Nativity and Christmas

The Nativity
The Signiﬁcance of the Nativity is the subtle deception associated with the
events, though they seem harmless the fact is, if you believe something that is
supposed to be biblically based and the facts are twisted, it can subtlety but
effectively effect your faith and what you believe. Despite the commercial
worldly depiction of biblical accounts, any demarcation in the truth if accepted,
will effect our ability to believe God in what HE has said.
Example:
There were 8 presidents before George Washington, who was inaugurated as
President of the United States on April 30, 1789 however, the US had a
functioning government that started operating from September 1774 and as a
confederacy from July 4, 1776. For about 15 years from 1774 until 1789 there were
8 Presidents before Washington. They weren’t called the Presidents of the
United States, they were called the President of the Continental Congress, each
one served about year in ofﬁce from 1782 until 1789 respectively, they included..
Tony Mariot Page ! of !1 16 The Nativity

John Hanson (1782)
Elias Boudinot (1783)
Thomas Mifﬂin (1784)
Richard Henry Lee (1785)
John Hancock (1786)
Nathan Gorman (1787)
Arthur St. Clair (1788)
Cyrus Grifﬁn (1789)

The point is, just because something is said over and over again or has the
appearance on its surface as being a fact, as in the case of the first President of the
United States being supposed as George Washington, it does not make it so,
particularly if you give it closer examination, as in the Nativity and the birth of
Christ.
Christmas
The word Christmas comes from the Greek word “Christos/Kris-tos” means
anointed, the Messiah, or the more complete definition “the ideal truth that
comes as a divine manifestation of God to destroy incarnate sin and evil, or the
works of the devil”. “Mas” means to assemble in a large group.
There are many things of note that surround the birth of Jesus starting with the
travels of Mary and Joseph prior to His birth because of the Census of Caesar
Augustus.
The Census
Lukes account was written in 60-62AD to a Roman audience
2 “And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus
that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.)
3 And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city”. Luke 2:1-3
Mary and Joseph travelled
from Nazareth to Bethlehem
before the birth of Jesus
(Luke 2:1-3) because of the
census ordered by Caesar
Augustus (who was
emperor from 27BC to
14AD). Men had to register
at their home town (so they
could be taxed by the Romans),
Mary and Joseph went to
Bethlehem because Joseph was
a descendent of King David and Joseph’s family came from Bethlehem.

What marks the period in time is that the census took place when Cyrenius was
the Roman governor of Syria.
NOTE:
This Roman census actually occurred eleven or twelve years after Jesus birth.
Jesus was born while Herod the Great was King of Judaea, no Roman Governor
of Syria would have had the jurisdiction to organize a census and general
taxation in Judaea at the time of Jesus’s birth. (This means there was some other
intervention, that caused Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem, it is thought this was a
spiritual intervention)
Nazareth to Bethlehem - Luke
2:1-20
90 miles 34 hour walk (4-5 days)
Nazareth was the hometown of
Mary. In 5 B.C., Nazareth, where
Mary lived, was a small village in
the hills of Galilee just 4 miles
south of the city of Sepphoris.
It was a hilltop settlement looking
south across the Plain of Jezreel
(also called the Plain of Esdraelon).
It was close to the trade routes
along the Jezreel Valley and up
through the hills to the Sea of
Galilee.
Its name means a ‘watch-tower’ in
Aramaic.

Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem in Judaea, where Joseph’s family lived. The
journey takes four or five days as Nazareth is 65 miles north of Jerusalem, while
Bethlehem is a hilltop town situated on a ridge near the edge of the Judaean
desert, 5 miles south of Jerusalem. Luke 2:1-5
Jesus is born
Jesus is born in Bethlehem in 6 or 5 BC. He is laid in a manger – (an animal’s feeding
trough) – as there is no room for Mary and Joseph in the Inn. Luke 2:6-8
The Greek word for Inn is ‘kataluma’, but it actually means a guest-room or
chamber “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”.
Luke 2:7.
This word “Inn” is precisely the same word that is used to describe the upper
room or guest-chamber where Jesus and his disciples shared the Last Supper in
Jerusalem on the night before Jesus was crucified
“And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is
the guest chamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?” Luke 22:11.

