Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him… (Matthew 2:1-2)

The arrival of the wise men from the East signalled the beginning of the end for Old Covenant Israel. These men were influenced by the prophet Daniel, one of the Jewish captives who was taken to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar half a millennium earlier.

Daniel and his friends were to be trained by the Chaldeans as wise men, but instead they challenged the power of the king and his wise men, just as Moses and Aaron had challenged Pharaoh and his magicians. Daniel not only trumped their skill but ended up ruling over the wise men. He had been taken captive to be taught, but rather than seeking their power, he humbled himself before God and became their teacher.

Daniel redeemed the wise men of the East from pagan astrology, a practice condemned by God because only He can interpret the stars, and He does so only to His prophets (Genesis 15:5; 22:17; 37:9, Deuteronomy 1:10; 4:19; 28:62, Judges 5:20; Isaiah 14:13; Jude 1:13; Revelation 1:16).

Daniel was such a prophet, and he led these Gentiles to the truth concerning the stars: They are signs of the sons of God, those destined to ascend and rule the heavens (Daniel 12:3-4). Instead of seeking wisdom from the created heavens, the wise men now understood that “there is a God in heaven” who reveals such secrets (Daniel 2:27-28).

Thanks to Daniel, the wise men who sought Jesus were not like the wise men who had served King Nebuchadnezzar:

The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” (Daniel 2:10-11)

Now that they worshipped the God of heaven, He was not only pleased to speak to them in dreams as He did to Daniel, He was pleased to meet them in person, as a man on earth, a God who now dwelt in flesh.

This is an edited version of an article which can be found here.

Jesus would be gathered first to the true fathers, then, once enthroned, He would gather the true sons.

In English, the word manger is archaic, preserved for us by the Christmas tradition. In French, the word is still in use, being the infinitive “to eat.” As with every detail in the Scriptures, the fact that the One who would give Himself to us in the elements of a meal was placed in a food trough invites contemplation.

This post has been slain and resurrected for inclusion in my 2015 book of essays, Inquietude.

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Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is he who has been born king of the Jews? For we saw his star when it rose and have come to worship him.” When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him… (Matthew 2:1-2)

An atheist recently declared to me that a cumulative reading of the Bible makes no sense, since the Bible is not a single book but an anthology. I agree, but this “anthology” is indeed a single work because it was compiled by God. Without that foundation, the significance of much of its detail appears redundant. A good example is the wise men from the east in Matthew 2.

One of James B. Jordan’s greatest contributions is his highlighting of the period from the exile to Christ as a unique period in Bible history. While most commentators see this half-millennium as a time of unfulfilled promises and oppression, Jordan observes that this was a time of preparation for the Gospel, and Israel was given a special ministry. [1]

Due to the failure of Israel’s kings, God put the nation through a death-and-resurrection, elevating his people to a higher court, a Gentile one. The Jews served God as a nation of prophets throughout the oikoumene (a “household” of nations), teaching the Gentiles through the ministry of the synagogues (Acts 15:12).

This new “social architecture” is set up in the book of Daniel. The thrones of the ancient kings, including that of Solomon, were often surrounded by beasts (a theme we can trace back to Genesis 1-2). The four beast empires in Daniel 7 are earthly counterparts of the four cherubim guarding God’s throne in heaven, preparing the earth for the coming of the heavenly King. Just as the Bronze Altar symbolized the Land of Israel, these four beasts correspond to the “higher court” of the four-horned Golden Incense Altar in the court of heaven, the place where “the sons of God,” His courtly advisors, minister to Him.

These heavenly beasts are miraculous hybrids of earthly animals, picturing the ability of the Spirit to unite things which cannot be united naturally, such as Jew and Gentile. You might remember that Nebuchadnezzar himself was transformed into a combination of “bird and beast” as a symbol of the temporary Covenant curse sent to discipline him. These “heavenly” cherubim are all Land animals which walk on water. They ascend out of the sea as the Land does. Their role was to “surround” Israel, to guard God’s people until Messiah.

Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. (Daniel 7:2-3)

As Jordan observes, one by one, each of these guardian “bulldogs” turned bad and was replaced overnight. The final guardian was Rome, and we see Roman authorities protecting Christians from Jewish persecution in the book of Acts.

What does all of this background mean for Matthew 2?

This “Restoration Covenant” era began with young Jews taken as captives for training by the Chaldeans, the religious leaders of the Babylonian region. The book of Daniel sets them up as characters similar to those in Pharaoh’s court who opposed Moses. Daniel not only trumps their skill but ends up ruling them. He was taken captive to be taught, but rather than seeking their power, he humbled himself and became the teacher.

