The True Christmas Story

Through the ages, many have speculated the true date of Christ’s birth. Manyare more inclined to teach or even believe the tale of Santa Clause. Where did the origin of Santa come from? Was Christ really born on December 25th? If not, why do we celebrate on that day? And where did we get the concepts of our holiday décor and traditions? This document will shed light on all these questions and more, with very detailed breakdownsincluding references to research yourself! Dive in, get excited, because you’re about to learn something new! Luke Stratton [email protected]

The True Christmas Story COMMON MISCONCEPTIONS When considering the birth date of Jesus, it’s easy to eliminate any proposed date that does not occur in the fall. Although some have speculatedthat Jesus was born in the springtime – even during Passover. But a birthdate in the spring is not reasonable, due principally to the biblical methodof calculating the month of Jesus’ birth. As time goes by and oral traditions get passed down to each generation, the story of Christ’s birthgets more and more convoluted. While simply opening Scripture, we can see just a brief story of His birth. Many cultures, denominations, and even unbelievers have addedto, taken away, or simplymisunderstood events ranging from the ‘nativity scene’ to the ‘manger.’ All too often, people believe what they’ve been told or seen rather than what Scripture says, along with the hermeneutics1 andexegesis2 behind it. Here are a few misconceptions society has grabbedaholdof through the generations that I would like to clarifythrough the Word if they’re even found in it. Some details mentioned may be of little significance, and certainly none have an impact on your salvation. However, if the bible is going to be interpreted correctly, these misconceptions need to be addressed, regardless. Rev. 12:9 explains the deception of satan and his followers to whom are unprepared or unsuspecting upon the earth. His desire is to mix portions of truth to water it down and cause divisionand confusion. • “…he who continually deceives and seduces the entire inhabited world; he was thrown downto the earth, and his angels were thrown downwith him.” BIRTH OF JESUS • Lk. 2:3-5 explains why Josephand Mary traveled specificallyto Bethlehem - for a census. The Romans wouldn’t have selected the 3 primary festival seasons for a census in Israel since they Knowledge wanted full compliance from the Jews. It’s likely Joseph traveled from Bethlehem to Jerusalem for the Feast of It was customary for the man Tabernacles3, starting on Tishrei 15 (Sept.). It also makes sense to be the one traveling atop that Joseph would’ve timed his trip to register for the census the donkey during a journey. in Bethlehem, then attend the feast in Jerusalem – just 6 mi. The woman would walk away – 2 weeks later. alongside. Though it wasn’t • Mary wouldn’t have accompanied Joseph since women exactly chivalrous, it was the weren’t required to attend the 3 Pilgrim Feasts in Jerusalem. cultural norm in biblical times. Jewish law only required men to attend the feasts. Actually, Josephwould’ve been • The Roman Census and Oath of Allegiance to Augustus were the laughingstock of the Jews both conducted simultaneously. Since Mary andJoseph both had he walked and allowed were of the lineage of David, and Mary was able to bear a Mary to ride into Jerusalem, rightful King of the Jews, they would’ve been required to even though she was pregnant. register and swear allegiance to the existing government under Augustus. • The bible never mentions an inn keeper. Luke only says there was “no room for them at the inn…” The Greek word used for ‘inn’ is Katalyma4, whichmeans a guest chamber, a lodging place, or an eating room. 1 The branch of knowledge that deals with interpretation 2 The study of the historical and cultural backgrounds of the author, text, and original audience. 3 Sukkot (Hebrew: ‫ ֻסּכֹות‬, Sukōṯ), is a holiday celebrated for 7 days from the 15th day of the month of Tishrei. It’s one of the Three Pilgrimage Festivals (Hebrew: ‫שלוש רגלים‬, shalosh regalim) on which those Israelites who could were commanded to make a pilgrimage to the Temple at Jerusalem. 4 καταλύω, 1

The True Christmas Story BORN IN A STABLE? The Bible says, “And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling clothes, andlaid Him in a manger…” but doesn’t mention a stable. This will be coveredon a deeper level very shortly. • The Greek word for manger is phatnē,5 which means feeding-trough. • Why was there “no room in the inn” when they arrived? It was not due to the festival seasons as many suppose. The increase of foot traffic was because of the Roman census. WHY BETHLEHEM? The Christmas storybegins long before Jesus, but within the lineage…with Jacob and hisfamily spanning 53 generations. Beyonda brief telling of his story, the focus willbe on 2 of his future grandsons - Davidand Jesus. All 3 men had 1 thing in common: the importance which the small town of Bethlehem played in their lives. God made a covenant with Abraham that the Messiah, who would save Knowledge mankind from the curse of death, wouldcome throughhis son Jacob. From The Bible never clarifies Jacob, the Children of Israel receivedtheir name, and the 12 Tribes of Israel that Mary gave birth was formed. Jacob means ‘to supplant, circumvent.’ Here’s a quick rundownof the history of Bethlehem: the very night they arrived. Lk. 2:6 only Jacob fled from his brother, Esau, after manipulating him intohanding over his states that it was ‘while birthright.6 Jacob hadfled to his mother’s relatives in Haran where he married his cousin, Rachel. Before marrying her, however, his uncle tricked him into they were there.’ marrying Rachel’s sister, Leah, first. Though he did not love Leah, she bore him 6 sons. At the time, Rachel couldn’t conceive so Jacob had 2 sons from her handmaid, and 2 more from Leah’s. When Rachel did finally conceive, she had a son named Joseph. After his birth, Jacobdecided to move his family back to Canaan, the land of his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham. Along the way, Rachel conceivedagain, and by the time they reached a small town, Rachel deliveredher 2nd son, Benjamin. However, she died during labor which caused Jacob, devastatedby the loss, to cease his journey backto Canaan. He buried Racheljust outside the small town which wouldlater be named Bethlehem, or ‘House of Bread,’ just 6 mi. south of Jerusalem. RACHEL'S TOMB The prophet Micah, who appeareda few generations after King David, spoke for God andprophesied the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem. His prophecy in Micah5:2 states, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah,7 too little to be among the clans of Judah; From you One shall come forth for Me [who is] to be Ruler in Israel, His goings forth (appearances)are from long ago, From ancient days.” The Bible tells us that when Rachel died, Jacob went beyond the tower of Eder and pitched histent. Migdal Eder, or ‘tower of the flock,’ was only 1,000 paces from Bethlehem, andwas a place of elevation where shepherds would go to watch over their sheep that grazed in the valleys below. It was a good vantage point and ideal for keeping an eye on what might come down the road from Jerusalem. Severalgenerations later, that location became the place where they raised the unblemished andunspotted sheep used for temple sacrifice. 5 φάτνῃ 6 Gen. 27:36 7 Ep hrathah (‫ ) ֶא ְפ ָ֗ר ָתה‬means place of fruitfulness, which is an ironic name since it became a place of burial. However, it was not only the place of Rachel’s death, but was also a place of new life in Benjamin’s birth. 2

The True Christmas Story DAVID BORN IN BETHLEHEM Following another 11 generations, Jacob’s descendant David was bornin Bethlehem. Davidwould become Kingof Israel, but as a young man, he was a priestly shepherd in the hills andvalleys of Bethlehem. It was the sacred duty of a priestly shepherd to watch over the sacrificial sheep used during Passover. A priestly shepherdwas not just any shepherd, but a priest who knew the scriptures. While Davidwatchedthe sheep, his delight was in the law of the LORD; and in his law, he meditated day and night.8 Later, in Ps. 63:6, David would reference his thoughtsof God while watching the sheep throughthe night. SACRIFICIAL LAMBS The daily sacrifice required 2 unblemished sheep- 1 in the morning and 1 in the evening- as a continualsacrifice before the Lord. Long after David, Bethlehem remaineda source for lambs through the temple period. The Passover was an annual sacred feast that God instituted for Israel to commemorate their deliverance out of Egypt. During Passover in Israel, the feast required thousands of sheep. 1 was needed for each home throughout Israel. Duringthe time of David’s census, there were 1.3 million men beyond age 20, suggesting a total population of nearly5 million. With that many people, it would demand an estimated 250,000 sheep to accommodate the annual Passover. 900 yrs. from the days of David, Bethlehem would bring forth the final sacrificial lamb; Yeshua. The fields aroundBethlehem were valuable grazing lands and while priestly shepherds watched over the Temple flock day and night, they were vigilant to protect them from natural enemies, thieves, wolves, bears, or lions. On the ground floor of the MigdalEder, a room was designated for the delivery andprotection of the special lambs. THE SHEPHERDS KNEW WHERE TO LOOK The shepherds knew to lookfor the Messiah at the watchtower in Bethlehem. They knew the prophecy of Micah, who foretold that the King wouldbe bornin Bethlehem and would be found in ‘the tower of the flock.’ • Micah 4:8 “As for you [Jerusalem], tower of the flock[of Israel], Hill andstronghold of the Daughter of Zion (Jerusalem’s inhabitants), To you the former dominion shallcome, the kingdom of the Daughter of Jerusalem [when the Messiah reigns in Jerusalem, and the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled].” Jesus, the sacrificial Lamb of God, wouldbe bornin the same place all unspotted lambsdesignatedfor temple sacrifice were born, in Migdal Eder. The priest wouldwrap the sacrificiallambs tightlyin swaddling clothes andlaid them in a stone manger that was raised off the ground, providing security from predators in the area. Likewise, Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in the same stone manger. • Jesus grew up in Nazareth of Galilee9 but Matthew and Luke specified Bethlehem as His birthplace so the readers could make the connection. WAS JESUS BORN ON DECEMBER 25 TH? Lk. 2:11 states: “For this day in the city of David there has been bornfor youa Savior, who is Christ the Lord (the Messiah),” but doesn’t mention specific dates. ▪ No competent Roman administrator would’ve required registration for census that involvedtravel during the winter season when Judea was impassable.10 Winter stormswere so problematic and couldarise without warning, that at times, one would not be able to see what’s in front of you. • Flocks and shepherds were in openfield at night.11 Sheep would only be in open fields from March-Oct. 8 Ps. 1:2; 119:97 9 Matt. 2:22-23 10 Matt. 24:20 11 Lk. 2:8 3

The True Christmas Story o Shepherds were onlyout at night when sheep gave birth to lambs,12 which were only born between March-April. Lk. 2:8 explains that when Christ was born, “there were in the same countryshepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flockby night.” Note that they were ‘abiding’ in the fields, which never happened in Dec. Both Ezra 10:9-13 andthe Song of Solomon 2:11 show that winter was the rainy seasonand shepherds couldn’t stay in cold, open fields at night. • “It was custom among Jews to send out their sheep to the deserts about the Passover [early spring] and bring them home at the commencement of the 1st rain. The 1st rains beganin early-to-midfall. During the time they were out, the shepherds watched them night and day. As…the 1st rain beganearly in the month of March, whichanswersto part of our Oct.-Nov.,13 we find that the sheep were kept out in the open country during the whole summer. As the shepherds had not yet brought home their flocks, Oct. had not yet commenced and consequently, our Lordwas not bornon the 25th of Dec. since flocks wouldn’t have been in the fields; nor couldHe have been born later than Sept., as the flocks were still in the fields by night. On this very ground, the nativityin Dec. should be given up. The feeding of the flocks by night in the fields is a chronological fact.” 14 WHY DO WE CELEBRATE ON DECEMBER 25TH? December 25th was not selected because it was necessarily believed to be the birth of Christ, but that it coincided with the pagan festivals at the time. Christmas would be the celebrationof the ‘Son of God’ in place of the pagan ‘sun god.’ While the early churchfathersofficially proclaimedthe date of Dec. 25th in 440 AD, as Christmas, it’s believed that it originated from one or both pagan Roman festivalscelebrated in Dec: Saturnaliaand Sol Invictus. The church knew they couldn’t outlaw them, so they decided to adopt them. • The evergreens typicallybrought inside were now decorated with Knowledge apples, symbolizing the Garden of Eden. The apples then evolved into Christmas ornaments. The Apostle Paul mentions the 2nd Coming over 50x • Holly, a traditional mid-winter decoration, was recast to represent and For every verse of the Christ’s crownof thorns. More on these modifications later. 1st Coming, there are at According to Wikipedia, Saturnalia markedthe winter solstice15 and was least 8 on the 2nd Coming! held on Dec. 17th but later expanded its festivities through Dec. 23rd. The celebration included a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn, in the Roman Forum, and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnivalatmosphere that overturned Roman social norms. Gamblingwas permitted, and masters providedtable service for their slaves as it was seen as a time of liberty for both slaves andfreedmen alike. The election of a ‘King of the Saturnalia,’ or ‘Lordof Misrule,’ was a tradition. The crowned would give orders to people and preside over the merrymaking. The gifts exchanged were usually gag gifts or small figurines made of wax or pottery known as sigillaria.16 Businesses and schools closedso everyone couldparticipate. 12 Lambing season 13 Begins sometime in Oct. 14 (Adam Clarke Commentary, vol. 5, p. 370, New York edition) 15 Shortest day/longest night of the year Typically, around 12/22. “The return of the sun.” Contrasted with the summer solstice which was the longest day/shortest night of the year, around 6/20-22. 16 Wikipedia 2021, accessed 6 December 2021, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saturnalia 4

The True Christmas Story Emperor Aurelian declared Dec. 25th the feast day for the birth of Sol Invictus, who was a Syriansun god. Its cult was 1st promoted in Rome under Elagabalus,17 without success. Elagabalus was murderedby the praetorianguardand the cult was suppressed.18 Some 50 yrs. later, on Dec. 25th 274 AD, the Roman emperor Aurelian succeeded in establishing the cult of Sol Invictus as an official religion,19 alongside the traditionalRoman cults. There was general agreement that, from Aurelian to Constantine I, Sol was the supreme deity, until Constantine abandoned Solin favor of Christianity. The last inscriptionreferringto Sol Invictus dates to 387 AD, but there were enough followersin the 5th century that the Christian theologianAugustine found it necessary to preach against them.20 • This was among the many pagan traditions inherited fromthe earlier Knowledge Babylonian priesthood. In Hebrew culture • All occultic practices have their origins in the original cityof Babylon.21 they did not o The priestly system moved from Babylon to Persepolis during celebrate births the Persians reign andfound its way to Rome. unless a special event was tied to it; they • Virtually, everything in paganRome were Babylonian practices, but with Latin names. celebrated deaths. The 1st recorded mention of Jesus’ assumed birth of Dec. 25th was in the Calendar of Philocalus in 354 AD. In another section of the commemorating the laying to rest of martyrs,22 the liturgical year began on Dec. 25th, or the 8th day before the Kalends of Jan., which is annotated ‘natus Christus in Betleem Iudeae,’ translated as, Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea. Since no martyrs are mentioned after AD 336, the 1st celebration of Christmas observed by the Roman church in the West is presumed to be the same year • After the Edict of Toleration,23 when Emperor Constantine legalizedChristianity, many of the previous pagan rituals evolved. • By 529 AD, after Christianitybecame the official Roman state religion, Emperor Justinian made Christmas a civic holiday. The celebrationreached its peak—some would say its worst moments—inthe medieval period when it became a time of debauchery. The conflict of Godliness andrevelry boiled over in puritan England that the holiday was considered so ‘un-Christian’ and was done away with. By the Middle Ages, Christianity all but replacedthe pagan religions of Europe. On Dec. 25th, the faithful were calledto cathedrals like Notre Dame for Christ’s mass, soon to be called Christmas. THE EARLY CHURCH Even during the persecution of the Church by the Roman emperor Diocletian in 303-312 AD, the Christian minority sought to distance themselves fromthe larger, pagan religious celebrations, such as sacrifices, games, and holidays. The extrabiblicalevidence from the 1st-2nd centuryis sparce in mentioning birth celebrationsin the writings of early Christian authors like Irenaeus24 or Tertullian.25 Origen of Alexandria26 and Arnobiusgo as far as to mock Roman 17 (Herodian, Roman History, V.5.8) 18 (Dio, LXXX.11.1) 19 (Historia Augusta, XXV.6, XXXV.3, XXXIX.6; Victor, XXXV.7; Eutropius, Abridgment of Roman History, IX.15.1; Zosimus, New History, I.61) 20 Wikipedia 2021, accessed 6 December 2021, https://en.wikipedia. org/wiki/Sol_Invictus 21 Isa. 47 22 (Disposition of Martyrs, the earliest record of the Roman sanctoral) 23 A proclamation in Feb. 313 AD that permanently established religious toleration for Christianity within the Roman Empire. It was the outcome of a political agreement concluded in Mediolanum (modern Milan) between the Roman emperors Constantine I and Licinius. 24 (c. 130–200) 25 (c. 160–225) 26 (c. 165–264) 5

