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YouMean
THAT'S
INTHE BIBLE?
%)
by
Clayton Steep
Many- even sorne who have read the book for years- express surprise and
amazement when they learn what the Bible really says!
' 'THE
BOOK
nobody
knows," a famous ag-
nost ic once remarked,
referring to the Bible.
He was almost right.
Ccrtain ly it is the book few
peoplc know. 1t is safe to say that
no other book on earth is so widely
read and at the same time so mis–
understood.
Why should this be?
Take the "Christmas story" for
examplc. Most people assume that
if anyth ing comes from the Bible
surely the popular notion of the
cvcnts surrounding the birth of
Jesus does. Yct , amazingly, when
one looks at what the Bible really
says, it becomes apparent that there
are majar discrcpancies between
the birth of Jesus as dcscribed in
the Bible and the Christmas s tory
so familiar to the world .
Not in the Winter
T hc Biblc nowhere says J esus was
born Dcccmbcr 25. lt doesn't tell
us which day J esus was born. l t
doesn't even tell us the month. The
Bi ble does, howevcr, show that
Jesus' birth did
not
take place in
late December or, for that matter,
in any of the winter months!
1n fact , when J esus was born,
"therc were in the same country
November/ December 1983
shepherds living out in the fields,
keeping watch over their nock by
night" ( Luke 2:8, RAV through–
out). The shepherds were living out
in the open fields, slceping with
their Aocks at night.
Shepherds would not be doing
this during the cold and rainy win–
ter montbs. Contrary to what sorne
have assumed, it did- and docs–
get cold during the winter in Judea.
Even in April , in the early spring,
when J esus was crucified, certain
"servants and officers ... madc a
fire of coals ... for it was cold, and
they warmed themselves. And
Peter stood with them and warmed
himsetr• (John 18: 18).
Hardly indicative of the kind of
weather for sleeping out in the
fields. Or for having a baby in a
stable and laying him in a manger
(Luke 2:7) !
So we know when Jesus was
not
born . The fact that J esus' birth
date is purposely not recorded is
also clear evidence that God never
intended us to celebrate J esus'
birthday. When God revealed cer–
tain days he wants his people to
observe, no room was left for doubt
as to when those days occur.
The Prince of Peace?
When J esus' birth was announced
to the shepherds they heard "a
multitude o f the heavenly host
praising God and saying: 'Glory
to God in the highest, and on
eart h peace, good will toward
meo!'" (Luke 2: 13-14) . The rea–
son onc of the members of the
God famil y carne to earth as
Jesus Ch r ist is as generally mis–
understood as are the events sur–
rounding b is birth.
" Peace on ear th, good will to
men," proclaim Christmas decora–
tions and greeting cards at this
time of the year . And "The Chr ist
chi ld carne to bring peace." But
where is that peace? Where has
it been for the last near 2,000
years'?
Wars and armed conAicts have
not ceased to grow in numbers and
intensity. Bi tterness and hatred
divide races, nationalities and reli–
gions. The structure of the famil y
is breaking up because people are
una ble to get along with each
other. Peace on eartb starting from
the time of J esus' b ir th? Not
according to h istory. Not accord–
ing to today's news.
And, not according to J esus! He
himself declared, " Do not think
that [ carne to bring peace on
earth.
1
did not come to bring
peace but a sword" (Matt.
10:34).
H ave yo u e ver heard that
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