{"id":461,"date":"2013-06-22T18:44:07","date_gmt":"2013-06-22T22:44:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bethadonai3.web802.discountasp.net\/wordpress\/?page_id=461"},"modified":"2013-06-22T21:59:29","modified_gmt":"2013-06-23T01:59:29","slug":"how-does-the-messianic-community-celebrate-christmas","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/?page_id=461","title":{"rendered":"How Does the Messianic Community Celebrate Christmas?"},"content":{"rendered":"

How Does the Messianic Community Celebrate Christmas?<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

By Rabbi Scott Sekulow<\/span><\/b><\/span><\/h2>\n

When I was asked to write about how a Jewish believer in Messiah celebrates Christmas, I thought about the different expressions of celebration. \u00a0They range from those who put up trees, decorations to those that don\u2019t because of the pagan influences. \u00a0There are also different days to celebrate Yeshua\u2019s (Jesus\u2019 Hebrew name) birth. Do we follow the decree by Pope Julius I in the fourth century of December 25th or the Greek Orthodox Church which celebrates two weeks later?<\/span><\/p>\n

So how does the Messianic Community celebrate the birth of Messiah? \u00a0First, we take our clues from the Biblical Feasts. \u00a0We believe Yeshua was born on Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles) based on scripture, historical events and Jewish culture. \u00a0More importantly, it is consistent with God using His Feasts as prophetic foreshadowing\u2019s of upcoming events.<\/p>\n

To date Messiah\u2019s birth, we first turn to the birth of John the Baptist. \u00a0We know Zacharias was ministering in the Temple when he receives the announcement of the birth of his son. \u00a0Zacharias was a priest in the division of Abijah, ministering in the Temple during Sivan 12 to 18. \u00a0\u00a0Calculating a normal pregnancy at 40 weeks, John the Baptist\u2019s birth was at Passover.<\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026Elisabeth conceived, and she remained five months in seclusion\u2026In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel \u00a0was sent by God \u2026 to a virgin engaged to a man named Joseph\u201d\u00a0 Luke 1:24,26<\/p>\n

Mary visited Elizabeth when she was 6 month\u2019s pregnant, putting Messiah\u2019s conception at the time of Hanukkah (December). \u00a0\u00a0Calculating a normal pregnancy at 40 weeks, Messiah\u2019s birth was at Sukkot (September\/October).\u00a0 It has been taught that Mary and Joseph were required to go to Bethlehem to register for their taxes, and due to this there were not any accommodations. While it\u2019s a beautiful story, but it\u2019s the whole story.<\/p>\n

First of all, when the decree was issued, citizens were given a full year during which to register. There was no reason thousands of Bethlehemites would come to their hometown all at once register. \u00a0So why would Joseph bring his wife Mary all the way from Nazareth to Bethlehem to register when her pregnancy was so far along?<\/p>\n

There were three great feasts each year when the Jewish people were expected to make every effort to go to Jerusalem: Passover, Shavuot, and Sukkot (Exodus 23:14). \u00a0During these feasts, the population of Jerusalem would swell from about a hundred twenty thousand to something over two million people.<\/p>\n

During Sukkot, every family was expected to live at least part of each day in their booth, called a sukkah, a temporary dwelling usually made out of palm and\/or bamboo branches. These sukkot were available for overnight lodging and the homeowners would stock them with food. The food was placed on a food-tray attached to the inside wall of the Sukkah to keep it up off the ground. It was not a shelter for animals.<\/p>\n

Bethlehem was a small village just about four miles south of Jerusalem. Mary and Joseph had apparently decided to register with the census-takers when they came up to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. Evidently they intended to spend the night in Bethlehem, register in the morning, and then proceed to Jerusalem for the Feast. Since there were no vacancies, the innkeeper offered them shelter in his Sukkah. When the Baby was born, they laid Him on the food shelf to keep Him up off the damp ground. It is interesting to note that the origins of the word \u201cmanager\u201d refer to \u201csukkot\u201d.<\/p>\n

