PART 1 OF 2 PARTS DUE TO TOO MANY CHARACTERS.
This is an article from Grace Centered Magazine.
Please note the author of this is a member here, Ben Abraham. You can read his posts right here.
We are in the Christmas season now, and everyone is going about like busy bees, getting gifts, putting up Christmas trees, decorating the house with lights and other seasonal ornaments. Well, that’s tradition. However, have you ever thought about where all this tradition comes from? Why the date December 25th? Why the tree? Why the jolly old fat man dressed in red and white who comes through the fireplace to leave presents for kids?
While I don’t desire to dampen the holiday spirit, I feel I must tell the truth about this, and divide as one can say; “truth from tradition.” The truth may hurt, toes may be stepped on, but no matter. The truth of the matter should be told, shared, and what you do with the truth is your decision. But let’s investigate. Yes, Jesus/Yeshua (his Hebrew name) is celebrated during this time, his birth in a manger in Bethlehem, but was it December 25th?
December 25th has been considered the time of the “Winter Solstice” in accordance to pagan tradition. It was the time when the so-called “sun gods” were created. The sun gods had their origin with “Baal Nimrod”. He was the great-grandson of Noah. The names differ in different countries.
In Persia, it was “Mithras” ; in Egypt, it was “Amun-Ra”; in Rome, it was “Attis”. In Rome this time was celebrated during the 12 day period known as “Saturnalia.” Does that sound familiar? The 12 days of Christmas compared to the 12 days of Saturnalia? The Chaldeans called the 25th of December “Yule Day” or the “Day of the infant.” This was not the Christ child, it was the infant “Tammuz” who was the son of Nimrod. The so-called “halo” around the head was the “sun-disk” indicating his relationship with the sun.
In ancient Rome, the 12 days of Saturnalia were celebrated with drunken parties, orgies, and they decorated their homes with all kinds of greenery, “mistletoe” etc. Any time we mix the profane with the holy, we get “profanity.” You can mix good apples in a barrel of bad, rotten apples, and the good apples will never correct the bad ones, it is always the opposite.
During the time of the Roman emperor Constantine, he decided that “Christianity” was the way to go, Yet there were still many pagans and pagan beliefs in Rome, so, in order to accommodate pagan idolatry, Constantine decided to move the true time of the birth of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus to December 25th. So, more or less around 350 C.E. the so-called “December 25th Christmas time” was begun.
Yet many still ask, if not the 25th of December, then when was Messiah Yeshua/Jesus born? Does anyone really know? We have a general idea although know one knows the exact date and time.
In Second Chronicles, it talks about when King David divided the service time of the priests into 24 periods of two-week service commitments. Therefore, each priest would serve in the temple for two weeks.
In the New Testament, it says that Zachariah’s turn to serve in the temple for two weeks. He was of the division of “Abijah” (Read Luke chapter 1) . He was to offer incense. The division of Abijah was the 8th division. The divisions started on the Hebraic new year which was and still is on the 1st of Nissan. (14 days before Passover). This correlates to the month of Abril in the Gregorian calendar. The Hebrew calendar is based on the phases of the moon while the Gregorian calendar is based on the sun.
This means that Zachariah’s turn came 4 months into the Hebrew calendar, which means that his serve was during the end of July or mid August. He was promised by the Angel Gabriel that his wife Elizabeth would have a baby, whose name would be “Yochanan” (John) He was also Yeshua’s cousin. Yochanan was 6 months older than Yeshua. It is believed that Yochanan was born during the time of Passover, 9 months from August.
Six months from August, Mary was overshadowed by the Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit) and our LORD Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach was conceived. This was probably in the end of January or early February. Nine months including February end with October. In October we have the “Feast of Tabernacles” or “Sukkot” which was one of the major Biblical festivals, or “Moedim” (appointed times). All males had to go to Jerusalem to celebrate this festivity from all over Israel, no wonder that “no room was found in Bethlehem” it was very crowded. Bethlehem is a fitting name for the birthplace of Messiah Yeshua. It means “House of Bread” (Beit-Lechem) it is fitting that the “Bread of Life” be born in the “House of Bread.”
Caesar Augustus took advantage of this and ordered a census, since everyone was on the move during that time. Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to respond to that census, and there our Messiah was born during this time. When Jesus was born, his official and registered name was most likely “Yeshua Ben Yosef” (Yeshua, Son of Joseph). So, there we have it, Yeshua was probably born during the end of September or early in October. Remember that the lunar calendar changes by the phases of the moon. This year, Sukkot came early, on September 24th.
In December, it is cold and damp in Israel and the shepherds would not have had their herds of sheep outside. Also, there are not major “moedim” in December, only Hanukkah, which is not a major festival, yet still important, important enough so that Yeshua even attended the celebration (John 10)
PART 2 continues next .
This is an article from Grace Centered Magazine.
The Origin of Christmas - Grace Centered - Online Christian Magazine
We are in the Christmas season now, and everyone is going about like busy bees, getting gifts, putting up Christmas trees, decorating the house with lights and other seasonal ornaments. Well, that’s tradition. However, have you ever thought about where all this tradition comes from? Why the date...
www.gracecentered.com
Please note the author of this is a member here, Ben Abraham. You can read his posts right here.