Since Daniel ruled the wise men, he redeemed them from pagan star gazing, a practice condemned by God because only He can interpret the stars, and He does so only to His prophets (Genesis 15:5; 22:17; 37:9, Deuteronomy 1:10; 4:19; 28:62, Judges 5:20; Isaiah 14:13; Jude 1:13; Revelation 1:16). Daniel was such a prophet, and he led these Gentiles to the truth concerning the stars. Stars are signs of the sons of God, those who are destined to ascend and rule the heavens.

Moreover, instead of seeking wisdom from the created heavens, the wise men now understood that “there is a God in heaven” who reveals such secrets. Daniel’s first resort after Nebuchadnezzar’s fury was the following advice to his brothers:

Then Daniel went to his house and made the matter known to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, his companions, and told them to seek mercy from the God of heaven concerning this mystery, so that Daniel and his companions might not be destroyed with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. (Daniel 2:17-18)

When summoned before the king, Daniel was as fearless concerning his testimony to the true God as he was in chapter 1.

Daniel answered the king and said, “No wise men, enchanters, magicians, or astrologers can show to the king the mystery that the king has asked, but there is a God in heaven who reveals mysteries, and he has made known to King Nebuchadnezzar what will be in the latter days. (Daniel 2:27-28)

It is unlikely that these events would have been forgotten, especially by the Chaldeans. This intervention by Daniel was a game changer. Indeed, it was remembered by the queen many decades later (Daniel 5:10-12), who advised that Daniel be called upon to interpret the handwriting on the wall for Belshazzar.

So, this era began with young Jews traveling to Babylon. Matthew begins with a delegation of wise men from the east who, it seems, were now far more enamored with the God of heaven than with the heavens themselves, and far more familiar with the Hebrew Scriptures than Herod and the rulers of Jerusalem. They would have known of Balaam’s prophecy concerning the star of Jacob (Numbers 24:15-19), and also the timing of the coming of the Messiah from Daniel’s “70 weeks” prophecy (Daniel 9). The irony of the fact that this infant king was a surprise to the rulers of Jerusalem, who seemed to have no reliable prophets in their employ, would not have been lost on Matthew’s first readers. It is also the arrival of the wise men which sets the kingdom of the Herods against the kingdom of heaven. It was their testimony to Herod which brought about the massacre of the innocents, an act which would have been a sign to all true Israelites that the redemption prefigured for many centuries was finally drawing near.

The wise men from the east understood the nature of true kingdom. It was not in the study of the stars but in the knowledge of the one who made the stars “for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,” to be “lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth” (Genesis 1:14-15)  Daniel is bookended by wise men, but the wise men at the beginning work for Nebuchadnezzar, and the wise men at the end work for God:

“And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. But you, Daniel, shut up the words and seal the book, until the time of the end.” (Daniel 12:3-4)

In Matthew, the time of the end, the last days (of Israel and the Old Covenant) was at hand, only one generation away. In Revelation, the book of Daniel is unsealed by the Lamb at His ascension, and the curses of Moses fall upon the Land for the last time. John’s prophecy describes the corruption of the fourth beast (under Nero), its “decommissioning,” and the destruction of the adulterous city of Jerusalem (Egypt, Sodom, Babylon) after the jealous inspection of the apostles’ cup (Numbers 5), all completed by AD70. The dominion of the “beasts” was superseded by the empire of The Man, following the pattern laid down on Day 6 in Genesis 1. [2]

The appearance of the Chaldeans is thus the beginning of the end. While those from the east were bringing their glory into the kingdom, the Herods were behaving like the sons of Joktan, the Shemites who “journeyed from the east” but ended up compromising with Nimrod’s Babel project, seeking a name for themselves rather than seeking God (Genesis 10-11:9).

Matthew’s narrative begins with wise men who were “angels” from the courts of earthly kings, guardians who had protected Israel until she gave birth to the promised One. They remembered Daniel of the tribe of Judah, the man without a kingdom who was showered with gifts:

Then the king gave Daniel high honors and many great gifts, and made him ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. (Daniel 1:48)

Thanks to Daniel, they were not like the wise men of Nebuchadnezzar:

The Chaldeans answered the king and said, “There is not a man on earth who can meet the king’s demand, for no great and powerful king has asked such a thing of any magician or enchanter or Chaldean. The thing that the king asks is difficult, and no one can show it to the king except the gods, whose dwelling is not with flesh.” (Daniel 2:10-11)

Now that they worshiped the God of heaven, He was not only pleased to speak to them in dreams as He did to Daniel, He was pleased to meet them in person, as a man on earth, a God who now dwelt in flesh.

