The Sabbath Called Feast of Tabernacles

 

The Feast of Tabernacles is also called Feast of Tents, Feast of Shelters, and Feast of Ingathering (Exodus 23:16b). The Jews call it Suk-kot. Suk-kot is the plural form of sukkah, which is a temporary shelter (more like a tent, booth or tabernacle), simple but rough, the kind used by Moses and the Israelites during the Exodus.

Its Old Covenant Significance

³⁴ Say to the Israelites: On [Tishri 15] the fifteenth day of the seventh month the Feast of Tabernacles begins, and it lasts for seven days [until Tishri 21]. ³⁵ The first day is a sacred assembly; do no regular work. ³⁶ For seven days present offerings made to the Lord by fire; and on the eighth day hold a sacred assembly and present an offering made to the Lord by fire. It is the closing assembly; do no regular work. LEVITICUS 23

The Israelites celebrate the Feast to reminisce the Exodus: how God sustained and watched over their nomadic forefathers, and helped them win their battles, as they went through the wilderness for 40 years. The Israelite family puts up a sukkah, eats and sleeps in it for seven days.

¹⁴ They found written in the Law, which the Lord commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in booths during the feast of the seventh month ¹⁵ and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from yrtles, palms and shade trees, to make booths”—as it is written. ¹⁶ So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves booths in their roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the gate of Ephraim…¹⁸ Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the feast for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly. NEHEMIAH 8

⁴² Live in booths for seven days. All native-born Israelites are to live in booths ⁴³ so your descendants will know that I had the Israelites live in booths when I brought them out of Egypt. I am the Lord your God. LEVITICUS 23

¹³ Celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles for seven days after you have gathered the produce of your threshing floor and your winepress. ¹⁴ Be joyful at your Feast—you, your sons and daughters, your menservants and maidservants, and the Levites, the aliens, the fatherless and the widows who live in your towns. ¹⁵ For seven days celebrate the Feast to the Lord your God at the place the Lord will choose. For the Lord your God will bless you in all your harvest and in everything you do, and your joy will be complete. DEUTERONOMY 16

⁴⁰ On the first day you are to take choice fruit from the trees, and palm fronds, leafy branches and poplars, and rejoice before the Lord your God for seven days. ⁴¹ Celebrate this as a festival to the Lord for seven days each year. This is to be a lasting ordinance for the generations to come. LEVITICUS 23

Its New Covenant Significance

The Feast of Tabernacles reminds everyone of the birth (nativity, incarnation) of Y’shua in Judaea, in the town of Bethlehem.

WAS HE REALLY BORN ON DECEMBER 25?

Bible scholars say that although it's not impossible, it seems unlikely:

The birth could not have happened on the cold-weather months of winter because shepherds were out in nearby fields watching over their flocks when He was born.  It was the custom then (as now) for shepherds in the Middle East to withdraw their flocks from the open districts and house them in a protective corral called a “sheepfold” from November through February.[1]

⁸ And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. ⁹ An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. ¹⁰ But the angel said, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. ¹¹ Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is the Messiah the Lord.” LUKE 2 

A census was called. The Roman and Judean rulers knew that taking a census in winter would have been impractical and unpopular. The winter season “would surely not have been chosen for a public enrollment, which necessitated the population's traveling from all parts to their natal districts, storms and rain making journeys both unsafe and unpleasant” (Cunningham Geikie, Holy-Days And Holidays, Christmas at Bethlehem).

