Sunday, December 28, 2008

Oh Night Divine: The Real Story

I recieved this as an e-mail this evening. I thought I would share it.
When Was Jesus Born?

Most scholars agree that Yeshua/Jesus was born somewhere around the time of the Feasts of the Lord in the fall. One way to reach this conclusion is through the story in Luke 1 concerning the birth of John the Baptist. From 1 Chronicles 24, it is possible to know when John the Baptist's father Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah, was serving in the Temple. We also know that six months later the angel Gabriel visited Mary (her real Hebrew name is Miriam) and she became pregnant by the Holy Spirit. This information brings us to the seventh month on the Jewish calendar as the time of the birth of Yeshua.

We also have some amazing information from the constellation of the stars. First of all the Magi, the wise men, had seen the star of the king of the Jews in the East and they came to Jerusalem to look for Him. Secondly, the Book of Revelation, chapter 12, also speaks about a sign in the heavens connected with the birth of Messiah.

God created the stars, which include the planets, to serve as sings. "And God said, 'Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years.'" (Gen 1:4) Psalm 19:1-4 says,

"The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge . There is no speech or language where their voice is not heard. Their voice goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world."

Before the Bible was written, God had already written the Gospel story in the stars. Well-known Radio Bible Teacher Dr. D. James Kennedy writes in his book The Real Meaning of the Zodiac that scientists are amazed to find that every civilization in history, no matter how far back in time they go, has always referred to the same constellation of the stars. The only reasonable explanation for this is that God taught Adam the meaning behind the stars, which was then handed down to succeeding generations. The Book of Job, considered by many to be the oldest book in the Bible, as well as the Book of Amos mention several star constellations by name.

The Gospel message is clearly seen in the Zodiac, beginning with the constellation of Virgo, the virgin, and ending with Leo, the King. This message was later on perverted in Babylon into the reading of horoscopes to predict future events, which God strictly condemns as demonic, occult practice. The prophet Daniel was however at one time the chief of the magi in Babel. Most certainly he taught these magi the truths about the stars, which is the reason for some of them coming to Jerusalem to search for the Messiah when He was born.

"After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem and asked, 'Where is the one who has been born king of the Jews? We saw his star in the east and have come to worship him.'" (Mt 2:1-2)

Three Bible passages with Messianic prophecies give us the explanation about the star of "the one" king of the Jews, the Messiah that the magi had seen. The first passage is Numbers 24: 17-19.

"I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near. A star will come out of Jacob; a scepter will rise out of Israel. He will crush the foreheads of Moab, the skulls of all the sons of Sheth. Edom will be conquered; Seir, his enemy, will be conquered, but Israel will grow strong. A ruler will come out of Jacob and destroy the survivors of the city."

The second Messianic passage is Genesis 49:8-10.

"Judah, your brothers will praise you; your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you. You are a lion's cub, O Judah; you return from the prey, my son. Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness-who dares to rouse him? The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his."

The third is Psalm 110:1-4.

"The LORD says to my Lord: 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.' The LORD will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. .The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: 'You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek.'"

We see in Numbers 24, that a star, also called a scepter, will come out from Jacob. In Genesis 49 we see that this scepter is narrowed down to come out from the tribe of Judah, who is called a lion and in Psalm 110 we see that the Messiah will come after the order of Melchizedek, meaning "King of Righteousness."

Jupiter, called Zedek in Hebrew and meaning 'rigthteous,' has always been connected with the Messiah, the "Righteous One." The brightest star in Leo, the Lion, which is a symbol for Judah, is Regiel, which means 'king" or Melech in Hebrew.

The Magi said, "We saw his star in the east." With the help of modern computers it is very easy today to calculate the exact positions of the stars thousands of years back in time. What used to take years to calculate is today available with the click of a mouse if you have access to the right program. On September 12, on the Feast of Trumpets, in the year 3 BC, Regiel (Melech) and Jupiter (Zedek), began to make a helical rising together as one star, forming Melchizedek appearing between the feet of Leo (Judah), on the eastern horizon just before sunrise. This helical rising of Regiel and Jupiter happens once in about 80 years. However, within one year it happened two more times, in connection with Feasts of Purim and Shavuot (Pentecost).