The True Christmas Story celebrations of birth, dismissing them as pagan practices. Jesus’ ministry, miracles, Passion and Resurrection were of more interest to 1st and early-2nd centuryChristianwriters than His birth. Unlike the Romans, Jews and Christians tended not to recognize birthdays. Late in the 1st century AD, Josephus remarkedthat \"the law does not permit us to make festivals at the births of our children, and thereby afford occasionof drinking to excess.\"27 That the gods themselves had birthdayswas thought ridiculous as well. Writing about 296 AD, Arnobius mockedpagans for humanizing their gods when he said, \"We men gather our vintages, andthey think andbelieve that the gods gather and bring in their grapes; we have birthdays, and they affirm that the powers of heaven have birthdays.\"28 Rather, it was the anniversaryof one's death that shouldbe remembered; \"the day of death [is better] than the day of one's birth.\"29 Neither Mark nor Paul made any reference to when Jesus was born. Matthew and Luke, although they include an account of Jesus' birth, don’t even mention the time of year The early Christianfounders weren’t interestedin establishing a calendar date either. Origenadmonished his listenersin Alexandria that, \"Not one from all the saints is found to have celebrated a festive day or a great feast on the day of his birth. No one is found to have had joy on the day of the birth of his son or daughter. Only sinners rejoice over this kindof birthday.... the saints not only do not celebrate a festival on their birth days, but filledwith the Holy Spirit, they curse the day.\"30 It wasn’t until the 12th century that the 1st suggestion of the celebrationof Jesus’ birth had been deliberately set during the time of pagan feasts. Dionysiusbar-Salibi, a Syriac biblical commentator, left a marginal note on a manuscript stating that in ancient times, Christmas was shifted from Jan. 6th to Dec. 25th so it would fall on the same date as the pagan Sol Invictus. Even thoughChristiansworshipped the creator of the sun and not the sun itself, there was concern that pagans would confuse 1 religion with another. Leo I31 certainly Knowledge was aware, even in the 5th century AD, of the coincidence between the feast of the Nativity and the winter solstice, and that the honor According to Levitical Law, the which shouldbe inherent in the former may be thought to have minimum age to begin a ministry derived from the latter. Several centuries earlier, in 197 AD, was 30. Therefore, Jesus and John Tertullian contended shortlyafter his own conversion withthe both waited until they were both 30 same accusations of worshipping the sun, praying to the east, and devoting Sunday to worship.32 to begin theirs. They were both descendants of the royal bloodline, • Leo I’s sermon contains the following: \"From such a of Aaron and David, respectively. system of teaching proceedsalso the ungodly practice of certain foolishfolk whoworshipthe sun as it rises at the beginning of daylight fromelevated positions: even some Christiansthink it is so proper to do this that, before entering the blessed Apostle Peter’s basilica, which is dedicated to the One Living and true God, when they have mounted the steps which lead to the raised platform, they turn round and bow themselves towards the rising sun and with bent neckdo homage to its brilliant orb. We are full of grief and vexation that this should happen, which is partly due to the fault of ignorance and partlyto the spirit of heathenism: because although some of them do perhaps worship the Creator of that fair light rather than the Light itself, which is His creature, yet we must abstain even from the appearance of this observance: for if one who has abandoned the worshipof gods, finds it in our ownworship, will he not hark back againto this 27 (Against Apion, II.26) 28 (Adversus Nationes, VII.34) 29 Eccl. 7:1 30 (Homilies on Leviticus, VIII.3.2) 31 (AD 440-461) repeatedly was obliged to admonish the faithful not to honor the sun on the very doorsteps of the old basilica of St. Peter's in Rome, which was oriented to the east, so that the sun would illuminate the apse. Worshippers, as did Leo, faced east—ad orientem, \"For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west; so shall also the coming of the Son of man be\" (Matt. 24:27). 32 (Apology, XVI.9ff; also, Ad Nationes, I.13) 6

The True Christmas Story fragment of his old superstition, as if it were allowable, when he sees it to be common both to Christians and to infidels?\"33 The Nativity isn’t mentioned among the days of Passover or Pentecost that shouldbe observed.34 Nor is it included in the feasts recognized by Tertullian,35 who, writing in the end of the 2nd century AD, implored Christians not to partake in the Saturnalia: • \"The Saturnalia and New-year's and Midwinter's festivals and Matronalia are frequented — presents come and go — New-year's gifts — games join their noise — banquets join their din!\"36 • \"When the world rejoices, let us grieve; and when the world afterwardgrieves, we shall rejoice.\"37 Despite all that was written, preached, or taught against it, 300 yrs. after the birth of Jesus, people began observing it mid-winter. While it’s not a necessity for salvation that we know the exact date of Christ’s birth, a deeper level of knowledge about our savior is always fascinating! There are historicaland biblical facts that help us narrowit down. His birth occurred on the Feast of Trumpets on Sept. 11th, 3 BC, not on the Feast of Tabernacles or on Passover. Of course, I’ll unpackthis for you below. 3 BC BIRTH Tishrei 138 began at sundown on Sept. 11th, 3 BC, when the day changed from Elul 30th (Aug.)-Tishrei (Sept.) 1st. In just a bit, I’ll present both astronomical andzodiacal evidence, along with a scriptural reference from Rev. 12:1-6 to justify Christ’s birthbeing Sept. 11th, 3 BC. • It was during this time when the astronomical signsin Revelationaligned precisely and uniquely withthis specific date. Establishing the birth date of Jesus from the birthdate of John the Baptist and doing so by use of precise astronomical evidence perfectly agree. ▪ Jesus was 6 months younger than his cousin, Johnthe Baptist. John’s father, Zechariah, belonged to the 8th of the 24 priestly divisions of Abijah. 1 of the weeks of service of that division is the week before Shavuot.39 If we assume Elizabeth conceived shortly after Pentecost, Johnwould have been born around the time of Passover. Mary stayedwith Elizabeth for 3 months to help her during the final trimester of her pregnancy. It was then the time of Passover40 in 3 BC when Elizabeth reached full term and gave birth.41 o When the angel, Gabriel, appeared to Zechariahas he was ministering in the Temple, it was during the course of Abijah. That order of priests ministered in the Temple the 8th week of the Hebrew year, according to the ordinance of 1 Chron. 24:10.42 The 8th week covers the last week of the 2nd Biblical Hebrew monthof Iyar (May) and the 1st week of the 3rd Biblical Hebrew month of Sivan (June), which occurs at Pentecost. This is a piece of the puzzle in discovering the exact time of Jesus's birth. o Gabriel promised Zechariahthat his prayer had been answered, and when he went home to Elizabeth she conceived almost immediately. This puts the conceptionof Johnthe Baptist near the time of the Feast of Pentecost, in the 2nd week of the 3rd Hebrew month of Sivan. o At the close of the 6th month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, Gabriel appeared to Mary and told her about Elizabeth, saying \"she who was calledbarren is 6 months pregnant.\" This would be the end 33 (Sermon XXVII: On the Feast of the Nativity, VII (Pt. IV)) 34 (Against Celsus, VIII.22) 35 (On Baptism, XIX) 36 (On Idolatry, XIV) 37 (XIII) 38 Feast of Trumpets (Yom Teruah, Rosh HaShanah) was the day used for the welcoming in of a King! 39 Pentecost 40 Pesach 41 TJB 1:29 42 According to the Talmud as well 7

The True Christmas Story of the 9th Hebrew month of Kislev (Nov.) at the time of Hannukah. There are 27 weeks between the end of the ‘course of Abijah’ and the start of Hannukah,43 whichis celebrated for 8 days, from Kislev (Nov.) 25-Tevet (Dec.)2. o Mary accepted Gabriel’s word concerningthe conceptionof Messiah in her, and immediately rushed from Nazareth to the home of Elizabeth and Zechariah in the Judean mountains, close to Jerusalem, about a 3 day’s journey. Mary was likely going there to celebrate Hannukah, help Elizabeth with her pregnancy, and talk to her about Gabriel's visit. Upon them meeting, Elizabeth responded to her, calling her \"the mother of my Lord.\" This shows that Mary was already pregnant with Jesus, pointing to the fact that Jesus was conceived at Hannukah, the Festival of Lights. After all, He is the Light of the World! ▪ Mary stayed with Elizabeth for 3 months, which was until the birthof John the Baptist. Since a full pregnancy term is 41 weeks, and 27 weeks makes up the 1st 6 months (2 trimesters), whichis exactly the time from the discourse of Abijah to Hannukah, that leaves 14 weeks to accomplishthe last trimester and bring the pregnancy to full term. There are exactly 14 weeks from Hannukahto Passover.44 Therefore, assuming Elizabeth carried him to term, John the Baptist was born at Passover. He was then circumcised on the 8th day, which would have been the last day of Passover/Feast of UnleavenedBread. o Gabriel said that John would \"goforth\" in the strength and power of Elijah.45 Jews also taught that Elijah would come again at Passover.46 o Jesus is shown celebrating Hannukah in Jn. 10:22-23. It’s at this celebrationthat He declared, \"I and My Father are One,\"47 which testifies to His Divine originin His conception. It also provides stronger evidence that He was in fact, conceived during Hannukah. Knowledge ▪ Going back to the priestly courses I mentioned; they were Jesus began His ministry on setup by King David, uponGod’s instructions to service the Saturday, the 10th of Tishreior September 18th, which was a Temple.48 He had divided the descendants of the sons of Sabbath day and when Jesus Eleazar and Ithamar, the 2 sons of Aaron, into 24 groups, or courses. He then set up a schedule for the priests49 to service proclaimedthe year of Jubilee! the Temple in an orderly manner throughout the year. Daniel receivedthe 70 Week ▪ Each course served for 1 week,50 from Sabbath-Sabbath, twice Prophecy from Gabriel on the a year. In addition, according to the Jewish Mishnah51 all Year of Jubilee…the prophecy courses served together during the 3 Pilgrim Feasts.52 Each course therefore served for a total of 5 weeks during a normal was about Christ! year • William Ramsay demonstrates in his book, Born in Bethlehem, His crucifixion was on Wed, that the general time of year for the start of the April 25th or Nisan 14, 31 AD. census/oath/registrationtook place in late summer to early fall of 3 BC, from Aug.-Oct. – to encourage higher participation. It was not in the winter, or early spring duringthe rainy season of mid-March. Luke’s Gospel states that Joseph and Marywere 43 Meaning Dedication 44 Nisan 14-22 45 Lk. 1:17 46 This is still a tradition of Judaism today 47 Jn. 10:30 48 1 Chron. 24:1-19; 28:12-13 49 Kohanim 50 1 Chron. 9:25; 2 Chron 23:8 51 The Mishnah (Heb: ‫ ִמ ְש ָנה‬, \"study by repetition\") is the 1st major written collection of the Jewish oral traditions which is known as the Oral Torah. 52 Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles 8

The True Christmas Story traveling to Bethlehem to comply with the census. For these reasons we know that Jesus was not bornin the spring. It was while they were there, however, that He would eventually be born. 3 KINGS? WISE MEN? The Bible doesn’t mention any kings visiting Jesus at the time of His birth. It does say that Wise Men (translated as Magi) visited, but it doesn’t tell us how many. The Greek word for Magi is magōn,53 which means a sorcerer, a magician, a wizard; of foreign origin; a Magian (i.e., oriental scientist). They were also astronomers or astrologers who served in royal courts throughout the ancient near eastern world. In about the 8th century the names of 3 Magi - Balthasar, Melchior, andGaspar (or Casper) - appearedin a chronicle known as the Excerpta Latina Barbari. According to Eastern churchtradition, Balthasar was often represented as a king of Arabia or sometimes Ethiopia, Melchior as a king of Persia, and Gaspar as a king of India. However, these names were never mentioned in the Bible and were added as folklore. POLITICAL BACKGROUND As one continues throughthe history of Persia, they discover there is collaboration with Israel. In fact, in the great Archaemenid days,54 some of the Persiankingswere apparently of Jewishblood. So, since the days of Daniel, the fortunes of Persia and the Jewish nationwere intertwined. • Both nations had fallen under Seleucid55 dominationin the wake of Alexander the Great’s conquests. • Both had regained their independence. o Jews under Maccabeanleadership o The Persians as the dominatingruling groupwithin the ParthianEmpire,56 and Sansanian57 period MEDO-PERSIAN MAGI Let’s look at the Bible’s account of these travelers and their quest to meet the prophesied king. With no hint of a backstory, Matthew simply introduces us to these visitors with, “behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem....” Within the Medo-PersianEmpire, for example, Magi, or mάgoi,58 were regarded as valuable advisors due to their knowledge of science, agriculture, and sorcery. By the 1st century AD, Magi were more broadly known as men who studied sacred writings, signs in the heavens, and dabbledwith occult practices. As evidenced by the account of SimonMagus in Acts 8, suchmen who ‘practiced magic’ were present duringthe life of Jesus and His disciples in and aroundPalestine. Thoughpresent throughout the region, Magi were more commonlyassociated with the Parthian Empire locatedto the east of Palestine,59 in the direction of Babylon andancient Persia. It’s likely that the Magi who visited Jesus as a baby, hailed from that area, which wouldexplain their familiarity with the OT prophesy of the ‘king of the Jews’60 throughrevelations passeddownto them by Daniel.61 53 μάγων 54 1st Persian Empire 55 A Greek state in Western Asia, during the Hellenistic Period. Founded by Alexander the Great. 56 Parthians were an ancient Iranian empire in Asia. Now Iran and Afghanistan. Of Scythian descent and adopted Median dress and Aryan speech. They were also Rome’s rival to the East 57 A Persian dynasty with royal blood. They were descendants of the last Achaemenid king, Darius III from his last son, Sassan. They re-established Achaemenid empire. 58 Latinized form of mάgoi, ancient Greek transliteration of the Persian original. From it the word magic is derived. 59 Present-day Iran 60 Matt. 2:2 61 Daniel was taken captive by the King of the Babylonians, Nebuchadnezzar, in his 1 st attack on Jerusalem in 606-605 BC. At that time, he took many of the brightest young Jewish men to Babylon to be trained for service in the Babylonian court. 9

The True Christmas Story The Magi were trained to be diligent observers and keep meticulous records of everything they observed. They had an eye for detail, which made them sensitive to any patterns andanomalies that arose in the data they were continuallycollecting. Like most people of their time, they didn’t question the existence of a god, it just wasn’t the same God that Daniel shared with them. But Magi were always seeking knowledge andpursuing truth. DANIEL AND THE MAGI The Magi were a hereditary priesthood62 among the Medes63. During the Babylonian Empire, Daniel rescueda group of prominent Magi who were calleduponto interpret Nebuchadnezzar’s dream.64 Because of Daniel’sGod-given ability of oneiromancy,65 Nebuchadnezzar and later his sonBelshazzar, appointedhim to be “chief of the magicians - or Master of the Magi - enchanters, astrologers, and diviners.”66 Daniel also served in the courts of the Medes67 and the Persians.68 He would have likelyintroduced the Magi to the 1 true God and shared the Scriptures of Him. After all, he shared with the Kings of Babylon, Media, andPersiathat his ability to interpret dreams andvisions were given to him from God. In the Medo-Persianworld, Darius the Great69 not only recognizedthat the Magi were very skilled at dream interpretation, but saw that Daniel excelled in it. Daniel had gainedhis favor and was put in charge of the hereditary priesthood andwas bestowed the title of Governor.70 One canonlyimagine how that was received by the ‘hereditary priesthood.’ • As pro-Medianas Daniel may have been, he was fiercely proud of his Silent Years Jewish identity, and chose to describe the Magian office to which he had been appointed by official decree (rather than by hereditary right) with Dan. 11:5-35 is the an appropriate Jewish term of Magus or Magian. Had he done otherwise, foreshadowing of the ‘silent yrs.,’ or he would have inadvertently identified himself as a Mede of Magian ancestry. This couldalso have hadserious repercussions in the ranks of 400 yrs. when the Magi themselves who likely would’ve resentedthe appropriation of nothing was written their hereditary name by an appointee fromoutside their ranks. In his between Malachi and Matthew. account, Daniel evidentlyattempted to make it quite clear that he recognized and respected the distinction. It’s noteworthythat when he did become the victim of a plot fomented by jealousy, it was at the hands of regional governors (satraps) rather than the Magian dominated hierarchy of the court.71 In Persia, the major rival of Rome to the east, Darius the Great established the state religion with the Magi. It was at that time the Parthians had a Council of the Megistanes,72 the Magi. Their duties includedabsolute choice of the king of the realm, which would have caused an impact on Herod’s reactionwhen they arrivedseeking “he that is born King of the Jews.” Their dual capacity of priest and counselor73 is where the civil, political, and religious roles connected in the Persianenvironment, and they became the empire’s supreme priestly caste. 62 A limited position in that it can only be held by a person who is a direct descendent. 63 Known today as the Kurds 64 Dan. 2:2,24 65 The interpretation of dreams and visions that foretell the future. 66 Dan. 4:9-5:11 67 King Darius; Dan. 9:1 An ancient Iranian people who inhabited an area known as Media between western and northern Iran 68 Dan. 10:1 The Achaemenid Empire, also called the 1st Persian Empire, was an ancient Iranian empire that was based in Western Asia and founded by King Cyrus the Great 69 (522 BC–486 BC) 70 1 of 3 appointed in Dan. 6:2 71 Dan. 6:7-28 72 “Magistrates” but translates in Greek, to “noble” or “powerful man” 73 Magistrate 10

