The birth of Christ-the Lamb part 2

Here is my radio script:
As we look at scripture, many times we look at it through a teaching we have heard or a mindset from our own culture. I challenge you to start looking at the word of God and ask God for fresh understand- ing. The Christmas story is just one example. It is rich with symbolism that most of us don't take the time to investigate. Luke 2:7 says “ And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.” Did you ever wonder why God allowed His son to be born in a stable and placed in a manger – a feeding trough? The cattle on a thousand hills belong to God so He could have had His son born in the best palace. Jesus didn't come to us as a King. The Jewish people were looking for a King so many did not recognize Jesus. Jesus came to earth to be the final sacrifice, the sacrificial lamb, and therefore as a lamb, was born in a stable where animals are kept and placed in a manger. We see in the scripture Jesus referred to as the Lamb of God: John the Baptist upon seeing Jesus proclaimed, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world.” (John 1:29)

In Revelation Jesus is called at least 28 times the Lamb: "Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power and riches and wisdom and strength, honor and glory and blessing" (Revelation 5:12).

Jesus came to earth as the lamb to be the final sacrifice to take your place and mine and pay the penalty of death that we owed due to the fall of mankind.

In the Old Testament, God established that the sins of individuals would be symbolically transferred to an animal that would die in his or her place (see Leviticus 1–8). This atoning sacrifice was necessary to meet the righteous demands of a holy and just God. In the Old Testament, the word atonement can be translated to say, "a covering" or "to cover over something." While this atonement provided covering, it didn't get to the root of the problem. But Jesus Christ's death on the cross did. His atoning sacrifice washed away, eliminated, and wiped out all of our sins. Jesus was the fulfillment of all that the Old Testament pointed toward. He became the final sacrifice. As John the Baptist proclaimed, "the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world". (John 1:29).

Did you ever wonder of all the people on this earth why the angels made the announcement of Jesus' birth to a group of shepherds? (Luke 2:8-12) “And shepherds were in this field, living out of doors and keeping watch by night over their flock.” The shepherds that the angels came to were not just any shepherds. They were the Temple shepherds guarding the sacrificial lambs. The angels were announcing to the shepherds keeping watch of the temple sacrificial lambs that the final lamb to be sacrificed had been born. This was another confirmation that God was saying that Jesus is coming to earth as the sacrificial lamb to pay the price for sin and redeem and restore us back to Himself once and for all. It is also interesting to note that this same field is the field of Boaz in the story of Ruth. You might remember that he was the kinsmen redeemer foreshadowing our redeemer Jesus.

Why did the scripture tell you Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes? The term swaddling during that time had a specific meaning and time of year. The angel specifically explains in Luke 2 vs. 12 that Jesus will be found in swaddling clothes and this will be part of the "sign" to them of His true identity as the Savior.

During the time of Sukkot or the Feast of Tabernacles, the priests were in the Temple. Once each year and during this Feast the high priest in the Holy of Holies, would take his linen undergarment, discard it, and lay it at the altar. All the other priests who were serving would also do the same thing right outside the Holy of Holies. These cloths were called swaddling cloths. It was tradition during the Feast of Tabernacles for the high priest’s garment to either be sold for money for the Temple or to be given to the poor. We know that Joseph and Mary were poor because of the sacrifice they gave in the Temple for Jesus’ birth, which was two turtle doves. It was required that you sacrifice a lamb and a dove, but if you were poor, they allowed two doves as Joseph and Mary did. Doesn’t it make sense that Mary got the wrapping cloths from Zacharias the priest, her cousin Elizabeth's husband, who got it from the Temple, where it came from the high priest in the Holy of Holies? As Mary was wrapping her baby, she was wrapping Jesus in high priestly garments. From the minute of conception it was ordained that Jesus would be the final sacrifice and our forever High Priest. Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. Heb. 4:14.

Don't just read God's Word, but study God's word. Then having your eyes fixed on Jesus step out on the water.

True Thanksgiving

As we approach this Thanksgiving season we usually think of gathering together with family and enjoying great food...and too much of it. We might also think about the Pilgrims and the first “Thanksgiving”. But did you know that Thanksgiving did not originate with the pilgrims? Way back in the old testament God instituted several sacrifices and offerings required by the children of Israel. One of those was called the Thank offering or the Todah.