But something else also happened in the heavens that night of the Feast of Trumpets, 3 BC. Between 6:18 and 7:39 local Jerusalem time, in the evening of September 11, just as the Feast began, Virgo was "clothed in the sun" with the new moon under her feet, exactly as described in Revelation 12:1-5.

"A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. .She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter."

That year the sun was in the sign of Virgo for twenty days, between August 27 and September 15, but only for about one and a half hour during that time was the moon under the feet of Virgo. It happened exactly when the Feast of Trumpets began. This was most likely the exact time that Mary was in labor according to Revelation 12, giving birth to the Messiah while the watchmen on the walls of Jerusalem announced the new moon and the shofars were blowing! Little did they know what had just taken place a couple of miles away. Later on that night, on September 12, Regiel and Jupiter began their helical rising before dawn announcing that the King of the Jews was born.

According to Jewish tradition Adam, who is also called the son of God in Scripture (Lk 3:38), was created by God on the Feast of Trumpets. How fitting that the last Adam was also born on the same day! And just as Yeshua one day will return as King with the trumpet call of God, He also came the first time at the sound of the trumpet. The arrival of a king is usually announced with trumpets. It is amazing how exactly in detail God fulfills His Word!

Many people today believe that Yeshua was born during the Feast of Tabernacles. There is one major obstacle to this theory. Luke wrote about the census that took place when Yeshua was born, "And everyone went to his own town to register." (Lk 2:3) During Succot all Jewish men were commanded in the Torah to be in Jerusalem, which made it impossible for everyone to be in their own towns at that time. The common time during the year for a census was between August and October. December would not have been the time for a Roman census since it usually is rainy and cold in Israel at that time of year, which would have made it difficult to travel in those days.

What an awesome God we serve! Truly "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge." (Ps 19:1-2)

Here is even more information declaring the wonders of our God. If Yeshua was born on September 11, 3 BC, He would have been conceived by the Holy Spirit 38 weeks earlier around December 19, 4 BC right in the midst of Chanukah at the time of the new moon. The Light of the World became flesh during Chanukah, the Festival of Lights. Chanukah is then a very appropriate time to thank God for sending His Son to us as the Light of the world!

Chanukah is the feast in memory of the rededication of the Temple. The common expression among the Jewish people during this feast is: "A great miracle happened there!" (or "here" if you live in the land of Israel). In the midst of that Feast a new Temple was dedicated: the body of Messiah. Truly, a great miracle happened as the sinless, holy blood of Yeshua that was to be poured out on the cross to redeem all mankind back to God was formed by the Holy Spirit in Miriam's womb during Chanukah!

Yeshua was born as a man and died as a man, but His conception and His resurrection are the proofs that He is the Messiah, the Son of God. "The angel answered, 'The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God.'" (Lk 1:35) "regarding his Son, who as to his human nature was a descendant of David, and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord." (Rom 1:4)

Chanukah is a very important feast. It is the season for divine visitations and miracles! During
Chanukah Yeshua stood in the Temple in Jerusalem and said, "The miracles I do in my Father's name speak for me." (Jn 10:25) It should not come as a surprise that the enemy wants to distract people during this time through a frenzy of commercialism.
Chanukah is also a feast of great prophetic significance. Gal 4:4 says, "But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law." Without the rededication of the Temple under the Maccabees, the story we read in Luke 2 when Yeshua was presented to the Lord in the Temple "as it is written in the Law of the Lord" could never have happened. This had been prophesied by Haggai when he declared, "'The glory of this present house will be greater than the glory of the former house,' says the LORD Almighty." (Hag 2:9) If the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes had succeeded to wipe out the Jewish people's obedience to the Torah, as he tried to do by desecrating the temple, and forbidding the Jews to keep the Sabbath and circumcising their children, Joseph and Mary would have been pagans. Messiah could not have been born and Haggai's prophecy about the temple would never have been fulfilled!

