December 25th Is Not Christ's Birthday

Do you know why the date of Dec 25th was chosen to be Christ's birthday? Jewish tradition is that all prophets are conceived and die on the same day. There is ZERO evidence of this but since Christ died on Passover, we have a presupposed fallacy that He must have been conceived on Passover (late April). This has served as a foundation for eager minds to try and prove, spuriously, the date of Christ's birth. April to December is only 8 months BTW which I supposed could be possible.

Using the story about the angel visiting Zechariah to tell him he is going to conceive a child, early bishops "over-curiously" (words of Clement of Alexandria c. 190AD) try to guess the date of Christ's birth. They say they can trace the time back to exactly when Zechariah was serving in the temple and establish that as the conception time of John the Baptist (more speculation but I guess there *could* be something to that). Since the Bible tells us that Yahshua was supposedly born 6 months after John they then trace the date of Christ's birth to either Dec 25th or Jan 6th. One thing they missed is that God doesn't have to fulfill His promises right away. Who is to say that John was conceived soon after the angel visited Zechariah? Luke says, "Now after those days his wife Elizabeth conceived." That's not very specific. Also note that Mary received a visit from Gabriel when John was in the womb somewhere between 5 and 6 months (again not very specific). There is nothing indicating Christ was conceived right then and there either. He may have been conceived a month or two later. So considering all these things, any attempt at nailing down even a somewhat accurate timing is very, very dubious. Besides, there were shepherds watching their flocks in the open fields at Christ's birth. That doesn't sound like winter*(see edit below).

Another important question to ask is why there were bishops going to such great lengths to calculate the date of Christ's birth 150+ years after His death? If it was important, surely the apostles, who were very close to Him, would have written it down or something? So many questions surround this date and I can't get past asking, "Why stretch so hard to make it fit?" There IS an answer to that question. You have to know your history really well in order to understand it though. Are you willing to look into it or are you going to be lazy and just go with the flow?

Charles Spurgeon on Christmas:
“We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas. First because we do not believe in any mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be sung in Latin or in English: Secondly, because we find no scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority. Superstition has fixed most positively the day of our Savior’s birth, although there in no possibility of discovering when it occurred. It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the church celebrated the birth of our Lord; and it was not till long after the western Church had set the example, that the eastern adopted it. Because the day is not known. Probably the fact is that the “holy” days were arranged to fit in with the heathen festivals. We venture to assert that if there be any day in the year of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which our Savior was born it is the 25th of December. Regarding not the day, let us give God thanks for the gift of His dear Son.” —C. H. Spurgeon Dec. 24, 1871 (Spurgeon, Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit, p. 697)

“No evidence remains about the exact date of the birth of Christ. The December 25 date was chosen as much for practical reasons as for theological ones. Throughout the Roman Empire, various festivals were held in conjunction with the winter solstice. In Rome, the Feast of the Unconquerable Sun celebrated the beginning of the return of the sun. When Christianity became the religion of the Empire, the church either had to suppress the festivals or transform them. The winter solstice seemed an appropriate time to celebrate Christ’s birth. Thus, the festival of the sun became a festival of the Son” (Holman Bible Dictionary, entry for Christmas)

EDIT:
I do have to correct myself on one thing. Evidently, sheep do often stay outside in the winter months. Here is a blog about it:
http://www.livingwithgotlands.com/2015/02/how-can-sheep-survive-bitter-cold-weather/
Now shepherds were actually living in the fields with their flocks but since the temperature in Bethlehem only gets down to about 35 degrees at worst it is not unreasonable to expect this. I stand corrected on that particular fact, however it does not retract from the mountain of other facts presented on this subject here or anywhere else.

The Cloud of Witnesses and the First Resurrection

And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again.
Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented— of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth.
And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.
​ Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. - Hebrews 11-12

In reading this it would appear that there is a contradiction. The former spoken of obtained the promise but the latter did not? There is a dichotomy going on here on multiple levels. Those who obtained the promise were first tortured, despised, rejected and/or ignored. The power of God is still shown through them because of their faith, and this happened in their life on this planet, yet their faith persists today as a testimony. Paul is referencing people before and after Christ dies, old and new covenants, and he is looking toward the future in those who were alive at that time and those who would follow. We have them as a cloud of witnesses as well as ourselves. Scripture says Christ will return in the clouds and we are those clouds. (See Rev 1:7, Zech 12:10, Matt 26:64, Acts 1:9-11). He will return the same way which He left. This a parable.

