Should We Keep Christmas?

I need to make one correction. Generally, when I speak, I need to make more, but Steve is, Steve Penny, is not going to go in for this procedure till January the 18th, not this coming 18th, so that was my mistake. So just so we know it, January the 18th, so he has a little more time before that procedure takes place.

I remember December 1958 very well. I'm not sure how many of you can reflect back on that particular month, but my mother, my twin sister, and I had begun listening to the World Tomorrow Program in February 1958. That was the first year that we did not observe Christmas, based upon biblical reasons. In our family, there were seven of us. Four kept Christmas. Three didn't keep Christmas. It was a very awkward situation getting up Christmas morning, Christmas tree, and gifts. No, I don't want to have anything to do with it.

Being there, being a young person, I really didn't want to have anything to do with it, but it was again, it was very awkward because my dad, my younger sister, and two younger brothers were still doing it at that point. Now, many of us sitting here today are faced with a similar situation where perhaps we're in a divided family, or we have an extended family out there who observe Christmas, and it always creates certain awkwardness for us, certain situations. We need to know what the Bible teaches, what it teaches our family and our children, and we need to be able to know the truth on this topic. Obviously, if your maid is not a member, we should not try to force our belief on them. In some situations, we may not have the opportunity to teach our children. I think in most cases you do. I'm going to show you today what history in the Bible says about this custom. Can we see any proof as to when Jesus Christ was born? How do we handle difficult situations that we're confronted with? And how do we apply God's law in the 20th century? Because that's the century that we live in. I want you to notice what God commands us to do, or what God commands us not to do. In Jeremiah chapter 10, verses 1 and 2. To begin with, let's read verse 1 and 2. Jeremiah chapter 10. Hear the word which the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord, do not learn the way of the Gentiles. Now what does that mean to you?

Well, it means to me, don't learn the way of the Gentiles. In other words, God is saying, don't go to the Gentiles and look at how they worship God, how they do things, what their customs are and traditions, how they go about honoring their God and do that to honor me. So do not learn the way of the Gentiles and do not be dismayed at signs of heaven. And how many people get upset over the signs of the zodiac and those type of things. For the Gentiles are dismayed at them. For the customs of the people are futile. Now, their customs, the word feudal here means are vain. They're empty. So God says the customs of the people are futile. So don't follow their customs, don't follow their ways. And yet we find that today, so many of the customs that have been incorporated and brought into religion, so many of the days and traditions that are kept, come straight from what the heathens have taught.

Just for one cuts a tree from the forest, the work of the hands of the workmen with the axe, they decorate it with silver and gold, they fasten with nails and hammers so that it does not topple. They're upright like a palm tree.

Well, verses three through five here is describing idol making, that they're creating, carving, making idols. And yet God says, inasmuch as there is none like you, O Lord, you're great and your name is great and might. So he's saying, look, any custom, any ideas and any ways of worshiping false gods don't compare to the living God. That no one is like God. No one, anything that you make, any customs you keep, cannot compare to the living God. Verse eight says, they are all together, dull hearted and foolish.

A wooden idol is a worthless doctrine. Silver is beaten into plates. It's brought from Tarshish and gold from Eufaz. The work of the craftsmen of the hands of the metalsmith. Blue and purple are their coloring, and they are the works of skillful man. But the Lord is the true gods, or the true God, I should say. In verse 11, thus you shall say to them, the gods that you have made, excuse me, the gods that have not made the heavens and the earth shall perish from the earth and from under these heavens.

In verse 14, again, everyone is dull hearted without knowledge, and every metalsmith is put to shame by an image, for his molten image is falsehood. And so God goes ahead and he talks about what they do with their hands. I think this is certainly a prophecy, and it's a dual prophecy. Many have certainly perpetuated the customs of the heathen today by the days that are kept, such as Christmas and other holidays, that trace their origin back to the heathen customs.

Many people make their own idols today. Anything you put before God can become an idol, and you find that people today, by following what man has devised and not what God says, puts those things as an idol. Now let's go back to the book of Deuteronomy, Deuteronomy 12, and verse 29. When God brought Israel out of Egypt into the Promised Land, notice what he told them here about the nations that they were going to dispossess, and that they would take over the land from them. When the Lord your God cuts off from before you, the nations, this is Deuteronomy 12, 29, which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them after they are destroyed from before you, and do not inquire after their gods, saying, Well, how did these nations serve their gods?

