Although the Catholic Pope set December 25 as the birthday of Jesus, the Bible does not give a date, and there is no Biblical command to celebrate His birth.
Jesus may have been conceived on or near December 25, but certainly not born in the dead of winter. The shepherds were still in the fields the night Jesus was born. There is no grass in the winter for sheep and it would have been too cold for baby Jesus to survive in a drafty old barn. The average snowfall in Bethlehem is 20 inches with temperatures as low as 14 degrees Fahrenheit or minus 10 degrees Celsius.
Jesus was a healthy full term 40 week baby. Since we know John the Baptist was born in late March, and he was 6 months older than Jesus, six months later would bring us to the last week in September or first week in October in 4 BC as the most likely time of Jesus' birth.
The Birth of Jesus as Recorded by Matthew
Now the
birth of Jesus Christ was as follows: After His mother Mary was
betrothed to Joseph, before they came together, she was found with child
of the Holy Spirit. Then Joseph her husband, being a just man, and not wanting to make her a public example, was minded to put her away secretly.
But
while he thought about these things, behold, an angel of the Lord
appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not be
afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins.”
So all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: “Behold, the virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Immanuel,” which is translated, “God with us.”
Then Joseph, being aroused from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord commanded him and took to him his wife, and did not know her till she had brought forth her firstborn Son. And he called His name Jesus. (in Hebrew, Yahshua, which means Yah's Salvation)
The Birth of Jesus Recorded in Luke
Now in the sixth month* the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin’s name was Mary. And having come in, the angel said to her, “Rejoice, highly favored one, the Lord is with you; blessed are you among women!” ~Luke 1:26-28
*
Elul (Hebrew:
אֱלוּל, Standard ʾElūl, Tiberian ʾĔlūl) is the twelfth month of the
Jewish civil year and the sixth month of the ecclesiastical year on the
Hebrew calendar. It is a month of 29 days. Elul usually occurs in August–September
on the Gregorian calendar. The difference in civil and ecclesiastical
years has caused much confusion about the conception of Jesus and his
birth date.
Four Reasons I No Longer Celebrate Christmas
1. I believe Jesus was born on or near the Feast of Trumpets.
2. It is obvious that Christmas comes from pagan tradition
3. I'm not Catholic so I don't celebrate the Christ Mass
4. I'm not a child so I don't believe in a jolly fat man and flying reindeer
"When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child; but when I became a man, I put away childish things".
~1 Corinthians 13:11
When I was a small child my family celebrated Christmas. It never occurred to me where the Christmas tradition came from. All I cared about was getting toys and enjoying Christmas music. After I learned the truth about Christmas, I began to search the Scriptures to learn what the Bible had to say about celebrating the birth of Jesus.
Christmas
is such a joyous event, it is difficult to give it up. You don't think
Satan is stupid enough to counterfeit something that isn't fun, do you?
However, God is not anti-fun. He gave us His Holy Days (where we get the word holiday) in Leviticus 23 and repeats the list in Deuteronomy 16. God gave specific instructions to enjoy eight days of joyous celebration at the Feast of Tabernacles. "Then you may spend that
money for whatever your heart desires, for oxen, or for sheep, or for
wine, or for strong drink, or for whatever your heart desires, and you
may eat there before the Lord your God, and you shall rejoice, you, and your household." ~Deuteronomy 14:26
I
doubt any of us want to buy oxen or sheep, but we can spend the money
we have saved for the Feast on other gifts for our family and friends. I
started keeping the Feasts of the LORD in 1975. The Feast of Tabernacles is 1000X better than any Christmas I can remember as a kid.
Of course, Jesus was born and it is the most important birth in the history of mankind. However, nowhere in the Holy Bible is there any command to celebrate the birth of Jesus. Six hundred years before Jesus was born people were celebrating the
winter solstice with decorated trees. The prophet Jeremiah recorded God's instructions in Jeremiah 10:2-4
Thus says the Lord:
"Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. For
the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the
forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not".
After I learned that God takes a dim view of man's traditions, I decided to stop conforming to the world as it is written... "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God".
~Romans 12:2
When we teach our children to believe in Santa Claus, it seems like harmless fun... like believing in the Tooth Fairy. But the reality is that we plant a seed of doubt. If Mom and Dad (and Church) lied about Santa, maybe they lied about Jesus too. Maybe Jesus is not real, he's just a mythical figure. After all there is little evidence outside the Bible to confirm Jesus ever existed. This is one of the reasons so many of our impressionable young people lose faith in the validity of the Bible.
The purpose of this post is to get people to think about what they believe and why they believe it, not debate who's right or wrong. Do your own research, make up your own mind, rely on the Holy Spirit to guide you.