All royal claimants would have especially been singled out to take the oath of allegiance to Caesar. Since both Joseph and Mary were descendants of King David, both had to appear in person and register in Bethlehem, their natal district. <www.versebyverse.org/doctrine/birthofchrist.html> However, if it were winter, pregnant Mary would have stayed home. It would be impractical for her, who was due to give birth, to travel the 70 miles from Nazareth to Bethlehem. <http://www.christian%20answers.net/Christmas/mythsaboutchristmas.html>

Generally a census would take place after the harvest season, around September or October, when it would not seriously affect the economy, the weather was good and the roads were still dry enough to allow easy travel. <http://www.newlife.net/%20chrtms10.html>

¹ In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world… ³ And everyone went to his own town to register. ⁴ So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David. ⁵ He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child. ⁶ While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷ and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. LUKE 2

John the Baptist was born six months ahead of Y’shua. John was born on the Passover. Assuming Mary had a normal pregnancy of 285 days, Y’shua would be born on Tishri 15. This is significant because it is the first day of Suk-kot. <http://www.%20newlife.net/chrtms10.htm>

²⁶ In the sixth month [of pregnancy of Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist], God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, ²⁷ to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. ²⁸ The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you." ²⁹ Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. ³⁰ But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. ³¹ You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Y’shua. ³² He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give to Him the throne of His father [ancestor] David, ³³ and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end." ³⁴ "How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?" ³⁵ 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. ³⁶ Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. ³⁷ For nothing is impossible with God.” ³⁸ “I am the Lord’s servant,” Mary answered. “May it be to me as you have said.” Then the angel left her. LUKE 1

How did the Passover birth of John the Baptist compute? Let’s see now.

⁵ In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly order of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. ⁶ Both of them were upright in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commandments and regulations blamelessly. ⁷ But they had no children, because Elizabeth was barren; and they were both [old] well along in years. ⁸ Once when Zechariah’s division was on duty and he was serving as priest before God, ⁹ he was chosen by lot, according to the custom of the priesthood, to go into the Temple of the Lord and burn incense. ¹⁰ And when the time for burning of incense came, all the assembled worshipers were praying outside. ¹¹ Then an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar of incense. ¹² When Zechariah saw him, he was startled and was gripped with fear. ¹³ But the angel said to him: "Do not be afraid, Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to give him the name John. ¹⁴ He will be a joy and delight to you, and many will rejoice because of his birth, ¹⁵ for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from birth. ¹⁶ Many of the people of Israel will he bring back to the Lord their God. ¹⁷ And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord." LUKE 1

The regular Jewish year occurs 12 times in a 19-year cycle. It consists of 12 lunar months of 29 or 30 days, for a total of 354 days. This is about 11 days less than a solar year (365.24 days). The year has 51 weeks divided as follows: 24 weeks (first half of the year) + 3 festival weeks + 24 weeks (second half of the year). To ensure that the Temple was cared for every week throughout the year, the descendants of Aaron's 24 grandsons (the sons of Eleazer and Ithamar) were divided into 24 divisions for the purpose of serving at the Temple (1 Chronicles 24:1-19). Each division was made to serve one week during the first half of the year, one week during the first half of the year, and 3 weeks during the 3 annual pilgrimage festivals for a total of 5 weeks every year. The service began and ended on the weekly Sabbath (1 Chronicles 9:25, 2 Chronicles 23:8). Two of the 3 annual pilgrimage festivals occur between the 1st and the 9th week of the year and 1 Chronicles 24:10 tells us that the 8th division of service was assigned to Abijah's descendants (Zechariah’s division). Therefore, Zechariah’s division would serve its first regular week during the 9th or 10th week of the year (depending on how the Feast of Weeks fell on the calendar). <http://users.aristotle.%20net/~bhuie/birthday.htm>

Remember that Zechariah's division served at the Temple twice a year. Scripture does not specify which of the two shifts of service it was. Regardless, nine months after one of the two dates John the Baptist was born. This would place his birth in March or September. The assumption that Luke was recording Zechariah's first shift of service for the year tends to prove true. The date of Zechariah's service would be the Jewish date of Sivan 12-18 (See the Companion Bible, Appendix 179, Section III). After his service in the Temple, Zechariah went home to his wife (Luke 1:23). Due to the laws of separation (Leviticus 12:5; 15:19, 25), two additional weeks have to be counted. So we will make a second assumption, that Elizabeth conceived a child two weeks after Zechariah's return. Allowing for this and going forward to a normal pregnancy places the birth of John the Baptist at the time of the Passover!  <http://www.newlife.%20net/chrtms10.html>

²⁴ After this his wife Elizabeth became pregnant and for five months remained in seclusion. ²⁵ “The Lord has done this for me,” she said. “In these days He has shown His favor and taken away my disgrace among the people.” LUKE 1

We find in John 1:14 an allusion to the Feast of Tabernacles.

