He changes the calendar of our lives. About 400 years after Samuel, during the religious revival in the reign of King Josiah (637-607 BCE), reference was made to a Passover celebration with this statement: The king commanded all the people saying, Keep the Passover unto the Lord your God, as it is written in this book of the covenant. For there was not kept such a Passover from the days of the judges that judged Israel, nor in all the days of the kings of Israel, nor of the kings of Judah; but in the eighteenth year of King Josiah was this Passover kept to the Lord in Jerusalem [II Kings 23:21-23]. Every important event in Yeshuas life corresponds to a Festival or day commanded by the Eternal. [3] Exodus 12:5, Numbers 28:3, and elsewhere. In the year 720 BCE, King Hezekiah set out to restore the ancient covenant. Our plans were to (first) travel to the actual location where Jesus Christ was born and view the manger, but surprisingly the Prime Minister of Great Britain (David Cameron) also had the same idea so we had to make a quick change. Once the lambs blood was completely spilled for all of the sins, the priest would turn to the people and proclaim, It is finished or it is accomplished. a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger? To be a sign, it would have to be distinctive, understandable, and unique. Although it is not known for certain, I can offer some thoughts which I believe have merit. In his work, Edersheim referenced the Jewish Mishnah (The Mishnah was the first recording of the oral law and Rabbinic Judaism. The Magi, who were astronomers from the east saw a special star in the sky. Not true. We know nowthat the Tower of the Flock would be the birthplace of the Messiah, who would take away all death, heartache, and tears. 960 BCE]. Why did they say ? The Eternal. What does Rachel, the wife of Jacob, have to do with the birthplace of Jesus? Learn how your comment data is processed. The beautiful small church is absolutely breath taking and was cleverly designed by Italian architect Antonio Barluzzi. In the Bible we find several other names for Bethlehem, includingEphratah (Micah 5:2) andEphrath (Genesis 35:16, 19; 48:7). When the [Second] Temple was destroyed [in 70 CE], all sacrifice eventually ceased, and only the Samaritans continued to bring the offering in their own community. Sheq. It seems to me they have picked thru the oral law to fit their narrative of how fitting it was that God gave the message to the lowest of the low. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. The name Beit Lechem means House of Bread and Ephrathah fruitful. Where were the sheep raised for Temple sacrifices? This parallel passage is part of an extensive section of Micah dealing with the first advent of the Lord. He proclaimed, It is finished, and then passed away. And Rachel died, and was buried in the way to Ephrath, which is Bethlehem. I checked the elevation of Bethlehem and its 2,556 feet or close to half a mile in elevation. Posted March 25, 2010. The shepherds of Bethlehem were in charge of raising sheep for the temple sacrifices. Presumably they were carefully watched over to keep them safe from incurring any blemish that might render them unusable for the temple service. The Rabbis Forgot, Where Was Herods Temple? After being washed and salted, the infant was then wrapped with long strips of linen or cotton swaddling bands. 2 This month is the beginning of months for you, it is the first month of the year for you. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads. There is a teaching in the modern church that shepherds were outcasts, sinners, untrustworthy, banned from the Temple because they smelled and were unclean. there were shepherds living out in the fields. Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features. [11] His decree moved Mary and Joseph, at a time close to her delivery date, from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem since Joseph was of the house and lineage of David.[12], [2] The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, Book II, Chapter 6 (This 1883 book by Alfred Edersheim is available online, but that makes referencing a page number difficult.). Mass for the Fourth Sunday of Easter. - Facebook Jesus Birth The Case for Migdal Edar | Truth in Scripture Where was that? It was a place fit for the Lamb of the Eternal to be born. The shepherds in charge of these special lambs were from the tribe of Levi. An analysis of bones found in an ancient Blessings. These sheep were apparently kept outdoors all year Such sheep were kept in the environs of Jerusalem including Bethlehem which lies just five miles south of that city. Every I think shepherds could have been out in December with their flocks as far as that aspect of the nativity story. The Talmud (Pesachim 64b) similarly records: King Agrippa once wished to take a census of the hosts of Israel. The Jewish religious authorities gave their answer from an Old Testament passage from Micah: But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he [Messiah; Jesus] come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting (Micah 5:2, KJV). They knew where they had to go, the place where the temple lambs were born, the place where Scripture said the Messiah would be born, The Scriptures tell us that the shepherds were outside. . I personally was not knowledgeable to the depth of the parallels between the sacrificial lamb from Bethlehem and Jesus Christ. Thus, Jewish tradition in some dim manner apprehended the first revelation of the Messiah from that Migdal Eder, where shepherds watched the Temple-flocks all the year-round. Who is better than these shepherd-priests to welcome the Lamb of the Eternal. Generations of hereditary shepherds tended the sacred flocks. The religious revival that began with Samuel continued through the reign of King David and reached its zenith under King Solomon with the construction of the [First] Temple in Jerusalem [ca. The word Nisan, means new beginning. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously. Although prophecy called for the Messiah to be born in Bethlehem, understanding of the connection to these lambs came much later, when the disciples realized that Jesus came to end His earthly life like one of the lambs the only difference being that He was the perfect, final sacrifice. They were special too, trained by priests to inspect the newly born lambs who were destined for sacrifice. Once the sheeps blood was completely spilled for all of the sins the priest would return to the people and proclaim, It is finished. Copyright by Institute for Scripture Research. The Gospel of Luke states that Mary gave birth to Jesus and placed him in a manger because there was no place for them in the inn. The idea was to restore the livestock to its owner. Nothing is too difficult for God! The Lamb of God, as John the Baptist called Jesus, was born in the unique place where the other lambs used for sacrifice were born. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. On the ground floor, a room was designated for the delivery and protection of these special lambs. Lets see where key statements in the Old and New Testaments lead us in our search to confirm the actual birthplace of Jesus. Shepherds would typically only watch flocks in the open at night during the lambing season. They were born on or around Passover. 3 What does it mean that baby Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes? Since all paschal lambs were slaughtered in Jerusalem once the Temple was built, the Israelites would have been too far from their homes to smear blood on their doorposts. Passover sacrifice Saturday Morning Service - April 8, 2023 - Facebook And God said unto him, I am God Almighty, be fruitful and multiply: a nation and a company of nations shall be of thee, and kings shall come out of thy loins; And the land which I gave Abraham and Isaac, to thee will I give the land. He resurrected on the Feast of First-fruits when Israel offered the first fruits of the land to the Eternal. Jesus Birth The Case for Migdal Edar | Truth in Scripture Suppose each family brought one or two animals (which, down through history, was the norm). Sources: Who were the shepherds of Bethlehem that greeted Yeshua at the time of his birth? When the ewes were ready to deliver, the shepherds moved them inside a manger. The place these special Temple sheep used for delivery of their lambs was the tower of the flock, located close to the road between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. In Hebrew, the name of the tower is Migdal Eder. The Bethlehem Shepherds Were Not Just Country Bumpkins Fortunately, God had His plan of redemption through Jesus, which He had establishedfrom the very foundations of the world (Romans 5:1221; 1 Peter 1:1820; Revelation 13:8; John 1:29). I suspect that shepherds and other lower class peasant type people might have been outcasts to the super-Pharisaical types who, like the Brahmam class in Hinduism, considered anyone belonging to a lower social-religious class to be vitally an untouchable. The cookie is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Analytics". Mangers in 1st century Israel were made of stone as it was more abundant than wood. It was a place fit for the Lamb of the Eternal to be born. Probably not. WebOfferings are mentioned in the Book of Genesis, but further outlined in the later four books of the Torah, including aspects of their origins and history..

Body Found In Georgetown, Ky, Education Specialist Degree Regalia, Troy Aikman Commercial, Articles W