I will also do likewise. You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way, for every abomination to the Lord which he hates they have done to their gods, for they burn even their sons and their daughters in the fire to their gods.

Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it. You shall not add to it, you shall not take away from it. So God says that we are not to follow the customs of the nations. We're not to worship God in that way, but what he commands we're to do. Well, you'll find when it comes to which days people keep. They're not looking at the Bible, because nowhere in the Bible do you find Christmas commanded, Easter commanded, Advent commanded, Halloween commanded, you know, all of these days.

In fact, in Matthew 15, Matthew 15 and verse 7, you find that Christ even told the religious leaders of his days that many of them were actually worshiping God in vain. They thought they were doing what is right, but notice how they were doing it. He says, hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy about you saying, these people draw close to me with their mouths, they honor me with their lips. They talk a lot about God, they praise God. People even have expressions today. They'll say, praise the Lord, hallelujah, bless his name. They'll go on. But God says, their heart is far from me. In vain, they worship me teaching as doctrine the commandments of men.

So you cannot worship God by devising your own religion, by coming up with your own customs and your own traditions. What's wrong with Christmas?

Well, first of all, it is a heathen custom.

It is a celebration of the pagan Brumalia in Saturnalia. It goes back to December the 25th to a day that was dedicated to the invincible Son God. God again says, learn not the way of the heathens. If God is God, which he is, he has the right to tell us how to worship him. Brethren, what is worship? Worship is paying homage to God, obeying God, serving God, doing what God tells you. We're worshiping God by keeping the Sabbath. You worship God by obeying him. And so, man wants to invent his own ways, own approach to God. But the Bible is given to us from God as his revelation, his handbook on how to worship and how to approach him, what God wants us to do. Another thing that's wrong with Christmas is that it teaches false values.

It teaches false values.

Now, what about certain lies that are taught, such as there's the Santa Claus, there are reindeer, there are elves. Who gives the gifts? Children grow up until a certain age, until finally somebody on the playground says, oh, there is no Santa Claus. And, you know, maybe they get into a fight over it, and finally they come home. Is there Santa Claus? And parents have to, you know, this is something that I think every parent who keeps Christmas hates to be confronted with because they're going to have to say, well, no, there isn't. And, but, you know, then they try to explain it away. It is a false approach on how to worship God. God tells us how to worship him, what days to keep, what customs to observe. It also teaches the get-way, commercialism, and so it teaches false values. I mean, we could talk about that all day long. Also, it is a custom that hides the truth.

Now, brethren, we're not against the fact that Jesus Christ was born as a human being, God in the flesh. I mean, we know that. We know that he came to the earth. He was born of a virgin. But what happens is that it hides the true plan and purpose of God. The Holy Days picture the plan of God, and how that plan of God is being worked out sequentially. Many claim that Christmas, Advent, Easter all picture the great events of the New Testament. However, God never chose those days to worship him. They're traditions of men. They're what men think should be done, not what God says. Let's notice a very interesting scripture back in 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 13. 2 Corinthians 11 and verse 13.

You'll find here the Apostle Paul describes false prophets, false apostles.

He says, For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. For no wonder for Satan himself transforms himself into an angel of light. So Satan appears like an angel of light. Therefore it's no great thing that his ministers also transform themselves into ministers of righteousness, whose ends shall be according to their works.

So God says that anyone who preaches and teaches the word of God is going to be held accountable for their works as well as for what they teach. Now Satan has made these holidays to be very appealing and attractive. Are they not? I remember when our children were small, we were driving through one of the neighborhoods that had all of the lights up in the decorations, and one of our sons said, Oh, look at all those pretty pagan lights. Well, they are pretty! I mean, you enough to know that they were pagan, but he said, they're pretty pagan lights. Now, if they put them up through the rest of the year, it might be one thing. How many, even to this day, still have warm, fuzzy feelings about days gone by, Christmases of old, families getting together, you know, all of this type of thing? A lot of times individuals say, well, how could Christmas be so bad? Think of all the good things, all the giving that people are going through. You have to wonder, though, is this good under the proper tree? There is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, and there is the tree of life. The tree of life is going the way God tells us to go. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil is good and evil. Yes, there are a lot of warm, fuzzy feelings that people have from Christmases of old, because they got together with families. They received gifts, and you all, you can remember those things, but that's not how God says to worship Him. God tells us to keep His annual Holy Days. Perhaps when it comes to people sitting around the Christmas tree, they're sitting under the wrong tree. There is the tree of life, and there is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. I just happened to go to the web page of an organization we used to be associated with, the Worldwide Church of God, and the reason for that was that they have just put out a study paper where they are now going to ordain women as ministers and elders, and they'll be preaching. And while I was there, I just happened to check on the latest magazine they were putting out, and there was a poem written by Mike Fazell. Many of you will remember Mike Fazell. It's titled, The Tree. Now, I'm not going to read this whole poem to you, but let me just hit some of the high points. The evergreen tree symbolizes the faithfulness of God. The lights or candles on the tree symbolizes our Savior Jesus Christ. The red bows on the tree symbolize the shed blood of Christ. The ornaments symbolize fruit.