The True Christmas Story Daniel likely entrusted the Messianic vision74 he received to the Magi. He told them about his visit from Gabriel and the message of the 70 Weeks prophecy.75 Contained within the prophecy was the knowledge that after 69 Weeks “the Anointed One will be cut off, but not for himself.”76 They would’ve therefore learned from Daniel the precise time frame for the Jewish Messiah prophesiedof in the Scriptures. It’s not hard to imagine that he later entrusted the Magi to welcome the Redeemer when He was born in Bethlehem.77 Over the next 500 yrs., these prophecies would likely have been passed down from generation to generation amongthe Magi. At the time of Jesus’ birth, when they saw the unmistakable cosmic signs, their observations of the heavens and writings, would’ve alerted them to the birth of the King. In addition, Daniel may very well have shared the prophecy givenin the Book of Num., the 4 th oracle of Balaam, as recorded by Moses, foretelling the coming of a Promised One. Althoughthe prophecydoesn’t provide a time frame, it would have offered the invaluable insight that at some future date the ‘star’ would accompanya future King out of Judah in Israel, who would eventuallyrule the world. • “I see Him, but not now; I behold Him, but not near. A star shall come forth from [the descendants of] Jacob, a scepter shall rise out of [the descendants of] Israel andshall crushthe foreheadof Moab and destroy all the sons of Sheth [noisy boasters].”78 THE VISIT OF THE MAGI It was a group of Persian-Parthiankingmakers whoentered Jerusalem in the latter days of the reign of Herod. It was conceivable that the Magi could have taken advantage of the king’s lackof popularityto further their owninterests with the establishment of a new dynasty, if a sufficiently strong contender couldbe found. Their visit was not just 3 guys on camels since the whole city of Jerusalem wouldn’t have been upset about that; no, this was a major Parthian entourage that arrived whichmade Herod nervous. They were accompaniedby a vast military force, probablya cavalryescort of 1,000 men, to insure their safe entrance through Roman territory, andwith unimaginable oriental pomp.79 Herod was not really seen as King of the Jews. He was appointed by Daniel’s Prophecy - The ‘Week’ (Heb: shabu’im) in Rome and was Idumaean.80 His reactionwas understandably one of Dan. 9 is a 7-yr period, or ‘weeks fear when considering the backgroundof Roman-Parthian rivalry of yrs.’ which prevailedduringhis lifetime. Their request of Herod, regarding - “Cutoff” means crucified and the one “who has been born king of the Jews,” was a calculated breaks down as (69 x 7) = 483 yrs. insult to him because he was someone who had forced and bribed - Christ would present Himself as his way into that role. He was a paranoid man, which was why he the Messiah the King on the very built fortresses like Masada andthe Herodian. He was such a day that had been predicted by ruthless dictator that he had his own Hasmoneanwife murdered the angel Gabriel 500 yrs. earlier! over a rumor of infidelity. Knowing how insecure, jealous, ruthless, entitled, and prideful Herod was, it’s easier to imagine the genocides he ordered. He craved the acceptance of the Jews so much that he restored Solomon’s temple to even more splendor, andmodernized Jerusalem for the time. He was never viewed as a Jewish leader and certainly not the King of the Jews. 74 As recorded in Dan. 9:21-22 75 Dan. 9:24-27 76 Dan. 9:26 77 Mic. 5:2 78 Num. 24:17 79 Matt. 2:1-3 80 Idumea is the name given to the land controlled by the descendants of Esau, Jacob's brother, known as the Edomites (Gen. 25:30, 36:8). Throughout their history, they would have a troubled relationship with Israel. 11

The True Christmas Story • We can more accurately narrow downChrist’s year of birth to 3 BC by linking Herod’s murders of babies 2 yrs. or younger; the time of the Magis’ visit; a historical lunar eclipse; and Herod’s death. o Both Matthew and Luke mention Jesus’ birth as occurring during Herod’s reign.81 Josephus relates Herod’s death to the latter of 2 lunar eclipses.82 There were none visible in Judea until 2 occurred in 1 BC. Of the 2, the eclipse on Dec. 29th, just 2 days before the change of eras, is the 1 most likely to be seen and remembered. o So, if Herod died in 1 BC, and it took the Magi over 15 months to reach Christ to worshipHim after following the ‘star’ on their journey from Persia, hence the reason Herodhad babies 2 yrs. or younger killed, andthe lunar eclipse before his death, then the evidence that Jesus was bornin 3 BC is a strong estimate. • It’s implied in the Gospel message that when the Magi visited with King Herod in Jerusalem, they reported that they had 1st seen the star rising in the east,83 signaling to them that a great King had been born. But since Matt. 2:11 states that the Magi saw Jesus as a ‘young child,’ it’s evident that they did not visit during the same visit as the shepherds. o The Greek term used for ‘young child’ is paidion, and the Aramaic translationis talya, whichboth mean, ‘toddler,’ not baby or infant. o They found Him in ‘the house,’ not a stable – where the Magi bowed down and worshippedHim. • Although we know from the Gospel accounts that the angel announced to the shepherds in the field that a Savior had been born, and they would findthe ‘baby in a manger.’ o The Greek word used for ‘baby’ is brephos, and the Aramaic word, ula. We now know that the Magi came later than the shepherds, and that they found the ‘child in a house,’ not a babe in a stable. The Magi were Gentiles, not Jews, and knew of astronomy, but were looking for something unique, something special, and something which hadbeen prophesied about centuries earlier, by Daniel. Based on what they found, they knew that Jesus was King of the Jews! The gifts that the Magi brought, which could have been more than 3, were prophetic, as explained in the following section. They speak of Christ’s roles as: King, Priest, and Prophet. Isa. 60:6 tells us that in the Millennium, He will be given gifts: gold and frankincense but no myrrh, since His death is behindHim, once and for all. GIFTS OF THE MAGI – FROM DANIEL? It appears that the Magi made their visit and gave their gifts84 – including the gold85 – after the Temple presentation of Jesus, which means that the Magi couldn’t have been present on the day of Jesus’ birth. Unfortunately, church traditionhas it wrong; churchmanger scenes typicallyinclude the Magi with the others gathered around the babyJesus. We know that the Magi didn’t arrive when Jesus was born, or even when he was an infant; they arrived in Bethlehem when the family moved from Nazareth to Bethlehem, when Jesus was a ‘toddler.’ However, without venturing too far off into extrabiblicalspeculation, it’s reasonable to draw a few possible inferences of the gifts Matthew tells us were brought by the Magi, and likelyinstructedby Daniel generations before. These valuable gifts were clearly intended to honor Jesus, but it’s possible they carried deeper prophetic significance as well. 81 Lk. 1:5; Matt. 2:1 82 (Antiquities 17.6.4) 83 Matt. 2:1–2, 7 84 Matt. 2:11 85 Isa. 60:6 12

The True Christmas Story THE GIFT OF GOLD Go ld: Spoke to His kingship and deity86 As was customary for royal visits, the Magi came bearing treasured gifts intended to honor the newbornking. And as it is today, gold was a valued commodity in the ancient world. Among the types of assets listed in the Bible, accumulation of goldwas 1 of the chief measures of wealth.87 Because of its scarcity and immense value, gold was particularly associated with royaltyand nobility, as is seen in 1 Kings 10, when the Queen of Knowledge Sheba visited King Solomon bearinggreat quantities of gold as a gift. By bringing a Hebrew traditions include gift of gold, the Magi showed that they did indeed consider Jesus a king. a week of days, a week of weeks (Shavuot), a week In addition to underscoring the royaltyof Jesus, some have noted that the Magi’s of mos., and a week of gift of gold may have foreshadowedanother aspect of His ministry. Under the Old yrs. 70 sevens of yrs. are Covenant, the Most Holy Place88 was the inner sanctuary of the Temple where the determined, or priest would enter the presence of God andoffer a sacrifice of atonement, for the ‘reckoned’ (hatak), upon sins of the people. Likewise, the incarnation of Jesus heraldedthe presence of Daniel’s people and the God—Immanuel89—andthe sacrifice of atonement He would make on behalfof city of Jerusalem. His people when He went to the cross. The Magi may have had this connectionin mind because, as describedin 1 Kings 6:20-22, the walls of the Most Holy Place and the altar within it were completely overlaidwith—you guessed it—gold. THE GIFT O F FRANKINCENSE Frankincense: An incense used in priestly duties90 Frankincense, or Olibanum as it would have been knownin the time of the Magi, is an essential oil produced from the resin of the Boswellia tree of the Middle East and Africa today. As the resin bleeds from the tree, the hardened clumps are known as tears. These tears are collected andprocessedto produce a substance used for healing, and in religious ceremonies. When burnedas incense, it creates a strong and beautifularoma. In the ancient near east, the cost of frankincense made it impractical for use as a common householdair freshener. Rather, the burningof frankincense was closelyassociated with ceremonial worship of a deity. In this way, the inclusion of frankincense as a gift for Jesus may have indicated that the Magi understoodthat the prophecyof the newbornkingcarried with it a claim of deity. As with gold, frankincense may also have an impliedconnection withthe Temple worshipof the O T. Burning incense at the altar was a key part of the sacrificial system prescribedby God, for use in the Tabernacle, and later in the Temple itself. According to Exo. 30, however, not just any incense would do. A specific recipe of spices mixed with ‘pure frankincense’91 was to be consecratedas ‘pure and holy’92 and was the only incense permitted at the altar. A conjectural parallel can be drawn between this and Jesus’ life as a pure and holy offering to the Lord. THE GIFT O F MYRRH My rrh: An embalmingspice, offered in anticipationof His death93 Myrrh is a fragrant spice derived from the sap of a tree native to the Near East. Like frankincense, it can be used as incense, but in the ancient world it also had wider usage as a perfume, anointing oil, andwas even consumed as a 86 Jesus as the true King of Kings 87 Gen. 13:2, Eccl. 2:8 88 Also known as the Holy of Holies 89 God with us. Matt. 1:23; Isa. 7:14. Some translations spell it as Emmanuel. 90 Jesus as the perfect High Priest. Frankincense was mixed into the shewbread by the priests 91 Ex. 30:34 92 v.35 93 Jesus as the supreme Savior, who came to die for the sins of mankind 13

The True Christmas Story medicinal tonic. Most notable regarding Jesus’ life, myrrhwas a key ingredient in the mixture of spices that were used to prepare bodies for burial when crushed.94 Perhaps the Magi intended this gift as an indicationof Jesus’ humanity and the way He would save His people—namely, that He would die for them.95 Perhaps Daniel instructed them to bring myrrh, which was customarilyused to anoint a bodybefore burial. That would’ve been symbolically appropriate since they understoodthat the Anointed One would eventuallybe “cut off.”96 Just like the 1st 2 gifts, there is a Temple connection with myrrhas well. Exo. 30 tells us that liquid myrrhwas a main ingredient in the anointing oilused to ceremoniallyprepare the priests, the instruments, the altar, and the Temple itself before sacrifices could even be made. Again, parallelsto Jesus’ consecratedlife and sacrificialdeath are immediately noticeable. All 3 gifts reveal thought-provoking implicationsthat related to Jesus’ life, ministry, burial and resurrection. MAGI AND THE STAR Here is a summary of the complete story fromthe Gospels of Matthew and Luke regar ding the events after the birth of Jesus, showing when the visit of the Magi fits into the chronology. As stated above, they were not present at the time of Jesus’ birth. After the birth of Jesus on Sept. 11th, 3 BC, Luke’s account states that Jesus was circumcisedin accordance with Jewish religious law97 and then presentedin the Temple;98 still no Magi. Then Luke states that the family returned to Nazareth.99 This is often overlooked! Shortly after, whenJesus was just over a year old, the family moved back to Bethlehem. Matt. 2 picks up the story in Bethlehem with the visit of the Magi at that time.100 Subsequently, in response to a warning from an angel in a dream, the family escapes to Egypt.101 Herodthen kills all the childrenin Bethlehem, 2 yrs. and under.102 He chose that age to be assured of killing Jesus. Later, while In Egypt, Joseph was informed by an angel that Herod was dead; and the family movedbackto Israel and settled back in Nazareth,103 where Jesus grew in “wisdom and stature.”104 So, what was the date that the Magi arrived at the house in Bethlehem to worship Jesus and present their gifts? In Ezra 7:9 we learn, Ezra's entourage took 4 monthsto travel from Babylon to Jerusalem. It's likelythe Magi's caravan would’ve taken a little longer, to prepare for the journey. This actually ties in with the fact that Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem for at least 40 days, until the end of Mary's 'purification.'105 It seems that the couple stayed on at Bethlehem for a while, surrounded, as they would’ve been, by Joseph'sfamily. We can also use astronomy to help us with that. Matthew described 2 distinct appearances of the same ‘star.’ The initial appearance is in Matt. 2:2, where this star was 1st observed bythe Magi in their homeland; they saw it “in the rising” above the eastern horizon. The other appearance to the Magi is found in Matt. 2:9, when they left Jerusalem for Bethlehem; the star is described as going ahead of them and stopping over the place where Jesus was. A planet can exhibit the strange behavior of appearing to stop in the heavens; and it’s believed that this ‘star’ was most likely the planet Jupiter, the ‘King planet.’ 94 Jn. 19:39-40 95 Isa. 53:5 96 Crucified 97 At 8-days old 98 Following the additional days allotted for the purification of “them,” including Mary – an additional 33-day period for the birth of a male, per Lev. 12:1–8. 99 Lk. 2:39 100 Matt. 2:9–12 101 Matt. 2:13–15 102 Matt. 2:16–18 103 Matt. 2:19–23 104 Lk. 2:52 105 Lk 2:22 14

The True Christmas Story From these verses we see that the star was defined by the Magi as ‘His star,’ and that it was seen when it rose while they were in Persia. Later, the star seemingly moved in the sky, heading in a southerly direction as the Magi traveled from Jerusalem to Bethlehem. The ‘star’ then stopped any movement and was directlyoverhead whenthe Magi arrived at the place where Jesus was, in Bethlehem. These are all wonderful clues to help identifythe ‘star.’ The phrase, \"in the east\" is a literal translationof the Greek phrase ‘en te anatole,’ which was a technical term used in Greek mathematical astrology2,000 yrs. ago. It described, veryspecifically, a planet that would rise above the eastern horizon just before the sun wouldappear. Then, just moments after the planet rises, it disappears in the bright glare of the sun in the morning sky. Except for a moment, no one can see this \"star in the east.\" In a human lifetime, virtuallyall the stars remain fixed in their places; the stars rise and set every night, but they don’t move relative to each other. The stars in the Big Dipper appear yearly, always in the same place. But the planets, the sun and the moon wander through the fixed stars; in fact, the word ‘planet’ comes from the Greek word for wanderingstar. Thoughthe planets, sun and moonmove along approximatelythe same path throughthe backgroundstars, they travel at different speeds, so they often lap each other. And now we need a little bit of astrology background. When the planet reappears again for the 1st time and rises in the morning sky just momentsbefore the sun, after having been hidden in the sun's glare, that moment is known to astrologers as a heliacal rising. A heliacal rising is what ‘en te anatole’ referred to in ancient Greekastrology. In particular, the reappearance of a planet like Jupiter was thought by Greek astrologers to be symbolically significant for anyone bornon that day. At the end of 2 BC, Jupiter appeared at its ordinary time, and became stationaryamongthe stars. It was at this time in Dec. of 2 BC that something unusualhappened. Meteorologist, pastor, and author Ernest Martin, describes the details of this occurrence: • “In 2 BC as viewed from Jerusalem, Jupiter came to its normal stationary positiondirectlyover Bethlehem on Dec. 25th. That’s right! Just before dawn,106 Jupiter came to a ‘stopped’ position on Dec. 25th directly over Bethlehem as witnessed from Jerusalem. Not onlythat, but the planet also assumed its stationary position while in the middle of the constellation of Virgo, the Virgin. What a remarkable circumstance this was. We are told in the NT that Jesus was born of a virgin. And precisely on Dec. 25th, 2 BC, Jupiter ‘stopped’ in the abdomen region of Virgo, the Virgin.107 This position was right where a woman carries a child in pregnancy. On that day, the ‘King planet’ stopped its lateral motionthrough the stars and remained stationary for about 6 days. During those days it did not move longitudinallymore than 1/40th of the Moon’s diameter from its Dec. 25th position. To an observer on earth, it appeared completely stationary in the midst of Virgo. How was it possible for Jupiter to be stationaryover the village of Bethlehem at this time? There is not the slightest problem for it to do so. On Dec. 25th, 2 BC Jupiter would have been seen in meridian position108 at an elevation of 68° above the southernhorizon. This position wouldshow the planet shining directly downon Bethlehem while it was stationary among the stars.” Was Dec. 25th, 2 BC the date that the Magi arrived in Bethlehem to greet, worship, andpresent their gifts to Jesus? The unusual astronomical sign of Jupiter appearing stationarydirectly over Bethlehem while in the constellation of Virgo, would support that as the date of the Magis’ visit. It’s also quite consistent with the birth of Jesus being Sept. 11th, 3 BC and with the time required for the Magi to travel from Persia to Bethlehem. That would place the visit of the Magi exactly 15 months after Jesus’ birth, consistent with the signs given in Rev. 12:1–6. Here are some rather interesting and very detailed astrological breakdownsof the constellations. 106 The regular time the Magi would have begun their normal observations of the heavens 107 In the middle of the constellation 108 Directly over Bethlehem 15