¹⁴ And the Word became flesh, and did tabernacle among us, and we beheld His glory, glory as of an only begotten of a father, full of grace and truth. JOHN 1 ylt

The Feast of Tabernacles explains why Luke 2:7 says there was no room at the inn for Joseph and Mary. While it is true that much of this congestion would have been related to the census taken by the Romans at that time, there seems to be more to it. The Romans were known to take their censuses according to the prevailing custom of the occupied territories. (God’s Appointed Times, p. 95) A multitude of Jewish pilgrims from all over the Middle East had arrived in Jerusalem and surrounding areas to observe the Feast of Tabernacles, as God required in Deuteronomy 16:16. Bethlehem, which was only a few miles outside of Jerusalem, was also overflowing with visitors at this time because of the Feast. <http://users.aristotle.net/~bhuie/birthday.htm>

Barney Kasdan asked, “Would such an important event as the birth of the Messiah go unheralded by one of the biblical feasts? Of all the feasts of the Lord, Suk-kot best illustrates the fact that God would dwell in the midst of His people through the presence of the Messiah. He may have literally fulfilled the promise on the very Day of Tabernacles… Since we know that He died on Passover (March/April), by backtracking we arrive much closer to Suk-kot (September/ October) than to December 25 (A.T. Robertson, A Harmony of the Gospels, p.267).”

Why do people celebrate the nativity on December 25 if it is not Y’shua’s birthday?

Christmas celebration is man-made and paganic in origin. In 274 ad Roman emperor Aurelian proclaimed December 25 as Natalis solis invicti, the festival of “the birth of the invincible sun.” In 320 ad Pope Julius I proclaimed December 25 as the official date of the birth of the Lord Y’shua. In 325 ad Constantine the Great introduced Christmas as an immovable feast on December 25. In 354 ad Pope Liberius (352-366) officially ordered the celebration of the birth of the Lord to be done on December 25. <www.funandgames.org/hunt/jesus.htm>

The original significance of December 25 is that it was Saturnalia, a well-known Roman festival that celebrated the return of the sun. December 21 was winter solstice (shortest day of the year) and December 25 was the first day that the days were getting longer. <http://www.christiananswers.net/Christmas/mythsaboutchristmas.html>

ON WHAT YEAR WAS Y’SHUA BORN?

<Unless otherwise specified, materials on this section are taken from the Birth of Christ Recalculated, www.versebyverse.org/doctrine/birthofchrist.html>

In 525 ad Pope John I commissioned Roman monk-mathematician-astronomer Dionysius Exiguus to reform the calendar and pivot it around the birth of Christ. Dionysius dated the nativity in the year 1 ad, calculated to the date Herod the Great died. Unfortunately Dionysius miscalculated.

Y’SHUA could not have been born on or after 1 ad.

Rabbis start teaching at the age of 30. Early Christian scholar Epiphanius claimed that Y’shua was precisely twenty-nine years and ten months of age when He began His ministry (Dialogue with Trypho, 88). Luke 3:23 says Y’shua was about thirty years old. It was soon after John the Baptist began his. The Baptist began “in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar” (Luke 3:1), between 28 and 29 ad. If Y’shua was 30 years old in 29 ad, He must have been born on or before 1 bc.

In his Adv. Marcionem, IV, 7, Tertullian, a lawyer by profession and a Christian apologist, dated the Roman census at between 3 and 2 bc.