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[1] For more fascinating background, see James B. Jordan’s, The Handwriting on the Wall: A Commentary on the Book of Daniel.
[2] See the Creation Week in Israel’s history on Bible Matrix p. 191.

or Nailed to the Mast

Rachel Held Evans is a writer who likes the challenge of “asking tough questions about Christianity in the context of the Bible Belt” while consulting the howling void of modern culture for the answers. That is indeed a challenge. She takes Christians to task for referring to the de-Christianizing of Christmas as “persecution”, offering a helpful chart.

Doug Wilson provides some wisdom in response.

Part of the modern mindset is this desire to “classify” everything, to label it, which is fine, but in doing so we very often become blind to the relationships which all of these isolated things have to each other. Is minor persecution actually persecution or not? Do we have the right to complain about the castration of Christmas? I believe the Bible gives us an entirely different perspective.

Graded levels of persecution only matter if we are trying to avoid it. Paul did not see any level of persecution as an infringement upon his “life, safety, civil liberties or right to worship.” He saw every persecution, at every level, as an opportunity for legal witness to the resurrection and the Gospel of Christ, and therefore rejoiced in it. The bigger the persecution, therefore, the bigger the opportunity. But he did not pass up the little ones, either. Paul’s testimony, along with that of the apostles, ended the false witness of Herodian Judaism, and led to the end of pagan Rome and institution of the Christian calendar and its holidays.

A millennium later, with the Roman Church now corrupt as the Herods, it was the murder of the Reformers which resulted in the celebration of Reformation Day, a holiday which is seeing a revival in some quarters.

Persecution is also a misunderstood opportunity in the book of Esther. Under Mordecai’s instruction, the heroine did not take advantage of the little opportunities. She refrained from revealing her Jewish identity. This mask was the epitome of the attitude of the Jews, who were largely keeping their faith to themselves to avoid making waves. They failed to take advantage of the little opportunities, so God sent a really big one: genocide, with the sanction of the Emperor.

So, Mordecai and Esther failed at the start but God turned their failure into faithfulness. Added to this, there was the irony that Haman was not aware of the identity of the Queen, so God even used her lack of witness as the key to his downfall.

They ended up passing with flying colors. Indeed, their colors were nailed to the mast for every Jew from India to Ethiopia: Haman impaled on a pole, lifted up like a serpent. The end of the persecutors at God’s hand even resulted in a new festival, Purim, an extra “happy, holy day” which is still celebrated today.

Every seed that falls into the ground and dies results in a great harvest. Our God delights in “turning the tables.” Secularists should learn from history that anyone who challenges His work in any age always comes off second best.

So whether you are confronted with a sanitized “Happy Holidays” at the supermarket checkout, or hauled before the courts (which is coming), every level of persecution is an opportunity to move history forward, to let God’s will be done on earth as it is in heaven, the only courtroom worth worrying about. And, who knows, it might even result in a brand new Christian holiday. Wouldn’t that be ironic?

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ART: Woodcut from the title page of a 1499 pamphlet published by Markus Ayrer in Nuremberg. It depicts Vlad III “the Impaler” (identified as Dracole wyade = Draculea voivode) dining among the impaled corpses of his victims.

Here’s some interesting calculations concerning the day of Jesus’ birth in relation to Israel’s festal calendar. It was written by Michael Scheifler (a Seventh-day Adventist), and is reproduced here with his permission.

While much of the world celebrates the birth of Jesus Christ on the 25th of December, can the actual day of Jesus’ birth be determined from scripture? This question will be explored in some detail, and will yield a result that is quite intriguing. The first passage we will consider begins with the father of John the Baptist, Zacharias:

There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth… And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course, … And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, … (Luke 1:5, 8, 23-24)

The clue given to us here is that Zacharias was of the “course” of Abia.

The 24 Courses of the Temple Priesthood

7. But David, being desirous of ordaining his son king of all the people, called together their rulers to Jerusalem, with the priests and the Levites; and having first numbered the Levites, he found them to be thirty-eight thousand, from thirty years old to fifty; out of which he appointed twenty-three thousand to take care of the building of the temple, and out of the same, six thousand to be judges of the people and scribes, four thousand for porters to the house of God, and as many for singers, to sing to the instruments which David had prepared, as we have said already. He divided them also into courses: and when he had separated the priests from them, he found of these priests twenty-four courses, sixteen of the house of Eleazar, and eight of that of Ithamar; and he ordained that one course should minister to God eight days, from sabbath to sabbath. And thus were the courses distributed by lot, in the presence of David, and Zadok and Abiathar the high priests, and of all the rulers; and that course which came up first was written down as the first, and accordingly the second, and so on to the twenty-fourth; and this partition hath remained to this day. — Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 7, Chapter 14, Paragraph 7.

