Last week we went over what the Star of Bethlehem probably was and some events associated with the birth of Yeshua around the Feast of Sukkot. This week I want to go tie all this together and give you the probable scenario relating to that night. Joseph and Mary come to Jerusalem for the festival of Sukkot and stay in nearby Bethlehem to register for the census. They couldn't find a room so they are given shelter in a "sukkah because it was the time of Sukkot and people would have had them built to live in for 7 days." During that night the wise men or "chachamim" arrive in Jerusalem and ask Herod about the newborn King, expecting him to be in Jerusalem. At the same time Mary gives birth. There is an interesting fact here. The Bible never says that he was born in a "stable" but it says that when Yeshua was born, he was "in a manger." Now, the Greek word for "manger" is "phatne" and it means "stall" and it is translated that way in Lk 13.15. Phatne means a "hitching place for livestock." In Gen 33.17 we know that Jacob made stalls for his livestock and called them "sukkot" which is the Hebrew plural for "sukkah." So, both the Hebrew "sukkah" and the Greek "phatne" both mean a place for livestock. So you can say that Yeshua was not in a manger but a "sukkah." At any rate, Mary gives birth and angels appear to the shepherds saying that the Messiah has been born. They make their way to the sukkah where he was while at the same time the wise men are making their way to Bethlehem following the "star" or kivod of God that had been leading them. The shepherds leave Yeshua and go around praising and glorifying the Lord to everyone they came in contact with. At that time someone had compassion on the new mother and child and they were moved into a house. The wise men arrive that night to Bethlehem from Jerusalem,which is only 3 miles away and find him in the house, pay homage and are warned by God to go home another way. Joseph is also warned that night and to flee to Egypt until Herod is dead. While in Egypt, Herod dies soon after this and the couple return to Israel where they stop at the Temple for Mary to go through the ritual purification after the birth of a male child (Lev 12) and to dedicate Yeshua.It is clear that they could not have gone to the Temple while Herod was alive. It is while they are there that they receive the prophecies of Anna and Simeon. When this is done, they return to Galilee. All of this happens within forty days of Yeshua's birth.

Q. What was the "star" of Bethlehem?

A. Many people have speculated as to what this really was. Some say it was a comet, some say a star in conjunction with other stars making it look brighter and on it goes. People go back in history and find when these things could have occurred and come up with all sorts of dates for the birth of Yeshua. Actually, the whole thing is quite simple to explain and the Bible is clear about the the time of year of the birth of Yeshua, and all that is unrelated to the star. So, let's deal with the star first and then discuss the time of year when he was born and the sequence of events that night. The other possibility about the star is that it was not a "star" as we know it at all. The word can be translated as a star but it can mean "radiance" (Alfred Edersheim) and that word in Hebrew is "kivod" and can also mean glory. We know from Num 24.17 that a star would be associated with the birth of Messiah and so it was, but what exactly was it. For one thing, this was not a star as it is known today because this did not act like one and it does not fit the context. For instance, it was seen by the magi only. Herod knew nothing about it (Matt 2.7), it moved and stopped and also reappeared to the magi after their talk with Herod. So, this was no star as we know it. It was a special manifestation of the "kivod (glory)of God and it appeared to the magi and led them to Yeshua. This was not unknown in the Scriptures. The Kivod appeared to the children of Israel in the wilderness and led them to the promised land (Ex 13.21), so this was something that was done before. I can't let this explanation go without covering how all this fits into the birth of Yeshua. This is easy to document and can be done by establishing several things. First, when did Gabriel appear to Zechariah, when did Mary conceive and when did King Herod die. We know Zechariah belonged to the priestly course of Abijah, and they served in the Temple about 10 weeks into the religious year which was approximately late Sivan, close to our June. Elizabeth was in her sixth month ( Lk 1.26-33) when Gabriel appeared to Mary. This would have put the conception around late Kislev, about the time of Chanukah. Counting ahead 9 months you come to the feast of Sukkot, usually our September/October and that is an 8 day festival and that was when Yeshua was born. This can also be established by finding out when Herod died. The Jewish historian Josephus says that Herod committed an act of impiety on the priesthood and became very sick. This was March, 4 B.C. This lasted several months and he finally died in September, 4 B.C. This is important because Yeshua was already born and had fled to Egypt and he did not come back till Herod was dead. We know Yeshua was presented in the Temple 40 days after his birth (Lk 2.22) so Herod had to be dead by then. So, Yeshua was born in the fall of 4 B.C. probably during the feast of Sukkot, fled to Egypt right after his birth. A few weeks later Herod dies and Joseph comes to Jerusalem and the ritual of purification is done (40 days after birth of a boy Num 12.1-8). Next week I will give a quick overview of the birth of Yeshua and the likely sequence of events.