The cross of Christ was a tree stripped of its greenery and dignity, and is a type of sin that strips us of beauty and dignity and results in death. The splendor of the Christmas tree symbolizes our restored, reconciled state by the grace of God. The gifts under the tree symbolize the dignity and value God gives to each human being through Jesus' saving work. That's what Christmas is all about, the love of God. That's what the story of the Christmas tree tells us during the Christmas season.

Now, I couldn't help but copy that off. I thought I got to be able to use that sometime.

Sure enough, here we are. Well, brethren, you can see how people can take something that is not correct and redirected in a way that sounds good, sounds right, but is it what the Bible says? And the answer is no.

Now, I could spend the rest of this sermon just reading secular sources. I've got a file at home about this thick on Christmas, and I've got articles and booklets and everything that you can think of in there concerning some of the traditions. But I thought I would just read a couple of these. You're familiar, I think, with at least one of these, the 11th edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica. Those of you who have a computer, you don't have to own an 11th edition of the Encyclopedia now. You can go online. The Encyclopedia 11th edition is online, and you can go and type in a word, and you'll find out every reference in that. Let me read to you the Encyclopedia 11th edition, pages 293-294. Don't worry, I'll just hit some high spots here. What it writes about Christmas under the article Christmas. Ever wonder where the word Christmas comes from? It's Christ Mass, the Mass of Christ observed by the Catholic Church on the eve of Christmas, the 24th, and that's where the term comes from. It says, the great church adopted Christmas much later than Epiphany, and before the 5th century there was no general consensus of opinion as to when it should come in the calendar, whether on the 6th of January, the 25th of March, or the 25th of December. This was up until the 5th century. As late as 245, Origen, in his eighth homily on Leviticus, repudiates as sinful the very idea of holding a birthday of Christ as if he were a king Pharaoh. And it goes on to mention, there were, however, many speculations in the second century about the date of Christ's birth. Clement of Alexander, towards its close, mentioned several such and condemned them as superstition. Because, guess what? Nobody knows the exact date.

Then it goes on to say here, certain Latin fathers, as early as 354, may have transferred the human birthday from the 6th of January to the 25th of December, which was then a marithic feast and is referred to as the birthday of the unconquerable son. The Syrians and Armenians clung to the 6th of January and accused the Romans of sun worship and idolatry, because they chose the 25th. There could be an argument going both ways on that. The grounds on which the church introduced so late as 350 to 440, a Christmas feast, till then unknown or, if known, precariously linked with baptism, seems to have been mainly the following. Now, I found this very interesting. I've read this article many times, but never really took note of this. They give two points. It's a recognition of the fact that the divine element was present in Christ from the first. In other words, that Christ was born as God in the flesh, that Mary had a literal baby. She had a child. Secondarily, it was a witness against the delusions of the Marcea Knights, or as it is now called, the chief tenet of which was Jesus was either not born at all, or was merely a phantom and did not take flesh from the Virgin Mary. Now, do you remember when we were studying the subject of Gnosticism? And I went through the fact that one of the tenets of Gnosticism was that the Christ was not born, that Jesus was just a man, and that the Christ came on him when he was baptized, you know, this type of thing. You know, the Holy Spirit came and dwelt on him, and when he died, only the Jesus died, but the Christ went back to heaven. Well, what they're saying is that Christmas was introduced to celebrate the fact that Christ was literally born as a human being, God in the flesh, and so when you celebrate his birthday, you are acknowledging that truth.

