-mass” for the death of the son of Baal (the notorious, blood thirsty pagan god), not for the birth of the Divine Creator’s Son, the Messiah from Nazareth, whom all scholars agree was born in the fall, not the winter, during the Feast of Tabernacles.  Toward the end of the third century, when the Church of Rome wished to increase their attendance rolls (and thereby collections), they simply claimed to convert millions of pagans by sprinkling them in crowds of tens of thousands with “holy water”, never teaching them individually the Father’s true commandments, nor genuinely converting them by their proven repentance and baptism, all of which the new testament scriptures repeatedly insist upon for true conversion.

To graft these millions of pagans into the now fallen church, which quickly became a global financial and political enterprise, the corrupt church leaders adapted nearly all of their newly unconverted parishioner’s pagan rituals into the church as new “holidays” to compromisingly pacify them with pagan familiarity.  To claim that December 25this what was spoken of in scripture as “Today in the town a David a Savior is born” (Luke 2:11) is comically blasphemous . . . if there is such a thing.

Christmas”, “Easter”, “St. Valentine’s Day”, “St. Patrick’s Day”, “Halloween” . . . all came about after the Church of Rome became paganized in the third century.  None of these “holidays” were ever celebrated by the apostles, or the Savior, or any of their followers for the first three hundred years of the Savior’s church.  Why?  Because they knew better.  They knew they were 100% pagan rituals.  Do we now know better than the apostles did who personally walked with Christ?

Christmas”, in fact, was outlawed numerous times in the past by Creator-fearing devout Christian governments, leaders like Oliver Cromwell, and the earliest Christian reformers, specifically because of its pagan origins and debaucherous customs of which we now study.  Not only was “christmas” outlawed by the Christian reformers in Europe, it was adamantly outlawed by the first Christian immigrant reformers in America as well, due to its lascivious revelry and rampant violence, just as there is today.  What a victory for Satan that we have since forgotten to shun this pagan enterprise as unholy!

Charles Spurgen, one of the most highly acclaimed pastors of all time by all denominations, said on December 24, 1871:

We do not believe in ‘christmas’, rather we abhor it!

It is unscriptural and superstitious.

It’s authority is undivine.

My wife is from a devout Christian “sister” church of the same denomination as the church we attend here in America, yet from one on an island nation that refuses to bring these ancient pagan idols into the Holy Sanctuary for these very reasons. Her congregation, being on a small isolated island, has had little outside influence to hinder the purity of the initial church planting more than a hundred years ago.  Here in America, because we all grew up in the middle of a most compromising nation, compromise became commonplace in the church.  So subtly and gradually have we become accustomed to compromise, that we don’t even perceive it anymore.  Here pagan “christmas trees” have appeared on the very sanctuary stage (altar) itself. Why, if they are undeniably, originally idols of Tammuz, son of Baal?

Even if a church were to not bring in pagan trees and wreaths, yet still falsely focused December’s attention on the birth of the Messiah as the rest of the lost world does, all the while knowing that the Savior was born in the fall during the Feast of Tabernacles and that the December dates are of pagan origin, they are still giving in to the ways of the pagan world, trying to make something unholy, holy, trying to please men rather than the Creator of men who said, “Do not worship Me as the pagans do.”

If I were a goat farmer who wore a shirt with a goat head in the middle of a pentagram, innocently thinking I was promoting my industry, and then someone pointed out to me that the very same symbol was used for devil worship, should I continue to wear it once I knew better saying, “Well . . . It doesn’t mean that to me” ?  The question should be, “What does it mean to The Creator?” Remember, the Eternal Father was there, and He does remember, even if we don’t.  He personally looked down upon the Baal child sacrifices.  He saw firsthand the child blood painted “Ishtar/easter”eggs.  He witnessed Himself the incestuous Tammuz-tree tradition, the very day it started.  We may not see the pagan connections in these things, nor care even if we do, yet I assure you He does!  Do we not think the Creator finds it odd to bring in these very same pagan rituals or symbols (idols) into His church . . . into His sanctuary . . . on the very same pagan calendar days . . . all the while calling it the worship of Him?

Are we more interested in pleasing traditions of people . . .

Or maintaining the purity One who Created us?

The Creator forgave past sins of ignorance . . .

Yet now, in better knowledge, He commands us to repent.