Year 2 bc was the Silver Jubilee of Augustus Caesar’s rule and the 750th anniversary of the founding of Rome. On February 5 the Senate and the people of Rome awarded him the highest of all decorations: Pater Patriae (Father of the Country). So he issued a decree calling for a census (fresh registration) of all who lived within the borders of the greater empire. The purpose was to secure an oath of allegiance “to be faithful to Caesar [Augustus] and [to] the interests of the king.” It is reasonable to assume that a period of about one year was allowed for complete enrollment, thus beginning the registration of 3 bc, in plenty of time for the celebrations in 2 bc when the title became official.

Scripture says Herod the Great died after the birth of the Messiah.

The historian Josephus noted that Augustus demanded the oath of allegiance (census) 12 or 15 months before Herod died. A lunar eclipse preceded the death by 18 days. (Antiquities of the Jews, XVII, 41). A total eclipse took place on Jan. 10, 1 bc. Backtracking 15 months from Jan. 28 would bring us to September 3 bc as the birth month and year of the Messiah. 

Most of the early Christian writers regarded the period 3 to 2 bc as the time of the nativity. Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Orosius, and Cassiodorus Senator said the birth of the Messiah came at the year we now recognize as 3 bc. The early chronologist, Julius Africanus, reckoned it in a period from 3 to 2 bc. Tertullian, Hippolytus of Rome, Origen, the Chronicon Cyrianicum, Eusebius of Caesarea, John Chrysostom, Jerome, Hippolytus of Thebes, the Paschal Chronicle, Photius the Patriarch of Constantinople, the Greek historian Zonaras, Bar Hebraeus (who quoted Syrian, Armenian, and Greek sources), Epiphanius and the early Syrian chronological work, the Chronicon Edessenum, indicate the nativity was 2 bc.

Scripture says an unusual astronomical activity occurred during the birth of the Messiah.

¹ After Y’shua was born in Bethlehem in Judea, during the time of King Herod, Magi from the east came to Jerusalem ² 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.” ⁹ …They went on their way, and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the Child was. ¹⁰ When they saw the star, they were overjoyed. ¹¹ On coming to the house, they saw the child with His mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped Him. MATTHEW 2

Beginning August 3 bc and ending December 2 bc, a number of planetary and stellar phenomena occurred which could not but have excited observers:

On August 1, 3 bc, the planet Jupiter became visible above the eastern horizon as a morning star. Twelve days later, a little before 4 a.m., Jupiter would have been in close conjunction with Venus (already a morning star for 6 months), and the space between them was just about 0.08 degrees, though the planets did not appear to touch one another (a rare phenomenon indeed). Some five days later, Mercury emerged from the Sun also to become a morning star. While this was happening, Venus left its previous conjunction with Jupiter and headed toward Mercury.

On the morning of September 1, Venus and Mercury came into conjunction 0.35 degrees from each other. It must be kept in mind that these planetary motions and relationships are the apparent ones viewed by observers on earth.

After its September 1 meeting with Mercury, Venus journeyed back into the light of the Sun, emerging in the west as an evening star about December 20, 3 bc, and when this happened, an observer would have witnessed the planet just after sunset moving progressively higher in the sky (going more easterly) with each succeeding day. This movement placed Venus on a collision course with Jupiter which was moving westward. At the period when Venus had just passed its easternmost elongation from the Sun (the farthest east of the Sun that Venus ever reaches) on June 17, 2 bc, the two planets "collided." They were in 0.04 degrees away from each other. This was a most uncommon occurrence. To an observer on Earth, the luminosity that each planet displayed made them look like one gigantic star. It was as if Venus had stretched herself as far eastward as she was able, in order to join with Jupiter as he reached westward to meet her. This conjunction occurred at the exact time of the full Moon. The whole of the evening sky was being illumined from the east by the full light of the Moon, while the western quarter was being adorned with the Jupiter/Venus conjunction. Professor D.C. Morton, Senior Research Astronomer at Princeton University, said this conjunction of June 17, 2 bc, was a notable astronomical event (ZPEB, Vol. I, p. 398). Such closeness had not been witnessed in generations. Roger W. Sinnott, writing in the astronomical journal Sky and Telescope, December, 1968, pp. 384-386, referred to this conjunction as a brilliant "double star" which finally gave the appearance of fusing together into a single "star" as the planets drew nearer the western horizon. He said that only the sharpest of eyes would have been able to split them and that the twinkling caused by the unsteady horizon atmosphere would have blended them into one gigantic "star" for almost all viewers. “The fusion of two planets would have been a rare and awe-inspiring event" (p. 386). Here were the two brightest planets in the heavens merging together. This was happening at the period when Venus was approaching her time of greatest brilliance.

