Some Christmas Facts?

Christmas In The Old Testament

(The life of Jesus as told through the Old Testament. Written roughly 700 years before His birth)
God spoke and said, "O Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me The One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting. (Micah 5:2)

A Star shall come out of Jacob (Numbers 24:17).

Behold! The virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)"

And the world rejoiced and cried out, "Unto us a Child is born, unto us a Son is given. And the government will be upon His shoulder. And His name will be called Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace! (Isaiah 9:6)

Surely He has borne our griefs And carried our sorrows; Yet we esteemed Him stricken, Smitten by God, and afflicted. But He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities; The chastisement for our peace was upon Him, And by His stripes we are healed. All we like sheep have gone astray; We have turned, every one, to his own way; And the Lord has laid on Him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:4-6).

Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise Him; He has put Him to grief. When You make His soul an offering for sin, He shall see His seed, He shall prolong His days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in His hand. He shall see the labor of His soul, and be satisfied."
Then God declared, "By His knowledge My righteous Servant shall justify many, For He shall bear their iniquities. Therefore I will divide Him a portion with the great, And He shall divide the spoil with the strong. Because He poured out His soul unto death, And He was numbered with the transgressors, And He bore the sin of many, And made intercession for the transgressors (Isaiah 10-12)."


Why a Virgin Birth?

Every Christmas season our thoughts turn to the birth of Christ and to his mother, Mary. To some extent, we all take the nativity for granted. But why was Jesus born of a virgin? One answer, of course, is to fulfill the prophecy of Isaiah 7:14: "Behold the virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
But that's more descriptive than causal: why was it necessary in the first place? There are, of course, many profound theological issues inherent in the virgin birth. One way to view this issue is to address one of the problems it solves.
The Problem
God announced very early that His plan for redemption involved the Messiah being brought forth from the tribe of Judah1, and specifically from the line of David2. The succession of subsequent kings proved to be, with only a few exceptions, a dismal chain. As the succeeding kings of Judah went from bad to worse, we eventually encounter Jeconiah (also known as Jehoiachin), upon whom God pronounces a " blood curse" : "Thus saith the Lord, Write ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah."(Jeremiah 22:30)
This curse created a rather grim and perplexing paradox: the Messiah had to come from the royal line, yet now there was a "blood curse" on that very line of descent! (I always visualize a celebration in the councils of Satan on that day. But then I imagine God turning to His angels, saying, "Watch this one!")
The Solution
The answer emerges in the differing genealogies of Jesus Christ recorded in the gospels. Matthew, as a Levi, focuses his gospel on the Messiahship of Jesus and presents Him as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Thus, Matthew traces the legal line from Abraham (as any Jew would) through David, then through Solomon (the . royal. line) to Joseph, the legal father of Jesus3.
On the other hand, Luke, as a physician, focuses on the humanity of Jesus and presents Him as the Son of Man. Luke traces the blood line from Adam (the first Man) through to David -- and his genealogy from Abraham through David is identical to Matthew's. But then after David, Luke departs from the path taken by Matthew and traces the family tree through another son of David (the second surviving son of Bathsheba), Nathan, down through Heli, the father of Mary, the mother of Jesus4.
Zelophehad
One should also note the exception to the law which permitted inheritance through the daughter if no sons were available and she married within her tribe5.
The daughters of Zelophehad had petitioned Moses for a special exception, which was granted when they entered the land under Joshua.
I believe it was C.I. Scofield who first noted that the claims of Christ rely upon this peculiar exception granted to the family of Zelo-phehad in the Torah. Heli, Mary's father, apparently had no sons, and Mary married within the tribe of Judah. Jesus was born of the virgin Mary, of the house and lineage of David and carrying legal title to the line, but without the blood curse of Jeconiah. [I believe that every detail in the Torah -- and the entire Bible -- has a direct link to Jesus Christ. "The volume of the book is written of me." (Psalm 40:7) [For a more detailed discussion, watch for our new book, Cosmic Codes -- Hidden Messages from the Edge of Eternity, presently in publication.]
Earlier Glimpse
This was no afterthought or post facto remedy, of course. It was first announced in the Garden of Eden when God declared war on Satan: " I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel."(Genesis 3:15)
The "Seed of the Woman" thus becomes one of the prophetic titles of the Messiah. This biological contradiction is the first hint -- in the early chapters of Genesis -- of the virgin birth.
John also presents a genealogy, of sorts, of the Pre-Existent One in the first three verses of his gospel6. The Prophet Micah also highlights this: " But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting."(Micah 5:2)