(Acts 17:30)

As you will see from the references at the end of this article, “Santa Clause”, the “christmas tree”, wreaths, holly, poinsettias, and many other “christmas” symbols (idols) come directly from pagan fertility rituals for the worship of false gods, which directly compete fornot compliment, our Creator’s and Savior’s attention, servitude, and affection, just as they do today.  It might be a different matter if the symbols were simply secular historically (non-religious) in their origin (like a turkey at “Thanksgiving”), yet because they are direct representations of identical ancient forms of pagan religious worship rituals of false gods, I think it is a much more serious matter than we may first believe, especially as we are doing the exact same rituals on the exact same days in a religious endeavor.

If we claim “christianity” as our title, then no doubt we see the world as a “fallen” place.  What makes it fallen?  The breaking of the Creator’s laws.  What are the most fundamental of the Creator’s laws?  The Ten Commandments.  What are the most fundamental of these commandments?  #1Have no other gods before me.”  #2Do not use idols.” . . . Hummm? . . . All the other commandments are being broken in the world today, so why not these? . . . Or have we perhaps forgotten the first two, mistakenly thinking they are somehow antiquated, not realizing that we are still breaking them today?

You shall DESTROY what is pagan . . .

For I am JEALOUS for my creation’s affections.

(Exodus 34:13-14)

If my spouse is jealous because I spend a lot of time talking to an attractive co-worker and I think they are overreacting, should I continue my behavior anyway, or rather care about what my beloved thinks and alter my actions accordingly?

Would I want at my wedding party even one old lover as a guest (or a picture/idol thereof), there to be seen by my new devout spouse?

There is a bar in my hometown that is well known for every form of sexual immorality, and they have the best “christmas” decorations in town!  This should tell us something about whether or not the holiday is really about the Righteous Creator or not.

In Exodus 32:1-8, when Moses left Aaron in charge of the Israeli community, which had just left Egypt, he fashioned a calf out of gold (the religious tradition of the Egyptians) and then said that the Hebrews were to worship the True Creator in this same pagan way.  He was obviously proven wrong.  When Moses returned, he said that the pagans among them had caused them to pervert the Holy Way in which they used to worship the Creator, rebuking them to never, ever again worship the Eternal Father with pagan customs.

If your brother is grieved because of your food . . .

(or pagan holidays)

You are no longer being loving . . .

It is good to abstain from meat or wine . . .

(or pagan holidays)

Or ANYTHING . . .

If they cause your brother to be grieved.

(Romans 14: 15 & 21)

We are commanded not to offend our Christian brother, even if we are not offended by the matter itself.  A wine drinker (hopefully) can go one meal without drinking wine to suit a recovering alcoholic at the table.  A meat eater should be able to eat vegetables for one meal to please a vegetarian host.  A true Christian should be able to live through the month of December without bringing “christmas” decorations into the church which offends those who realize that they are of pagan idol origin.  After all, the Church of Rome has “christmas” trees and decorations throughout their churches, as do abominable sexually deviant nightclubs.  Do we really want to follow their example?

I can not think of one person who would not attend my church in December if the pagan symbols and seasonal rituals were not brought in, yet I can think of several people who are now not attending because the pagan symbols and rituals are inside of the church.

Seeing how “christmas” is supposed to honor the Father and the Son, yet instead has been taken over by the specific symbols (idols) and customs (rituals) of ancient paganism, the exact same ones which were used to worship false gods on the very same day, shouldn’t I avoid them and the “holidays” associated with them to worship the Creator in purity?

You shall not worship the Eternal your Creator

the same way the pagans worship their false deities.

 (Deuteronomy 12:31)

The Father is holy.  What is “holiness”?  Purity.  Would I want to drink a glass of orange juice with only one percent gasoline?  If not, then why would I want to bring in even one percent paganism into The Creator’s Holy Church?  In His book, any impurity, even one percent, makes something holy, unholy.  Do I love and protect myself more than the Creator’s Church?

The paganism in “christmas” today, with its pre-Christ silver and gold decorated tree idols, celebrated gleefully and universally by unrepentant, violent, rebellious, and lascivious openly non-christian revelers, should be enough proof that “christmas” is not Divine.  Saturn, Tammuz, and Baal, and their abominable self-indulgent way of life, are still being honored, in the very same way and on the very same calendar day!

.

Do you want to be an accomplice to that?

.