Book of Acts & Interpreting Paul Pt. 5

During the last several weeks, we have been examining the question as to why the Book of Acts and especially the writings of Paul are so hard to understand. We dealt with how the faith departed from the Hebraic understandings to what is being taught today and to really understand the Scriptures we must go back to the Hebrew roots and understandings. I believe we accomplished that and so this week I want to get down to the heart of the matter and this can be found in Leviticus 10. 1-20. This chapter deals with Aaron and his first day as High Priest of Israel. What should have been the happiest day of his life turns into the lowest when his two oldest sons are killed by the Lord when they offered "strange fire" before the Lord during the incense offering. Why would these two men, trained by Moses himself to minister in the Tabernacle of God do such a thing on the first day? The answer to this question will help you understand why Paul was a Torah observant Jewish Rabbi who did not teach against the Torah as some say today. The priests in the Tabernacle and later the Temple were called to be teachers and they were to instruct the people in the ways of the Lord. They had to teach others on how to worship the Lord, how to distinguish between the holy and the profane, good and evil, light and darkness according to what the Lord has said. The ordinances of God cannot be changed by any human authority, not even the sons of the High Priest. But they did, they did not obey the Lord in the proper way to worship Him and they made a small change in the procedure. Most scholars think they did not put some coals from the altar into their censors with the incense but used ordinary coals from an ordinary fire, thus offering "strange fire" to the Lord. We need to learn this lesson today because we are living in an age when the commandments of God have not only been changed or amended but in some cases done away with altogether. One of the most glaring examples of this is in Leviticus 11 where God has a list of what is considered food and what cannot be eaten. The creatures that are considered "tahor" or clean and what is considered "tamai" or unclean have nothing to do with the physical but they are understood as a ritual purity or defilement, something that would prohibit you from entering the sanctuary, touching holy things or serving as a priest. These are temporary ritual defilement's as long as the Temple or Tabernacle was standing and if you ate something and was ritually defiled, you could not enter the Temple. These are God's rules and they were certainly observed in the 1st century and they will again (See Ezekiel chapters 40-48). But many are saying "but didn't Yeshua declare that all foods are clean?" He declared all kosher foods clean even if you did not ritually wash your hands before eating them according to the man-made traditions of the elders. You cannot annul a commandment of God (Mt 5.17-19). In Mark 7 and Mt 15.20 it clearly states that the issue being discussed is not "you can eat anything now" but if you eat clean food without washing your hands in a ritualistic manner as taught by the Pharisees the food is still clean and you can enter the Sanctuary to worship. Acts 10 is also misunderstood to teach that Peter's vision was God's way of telling everyone that they can eat whatever they want. But Peter himself said the vision was mean't to teach him that the Gentiles were not unclean to the Lord and he can enter into a Gentile's house. You see, there laws passed by some of the leading religious denominations at the time saying that a Jew could not go into the house of a Gentile without becoming ritually unclean and then prohibited from entering the Sanctuary for worship. These were man-made laws called "the 18 Edicts" and these were the things that the Lord was breaking down. Peter continued to struggle with this and was even confronted by Paul on this. To eat with a Gentile meant you accepted him. When some believers came who believed that a Gentile should be circumcised (become Jewish to get around the man-made law) Peter would not eat with them and Paul confronted him. The keeping of these laws have nothing to do with salvation because you aren't saved by works. They have everything to do with obedience. Many people will say "I haven't heard from God on this" or whether they should keep the Sabbath or festivals, but in reality they have heard from Him. There was a voice from Heaven that spoke these words to mankind over 3500 years ago but we think we have the right to decide, just like Aaron's sons did. We want to decide what is right and wrong. But a Voice did speak from Heaven and say "this is my beloved Son, listen to Him" but the crowd said "we didn't pick Him, we didn't choose Him, we'll choose what we are going to do" and that is the exact problem today. We pick what we want to obey and what we don't like. We find ways around the commands we don't like. And, like Aaron's sons, we approach the Lord with "strange fire" and then wonder why we get "burned." We need to examine ourselves by the water of the Word and to make sure we are worshiping the Lord in truth and in spirit and not according to our own ways. We need to have the proper Lamb on the altar, we need to was in the laver made from mirrors to see our reflection in the waters of the word, we need to make sure there are 12 loaves of bread, and that our Menorah is full of the oil of the Holy Spirit so our lights are bright and we need to make sure we have a coal from the fire from the altar outside, started by God Himself, to put in our censors and mix that with the incense, which is our prayers. Prayer should be inspired by the Lord and if we mix them with anything else, it is a strange fire. We need to go back to the pattern the Lord has given us and make sure we stick with it. If things are going wrong or something is not right, go back to the pattern God has given us in the Scriptures and things will be revealed to you on what to do. That is exactly what Moses and Aaron did after the death of the two boys and they did not deviate from what the Lord commanded, and neither should we.