The True Christmas Story THE MAZZAROTH (ZODIAC) The Mazzaroth,109 also known as the zodiac,110 is the Hebrew wordfor constellation. It’s the name given to the pattern of stars found on the celestial equator, or ecliptic. The ecliptic is an imaginary zone of the heavens containing the 12 constellations, the paths of our planets, and throughwhich the sun passes yearly. The word zodiac comes from the Hebrew root ‘zodi,’ meaning ‘the way.’ The primary use of the stars was for determining times, seasons, andto serve as signs. According to Scripture, the Mazzaroth proclaims ‘the way’ of salvation and foretells the life story of the Messiah. See for yourselfjust how incrediblyamazing Godis by His painting of the story of salvation upon the canvas of the night! Each of the 12 constellationsare subdivided into approximately10-day periods called decans.111 The 3 specific decans that make up the Virgo constellation are: 1. Co ma- ‘the Desired’ or ‘Longed For’ o The 1st decan in Virgo explains that this coming ‘Branch’ will be a child, andthat He should be the ‘Desire of all nations.’112 ▪ Albumazer, a famous 8th centuryArabian astronomer, wrote: “There arises in the first decan, as the Persians, Chaldeans andEgyptians teach, a youngwoman whose Persian name denotes a pure virgin sitting on a throne, nourishing an infant boy havinga Hebrew name, by some nation called Ihesu, with the significationleza, which in Greek is called Christos.” Bear in mind that this Arabianastronomer was not a Christianor a Jew! o One star within Coma is, in Hebrew, called Hazanethon, which means ‘the branch,’ and is located over the child’s head whichthe virginholds. ▪ We clearly see that a virgin wouldcarryand bear a childnamed ‘the Seed’ and ‘the Branch.’ This ‘DesiredSon’ was to be more than an infant born miraculously of a virgin. 2. Centaurus - ‘the Despised Sin-Offering’ o This constellation has 35 stars, alongwith a smaller constellationof the Southern Cross. The upper body of the constellation is half-manand lower portion is half-horse. The man portion is holding a spear in his right hand and a shield in his left. o In legend, Centaurs were mighty warriors, but despisedby men and the gods. o The Hebrew name for Centaurus is Bezeh, or ‘the Despised.’ It’s the same word used in Isaiah 53:3 describingthe Messiah. ▪ Alpha Centauri - The brightest (double) star in Centaurusis the 4th brightest star in our sky. Within the constellation, it’s positioned in the horse'sforefoot directlyabove the smaller Southern Cross constellationnamed Crux, or Cross. • It’s the closest star to our solar system, at 4.3 light yrs. away. ▪ To liman is the ancient name for the same star, which means the ‘heretofore and hereafter.’ Like the identity God gave Moses within the burning bush, the “I AM.”113 • In Greek it’s called Cheiron, whichmeans ‘the PiercedOne,’114 or ‘Who Pierces.’ • The positioning of the star(s) withinthe constellationprophesies the method of death of the ‘Despised Sin Offering’ and exactlyhow he will destroythe enemy. 109 Mazzaroth (Heb Transliteration: ‫ ַמזָרֹות‬Mazzārōṯ) Hebrew word found in Job that literally means ‘Garland of Crowns,’ but its context is of astronomical constellations. Often interpreted as a term for the zodiac or the constellations thereof. (Job 38:31–32) 110 Ar ies: Ram, Taurus: Bull, Gemini: Twins, C ancer: Crab, Leo: Lion, Virgo: Virgin, L ibra: Scales, Sc orpio: Scorpion, Sagittarius: Archer (Centaur), C a pricorn: Goat, Aquarius: Water-bearer, P isces: Fish 111 deh·kn - Any of the 3 divisions of 10° in each sign of the zodiac 112 Hag. 2:7 113 Ex. 3:13-14 114 Zech. 12:10 16

The True Christmas Story • Even in Greek Mythology, there is a Christianparallel to Centaurusand its constellation. Uponhis death, Centaurus transferredhis immortality to Prometheus. This parallels the transference of the Holy Spirit upon the crucifixion andresurrectionof Christ, defeating satan in the process! Knowledge o Greeks had a 2nd name for Centaurus - Pholas, meaning The lights of Arcturusare so bright that the star was used ‘the Mediator.’ In Hebrew it’s translated as Asmeath, to help open the Chicago which means ‘Sin-Offering.’115 3. Boötes - ‘the Coming One’ World's Fair in 1933. o The 13th largest constellationin the night sky. It’s pictured as a man walking rapidly, with a spear in his right hand and a sickle in his left. Greeks called him Bo- o -tes, which is from the Hebrew root Bo, meaning ‘the Coming One.’ John the Baptist mentionedthe Coming One in Jn. 1:26-27, “but amongyou stands one you donot know. He is the One who comes after me, the straps of whose sandals I am not worthy to untie.” o The stars that make up Boötes are: ▪ Arcturus- ‘He comes’116 • The brightest star in the northernhemisphere andis foundin the left knee within the constellation. ▪ Al Katuropos -‘the BranchThat is TroddenUnder Foot’ • Known to astronomers as star “m,” it’s found in the spearhead of the constellation. ▪ Mirac - ‘the Preserver,’ ‘Guarding’ • Known to astronomers as star “e,” it’s found just below the waist of the constellation, on the right side. • It’s 37 light yrs. from the sun and is the constellation's 3rd brightest star. ▪ Muphride -‘He Who Separates’ • Known to astronomers as star “h,” it’s found on the left leg of the constellation and makes up its outline. • It’s one of the primary stars within Boötes. ▪ Nekkar - ‘the Pierced One’117 • Known to astronomers as star “b,” it’s found near the left ear of the constellation. • Nekkar also translates as Merga, or ‘Who Bruises.’118 • This tells us that the ‘coming judge’ is ‘One who was pierced’ and ‘bruised.’ Isaiah 53:5 shares that exact information about Christ being pierced through (wounded) for our transgressionsand bruised for our iniquities! * Within Virgo we see the promised seed, the man whose name means ‘the Branch.’ * In Coma, we see the promised seed in the form of a son, ‘the Desired One,’ bornof a virgin. * In Centaurus, we see the man having 2 natures.119 He is the ‘Despised Sin Offering,’ and ‘the Pierced One.’ His constellation is also positioned above the smaller constellationof the Southern Cross, showingthe exact method of His death which was to come. 115 Jer. 33:10 116 Job 38:32; Ps. 96:13; Rev. 14:14-16 117 Zech. 12:10 118 Gen. 3:15 119 God and man 17

The True Christmas Story VIRGO, “THE VIRGIN” Virgo120 is pictured as a woman with a branch121 in her right handand a sheaf of wheat in her left. Named from the Latin for virgin, the same in Hebrew is called Bethulah.122 Lying between Leo to the west and Libra to the east, it’s the 2nd largest constellation in the sky and the largest constellation in the zodiac. Virgocan easily be found through its brightest star, Spica. • Sp ica - ‘an ear of grain’ 123 in Latin. o Known to astronomers as star “a,” it’s the brightest star in Virgo and the 16th brightest in the sky. o Hebrews called the star Zerah whichmeans ‘the Seed,’ and is the same word used in Gen. 3:14-15. o Within the constellation, the star is in the sheaf of wheat held in her left hand. o In ancient Hebrew, the star was called Tsemech, which means ‘the Branch.’124 ▪ There are 20 Hebrew words for branch, but Tsemech is used exclusively for the Messiah and is found only 5 times in scripture!125 ▪ In Greek, the word for seed is sperma, and the man, not the woman, has the seed. • Za vijaveh - ‘Gloriously Beautiful’126 o Known to astronomers as star “b,” it’s the 5th brightest star in Virgo and is located at the tip of the right shoulder within the constellation. • Vindemiatrix - ‘the Son or BranchWho Cometh’ in Chaldean o Known to astronomers as star “e,” it’s the 3rd brightest star within Virgo and can be found in the right arm holding the branch. o Arabians called it Al Mureddin, meaning ‘Who shall Come Down,’ or ‘Who Shall Have Dominion.’ o Greeks called it P rometheus, meaning ‘the Deliverer’ or ‘BranchWho Comes.’ • Subilah - ‘He Who Carries’127 or ‘He Who Bears’ o In Arabic, this star is called Andrenosa, which means ‘the Virgin Who Carries.’ * It’s also worth noting that the constellation of Virgo is associated with the tribe of Zebulun, which is where Nazareth is located. * The 1st sign of Virgo reveals that someone known as the ‘Seed’ and the ‘Branch’ willcome downto earth and be born of a virgin. He comes as a ‘Deliverer’ and to ‘Have Dominion’ and in some way will be ‘Gloriously Beautiful.’ All of these correspond with the decans listed previously, whichalso makeupthe entire constellation. Thus, Virgo’s message parallels the Gospel story in chronologicalorder! INTERPRETATION OF THE SIGNS The sign given in Rev. 12:1 is that of a woman, and the only sign of the zodiac depictinga woman is Virgo, as I just went over. The birth of Jesus is associated with this heavenlyspectacle.128 The vision givento John associates specific positions of the sun and the moonin relationto this constellation, locatedwithin the normal paths of the sun and moon across the heavens. This gives us specific clues to the very day, even the time of the birth of Jesus! According to Ernest Martinin his book, The Star of Bethlehem: The Star that Astonished the World, he writes: 120 Virgin and virga in greek βέργα both mean “branch.” 121 Isa. 11:1 122 Matt. 1:23 123 Jn. 12:21-24 124 A title of the Messiah Isa. 4:2; Jer. 23:5; 33:15 125 Zech. 3:8, 6:12; Jer. 23:5-6, 33:15; Isa. 4:2 126 Isa. 4:2 127 Isa. 46:4 128 Rev. 12:2 18

The True Christmas Story • “The only time in the year that the Sun could be in a position to ‘clothe’ the celestial woman called Virgo (that is, to be mid-bodiedto her, in the region where a pregnant woman carries a child)is when the Sun is located between about 150 and170° along the ecliptic. This ‘clothing’ of the woman by the Sun occurs for a 20-day period each year This 20° spread couldindicate the general time when Jesus was born. In 3 BC, the Sun would have entered this celestialregionabout Aug. 27th and exited from it about Sept. 15th. If John, in the Book of Rev., is associating the birthof Jesus with the period whenthe Sun was mid-bodiedto this woman called Virgo, then Jesus would have to be bornwithin that 20-dayperiod. From the point of view of the Magi…this wouldhave been the only logical signunder which the Jewish Messiah might be born, especially if he were to be born of a virgin.” The sign of the sun “clothing” the woman defines a period of 20-days between Aug. 27th to Sept. 15th 3 BC. It’s the additional sign of the moon being “under her feet,” which can pinpoint within 90 min. on that day. “The key to the very day of Jesus’ birth is the words ‘and the moon under her feet.’ The word ‘under’ signifies that the woman’s feet were positioned just over the moon. In 3 BC, these 2 relationships of the sun, moon, and Virgocame into alignment for only 81 minutes, as observed from Palestine in the twilight period of Sept. 11th. This relationshipbegan at 6:18 PM129 and lasted until 7:39 PM.130 It shouldalso be noted that Sept. 11th is the only day in the entire year of 3 BC that the astronomicalphenomenon described in Rev. 12 could have taken place. The birth of Jesus after sunset is confirmed in Luke’s description.131 In addition, the timing of the sun and moonrelationship with Virgo was a New Moon Day, with the small sliver of the moon setting after the setting of the sun which was precisely when Jesus was born. The New Moon Day was Tishrei 1, Sept. 11th, 3 BC, on the Jewish calendar, which is Yom Teruah, or the Feast of Trumpets! The constellation of Virgo is the only astrologicalsign associated with a woman. For a periodof only a few hrs. on Sept. 11th, 3 BC, Virgo could be seen near Leo, representing “the lion of Judah,” with the sun clothing the woman and 12 visible stars, for the 12 Tribes of Israel,132 surroundingVirgo’s head. Joseph Dumond, author of Remembering the Sabbatical Years of 2016, 2023, 2030, 2037, 2044, makes the case for the birth date based on astronomical charts, clues provided in Rev. and the fact that the date on the Hebrew calendar translated into the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot – a holy dayoften associated with Jesus’ birth andreturn in the 2nd Coming. “It was on this day Yeshua was born on Sept. 11th, 3 BC, and it will be on this day He will come again to begin the judgment of the rest of mankind,” Dumond writes. In his book The Gospel in the Stars,133 Joseph A. Seiss offers the following insight regarding the constellations, their component stars, the planets, and the Magi’s celestial interpretations: • “How then did these Magi come to know so much about Christ as an adorable Kingand Savior?How did they come to such full conviction that His birthhad occurred in Judea? The true answer is: By the signs and constellations of the primeval astronomy, andthe legends connected with them, interpreted as we have been contemplating them…It was to Jesus…that the primeval astronomyconductedthese remote Gentile believers [Magi].” It’s interesting that God created the stars, planets, and other objects in the universe as “signs,” among the other reasons stated. Certainly, the Magi who came seeking the King saw some kindof “sign(s)” in the heavens. The Bible calls our attention to starryobjects, andPs. 19:1-4 gives us context in a poetic style: • “The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the workof his hands. Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. They have no speech; they use no words; no soundis 129 Sunset 130 Moonset 131 Lk. 2:8 132 Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph, and Benjamin. 133 (1882) 19

The True Christmas Story heard from them. Yet their voice134 goes out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.” Remember that He named each star135 despite their vast number. It’s intriguingto note the number of times that the stars and the constellations are mentionedin Scripture. The Book of Jobis reported by some theologians to be the oldest book of the Bible, going backto approximately2150 BC, which was 650 yrs. before Moses wrote the Torah. Job has several astronomical references, as does the book of Amos: • “Who alone stretches out the heavens and tramples down the waves of the sea; who made [the constellations]the Bear, Orion, and the Pleiades, andthe [vast starry]spaces of the south.”136 • “Can you bind the chains of [the cluster of stars called] Pleiades, Or loose the cords of [the constellation] Orion? Can youlead fortha constellation in its season, And guide [the stars of] the Bear with her sons? Do you know the ordinances of the heavens, or [canyou]establish their rule over the earth?”137 • “He who made the [cluster of stars called] Pleiades and [the constellation]Orion, who turns deep darkness into the morning and darkens the day into night, who callsfor the waters of the sea and pours them out on the surface of the earth, The LORD is His name.”138 The graphicaldepictionof the zodiac – with its 12 starryconstellations – is used in the occult arts, astrology, and fortune-telling, whichare forbidden in the Bible,139 largely because they involve demonic spirits.140 The purpose of the zodiac given by God has been corrupted as man focuses more on the creation rather than the Creator. The Mazzaroth mentioned in Job, literally means “the 12 signs [constellations]of the zodiac.” God displays each of the 12 signs of the zodiac in their appropriate months during the year Ancient writings from virtuallyall civilizations describing the major stars contained in the 12 constellationsof the zodiac agree with each other. Some of the civilizations were Egypt, Persia, Assyria, andBabylonia. The chart of the zodiac displays 12 major constellationsaround the ecliptic, whichis the apparent path of the sun throughthe heavens, caused by the earth’s path around the sun during the year It can clearlybe seen that the constellations preface a picture storyof God’s plan of salvation for mankind, throughHis Son, Jesus. Afterall, the very 1st Hebrew word in the Torah, Bereshyt, literally translates as, “The House of the Most-High God, shall be brought down by His o wn hand on a cross!” No, that’s not somethingI made up to get your attention…it wouldgreatly benefit you, and your faith, to dive deeper into the Word since there are mysteries buried so deep that are only for those who seek them out! Before man even fell, the plan of salvation was set in place! Jesus was, and is, “the Lamb that was slain before the foundationof the world.”141 From Gen.-Rev., Jesus Christ is the subject of the written Word of God. He is the very fabric woventhroughout the Law and prophets, Psalms, Gospels, Epistles andRevelation! God wants to be knownby His creation andloves us so much that He would give up the perfection of heaven, robe Himself in flesh to live as one despised. He was 100% God and 100% man, bornof a virginand humbled Himselfto become just as we are. Yet, He was without sin but still tempted in every way. He lived a perfect life and yet, declared guilty byfalse accusation. Likewise, He’s the very subject of the Word of God written in the heavens from Virgo142 to Leo.143 He is the promised Seed of the woman144 134 Septuagint, Jerome, and Syriac; Heb: ‘measuring line’ 135 Ps. 147:4; Isa. 40:26 136 Job 9:8-9 137 Job 38:31-33 138 Amos 5:8 139 Lev. 20:27 140 Acts 16:16-19 141 Rev. 13:8 142 The initial, lead constellation 143 The last of the 12 constellations 144 Virgo 20