The common depiction of the
Nativity, is that of shepherds,
3 wise men, Jesus in a manger,
Joseph, Mary, Angels and a
animals round about. Just as
the depiction of Washington as
the first President, the display
of the nativity and December
25th as the date of Christ birth
is equally as misleading.
Shepard’s in the field - Luke 2:8-15
According to the biblical accounts, the Angels, Shepherds and wise men were
never actually in the same place at the same time, neither did they see Jesus on
the same night.
The Shepard’s in the Bethlehem fields have an encounter with Angels. there is no
record of these Angels appearing with Jesus in the manger as depicted in nativity
scenes.

The Shepard’s go into the city of Bethlehem and ﬁnd Jesus Mary and Joseph in
the Inn - there are No Angels nor Magi present. Luke 2:15-17
Their encounters were actually months if not years apart. Only the Shepherds
saw Jesus in the manger (a water trough animals drink from) the same day of His
actual birth if not a day or two later. - Luke 2:1-19
The actual date of Christ birth is unknown and lost in antiquity, but it is NOT
December 25th.
The oldest existing record of a Christmas celebration is found in a Roman
almanac that tells of a Christ’s Nativity festival led by the church of Rome in 336
C.E. The precise reason why Christmas came to be celebrated on December 25th
was based on obscure reasoning, but the date was originated as a Christian
substitute for pagan celebrations of the winter solstice.
As Christianity began to take hold in the Roman world, in the early fourth
century, church leaders had to contend with a popular Roman pagan holiday
commemorating the “birthday of the unconquered sun” (natalis solis invicti)–the
Roman name for the winter solstice.
Every winter, Romans honored
the pagan god Saturn, the god
of agriculture, with a festival
that began on December 17
and usually ended on or
around December 25 with a
winter-solstice celebration in
honor of the beginning of the
new solar cycle.
This festival was a time of
merrymaking, and families and
friends would exchange gifts. At the same time, Mithraism–worship of the

ancient Persian god of light–was popular in the Roman army, and the cult held
some of its most important rituals on the winter solstice.
After the Roman Emperor Constantine I converted to Christianity in 312 CE and
sanctioned Christianity, church leaders made efforts to appropriate the winter-
solstice holidays and thereby achieve a more seamless conversion to Christianity
for the emperor’s subjects. In rationalizing the celebration of Jesus’ birthday in
late December, church leaders argued that since the world was allegedly created
on the spring equinox (late March), so too would Jesus have been conceived by
God on that date. The Virgin Mary, pregnant with the son of God, would have
given birth to Jesus nine months later on the winter solstice. (obscure reasoning)
From Rome, the Christ’s Nativity
celebration spread to other Christian
churches to the west and east, and
soon most Christians were celebrating
Christ’s birth on December 25th. The
Roman celebration later added other
winter-solstice rituals observed by
various pagan groups, such as the
lighting of the Yule log and
decorations with evergreens by
Germanic tribes later adopted by
Christians by decorating Christmas trees and burning logs in ﬁreplaces.
The word Christmas entered the English language originally as Christes maesse,
meaning “Christ’s mass” or “festival of Christ” in Old English. A popular
medieval feast was that of St. Nicholas of Myra, a saint said to visit children with
gifts and admonitions just before Christmas. This story evolved into the modern
practice of leaving gifts for children said to be brought by “Santa Claus,” a
derivative of the Dutch name for St. Nicholas–Sinterklaas. This is the basis for
modern Christmas celebrations on December 25th that embody pagan rituals.

The Magi - Matthew 2:7-13
There are some deﬁning details
that help us understand the age
gap of Jesus during the
encounter of the Wise men, who
are assumed to be three people,
but the number of wise men
(also known as Magi -
astrologers) is an extrapolation,
their number is not revealed in
scripture.
Most make this leap because of the number of gifts presented to Joseph and Mary
for Jesus.
“And when they were come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary his
mother, and fell down, and worshipped him: and when they had opened their treasures,
they presented unto him gifts; gold, and frankincense and myrrh”. Mathew 2:11
In Eastern Christianity, especially the Syriac churches, the number of Magi is pro
ported to be twelve. Syriac Christianity speaks ancient Syriac, a dialect of Middle
Aramaic that started in Edessa in the early 1st century AD, and is closely related
to the Aramaic language of Jesus. Syriac Christianity dates back to the 1st century
CE, in modern times, the denominations are primarily in the Middle East, Asia
Minor and in Kerala, India.
Jesus circumcised in Bethlehem 8 days later - Luke 2:21, Genesis 17: 10-12,
Leviticus 12:2-3, Exodus 13:1-2
Jesus birth fulﬁlls the prophecy found in Micah 5:2 “But thou, Bethlehem
Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall
he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been
from of old, from everlasting..”

