Tis The Day Before Christmas
Sunday, December 24, 2017 1:44
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News With Views, Dec 24, 2017
Love. Family. Friends. Children. Santa Claus. Giving and Receiving. Food. Lights and other decorations.
To many people, these words define Christmas. They are correct but miss the reason for the season.
To many, Christmas is about an infant born on a cold winter night and placed in a manger. It is about Joseph and Mary and Jesus. It’s about shepherds in a field who are frightened when they are visited by angels. It is about three kings who traveled so far to give gifts to the newborn King (though Jesus was almost two years old when they arrived).
700 years before the birth of Christ, Isaiah (9:6) tells us “For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
As our society has become more secular, it is apparent that Christmas has become more of a people day than a God day. Love, family, friends, children, Santa Claus, giving, food… all of these things should be part of our daily lives as Christians rather than something we celebrate for a day annually. Instead, our government removes Christmas scenes from public property, totally reversing the meaning of our founders who limited government from involving itself in religion rather than governing how it should be celebrated.
Hallmark Christmas movies are a good example of the move towards secularism. First, let me make clear that I love their holiday movies and, time permitting, have been known to watch them. It is so nice to get away from the sex, violence and filthy language so much a part of Millennial entertainment! Hallmark movies, however, portray Christmas as a season of miracles and romance (and it’s true that wherever there is hope, miracles happen) but there is little spiritual inference.
There is no doubt that Christmas is a time of miracles, but the great miracle we celebrate on December 25th has little to do with saving a romance. It has to do with saving people from themselves.
A sermon I listened to yesterday asks a crowd of people a simple question: “Do you believe human beings have dignity?” Everyone raised their hands. A second question followed: “Are people born with dignity?” Half of the hands were raised and the other half were not. The Pastor was pointing out that though people tend to agree with one another on big issues, the devil is truly in the details.
He pointed out that atheists and Darwinists (most people do not realize that Charles Darwin was a Christian at the time of his death) believe they came from a big pool of mud in which a couple of cells got together by chance and over millions of years eventually produced a human being. Atheists, he added, do not believe they are going anywhere after death… so they come from nothing and go nowhere. He is right that there is not much “dignity” in that scenario. So much for the idea of being born with it. It is something we earn as we develop our character.
To put it into language anyone can understand, Christmas is God in a manger.
That massive power that created the world and a universe became a human baby. He loved the human beings He had created in the beginning and saw that they needed help to understand what He expected of them if they were to share eternal life (heaven) with Him.
What is a baby born of a virgin? It is Total Innocence.
Atheists (and often agnostics) point out how totally impossible it is for a virgin to become pregnant… yet have no problem accepting the idea that two cells in a huge puddle of mud once joined together and begin producing life. There have been a lot of big, long-lived mud puddles since the beginning and it hasn’t happened again, but it is impossible to explain how some people think.
It has always puzzled me why people doubt the virgin birth. Many of those people believe in God… believe He created the world and the universe, but think He lacks the ability to impregnate a woman via the Holy Spirit. It strikes me as… almost funny it is so illogical.
So we have innocence and God, the only absolute eternal Truth, in a manger on Christmas Day. That is God’s greatest gift to this world and those who populate it. That is what we celebrate four days after the date of the winter solstice.
Since no one recorded the date of the birth of Jesus Christ, no one really knows the precise day we should celebrate. Does it really matter? What we celebrate is the birth of innocent Truth that will sacrifice His life so we can have eternal life – and that should be celebrated every day of our lives.
Our atheist and agnostic friends scoff at the December 25th date, pointing out to Christians that in the olden days it was the celebration of the winter solstice and they laughingly tell us we are so dumb we don’t know we are celebrating a heathen holiday.
The truth is, we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ on December 25th which happens to occur within less than a week of those who did (and may still) celebrate the winter solstice. Further, Jonathan Cahn, author of the blockbuster book The Harbinger, has put out a video on You Tube that makes an excellent case for the birth date of our Lord and Savior as being April 1st.
If you are a /Christian, it matters not what day you celebrate His birth. If you get a bee in your bonnet and want to celebrate His birthday again in July, go for it!