The True Christmas Story and the King of Glory and the Lion of the tribe of Judah.145 He is also depicted in the heavens as the sun—the Righteous One, the bridegroom146 racing through the heavens to redeem and restore His bride to glory! In Jn. 12:24 Jesus refers to Himself as the Seed that needs to die in order to bring life. He could have destroyed all of the soldiers with 1 word, yet He remained on the cross because He was the only way for us to be forgivenof sin and made right before the Creator. Without God in the flesh coming as Jesus the Messiah, there wouldbe no rescue or forgiveness fromour sin. He is literally the only way to Heaven. UNUSUAL ASTRONOMICAL ACTIVITY IN 3 BC -2 BC So, what cosmic events would have focused the Magi’s attention and caused them to travel the long distance to Jerusalem and then Bethlehem in search of the One born King of the Jews? As it turns out, the night sky in the yrs. immediately before the birth of Jesus – and for several yrs. thereafter – was literally ablaze with the signs of the zodiac. These heavenly signs were discerned and interpreted by the Magi, but the Jews in Jerusalem apparently didn’t recognize them. Perhaps they didn’t see them because they were not trained in the movements of the heavenly bodies. More likely, they were unconcernedbecause they were not even looking for the Messiah whohad been foretold in Daniel’s prophecy.147 Certainly, “the heavens were declaring the gloryof God,”148 and He was providing signs all throughout them. However, these were not like the burning bush whichMoses couldn’t possibly ignore.149 They were in the heavens which the Magi saw were much more subtle, and indications are that King Herodand the Jews didn’t even notice. In his early work, The Birth of Christ Recalculated,150 Ernest Martinsums up the cosmic signs whichwere evident during the period of 7-2 BC in this manner: • “We are told in the NT that the main factor that brought the Magi to Jerusalem was ‘His star.’ What star or heavenly body couldthis have been? Though there was an interesting conjunction of Jupiter andSaturnin 7 BC with Mars forming a triangular aspect with those planets in early6 BC, the planets at that time were at least 2 diameters of the moon away from one another and they couldnot in any way be considered as a single ‘star.’151 As for the yrs. of 5-4 BC, there was nothing of astronomical importance that wouldhave impressed anyone to journey to Jerusalem. But in 3-2 BC, the whole heavens burst forth with astronomical signs and wondrous displays. It may well be, that the celestial occurrences in this latter period were the very ones that prompted the Magi to go to Jerusalem.” Another writer152 wrote in a similarly titled article in 1988 that: • “The year 3-2 BC stood far above any near contenders for a periodof exceptional signs in the heavens to herald Christ’s birth.” According to these authors, beginning in Aug. of 3 BC and ending Dec. of 2 BC, several conjunctions of the planets Jupiter, Venus, Mercury, Mars, and Saturn occurred. In addition, movements of planets withinconstellations associated with the Messiah occurred.153 Finally, planetary conjunctions with key stars occurred.154 This was quite a show in the heavens for those trained to see it! 145 Leo 146 Ps. 19:4-5 147 Dan. 9:26 148 Ps. 19:1 149 Ex. 3:1-6 150 (1978) 151 ‘The conjunctions of Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, occurring in Pisces, are the ones that some present-day historians feel were connected with the signs indicated by Matthew in his account of the birth of Christ’ 152 Unknown 153 Leo the Lion, Virgo the Virgin, and Cancer the Crab 21

The True Christmas Story Paul Wierwille writes the following being the main attractionthat set the Magi on their journey: • “[It probably] …beganin Aug. of 3 BC, when Jupiter the King planet became visible above the eastern horizon as a morningstar, seen by the Magi ‘in the rising.’ On Aug. 12th, Jupiter came into conjunctionwith Venus, the bright morning star, in the constellation of Leo, the sign of Judah.” This may have been the 1st sighting whichthe Magi later communicated to King Herod when they were questioned by him after arriving in Jerusalem. Perhapsthey began preparing for their 1,200 mi. journey to Jerusalem after they observed it. They undoubtedlywere in awe of Jupiter’s multiple celestial displaysand significance. As detailed by Paul Wierwille, “Jupiter, the ‘King planet,’ had a highly unusual 3 conjunctionswith Regulus,155 the ‘King star’ during the yrs. of 3-2 BC. These conjunctions occurredon Sept. 14th, 3 BC; on Feb. 17th, 2 BC; and on May 8th, 2 BC. Then on June 17th, 2 BC, Jupiter again came into conjunction with Venus, when the 2 formed a dramatic brilliant ‘star’ in the western night sky. On Aug. 27th, 2 BC, Jupiter came into conjunction with Mars in another dramatic astronomical configuration.” As mentioned, 1 of the primary occupations of the Magi was the study of the motions of heavenly bodies, andall indicationsfrom Matthew’sGospel showthat is preciselywhat they were doing in 3 BC; their decisionto travel to Jerusalem was based upon the unmistakable signs. SPIRITUAL BABYLON • All forms of occultic practices have had their origins in the original cityof Babylon.156 • Nimrod was celebrated as having been resurrected throughhis son Tammuz, whowas identifiedwith the Babyloniansun god, and was worshipped following the winter solstice, aroundDec. 22nd-23rd. This celebration was imposeduponthe ancient worldby Nimrod’s wife, Semiramis, after his death – a counterfeit of the resurrection of Jesus Christ. (Sol Invictus) • Semiramis was the original name for the city of Thyatira in Revelation. • It’s interesting to note that both Saturn157 and sabbath mean ‘to accomplish’ or ‘rest.’ • As Babylon was conquered bysubsequent empires, the entire religious system was transplanted, 1st to Pergamos, and then to Rome.158 • As Christianitywas established as the official state religionof Rome, many of the previous traditions and practices of the earlier pagan worshipwere adopted andincorporated, including: o The Christmas tree o The fertility symbol of the mistletoe o The Wassail bowl159 CONNECTIONS TO PAGAN GODS In the early yrs. of Christianity, Easter was the main holiday; the birth of Jesus was not celebrated untilthe 4th century when churchofficials decidedto institute it as a holiday. Unfortunately, the Bible does not mentiona date 154 Jupiter with Regulus (the “King star” – in the constellation of Leo, the “Royal Constellation”) 155 The brightest star in the constellation Leo. It is a triple system of which the primary is a hot dwarf star. 156 Isa. 47 157 From which we get Saturday 158 Rev. 2: 12-17 159 Originally, the wassail was a drink made of mulled ale, curdled cream, roasted apples, eggs, cloves, ginger, nutmeg and sugar . It was served from huge bowls, often made of silver or pewter Wassailing was traditionally done on New Year's Eve and 12th Night, but some rich people drank Wassail on all the 12 days of Christmas! The Wassail drink mixture was sometimes called 'Lamb's Wool', because of the pulp of the roasted apples looked frothy and a bit like Lamb’s Wool! 22

The True Christmas Story for His birth.160 Althoughevidence suggests that His birth likely occurred in the fall, as stated above, because shepherds wouldnot be herding in the middle of winter. Pope Julius I chose Dec . 25th to rival the celebrations of the pagans’ Saturnalia festival. 1st calledthe Feast of the Nativity, the custom spread to Egypt by 432 AD and to England by the end of the 6th century. The middle of winter has long been a time of celebration for cultures around the world. Here are the origins of Christmas, and the celebrations of pagangods, for a few other cultures. • Ro mans: Dec. 25th was the Saturnalia Festival161 of emancipation. “In the Roman world, the Saturnalia was a time of merrymaking and exchanging of gifts. On the Roman New Year,162 houses were decorated with greenery and lights, and gifts were given to children and the poor. To these Pagan Holiday Origins observances were added the German and Celtic Yule rites when the Teutonic tribes163 penetrated Gaul, Britain, and Halloween central Europe. Foodand goodfellowship, the Yule log and - Many ancient cultures - Celts, Druids, etc. - observedOct. 31st, Yule cakes, greenery and fir trees, gifts, and greetings all Eve of Samhain, as their year- commemorated various aspects of this festive season. Fires end. and lights, symbols of warmth andlasting life, have always - Related to worship of Baal been associated with the winter festival, both paganand (Mars) and may have been stimulated by the anxiety of the Christian.”164 Also, around the time of the winter solstice, orbit of the earth associated Romans observed one of the holiday’sgreatest feasts called with the planet Mars. Juvenalia, which honored the children of Rome and was the celebration of fertility. As discussed, Saturnalia was a 7-day Easter - Babylonian worship of Ishtar, festival that celebrated the death of the old sun-god, Nimrod. the golden egg of Astarte, and The day after the Saturnalia is a separate festival called the associated fertility rites of Brumalia, which falls on Dec. 25th and celebratedthe spring. resurrection of their sun-god. Additionally, Romans - Early Christians who attempted to celebrate the celebrated Dec. 25th as the feast day for the birth of the traditional Passover as Syrian sun god, Sol Invictus. • Mesopotamians: Celebrated winter festivals BC. 12-day celebrations of exchanging gifts and feasting. • P agans/Norse/Germans: Celebrated ‘Yule,’ during the winter solstice Dec. 21st-Jan. 2nd. In recognition of the returnof the sun, fathers and sons wouldbring home large logs whichthey instructed by God, were excommunicated from the would set on fire. church. They were called o The Yule log was a whole tree meant to be burned “Quartodeciman” – Latin for for 12 days in the hearth. The Celts believed the sun stood still during the winter solstice and bykeeping ‘Fourteenthers,’- because the the Yule log burning for 12 days encouraged the sun 14th of Nisan was the God-given to move, making the days longer. They lit it with the Passover celebration date. remains of the previous year’s log andfed the largest end into the hearth while pouring wine over it. Everyone took turns feeding the length of timber into the fire as it burned. Letting it burn out would’ve brought bad luck. The people would feast and revel until the log burned out only after the 12 days. o The Celts believed Mistletoes possessed healingpowers and would wardoff evil spirits. o The Norse believed the Yule log foretold the birthof pigs or calves the coming year by the number of sparks the log released while burning. 160 A fact Puritans later pointed out to deny the legitimacy of the celebration 161 Dec. 17th 162 Jan. 1st 163 Teutons were an ancient northern European tribe described by Roman authors and Julius Caesar as Germanic people. 164 (Encyclopedia Britannica, 15th ed., vol. II, p. 903) 23

The True Christmas Story o Evergreens, the 1 plant that could make it throughthe Norse winter and bring life-giving power, were dragged inside. They proved that life persisted in those dark times and were sometimes made into wreathes and hung inside the home. o Vikings decoratedevergreentrees with gifts such as carvings and foodfor the tree spirits, to encourage them to return in the spring. They also brought winter hollyinto their homes, offering them as refuge for fairies, and exchanged them as tokens of friendshipand fertility. o Viking children left their shoes out by the hearth onthe eve of the winter solstice with sugar and hay for Odin’s 8-leggedhorse,165 Sleipnir. They also traipsed from house to house with gifts of apples and oranges spikedwith cloves and resting in baskets lined withevergreenboughs. o People honoredthe pagan god Odenduringthe mid-winter holiday as well. Germans were terrified of him, as they too believed he flew on an 8-legged horse duringnocturnal flights through the sky, to observe his people and decided whowouldprosper or perish. Because of his presence, many people chose to stay inside. o In most areas of Europe, the end of Dec. was when most cattle were slaughtered, so they would not have to be fed during the winter. For many, it was the only time of year when they had a supply of fresh meat. In addition, most wine and beer made during the year was finallyfermented and ready for drinking. • Eg yptians: Celebrated the birth of Horuson Dec. 25th. The “son of god,” born of the virgin Isis. They exchanged gifts, feasted, and placed palm branches in their homes. • Ch inese: Celebrated in the Han Dynasty166 and thrived in the Tang and Song dynasties.167 o The Han people regarded the winter solstice as a \"Winter Festival,\" so officials wouldorganize festivities. On this day, both officials andcommoners would rest. The army was stationed inside, frontier fortresses closed, and businessand traveling ceased. Relatives and friends presented to each other delicious foods. o In the Tang and Song dynasties, the winter solstice was a day to offer sacrifices to Heaven and ancestors. Emperors would go to suburbs to worship the Heaven, while commoners offered sacrifices to their deceasedparents or other relatives. o The Qing Dynasty168 even recorded that \"winter solstice is as formal as the Spring Festival,\" showing the significance attached to this day. • P ersians: Dec. 25th was regarded as the birthdate of the Persiangod Mithra, the ‘sun of righteousness,’ and the ‘light of the world.’ It was believed that Mithra, an infant god, was bornof a rock. To the small but powerful sect, the birthdayof Mithra was the holiest day of the year THE MESSIANIC PROMISE • God’s declarationof war on satan involved the promise of a kinsman-redeemer from Adam.169 • Beginning with Cain and Abel, to the flood of Noah and the slaughtering of infants in Egypt and Bethlehem, satan has tried repeatedly to disrupt the royal line. o The nominative name, satan, refers to an adversaryor accuser, and derives from a Northwest Semitic root śṭn, meaning to be hostile, or to accuse. And if satan is an adversary, what better message of hostility towards Jesus than Santa and the whole Christmas division, which parallels the exact opposite of everything Christ represents. Santa's focus is purelymaterialistic while Jesus' is founded upon love, selflessness, humilityand so muchmore that flows from these. 165 The source of Santa’s 8 reindeer he flew with 166 206 BC-220 AD 167 618-1279 AD 168 1644-1911 AD 169 Gen. 3:15 24

The True Christmas Story • The Feast of Trumpets170 is the start of the Jewish civil year Before God toldMoses that Nisan (April) was to be the beginning of the religiousyear, Tishrei (Sept.) 1 was the day that commemoratedthe very creation of the world. It’s rather fitting that the Creator of the world171 would also enter the worldon that day! • Tishrei 1 is also New Year’s Day for commercialand royal reckonings.172 Jesus was prophesied to be the King of the world, to lead all people into a time of freedom and peace. There couldn’t have been a better day in the Jewish ecclesiastical calendar to introduce the Messiah to the world. • Lastly, it should be noted that both the birth of Jesus, or 1st coming, andHis 2nd coming was, and will likely be again, on the Feast of Trumpets – 2 bookends in the life and redemptive ministry of Jesus, and both occurringat the appointed times on the most significant date in the Jewish calendar year! THE PROBLEM God announced early that His plan for redemptioninvolvedthe Messiah being brought forth from the tribe of Judah, specificallyfrom the line of David. However, the succession of the subsequent kings of Judahprovedto be, with only a few exceptions, a dismal chain. As the succeedingkings went from bad to worse, we eventually encounter Jeconiah,173 uponwhom Godpronounced a “bloodcurse” upon the royalline: • “Thus says the Lord, ‘Write this man [Coniah] down as childless, A man who willnot prosper (succeed) in his lifetime; For not one of his descendants will succeed in sitting on the throne of David or ruling again in Judah.’”174 This created a rather grim and perplexing paradox: the Messiah had to come from the royal line, yet there was a curse on that very bloodline! THE SOLUTION The solution is revealed in the different genealogies of Jesus Christ recordedin the Gospels. Matthew, as a Levi tax collector, focusedhis gospel onthe Messiahship of Jesus and presented Him as the Lion of the Tribe of Judah. Thus, Matthew, a fellow Jew, traced the legal line from Abraham through David, then throughSolomon175 to Joseph, the legal father of Jesus. • One reason Bible scholarstrust Jewish genealogical records is that Jews, “especially [...] families whowere in the Davidic line,” were excellent recordkeepers since the OT prophesied that Messiahwouldbe bornof the house of David. Record-keeping was essential to both Matthew and Luke’s professions. On the other hand, Luke, as a gentile Greek physician, focusedon the humanity of Jesus, and thus presented Him as the Son of Man. Luke tracedthe bloodline from Adam to David, which is identical to Matthew’s but after David, Luke traced the family tree through David’s other son, Nathan.176 This carried the lineage down through Heli, the father of Mary, who was the mother of Jesus. Joseph was the son-in-law of Heli. Thus, Jesus is “of the house and lineage of David,” but not heir to the blood curse pronounced uponthe descendants of Jeconiah. I’ve included both Matthew and Luke’s genealogies below. 170 Rosh HaShanah 171 Jn. 1:1-3, 14 172 This was the day that many of the ancient kings and rulers of Judah regarded as their inauguration date since the key themes of the Feast of Trumpets were kingship and counting the yrs. of a king’s rule. 173 Or Jehoiachin 174 Jer. 22:30 175 The “royal” line, through the 1st surviving son of Bathsheba 176 The 2nd surviving son of Bathsheba 25