Very interesting way of, you know, coming at it. Anyway, it goes on to mention that the 25th of December was selected. It was originally called Mother's Night. Now, why would it be called Mother's Night? Because, anciently, there was a mother named Semiramis. We had a child. It goes back to Semiramis and Horus, and you know, to all of this. In 1644, the English Puritans forbade any merriment or religious service by act of Parliament on the ground that it was a heathen festival and ordered it to be kept with a fast. Charles II revived the feast, but the Scots adhere to the Puritan view, and you know, it goes on giving a lot more details. So, it's interesting how much information there is available if you just go read the encyclopedia. Now, from the Golden Bough, page 416-417 by Sir James George Frazier, says, an instructive relic of long struggle is preserved in our Festival of Christmas, which the Church seems to have borrowed directly from the heathens. In the Julian calendar, the 25th of December was reckoned as a winter solstice, and it was regarded as the Nativity of the Sun, because the day begins to lengthen and the power of the Sun to increase from that turning point of the year. The Egyptians even represented the newborn son by the image of an infant, which on his birthday, the winter solstice, they brought forth and exhibited to the worshippers. No doubt the Virgin, who thus conceived and bore a son on the 25th of December, was a great Oriental goddess whom the Semites called the Heavenly Virgin, or simply the Heavenly Goddess, and was a form of a stardae. Now, Mithra was regularly identified by his worshippers with the Sun, the unconquerable Sun, hence his Nativity felt on December the 25th.

Now, says the Gospel, say nothing about the day of Christ's birth, and accordingly the early church did not celebrate it. Now, when somebody really pins me down and asks me about why I don't keep Christmas, I just simply say, I try to follow what the early New Testament church did, and they did not keep Christmas. It was introduced as a custom later on, and you don't have to go into a whole lot of details, but I'm just emulating what they did, and they kept actually the Holy Days in the Bible. And of course, you can go off on those if you'd like to.

Then he goes on to talk about this custom. He says, thus it appears that the Christian church chose to celebrate the birthday of its founder on the 25th of December in order to transfer the devotion of the heathens from the Son to him who was called the Son of Righteousness.

In other words, it was an opportunity to bring the pagans into the church, and the pagans didn't want to give up their customs, so just rename the customs. Now you pork, now you chicken. That's basically what they did. Now you're pagan, now you're not pagan. You just rename it, and you've got them all in the church, and you introduce a few customs that are religious in nature, and they begin to follow those. Rather than we, of all people, ought to be able to prove when Jesus Christ was born. The year of his birth, the season of his birth, not the day of his birth. I'm not here to say the day of his birth. I gave all of you a handout.

We will now be using this handout as we proceed through the rest of the sermon. It's printed on the front and the back. This is what the front looks like. We'll get to the back later on. Okay, what year was Jesus Christ born? Well, the Bible predicted when the Messiah would appear. Let's go back to Daniel the ninth chapter. You'll notice point two under the outline I've given to you. I've outlined what we're about to talk about here. Daniel the second chapter, verses 25 and 26. Daniel 9, 25 and 26. Daniel chapter 9, verse 25, it says, Know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem unto the Messiah, the prince, there shall be seven weeks and sixty-two weeks. Seven and sixty-two are sixty-nine. Now, our exerxes made this decree in 457 BC, and we find that back in Ezra. Let's go back to the book of Ezra. Hopefully we all know this, but just as a refresher course, Ezra chapter 7 and verses 7 and 8. Ezra chapter 7, verses 7 and 8. Some of the children of Israel, the priests, the Levites, the singers, the gatekeepers, and the Nephthim, came up to Jerusalem in the seventh year of King Artaxerxes. And Ezra came to Jerusalem in the fifth month, which was in the seventh year of the king. Now, notice verse 11. This is a copy of a letter the King Artaxerxes gave Ezra the priests to scribe, expert in the words of the commandments of the Lord of his statutes to Israel. And in verse 13, I issue a decree that all those people of Israel, and the priests and the Levites of my reign who volunteer to go up to Jerusalem, may go with you. Okay, this decree was given in 457 BC on Nisan I. The seventh year of Artaxerxes was the calendar year of September 458 BC to September 457 BC, that period of time.

So, notice on the outline, when you add 7 and 62, you get 69. Now, Numbers 14 and verses 34 just jot this down. I'm not going to go back and read these. Numbers 1433 through 34, and Ezekiel 4 verses 4 through 6 shows that in prophecy, many times, God uses a day for a year.