Speaking to the Pharisees Christ said, "...from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power and coming on the clouds of heaven."
FROM NOW ON.

When the two men spoke to the disciples from heaven, "...why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven," they were asking them a rhetorical question. Why are you gazing up into heaven? He was received by the cloud of witnesses in heaven and He will be received by His witnesses on earth who will one day be caught up into the clouds with Him. The heavens declare the glory of God. HalleluYah!

Those who suffered in times past for their faith and experienced the power of God in different ways will not be made perfect apart from us. We all are made perfect together, those who are of the household of faith. Still the suffering is not over. I'm torn between the torture of this existence and the peace and joy of God. Why? Because in the here and now there must be suffering, like Lot (for that righteous man, living among them day after day, was tormented in his righteous soul by the lawless deeds he saw and heard - not only in Sodom and Gomorrah but later as seen in the story of Moses and Egypt). Still, knowing the promise is what brings peace and joy. We receive pieces of the promise through our faith, hope and love during trials but we do not obtain the promise until God's appointed time. Then we will sit with Him on His throne and judge righteously, those who attain the firstfruit resurrection.

I say "we" inclusively in hope because we do not know whether we will be a part of the firstfruits. The firstfruits are overcomers, and they overcome by the blood and testimony of Yahshua. The testimony of Yahshua is the spirit of prophecy and we should not despise prophecies (nor ignore them). They are as important as any other doctrinal understanding. Let us be like the men of Issachar who understood the times in which they lived so they knew what to do.

The Bush Family and the Nazi Connection

"I spent thirty-three years and four months in active military service as a member of this country's most agile military force, the Marine Corps. I served in all commissioned ranks from Second Lieutenant to Major-General. And during that period, I spent most of my time being a high class muscle-man for Big Business, for Wall Street and for the Bankers. In short, I was a racketeer, a gangster for capitalism. I helped make Mexico, especially Tampico, safe for American oil interests in 1914, then made Haiti and Cuba a decent place for the National City Bank boys to collect revenues. I helped rape half a dozen Central American republics for the benefits of Wall Street and did the same to Nicaragua for the international banking house of Brown Brothers in 1909-1912." -Major General Smedley Butler (By the end of his career, Butler had received 16 medals, five for heroism. He is one of 19 men to receive the Medal of Honor twice, one of three to be awarded both the Marine Corps Brevet Medal (along with Wendell Neville and David Porter) and the Medal of Honor, and the only Marine to be awarded the Brevet Medal and two Medals of Honor, all for separate actions.)

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smedley_Butler

Note the connection to the Brown Brothers...

Prescott Bush, a founding partner of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co., (1931) was the Wall Street front for several Nazi companies and U.S. financial interests of Fritz Thyssen. Thyssen was an early financial backer of the Nazi party. Bush was a director and shareholder, along with George Herbert Walker, his father-in-law, in the Union Banking Corporation (UBC) which also ran a complicated financial web that supported Hitler until 1942.

Isn't this pattern of "Oops, we 'accidentally' supported terrorists!" beyond old at this point? The elite fund both sides of wars in order to create chaos so that out of that chaos they can create a reaction which in turn brings an opportunity for them to present a pre-supposed solution. In other words, you are being manipulated into supporting wars for the evil interests of the elite ruling class. This is only one small example in a multitude - an ocean of deception.

Yeshu - a Cursed Derogatory Name?

The Hebrew phrase yimakh shemo ימח שמו "May his name be obliterated" is a curse placed after the name of particular enemies of the Jewish people. A variant is yimakh shemo ve zikhro ימח שמו וזכרו "Obliterate his name and his memory." Yimakh shemo is one of the strongest curses in the Hebrew language.

The term although Hebrew, may be inserted as a set phrase in languages other than Hebrew, including Yiddish, e.g. "Dos iz a kol-boynik, yemakh-shmoy!" ("He is a scoundrel, yemakh-shmoy!") and English. When the phrase is used in English of plurals the Hebrew plural -am ("their names and their memories" yimach shemam ve-zichram) is applied. The epithet may be abbreviated as "Y. S." in some English texts. In Hebrew the abbreviation is (יש"ו) y-sh"u. The curse connects with examples of erasure of names in other cultures, but has been called "the classic Jewish curse."