The True Christmas Story • Luke177: Adam; Seth; Enosh; Kenan; Mahalal’el; Jared; Enoch; Methuselah; Lamech; Noah; Shem; Arphaxad; Cainan; Shelah; Eber; Peleg; Reu; Serug; Nahor; Terah (Father of Abraham) • Matthew & Luke: Abraham; Isaac; Jacob; Judah; Perez; Hezron; Ram; Amminadab; Nahshon; Salmon; Boaz; Obed; Jesse; David (Father of Nathan and Solomon) • Luke: Nathan; Mattatha; Menna; Melea; Eliakim; Jonam; Joseph; Judah; Simeon; Levi; Matthat; Jorim; Eliezer; Joshua; Er; Elmadam; Cosam; Addi; Melchi; Neri; Shealtiel; Zerubbabel; Rhesa; Joanan; Joda; Josech; Semein; Mattathias; Mahath; Naggai; Hesli; Nahum; Amos; Mattathias; Joseph; Jannai; Melchi; Levi; Matthat; Heli; Ma ry – Jesus • Matthew178: Solomon; Rehoboam; Abijah; Asaph; Jehoshaphat; Joram; Ahaziah*; Joash*; Amaziah*; Uzziah; Jotham; Ahaz; Hezekiah; Manasseh; Amos; Josiah; Jehoiakim*; Jeconiah179*; Shealtiel; Zerubbabel; Abiud; Eliakim; Azor; Zadok; Achim; Eliud; Eleazar; Matthan; Jacob; Joseph - Jesus * Ahaziah, Joash, andAmaziah, all died violent deaths; God thus dealing with idolatry literally “to the 3rd and 4th generations,”180 their names therefore “blotted out” accordingto the Law.181 Jehoiakim andJeconiah likewise, since the kingdom ended as an independent kingdom with Josiah’s death at Megiddo. Thus, these were “blotted out” of the groups of “14 generations” in Matthew’s account.182 Luke and Matthew both conducted independent research, and both independently showlegally the conclusion that Jesus is the Savior. We know for sure that Jesus is “the only candidate for Messiah” and “the onlyqualified Savior of mankind!” Despite the genealogical differences, both Matthew and Luke emphasize 2 important facts whichare essential to the Christian faith: Joseph was not Christ’s biological father, andMary was a virginwhen she gave birth to the Son of God. WHY A VIRGIN BIRTH? Knowledge - 1st question of the OT: Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall callhis name God called to Adam Immanuel.183 “Where are you?” Foretold in the Garden of Eden and again by the prophet Isaiah: - 1st question of the NT: “Where is he that is born • “And I will put enmity (open hostility) Between you and the King of the Jews?” woman, and between your seed (offspring) andher Seed;184 He shall [fatally] bruise your head, and youshall [only]bruise His - 1st question in the OT heel.”185 deals with the first Adam. - 1st question in the NT • “Therefore, the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Listen deals with the last Adam. carefully, the virginwill conceive and give birth to a son, and she will call his name Immanuel (God with us).”186 • A virgin birth wouldhave been required due to the blood curse on the royal line, through Jeconiah. 177 Lk. 3:23-38 178 Matt. 1:2-16 179 Also known as Jehoiachin or Coniah 180 Ex. 20:4-5 181 Deut. 29:20 182 (Cf. E. W. Bullinger, Companion Bible, Appendix 99) 183 Isa. 7:14 184 Many consider this verse the protevangelium, the 1st announcement of the gospel. The 1st prophecy of Jesus, who through His death on the cross and resurrection would ultimately defeat satan. Isa. 9:6; Matt. 1:23; Lk. 1:31; Rom. 16:20; Gal. 4:4; Rev. 12:17 185 Gen. 3:15 186 Isa. 7:14 26

The True Christmas Story TYPOLOGICAL ANALYSIS Let’s look at the typology of the book of Ruthand how the storygoes deeper than the rice paper it’s transcribed upon. A ‘type’ is a person, thing, or event that foreshadows something that comes after it. Keep in mind that nothing in the Word of God is there by accident; every wordis strategically placed and is there by Divine plan! Boaz187 – (Heb: “in him is strength”) Boaz lived in Bethlehem and was the kinsman-redeemer who restored landto Naomi (a type of Israel) 188. He married Ruth, the Moabitess (Gentile bride and typeof the church) and was introduced to her by an unnamedservant who was the lord of the harvest (a type of the Holy Spirit). He was also the great-grandfather of King David(upon whose throne Christ would sit). • To bring Ruth (Gentiles) to Naomi (Israel/Salvation), Naomi (Jews) had to be exiled from her land. What the Law couldn’t do, grace did. • Ruth (Gentiles) doesn’t replace Naomi (Jews). • Ruth (Gentiles) learned of Boaz’s (Christ) waysthrough Naomi(Jews). • Naomi (Jews) met Boaz (Christ) throughRuth (Gentiles). • No matter how much Boaz (Christ) loved Ruth (Gentiles), he had to await her move. • Boaz (Christ), not Ruth (Gentiles), confronted the ‘nearer kinsman.’189 o Literally, in the ancient Hebrew, when Boaz greeted the nearer kinsman, he called him “Mr. So- and-so.” The writer of Ruth never identified the name of the nearer kinsmanbecause he was not worthy of the honor. He declined to fulfill his obligations as the nearer kinsman to Ruth. **We cannot fullyunderstand Rev. 5 without understanding the Book of Ruth. A BRIEF LIST OF OT CHRISTOLOGICAL TYPES Christological Typology is a subset of OT Christology. It’s primarily concerned with identifying andinterpreting the parallel representations of the person and workof Jesus, which are foundin people, things, or events of the OT. As mentioned, a ‘type’ is a person, thing, or event that foreshadows something that comes after it. The thing being foreshadowedis the ‘antitype.’ Throughout the OT, Jesus can be seen in these parallel forms. This not only accurately andprophetically presents significant aspects of who He was and what He did, but also demonstrates the divine authority of the OT and the transcendent nature of its divine author. • Ad am: Born of a miraculous birth;190 entered the world in a sinless state;191 was begotten of God;192 was lord of creation;193 had a Gentile bride (she wasn’t a Jew); submitted to her condition to take her sin upon himself;194 his death brought about her salvation. Had he not joinedher in her sin – whichbrought about his own death – and produced offspring, the Messiah would not have been born. • Isaac: His father’s only begotten son;195 offeredas a sacrifice to God on Mt. Moriah, whichlater became Calvary,196 where Christ was crucified; considereddead in His father’s eyes during the 3-dayjourneyto the place of the sacrifice and given hislife back “on the thirdday;”197 carriedthe wood for hisown sacrifice on 187 Boaz for Ruth, and Christ for us 188 Lost the land but through “his” act of redemption she’s returned to it 189 Ruth 4:1-2 190 Gen. 2:7 191 Gen. 1:31 192 Lk. 3:38 193 Gen. 1:28 194 Gen. 3:6 195 Heb. 11:17 196 2 Chron. 3:1 197 Gen. 22:4 27

The True Christmas Story his back,198 as Christ would carry the cross; bound to the wood of the sacrificial altar199 as Christ was bound to the cross; His father believed he would be resurrected from the dead.200 • Jo seph: His father’s favorite son;201 a prophet;202 rejected by his brothers who plotted his death;203 betrayed for pieces of silver by Judah;204 falsely accusedand condemned;205 rose to the right hand of power;206 became the savior of the world by providing the breadof life during the nationwide famine.207 • No ah’s Ark: It was provided byGod’s grace; preached as the only way of escaping God’s judgment; man was invited to enter in, as one had to be ‘in’ the ark when the judgment came; was covered in ‘pitch’ (Heb: kippur – as in Yom Kippur, or Day of Atonement) which covers sin; was made of something alive (trees) that had to die in order to be able to save; had only 1 way in or out; completed the workof salvationfor all who trusted in it. Those carried by it emerged after the flood on the very same calendar dayas the resurrection of Christ centuries later! • P a ssover Lamb:208 The lamb had to be an unblemishedmale whose innocent bloodwas presentedto God to save the lives of those who trusted in it. Those not covered by the blood received God’s judgment. More on this in my ‘Feast of First fruits (Easter)’ document. Also symbolic was that the Passover lamb was “swaddled” and laid in a stone manger, exactly how and where Christ was born…Bethlehem. • Bronze Serpent:209 The serpent (embodiment of sin210) had bitten the people and brought about their deaths. A bronze image of the serpent was lifted up on a pole, such that those who lookedto it were saved. Christ became sin211 and was lifted up on the cross for those who wouldtrust in Him.212 Looking to the serpent was the only way of escaping certaindeath since no other way was made. It was a voluntary act in response to God’s invitation, and those whofailed to trust in the serpent died. THE EARLY YEARS • Ps. 69 fills in some of the details of the silent yrs. in Christ’s childhoodand young adulthood, of which the Gospels tell us nothing. o Luke tells us about an incident in the life of Jesus when He was 12, but we learn nothing else about Him until He was about 30 yrs. old. • We see some of Christ’s dark days in Nazareth andHis dark hrs. on the cross. • It is classified as an imprecatory Psalm because of an imprecatory prayer.213 o It’s from that section the NT writers often quoted. o His prayer is a cry for justice regarding Christ’s earlyhumiliation andrejection. • We begin up north at Nazareth: We hear the heart sob of a small boy, a teenager, a young man… 198 Gen. 22:6 199 Gen. 22:9 200 Heb. 11:19 201 Gen. 37:3 202 Gen. 37:10 203 Gen. 37:18 204 Gen. 37:26-28 205 Gen. 39:17-20 206 Gen. 41:39-44 207 Gen. 42:57 208 Ex. 12 209 Num. 21 210 Gen. 3 211 Hata‘ah is the Hebrew word used for the sacrifice that took away sin. It’s homonymous for the sin itself. The sacrifice and the sin were called by the same name. It means that the sacrifice for sin became the sin it was taking. Paul clarifies this in 2 Corinthians 5:21, “God made Him who knew no sin, to become sin, for us, that in Him we might become the righteousness of God.” Messiah is the Hata‘ah. 212 Jn. 3:14-15 213 Ps. 69:22-28 28

The True Christmas Story o “Let not those who wait for You, O Lord God of hosts, be ashamed because of me; Let not those who seek You be confounded because of me, O God of Israel. Because for Your sake I have borne reproach; Shame has covered my face.”214 ✓ They hated Him for who He was, and He came to Messianic Psalms take a lowly, humble place on earth. - Ps. Is quoted in the NT more than any other OT o “I am become a stranger unto my book. brethren, and an alien unto my - Jesus even declared that the Ps. Were written mother’s children.”215 about Him. (Lk. 24:44) - The constitute irrefutable testimony to the ✓ Mary had other children, divine inspiration of the Scriptures. (Ps. 2,8,16,22- which confirmsthe record 24,40-41,45,68-69,87,89,102,110,118) in the Gospels.216 - Ps. 22 refers to the death of Christ. ✓ Not His father’s children - Ps. 69 refers to the life of Christ. - Ps. 69 is the most quoted in the NT, next is Ps. because Joseph was not His earthly father. They 22. - Ps. 69 is quoted in all 4 Gospels, Acts, and Rom. were half-brothers and - Ps. 69 tells us about the silent yrs. of Christ’s half-sisters. He was childhood-adulthood. considered illegitimate in - In Jn. 2:14-17, the disciples linked Ps. 69:9 to biblical times. when Jesus proclaimed “…Make not my o “Because zeal for Your house has Father’s House a house of merchandise” eaten me up, and the reproaches of those who reproachYou have fallen on me.”217 o “They that sit in the gate218 speak against me; and I was the song of the drunkards.”219 ✓ As tensions were always boiling between them, the Pharisees seized opportunities to pick on Jesus and His mother for Him being illegitimate in their eyes. They fired Jesus up once, beginning in Jn. 8:41 by saying “We were not born of fornication; we have one Father— God.” Jesus rebuts by referring to their own parentage in saying, “You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do.”220 ✓ He was called illegitimate in order that you andI may be legitimate children of God. o Called a Nazarene221 which implies an ‘ignorant’ man. Partly due to Nazareth being a Gentile area, but was also a figure of speech, whichimpliedcontempt. Now we’ll dive into the secular aspect of Christmas andwhere the origins are derived, along with the symbolism. WHO CREATED SANTA CLAUS? • St. Nick first entered Americanculture in the 18th centuryin NY. Dutch families gathered to honor the death of Sint Nikolaas,222 or Sinter Klaas for short. Santa Clauscame from this adaptation. 214 Ps. 69:6-7 215 Ps. 69:8 216 Matt. 13:55; Mk. 6:3 217 Ps. 69:9 218 City Council; Judges 219 Ps. 69:12 220 Jn. 8:44 221 Matt. 2:23 29

The True Christmas Story • In 1822, Episcopal minister Clement Clarke Moore wrote a Christmas poem called, “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas,” better knownby its 1st line: “‘Twas the Night Before Christmas.” The poem depicted Santa Claus as a jolly man who flew from home to home on a sled driven byreindeer delivering toys. • The iconic versionof Santa Claus as a jolly man in red with a white beard and a sack of toys was immortalized in 1881, whenpolitical cartoonist Thomas Nast drew on Moore's poem to create the physical image of St. Nick that we know today. • The original artist of Santa Clause was a Coke employee named Haddon Sundblom. It was created by Coca- Cola during the 1930'sas part of an advertising campaignaimed at children. Sundblom’s renditionwas merely an improvement on the earlier image alreadymade famousby Thomas Nast. IS IT SCRIPTURAL TO EXCHANGE GIFTS? The BibliothecaSacra states, “The interchange of presents between friends is a like characteristic of Christmas and the Saturnalia and must have been adopted by Christians from the pagans, as the admonition of Tertullianplainly shows.”223 Like every other aspect of Christmas, the truth is that even exchanginggifts isn’t in the Bible. It’s ironic that people believe they’re following the custom of the Magi giving gifts to Christ in Matt. 2:1-11. Gifts were customarily presented to kings, and since the Magi arrived to worshipthe King, they didn’t come empty handed. Also, the Magi arrived well after the birth of Christ, so the gifts were not ‘birthdaypresents,’ as many suspect, but honorary gifts. • “The people of the east never approachthe presence of kings and great personages, without a present in their hands. This custom is often noticed in the OT, and still prevails in the east, and in some of the newly discovered South Seas Islands.”224 CHRISTMAS FACTS • Rome held the 1st Christmas feast on Dec. 25th, 336 AD, after Christianity became the official religion. • Each year, 30-35 millionreal Christmas trees are sold in the U.S. alone. • There are about 21,000 Christmas tree growers in the U.S. Trees grow about 15 yrs. before they’re sold. • Christmas has not always been a popular holiday. It gained prominence after 800 AD, when Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the Roman Empire on Christmas Day. • Saint Francis of Assisi popularized Nativity scenes in 1223 AD when they quicklyspreadacross Europe. They were 1st known from 10th-century Rome. • 17th century England: Puritans banned Christmas for 18 yrs. claiming it was a wasteful, and sinfulfestival that went against Christian values. Mass, decorating, dancing, and feasting were all punishable offences. • From 1659-1681, the celebrationof Christmas was outlawedin Boston, and lawbreakers were fined 5 shillings. Back then, drunks, often dressed as the opposite gender, wouldroam the streets knocking on doors, demanding to be fed and threatening to vandalize the homes of anyone refusing. Celebrations were for 12 days. The ban provedvery unpopular, and many continuedcelebrating behindcloseddoors. • The English phrase ‘Christmas tree’ was 1st recorded in 1835 and taken from the German language. • The 1st eggnog made in the U.S. was consumed in CaptainJohn Smith’s 1607 Jamestown settlement. • In the Middle Ages, Christmas celebrations were rowdy and raucous—alot like today’s Mardi Grasparties. • In 1819, best-selling author Washington Irvingwrote, The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, Gent., a series of fictitious stories about the celebration of Christmas and their ‘ancient customs,’ including the crowning of a Lord of Misrule. It was not based on any holidaycelebration he’d attended. In fact, many historians say that 222 Dutch for Saint Nicholas 223 (Vol. 12, pp. 153-155) 224 (Adam Clarke Commentary, vol. 5, p. 46) 30

