Something To Think About This Season

..."Do not be afraid Miriam, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Yeshua. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, his kingdom will never end......."

The Bible doesn't say exactly when Yeshua was born, but we can safely say it wasn't on Dec. 25th. The tradition to celebrate his birth on that day was not incorporatd into the church until hundreds of years later. Yeshua's (Jesus) birth was a normal, human birth - his conception however was SUPERNATURAL EVENT !!!

When Gabriel spoke to Miriam telling her what was to happen - the backgroud festivities were going on to honor Caesar Augustus. With the help of scripture, astronomy and modern computers it is fairly safe to say that Yeshua was born on the "Feast of Trumpets" (Sept. 11, in 3 BCE)...since Yeshua's second coming will take place on "The Feasts of Trumpets", it's pretty logical that the Messiah's first advent would take place on the same day. According to Jewish tradtition, the first Adam, "who was a pattern of the one to come" was created and came into being. (Romans 5:14) ...... if Mary gave birth to Yeshua on th Feast of Trumpets, that means he was conceived 38 weeks earlier during the of Chanukah or Hanukkah. This is when the great miracle took place ....."the word became flesh and made his dwelling (tabernacle) amoung us"...(John 1:14) The ultimate temple (Yeshua's physical body) was dedicated for the glory of the Eternal.

Hanukkah usually falls in December every year and since Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25th - there are chronological similarities between the two celebrations. Spiritually, however, they represent two completely different worlds. One comes from the Bible and the other has it's origin in paganism and idolatry.

Around the time of Yeshua's birth - there were huge festivals all over the Roman empire. Every year, on Dec. 25th - the festival was celebrated in honor of the birth of "The Lord and Savior" of the world, the "Prince of Peace" - the Emperor, Caesar Augustus - a man who was also worshiped as divine!

The poor were given gifts and food from the rich - so that at least one time a year they were able to enjoy all the festivities. The festivities usually included all of the public space, with all kinds of entertainment and song and dance, etc. Th local political & religious leaders would hold various rituals and ceremonies. It was (just like today), a prolonged festival in which the sale of goods and services flourished as at no other time of the year, and brought a sense of unity to the community while at the same time honoring the Savior - the Great Emperor! No telling what would happen if they had had WalMarts!

Remember the Christmas story being read to you when you were a child?..... it always began with Caesar Augustus issuing a decree (the same year that Yeshua was born) that the census should be taken of the entire Roman world - which meant that he had assumed control over every citizen in his empire - also that same year he had the officials bestow upon him the title of "Pater Patriae" - or FATHER OF THE COUNTY! The following year Herod had a temple built in Caesarea Phillipi to worship Caesar as god! Caesar probably wasn't born on Dec. 25th - but he was worshiped as divine - his birth, just like all of the other Caesars was celebrated on Dec. 25th - THE DAY CORRESPONDING TO THE BIRTH OF THE SUN GOD SOLUS INVICTUS!

This year Hanukkah falls on Dec. 21 thru Dec. 29th - the Festival of Lights .....I'm praying that as you and your families go thru this holiday season .... you will think about what really happened during this time .... no santas ...reindeer ..... no lighted christmas trees ...but, the light of the world ....it is the Festival of Lights and Miracles, and the celebration of the victory of God over all pagan and anti-messiah forces......celebrate the coming of Messiah in a biblical way and not according to pagan tradtitions. Glory to God!