An End to Christmas

From: "Hebraic.Heritage.Newsgroup@sol.wwwnexus.com"
<Hebraic.Heritage.Newsgroup@sol.wwwnexus.com>
To: Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup <heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>, Hebraic Heritage Newsgroup 2 <heb_roots_chr@geocities.com>
Cc: "president@messianic.com" <president@messianic.com>
Subject: An End to Christmas
Date: Tue, 12 Jan 1999 16:04:01 -0800
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit

From: Rhonda Steiner
To: heb_roots_chr@geocities.com
Subject: Fwd: AN END TO CHRISTMAS

[The following scene is proposed, as musings for your mind. Lest on
that day when judgment reigns, there is no excuse to find.]

AN END TO CHRISTMAS

David M. Hargis

http://www.messianic.com/articles/xnomore.htm

There will come an end to Christmas, One bright and glorious day;
When the King sits in Zion, And there are no more games to play.

When the holy ones of Israel, Are gathered 'round His light;
When the books are finally opened, And there is no more night.

The nations will be called that day, To finally make amends;
To deal with their lies and schemes, To put away their trends.

The L-RD will thunder from His throne, To ask "What day is Mine?
What day above all do you celebrate Me, What day do you find?"

Sighs of relief will fill the air, And many a voice will say;
"It is Christmas we celebrate, Lord, For You, we have set this day."

Then the King will simply ask, "What day could you set for Me?
Is it written in My book? What day therein do you see?"

One boldly will answer without knowing,
"We keep Your birthday, Oh Great King!"
Another will shout with such glowing,
"Oh it's such a beautiful thing!"

Then another will join, "It is time once again!
For soon 'twill be here, And gifts we will send."

"And then what shall happen?" Will question the King;
"What things of value, To Me shall you bring?"

"We send gifts to each other," Their answer will be;
"So we honor Your wish, That we act lovingly."

"You do this freely?" The King will inquire;
"You do this without selfishness, Or covetous desire?"

Then silence will fall, All over the room;
As the King takes His stand, In a way that spells doom.

"In My Word I declared, What days that are mine;
What days I created, And when I reclined."

"What day I was born, After I entered the womb;
The days that I died, Then came forth from the tomb."

"I made holy the Sabbath, Then I gave it to you;
As a sign of My care, To show I am true."

"I gave you the festivals, The appointed times of My grace;
To deliver and help you, To establish My praise."

"So which day among Mine, Have you set for My birth?
Which day is this Christmas, When there is much mirth?"

Then all will tremble, All over the land;
As men try to figure, What answer will stand.

But no one will utter, A word from then on;
As the L-RD will continue, To speak from His throne.

"You pretend to give Me, A day like a dish;
Can I be pleased, With whatever you wish?"

"And how can you know, How to love one another;
If the will of My Word, You take care not to bother?"

"I set the seasons by stars, And days by the sun;
I have appointed all times, From which you have run."

"No man can give Me, Other than what I have made;
No one can declare, Other than what I have said."

"So now I command, Every nation to come;
And celebrate Me, No matter where they are from."

"And the day I have set, Was written long before;
There was ever a Christmas, Or any such lore."

"It is the Feast called Booths, Which I wrote in the book;
A day which announced, My coming to look."

"When I walked among you, Clothed like the poor;
To temporarily suffer, And knock at your door."

"So now you know clearly, The time should be plain;
And if you do not, You will have no more rain."

"Every day which I appointed, You will honor and obey;
No longer will you labor, On My Sabbath day."

"No more will you set, Your way above Mine;
No more will you offer, What I did not design."

"So, come to My festivals, Rejoice in My glory;
And concerning your Christmas, It's the end of the story."

"AN END TO CHRISTMAS" may be copied and shared freely only as is without
alteration and with this full notice attached. However, it may not be
sold in publication, or published compiled with other material, or
placed online in a forum which is not free without written permission of
the author. In any case, the author would appreciate notification of
where, how, and by whom this piece is published and/or distributed.

***********************************************************************

From the Book

"The Seven Festivals of the Messiah"
by
Eddie Chumney

THE BIRTH OF YESHUA DURING SUKKOT

The Scriptures seem to indicate to us that Yeshua was born
during the festival season of Sukkot (Tabernacles). In fact, I
believe that He was born on the Feast of Sukkot (which is Tishrei 15
on the biblical calendar, and is analogous to our September/October).
With this in mind, let's look for some evidence of this in the Bible.