The True Christmas Story Irving ‘invented’ traditionby implying that it described the true customs of the season. It was the 1st to mention Santa Claus comingdown the chimney though. • In 1828, the NYC council institutedthe city’s 1st police force in response to a Christmas riot. • Christmas was declared a federal holiday in the U.S. on June 26th, 1870. • The Salvation Army has been sending Santa Claus-claddonation collectors out since the 1890s. • Construction workers started the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree tradition in 1931.225 • Previously, Santa was shown wearing blue, yellow, green or red. In European art, he was tall and gaunt. • Rudolph, “the most famous reindeer of all,” was the product of Robert L. May’s imagination in 1939. He wrote the poem about reindeer to help lure customersinto the Montgomery Warddepartment store. • English author Charles Dickenswrote, A Christmas Carol. It strucka powerful chord in the U.S. and England and changed the views of the holiday in the Victorian society. ORIGIN OF YULE, HOLLY, AND MISTLETOE The Encyclopedia Americana states, “The holly, the mistletoe, the Yule log…are relics of pre-Christian time.” In other words, paganism. YULE (LO G/FESTIVAL) • “Yule” came from the Norse word hweol, meaning wheel. The Norse believed that the sun was a great wheel of fire that rolled towards and then away from the earth. It was originallycalledthe ‘sun log.’ • The Yule log, decorated tree, and wassailing226 were used in a rite of Teutonic nature worship. • The days became shorter through the winter andwere shortest at the winter solstice. The pagan sungod, Tammuz, was thought to have died, so they commemorated this by burning a ‘yule’ log in the fireplace. HO LLY (WREATHES) • The ilex chinensis, better known as holly, is the substantial subject of myths and paganworship. For instance, the pagan Romans decorated their houses and temples with the ‘sacred’ holly, whichrepresented their god Saturnalia andis how the custom of decorating with holly originated. • Among history's most blatant devil-worshippers were the Druids whowere knownfor their human sacrifices and were the authors of our Halloween festivities. The Druids wore the holly in their hair and considered it sacred. They also believedthe ‘holy’ berries represented the blood of their goddess. • The 'holy' connotationcontinued in later days in Europe, where the plant was widely believedto repel evil spirits. People planted trees and used their branches as protectionagainst witchcraft, mad dogs, and other evils. Like mistletoe, holly berries were thought to be sacredto the sun god. • The Encyclopedia Britannica, under ‘Celastrales,’ exposes the originof the holly wreath: “Europeanpagans brought hollysprays into their homes, offeringthem to the fairy people of the forests as refuge from the harsh winter weather. During the Saturnalia, the Roman winter festival, branches of holly were exchanged as tokens of friendship.” • There are dozens of types of holly, and all come in male and female varieties. Female holly plants cannot have berries unless a nearby male plant pollinates them. It’s easy to see why the holly wreath found its way into pagan rituals as a token of friendship andfertility! • The Germans called it Christdorn, Christ's crownof thorns. They thought hollyinitially hadwhite berries until they were stained by Christ's blood. • As Christianitybegan spreading throughout the Roman world, the use of pagan hollywas outlawed but Christian Romanscontinued to decorate with it during festive seasons. 225 (Editors, 2009) 226 The word 'wassail' comes from the Anglo-Saxon phrase 'waes hael', which means 'good health.' 31

The True Christmas Story MISTLETOE • Mistletoe is a parasitic plant that lives on oak trees227 and comes from bird droppings. • The origin of the name is derived from 2 AngloSaxon words: Mistel = dung, and Tan = stick or branch. • 1st century AD: Celtic Druids, who livedon the BritishIsles, now Ireland andScotland, viewed the mistletoe as a sacred symbol of vivacityand fertility after they saw it bloomed in trees in harshwinters. • They gave mistletoe as an herbal remedy to barren animals to make them fertile. • It would later become a central focus of the Ritual of Oakand Mistletoe, a ceremony that led the Romans to call the Druids ‘barbarians.’ • Just like today, ‘kissing’ usuallyoccurred at the beginning of any modernSaturnalia celebration. Mistletoe was considered to have special powers of healingfor those who ‘reveled’ under it. • In Norse culture, the mistletoe plant was a sign of love and peace. The Norse mythologyclaims that the goddess, Figg, lost her son, the god Baldur, through the deception of Loki, from an arrow made of mistletoe. After his death, she vowed that it would kiss anyone whopassed under it if it wasn’t again used as a weapon. ORIGIN OF THE CHRISTMAS TREE The modern Christmas tree originated in Germany. But the Germans got the traditionfrom the Romans, who in turn, got it from the Babyloniansand Egyptians. • Druids – Oak tree was sacred Knowledge Solstice songs were • Ro mans – Fir tree was sacred o They decorated the fir with red berries during the transformed into early Saturnalia. versions of the Christmas carols we sing today. • Babylonians – Evergreen tree was sacred o They had a fable that told of an evergreen tree which sprang out of a dead tree stump. The old stump symbolized the dead Nimrod, the new evergreen tree symbolized that Nimrod had resurrected throughhis son Tammuz. • Eg yptians – Palmtree was sacred MUSIC & CAROLS • The earliest surviving Christmas hymns appear in 4th-century Rome. • In the 9th and 10th centuries, the Christmas ‘Sequence’ or ‘Prose’ was introduced in NorthEuropean monasteries, developing under Bernardof Clairvaux into a sequence of rhymed stanzas. • The songs now knownspecificallyas carols, were originallycommunal folksongs sung during celebrations such as ‘harvest tide,’ as well as Christmas. It was only later that carols beganto be sung in church. • Traditionally, carols were based on medieval chord patterns, which gives them their unique sound. • ‘Adeste Fideles,’ better known as ‘O, Come all ye faithful,’ appears in its current form in the mid-18th century, although the words may have originatedin the 13th century. • 18th-century English reformer Charles Wesley knew music was important for worship. He set many Psalms to melodies, which were influential in the Great Awakening in the U.S. He wrote lyrics for carols like ‘Hark! How All the Welkin Rings,’ later renamed ‘Hark! the Herald Angels Sing.’ • Secular Christmas carols beganemerging in the late 18th century. ‘Deckthe Halls’ dates to 1784; the American ‘Jingle Bells’ in 1857; ‘It Came Upon the Midnight Clear’ in 1849; ‘I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day’ in 1863; and ‘Away in a Manger’ in 1885. 227 Recall that the Druids worshipped in oak tree groves. 32

The True Christmas Story WHY THE NORTH POLE? Have you ever wondered whythe North Pole was chosen as Santa’s dwelling place? When he rebelled against God, Lucifer stated clearlyin Isaiah 14:13 that, • “… ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I KNOWLEDGE will sit on the mount of assembly in the remote parts of the n orth…’” - Early Coke contained Just as the Lord uses symbolism, so too does satan. Psalm 48:1-2 and Ezekiel 8:14 cocaine and yet the describe the city of our God being in the north: company marketed it to mothers and children. • “Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in the mountain of his holiness. Beautifulfor situation, the joy of the whole earth, - Even though it started is mount Zion, on the sides of the n o rth, the city of the great King.” as a medicinal drink, it became more lucrative • “Then he brought me to the door of the gate of the LORD'S house which to market it as a was toward the n orth…” ‘refreshing beverage.’ We also need to understand a little about the pagan gods of the ancient world as - Coke createdour part of the reason satan chose the north pole. Atum-Ra of Egypt and Shamash of American Santa. Babylon are both identified in ancient texts as a sun of night located at the north celestial pole. Symbolically, Santa Claus abides in the same location as pagan gods. William F. Warren, in his book Paradise Found, identifiedthe north celestialpole as the home of the supreme god of ancient races. He wrote: o \"The religions of ALL ancient nations...associate the abode of the supreme God with the North Pole, the center of heaven; or with the celestial space immediately surrounding it.\" A MODERN CHRISTMAS EMERGES Although it outlasted the Puritans, Christmas remained frowned-uponfor decades in some partsof America. By 1870, when it finally became a recognized holidayin America, the Victorians had already revolutionized the yuletide season, steering it away from bawdy reveling to gift-giving. Manyof the recognizable symbols and rituals we know today were also rooted by the Victorians. Clement Clarke Moore's 1823 poem, ‘A Visit from St. Nicholas,’ better knownas ‘The Night Before Christmas,’ helped transform Santa Claus from a minor 4th century saint into the chimney-diving, jolly gift giver we all know today. But like the holiday itself, St. Nick precedes the advent of Christianity: His legend is mingled with that of Odin, who was at the center of the Yule celebration. Odin, the Norse king of the gods, also known as the god of wishes, was often depicted with a long white beard and rode an 8-legged horse that couldfly…not much of a stretchto 8 magic flying reindeer. Although some Christmas customshave pagan roots, others have more ordinary beginnings. Charles Dickens'1843 novel A Christmas Carol was conceived as a way for the cash-strapped author to make a quickbuck. Dickens took the scenes he observed on the streets of London, added a heavy dose of sentiment, and made a smash-hit novel in around 6 weeks. WHAT ABOUT SANTA CLAUS? • Several figures are associatedwith Christmas and the seasonalgivingof gifts. Among these are Father Christmas, also knownas Santa Claus, Père Noël, the Weihnachtsmann; Sinterklaas or St. Nicholas in Dutch228; the Christkindl; Kris Kringle; Joulupukki; Babbo Natale; St. Basil; and Ded Moroz. 228 Netherlands-Considered to be the original Santa Claus 33

The True Christmas Story • Nicholas was a 4th-century Greek bishopof Myra, a city in the Roman province of Lycia, near modern Demre in SW Turkey. He was noted for the care of children, generosity, and the giving of gifts. His feast day, Dec. 6th, came to be celebrated in many countries with the giving of gifts. He traditionallyappeared in bishop's attire, accompaniedby helpers, inquiring about the behavior of childrenduringthe past year before deciding whether they deserved a gift or not. By the 13th century, St. Nicholas was well knownin the Netherlands, and the practice of gift-giving in his name spread to other parts of central and southern Europe. At the Reformation in 16th–17th centuryEurope, many Protestants changed the gift bringer to the Christ Child or Christkindl, which was corrupted in Englishto KrissKringle, and the date of giving gifts changed from Dec. 6th to Dec. 24th. • ‘Old Nick’ has long been recognizedas a term for the devil.229 • While the modern popular image of Santa Claus was created in NY, the transformation was accomplished with the aid of notable contributors including Washington Irvingand the German American cartoonist Thomas Nast.230 Following the American RevolutionaryWar, some of the inhabitants of NYC sought out symbols of the city's non-Englishpast. • NY had originally been established as the Dutch colonial townof New Amsterdam and the Dutch Sinterklaas tradition was reinventedas St. Nicholas. THE ORIGIN OF KRAMPUS, EUROPE’S EVIL TWIST ON SANTA Krampus historicallycomes around the night of Dec. 5th, tagging along Knowledge with St. Nick and visiting houses. While St. Nick is on handto put candyin ‘Santa’ was a common name for the shoes of good kids and birchtwigs in the shoes of the bad, Krampus is Nimrod throughout Asia Minor. there to punish the bad ones. Legend has it that throughout the Christmas This was also the same fire god season, misbehaved kids are beaten with birchbranches or can even who came down the chimneys disappear, stuffed intoKrampus' sack, andhauledoff to his lair to be of the ancient pagans, and the tortured or eaten. same to whom infants were Krampus' roots have nothingto do with Christmas. Instead, they date back burned and eaten in human to pre-Germanic paganism in the region. His name originates with the sacrifice, among those who German, ‘krampen,’ whichmeans claw, andtradition has it that he is the son of the Norse god of the underworld, Hel. During the 12th century, the were once God's people. Catholic Churchattempted to banish Krampus celebrationsbecause of his resemblance to the devil. More eradicationattempts followed in 1934 at the hands of Austria's conservative ChristianSocial Party. But none of it held, and Krampus emerged as a much feared and beloved holidayforce. WHAT ABOUT KRISS KRINGLE? And there is the innocent, friendly, jingle-jangle name of KrissKringle. By far, the name KrissKringle is the most blasphemous. With Kriss, satan gently removes the mask. There is no doubt about the intentionsof ‘KrissKringle.’ It’s German for ‘little Christ child,’ or the mistranslation of ‘Christkindl’231 with the same meaning! As satan’s only response to anything the Lord does, he mimicseverything righteous. This is how he’s been able to deceive so many into following him. Santa Claus, or Kriss Kringle, is the counterfeit ‘Christ Child.’ WHITE HAIR • Santa is always pictured as an old man with white hair like wool. 229 Old Nick. (n.d.) American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011). Retrieved January 4 2022 from https://www.thefreedictionary.com/Old+Nick 230 (1840–1902) 231 (Brewer's Dictionary of Twentieth-Century Phrase and Fable, p. 334) 34

The True Christmas Story o His imitation of Rev. 1:14 - \"His head and His hair were white like white wool, [glisteningwhite] like snow; and His [all-seeing] eyes were [flashing]like a flame of fire [piercing into my being].\" • The poem The Night Before Christmas describes St. Nick as, \"…His droll little mouth was drawnup like a bow, And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.\" o Remarkably close to Dan. 7:9 - “I beheld till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of days did sit, whose garment was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool…” RED CLOTHING • Santa wears a red furry suit. o The similarities can go on and on. This one is like mimicking Rev. 19:13 andIsa. 63:1-2 - “And he was clothed with a vesture dipped in blood: and his name is calledThe Word of God.” o “Who is this who comes from Edom, with crimson-stainedgarments from Bozrah [inEdom], this One (the Messiah) who is majestic in His apparel, marching in the greatness of His might? ‘It is I, [the One] who speaks in righteousness [proclaiming vindication], mighty to save.’ Why is Your apparel red, and your garments like the one who treads in the wine press?” And His Feet…. As if They Burned in a Furnace Chimney is describedas a structure, usuallyvertical, containinga passage or flue by which the smoke, gases, etc., of a fire or furnace are carried offand by means of which a draft is created.232 • Satan’s poor attempt at imitating the Lord in Rev. 1:15: o “…his feet were like burnished bronze, refinedin a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters.” INTERESTING HISTORY OF SANTA AND THE CHIMNEY The chimney tale came to us via Thor, the mythical god of fire and lightning. Both satan and Thor are symbolized by the lightning bolt.233 Thor’s name means ‘thunder.’ His storysays most families in the pre-patriarchalScandinavian world would have an altar to Thor – their fireplace. Every year on his birthday, Dec. 25th, Thor would come downthe chimney to his altar of fire and bring presents to the kids. Coincidentally, Thor was nicknamed ‘Klaus of the cinders’ or ‘Sinter Klaus,’234 because it was believed he would be ‘singed’ as he went into the fireplace. Thor liked to wear red fur for fire, and white for snow, and is usuallypictured with a long white beard. He had a palace in the north and rode throughthe sky in a sled pulled by 2 goats, named Gnasher and Crasher.235 Another of Thor’s nicknames was ‘Old Nick.’ He also carrieda ‘trident’ – the originof the pitchforkof satan depicted today. While the tale of Thor was just a fable, the 1st actual ‘report’ we have of Santa coming down chimneys came from the American author WashingtonIrving, who wrote The Sketchbookof Geoffrey Crayon, Gent. In it, St. Nick is seen “riding jollily among the treetops or over the roofs of the houses, now and then drawing forthmagnificent presents from his breeches pockets and dropping them downthe chimneysof his favorites.” Sometimes, Irving noted, Santa “rattles down the chimneys” to deliver presents to children. With its dozens of allusionsto St. Nick, it was a hit with American readers. It helped shape holidaytraditions in America, especiallythe new idea of a Santa who used the chimney to bring sweets and gifts. 232 Webster’s Dictionary 233 Lk. 10:18 234 aka Santa Claus 235 Not to be confused with Odin and his 8-legged horse. 35

The True Christmas Story While Irving briefly mentioned chimneys, Santa’s actual ‘method’ wouldn’t be fully describeduntil a few yrs. later. “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” the poem by Clement Clarke Moore, gave a vivid picture of a rosy-cheeked Santa witha snow-white beard. Another important detail is that his fur clothes were covered with soot from the chimney. After the poem’s narrator famously hears “the prancing and pawing” of reindeer on his roof, suddenly “Downthe chimney St. Nicholas came with a bound.” After filling stockings, St. Nick quickly rises back upthe chimney, andonto his sleigh. WHY THE CHIMNEY? Of course, Santa’s descent down the chimney has influenced generations of children. Many wonder whyhe couldn’t use his powers to simply come through the front door. As it turns out, magical folk entering ordinaryhomes have loomed large in the public imaginationsince Europe’s Middle Ages, when anti-witchcraft publications, like Malleus Maleficarum, were written. Because superstitious people believedthat witches couldpass throughwalls, the book countered the fear by insisting that witches entered homes by physicallyclimbingdown chimneys, rather than sorcery. WHITE HORSE…IN THE SKY Most people are not aware that until the 19th century, Santa flew through the sky on a white horse, not in a sled drawn by reindeer. It wasn’t until the poem, The Children’s Friend, was published in 1821 that the magical white horse was transformedinto reindeer. Seemingly identicalto Christ’s Second Coming in Rev. 19:11, when He comes backin the sky, riding a white horse. • “And I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse, and He who Knowledge was riding it is called Faithful and True (trustworthy, loyal, Thomas Nast’s’ depiction incorruptible, steady), andin righteousness He judges and wages war [on the rebellious nations].” of the chubby Santa was Modeled after Bacchus, It’s interesting that Paul calls satan \"the prince of the power of the air…\" and the god of Revelry. the primary mystic power of Santa is flight. • “…You were following the ways of this world [influencedby this present age], in accordance with the prince of the power of the a ir (satan), the spirit who is now at work in the disobedient [the unbelieving, whofight against the purposes of God].”236 HO…HO…HO… While the phrase is best known as Santa’s calling card, \"Ho! ho! ho!\" is also the devil'strademark! But the phrase, again, was mirrored from the Lord as satan annoyingly does. • “In plays, the devil's common entry line, knownas the ‘devil's bluster,’ was ‘Ho! Ho! Ho!’”237 • In Zech. 2:6, “Ho , ho, flee from the land of the north, saith the Lord…”238 • In 1994, the satire magazine, The Onion, carried a parody of Santa Claus titled \"Ho! Ho! Ho! I Am God.\" Even though, it was written as a blasphemous parody, truth rings from what was written. The article says: o \"I love visiting each one of your homes, stuffing your stockings with toys, and enjoying the milk and cookies you leave for me. But mostly I love Christmas because it is the celebration of the birth of my son, Jesus the Christ. You see, I'm God…Don't I look familiar?I'm old, I have a white beard, I love everyone. I'm the same God as the one you and your mommyand daddy worship on 236 Eph. 2:2 237 (Siefker, Phyllis. Santa Claus, Last of the Wild Men: The Origins and Evolution of Saint Nicholas. Jefferson: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1997, p. 69) 238 Zech. 2:6 36

