Posted on 09/11/2017 8:05:21 AM PDT by Sontagged
If it is true, Merry Christmas and Happy Birthday, dear Lord Jesus!
A ping and possibly a “merry Christmas”...
Herod the Great died in 4 B.C. If the story that he tried to have Jesus killed is true, then Jesus could not have been born in 3 B.C.
Perhaps the better question to ask is how the 25th got into the big discussion...being the Winter Solstice. Somewhere along the last thirty years of Emperor Augustus (63 BC to 14 AD), this was a festive period created where gifts were exchanged, caged birds were given as gifts, candles were lit, and the general dress code was relaxed.
I think the Catholic Church attached itself to the festival and just linked up the birthday to fit Solstice, and continue the fest period.
Wrong Herod...
Thanks, Friend, it looks like a great find and will require fresh reading in the morning hours. So bookmark this one. I’m looking forward to going through it.
What would preclude Herod from dying a year after Jesus was born?
Mostly because in ancient people believed they died on same day they were conceived.. We know Christ died in late March/April so he was conceived in December so that is why December 25 is celebrated for Christmas. Paganism has nothing to do with why Christmas is celebrated when it is.
Have fun with this if you want, but WHO CARES?
Inconsequential. (the “BIRTH”, that is) It was a normal everyday birth.
“The birth of Jesus Christ is one of the most significant events in all of history”
Not really.
Now His resurrection.... THAT’S the most significant event in all of history.
Interesting. Seeing as the evil one is behind islam, it would make sense to attack on September 11th. I’ve heard that islam always “honors” dates when they attack - considering their master, September 11th would be a big date for them.
Less than two weeks. Be watching!
It doesn’t matter.
Herod ordered the death of boys two years old and younger, based on the information he had obtained from the Magi, implying that the Magi told him that the star began to appear two years before.
The Herod who met with the Magi was the father of Archelaus (Matt.2.22), who reigned from 4 B.C. to A.D. 6.
I agree with you, but if the Lord’s birth has this much significance to the Hebrew calendar, I’m sure the Resurrection does as well. God is no piker. It would be another good research topic to edify the saints.
Great article. But just one rather important point. “This man is the Savior, the Redeemer, the Liberator, the Messiah, the Second Adam, and the Conqueror over sin and death.” Actually, Christ is not the SECOND ADAM. He is the LAST Adam. But he is the Second MAN. Adam was the first man, and obviously the first Adam. We all descended from him. Christ is the Last Adam, and the Second Man. From Adam to Christ, all are sinners, eternally doomed. But with the advent of the Redeemer, the Last Adam and the Second Man; No longer is man doomed for eternity. From that point on, Eternal Salvation is available to all.
What would preclude Herod from dying a year after Jesus was born?
You are thinking in the wrong direction of time.
4 B.C. is before 3 B.C.
Oh, you are right. Still, if this calendar is correct, then the death of Herod would fit into it correctly, God always makes things clear (if we are willing to “show ourselves approved” and do our homework)
You and I are sort of on the same page. The only way we differ is that I apply at least a little more importance to His birth, if only because it fulfilled so many prophesies.
Its history of Christmas is pure Wiccan/atheist horse hockey.
The pagan holiday of In Sol Invictus was instituted AFTER Christmas became a popular holiday, to compete with Christmas as a pagan holiday. That’s the Roman holiday that’s on Dec. 25th.
The pagan holiday Saturnalia has nothing to do with the rebirth of the sun, and was celebrated on Dec. 17th.
The date of Christmas is the product of two different attempts to guess at the date, which are independent of each other, but which agree.
Good Friday was calculated to have occurred on March 25. There was a belief that great prophets were killed on the day they were conceived. If so, Jesus’ conception into Heaven would be on the day he was conceived into the worldly realm: March 25. If conceived on March 25, it was reasoned, he would be born on December 25.
December was the date most closely approximating the Jewish feast of the Dedication of the Temple. This feast fell on the 25th, so Christmas was placed on the 25th. Why would Jesus be born on the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple? Because on that day, the Spirit of the Living God was revealed within the Temple.
The origin of the Feast of the Dedication of the Temple, and its date, are not in the Protestant bible. But we know Jesus observed it (”Jesus was in Jerusalem as it was the Feast of the Dedication”); And it was on this day that he self-identified with the eternal Temple. (”Destroy this temple, and I will raise it up in three days.”)
If Jesus were conceived, rather than born, on the Feast of the Dedication, the symbolism of that date would still be fulfilled. And that could result in his birthday being close to September 11. On the other hand, if he were conceived on the fourteenth day of the Hebrew year, Passover, that would mean that God began the process of the birth of Jesus on the day he began the creation of the world. Could it be mere coincidence that the festival of the first fruits is fourteen days after the creation of the world, and conception takes place on the fourteenth day of a fertility cycle.
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