King David, on God’s instructions (1 Chr 28:11-13), had divided the sons of Aaron into 24 groups (1 Chr 24:1-4), to setup a schedule by which the Temple of the Lord could be staffed with priests all year round in an orderly manner. After the 24 groups of priests were established, lots were drawn to determine the sequence in which each group would serve in the Temple. (1 Chr 24: 7-19). That sequence is as follows:

These were the orderings of them in their service to come into the house of the LORD, according to their manner, under Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him. (1 Chr 24:19)

Now each one of the 24 “courses” of priests would begin and end their service in the Temple on the Sabbath, a tour of duty being for one week (2 Chr 23:8, 1 Chr 9:25). On three occasions during the year, all the men of Israel were required to travel to Jerusalem for festivals of the Lord, so on those occasions all the priests would be needed in the Temple to accommodate the crowds. Those three festivals were Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (Deut 16:16).

The Yearly Cycle of Service in the Temple

The Jewish calendar begins in the spring, during the month of Nisan, so the first “course” of priests, would be that of the family of Jehoiarib, who would serve for one week, Sabbath to Sabbath. The second week would then be the responsibility of the family of Jedaiah. The third week would be the feast of Unleavened Bread, and all priests would be present for service. Then the schedule would resume with the third course of priests, the family of Harim. By this plan, when the 24th course was completed, the general cycle of courses would repeat. This schedule would cover 51 weeks or 357 days, enough for the lunar Jewish calendar (about 354 days). So, in a period of a year, each group of priests would serve in the Temple twice on their scheduled course, in addition to the 3 major festivals, for a total of about five weeks of duty.

The Conception of John the Baptist

Now back to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist.

And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, … (Luke 1:23-24)

Beginning with the first month, Nisan, in the spring (March-April), the schedule of the priest’s courses would result with Zacharias serving during the 10th week of the year. This is because he was a member of the course of Abia (Abijah), the 8th course, and both the Feast of Unleavened Bread (15-21 Nisan) and Pentecost (6 Sivan) would have occurred before his scheduled duty. This places Zacharias’ administration in the Temple as beginning on the second Sabbath of the third month, Sivan (May-June).

Having completed his Temple service on the third Sabbath of Sivan, Zacharias returned home and soon conceived his son John. So John the Baptist was probably conceived shortly after the third Sabbath of the month of Sivan.

The Conception of Jesus Christ.

Now the reason that the information about John is important, is because according to Luke, Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in the sixth month of Elisabeth’s pregnancy:

And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, “Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.” And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, to a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary. (Luke 1:24-27)

Note that verse 26 above refers to the sixth month of Elisabeth’s pregnancy, not Elul, the sixth month of the Hebrew calendar, and this is made plain by the context of verse 24 and again in verse 36:

Luke 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. (Luke 1:36)

Mary stayed with Elizabeth for the last 3 months of her pregnancy, until the time that John was born.

And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house. Now Elisabeth’s full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son. (Luke 1:56-57)

Now working from the information about John’s conception late in the third month, Sivan, and advancing six months, we arrive late in the 9th month of Kislev (Nov-Dec) for the time frame for the conceptionof Jesus. It is notable here that the first day of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, is celebrated on the 25th day of Kislev, and Jesus is called the light of the world (John 8:12, 9:5, 12:46). This does not appear to be a mere coincidence. In the book of John, Hanukkah is called the feast of dedication (John 10:22). Hanukkah is an eight day festival of rejoicing, celebrating deliverance from enemies by the relighting of the menorah in the rededicated Temple, which according to the story, stayed lit miraculously for eight days on only one day’s supply of oil.

The Birth of John the Baptist

Based on a conception shortly after the third Sabbath of the month of Sivan, projecting forward an average term of about 10 lunar months (40 weeks), we arrive in the month of Nisan. It would appear that John the Baptist may have been born in the middle of the month, which would coincide with Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread. It is interesting to note, that even today, it is customary for the Jews to set out a special goblet of wine during the Passover Seder meal, in anticipation of the arrival of Elijah that week, which is based on the prophecy of Malachi:

Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD… (Malachi 4:5)

Jesus identified John as the “Elijah” that the Jews had expected:

And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. (Matthew 17:10-13)

The angel that appeared to Zacharias in the temple also indicated that John would be the expected “Elias”:

And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, 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. (Luke 1:17)

So then, the Feast of Unleavened Bread begins on the 15th day of the 1st month, Nisan, and this is a likely date for the birth of John the Baptist, the expected “Elijah”.

The Birth of Jesus Christ

Since Jesus was conceived six months after John the Baptist, and we have established a likely date for John’s birth, we need only move six months farther down the Jewish calendar to arrive at a likely date for the birth of Jesus. From the 15th day of the 1st month, Nisan, we go to the 15th day of the 7th month, Tishri. And what do we find on that date? It is the festival of Tabernacles! The 15th day of Tishri begins the third and last festival of the year to which all the men of Israel were to gather in Jerusalem for Temple services. (Lev 23:34)

Immanuel

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. (Isaiah 7:14)

Immanuel means “God with us”. The Son of God had come to dwell with, or tabernacle on earth with His people.