Israel took 40 days to scout out the land, and when they rebelled, God said that they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years. So, a day can stand for a year. So, if you multiply 69 weeks, that's 69 times 7, you get 483 years. Subtract 457 from that. 457 from 483. 457 is when the decree was given, 483 years, and you come to 26. When you go across the year 0, you always have to add 1, because there is no year 0. When you go across 0, you add 1, and you come to 27 A.D. Now, Daniel says in verse 25, Daniel 9, 25, "...know therefore and understand that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and build Jerusalem, until Messiah the Prince, until the Messiah would appear, would be this period of time." When did Christ begin his ministry? According to the book of Daniel, he began it in 27 A.D. in the fall of 27. So, the fall of 27 A.D. is when Jesus Christ started his ministry.

How do we know he started his ministry in the fall? That's a logical question. Well, he had a three and a half year ministry. He died on the Passover. So, you go back three and a half years from there, and you come to the fall. Now, let's notice over here in Luke chapter 3 and verse 23. Luke 3 and verse 23. Now, Jesus himself began his ministry at about 30 years of age, being as was supposed the son of Joseph, the son of Elia.

Okay, Jesus was about 30 years of age. He would have been born, according to that, in 4 B.C. Subtract 30 years from 27. Remember, cross zero going back. You subtract the year. It brings you back to 4 B.C. Jesus Christ was born in 4 B.C. There you can ask, how could he be born before Christ? Well, that's just how man has divided time up. Christ was born in what would be called 4 B.C. or 4 years prior to what we call 80 today, or the common year today. Jesus died on the Passover day. That's all very clear. He had a three and a half year ministry. There's a duality that can be proven in the Bible. He died after a three and a half year ministry, and he also died in the middle of the week.

He died in the middle of a week. There were four Passovers in Jesus Christ's ministry. And I want you to notice, point number three in the outline, handout that I've given you, that if you start with 27 or 28 A.D., which would be the first Passover in his ministry, because remember he started his ministry in the fall of 27. That's on a Monday, April the 26th. Second one is 29 A.D., Saturday, April the 16th. Third would be in 30 A.D., Wednesday, April the 5th.

And the fourth was 31 A.D., Wednesday, April the 25th. This is when Jesus Christ was crucified. He was crucified in the middle of the week, and from all of these dates, there are only two dates that would fit that scenario. 30 A.D., 31 A.D., and since Christ began his ministry in 27, 31 A.D. is the day, the year that he was crucified. Now you'll notice the only Friday is 33 A.D. that the Passover occurred on Friday, April the 3rd. Now 33 A.D. is traditionally the day assigned to Jesus Christ's death by most of Christedom. You know why? Because they say that the Passover during Christ's death occurred on a Friday. And what is it that they don't realize? They don't realize that there were two Sabbaths that week, right? There was an annual holy day, and then there was the weekly Sabbath. Now again, the date for the start of Jesus Christ's ministry was the fall of 27. After three and a half years, it brings you to the spring of 31 A.D. Notice point number four in the handout. I've given you this handout because trying to explain this to you unless I put it up here on the board would be very difficult. Handout, you can take it home and hopefully study it. If Christ had a three and a half year ministry and it began in the fall, fall of 27 to 28 is one year of his ministry. 28 to 29 is the second year of his ministry. 29 to 30 is the third year, and from 30 to 31 in the spring is half a year. So three and a half years of his ministry. So what this again shows you is when Jesus Christ died, and it all ties in together. Now we will come back to this point later on. This is very important in understanding when Christ was born. Remember this. I'll refer you back to it. Luke chapter 3 verse 1. Let's notice some dates are given.

Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judea, Herod being the tetrarch of Galilee and his brother Philip, Tetrarch of Iteria, and the region of Trachionides and Lysionides, the tetrarch of Abilene.