- Professor Ghil'ad Zuckermann, Language Revival and Multiple Causation

See of footnote #3 in the link below.
There are arguments that Yeshu (translated here as "sinners of Israel" after controversy over the original reference to Yeshu) is A) not Christ but some other less important figure who didn't have much influence, and B) that this is just a reference to a Jewish curse that means "May his name be obliterated." It equates this person with Balaam, who led Israel astray. You make the judgment call. Is it talking about Christ? http://www.come-and-hear.com/gittin/gittin_57.html#57a_2
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tzoah_Rotachat

Just as the Jews removed the name of Yahweh from the Old Testament they seem to have had a hand in the corruption of Christ's name as well. The commonly accepted name in Hebrew for Christ is Yeshua or more commonly in secular or some orthodox circles in Israel, Yeshu. After reading what is above and knowing what is written in the Babylonian Talmud (which a vast majority of rabbis and scholars use to this day) is it not highly suspicious that they use this name instead of the more obvious "Yahshua"?

If the name Jesus has any connection to this I wonder if it carries the meaning of cursing Christ and all who are His to remove their names from existence. Jesus is closer to Yeshua than Yahshua when you look at the Greek Iesus. It sounds like "Yeshu". The Jesuit order may have consciously picked this name for that reason. "The Society of Wiping out the Name of that Unspoken Apostate Jew from Existence". Of course that's pure speculation. I have no evidence of that last statement other than what was said here, which is not enough to draw that conclusion, however if you research the history of the Jesuits you will find that many of the things they've been involved in do seem to go along with that idea. "In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God." The Catholic-backed Jesuits along with teachings of the Jewish Talmud and Islam all teach something in common, that it is OK to do something wrong to an enemy as long as the intentions are towards righteousness. Where I come from that's spelled H-Y-P-O-C-R-I-S-Y.

Forever Fun - Tickle My Bible Translation

Let's translate this passage like most of the other passages containing the Greek words with the root "aion." It'll be fun!

"...and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of forever."

Even more fun...

"...and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of forever, and the harvesters are angels."

"As the weeds are collected and burned in the fire, so will it be at the end of forever."

Jesus answered [Wait, who is this "Jesus" character? I thought His name was Yahshua.], “The sons of forever marry and are given in marriage. But those who are considered worthy to share in forever to come and in the resurrection from the dead will neither marry nor be given in marriage.

"Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this forever or in the one to come."

SEE! Didn't I tell you this would be fun? Why stop there?

He has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, as He spoke through His holy prophets, those of forever past, salvation from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us...

Heaven must take Him in until the time comes for the restoration of all things, which God announced long ago through His holy prophets.

Hmmm, now I really like this one.

"But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting"

FROM everlasting... TO everlasting. Now does that make sense?

Let's do the same with the phrase οὐ μή (ou mē). Here are some examples of correct translations made wrong for the sake of illustrating how ridiculous it is to translate this phrase as "never." “Do not think that I came to destroy the Law or the Prophets. I did not come to destroy but to fulfill. For assuredly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle will never pass from the law till all is fulfilled. Mat 5:18 Assuredly, I say to you, you will never get out of there till you have paid the last penny. Mat 5:26 But when they persecute you in this city, flee ye into another: for verily I say unto you, Ye shall never have gone over the cities of Israel, till the Son of man be come. Mat 10:23 Verily I say unto you, There be some standing here, which shall never taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom. Mat 16:28 For I say unto you, Ye shall never see me henceforth, till ye shall say, Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord. Mat 23:39 And Jesus said to them, “Do you not see all these things? Assuredly, I say to you, never one stone shall be left here upon another, that shall never be thrown down.” Mat 24:2 But I say unto you, I will not G3364 drink henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I drink it new with you in my Father's kingdom. Mat 26:29 Here is one passage corrected to what it should be: For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, nor will be. Mat 24:21 Is this making sense now? We have to rightly divide the word of truth.

A Sol Invictus Christmas - Syncretism for the sake of unity

Part 1 - Tolerance

A gold multiple of "Unconquered Constantine" with Sol Invictus, struck in 313 AD.

Note the Battle of Milvian Bridge, where Constantine supposedly had a vision from the Christian God, occurred in 312AD. If Constantine converted to Christianity in this moment why would he continue minting coins that reinforce his right to rule by the authority of a pagan god? In the gold coin you can clearly see the battle of Milvian Bridge depicted on the shield. So what god then did he see while looking into the sun? Sol as depicted on the same coin, a god who is associated with the Greek god Apollo. Why also would he continue to erect monuments to pagan gods, ie; the giant archway leading into Constantinople, dedicated in 315AD, which has no Christian references on it whatsoever, yet depicts his victory at Milvian Bridge?