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. (John 1:14)

The Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), occurs five days after the Day of Atonement, and is a festival of rejoicing and celebration of deliverance from slavery in Egypt (Leviticus 23:42-43).

And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. (Luke 2:7-11)

Why was there no room at the inn? Bethlehem is only about 5 miles from Jerusalem, and all the men of Israel had come to attend the festival of Tabernacles as required by the law of Moses. Every room for miles around Jerusalem would have been already taken by pilgrims, so all that Mary and Joseph could find for shelter was a stable. During Tabernacles, everyone was to live in temporary booths (Sukkot), as a memorial to Israel’s pilgrimage out of Egypt – Lev. 23:42-43. The birth of the Savior, in what amounted to a temporary dwelling rather than a house, signaled the coming deliverance of God’s people from slavery to sin, and their departing for the promised land, which is symbolized by Tabernacles.

Also of note is the fact that the Feast of Tabernacles is an eight day feast (Lev 23:36, 39). Why eight days? It may be because an infant was dedicated to God by performing circumcision on the eighth day after birth:

Luke 2:21 And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. (Luke 2:21)

So the infant Jesus would have been circumcised on the eighth and last day of the Feast of Tabernacles, a Sabbath day. The Jews today consider this a separate festival from Tabernacles, and they call it Shemini Atzeret.

The Baptism of Jesus

There is another indication in scripture as to when Jesus was born.

Now after that John was put in prison, Jesus came into Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, And saying, The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand: repent ye, and believe the gospel. (Mark 1:14-15)

Jesus said this after His baptism, upon emerging from 40 days in the wilderness, when He began His preaching ministry. The book of Daniel gives us the “time” or prophesy Jesus was speaking about.

Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times. And after threescore and two weeks shall Messiah be cut off, but not for himself: and the people of the prince that shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary; and the end thereof shall be with a flood, and unto the end of the war desolations are determined. And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, … (Daniel 9:25-27)

It is very likely that by understanding this prophecy and date of the decree when it began, the wise men knew exactly when to look for the Christ child. The 70th week of Daniel, a period of 7 literal years, began with “Messiah the Prince”. Messiah means anointed, and Jesus was publicly anointed by the Holy Spirit at His baptism. Daniel 9:26-27 tells us that the Messiah would be “cut off” (crucified) in the “midst of the (70th) week”, which is to say the Messiah would be crucified 3 1/2 years after His baptism.

And the Holy Ghost descended in a bodily shape like a dove upon him, and a voice came from heaven, which said, Thou art my beloved Son; in thee I am well pleased. And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, … (Luke 3:22-23)

Luke hints that at His baptism Jesus became about thirty, so it was likely that His birthday coincided, more or less, with His baptism (A Levitical priest began his service at the age of 30, Numbers 4:3). So His baptism agrees with the time of Tabernacles, because 3 years and 6 months later at Passover, Jesus was crucified exactly and precisely as Daniel had prophesied, in the midst of the 70th week. Knowing the year of His baptism from understanding Daniel, the wise men needed only to subtract 30 from it to know the year the Messiah would
be born.

The Star of Bethlehem

“… in the Old Testament (Daniel 9) the Saviour’s advent was more clearly revealed. The magi learned with joy that His coming was near, and that the whole world was to be filled with a knowledge of the glory of the Lord. The wise men had seen a mysterious light in the heavens upon that night when the glory of God flooded the hills of Bethlehem. As the light faded, a luminous star appeared, and lingered in the sky. It was not a fixed star nor a planet, and the phenomenon excited the keenest interest. That star was a distant company of shining angels, but of this the wise men were ignorant. Yet they were impressed that the star was of special import to them. They consulted priests and philosophers, and searched the scrolls of the ancient records. The prophecy of Balaam had declared,

“There shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Scepter shall rise out of Israel.” Num. 24:17

Could this strange star have been sent as a harbinger of the Promised One? The magi had welcomed the light of heaven-sent truth; now it was shed upon them in brighter rays. Through dreams they were instructed to go in search of the newborn Prince.”

– The Desire of Ages, by E. G. White, pg. 60.

Conclusion

So, if you have followed the above reasoning, based on the scriptural evidence, a case can apparently be made that Jesus Christ was born on the 15th day of the month of Tishri, on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which corresponds to the September – October time frame of our present calendar!

Tabernacles Future Fulfillment

It is also interesting to note that Tabernacles was a feast of ingathering of the Harvest (Exodus 23:16 and 34:22). If Jesus’ first coming was indeed on 15 Tishri, the first day of Tabernacles, then it is quite reasonable to presume that the harvest of this earth, the ingathering of the second coming of Jesus Christ, will also occur on precisely the same date. The unknown factor would be the year that this would happen.