This splendid conjunction was only half the picture. While Jupiter was on its westward journey to link up with Venus for the spectacular June 17, 2 bc reunion, Jupiter was showing some displays of its own. Just 33 days after the first Jupiter/Venus conjunction (August 12, 3 bc), an observer would have seen Jupiter come into juxtaposition with Regulus (the principal star in the constellation of Leo, a star of the 1st magnitude). The conjunction occurred on September 14, 3 bc and viewed from Earth, the two celestial bodies were 0.67 degrees apart. After that, Jupiter proceeded on its normal course through the heavens and on December 1, 3 bc, the planet stopped its motion through the fixed stars to begin its annual retrogression. In doing so, it headed once again towards the star Regulus. Then on February 17, 2 bc, the two were reunited (1.19 degrees apart). Jupiter was again side by side with the star, the two bodies being 1.06 degrees from each other (for Jupiter to unite with Regulus 3 times in 1 year is not common. It occurred 12 years earlier in 15/14 bc, and before that in 86/85 bc. It was not to recur until 69/70 ad). After this 3rd conjunction with Regulus, Jupiter continued moving westward for 40 days (in an apparent sense) to reunite with Venus in the rare conjunction of June 17, 2 bc.

This is not all. On August 27, 2 bc, the planet Mars, which had played no active part in the conjunctions, "caught up" with Jupiter and formed a very close union (Mars travels faster in its motion through the stars than Jupiter and overtakes it in a little over 2 years). At this conjunction the two were only 0.09 degrees from each other. Such nearness is not an ordinary occurrence. Besides this, there was also a convergence of Venus and Mercury into the same part of the sky as Jupiter and Mars. This means that four major planets were all positioned around one another in an exceptional longitudinal relationship. An assemblage of planets in such close proximity to one another is called in astrological circles a massing of the planets. And look at the close association they had to each other. The longitude of Jupiter was 142.6 degrees, Mars 142.64, Venus 141.67, and Mercury 143.71. This would have been an interesting sight to behold, but the visible effect would have been diminished because of the rays of the dawn, since the four planets were only 8 degrees ahead of the Sun.

Who the Magi Were

The Magi came from the court of the Parthian kings. They were originally one of the six tribes of the Medes (Herodotus, I, 101; Pliny, Natural History, V, 29) a priestly caste similar to the Levites. In their early history their occupation was to provide the kings of the Medes and Persians (also Babylonians) with divine information about daily affairs (Strabo, XVI, 762; Cicero, De Divin., I, 41). Because of the high religious esteem accorded them by the peoples of the east (Doig. Laert. IX, 7,2), they were able in the 6th century bc to overturn royal powers (Herodotus, III, 61 sq.).

Their role in interpreting divine matters is also mentioned in the Scripture, as Daniel in the days of Nebuchadnezzar became the “chief of the magicians (the Magi), enchanters, astrologers and diviners” (Daniel 5:11). Daniel's influence over the Magian colleges of the east must explain why they were looking for astronomical confirmation to go along with the prophecies that called for a Jewish king to be born in those days (Daniel 9:24-27). They were not of the certain classes of charlatans and sorcerers who preyed upon people, as Herod and Jerusalem would have hardly been troubled by such persons (Matthew 2:1-12).