On the eighth day after Jesus is born, He was
taken from Bethlehem to Jerusalem to be
circumcised according to the law. This was a
6 mile trip one way.
“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
NOTE:
It is likely that Mary and Joseph went to stay
with their relatives in Bethlehem. While Romans
and other foreign travelers often stayed in
roadside hostelries or ‘inns’, Jews always stayed
in the homes of relatives or other Jews when traveling (Jewish hospitality - Luke
9:4-5, 10:7 & 10:30-35 - the good samaritan). Jews never stayed in ‘inns' the food
wasn't kosher (it didn't meet Jewish food laws - Leviticus 11:1-47), Jews were
forbidden to eat with Gentiles (non-Jews Acts 10:28). Instead, Jews always stayed
in the homes of relatives or other Jews when traveling.
33 Days of Purification
In Bethlehem - Leviticus 12:4, Luke 2:22
6 miles 1 hour walk from Bethlehem to Jerusalem
After Jesus is born 8 days later He was circumcised in Bethlehem, Mary fulfilled
the 33 days of purification in Bethlehem which was a requirement of the law.
Leviticus 12. Mary, Joseph and Jesus travel to Jerusalem's temple to present Jesus
to the Lord, to christening Him. The trip is only 6 miles long. His parents make
an offering at the temple of two young birds. It is during their visit that a priest
named Simeon prophesied about Jesus' mission in life and blessed his parents
(Luke 2:22-35). Before Mary and Joseph leave the temple to return home a woman
named Anna, a widowed prophetess who lived in the house of God, blesses them
as well (Luke 2:36-38).

Jerusalem to Nazareth
92.3 miles 32 hour walk
39 “And when they had performed
all things according to the law of the
Lord, they returned into Galilee, to
their own city Nazareth”. Luke 2:39
The mileage from Jerusalem to
Nazareth and Capernaum or
vice versa is approximately 92
miles. The most direct route
would be about 90 miles,
however this would be
through Samaria.
This was an area between Jerusalem and the Galilee area to the north. The Jews as
a whole hated the Samaritans and they the Jews.
Travel through Samaria was to be avoided because of the mountainous
conditions and the racial
hatred.
The travel route was from
Jerusalem down to the
Jordan valley ‘the Jericho
Road’. Then across the
Jordan River into the area
know as Perea (part of
present day Jordan and once
a part of Israel).
One would then go north
on the east side of the
River Jordan on up into
Decpolis still on the east
side of the River Jordan.

Just below the Sea of Galilee the route
crossed back over the River Jordan and
then split.
One route went on Northwest to
Nazareth the other route passing along
the West side of the Sea of Galilee past
Tiberias and on through Magdala to
Capernaum. Both these routes are about
the same mileage.
Magi sent to Bethlehem - Matthew 2: 1-15
Some months after Jesus is born, perhaps
as much as 24 months, the Magi arrive in
Jerusalem from the east.
They head to King Herod's palace to sell their merchandise to the wealthy in the
royal court. They congratulate the king on his good fortune. They tell him they
have seen a star indicating that they will ﬁnd “the baby who was born to be the king
of the Jews” Matthew 2:2.
When the wise men see Jesus he is in Nazareth, NOT Bethlehem, Jerusalem or
Egypt.
It is typically assumed that the wise men saw Jesus in Bethlehem because Herod
dispatched the wise men to Bethlehem.
7 "Then Herod, when he had privily called the wise men, enquired of them diligently
what time the star appeared.
8 And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child;
and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him
also”. Matthew 2:7-8
The wise men never even went to Bethlehem, they followed the star in the East to
where Jesus was, Galilee in the city of Nazareth. (Mathew 2:9-12, Luke 2:39)