Human Shield

Gaudete, gaudete!

Matthew’s Literary Artistry

The Wexford Carol

For They Shall See God

Feasts in Mary’s Song

Were There 24 Wise Men?

The Literary Structure of Luke 2

God loves architecture. He starts with a Garden, moves to stone, then to flesh. Should it surprise us that the Nativity and the events surrounding it follow the same patterns as the Tabernacle and the Creation week?

I have my own theory about the number of Wise Men who attended, which you can read here. But the events also seem to follow the matrix pattern. Here’s a suggestion:

Sabbath – God initiates events after a 400 year wait. He
establishes a new household. Mary is “overshadowed” by the Spirit
…..Passover – Joseph and Mary make an Exodus. Jesus is born
……….Firstfruits – The “vision” is opened to the Shepherds by angels
……………Pentecost – The “ruling star” appears
……….Trumpets – The Gentile wise men (elders) attend,
……….surround and demonstrate prophetic gifts
…..Atonement – Herod slaughters the innocents
Booths – The Shekinah glory of the True King with His holy family returns to the kingdom after Herod’s death (Succession)

Of course, as with the Old Testament texts, this initial “Atonement” becomes the Passover of a greater structure. And we see this exact pattern replayed in the entire New Testament history, don’t we? Notice the movement from wise angels to wise men, from servants to sons. Also, the “sign” is a prophetic Word (a kingdom promised at Ascension) that must be vindicated by sight, face to face, which occurs in this structure below at “Conquest.” The sign is not the actual babe in a manger. The sign is the fulfilment of this Word. The death of Herod prefigured the death of the antichrist’s Temple in AD70.

Luke 2 tells us about the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem (“House of Bread”). The first stanza of the chapter begins with an imperial decree (Initiation).

SABBATH – REST PROMISED (Genesis)

And it came to pass in those days [that]
…..a decree went out from Caesar Augustus (Delegation)
……….that should be registered (Law)
……………all the habitable world. (Rule of Law)
……….This census first took place (Law)
…..while Quirinius was governing Syria. (Vindication)

The last line gets its own “unopened” Covenant structure:

And
…..went all
……….to be registered,
…..everyone
to his own city. (Succession)

This final phrase reminds me of the death of the High Priest, which meant that anyone on the run, living in refuge cities, could return home.

“‘And he shall dwell in that city until he stands before the congregation for judgment, [and] until the death of the one who is high priest in those days. Then the slayer may return and come to his own city and his own house, to the city from which he fled.’” (Joshua 20:6)

Notice that the action follows the “architectural pattern” laid down in Genesis 1-10:

Garden
…..Land
……….World
…..Land
Garden

PASSOVER – FIRSTBORN (Exodus)
Delegation

And Joseph also went up from Galilee,
…..out of the city of Nazareth, (Delegation)
……….into Judea, to the city of David,
……….which is called Bethlehem, (Firstfruits)
……………because he was of the house
……………and lineage of David, (Rulers)
……….to be registered with Mary, (Law received)
…..his betrothed wife, who was with child. (Oath, Creation of Adam)

Again, the final line is given its own Covenant structure, possibly to highlight that this particular birth, this Succession, was a fulfilment of the Covenant.

And it came to pass,
…..in the time they were there,
……….fulfilled
…..were the days
for her bringing forth.  (Succession)

Notice that the first half concerns the Adam (Covenant Head) and the second the Covenant Body.

FIRSTFRUITS (Bronze Altar outside)

And she (Genesis)
…..brought forth (Exodus)
……….her firstborn Son, (Leviticus)
……………and wrapped-Him-in-swaddling-cloths, (Numbers)
……….and laid Him in a manger,
……….(Deuteronomy – Witness/Gentiles)
…..because there was no place for them (Joshua)
in the [guest room]. (Judges)

The correspondence here with Numbers might seem a bit odd, but it’s the death of old Israel in the wilderness, and Christ’s linen wrappings in the tomb.

According to my friend Aaron Gunsaulus, the word translated “inn” is more correctly a guest room, which means it was already occupied by other family. The same word is used for the room where the Passover was celebrated just before Jesus’ death (another chiasm!) So this is the outer room of the house where animals were brought in for the night.

Based on that fact, combined with the literary structure, we can make some typological observations. Jesus was left outside the “official” Passover household. Here, He is not “numbered” among the people of God (as in the book of Numbers, and also the numbered and sealed Jews in Revelation, who were part of the Firstfruits Church). At His birth, as these later martyrs would be, He’s already numbered as a transgressor.