Brother Bart-

Donate

.

 References

“christmas” Origin – Short Film

“christmas tree” Origin – Article

“christmas” Origin – Article

“black friday” – Article


The post Is “christmas” Christian? – UPDATED – (VIDEO) appeared first on The Sleuth Journal.


Source: http://www.thesleuthjournal.com/is-christmas-christian/


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    • Alan Schuetz

      Only Mithra(s) is in Christmas…
      =======
      Christ’s Birth on the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) in 6 CE

      False church traditions (unsubstantiated embellishments), the precepts of men (manufactured theology), and doctrines of demons (assimilated paganism) cloud the truth regarding Christ’s conception and birth. For starters, one needs to review the program entitled “Christmas Unwrapped: The History of Christmas” from when The History Channel actually presented history: https://youtu.be/XSQYX-OB1Rs.

      According to this program, Mithraism and Saturnalia were assimilated from pagan Rome; that’s where December 25th falsely originated; see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mithraism, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Invictus, and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia.

      Arguably, the most important quote of “Christmas Unwrapped” occurs at the 7:31 mark: “So if you’re gonna sort through the runes of the Scriptures, Jesus was probably born in the Spring. If the shepherds were out in the fields watching their flocks by night, we’re probably not talking about one of the cold spells at the heart of winter.” — Forrest Church, Minister, All Souls Church

      Note: I have no affiliation with this minister or church.

      Many “Biblical scholars” discounted the Lucan account because of the mention of Lysanias, the tetrarch of Abilene, in Luke 3:1. They assumed it was this figure from circa 40-36 BCE; see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysanias. That was before the discovery of the Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum (CIG) 4521; see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysanias#Archaeological_Lysanias. Again, the Word of God was vindicated as it repeatedly is via archaeology.

      Furthermore, when the Book of Luke is placed within the context of the calendar from the Dead Sea Scrolls, not only can one know with GREAT CERTAINTY the month, day, day of the week, and year when Joshua* (Heb. Yehoshu’a/Aram. Yeshua/Gr. ‘Iesous) was born incarnate but when John (Yochanan) and He were conceived.

      *Note: “Jesus” incorrectly originates from the transliteration of the Latin; it is NOT the translation. See the second footnote from Matthew 1:1 in Aramaic (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+1%3A1&version=NASB). According to the famous Hebrew lexicographer Reuben Alcalay, Yehoshu’a is closely associated with “Let there be…”

      Returning to Christ’s conception and birth… the FACTS unfold as follows, and NO CHURCH currently teaches the truth:

      Fact #1: Elisheba (Elizabeth) was six months pregnant in the sixth month; concentrate on vv26 and 36. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A26-38&version=NASB

      Fact #2: Tsekharya (Zecharias) was a Levite of the order/division of Abijah; concentrate on v5. https://www.biblegateway.com/quicksearch/?quicksearch=Luke+1%3A5-7&qs_version=NASB

      Fact #3: The mute and shaken Tsekharya returned home immediately after his weekly course was completed, and Elisheba conceived a son. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A8-25&version=NASB

      Fact #4: This is the calendar documented in the Dead Sea Scrolls; see http://www.haderech.info/DSS/Calendar/QumranCalendar.pdf.

      Fact #5: For Elisheba to be six months pregnant in the sixth month, Tsekharya (of the course of Abijah) had to have served in the 12th month. The only time this occurs is from the 14th-20th; see Cycle of Priestly Divisions… > Division Year 3 of 6 in the Qumran calendar above.

      Fact #6: As Tsekharya (and Elisheba) were righteous and walked in ALL requirements and commandments of the Lord (Luke 1:6), he could not have traveled more than a Sabbath day’s journey (2,000 cubits) on the 21st of the 12th month, which was a weekly Sabbath. http://biblehub.com/topical/s/sabbath_day's_journey.htm

      Fact #7: The first day that Tsekharya could have returned home (likely Kiriath Arba — aka Hebron — in the hill country of Judah) was the 22nd of the 12th month on the first day of the week. This was the day that Yochanan (John) was conceived.

