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Christmas shouldn’t be in December

Updated: Nov 26, 2024




Most people understand that the celebration of Jesus’ birth – Christmas – was arbitrarily set to give believers an alternative celebration to the Jewish and pagan celebrations coinciding with the winter solstice. Since no one knew when Jesus was born, it seemed like a good idea and obviously it caught on. But is Jesus’ birth date really unknown or just another fact hidden in plain sight?

 

In my first post I pointed out the importance of the Bible’s calendar. Within that calendar are seven feasts and each of those feasts has two aspects. One is historical or commemoration for what was done or established in the past. The second is prophetic as it foreshadows something the Messiah would do. God specified exact dates these feasts were to be observed on and so far the prophetic aspects have fallen on these same exact days. (See Leviticus 23). Out of seven Feasts, there are only three feasts – maybe - that have not been "fulfilled" by Jesus yet - Feast of Trumpets and Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles. Read on to see how they relate to the timing of Christmas.

 

Passover  - (The  14th of Nisan or Abib) At the beginning of  the Passover  day (which is the night before in  Western  reckoning), the  family  eats the Passover meal together,  as Jesus  and  the disciples  did  at  "the  last supper".  In Jerusalem during Jesus' day, there were so many people that the priests allowed people to spread the commemoration out over a 24 hour period to accommodate the many people who brought their lambs into the temple to be sacrificed ahead of time. That is how the last supper was an actual Passover commemoration yet the priests were sacrificing the sacrificial Passover lambs on the altar as Jesus hung on the cross the next day - though these daylight hours were of the same day according to Jewish reckoning. This took place  between  3:00 and 5:00 in the  afternoon: the same time Christ died on the cross. (I Corinthians 5:7)

 

Unleavened Bread - (the 15th of Nisan) On the day after Passover, this week long feast began.  No leaven - a symbol for sin - was allowed in the house or food.  The first day was a Sabbath day: no work.  (Jesus was in the tomb on this day).

 

First Fruits - The second day (the 16th of Nisan) was the offering of First fruits. As described in I Corinthians 15:20 - 23, Christ is the first fruit of the resurrection, even though he was not the first to rise from the dead (Lazarus, young maid, etc.).  He was the first and only to rise from the dead of His own power and he did so on the Feast of First Fruits. (Sometimes the phrase "days of unleavened bread" is used to refer to the Passover, the feast of Unleavened Bread and the Feast of First Fruits since all require that leavened be eliminated from the household and diet.)

 

Pentecost - This is the feast of the harvest or first fruits. Jesus told His disciples to wait for Him to send the Holy Spirit to them and it was on this day shortly after His ascension that the Church was empowered by the Holy Spirit on this day. 

 

Feasts of Trumpets - This day of blowing horns announces the next upcoming Feasts of Atonement and Tabernacles. It occurs over two days in September/October (Jewish calendar = 1st-2nd of 7th month).

 

Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur)- This feast was to be observed as a day for the Jewish people to come before God with an "afflicted soul" and no work whatsoever. (Jewish calendar = 10th day of 7th month).

 

Feast of Tabernacles  (15th day of the 7th month). This feast commemorates the Jews living in tents in the wilderness prior to their entering the promised land. It occurs in October.

 

So are these last three feasts still waiting for their prophetic fulfillment by the Messiah? I think not, especially in light of some diligent study Chuck Missler did on this topic. (see - https://www.khouse.org/articles/2020/1402/ ). The highlights are: By paying attention to the details in the Bible and separate history concerning what course of priests were active in the temple, we can date the births of John the Baptist and Jesus. Coincidentally we find that Jesus was born on the Feast of Trumpets and circumcised on the Day of Atonement. Since the Feast of Trumpets is about announcing the Day of Atonement and the Feast of Tabernacles, that latter is implicitly involved. His parents would have participated in the Feasts of Booths or Tabernacles with the baby Jesus. This all occurs in September – October.

 

The Apostle John said of Jesus in his gospel: “The Word became flesh and tabernacled among us”. Jewish tradition says it was on the Tishri 1 - when the Feast of Trumpets starts - that Adam was created. Jesus is called the last Adam in the NT so it makes sense that He, the one who brings forgiveness from sin that started with Adam, would be born on this same day in the Jewish calendar.

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