The Romans were also aware of the prophecy: "A firm belief had long prevailed through the east that it was destined for the empire of the world at that time to be given to someone who should go forth from Judaea" (Suetonius, Vespasian, 4). "The majority of the Jewish people were very impressed with the belief that it was contained in ancient writings of the priests that it would come to pass that at that time, the east would renew its strength and they that should go forth from Judaea should be rulers of the world" (Tacitus, History, V, 13). Even Nero was advised by court astrologers that it was prudent for him to move his seat of empire to Jerusalem because the city was destined to become the capital of the world (Seutonius, Nero, 40).

Certainly, the Magi were well acquainted with the national aspirations of the Jews. Most Jews of the time admired them as they were not idolaters, and because of their former association with Daniel. Their main occupation was in the interpretation of things divine: dreams, visions, prophecies, astronomical signs.

When the Magi came to Jerusalem to worship the new-born King, isn't it interesting that the gifts they brought (gold, frankincense, and myrrh) were the gifts mentioned in the Greek translation of Isaiah 60:6 that foreign kings would bring to Israel's Messiah? The gifts were the customary gifts of subject nations, and so this act signified something more than another royal birth (their presence got Herod's attention, as well as all Jerusalem, and so Herod called a special session of the Sanhedrin to evaluate what the Magi had said).

Biblical Sequence of the After-Birth Events

It has long been recognized that the Magi arrived in Jerusalem some time after the Messiah was born (Matthew 2:2). Tradition says they arrived on December 25. The parents of Y’shua were then living in a house, not a stable (Matthew 2:11); and Y’shua was being called a paidion (child), not a brephos (infant). By then Y’shua had been circumcised (Luke 2:21) and presented in the Temple some 40 days after His birth (Luke 2:22-24). Luke 2:39 says the family had “returned to Galilee, to their own city of Nazareth” (Luke 2:39).[2] (This means they did not go to Egypt immediately after the Messiah’s birth.) Then for some reason, they decided to move to Bethlehem, where they set up house (Matthew 2:11).

After the Magi presented their gifts, they returned home by a different route, having been warned by an angel. The holy family fled to Egypt after the Magi had left.  

The Magi 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.” (Matthew 2:1) Of course this upset Herod, who had been given the title "King of the Jews" by the Roman Senate.

³ When King Herod heard this he was disturbed, and all Jerusalem with him. ⁴ When he had called together all the people’s chief priests and teachers of the Law, he asked them where the Messiah was to be born. ⁵ “In Bethlehem in Judea,” they replied, “for this is what the prophet has written…” ⁷ Then Herod called the Magi secretly and found out from them the exact time the star had appeared. MATTHEW 2

The wise men did not return to give Herod a report.

⁶ When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the wise men. MATTHEW 2

Herod ordered the boys two years old and under to be killed because it was the custom in ancient Israel to count the years of one's age from the date of conception. In other words, when a child is born he is one year old until his first birthday (this is still a practice in some oriental cultures). <http://www.newlife.net/chrtms10.htm>

It seems odd that Josephus who wrote so much about Herod, made no mention of Herod ordering the murder of all the boys in Bethlehem. Josephus might have omitted the slaying for one of two reasons: first, he was no friend of Christianity and he left it out intentionally; or second, just before Herod died he locked up 3,000 of the nation's leading citizens and gave orders that they were to be executed at the hour of his death. He wanted to make sure that there would be mourning when he died… Isra’el was so preoccupied with this that the clandestine murder of a few babies might have gone unnoticed… 