      Fact #8: After Miryam’s (Mary’s) visitation from the archangel Gavri’el (Gabriel) in the sixth month (Luke 1:26), she left IN A HURRY to visit Elisheba. At the moment of arrival, Elisheba was overcome by the Holy Spirit and knew that Miryam had conceived a child. https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A39-55&version=NASB

      Fact #9: Exactly six months after Yochanan was conceived, Yehoshu’a was conceived. According to the Qumran calendar, that would have occurred on the 22nd of the sixth month on the first day of the week, which is the Feast of New Oil!

      Sidebar: The Feast of New Oil was also the fourth of four agricultural feasts each occurring 49 days apart, exclusive (i.e., barley, wheat, grapes/wine, and olive oil). Olive oil was a component of anointing oil; see https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Exodus+30%3A22-33&version=NASB. Also, the root of “Christos” (http://biblehub.com/greek/5547.htm) is “chrió” meaning “to anoint with olive oil” (http://biblehub.com/greek/5548.htm).

      Fact #10: The gestation period for women is 38 weeks from CONCEPTION (not to be confused with last menstrual period or LMP) to birth; see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pregnancy. EXACTLY 38 weeks after Miryam conceived, Yeshoshu’a was born on the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) on the 15th day of the third month on the first day of the week.

      So, now we know the month, day, and day of the week of John’s conception and Christ’s conception and birth. Now, for the years.

      Fact #11: Yehoshu’a was born in 6 CE during the census of Quirinius; see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Census_of_Quirinius. For the Scriptural reference, concentrate on v2; see https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A1-20&version=NASB.

      Sidebar: “Herod” was a dynastic title like Caesar and Pharaoh. The “Herod” at the time of Christ’s birth was Herod Archelaus; he was deposed that same year (after the “slaughter of the innocents” in Bet Lechem) and died in exile in 18 CE; see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_Archelaus. When did the “holy family” return from Egypt after Herod [Archelaus] died? When Yehoshu’a was 12 years old (18 CE – 6 CE = 12 years).

      Sidebar: The only verse in the Gospels that contradicts this account is Matthew 2:22. The earliest extant manuscript containing that verse was from Papyrus 70 from the late third century CE (which is “a fairly reliable text, though it was carelessly written”); see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Papyrus_70. The “early church fathers” were already at work destroying the truth!

      This was what the “wise men of the east” of Jerusalem (Yerushalyim) — 15 miles as the crow flies — in the desert wilderness of Qumran saw on the Feast of Weeks in 6 CE; see http://tinyurl.com/mhbba3l. This was confirmed with our local planetarium in Baton Rouge. The “wandering stars” of Jupiter (representative of the Most High/Father) and Venus (representative of the virgin mother) as well as the conjunction with occultation of Uranus (representative of the Holy Spirit) and Mars (representative of the redemptive Suffering Servant of Isaiah 53) rose in the east in the constellation Pisces (representative of Israel). This “star” sign naturally moved from east to south towards Bethlehem (Bet Lechem) as the evening progressed — just as the Scriptures state.

      On the eighth day after His birth (23rd of the third month), Joshua was circumcised per Torah (=instruction/Law; five Books of Moses). After 40 days (7+33 days) from His birth (25th of the fourth month), the appropriate sacrifices were made for a firstborn son; see https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A21-24&version=NASB and https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Leviticus+12&version=NASB. As they were poor and could not afford a lamb, they offered either a pair of turtledoves or two young pigeons per Leviticus 12:8 and documented in Luke 2:24. They were poor because the wise men had not visited yet! It was on this day, the 25th of the fourth month when Joshua was presented at the Temple, that the following occurred with Simeon (Shimon) and Anna (Hannah); see https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A25-37&version=NASB, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simeon_(Gospel_of_Luke), and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anna_the_Prophetess.

      Sidebar: The “consolation of Israel” in Luke 2:25 is a reference to Isaiah 40; see https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+40&version=NASB. Note also the key phrase of Isaiah 40:3: “A voice is calling, ‘Clear the way for the Lord in the wilderness…’” This is in reference to Yochanan’s instructing the “sect” called The Way in the desert wilderness of Qumran how to recognize their Messiah from the TaNaKh (OT). Not only was this exact phraseology employed in a handful of the Dead Sea Scrolls, it is also documented in ALL the synoptic Gospels concentrating on Matthew 3:3, Mark 1:3, Luke 3:4, and John 1:23: https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+3%3A1-12%3B+Mark+1%3A1-8%3B+Luke+3%3A1-17%3B+John+1%3A6-28&version=NASB.

