Christmas

"Lo, I (Jesus/Yeshua) have come, in the volume of the book (Bible) it is written of me" Psalms 40:7

Christmas is not just a randomly assigned holiday, It is proven by scripture to be the exact date when our Lord came to dwell with us!

_{My hope here is to show some of the depth of the Bible and to clear up
some long standing misconceptions (pun not intended) about why December 25th is celebrated as a Christian holy celebration. It is not as is widely held the day our Lord was born (stick with me now). It is rather the
celebration of the day He came to dwell with us, His conception.}

We know that Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth on the day that Jesus was conceived in Mary through the power of the Holy Spirit:

Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Luk 1:36 And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren.

Now the question in my mind is if we can examine the scriptures to determine what time of the year it was that Elizabeth conceived her son (John the baptist). I think we can, lets try.

Luk 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

Luk 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.

Luk 1:7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.

Luk 1:8 And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,

Luk 1:9 According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord.

OK, so Elizabeths husband, Zacharias, was a priest of the course of Abijah (or Abia depending on how you want to transliterate it). The question now comes to mind, what is this course of Abijah? I will use the very excellent notes from appendix 179 of The Companion Bible to explain.

"THE COURSE OF ABIA" (Luke 1:5).

This was the eighth of the priestly courses of ministration in the Temple (1 Chronicles 24:10), and occurred, as did the others, twice in the year.

The "Courses"were changed every week, beginning each with a Sabbath. The reckoning commenced on the 22nd day of Tisri or Ethanim.. This was the eighth and last day of the Feast of Tabernacles = the "Great Day of the Feast" (John 7:37), and was a Sabbath (Leviticus 23:39).

The first course fell by lot to Jehoiarib, and the eighth to Abia or Abijah (1 Chronicles 24:10).

Bearing in mind that all the courses served together at the three Great Feasts, the dates for the two yearly "ministrations" of Abiah will be seen to fall as follows:

The first ⁹ ministration was from 12-18 Chisleu = December 6-12.

The second ministration was from 12-18 Sivan = June 13-19.

Now we know the dates, lets follow the scripture a little more.

Luk 1:10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense.

Luk 1:11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.

Luk 1:12 And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him.

Luk 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

Luk 1:14 And thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth.

Luk 1:15 For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from his mother's womb.

Luk 1:16 And many of the children of Israel shall he turn to the Lord their God.

Luk 1:17 And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.

Luk 1:18 And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man and my wife well stricken in years.

Luk 1:19 And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to show thee these glad tidings.

The announcement therefore to Zacharias in the Temple as to the conception of John the Baptist took place between 12-18 SIVAN (June 13-19), in the year 5 B.C. After finishing his "ministration", the aged priest "departed to his own house"

Luk 1:23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.

which was in a city¹⁰ in "the hill country" of Juda (verse 39).

The day following the end of the "Course of Abia " being a Sabbath (Sivan 19), he would not be able to leave Jerusalem before the 20th.

The thirty miles journey would probably occupy, for an old man, a couple of days at least. He would therefore arrive at his house on the 21st or 22nd. This leaves ample time for the miraculous "conception" of Elizabeth to take place on or about 23rd of SIVAN ¹¹ - which would correspond to June 23-24 of that year.

Luk 1:24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,

Luk 1:25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.

The fact of the conception and its date would necessarily be known at the time and afterwards, and hence the 23rd SIVAN would henceforth be associated with the conception of John Baptist as the 1st TEBETH would be with that of our Lord.

Luk 1:26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,

Luk 1:27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.

Luk 1:28 And the angel came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.

Luk 1:29 And when she saw him, she was troubled at his saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this should be.

Luk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.

Luk 1:31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.

Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:

Luk 1:33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.

Which would make this correspond on our calendar to December 25th.

The great date when

Luk 1:39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Judah;

Luk 1:40 And entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.

Luk 1:41 And it came to pass, that, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost:

Luk 1:42 And she spake out with a loud voice, and said, Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.

And

Joh 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

Praise to you Lord Jesus may we be filled with your spirit and rejoice in this the season when you came to dwell among us.