Birth of Our Lord
This is a touchy subject for a lot of Christians out there who have been led to believe through out their lives that Dec. 25th is the birth of Christ. Just today I read an article that suggested “a winter birth is likely”. Of course said article didn’t say as to why it was likely or give any firm proof as to his reasoning.
This is one of the first things that I researched when I began the journey to my faith. I have to wonder if people really read their Bibles and understand what they are reading, or just conform to what they are taught by their ministers and preachers. I for one didn’t understand because quite simply some things just didn’t fit the way I have been taught for so many years.
Christ was not and could not have been born on Dec 25th. How do I know this? Well, I have to say I had to do a lot of research, a lot of re reading the bible, and a lot of thinking as to why it was even an issue with me.
In order to remotely understand the workings of figuring out the birth of Christ you have to know a little about the Jewish religion. The Jewish calendar for one, as well as Jewish holidays and priestly duties. These are things that most of us Christians don’t even care to read about because I guess we feel that we don’t hold the same values as the Jewish faith. The fact remains that much of the Bible is written in the Jewish perspective, about Jewish laws and festivals, and therefore, in my opinion every Christian should be aware of said things.
That being said, for a good source on the Jewish calendar, you can go to one of these sites: Judaism 101 or Hebcal.com.
In figuring out when Christ was born, we look to Luke. From reading the first few chapters of Luke we find that John was six months older than Jesus. This is our starting point.
Luke 1:5-25 is the record of the angel’s announcement to Zecharias that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a son, whom they were to call John. Verse 5 contains a little phrase that is one important key to determining that Jesus was not born on December 25th. It says that Zechariah “belonged to the priestly division [KJV: “course”] of Abijah.” A study will show that from the time of David, Jewish priests were organized into 24 “courses,” named after the heads of the priestly families. These courses of service in the Temple started on Nisan 1 (which corresponds to March or April on our calendar) and spanned the calendar year. Because the Hebrews used a lunar calendar and we use a solar calendar, Nisan 1 changes on our calendar each year. The course of Abijah was the eighth course, and, like each course, occurred twice during the year. In 4 B.C., the year prior to Christ’s birth, the first of those two courses took place during the last week of our month of May. Zechariah and Elizabeth were quite elderly, and had no children, and the angel gave them the wonderful news that they would have a son, to be named John. Verses 23 and 24 tell us that when Zechariah finished his service in the Temple, he returned home (which would have been in early June). Upon his return, Elizabeth became pregnant.
Given what I have already explained, you can determine that John therefore would have been born in March. John was six months older than Jesus, witch would place Jesus’ birth to be sometime in September.
How else do we know that Jesus was not born in the winter? Luke 2:8 speaks about the shepherds near Bethlehem who were in the fields, watching their flocks at night. It’s not very likely that the shepherds would be out even in early winter tending to their flocks because it was cold and snowy.
Luke 2:1 says that when Mary was just about to give birth to Jesus, she and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem to fulfill their obligation to be counted in a Roman census. They would not have traveled in the winter because it would have been much too hard. Rather, people traveled in the fall, between the heat of summer and the cold of winter.
A study of the now computerized data by which we can very accurately determine astronomical events of that time gives us the last piece of the puzzle to dating the birth of Christ in September of 3 B.C. In particular, the very noticeable celestial activity of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Regulus (the King star), and Venus (the Queen star), and their various combinations of conjunctions in Leo during the nine months leading up to Christ’s birth are vital signs to determine the September birth date of our Lord Jesus. Research shows that he was born on September 11 (Tishri 1 on the Jewish calendar), on which day the sun was in Virgo, as per the prophecy in Revelation 12:1 of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet” (Rev. 12:1).
So why then do we celebrate Jesus’ birth on December 25th?
In 274 A.D., the Romans designated December 25 as the birthday of the unconquered sun, being the time when the sun begins noticeably to show an increase in light, resulting in longer daylight hours. By 336 A.D., the church in Rome was adapting this festival, spiritualizing its significance as a reference to Jesus Christ and calling it the ‘Feast of the Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness.’ Attempting to Christianize and incorporate the pagan traditions of antiquity, the church in Rome adopted this midwinter holiday celebrating the birth of the sun god as one of its own observances, somewhat changing its significance, but retaining many customs of the pagan festival. As the Roman church spread its influence religiously and militarily, this holiday of December 25 became the most popular date in Christendom to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. A special mass was established for Christ, hence, the name, ‘Christmass,’ abbreviated ‘Christmas.’
Other intriguing links to the September 11th theory is that 1 Tishri is the Day of Trumpets or Rosh sha’shanah, witch in Jewish faith is the birth of creation, as well as the Jewish New Year. There are also several sites witch deal with Bible Codes that have determined the same date as Christ’s birth, although I’m a little iffy on that subject no matter how interesting I find it.