The best word to describe Herod’s reign is “overkill.” He murdered his favorite wife's father, drowned her brother—and even killed her! He executed one of his most trusted friends, his barber, and 300 military leaders—all in a day's work! Then he slew three of his sons, allegedly suspecting them of treason. Josephus tells us that "Herod inflicted such outrages upon (the Jews) as not even a beast could have done if it possessed the power to rule over men" (Antiquities of the Jews, XVII, 310). Killing babies was not out of character for this cruel king. And killing them up to two years old—to make sure he got the baby Y’shua—lines up with his insane jealousy for power. <http://www.bible.org/page.asp?page_id=656>

Trumpet Call

It is nonsensical to celebrate the nativity on Dec. 25. The “holy tradition” must be rejected and discontinued. We study the truth so we will not be fooled by what is counterfeit. We get down to details so we can provide common-sense reasons for our beliefs. He who worships God in truth is the kind of worshiper God seeks (John 4:23).

Let us celebrate on Tishri 15, with emphasis on four spiritual necessities:

1.    To remind everyone of God’s great love for the humankind. He tabernacled in human body to personally shepherd us, protect us from the pangs of the predator, and direct us to where the green pasture is. 

¹⁶ God is wooing you from the jaws of distress to a spacious place free from restriction, to the comfort of your table laden with choice food. JOB 36

2.    To refit the human spirit into a holy and pure tent.  

⁸ Have them make a sanctuary [a sacred tent] for Me, and I will dwell among them. EXODUS 25

¹ I am God Almighty. Walk before Me and be blameless. GENESIS 17

⁶ We… know that as long as we are at home in the [flesh] body we are away from the Lord. ¹ We know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2 CORINTHIANS 5

3.    To discard our life of confusion and compromise. 

² Do not conform anymore to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. ROMANS 12

4.    To proclaim the truth and thereby renew everyone’s faith in God's Word—that it is true, verifiable and historically accurate. John Reid noted that identifying the true date of nativity does not only destroy the entire foundation of the Christmas holiday. It points to the proper time of the Messianic ministry, crucifixion and resurrection, which helps to disprove the Good Friday-Easter Sunday tradition too.

General Exhortation

Birthdays, baptisms, graduations, debuts, weddings and anniversaries are celebrated in the Philippines. We celebrate town fiestas, Christmas, New Year, Valentine, Eid’l Fitr, Thanksgiving, Halloween, Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day. We do bienvenida (welcome) and despedida (farewell) parties. 

What usually happens?            

The adults excuse themselves from their work, and the children from school, to the preparations and the actual celebration. Money, time and effort are spent. The place of celebration is decorated and made spic and span. Enough food and drinks (as well as seats and eating utensils) are made available.   

On the day of actual celebration the family brings along friends. Young and old, rich and poor, the literate and the illiterate—they travel to the place no matter how far it is. Cars and vans are rented if necessary. Everyone travels with enthusiasm and gladness. Everyone looks good and smells good. There is music and dancing and merrymaking.

How we wish the Sabbaths are celebrated with equal zeal and attention. Sabbath observance is far more vital to our well-being than any man-made tradition. And it is a superb occasion to please our Creator and Teacher.

Lucifer is doing his best to confuse us saying that observing the Sabbaths has nothing to do with our personal salvation. Do not believe it. Do not give him the satisfaction! Disobey Commandment No. 4 and you miss the mark. Miss the mark and you become impure. Nothing impure can enter the kingdom and stay in it.

Observe the Sabbaths as God commanded. The Christian who does not is not a Christian at all. Y’shua said, “If you do not keep the Sabbath as the Sabbath, you will not see the Father” (Gospel of Thomas).

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[1] Barney Kasdan, God’s Appointed Times (Baltimore, Maryland: Lederer Messianic Publications, 1993), p. 96.

[2] A Targum commenting on Exodus 12:42 states that “Moses cometh forth from the desert and Messias goeth forth from Roma.” This Roma was a village located near to the town of Nazareth [Charles R. Condor, Palestine Exploration Fund (Quarterly Report, January 1876), p. 98].—The Signature of God, p. 95.