      Sidebar: Likewise, the “redemption of Jerusalem” in Luke 2:38 is a reference to Isaiah 52 concentrating on verses 3 and 9; see https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah+52&version=NASB. Verse 6 is regarding the true pronunciation of the Tetragrammaton; see https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tetragrammaton. Currently, rabbinic Jews recite “Adonai” for the Tetragrammaton invoking the Greek Adonis and Babylonian Tammuz. Christians typically say Jehovah or Yahweh, but the “vav” in yod-he-vav-he is also pronounced like the “o” in Torah, menorah, Eloah (singular form of Elohim), and Yehoshu’a (=Joshua, Christ’s REAL name) to name a few. A DSS fragment has it spelled ‘Iaw in Greek (iota-alpha-omega), which is consistent with Yahoah; see http://ccat.sas.upenn.edu/rs/rak/lxxjewpap/4QLevB.jpg. How much more meaning does that give Revelation 1:8, 21:6, and 22:13? See https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Revelation+1%3A8%2C+21%3A6%2C+22%3A13&version=NASB. “NT-only churches” miss the subtleties of those Hebraic key words and phrases referencing OT passages.

      Picking up on the 26th of the fourth month (the day after Joshua was presented at the Temple), the wise men of the “sect” called The Way (Heb. HaDerech) in Acts and the Dead Sea Scrolls met with Herod Archelaus then visited the family in Bethlehem; see https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+2%3A1-12&version=NASB. After Joseph’s (Yosef’s) vision on the evening of the 27th, the family departed for Egypt that same night; see https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+2%3A13-14&version=NASB.

      Sidebar: Note that there was a 12 year gap between Luke 2 verses 38 and 39 when the family was in Egypt (confirmed in v42); see https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+2%3A38-44&version=NASB. They returned to Nazareth from Egypt after Herod Archelaus died in 18 CE (confirmed in Matthew 2:15); see https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Matthew+2%3A15&version=NASB. Why was the flight to Egypt not covered in the Lucan account? Because his was based on EYEWITNESS accounts (Luke 1:2), and the family departed under cover of darkness (Matthew 2:14); that is, there were NO WITNESSES! Apparently, Luke did not travel to Egypt to obtain evidence of the family’s residing there; therefore, it was excluded from his account.

      False traditions such as Herod the Great being part of this narrative when he died in 4 BCE and the precepts of men creating the fanciful machinations of the three kings of Melchior, Caspar, and Balthazar HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO SCRIPTURAL BASIS! Who doesn’t think that the wise men of The Way in Qumran didn’t have the means to gift Joshua the Messiah (Yehoshu’a HaMashiach) with gold, frankincense, and myrrh after the discovery of the Copper Scroll? See https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_Scroll.

      In summation:

      * Yochanan was conceived on the 22nd day of the twelfth month on the first day of the week in 4 CE.

      * Yehoshu’a was conceived on the 22nd day of the sixth month on the first day of the week on the Feast of New Oil in 5 CE — exactly six months from Yochanan’s conception.

      * Yehoshu’a was born during the census of Quirinius on the 15th day of the third month on the first day of the week on the Feast of Weeks (Shavuot) in 6 CE — exactly 38 weeks from His conception.

      Sidebar: This is when the “sect” called The Way (HaDerech) in Acts and the DSS made new covenants. Christ’s birth ushered in the ultimate New Covenant! Josephus, a self-described Pharisee (and we know what Christ thought of them in the Eight Woes of Matthew 23) coined the derogatory term “Essenes” (=pious ones).

      Fact #12: This historical record — corroborated from eyewitness accounts in chronological order (https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Luke+1%3A1-4&version=NASB) — was written to Mattathias ben Theophilus** (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mattathias_ben_Theophilus), who served as the kohen gadol (=chief priest) in Jerusalem from 65-66 CE… just before the outbreak of the First Jewish-Roman War in 66 CE (https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Jewish–Roman_War).

      **Note: He was referenced as Theophilus in Luke 1:3 and Acts 1:1 just as Yosef ben Caiaphas was referenced as Caiaphas.

      The truth is out there if one seeks it. Shema Yisrael!

      2 Timothy 2:15 Be diligent to present yourself approved to God as a workman who does not need to be ashamed, accurately handling the word of truth. (NASB)

      Copyright (C) 1995-2017, L. Alan Schuetz

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