Now in the near east, the first year of Tiberius' first year would extend from August to the end of that calendar year of September the thirtieth in AD 14. Notice point five for note five I have here, the reign of Tiberius. When a former emperor died, they did not begin to count the reign of that individual. Let's say somebody dies in August. They don't count it from August to August. You go from the time that you start to the end of the calendar year. That's considered one year, and then the next year would be two years. So the second year of Tiberius' reign began on October the first, extended through September the thirtieth, AD 15. The official Syrian calendar then in use began with the autumn month of October. Like we count from January to January, they counted from October to October. So I want you to notice here that the fifteenth year of Tiberius' reign, notice down at the bottom 15, is October the first, 27, to September the thirtieth, 28. So we find here that Jesus Christ is about to begin or has begun his ministry here. John the Baptist baptizes him over in verse 21. And so you find then, again, a correlation showing that Jesus Christ began his ministry in 27 AD. The fifteenth year of Tiberius' reign was from October the first, AD 27, to September the thirtieth, AD 28. Jesus Christ began his ministry during the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius. That's what chapter 3 and verse 1 tells us very clearly. Now notice also here Herod was tetrarch. When did Herod reign? Back up to Matthew chapter 2.

Matthew chapter 2. And we'll begin to read here in verses 1 through 4.

The important point about Herod's reign is this. Jesus Christ was born before Herod died. If Herod is reigning and Christ is born and Herod's alive, then he had to be born before he died. I mean, that just makes sense. Chapter 2, verse 1. Let's notice now. After Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the east came to Jerusalem, saying, Where is he who was then born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the east and have come to worship him. When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled and all Jerusalem with him. And when he gathered all the chief priests, the scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born. Now notice in verse 14 and 15, it says, When he arose, he took the young child and his mother by night and departed for Egypt. And he was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled, which was spoken of the Lord through the prophet, saying, Out of Egypt I called my son.

Now, I want you to notice a couple of things here. Verse 11.

Jesus Christ was in a house, not a manger, when the wise men came. Verse 11. When they had come into the house, they saw the young child with Mary. Look to 7 says Jesus Christ was born in a manger.

He is now in a house when the wise men found him. So I want you to notice the storyline. The wise men come from the east, they see a star. They have time to talk to Herod and the chief priests and scribes in Jerusalem. He is now called a young child, not a baby, but a young child. Joseph is warned in a dream to flee to Egypt with Mary and Jesus. So he gets up, he flees to Egypt. Herod then, in verse 16, when he saw that the wise men did not come by and tell him where Christ was, sent and had all of the children, all the males, two years and under, killed in Bethlehem.

Why two years and younger? Well, he didn't know what the age was. By this time, Christ could have been several months old. So he has all the young male children killed. Then verse 19, now Herod dies, and behold an angel the Lord appeared in the dream to Joseph in Egypt, saying, arise, take the young child and his mother, and go to the land of Israel. Herod died on November the 26th in the year of his reign of 4-3 BC.

The reign running from 4 BC to 3 BC, so he dies on November the 26th. The last year of his reign extended from April the 4th BC to April the 3rd BC. He died on He died on Kiesleth, K-I-S-L-E-V, according to the sacred calendar, the 7th, which is November the 26th, in the year 4-3 BC. Therefore, Jesus Christ had to be born before Herod died. So Christ was born sometime before Herod dies. That's very clear. And if Herod dies at the end of the year, or dies at the end of 4 BC, or the beginning of 3 BC, Christ had been born before this. Just another way of collaborating that Christ was born in 4 BC.

Now, back in Luke 3.1, we find that Pilate also was reigning. He was a patriarch of Aeturia and the region of Trekhenetus. Pilate reigned 10 years from 27 AD to 37 AD.

So again, another collaboration when Christ began his ministry, 27 AD to 37 AD. Tiberius died on March 16, 31 AD. Tiberius is mentioned here also. So you find all of the dates collaborate when Christ began his ministry and when Jesus Christ was born. Now, can we tell when Christ was born? Can we tell the time of the season? I'm not again talking about the day because that's not revealed. Jesus Christ had a three and a half year ministry.

Three and a half years. There are four Passovers recorded in his ministry. Remember back here, point number three, the four Passovers that are pointed out. He began his ministry in the fall of 27 AD. He died on the Passover, Wednesday, April 25, AD 31. He was 33 and a half years old when he died. Remember, he began his ministry around around 37 AD. He began his ministry around 27 AD. He was 33 and a half years old when he died.

