Return to 7 Feasts IndexTo: "Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup"<heb_roots_chr@geocities.com> Date: Fri, 17 Oct 1997 00:12:35 +0000 Subject: The Birth of Yeshua/Jesus during Sukkot
From: Colleen To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com Subject: Re: The Birthday of Yeshua during Sukkot
I am new to the group so forgive me if I repeat an already asked question or two. I am not of Jewish heritage and have never celebrated the feasts etc. but, I am fascinated that this is the time of our Saviours birth. I am fully aware however though that Dec. 25 was chosen to make the celebration of Jesus more acceptable to the pagans but, my question would be this. Is it not more important to celebrate the event in the spirit of thanksgiving to our God who sent the Christ.....Messiah (excuse me I don't use the same terminology that you would use) as opposed to being overly concerned with dates. I know that within the Christian community there is currently quite a stir about the issue of the date of Christ's birth. I am not saying it is wrong to know when I am just curious what your stand would be. I am so grateful for this news group as I enjoy studying the culture in which jesus came into and grew up in since it totally changes many of my understandings of the scriptures......thank you for inviting me in.
Colleen
>From Eddie: **************
Colleen,
Here is my advice to your question. In Jeremiah 29:13 it is written:
"And ye shall seek me and find me when you search for me with all your heart"
In Matthew 5:6 it is written:
"Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled"
In John 4:24 it is written:
"God is a Spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth".
In Romans 8:14 it is written:
"For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God"
In Psalm 37:23 it is written:
"The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way"
You are studying the Hebraic Roots of your faith because you are being led by the Ruach HaKodesh / Holy Spirit of God. Following after the ways of God is a STEP BY STEP PROCESS. In Isaiah 28:9-10 it is written:
"Who shall he teach knowledge? and whom shall he make to understand doctrine? ... For precept must be upon precept, precept upon precept, here a little, and there a little"
None of us are where we are in the Lord overnight, it is a process of growth, learning and understanding. So, keep studying. The Lord will direct your steps and you will be led by the Spirit of God. Then, you will make all your decisions with the peace of God in your heart.
>From Colleen: ****************
P.S I am aware you are observing your holy days and will wait patiently for a reply.
>From Eddie: **************
Colleen, I am not Jewish. I was raised in traditional Christianity. In Leviticus 23:2 it is written:
" ... concerning the FEASTS of the LORD which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, even these are MY FEASTS"
God in His love has INVITED us to come to HIS Feasts. Isn't God great to invite us to come to HIS celebrations? God is so awesome! His mercy and love endures forever! Won't it be great to be invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb also? (Rev 19:7-9)
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> > From: Laurie Show > To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com > Subject: Feast of Tabernacles > > Shalom! > > Thank you so much for your daily postings! I love it! This year will > be our first year celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles. We're very excited! > As a converted Gentile family, > we have begun to replace the traditional Christian holidays with the Feasts > one by one. We do get a little flack about it, but it has been so wonderful > to learn more about the wonderful God whom we serve through them. > > Thank you in advance, > > Laurie Show > > ***********************************************************************
From: RICH ALTOM To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com Subject: Re: Feast of Tabernacles Info
DEAR BROTHER IN THE LORD:
I AM ALSO A NON-JEW WHO HAS COME TO THE WONDERFUL UNDERSTANDNG OF THE FESTIVALS OF G-D. WE ALSO GET FLACK ABOUT IT, BUT THE SPRIRIT IS WORKING TO SHOW US THE WAS IN WHICH WE SHOULD. PRAY FOR ME AND MY HOUSE AND I WILL DO THE SAME FOR YOU.
SHALOM RICH
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From: Eddie Chumney To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com Subject: The Birth of Yeshua during Sukkot
THE BIRTH OF YESHUA DURING SUKKOT (Taken from the book, "Seven Festivals of the Messiah")
With the end of the year approaching, without a doubt we will probably be getting into the "Christmas" debate about Christmas having it's origins in the worship of the sun god in Mythraism and Dec 25th being the birthday of the sun god. The Roman Catholic church adopted Dec 25 as the birthday of Yeshua/Jesus to allow for those who worshipped Mithras to be more easily converted to Roman Catholicism. The Eastern Orthodox church regards "Christmas" as being on Jan 6th.