It is the same situation today. Yeshua will also return "as it is written in the Law of the Lord!" If the antichrist, "the lawless one," and his forces succeed to wipe out the Jewish people and the Law of the Lord, Messiah cannot return! The Lord is calling us to pray for the Jewish people and for the peace of Jerusalem. "This is what the LORD says: 'Sing with joy for Jacob; shout for the foremost of the nations. Make your praises heard, and say, 'O LORD , save your people, the remnant of Israel.'" (Jer 31:7)

If we truly want to honor God we should not celebrate the birth of His Son, the Word that became flesh, outside the boundaries of the written Word. Yeshua is the promised seed of David who came to His own. He is the Word that became flesh. It is time for great humility and repentance in the Church for erring from God's ways and acknowledge our dependency upon the Jewish people. It is part of preparing the way for the Lord and being made ready as His bride for His return. "What advantage, then, is there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God. What if some did not have faith? Will their lack of faith nullify God's faithfulness? Not at all! Let God be true, and every man a liar." (Rom 3:1-4)

God entrusted His Word to the Jewish people. In separating ourselves from them, we automatically also stray from the Word of God. It is time to begin to climb down from our church steeples and come back to the place where the anti Semitic church fathers went the wrong way and repent. Not everyone will do it, because it will require a lot of humility. Chanukah is the season to learn the lesson from Miriam of what is required of us if we truly want to please God.

"My soul glorifies the Lord and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior, for he has been mindful of the humble state of his servant. .His mercy extends to those who fear him, from generation to generation. . he has scattered those who are proud in their inmost thoughts .but has lifted up the humble." (Lk 1:46-52) "What is highly valued among men is detestable in God's sight." (Lk 16:15)

Let's celebrate the Feasts of the Lord!

I do not know who wrote this or who deserves the credit, but thank you for passing this on. I do have to question it though. Is it possible to be fuly and positively sure when Christ was born, when no real date was ever logged? What is your opinion?

2 comments:

Heather said...

This is an answer for me, not of actual fact but that we don't truly know. Man has had the need, the inner fleshly desire to search out black and white. For some reason, many people are not comfortable enough living in the grey and trusting God to know the final answers. I trust Him.

It's too funny, Omah. We were taking down the Christmas tree yesterday afternoon and discussing this almost exactly; of course it was much more simple to us but still left with a question mark at the end of our time together.

I'm comfortable with celebrating Jesus as Christmas, His birth, then because I don't know the actual date and it brings a beautiful meaning to our time together. Many of the surroundings of the season create an inner peace, love, joy and appreciation; worshipping our Lord just fits perfectly for me ;o).

The way that I feel, God does not expect us to know everything or fit everything that we do know into a box full of rules. He has shown me to rely on Him, not text books; listen for His voice and leading; pay attention to Him through all that has life...His Word is full of life, isn't it?

So, our other question yesterday...here's a good one: Jesus, growing up and being Jewish; knowing who He was, how did He celebrate Christmas? My hubby asked the question, when did He really know who He was? I suggested that on the inside, He may always have had the sense of knowing but didn't really "know" in His mind.

I asked Jesus into my heart when I was 4 years old, Omah. I know without a doubt that if I hadn't invited Him in those early trusting years, my life would have been different.

Let the children come to Me...that's what He said { but don't force them}. All that I've learned has come from my hand in His ;o). Many people want to have the final answer of placing Jesus's life in a box to follow...where would the place for "faith" be if we did this?

I love the adventure of trusting Him, don't you? I love knowing that we can fly for awhile, look down at the ground below, hit a wall or get fearful and begin drifting downward ~ only to be caught into His warm, soft Hands and release once again to fly.

I love Him, yes I do. I'll celebrate Him no matter when He was born...I'll celebrate that He was/is born everyday in the heart of man ;o). Ooooo - amen!

I do like the thoughts about the stars though...I read that and could see God placing each one specifically for purpose. No, we are strictly not to worship the stars but I know that He has meaning in them...He has meaning in every living thing, it's just not for us to figure it all out...only for us to dance and enjoy the beauty of His creation.

Woo-hoo, let's dance, Omah! I know you want to, too.

Love to you today!

Omah's Helping Hands said...

Very well put Heather. I so agree with you. All we need to know will be revealed to us through Him. I have no problem with the celebration at Christmas either.

All I know is I love being in His presence, and that's good enough for me.

I do find it interesting in the findings that some come up with, but do not believe everything I read either.

I do like hearing others opinions, and appreciate you taking the time to write what you did. You are truly a woman of the Lord, and I so enjoy hearing what you have to say. Thanks for sharing your thoughts. And yes, I love to dance with Him, walking with Him, spending every moment with Him. There is nothing better.