So when you come to the spring, you count backwards six months, or you can count forward six months, you've got a pretty good idea of when Jesus Christ was born. See, I was born November 2, 1940. Now, if you were going to say that six months prior to this, something happens, what would you do? Well, you'd count back six months, wouldn't you? Well, here you have Christ, and I have it under point number eight. Jesus died on the Passover, Wednesday, April 25. Come to the approximate time of his birth, count forwards or backwards six months. If you count forward six months, you come to May, June, July, August, September, October. Count backwards, you come to April, March, February, January, December, November, October. And depending on whether you count April or not, it would bring you just back to October. He was probably born sometime in October. Guess what? Somewhere around the Holy Days, season, in the fall. Not December the 25th, nowhere near December the 25th. We've always said that Christ was born either in probably late September or October, somewhere in that time period. Somewhere in that time period. And this is just one way of ascertaining that knowing that he died when he was 33 and a half years old. All you've got to do is count backwards six months or forwards six months, and you come to the general season or period of time in which he was born. Now, in Luke chapter 2, verses 1 through 8, we find that they went up to be taxed. It came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This census first took place when Karenius was governing Syria. So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city, and Joseph also went up from Galilee out of the city of Nazareth and to Judea to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. So it was while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. She brought forth her firstborn son, wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the end. Why was there no room for them in the end? Well, if it were the Holy Days season, Josephus says as high as a million people came to Jerusalem to keep the feast. That's an awful lot of people, you know, showing up. Just a few hundred thousand would, you know, would swell the inhabitants.

This decree was issued July the 5th, excuse me, July in 5 BC. This is when the decree was given and was conducted in Palestine in 4 BC. Remember, they didn't have telegrams, telegraphs, radio, TV, email. A decree given in Rome, it would take a few months for it to come out to a particular area, because, you know, you're going by boat, you're going by horseback, you're walking. The decree comes out, you tell the administration in a given area, then they have to spread the news. So it was 4 BC. The Romans notes historian Barney Kasdan, "...were known to take their census according to the prevailing customs of the occupied territories. Hence, in the case of Israel, they would opt to have the people report to their provinces at a time that would be convenient for them." And when would it be convenient for the people to come out to Jerusalem and to that area? Since there is no apparent logic to calling the census in the middle of winter, why would you have a census in December, late December, when it's cold and it's snowy and it's rainy and sleazy and all of that outside? The more logical time of taxation would be after the harvest in the fall, when people had money. Now they come up and they can pay their taxes because the crops are in. But that's when the people had in their hands revenue from the harvest. That simply makes sense. So you find that, again, here's another indication as to when Jesus Christ was born. Verses 8 through 11 say that the shepherds were still in the fields at night. They took the sheep and put them in the sheepfolds before winter because of the cold weather and snow. There was prevalent in Palestine at that time. And so, brethren, you find, again, all of the internal evidence in the Bible points to when Christ was born. It was not December the 25th and when Jesus Christ began his ministry. Now, we have one final point here. Let's go over to Luke chapter 1, verse 5.

And this has to do with the temple ritual is added evidence when Jesus Christ was born. In Luke 1, verse 5, Luke chapter 1, verse 5, There was in the days of Herod the king of Judea a certain priest named Zacharias of the division of Abijah. His wife was the daughter of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth. They were both righteous before God, walking in his commandments and the ordinances of the Lord blamelessly. Now, it says here that he was of the division of Abijah. Now, what does that mean? Well, hold your place here. Back in 1 Chronicles chapter 24. 1 Chronicles chapter 24, you find that David divided the priest into divisions, into different choruses, so to speak. There were so many of them by this time that they all could not work on the tabernacle. So, he established 24 choruses of the priests. Verse 1, now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. You find the sons of Aaron were named to Abijah. They were killed. Then there was Eliezer and Ithmar. Now, verse 4 shows that among the sons of Eliezer, there were 16 heads. And among the sons of Ithmar, there were eight heads. 16 and 8 are 24. Now, in verse 10, you find the seventh course was Hechos, I guess is how you pronounce it, and the eighth went to Abijah. So, the eighth course is according to Abijah. And then down in verse 18, you find there were 24. So, there are 24 divisions of labor here. This was their schedule of their service for coming into the house of the Lord. Now, each course had the responsibility of performing one-week shifts twice a year. They'd run through 24, then they would repeat themselves again. The first shift began the first week of the month of the Nissan. It began on the Holy Calendar the first month. Any additional or all the additional 24 courses also followed, but they all worked an extra three weeks during the Holy Day seasons. So, during the three Holy Day seasons, every one of the courses worked because there were so many people there and so many sacrifices being offered. So, each one worked two weeks, and then they had the three weeks that they worked during the Holy Days. Now, I want you to notice what happens here in Luke. Zechariah goes in, to light the incense.