What most Protestants don't realize is that Protestants have not fully left those things that were brought in by the Roman Catholic church when they mixed paganism (Egyptian/Babylonian/Mithraism) worship and practices with the worship of the God of Israel and sanctioned this mixed worship as the true worship of the God of Israel. By understanding the themes of the festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles), we can understand that Yeshua/Jesus was most probably born on the first day of Sukkot (Tishrei 15). Let us examine some of the facts which leads us to this conclusion.
In Luke 1:5, Zachariah is a priest of the division of Abijah. What does this mean? Israel was divided into 24 districts at the time of Yeshua/Jesus. Each of these districts sent two representatives to officiate at the Temple during the weeks of the year. In I Chron 24, the first division of the priests would serve in the first week of the year which would be both in the month of Nisan and Tishrei since both months begin the new year, Tishrei on the Civil Calendar and Nisan on the religious calendar. During the Festivals, the priests from all 24 districts would go to Jerusalem to help with the festival activities.
In I Cor 24:10, we see that Abijah was the eighth division or course of priests. The course of Abijah would minister in the 10th week of the year (Passover and Shavuot all would come).
In Luke 1:9-10, we see that Zacharias is burning incense. This is done in the room of the temple known as the Holy Place. As the incense (which represents the prayers of God's people ... Psalm 141:2, Rev 8:3-4) is being burned by the priests in the temple, 18 special prayers are prayed. These 18 prayers would be prayed every day in the Temple. One of these prayers is for the coming of Elijah. This is important to understand because it was understood by the people that Elijah would proceed the coming of the Messiah (Malachi 4:5).
In Luke 1:11-13, the angel appeared on the right side of the altar and told Zacharias that his prayer was heard and John the Immerser (Baptist) would be born. John was not literally Elijah but of the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17).
Allowing two weeks for the monthly period of separation between man and wife that God commanded in Lev 12:5, 15:19.,24-25 after going back to the house (Luke 1:23) and then going forward nine months puts the birth of John during the festival of Passover. This is an extremely important point because during the service for Passover, which is called the Passover Seder, the people are instructed by God to go to the door and look for Elijah while the Passover meal is eaten. The cup is called the cup of Elijah. The understanding that Elijah will proceed the coming of Messiah is the basis for the question and discussion as found in (Matthew 17:10-13).
In Luke 1:26, during the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary. This should have been around the 25th of Kislev otherwise known as Chanukah. During the time of the first century, Chanukah was known as the second Sukkot. During the time of Chanukah, all the Sukkot prayers would be prayed again. Mary's dialogue with the angel Gabriel is still found in the Sukkot liturgy today.
If you calculate from the 25th of Kislev and add 8 days for the festival of Chanukah plus nine months for Mary's pregnancy, this will bring you to the time of the Festival of Sukkot or Tishrei 15. On Tishrei 22 (also known as the 8th day ... Lev 23:36, Yeshua/Jesus was circumcised (Luke 2:22-23, Lev 12:1-3)
OTHER EVIDENCES OF YESHUA'S BIRTH DURING SUKKOT
The feast of Sukkot is called "the season of our joy" and "the feast of the nations". With this in mind, in Luke 2:10 it is written:
"And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of GREAT JOY (the season of our joy) which shall be to ALL PEOPLE (the feast of the nations)"
In Luke 2:12, the babe is wrapped in "swaddling cloths" and "lying in a manger". The swaddling cloths of the priests were used as wicks to light the 16 vats of oil within the court of the women during the festival of Sukkot. So, swaddling cloths are associated with the feast of Sukkot. The word "manger" in Luke 2:12 is the Gree word "platn'e". This word is translated as "stall" in Luke 13:15. So, we can see that the word "manger/stall" can mean a place for hitching cattle. The Hebrew word for "stall" is "marbek" which can be found in Amos 6:4 and Malachi 4:2. In Genesis 33:17, it is written that Jacob journeyed to SUKKOT and made BOOTHS for his CATTLE.