“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 53:12

His being “counted” as a transgressor would expose the genealogies for what they were: lists of the dead. They would all be destroyed with the Temple. But He Himself was a new household, one in which the Old Leaven would be cut off.

FIRSTFRUITS (Table – Sacrifice awaits fire)

And shepherds (Sabbath)
…..were in the same country (Passover)
……….lodging in the fields, (Firstfruits)
……………keeping watch by night
……………over their flock (Pentecost/Lampstand)

Took me a while to figure out what’s going on here, but it seems to be only half a cycle. Aligning it with the pattern of sacrifice leaves us in the dark awaiting the holy fire. Aligning it with the Tabernacle furniture makes the shepherds the “watcher tree,” watchmen over the Table of Israel (Showbread). The other solution might be in combining these two sections as one cycle. Either way, we have the Great Shepherd and the lesser shepherds.

All of a sudden, their humility was rewarded, lawfully, with fire from heaven…
PENTECOST – LAW OPENED

And behold, (Creation)
…..an angel of the Lord stood by them. (Division)
……….and the glory of the Lord shone around them (Ascension)
……………and they feared with great fear. (Testing)
……….Then the angel said to them, (Maturity)
…..“Do not be afraid, (Conquest – Joshua)
for behold, (Glorification – Judgment)

Fear (or a condemnation for the lack of it) often occurs at the centre, where the Law is opened.

TRUMPETS – WITNESS/GENTILES

I bring good tidings to you (Ark opened)

…..of great joy which will be to all people. (Veil torn)

……….Three Level Tent – Head (Bronze Altar)
……….“For there is born to you this day a Savior, (Word)
……….who is Christ the Lord (Sacrament)
……….in the city of David.” (Government)

……………“And this [will be] the sign to you: (Lampstand)

……….Three Level Temple – Body (Golden Altar)
……….You will find a Babe (Word)
……….wrapped in swaddling cloths, (Sacrament)
……….lying in a manger.” (Government)

And suddenly
…..there was with the angel
……….a multitude of the heavenly host
…..praising God
and saying: (Laver – Crystal Sea revealed)

Three-level Temple filled (Shekinah)
“Glory to God in the highest, (Word)
And on [the Land] peace, (Sacrament)
goodwill toward men!” (Goverment)

The fifth stanza makes a big deal out of the three-decker Temple architectures, the one at Ascension being the Mosaic house of death, and the one at Maturity being the Davidic house of resurrection. Moving out a step, this is the fifth stanza, so the overall topic is the rebirth of the Temple in the body of Jesus. Structure isn’t easy, but ignoring it flattens the Bible. The Bible Matrix reveals it to be the absolute best pop-up book!

Notice that this cycle has its own circumcision (in red) and baptism (in blue).

ATONEMENT – VINDICATION

So it was,
…..when the angels had gone away
……….from them into heaven,
……………that the shepherds said to one another,

……….“Let us now (Genesis – Call)
……………go (Exodus)
………………..to Bethlehem (Lev/House of bread)
…………………….and see this thing (revelation)
………………..that has come to pass, (prophecy)
……………which the Lord (Mediator)
……….has made known to us.” (Human judges)

…..And they
……….came with haste
……………and found Mary and Joseph, (Covenant – Altar)
……………and the Babe lying in a manger. (Covenant – Table)
………………..Now when they had seen [Him,] (Lampstand)
……………they made known abroad (Witness)
……….the saying which was told them (Oath)
…..concerning this Child. (Succession)

And all those who heard
…..marveled concerning those things (Veil opened)
……….which were told
……….by the shepherds to them. (Law given)
……………But Mary (Law opened to Bride)
……….kept all these sayings, (Law received)
…..Pondering them (Law vindicated)
in her heart. (Rest, co-rule)

Notice that the shepherds see the sign fulfilled at the Vindication cycle within the Vindication stanza. At Atonement/Sanctions, there is no curse, only blessing, for the pure in heart.

BOOTHS – SUCCESSION – OUTFLOW

Then (Initiation)
…..returned the shepherds, (Delegation)
……….glorifying and praising God (Presentation)
……………for all the things (Purification)
……….they had heard (Transformation)
…..and seen, (Vindication)
as it was told them. (Restoration)

Jesus promised at the Feast of Booths that those who believe in Him will have an Edenic river of living water flowing from within. This final stanza is the “Booths” stanza.

See also Matthew’s Literary Artistry.

If you’ve made it to the end, thanks for reading the blog this year. There’s some exciting new projects planned for next year, so stay tuned.

Have a blessed Christmas and a fruitful 2012!