In Luke 1:5, Zachariah (Z'karyah) is a priest (Cohen) of the
division of Abijah (Avijah). What does this mean? Israel was
divided into 24 districts at the time of Yeshua. Each of these
districts sent two representatives to officiate at the temple during
the weeks of the year. In First Chronicles (Divery Hayamim) 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 the month of
Tishrei since both months begin the new year. As we saw earlier in
this book, Nisan is the first month in the religious calendar set up
by G-d in Exodus (Shemot) 12:2 and Tishrei is the first month of the
year according to the civil calendar.

During the third week in the month of Nisan, the priests from
all 24 districts would come to the temple to help during the
week of Passover (Pesach). This would also be the case for the
festival of Pentecost (Shavuot) and for the festival of Sukkot
(Tabernacles) when all males were required to go to Jerusalem
(Yerushalayim) as specified by G-d in Deuteronomy (Devarim) 16:16. In
First Chronicles 24:10, we see that abijah was the eighth division or
course of priests. The course of abijah would minister during the
tenth week of the year. Remember, the weeks of Passover and Shavuot
would not be counted because all the priests were required to go to
Jerusalem then.

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 G-d's people [Psalm
(Tehillim) 141:2; Revelation 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 that Elijah
(Eliyahu) would come. This is important because it was understood by
the people, as G-d established, that Elijah (Eliyahu) would precede
the coming of the Messiah as stated in Malachi 4:5.

These 18 special prayers would be prayed twice a day, once in
the morning and once in the afternoon. 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 (Yochanan) the Immerser (Baptist)
would be born. John (Yochanan) the Immerser (Baptist) was not
literally Elijah (Eliyahu), but was of the spirit of power of Elijah
(Luke 1:17).

Allowing two weeks for the laws of separation that G-d commanded
in Leviticus (Vayikra) 12:5; 15:19,24-25 after going
back to the house (Luke 1:23) and then going forward nine months
(Sivan [tenth week] + 2 weeks + 9 months) puts the birth of John
(Yochanan) during the festival of Passover (Pesach). This is an
extremely important point because during the service for Passover,
which is called the Passover Seder, the people are instructed by G-d
to go to the door during one part of the service and look for Elijah
(Eliyahu) while the Passover meal is eaten. The cup is called the cup
of Elijah. The understanding of Elijah preceding the coming of the
Messiah was the basis for the question in Matthew (Mattityahu)
17:10-13.

In Luke 1:26 during the sixth month of Elisabeth's (Elisheva)
pregnancy, the angel Gabriel appeared to Mary (Miryam).
This should have been around the twenty-fifth 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 of the
Sukkot prayers are prayed once again. Mary's (Miryam) dialogue with
the angel Gabriel is found in the Sukkot liturgy today. If you
calculate from the twenty-fifth of Kislev and add eight days for the
festival of Chanukah plus nine months for Mary's (Miryam) pregnancy,
this will bring you around the time of the festival of Sukkot, or
Tishrei 15. On Tishrei 22, known as Shemini Atzeret or the eighth day,
Yeshua was circumcised (Luke 2:22-23; Leviticus [Vayikra] 12:1-3).

Other Evidences of Yeshua's Birth During Sukkot

As we have stated earlier in this chapter, the Feast of Sukkot
(Tabernacles) 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 [basar in Hebrew; otherwise known as the gospel] of great joy
[Sukkot is called the 'season of our joy'], which shall be to all
people [Sukkot is called 'the feast of the nations']." So, we can see
from this that the terminology the angel used to announce the birth of
Yeshua were themes and messages associated with the Feast of Sukkot
(Tabernacles).

In Luke 2:12, the babe (Yeshua) was wrapped in swaddling cloths
and lying in a manger. The swaddling cloths were also
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 festival of Sukkot.

Notice also in Luke 2:12 that the baby Yeshua was laid in a
manger. The word manger is the Greek word phatn'e. It is
the same word translated as "stall" in Luke 13:15. By seeing how the
word is used in Luke 13:15, we can see that the Greek word phatn'e
means 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
(Bereishit) 33:17 it is written that Jacob journeyed to Sukkoth and
made booths (the word booth in this passage is the Hebrew word sukkah;
the plural is sukkot) for his cattle. So we can see from these
passages how the word booth (sukkah or sukkot) was used by Jacob
(Ya'akov) for his cattle in Genesis 33:17, and how the Greek word for
manger or "stall," phatn'e, was also used to refer to hitching cattle
in Luke 13:15. Phatn'e is the same word translated as "manger" in Luke
2:12, where Yeshua was laid at the time of His birth.

