Posted on 12/28/2007 7:45:21 AM PST by dangus
The Jews in Jerusalem and in the land of Judea send greetings to their brethren, the Jews in Egypt, and wish them true peace!
May God bless you and remember his covenant with his faithful servants, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.
May he give to all of you a heart to worship him and to do his will readily and generously.
May he open your heart to his law and his commandments and grant you peace.
May he hear your prayers, and be reconciled to you, and never forsake you in time of adversity.
Even now we are praying for you here.
In the reign of Demetrius, the year one hundred and sixty-nine, we Jews wrote to you during the trouble and violence that overtook us in those years after Jason and his followers had revolted against the holy land and the kingdom, setting fire to the gatehouse and shedding innocent blood. But we prayed to the Lord, and our prayer was heard; we offered sacrifices and fine flour; we lighted the lamps and set out the loaves of bread.
We are now reminding you to celebrate the feast of Booths in the month of Chislev...
On the anniversary of the day on which the temple had been profaned by the Gentiles, that is, the twenty-fifth of the same month Chislev, the purification of the temple took place.
The Jews celebrated joyfully for eight days as on the feast of Booths (or Tabernacles), remembering how, a little while before, they had spent the feast of Booths living like wild animals in caves on the mountains...
...
The feast of Booths is Hannukah. The final day of Hannukah is Chislev 25th. This is the Feast of the Dedication. Chislev is a month on a lunar calendar, but it corresponds to December on our solar calendar. On this day of 25 Chiselv, the Jews celebrated for God had come to dwell once more with Man, in his holy temple. It was on the feast of the Dedication that he proclaimed to the Jews that he was God:
>> "The feast of the Dedication was then taking place in Jerusalem. It was winter. And Jesus walked about in the temple area on the Portico of Solomon... So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, "How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly."
>> Jesus answered them, "I told you and you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify to me. But you do not believe, because you are not among my sheep. My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish. No one can take them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one can take them out of the Father's hand. The Father and I are one." (John 10:22-30)
If you are a Protestant, you may not believe that the 2nd Book of Maccabees is holy scripture. The festival of booths is mentioned several times within the Protestant canon. The book of Maccabees makes clear, however, what the festival of booths was.
The festival of booths mentioned in John 10 should not be confused with the one mentioned in Leviticus 23, which is celebrated in the spring (beginning the 15th of the month of Nisan). John makes plain that the festival he refers to is in the winter.
The passage cited from 2 Maccabees is 2 Maccabees 1:1-9, 10:5-6. The entire book then proceeds as an explanation of why Kislev 25th is celebrated.
Then in 19th century NY chamber of commerce creates Phony Santa story and gift giving/business begins.
Jesus was actually born in June/July
Actually, that Roman festival (Saturnalia) was originally on December 17th, and was later made to last an entire week, from the 17th to 23rd. So, it doesn’t “match” their festival at all.
Are you REALLY eating popcorn or just posting a picture? If someone post a picture eating popcorn they should really have popcorn. I an very series when it comes to popcorn.
Oh, many bibical historians claim that the sheppards would not be in the field watching their flocks if it were in winter.
Um..no..the little yellow guy is though. He's taking notes for me. U.S. Army Retired |
Which pagan festival was that?
Dies Sol Invictus, which was only created three centuries after Christmas (and five centuries after 2 Maccabees) as an attempt to converge pagan festivals with Christmas?
or Saturnalia, which was Dec. 17th?
or the birth of Mithra, which was on Dec. 21st?
Quit parroting Marxist lies for a moment and think for yourself.
>> Oh, many bibical historians claim that the sheppards would not be in the field watching their flocks if it were in winter. <<
1. So what? The article wasn’t about what day Jesus was born, it was about what day Jews were commanded to observe God coming to dwell among his people in his holy temple. Did you pay that little attention?
2. How many times do bible historians have to be proved wrong before people quit presuming them correct in the lack of any evidence either way? They would probably think I wouldn’t pasture my sheep on Dec. 25th in the American northeast... unless they saw what the weather was like today. And it was the Roman Warm Period back then. And Jerusalem is warmer than New York.
Then we'd see what happened to retailers who bank on huge December sales while careful not to mention the C-word.
Plus it's not like anyone I know needs anything - we all have too much stuff.
The Romans calculated the Winter Solstice to be December 25th. The event was fitting for Christians to convert into a celebratrion of the birth of the Light of the World- Christ. It also neatly means the 8th day, on which Christ was circumsized and named, is New Years Day.
To relate the festical of booths to Christmas is ludicrous. Unless you travel to Jerusalem and set up camp, you are disobeying the command.
>> To relate the festical of booths to Christmas is ludicrous. <<
Oh, of course, it’s ludicrous to relate celebrating God dwelling in his Temple on Dec. 25th with celebrating the incarnation on Dec. 25th. Gotcha.
>> Unless you travel to Jerusalem and set up camp, you are disobeying the command. <<
Even the Passover festival of booths doesn’t make this command!
And I’m not taking this from a reconstuctionist theology. The point is that Christmas has Jewish origins far older than the pagan ones people foolishly cite. The people who take sola scriptura to a ludicrous extreme say the bible doesn’t mention any Dec. 25th holiday, and the fact is that it does. And scripture or not, we have an entire book predating Christianity to explain to us why we should. If you think the bible says people *should* hang out in tents for eight days, bring it up with them.
My only point is that people who condemn the a religious observation on Dec. 25th are kooks.
>> I’d love to see Christmas as we know it now to go away completely and become a simple holy celebration of Christ’s birth among believers <<
I think you’ve misused the word “completely,” because surely a celebration of Christ’s birth among believers is what 80% of Americans define Christmas as.
Oh, and incidentally: many Catholic countries DO celebrate for eight days leading up to Christmas.
The 25th of Kislev is the first day of Hanukah.
Bonehead mistake in calling it the final day. I honestly don’t know what I was thinking, especially since I made a similar error in post 16. The Christmas Octave, of course, is from Dec. 25th to Jan. 1. I may not be an expert in Judaism, but I certainly know the Christmas Octave!
Posted on 12/28/2007 10:45:21 AM EST by dangus
Oh, now you tell us!
have you thought yourself : what time the bible (new testament) was written ? who, when edited gospels ? As you know: mass-media (abcbscnnnbcfoxnyt) manipulate stories/accounts as they are happening right before our eyes. what's reliability of document written about Jesus after 2-3 centuries ? Did you thought yourself what Jesus did during missing years ? Did you thought yourself that Jesus was not "christen" himself, didn't start any religion ?
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