Therefore, by studying and understanding the festival of Sukkot and the themes and messages that God desired to be communicated to us during this festival, enables us to read the Bible in a new light and also allows us to understand that Yeshua/Jesus was born during the season of Sukkot not on Dec 25th which is the birthday of the sun god in Mithraism.
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From: Uri Marcus To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com Subject: The Biblical Birthday of Yeshua/Jesus
MESSIAHMAS ? ---------------------
Most Gentile Christians wouldn't bother to speculate about the time when Y'shua (Jesus) was born. They celebrate it on December 25th even though they may suspect that there is no Biblical basis for choosing that date. However, there are some Messianic Jews who believe that they know, with a reasonable degree of certainty, the time of year when Y'shua was born. Taking into account certain Jewish customs and traditions, it's not difficult to calculate it.
The calculation of the time of Y'shua's birth begins with Z'chariyahu (Zechariah), the father of Yochanan (John) the Baptist. According to Luke 1:5 he was a priest of the order of Aviyah. He was performing his duties, burning incense in the Beit HaMikdash (Temple), when an angel appeared and said his wife Eli-Sheva would conceive and bear a son, and he would be called Yochanan (John).
The order in which the priestly families performed their duties is given in 1 Chronicles 24:7-18. According to the Mishnah, the cycle begins on the first Shabbat (Sabbath) of Nisan, and each family of priests would minister in turn for one week. Since there are 24 families, each family would minister about twice a year. The cycle would be delayed slightly because all priests, regardless of their families, were required to be at the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) for the three festivals of Pesach (Passover), Shavu'ot (Pentecost) and Succot (Tabernacles).
The family of Aviyah was eighth in line, so Z'chariyahu would have had his first period of duty during Sivan (about June) and his second period during Kislev about six months later. There is no way of knowing for sure which period of duty is referred to in Luke's Gospel, but if we suppose it is the first period we get some very interesting results.
Z'chariyahu finished his first period of duty about the middle of Sivan. Because of his unbelief, G-d struck him dumb, but his reproductive system was still working. He went home to his wife and she became pregnant. Count off 40 weeks, the usual period of gestation, and we get to the month of Nisan the following year. Beginning on the 14th of Nisan, and lasting for eight days, we have the festival of Pesach (Passover), which roughly coincides with Easter on the Christian calendar. This raises the distinct possibility that Yochanan the Baptist was born at Pesach, which coincides with the Jewish expectation that Eliyahu (Elijah) would come at Pesach. The Jews always put an extra cup of wine on the table at Pesach, in the hope that Eliyahu will come and drink it.
If Yochanan the Baptist was born at Pesach, Yeshua must have been born during the High Holy Days or at Succot. In Luke 1:26 and 36 we are told that Y'shua was six months younger than John.
When the decree went out for everyone to go to their home town to be registered, Yoseph and Miriam set off for Beit Lechem (Bethlehem). They would have set out in good time, before Miriam was fully 40 weeks pregnant, because she wouldn't want to be jogged into childbirth while riding on a donkey. Besides, they would have wanted to complete the journey before Rosh Hashana.
We are given a clue about the time of the birth by the angel who appeared to the shepherds and said "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people". (Luke 2:10). There are actually two clues here. Succot is a festival of joy, and it is also known as the "Festival of the Nations (or Gentiles)". The angel was actually giving them a greeting for the Festival of Succot. This is the only festival where the nations are positively encouraged to participate. (Z'chariyahu 14:16-19).
During Succot, the Jews contruct flimsy shelters called "Succot", using wood and leaves, and eat or sleep in them. This is to remember how they were completely dependent on God as they wandered around for forty years in the desert when they came out of Egypt and were led by "a pillar of cloud by day, and a pillar of fire by night." Because of this, they celebrate that "G-d is with us" (Emmanu-El).
And so, the birth of Y'shua at Succot fulfils another prophecy: "The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Emmanuel - which means, "God is with us". (Matt. 1:23, quoting from Yishaiyahu (Isaiah) 7:14).