“And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned
into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth.” Luke 2:39
 
The Magi did not arrive until
sometime after Christ’s presentation
in the Temple in Jerusalem (Luke
2:22-39). By the time the wise men
saw Jesus, he was a young child in a
house.
“And when they were come into the
house, they saw the young child with
Mary his mother” Matthew 2:11
A young child means one who is between the ages of 3 months to 2 years of age.
There were no Angels, shepherds or animals at the house with the Magi.
The approximate age of Jesus is supported by Herod’s decree to kill every child
in Bethlehem from a new born to the age of 2 years.
“Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth,
and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts

thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently
enquired of the wise men”. Matthew 2:16
NOTE:
The ‘massacre of the innocents’ was typical of Herod’s extreme behavior
recorded independently by the Jewish historian Josephus. Herod was intensely
jealous and chronically insecure. He had suffered a severe breakdown in 29BC
after he murdered his wife Mariamne and his brother-in-law Joseph after falsely
accusing them of having an affair.
As recently as 7BC, Herod had executed his own sons Aristobulus and Alexander
(whom he accused of plotting to take the throne) and the following year, around the
time of Jesus’s birth, he tortured each of his slave-girls in turn to reveal any
further threats to his authority. In 4BC Herod executed his own son Antipater.
When Joseph and Mary escaped with Jesus to Egypt in 5 or 4BC, it was to Judaea
with a large Jewish community. Following the defeat of Mark Antony and
Cleopatra VII (the last Ptolemaic “Greek” ruler of Egypt) by Octavian (Augustus
Caesar) at the Battle of Actium in 31BC, Egypt had become part of the Roman
Empire.
Their journey from Nazareth to
an Egyptian-controlled territory
(was outside the jurisdiction of
Herod, and was at least 40 miles
away).
After the encounter with the
wise men, Joseph and Mary took
Jesus to Egypt to wait out the
death of Herod.

13 “And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a
dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and ﬂee into Egypt, and
be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
14 When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night, and departed into
Egypt:
15 And was there until the death of Herod: that it might be fulﬁlled which was spoken of
the Lord by the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt have I called my son”. Matthew 2:13-15
Herod Dies - Egypt to Israel
Matthew 2: 19-23, Luke 2:39
Joseph is told by an Angel to return to Israel and they came to live in Nazareth.
(Matthew 2:13-23) The normal mileage from Bethlehem down to the coast of the
Mediterranean Sea, through Gaza across the Sinai Desert and into Egypt to the
Pyramids along the Nile would be about 350 miles.
NOTE:
Herod’s Palace was built on the
western side of the Upper City, where
important Roman travelers from
Caesarea would have entered
Jerusalem. The palace covered most of
what is now the Armenian Quarter of
the Old City of Jerusalem.
It was almost totally destroyed by the
Roman general Titus in 70AD. All that
remains is one tower of the Citadel, a
fortress built originally by Herod at the
northern end of his palace. In addition,
sections of Herod’s city wall were
incorporated into the impressive walls
(still standing today) erected by Sultan
Suleiman in the 16th century. Herod – who relied on Roman patronage – tried to
‘hellenise’ Jerusalem, encouraging Greek customs and making it more like other

cites in the Roman empire. He built a large amphitheater, a smaller odeion
(theatre) and a hippodrome (a stadium for chariot racing).
Its important to note that Herod was unaware of the travels of Jesus, he only
knew of the prophesy that the Christ would come out of Bethlehem. Those
children who Herod killed, died in a futile quest by Satan, as Jesus was by this
time, already in Jerusalem.
These actions by Satan reveal the depth of his lack of understanding of prophesy
and the scripture, as all that God does is done so in plain sight, in this, case
thousands of years in advance but revealed to those who are ﬁlled with the Spirit
of the Lord, which demons are not.
7 “but we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, even the hidden wisdom, which God
ordained before the world unto our glory:
8 which none of the princes of this world knew: for had they known it, they would not
have cruciﬁed the Lord of glory.
9 But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the
heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him”.
1 Corinthians 2:7-9
So when you see the Nativity simply know, it is a cute story, but is of no more
consequence then the fables of Santa Claus.

Nativity and Christmas

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Nativity and Christmas