During the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles), G-d required that all
male Jews come to Jerusalem (Yerushalayim)
(Deuteronomy [Devarim] 16:16). For this reason, the city would be
overcrowded with people and would explain why Mary (Miryam) and Joseph
(Yosef) could not find lodging in and around Jerusalem (Yerushalayim)
(Luke 2:7). Bethlehem, the place where Yeshua was born, is only about
four miles from Jerusalem.

The last evidence I will give for the birth of Yeshua during
Sukkot according to the Scriptures is in Matthew (Mattityahu)
2:1. There we see that wise men come from the East to visit Yeshua.
The land of the East is Babylon, where the largest Jewish population
was at the time of the birth of Yeshua. These Jews were descendants
from the captivity when King Nebuchadnezzar defeated Israel and took
the Jews to Babylon to serve him. Babylon is referred to as the land
of the East in Genesis (Bereishit) 29:1 and Judges (Shoftim) 6:3. The
wise men in Matthew (Mattityahu) 2:1 were rabbis. The rabbis, also
called sages, are known in Hebrew as chakamim, which means wise men.
The word in Matthew (Mattityahu) 2:1 in Greek is magos, which is
translated into English as "Magi." Magos in Greek is the Hebrew word
ravmag. Ravmag comes from the Hebrew word rav, which means "rabbi." It
should also be noted that the Greek word magos can also mean
scientist, counselor, scholar, or teacher. The rabbis were scholars or
teachers of the Jewish law. Yeshua was referred to as "Rabbi," or
"Teacher" in John (Yochanan) 1:38,47,49; 3:2. So, we can see that the
wise men were Jewish rabbis coming from Babylon to witness the birth
of Yeshua.

A question we can ask ourselves is, "What made the rabbis make
the journey from Babylon to Bethlehem to witness the
birth of Yeshua?" The answer is given in Matthew (Mattityahu) 2:2, as
it is written, "...we have seen His star in the east...."

One of the requirements during the time of Sukkot was to build
an outside temporary shelter and live in it during this
festival season. This shelter is called a booth, or sukkah. The sukkah
had to be built with an opening in the roof so the people could see
the stars in heaven. This is another reason for why the rabbis would
be looking for, and thus seeing, the star in the sky when it appeared.
In addition, there was a prophecy in Numbers (Bamidbar), as it is
written, "...a star shall come forth from Jacob..." (Numbers
[Bamidbar] 24:17 NAS). King Herod inquired about where the Messiah
would be born in Matthew (Mattityahu) 2:4. He was told in Bethlehem
(Matthew [Mattityahu] 2:5-6), based upon the prophecy in Micah 5:2. In
Matthew 2:10 it is written, "When they saw the star, they rejoiced
with exceeding great joy." Once again, remember that Sukkot is called
"the season of our joy." In Matthew 2:2, the rabbis saw the star from
the East. Salvation was seen by the Jewish people as coming from the
East. Yeshua descended from the tribe of Judah (Revelation 5:5). The
tribe of Judah was positioned on the east side of the tabernacle of
Moses (Moshe) in the wilderness. Finally, in Luke 2:32, Yeshua is
called a light to the Gentiles. Once again, Sukkot is called "the
festival of lights" and "the festival of all nations."

Therefore, by studying and understanding the festival of Sukkot
and the themes and messages that G-d desired to be
conveyed during this festival, enables us to read the Bible in a new
light; it enables us to understand that Yeshua was born during the
season of Sukkot and that He is the Star we are all called to see with
our (spiritual) eyes!

************************************************************************

To educate, train and equip for study both the Jew and
Non-Jew in the Rich Hebraic Heritage of our Faith.

Please visit the Hebraic Roots Global Network
Web Site located at:

http://www.hebroots.org/

7th MILLENNIUM PROPHECY CONFERENCE

Featured Speakers:

Hal Lindsey
Yacov Rambsel
J.R. Church
Chuck Missler
Eddie Chumney

Topics to be discussed:

Y2K Computer Problem
Bible Codes
Economic Collapse
Armeggon: The Final Battle
Israel's Peace Process
Restoration of the Two Houses of Israel
Festival of the Lord in Prophecy
Unveiling Daniel's book

January 22-24, 1999

Trinity Church
12330 Perry Road
Houston, Texas

Sponsored by "Watchman of Issachar Ministry" in
association with Beth HaNeshrim and Kehilat Dvar
Hashem Messianic Congregations and Trinity Church

For more information, Contact "Watchman of Issachar Ministry"

1-888-825-1284 or Rick Avalle: 1-281-584-5660

E-mail: Issachar@flash.net