There is evidence that Constantine became more involved in the church in his later years but this does not preclude the lie about his supposed conversion in 312. Why would historians write such things? Perhaps because the emperor was their patron and loyalty was more important to them than the truth. Perhaps because that same emperor had the kind of character that would have his own son and wife killed and then attempt to erase all record of them from history, so why not them and everyone they hold dear?

Remember this coin and the title "Unconquered Constantine". It is useful in studying Roman religious festivals and their connection to modern holidays. Specifically the reference on the Roman calendar to "Natalis Invicti" (meaning birthday of the unconquerable one) in 336AD, which is hotly debated as evidence for or against Christmas, depending on the side you take and the evidence you weigh. The argument for Christmas states that Sol Invictus is a separate holiday in October and is unrelated to Natalis Invictus, which is probably a reference to Christ since this same calendar marks Christ's birthday as the same day. The problem with that is Sol is the "unconquerable one" and Constantine is making a statement about that here, claiming power in that god's name. It was common for Roman emperors to do that. Sol means "sun" and the fact that his name was changed from Apollo to Sol is revealing the Roman ecumenical desire to generalize the worship of the sun. It was not long before they conflated this with the worship of the "Son" of God. The reason the sun is so important to pagans is that it is a visible source of life. Without it we would not exist. The winter solstice is important in pagan religions because it is the time when the days are the shortest in the year, when the sun "dies" and is reborn. It is unconquerable.

The accuracy of the date of Christ's birth (as well as the attempt to date it to begin with) is another topic of discussion for a later time but this is clear evidence of the Romans having typical pagan celebrations on December 25th. This is a piece of evidence to take note of as we explore the history of Christmas further. For now we need to finish the foundation of why we even need to consider this subject.

The next point to note is Constantine's goal of unity, and not just Constantine but the men of high power in his kingdom. The Edict of Milan, which was written by those men and signed by Constantine and Licinius, was supposedly issued in 313AD. It was declaring forced tolerance of all religions, of which Christianity was an addendum. Although Christians were probably the most persecuted people at the time, especially in the eastern part of the empire, the edict was meant to legitimize ALL religions.  This itself is an assumption because no such edict was ever found. The only sources are two versions included in works by Lactantius and Eusebius. Each man's account of what it said differs. What we can glean though is that it was not "legalizing Christianity" in those certain terms but rather an ecumenical statement of religious decriminalization so people can worship who they please. Constantine was not the first to do this. Galerius did the same in 311. Note two specific statements that are recorded by Lactantius and Eusebius. They reveal the motives of this edict.

"It directed the provincial magistrates to execute this order at once with all energy so that public order may be restored and the continuance of divine favour may 'preserve and prosper our successes together with the good of the state.'"

"When you see that this has been granted to [Christians] by us, your Worship will know that we have also conceded to other religions the right of open and free observance of their worship for the sake of the peace of our times, that each one may have the free opportunity to worship as he pleases; this regulation is made that we may not seem to detract from any dignity of any religion."

Most people say that Constantine actively promoted Christianity after converting in 312 but where is the evidence of this? It appears that it was all a matter of tolerance for the sake of order, as is stated above. A strong kingdom is not divided within. He certainly understood that. Our leaders today certainly understand that and they use it to their advantage. They divide and create conflict in order to direct the storm. "Order out of chaos" is the philosophy of Gnostic, Neo-Platonic Luciferians. They will use any means necessary to achieve what they consider to be a "noble" cause. They will lie, cheat, steal and kill if it means something "good" will come out of it. Most of these political, religious, educational and economic leaders are VERY convincing too.

"In fact, a time is coming when anyone who kills you will think he is offering a service to God. They will do these things because they have not known the Father or Me." John 16:2-3

Constantine was no loyalist to his previous gods. His patron god before Sol was Mars. Who knows what his motives were in waiting to be baptized until he was practically on his death bed (I'd guess to have his bases covered with all the biggest gods, especially the up-and-coming popular One?). From the evidence I've seen it is clear he was more concerned about unity than religion. This is the spirit of Babylon. At this point I'll remind you to read Revelation 17:17 to see what God thinks of this way of thinking and what He is doing about it to this very day.