It all gets back to John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but will have eternal life.” That is what the greatest gift ever given was and it is the reason the celebration of Christ’s birth involves giving. It is the reason it involves love, family and celebration. All are symbolic of God’s greatest gift to His creations: We, the people.
Our Christmas carols would have us believe that the night Jesus was born, life was quiet and peaceful. It was not a “Silent Night” kind of world. Very much like Washington, D.C. today, it was a tremendous time of turbulence in Jerusalem. The Romans were not the kindest of rulers and their political system was corrupt – a bit like America today – and the angel’s message to shepherds in the field, “good will toward men” does not suggest that people should show good will to one another. It tells us that God, through the birth of His Son, is showing good will towards men. It says there will be peace to men of good will. It does not say we should offer good will to those who would destroy us or our Christian way of life or to those who violate our laws.
There is a feeling of love in the air during the Christmas holidays. People appear to forget that they are beings who not only need to be loved, but need to love, as well. We seek love as a means of finding happiness. The spirit of the season gives us hope… and perhaps that is the thing that gets less significance in defining Christmas than it deserves.
Christ signifies hope… for love, for a giving spirit, for kindness and happiness – and, most important, for the possibility of eternal life. Christ is the only vehicle on which humankind can rely for the hope of eternal life. (I realize the Jews will argue with me on this point.) Without hope, it is all but impossible for love to exist, let alone thrive. To receive love, we must also give it.
The same is true of kindness. To even be able to find love, kindness, happiness, et al, you must first have hope of being able to find them and then you must be able to give them. Every worthwhile thing in life is a two-way street. You give and you get. Without both, the result is merely an imitation of the real thing (or a selfish grabbing of these things for yourself without the ability to return them).
And that’s why I believe the key to understanding the meaning of Christmas is to understand hope – which means learning to understand the message of Jesus Christ – and to behave in a way that invites it not only into your life, but into the lives of all the people in your world. With hope, anything is possible. To have it, we must believe in it.
When you walk through the mall to return the necktie you don’t like or the scarf that is the wrong color for you, a worthwhile objective is to make three people – total strangers to you – smile. Smiles and hope go together like white on rice.
It’s a great way, as Scrooge might say, to “keep Christmas in my heart every day of the year.”
God bless and Merry Christmas! (And now please smile so I can meet my objective of three smiles from strangers every day!)
© 2017 Marilyn Barnewall – All Rights Reserved
Ambassador Leo/Lee E. Wanta Revelations
Source: http://marilynwrites.blogspot.com/2017/12/tis-day-before-christmas.html
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Marilyn:
…”but think He lacks the ability to impregnate a woman via the Holy Spirit. It strikes me as… almost funny it is so illogical.”
God did NOT impregnate The Virgin Mary via the Holy Spirit. He impregnated her via the HOLY GHOST.
To claim anything else is blasphemy.
To clarify this, God the Holy GHOST is the 3rd Person of the Most Holy Trinity (God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy GHOST (not holy spirit).
Next. How would you like your birthday celebrated at another time of year? Your birthday is your birthday.
Jesus’ birthday is December 25th as declared by the Catholic Church (the only true Christians….and the devil knows it).
Next. 3 smiles is nice, but you should be telling them to pray. 3 smiles is not getting folks to Heaven.
On Christmas Eve and Christmas day, Thank Jesus for all He has done for you and pray the Holy Rosary for the souls in Purgatory.
Many are released on Christmas Day (Jesus’ BIRTHDAY) IF you pray the rosary for their release. You can make the Rosary your gift to Him, since He’s anxious for their release. JESUS is very generous on HIS BIRTHDAY (DECEMBER 25th). It is a major feast day of the Catholic Church and a major feast day in all of Heaven.
WHAT MAKES CHRISTMAS, CHRISTMAS, IS THAT IT IS THE BIRTHDAY OF THE CHRIST CHILD (our Savior).
CHRIST MAS.
MERRY AND BLESSED CHRISTMAS TO EVERYONE. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESUS (DECEMBER 25th).
Happy holidays to everyone else.
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)
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