Basic HTML Version
present system of counting years as
either prior to or subsequent to the
Savior's birth was established by
Dionysius the Little six centuries
this side of the event. Most early
Christian sources place the birth of
Christ anywhere from one to five
years " before Christ." (See part two,
section III A l of the
Handbook of
Biblical Chronology
by Jack Fine–
gan.)
And Christ was not born on De–
cember 25, eilher.
Abundanl evidence exists proving
Christmas is utterly pagan in origin;
as pagan as belief in Dagon, Vishnu,
Baal, or Isis and Osiris.
Jesus was born in the aulumn,
though the exact date has been care–
fully concealed. Even Herod didn ' t
know exactly when Christ was born,
oc
he would not have risked a mas–
sive uprising by the people as a re–
sult of his brutal edict to butcher
helpless babies up to
two years of
age!
(For more on this subject, write
for the free booklet
The Plain Truth
About Christmas
and the free re–
print "When Was Christ Born?")
Most people have never heard the
truc facts surrounding Christ's
birth; lodged in their minds is a
purely mythological tale based on
fantasy and erroneous religious tra–
dition.
The tradit ional picture of Jesus'
birth includes the loveliest manger
imaginable on the face of the earth;
sadly smi ling shepherds leaning on
thei r crooks; Magi, gorgeously ar–
rayed in kingly robes and crowns,
opening up little gold boxes con–
taining precious spices; a liny baby
nestled in lhe arms of a mother who
stares reverently al Him with a halo
around her head and a sweet smile
curving al her mouth; cherubs fl it–
ling through lhe heavens; and a
bright star hovering in the distance
outside lhe slable. All of this is re–
peated end lessly in millions of
Ch rislmas cards, religious books,
journals and magazines, illustra ted
pages in Bibles, on people's front
yards, rooftops, and in displays and
pl ays i n ch urches at Chr ist–
maslime- yet it bears little resem–
blance lo the way il really
happened.
The shepherds were not there al
the birlh ; they carne later- and
there is no reason to suspect that the
The
PLAIN TRUTH December 1977
shepherds and the wise roen ever
crossed trails.
There is no way to determine the
exact length of time that transpired
from the moment the "star" (an an–
gel, as shown by Scripture) ap–
peared to the Magi "in the east"
(most authorities believe Persia) un–
ti! their arrival in Jerusalem. It
could have been severa! weeks, or
even months.
Following their interview with
Herod, ahd his request that they
"search diligently for the young
child," the Magi went outside, saw
the "star" again, and followed it un–
ti! "it carne and stood over where
the young child was" (Matt. 2:8-9).
This was in Bethlehem, a short dis–
tance over steeply plunging trails
from Jerusalem. Contrary to the as–
sumption of millions, Jesus and His
parents had found more permanent
accommodat ions following the
hasty emergency quarters in the
stable, and the Magi carne "into the
house,
[and] saw the young child
with Mary his mother, and fell
down, and worshipped him ..."
(verse 11).
Escape to Egypt
That night, the wise men had a "bad
dream," a warning from God, and
sneaked out of the country without
going back to Jerusalem. After they
left, Joseph also had a dream. "And
when they were departed, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to
Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise,
and take the young child and his
mother, and ftee into Egypt, and be
thou there until 1 bring thee word:
for Herod will seek the young child
to destroy him" (verse 13).
Joseph got up, hustled Mary and
the baby and any other servants or
family members who might have
been with them into their clothes,
packed and loaded the animals and
took off
that same night,
hitting the
caravan route to Egypt. They proba–
bly stopped at little-known camp–
sites, avoiding the usual watering
places and towns
oc
vi llages along
the way. Little did Joseph know that
inadvertently he was fulfilling
another prophecy which said ,
"1 .. . cailed my son out of Egypt"
(Hosea JI : 1).
Since it was the major trade and
commercial capital, Joseph proba-
bly had business interests in Jerusa–
lem. H is own building trade
required that he deal from time to
time with importers, distributors
and craftsmen who were located
there. So he and his family may
have remained in Jerusalem up to
about one year following Jesus'
birth, though there is no actual
proof. However, the murder of the
children by Herod, risky even for a
despotic king, offers sorne proof that
Herod suspected Jesus would have
been about one year of age, or even
slightly older.
After Joseph and his family had
been somewhere in Egypt for a time,
another dream occurred. An angel
said to Joseph : "Arise, and take the
young chi ld and his mother, and go
into the Jand of Israel: for they are
dead which sought the young child's
life" (Matt. 2:20).
The following verses indicate Jo–
seph probably would have gone to
Live in Jerusalem or its environs as
his first choice. " But when he heard
that Archelaus did reign in Judaea
in the room of his father Herod, he
was afraid lo go thither; notwith–
standing, being warned of God in a
dream, he turned aside into the
parts of Galilee: and he carne a nd
dwelt in a ci ty called Nazareth: that
it might be fulfilled which was
spoken by the prophets , He shall be
called a Nazarene" (verses 22-23).
Being a "Nazarene" merely
meant Jesus was a ci tizen of the ci ty
of Nazareth. He is called "Jesus
Christ of Nazareth" severa! times in
the Bible. Jcsus was not an uncom–
mon name (only the G reek form of
Joshua);
no doubt there were any
number of individuals bearing the
same name.
It
was quite common to
name children a ft er vario us al–
tributes of God, or to include names
of God (the prefix
El
and the suffix
Yah
were very commonly applied)
in a person's name. The real Jesus
was a Nazarene in the same sense a
citizen of Chicago is a "Chicagoan,"
or someone living in Los Angeles is
an "Angelino," or those in Paris are
"Parisians." It was not a religious
title of any sort, but a geographical
and political term.
Hls Comlng Predlcted
But let's ask a few questions about
Jesus' bi rth. How did God manage
5