Christmas Questions & Answers

WAS JESUS REALLY BORN DECEMBER 25th?
Probably not. In Luke 2:1-5 we learn that Joseph and Mary were traveling to Bethlehem to register for a census (Rome wanted to know how many people there were so they would know how much was owed to them in taxes). It would be foolish to have so many people travel in the wintertime. The widely held belief is that Jesus was born in the spring, summer or early fall at the latest because the shepherds were more likely to be out in the fields that time of year.
So why is Christmas on December 25th? In 336 AD the church decided to celebrate Jesus' birth on December 25th to offset the pagan celebration of the winter solstice.

WHY WAS JESUS BORN IN BETHLEHEM?
In Micah 5:2, we find a prophecy that tells us the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. If we go to the book of Ruth we find the connection between Jesus and Bethlehem. We discover that the Messianic line (Jesus' earthly family tree) began in Bethlehem. Ruth and her husband Boaz began the line when they had a child named Obed who was David's grandfather.
There is a very old tradition that says that Ruth and Boaz began their family in the exact same location that Jesus was born some 1100 years later and the fields of Ruth 2 are the same fields the angels visited the shepherds in Luke 2. Another interesting connection is found in the meaning of Bethlehem. Bethlehem means "house of bread". An appropriate name for Jesus' birthplace because He referred to Himself as "the bread of life" (John 6:35).

WHO WERE THE MAGI?
The Magi (or Wise Men) were a priesthood of the Medes (known today as the Kurds). They were said to have great religious knowledge and held much political power. But how did they know Jesus was born? In Daniel 5:11 we read that Daniel was made Chief of the Magi. Daniel, no stranger to prophecy, must have taught about the coming of the Messiah.
Because of their high standing and the fact they were traveling into Roman occupied territory, they were certain to have been escorted by many armed guards. This is why Matthew 2:3 says that Herod and all Jerusalem were troubled when they heard the Magi were looking for the true King of the Jews. Herod held that title and it was feared that this was an attempt to overthrow Roman rule! (Matthew 2:1-12).
Their visit led to Herod ordering all male children two years old and under killed (Matt. 2:16-18). He had hoped that Jesus would be among the dead. The Magi presented Jesus with three gifts. Gold, which represented His Kingship, frankincense was a spice used in priestly duties and points to Jesus as our High Priest (Hebrews 4:14), and myrrh, an embalming ointment which anticipated His death. Together these gifts present a picture of the Savior: The King (gold) who is Holy (frankincense) and who came to be a Sacrifice for our sins (myrrh).

WHAT WAS THE STAR THE MAGI FOLLOWED?
There are all sorts of ideas about what the star the Magi saw really was in Matthew 2:2. Some have said it was a comet, others have said it was a conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.

WHY WERE THE SHEPHERDS SO IMPORTANT?
Luke 2:8-15 tells the beautiful story of the angels telling the shepherds about the birth of Jesus. Shepherds were not very high up on the social scale. But while they were not well thought of by men, in the eyes of God they were very special. So special that He sent a multitude of angels to invite them to come and worship His Son. The shepherds were important because they showed that Jesus was a gift to all of us, regardless of who we are.
As we read the accounts of the birth of Jesus we find the Magi -- powerful and respected standing beside the shepherds -- weak and lowly and all were bowing down worshiping the newborn King. All were equal in His sight. And good tidings of great joy were -- and still are today -- for all people.