Another clue that December is wrong timing for the birth is given by the Sheppard’s. Luke 2:8 tells us: \u201cThere were shepherds in the same country staying in the field, and keeping watch by night over their flock.” \u00a0\u00a0By December in Israel it is quite cold, and the sheep would have been brought into the fold for the winter.<\/p>\n

Since we have shown Yeshua was six months younger than John, it is easy to establish the time of His birth as September\/October. The only reason Bethlehem would possibly be crowded at this time would be for Sukkot.<\/p>\n

At Congregation Beth Adonai, we celebrate Messiah\u2019s birth in conjunction with the Feast of Sukkot because we know Messiah dwelt (tabernacled) among us. \u00a0Remember Yeshua is the reason for all the season.<\/p>\n

The Feast of Tabernacles<\/p>\n

Thought:
\nThe Apostle John uses a verb form of the same Greek word that is used to translate the Hebrew word for \u201cbooth\u201d (sukkah) when he wrote, \u201cAnd the Word became flesh, and dwelt [tabernacled] among us.\u201d (John 1:14) He tabernacled among us, and He will tabernacle among us again in the messianic future. The celebration of the Festival of Booths (Sukkot) celebrates the Messiah who once tabernacled among us, now tabernacles within us, and in the
\nfuture will again tabernacle among us.<\/p>\n

Commentary:
\nThe last appointment on God\u2019s Leviticus 23 calendar is the Feast of Booths, a seven-day harvest celebration. The Hebrew name of the festival is Sukkot, a word that means \u201cshelters, stables or huts.\u201d These temporary, tent-like structures are often translated as \u201ctabernacles\u201d in our English Bibles. The festival is so named because Israel is commanded to annually build such dwelling places as a reminder of the post-exodus years when they lived in huts and booths, following God in the wilderness.1Sukkot is a time of joy and celebration, a time to celebrate the harvest and revel in God\u2019s goodness.<\/p>\n

Many beautiful traditions are attached to the annual Festival of Booths. For example, it is traditional to invite guests into one\u2019s booth for a festive meal each night of Sukkot. Among the list of invitees are some auspicious names: Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and David. Each are specially invited to come into the booth and pull up a chair at the table. Obviously, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and David are unlikely to actually
\nattend the meal, since they are all dead. That, however, is the point of the ritual. The Feast of Booths anticipates the Messianic Age, when the dead will be raised to life again and we will all sit at the table with the aforementioned in the kingdom of heaven.<\/p>\n

When Messiah comes, He will bring in the final harvest of God\u2019s kingdom and institute an age of peace and prosperity upon the earth. The prophets relate that day to the festival of Sukkot, a day when every man will sit beneath his own vine and fig tree.2 Isaiah 4:6 tells us that God will spread a tabernacle of glory over Jerusalem. According to the prophets, the Feast of Booths celebrates a time when all nations will ascend to Jerusalem bearing tribute to King Messiah and celebrating the festival. In that day, all nations will ascend to His throne in Jerusalem in order to celebrate the Festival of Booths (Tabernacles). Obviously, this is a very important festival for disciples of Messiah today.<\/p>\n

Sukkot is the great festival, the culmination of all the appointed times. Sukkot is to the other festivals what the Sabbath is to the other six days of the week. As such it is a fitting foreshadowing of that great celebration of creation when the entire world will live in peace and brotherhood under the reign and rule of the righteous Messiah King. Just as the weekly Sabbath foreshadows the millennium, Sukkot also looks forward to that great age. Therefore, the festival of Sukkot, like all the festivals, foreshadows Messiah.<\/p>\n

Commentary from FFOZ \u2013 First Fruits of Zion ~ ffoz.org<\/p>\n

Endnotes
\nLeviticus 23:42\u201343
\n2. Micah 4:4; Zechariah 3:10<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

How Does the Messianic Community Celebrate Christmas? By Rabbi Scott Sekulow When I was asked to write about how a Jewish believer in Messiah celebrates Christmas, I thought about the different expressions of celebration. \u00a0They range from those who put up trees, decorations to those that don\u2019t because of the pagan influences. \u00a0There are also […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":180,"menu_order":3,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/461"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=461"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/461\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":594,"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/461\/revisions\/594"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/bethadonai.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}