Why is this important to understand? Because the history you've been told is probably a lie. History is often written and revised by victorious conquerors and those who support them. People are dooped into believing lies and carry them forward as unquestionable traditions - traditions of MAN, not God.

The picture that hides under the surface of a prettied up painting reveals bits and pieces of a larger narrative that has been at work since the "dawn of man." If you can understand this then you will have a better understanding of the working of the powers of this age, including the rulers of the present day. All the greatest rulers of nations and empires employ the use of propaganda as a form of indoctrination in order to gain more power. It is the basic premise of the art of war, which is not fought on the battle field but in the mind.



EDITS and ADDITIONS:

It is clear from the 313AD coinage and the 315AD archway into Constantinople that Constantine saw Sol (which means "sun") in the sun. Anyone who overlooks this evidence, whether from seminary or not, is ignoring the truth. The reasons for Constantine's embrace of Christianity is clear from the evidence we have in the writings of Lactantius and Eusebius about the Edict of Milan (a document that was supposedly kept safe in the official library of Constantinople, yet is nowhere to be found today). The goal was unity, not truth - to have an undivided empire that would rule the world. I won't say that Constantine didn't develop a desire to explore Christianity and even support it but saying what he did was the turning point for Christianity (at least in a positive light) is unfounded. It was a turning point which established a base for church and state to rule unquestionably, just as the Roman Empire had always done. Syncretize and assemilate, like Babylon as well. The end goal was always the New World Order, if I may use that term retrogressively. Christianity was merely the convenient vehicle for that goal. I won't even question that those who called themselves Christians really thought they were doing right and good, but the problem is Christianity was already corrupt at that point, so much so that they didn't even understand the basic doctrine of who Christ was. They had to hold councils to try and figure it out. Both Christ and Paul warned this would happen and it did. Isn't it also interesting that Constantine named the new Roman capitol after himself? Makes sense when you understand the history of Roman Emperors associating themselves with gods and seeing Constantine doing this very thing on his coinage.

Keep in mind that at this point Christian liturgy was evolving to be Catholic in nature, a word not officially used as a title for the church until later. This means that they were participating in mass, specifically the Eucharist, which today very much resembles sun worship. We don't know what it looked like at that time but we can see what it became. The beginning of the Catholic Church was more accurately here, not with Peter or the other 1st or 2nd century writers who used the prepositional or adjective term "kath holos." The evidence that the Catholic Church integrated elements of sun worship into Christianity is still present today.

"But Sunday is the day on which we all hold our common assembly, because it is the first day on which God, having wrought a change in the darkness and matter, made the world; and Jesus Christ our Saviour on the same day rose from the dead. For He was crucified on the day before that of Saturn (Saturday); and on the day after that of Saturn, which is the day of the Sun, having appeared to His apostles and disciples, He taught them these things, which we have submitted to you also for your consideration."
Justin Martyr -- The First Apology of Justin
http://www.earlychristianwritings.com/text/justinmartyr-firstapology.html

Is that not conflating pagan sun worship with Christianity? This statement shows that Justin Martyr related pagan ideas to the Sunday mass. Is what he is saying here not assigning meaning where none was instructed by our Savior or His apostles? Is it not inventing traditions according to the logic of men? So, if we can conclude that syncretization was happening in the church and that the new church and state were converging to become a new form of dictatorship then we can certainly see what happened over the course of history up to the modern day is for the purpose of world domination - dominion theology.

I wrote all of this mainly to make the point that everything we know about history must be examined with spiritual eyes. We must, as judges with God's indwelling Spirit (assuming you have the Spirit), rightly divide and weigh all evidence as we diligently search out the truth. If we can, by the grace of God, see through the wool that has been pulled over our eyes then we can unravel the mess that has been made of the truth and walk firmly towards the light of our Salvation. This is a good starting point for understanding the true motives of the powers that God has allowed to reign on earth. Syncretism, ecumenism, universalism... all are foundations for building up the walls of Babylon. We are not called into Babylon. We are called out of her.

Divine Provision for the Prison Ministry

Joseph got an email from a reader of his blog asking if he wanted some ink for his Colorqube printer. Of course he said he'd be glad to take it. The man said his company was throwing out their printers and supplies! Just throwing them out! He was gracious enough to save what was left in his department and send it to us. I was only expecting a few packs of ink but after opening the box I found 2 maintenance kits as well as about 12 packs of ink. In total that would run about $1800. It was a real blessing and encouragement to receive this gift.