The True Christmas Story Sundays…Okay, I admit it. I'm not God. But I'm better than God. I'm jollier, and I give you real toys, not boring old Psalms, and empty promises youcan only collect on when youdie. Worship me, not Him! Worship Santa! I am God!\"239 • Someone once said, \"Many a truth is told in jest.\" Landover Baptist, a spoofsite on the Internet, carriedan article titled \"The Devil is in the Chimney.\" Though their motive was in jest, the obvious link from Santa to satan wasn’t ignored. Here’s a portion of the article: o \"And it takes no SherlockHolmes to see that the Devil's annual disguise is none other than Santa! …Lucifer may be the wiliest of all the deceitful demons that ever drew breath of fire in Hell, but he was sloppy when he decided to try to spoil our Savior's birthday with this disguise. His big devil ego got the better of him when he decided to name his Christmas Anti-Christ after himself. He just moved around the letters in the name, 'satan,' into a sonogramand got 'Santa.'…satanhas tried to undermine Christmas by making Santa even more popular than Jesus! You don't thinkso? Even the law of the land forbids a baby Jesus in the town square, but who is there instead? You guessed it! Santa! Every time a so-called Christianchild asks Santa for something, he is praying to satan. With each request fulfilled, parents are unwittinglymakinga pact with the Devil. They may as well be writing in blood, 'satan please distract our children from Jesus with all these shiny toys!'…\" CARPENTERS Mk. 6:3 tells us Jesus was a carpenter. Santa is also a carpenter with a workshop full of elves. Satan surelyhas no originality whenhe keeps imitating the Lord, yet people either cannot see it or simply ignore the parallels. SANTA’S LITTLE HELPERS? Santa’s helpers are called elves. Webster’s Dictionary has an interesting definition for elf: • A wandering spirit; a fairy; a hobgoblin; an imaginarybeing…An evil spirit; a devil. The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft has some insights intoSanta's little helpersas well. For instance, elves are satan's fallen angels: • “A host of supernatural beings andspirits who exist between earth and heaven…Fairies [Elves]are fallen angels. When God cast Lucifer from heaven, the angels who were loyal to Lucifer plunged down toward hell with him.”240 • “Some fairies [elves] were said to suck human bloodlike vampires.”241 • It seems some elves will grant peoples' wish and give them gifts – if that person will onlydeny their Christian faith! 242 • \"Many contemporary Witches believe in fairies [elves] and some see them clairvoyantly.\"243 • Elves are found in the writings of Satanist and new age-theosophy guru H.P. Blavatsky. She claims elves are ‘disembodied spirits,’ used in ‘magic andsorcery’ and are ‘the principal agents in…seances.’\"244 Elves are also called trolls. Cathy Burns writes in Masonic and Occult Symbols Illustrated: • “Elf: A small, often mischievous creature considered to have magical powers.'Although some of these creatures may appear cute on the surface, all of them are nonetheless demonic entities that have their origin in the occult world.”245 239 (Santa Claus, \"Ho! Ho! Ho! I Am God!\" The Onion, 29 Nov. - 5 Dec. 1994, p. 7) 240 (Rosemary Ellen Guiley, The Encyclopedia of Witches and Witchcraft, p. 115) 241 (p. 116) 242 (p. 117) 243 (p. 117) 244 (H.P. Blavatsky, Isis Unveiled, Vol I, p. 262) 37

The True Christmas Story The great German Reformer Martin Luther also had encounters with elves or goblins. In his Table Talk book, Luther writes on one occasion: ▪ “The goblin [elf] jolted me in bed. But I took little notice of him. When I was almost asleep, he began such a rumbling on the stairs that you would have thought someone was throwing three score barrels of wine down them. I stood up, went to the stairs, and called out 'If it is you, so be it,' Then I committed myself to the Lord, of whom it is written, 'Thou hast put all things under His feet,' and went back to bed. That is the best way to get rid of him: to scorn him and call on Christ, that he cannot bear.”246 OMNIS CIENT,247 OMNIP RES ENT,248 OMNIPOTENT249 • Children are taught, religiously, that Santa knows, and sees, everything. o Prov. 15:3 says - \"The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.\" o 2 Chron. 16:9 - “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth so that He may support those whose heart is completely His….” • Santa must be omnipresent because he can visit over a billionhomes in about a 24-hr period. o Like the Psalmist tells us in Ps. 139:7-8, God is everywhere. - “Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, you are there; If I make my bed in Sheol (the nether world, the place of the dead), behold, you are there.” • Santa has all power to carry presents to over a billionchildren. • Jesus tells us, “All authority (all power of absolute rule) in heaven andon earth has been given to Me.\"250 THEIR SANTA NEVER FAILS! The scientific journal SPY magazine251 constructeda scientific analysis of Santa. Here is some of their conclusions: • Santa has 31 hrs. of Christmas to workwith, thanks to the different time zones and the rotationof the earth, assuming he travels east to west (which seems logical). This works out to 822.6 visits per second. This is to say that for each house, Santa has 1/1000th of a secondto park, hopout of the sleigh, jump down the chimney, fill the stockings, distribute the remaining presents under the tree, eat whatever snacks have been left, get back up the chimney, get back into the sleigh and move on to the next house.…a total trip of 75.5 million miles, not counting stops. This means that Santa'ssleigh is movingat 650 miles per second, 3,000x the speed of sound. • The payload on the sleigh adds another interestingelement. If each child gets nothingmore than a medium-sized Lego set (2 lbs.), the sleigh is carrying 321,300 tons. This increases the payload - not even counting the weight of the sleigh - to 353,430 tons. 353,000 tons traveling at 650 miles per second creates enormous air resistance - The lead pair of reindeer will absorb14.3 QUINTILLION joules252 of energy per second. In short, they will burst into flames instantaneously and create deafening sonic booms in their wake. The entire reindeer team will be vaporized within 4.26 thousandths of a second. Santa, meanwhile, will be subjected to centrifugalforces 17,500.06x greater than gravity. A 250 lb. Santa wouldbe pinned to the back of his sleigh by 4,315,015 lbs. of force.253 245 (p. 77) 246 (Cited in Kurt Koch, Occult ABC, p. 84) 247 Knowing everything. 248 (Of God) present everywhere at the same time. 249 Having unlimited power; able to do anything. 250 Matt. 28:18 251 (January 1990) 252 Jewels-measurement of energy 253 (SPY Magazine, January 1990) 38

The True Christmas Story In the OT, the first High Priest, Melchizedek,254 has no record or ancestral line and is a type of Christ, as explained in Heb. 7:3. So too, Santa is portrayed like the Son of God, fromeverlasting to everlasting. • Ps. 102:24-27 explains God’s eternalexistence which satan has borrowedfor his Santa. “I said, ‘O my God, do not take me away during my days; your years are [eternal] throughout all generations. At the beginning you founded the earth; the heavens are the work of your hands. Even they will perish, but youendure; Yes, all of them will wear out like a garment. Like clothing you will change them, and they shall be changed. But you remain the same, and your years will never end.” FANTASY…SATAN'S “MAGIC WEAPON.” I’m sure that people reading this will think, “Santa’s just a fantasy. What’s the big deal? Nobodytakes it serious.\" Wrong. Childrentake the story of Santa seriously. They idolize him andlove him with all their heart, write him letters and even pray to the guy! • Satanist, Anton LaVey, author of The Satanic Bible andfounder of the First Churchof Satan, wrote that fantasy is a ‘magic weapon’ in Satanism. o \"Fantasy plays an important role in any religious curriculum, for the subjective mind is less discriminating about the qualityof its food than it is about the taste…Thus, fantasy is utilizedas a magic weapon.255 The Satanist maintains a storehouse of avowed fantasygathered from all cultures and fromall ages.\"256 • LaVey knew the message of satan could be quietly preached under the guise of fantasy. Parents willallow these kinds of things, like Santa, into their child's impressionable mindthat they would otherwise, never allow. It’s just fantasy. But in the vulnerable mindof that child – IT’S DOCTRINE! SATAN’S COUNTERFEITS & RECAP I’ve listed many of satan’s extremely blasphemous ideologies and God-like imitations. Some are repeated from earlier in this document. Some of satan's biggest deceptions are when he counterfeited… 1. Jesus for humankind, Christ’s resurrection andGod Himself - by Nimrod’s resurrectionthrough hisson Tammuz. 2. The majesty of God and the celebration of Christ's birth - through the false doctrine of Santa Clause 3. God's signs of seasons in the stars - with astrology andoccultic practices 4. God's majesty - through deception of belief in UFO's. They were fallen angels whoturned fromGod and deceived man. This is the very foundation of all world religions, taking gloryaway from the One, True God. 5. God's church - with his false church of prosperity masqueradingas the true Body of Christ. Not to mention, the erection of the Church of Satan. 6. God's ministers - with his false prophets, ministers, and teachers. 7. God's doctrine - by changing the truth about heaven andhell and initiating the concept of a much lighter purgatory; paradise for everyone; reincarnation; rewards of virginsin paradise and more! 8. Christ's millennial reign - through Hitler and the Nazi regime during the Holocaust. o Jesus is returning and will reignfor a millennium on earth. Hitler promised to usher in a thousand- year kingdom of gloryfor the Aryan people and 6 million Jews died. Some believe that satan 254 Some believe that Melchizedek was an ordinary man blessed and appointed by God as a special priest, who serves as a Christlike figure in his priestly and kingly functions because his order was a priesthood without end. Others take the description literally to mean that Melchizedek was not a human, but an angel (v 8). If this is so, then Christ, as the Son of God, would be the ‘High Priest’ of the order in which Melchizedek served as priest in the sense that angels are spiritual beings who have a pretemporal, but not eternal origin. Another view suggests that Melchizedek was perhaps a pre-incarnate appearance of Jesus in human form. Those who maintain that Melchizedek was an ordinary human being wo uld say the writer is speaking symbolically concerning his ancestry; hence the insertion of ‘any record of’ in the text of v 3 since his death is not recorded in Scripture. 255 [In Satanism] 256 (Anton Szandor LaVey, The Satanic Rituals, p. 15, 27) 39

The True Christmas Story entered Hitler just as he did Judas 2 millennia ago,257 to try to stop Jesus’ final commandto “Go and make disciples of all nations.”258 9. The Holy Spirit - with his spirit that works in ‘the spirit of man.’ He gives similar fruits of the Holy Spirit like healing, dreams, visionsand superhuman powersas witnessed by occult phenomena. 10. He will counterfeit God's prophets in the end time,259 with his false prophet. 11. He will counterfeit Christ with his Antichrist. Satan always mixes just enough truth with many lies, counterfeits, duplicates, impersonations, andimitations! In his book, “The Ultimate Source of All Supernatural Phenomena,” Ronald Wlodyga wrote that “satan has tried his best to be like God, and in effect has counterfeited or substituted everything Godhas revealed to him. But everything satan has changed is inferior, perverted andtwisted-just like him.”260 RECAP The sources listed represent the missing pieces of the puzzle for the entire topic of this document, and effectively disprove the traditional date of Dec. 25th, 1 BC as the birth date of Jesus. When assembled, the pieces of this puzzle conclude that Jesus was born on Wed., Tishrei 1 (Sept. 11th) of 3 BC – on the Feast of Trumpets.261 Keep in mind that this date was not only the beginning of all months but was also the day Kings were inaugurated. All throughout the Word, God has paralleled events to His Son’s Coming (1st or 2nd). RECAP OF THE BIRTH OF JOHN THE BAPTIST The birth date of John the Baptist was derived from the timing of the priestly service in the Temple of John’s father, Zechariah, and the ensuingpregnancy of Elizabeth. Jesus was bornto Mary, Elizabeth’scousin, 6 months following the birth of John. This provides the month for Christ’s birthbeing Sept. and Johnbeing bornat Passover in April, or Nisan. Following Leviticallaw, he waited until he was 30 yrs. old before he began his ministry. All of this makes sense since according to Jewish tradition it’s believed that the ‘Elijah’ was to appear at the time of Passover, to announce the arrivalof the Messiah. It was fitting that the timing and divine hand of the Gospel narrative began with his birth during Passover. To give credence to the ‘Elijah’ who was to come theory, Jesus declared in Matt. 11:13-15, “For all the Prophets andthe Law prophesieduntil John, and if youare willing to accept it, he is Elijah who is to come. He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” Jesus also began His ministry when He was \"about thirtyyears old;\" that is, He was not very far from 30, older or younger. He’s regarded as nearly31 by many theologians. He was baptized by John earlyin the winter of 27 AD. RECAP OF THE ASTRONOMICAL/ZODIACAL REFERENCES The year 3 BC had the alignment with the specific positions of the sun and moonin the constellation of Virgo as described in Rev. 2:1-6. It is precisely Sept. 11th, from 6:18 PM-7:39 PM, Bethlehem time. The astrological, archeological, andhistorical records back this veryspecific date and time for Jesus’ birth. God’s plan for the redemptionof mankind was 1st evident in the ‘gospel in the stars,’ whichforetold the coming of the Messiah. Later, God fully revealed His planin His written Word. I’ve now shown that the Scripturaland astrological revelations are consistent with each other. However, althoughthe birth of Jesus is significant, His 257 Lk. 22:3 258 Matt. 28:18-20; Mk. 16:15 259 The 2 witnesses 260 (p.334-335) 261 Hebrew: Yom Teruah; also called Rosh HaShanah 40

The True Christmas Story crucifixion andatonement for our sinsremain the most significant for mankind. Without His resurrection, there would be no defeat over sin and death, especiallyby our own power! It’s only through His sacrifice that the gift of eternal life is made possible for all who believe on Him262 in their hearts and confesswith their mouththat He alone is Lord!263 Salvation really is that simple! You’ve seen how this worldis…please don’t gamble your eternityon pride, hatred, resentment, willful ignorance, or your disregard of a dynamic creator who loves you enough to offer His only Son to save you from eternal darkness and separationfrom Him! He is real and returning dreadfully soon! With your life, actions, and words, honor the One who is, who was, and always will be…the Alphaand Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end; 264 …the Light of the World;265 …the Bread of Life;266 …the “I AM that I AM.”267 …the Gate,268 the Good Shepherd,269 …the Resurrection and the Life,270 …the Way,271 …and the True Vine,272 because His name is above every name; that at the name of Yeshua… …every knee will bow, and every tongue will confess, that Jesus Christ is Lord! His is the kingdom, the power, and the glory forever, and ever. Amen! Feel free to provide any feedback or any questions you may have. I'll gladly accept your thoughts or describe things in further d etail if needed. As the Body of Christ, we can all learn from each other, and I would certainly enjoy learning if you can of fer more in p ut! Thanks so much for reading! I pray that this has helped you in some way! If you’d like any of my other documents on v a rious topics, feel free to ask. May the Lord bless you and keep you and make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you . Ma y He lift His countenance upon you and give you peace. In the mighty name of Jesus! Amen. L u ke Stratton L st [email protected] 262 Jn. 3:16 263 Rom. 10:9 264 Rev. 22:13 265 Jn. 8:12 266 Jn. 6:20, 35, 41, 48, 51 267 (Ichyach asher ichyach) ‫ֶא ְהיֶה ֲא ֶשר ֶא ְה ֶיה‬ 268 Jn. 10:7, 9 269 Jn. 10:11, 14 270 Jn. 11:25 271 Jn. 14:6 272 Jn. 15:1, 5 41