If this is not enough, we also have to consider the type of dwelling in which Y'shua was born. Had it not been for the inconvenience caused by the census, he would have been born in a house like all other children. But he wasn't, he was born in a succah (or stable), a flimsy dwelling where servants of a household slept, or where they kept sheep and cattle. This was to indicate that G-d had come to earth to dwell with (and serve) humanity. Also in Yochanan (John) 1:14 we read about how "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling (Tabernacled) among us." - another obvious reference to Succot.
Eight days later, according to Luke 2:21, he was circumcised. NOT in the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) as some suppose, but in Beit Lechem, probably in the Succah where he was born. Miriam would still be ceremonially unclean for 33 days after the circumcision according to ViYikrah (Leviticus) 12. Besides, she would be unlikely to travel to Y'rushali'im (Jerusalem) so soon after the birth even though it was not very far.
If the day of his birth was the first day of Succot, the day of his circumcision would be the eighth day of Succot which, like the first day, is a day of sacred assembly. (ViYikrah - Leviticus 23:39). On this day, or traditionally the day after, Jews complete their annual cycle of Torah readings and start again from Bereshit (Genesis). It is called Simchat Torah (Rejoicing of the Law), and is considered to be a time of "fulfillment" of the Torah. The circumcision of Y'shua at this time indicates how he had come to be the goal to which the Law and the Prophets pointed (Matt. 5:17-18).
When the days of Miriam's purification were over (33 days after the circumcision), they would have made their way to Y'rushali'im to sacrifice a pair of doves or young pigeons. (Luke 2:22-24). Then they went back to Natzeret (Nazareth) (Luke 2:39).
Every year they went to Y'rushali'im for Pesach. (Luke 2:41). During one of these visits, probably when Y'shua was two years old, they went to Beit Lechem and stayed, not in a succah or stable, but in a house. (Matt. 2:11). They were visited by the Magi, and then had to flee to Egypt to escape from Herod because he was killing all the male children two years old and under.
Starting from Z'chariyahu, the father of Yochanan the Baptist, and his first period of duty in the Temple, and doing a few simple calculations, we arrive at a result which gives a new and profound meaning to many passages of Scripture, and for that reason, we think Y'shua is very likely to have been born at Succot.
So what are we going to do now? Are we going to continue observing Christmas on December 25th (which incidentally has pagan origins), or are we going to switch to celebrating the birth of Y'shua at Succot? If we do (and we don't have to become Jewish to do it) we will be creating the conditions in which Z'chariyahu 14:16-19 can be fulfilled. People will say "Since we are celebrating the birth of Y'shua at Succot, why not do it in Y'rushali'im?". Up to a point, this is already being fulfilled by large numbers of Christians who go to Y'rushali'im for a Tabernacles celebration each year, but it could get even bigger.
Compiled from various sources by Uri Marcus, Haifa, Israel
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From: Cheryle Holeman To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com Subject: The Rabbi and the Virgin Birth
The Rabbi and the Virgin Birth by Rabbi Yehoshua M. Othniel:
The messianic rabbi was engaged in a spirited discussion with a Jew who is not a believer in Yeshua as the Messiah. The unbelieving Jew questioned the Messianic Rabbi regarding his belief in Y'shua ben Yoseph of Nazareth being the Messiah. "How can you possibly believe this?" questioned the non-believin Jew with whom he was engaged in discussion. "I suppose that next you're going to tell me that you also believe in the so called 'virgin birth'?"
The messianic rabbi looked at the man and calmly replied, "I wouldn't tell you that, because I can't. I do not believe in the 'virgin birth', nor do I believe in the birth of Isaac." Needless to say, the last part of the messianic rabbi's comment startled his listener.
"What do you mean you don't believe in the birth of Isaac? He was one of our patriarchs! If he did not exist, then we are not Jews! Such a statement is outragious! It's unbelievable!" retorted the non-believer.
The messianic rabbi replied, "Tell me, friend, which of the two IS to be believed: a ninety year-old woman giving birth, or, a fifteen year old 'virgin'?" With that the messianic rabbi ended the debate!
Rabbi Othniel once told this story to me, and I asked him to send it to all of you in the newsgroup to add a chuckle to your holidays.
Shalom! Cheryle Holeman at HaY'Did and Rabbi O
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