You find... Well, let's just read Luke chapter 1 again. In verse 7 says, They had no children because Elizabeth was barren, and both were well advanced in years. So it was, while he was serving as priest before God in the order of his division, according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense. He goes in, verse 11, and an angel appears to him. The angel says, well, God's going to give you a wife. Excuse me, give you a child. Your wife Elizabeth will bear a son, and you shall call his name John.

And verse 15, for he will be great in the sight of the Lord. And verse 16, he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord. Verse 17, he will also go before him, the spirit and the power of Elijah. And the angel answered him in verse 19 that his name was Gabriel. So this is a great Archangel Gabriel. And Zachariah doubted, I'm old, my wife's old, how can we have a baby?

Well, in verse 20, behold, you will be mute, not able to speak until the day that these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their own time. The people waited for Zacharias and marveled that he lingered so long in the temple. But he came out and he could not speak to them. And they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple and he beckoned to them and remained speechless. And so, as it was, as soon as the days of his service was completed, that he departed to his own house. And after those days, his wife Elizabeth conceived and she hit herself five months. Okay, now that's all pretty clear.

Now, if you'll take a look at point number nine, I have the course of Abijah.

Now, what I've given to you here, this is on the front side, is the six months leading up to when the angel Gabriel came to Mary to reveal to her that she was going to be, she would conceive with a child, Jesus Christ, and he reveals to her that Elizabeth, her cousin, is six months pregnant. Now, let's notice that in verse 26. Now, in the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a city of Nazareth, a Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin. Her name is Mary. Verse 28, highly favored, he says, you are among women. And then he describes that she would conceive through the Holy Spirit and from her the Savior would be born, Emmanuel, God in the flesh. That sixth month was probably December, January. That's when Christ was conceived. Now, turn over to the back of your page.

We have 5 BC. We have the sacred calendar here with the Julian calendar imposed under it. And you'll notice that the first course began to serve on noon here on the first of Nicene, which was the 8th of April. Then the second course works, and after the second course, all courses work, beginning on the noon of the Sabbath, because that was the days of unleavened bread. Then the third course continues. The fourth course, fifth course, sixth course, seventh course. Notice the eighth course begins to work on the third of June. That's when Zacharias and all of those with him began to work on June the third. Now, the eighth course begins on June the fifth. The eighth course works, and all the courses begin on noon of the fifth here, and apparently the Pentecost season. Zacharias leaves, in other words, finishes his duty up on the Sabbath of June 17th. Now he goes home, and you'll notice the last part of this shows the probable two weeks conception period for Elizabeth. Two weeks, probably, after he goes home, Elizabeth gets pregnant, or shortly thereafter, maybe going on over into July. But it is not too long after that. That's why we can say, going back over to the point nine on the front side, that probably John was conceived somewhere June-July, be one month, July-August, second month, August-September the third month, September-October the fourth, October-November the fifth, December-January the sixth. It's during the six months, six months, of her pregnancy that Mary gets pregnant. So Mary is probably pregnant somewhere late December or early January. All you got to do is count nine months, and you come again to the time around September-October this period of time. So this is another way of proving when Jesus Christ was born.

Now, brethren, I know I've given you quite a bit here, but that's why I gave you an outline so that you would have this information. And I would suggest, if you don't have some of this marked in your Bibles, you need to go back and mark it. You need to go over it. You need to study it.

Again, remember when the wise men came to see Christ, he was in a house. He was no longer in a manger. What do you see today in the Christmas scene? Well, Christmas scenes show shepherds and wise men all coming to a manger, don't they? Which is not what the Bible story indicates. They gave their gifts to Jesus Christ, not to one another. Jesus Christ, I can dogmatically say, was not born on December the 25th. If there was any day he was not born on December the 25th, I can almost count on that.

Jesus Christ was born somewhere around the Holy Days season. And there's a lot of other information that could be supplied and might go on with that. So the Bible is clear about the birth of Jesus Christ. We do not know the date, meaning the day of his birth. We know it's not December the 25th. The Bible nowhere tells us to observe Christ's birthday. God has the right to tell us which days to observe and to keep. He tells us how to worship him. So, brethren, as John 4 24 says, let us worship God in spirit and in truth.