Along with many other academics — and many hymnwriters — J. R. Daniel Kirk believes the advent ended the Babylonian exile. He writes: “The exile was insufficient to pay for the people’s sins. So not only did the exile endure, so did the sins which were its cause.” Is really this the case? Israel never again worshiped the Canaanite gods. However, he still has a lot to say that is good:

Matthew begins his narrative with quite the gripping tale. If it takes well-meaning, would-be readers of the Old Testament several weeks before they get mired in seemingly jumbled laws and endless genealogies, it takes their New Testament counterparts all of ten seconds.

Jesus is the son of David, the son of Abraham–and we get 20+ generations of genealogy to prove it.

But entailed in this genealogy is a story: a story of God’s promises. God has promised a king from the line of David, and God has promised a full restoration of the people–an end to the age of exile.

There was an age of Abraham; there was an age of David; and there was an age of exile (Matthew 1:17). But now the age of the messiah is dawning.

What God had promised to Israel is coming to fruition in Christ. What exile was supposed to do, but didn’t, will now be realized.

“You will call him Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins” (Matt 1:21, CEB).

Of course, this is what the prophet had long ago declared, but which had not yet been realized:

Comfort, comfort my people!
says your God.
Speak compassionately to Jerusalem,
and proclaim to her that her
compulsory service has ended,
that her penalty has been paid,
that she has received
from the LORD ’s hand
double for all her sins! (Isa 40:1-2, CEB)

The exile was insufficient to pay for the people’s sins. So not only did the exile endure, so did the sins which were its cause.

Advent is the beginning of the end, the beginning of the age of the Messiah, the beginning of the restoration from exile.

Israel’s story is coming to its culmination.

Or, if you prefer the words of hymnody:

O come, o come, Emmanuel,
And ransom captive Israel that mourns in lonely exile here–
until the son of God appear.

The problem here is that two “Covenant cycles” have been conflated. Kirk is right that Israel is coming to an end, but not about the end of exile.

The exile had come to an end long before. The passage quoted above from Isaiah refers not to the events of the first century, but to the events of the Restoration era. It seems to me there are two reasons the scholarly consensus has it wrong: 1) the book of Esther is treated as fiction; and 2) an ignorance of the architecture of the Bible, i.e. many of the fulfilments of the predictions of the prophets were people rather than stones. Ezekiel’s temple was not a vision of the church (or some future carnal Israel), but a vision of the Restoration era’s Jew-Gentile worship construct, founded in Daniel. I’ve written a lot about that on this blog, but you can trace it all back to James Jordan’s groundbreaking commentary on Daniel.

Back to the first point, it relates to the Covenant — or “matrix” cycles. There are cycles within cycles. Israel’s complete history is a cycle. But within it, there are many others, including Israel’s “death” in Egypt (Abraham to Joshua) and Israel’s death in Babylon (Solomon to Cyrus). The history of Israel via Egypt was repeated, but with Babylon at the centre.

The nation was slain and resurrected numerous times under whatever Covenant Ethics were in force at the time, and each time, Israel was more mature, more prophetic.

Post exilic Israel was not weak and beggarly. The Jews as a people were promoted to corporate “prophetic advisor” to world emperors, serving in a higher court than the Davidic kings. It was Joseph replayed on a greater stage.

Daniel played the Covenant bridegroom, obeying in the Garden by refusing the food of kingdom until he was qualified publicly. And Esther matches him chiastically as the fragrant bridal resurrection body, marrying a new Solomon and conquering the entire world. The exile was indeed over.

The situation in the first century was due to entirely new sins by a new generation. The Jews forgot their prophetic ministry and, as under Samuel, demanded a king before time. Instead of Saul they got the Herods, and Christ was the new David. But the “slavery” they suffered under Rome had nothing to do with the sins of the Davidic kings. It was the result of their disobedience to the Restoration Covenant, the one predicted by Jeremiah and ratified in Ezra and Zechariah. They broke the new High Priestly lineage of Zadok, and became elitists instead of witnesses and prophets to the nations.

The nation had been split into two (as a sacrifice) and reunited (the houses of Judah and Israel). The only reason the writer of Hebrews quotes Jeremiah is because the same process was happening again, only this time it was the reunion of Jew and Gentile.

However, Kirk is correct in observing that it was the culmination of Israel’s history, and I would push that to a conclusion far beyond the consensus’ comfort zone:

Israel’s history follows the Creation week: Light on the waters (Call of Abraham); Firmament (Red Sea parted); Land and Sea (Canaan); Ruling Lights (the Kings); Swarms/Armies (Gentile Eagles and Sea Beasts); Mediators (Land Animals [Dan. 7), Joshua the High Priest to Jeshua the High Priest); and finally the Rest promised to the Old Covenant faithful, who were seated on thrones and now rule with Christ.

Our problem is that this pattern occurs at many levels in the Bible – like a fractal – and we have a hard time separating them from each other. The Bible Matrix is the answer.

Thanks to Brian Nolder for this one.