The Origin of Christmas
Ben Avraham origins of Christmas was Jesus born on December 25where did Christmas come fromWe are in the Christmas season now, and everyone is going about like busy bees, getting gifts, putting up Christmas trees, decorating the house with lights and other seasonal ornaments. Well, that’s tradition. However, have you ever thought about where all this tradition comes from? Why the date December 25th? Why the tree? Why the jolly old fat man dressed in red and white who comes through the fireplace to leave presents for kids?
While I don’t desire to dampen the holiday spirit, I feel I must tell the truth about this, and divide as one can say; “truth from tradition.” The truth may hurt, toes may be stepped on, but no matter. The truth of the matter should be told, shared, and what you do with the truth is your decision. But let’s investigate. Yes, Jesus/Yeshua (his Hebrew name) is celebrated during this time, his birth in a manger in Bethlehem, but was it December 25th?
December 25th has been considered the time of the “Winter Solstice” in accordance to pagan tradition. It was the time when the so-called “sun gods” were created. The sun gods had their origin with “Baal Nimrod”. He was the great-grandson of Noah. The names differ in different countries.
In Persia, it was “Mithras” ; in Egypt, it was “Amun-Ra”; in Rome, it was “Attis”. In Rome this time was celebrated during the 12 day period known as “Saturnalia.” Does that sound familiar? The 12 days of Christmas compared to the 12 days of Saturnalia? The Chaldeans called the 25th of December “Yule Day” or the “Day of the infant.” This was not the Christ child, it was the infant “Tammuz” who was the son of Nimrod. The so-called “halo” around the head was the “sun-disk” indicating his relationship with the sun.
In ancient Rome, the 12 days of Saturnalia were celebrated with drunken parties, orgies, and they decorated their homes with all kinds of greenery, “mistletoe” etc. Any time we mix the profane with the holy, we get “profanity.” You can mix good apples in a barrel of bad, rotten apples, and the good apples will never correct the bad ones, it is always the opposite.
During the time of the Roman emperor Constantine, he decided that “Christianity” was the way to go, Yet there were still many pagans and pagan beliefs in Rome, so, in order to accommodate pagan idolatry, Constantine decided to move the true time of the birth of Messiah Yeshua/Jesus to December 25th. So, more or less around 350 C.E. the so-called “December 25th Christmas time” was begun.
Yet many still ask, if not the 25th of December, then when was Messiah Yeshua/Jesus born? Does anyone really know? We have a general idea although know one knows the exact date and time.
In Second Chronicles, it talks about when King David divided the service time of the priests into 24 periods of two-week service commitments. Therefore, each priest would serve in the temple for two weeks.
In the New Testament, it says that Zachariah’s turn to serve in the temple for two weeks. He was of the division of “Abijah” (Read Luke chapter 1) . He was to offer incense. The division of Abijah was the 8th division. The divisions started on the Hebraic new year which was and still is on the 1st of Nissan. (14 days before Passover). This correlates to the month of Abril in the Gregorian calendar. The Hebrew calendar is based on the phases of the moon while the Gregorian calendar is based on the sun.
This means that Zachariah’s turn came 4 months into the Hebrew calendar, which means that his serve was during the end of July or mid August. He was promised by the Angel Gabriel that his wife Elizabeth would have a baby, whose name would be “Yochanan” (John) He was also Yeshua’s cousin. Yochanan was 6 months older than Yeshua. It is believed that Yochanan was born during the time of Passover, 9 months from August.
Six months from August, Mary was overshadowed by the Ruach HaKodesh (The Holy Spirit) and our LORD Jesus, Yeshua HaMashiach was conceived. This was probably in the end of January or early February. Nine months including February end with October. In October we have the “Feast of Tabernacles” or “Sukkot” which was one of the major Biblical festivals, or “Moedim” (appointed times). All males had to go to Jerusalem to celebrate this festivity from all over Israel, no wonder that “no room was found in Bethlehem” it was very crowded. Bethlehem is a fitting name for the birthplace of Messiah Yeshua. It means “House of Bread” (Beit-Lechem) it is fitting that the “Bread of Life” be born in the “House of Bread.”
Caesar Augustus took advantage of this and ordered a census, since everyone was on the move during that time. Mary and Joseph went to Bethlehem to respond to that census, and there our Messiah was born during this time. When Jesus was born, his official and registered name was most likely “Yeshua Ben Yosef” (Yeshua, Son of Joseph). So, there we have it, Yeshua was probably born during the end of September or early in October. Remember that the lunar calendar changes by the phases of the moon. This year, Sukkot came early, on September 24th.
In December, it is cold and damp in Israel and the shepherds would not have had their herds of sheep outside. Also, there are not major “moedim” in December, only Hanukkah, which is not a major festival, yet still important, important enough so that Yeshua even attended the celebration (John 10)
PART 2 continues next .