Have a blessed life.
This is one of the first things that I researched when I began the journey to my faith. I have to wonder if people really read their Bibles and understand what they are reading, or just conform to what they are taught by their ministers and preachers. I for one didn’t understand because quite simply some things just didn’t fit the way I have been taught for so many years.
Christ was not and could not have been born on Dec 25th. How do I know this? Well, I have to say I had to do a lot of research, a lot of re reading the bible, and a lot of thinking as to why it was even an issue with me.
In order to remotely understand the workings of figuring out the birth of Christ you have to know a little about the Jewish religion. The Jewish calendar for one, as well as Jewish holidays and priestly duties. These are things that most of us Christians don’t even care to read about because I guess we feel that we don’t hold the same values as the Jewish faith. The fact remains that much of the Bible is written in the Jewish perspective, about Jewish laws and festivals, and therefore, in my opinion every Christian should be aware of said things.
That being said, for a good source on the Jewish calendar, you can go to one of these sites: Judaism 101 or Hebcal.com.
In figuring out when Christ was born, we look to Luke. From reading the first few chapters of Luke we find that John was six months older than Jesus. This is our starting point.
Luke 1:5-25 is the record of the angel’s announcement to Zecharias that he and his wife, Elizabeth, would have a son, whom they were to call John. Verse 5 contains a little phrase that is one important key to determining that Jesus was not born on December 25th. It says that Zechariah “belonged to the priestly division [KJV: “course”] of Abijah.” A study will show that from the time of David, Jewish priests were organized into 24 “courses,” named after the heads of the priestly families. These courses of service in the Temple started on Nisan 1 (which corresponds to March or April on our calendar) and spanned the calendar year. Because the Hebrews used a lunar calendar and we use a solar calendar, Nisan 1 changes on our calendar each year. The course of Abijah was the eighth course, and, like each course, occurred twice during the year. In 4 B.C., the year prior to Christ’s birth, the first of those two courses took place during the last week of our month of May. Zechariah and Elizabeth were quite elderly, and had no children, and the angel gave them the wonderful news that they would have a son, to be named John. Verses 23 and 24 tell us that when Zechariah finished his service in the Temple, he returned home (which would have been in early June). Upon his return, Elizabeth became pregnant.
Given what I have already explained, you can determine that John therefore would have been born in March. John was six months older than Jesus, witch would place Jesus’ birth to be sometime in September.
How else do we know that Jesus was not born in the winter? Luke 2:8 speaks about the shepherds near Bethlehem who were in the fields, watching their flocks at night. It’s not very likely that the shepherds would be out even in early winter tending to their flocks because it was cold and snowy.
Luke 2:1 says that when Mary was just about to give birth to Jesus, she and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem to fulfill their obligation to be counted in a Roman census. They would not have traveled in the winter because it would have been much too hard. Rather, people traveled in the fall, between the heat of summer and the cold of winter.
A study of the now computerized data by which we can very accurately determine astronomical events of that time gives us the last piece of the puzzle to dating the birth of Christ in September of 3 B.C. In particular, the very noticeable celestial activity of Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Regulus (the King star), and Venus (the Queen star), and their various combinations of conjunctions in Leo during the nine months leading up to Christ’s birth are vital signs to determine the September birth date of our Lord Jesus. Research shows that he was born on September 11 (Tishri 1 on the Jewish calendar), on which day the sun was in Virgo, as per the prophecy in Revelation 12:1 of “a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon beneath her feet” (Rev. 12:1).
So why then do we celebrate Jesus’ birth on December 25th?
In 274 A.D., the Romans designated December 25 as the birthday of the unconquered sun, being the time when the sun begins noticeably to show an increase in light, resulting in longer daylight hours. By 336 A.D., the church in Rome was adapting this festival, spiritualizing its significance as a reference to Jesus Christ and calling it the ‘Feast of the Nativity of the Sun of Righteousness.’ Attempting to Christianize and incorporate the pagan traditions of antiquity, the church in Rome adopted this midwinter holiday celebrating the birth of the sun god as one of its own observances, somewhat changing its significance, but retaining many customs of the pagan festival. As the Roman church spread its influence religiously and militarily, this holiday of December 25 became the most popular date in Christendom to celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ. A special mass was established for Christ, hence, the name, ‘Christmass,’ abbreviated ‘Christmas.’
Other intriguing links to the September 11th theory is that 1 Tishri is the Day of Trumpets or Rosh sha’shanah, witch in Jewish faith is the birth of creation, as well as the Jewish New Year. There are also several sites witch deal with Bible Codes that have determined the same date as Christ’s birth, although I’m a little iffy on that subject no matter how interesting I find it.
Have a blessed life.
posted by Dovely at 2:57 PM
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