The Todah was an offering in thankfulness for the sacrifice causing one to be saved from death and being given a new life. It is an offering of thanks, especially for gifts received. Scripture emphasizes the importance of giving thanks to God for all His gifts and works, both as an expression of our dependence upon Him and gratitude to Him. In everything give thanks; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus. (I Thess. 5:18)

Do you only call upon the name of the Lord when you are in trouble or do you take time to offer up a thank offering to Him every day? I have traveled all over the world, and I have visited many Muslim countries. Without hesitation 5 x each day they stop what they are doing and pray at the sound of the caller from the minaret. They do it because they believe they must do it in order to achieve heaven.

They are more committed to what is wrong with a false teaching and a false God than most Christians are to the one True God and His teachings. We have an assured salvation. Through the blood of Jesus Christ we receive salvation and our sins are forgiven. We have so..much to be thankful for.

Do you count your blessings? Why not make a point beginning now leading up to Thanksgiving, then continuing til Christmas and then as a new year's resolution to offer up a “thank offering” for your many blessings each and every day. Instead of focusing on what you don't have or what hasn't gone right, how about offering up a praise for what God has blessed you with. Most importantly He has blessed you through the sacrifice of His son, Jesus, to take your place and mine for the punishment of death due to the fall of Adam and Eve.

Most people can quote Psalm 100 and it says:
"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all ye lands. Serve the LORD with gladness: come before his presence with singing. Know ye that the LORD he is God: it is he that hath made us, and not we ourselves; we are His people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter into His Gates with thanksgiving, and into His courts with praise: be thankful unto Him, and bless His name. For the LORD is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations."



Instead of just quoting this, how about doing it? The children of Israel came through the gates of the tabernacle offering up thanksgiving. They then entered into the outer courts offering up praise. We are told to be thankful unto God and to bless His name. This Thanksgiving give God a special Thank offering and bless His Name. Take God's Word and speak it back to Him with Thankfulness:
God, I give you thanks for sending Jesus to die in my place and putting me in right standing with you. Thank you that Jesus took my sicknesses and bore my diseases according to Matthew 8:17 and Isaiah 53 and by His stripes I am healed.
I thank you God that you supply all my needs according to your riches in Glory in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:19)



Begin to declare His promises for you with thanksgiving and release God to move in your life.
Begin to live with and attitude of thankfulness!

The GPS for your Life

The Word of God tells us that God is omnipresent...He is everywhere.

(Prov. 15:3) The eyes of the Lord are in every place beholding the bad and the good.

(Psalm 139:1-24, vs. 2)=God knows my sitting down and my getting up.

(Isa. 43:2) = He says that When I pass through the waters, He shall be with me, and through the rivers, they will not overflow me. When I walk through the fire, I will not be burned, neither will the flame kindle upon me.

(Job 34:21)= God's eyes are upon the ways of man and He sees all his goings.

Do you ever wonder how can this be? Sometimes with our intellect it is hard for us to comprehend a God that can be everywhere and know exactly where we are and what we are doing. I think about these things and sometimes try to figure it out, but some things can not be discerned with the human mind. God uses today's technology to help me understand his omnipresent character. One day while riding my horse in the Tennessee mountains with a fellow horseman, I was pondering these things. My friend from Alabama had a safety helmet on and he had rigged up a GPS antenna for his helmet in the event he should get lost. We were riding on 150,000 acres of horseback riding trails on the Tennessee plateau. While riding God said to me, “Why do you think it so hard for me to be everywhere and to know exactly where you are at any given moment when a GPS computer chip with a satellite in the sky can pinpoint exactly where you are on this whole, entire planet. A computerized program can lay out a course for you, tell you if you are on course or if you have made a wrong turn and gotten off course and missed the mark, can even adjust the course to get you back on track if you have gotten off the path, and lay out a new course of direction for you. The new GPS programs even show the terrain and if there is dangerous terrain ahead. Just like the GPS has a voice that tells you when you've missed your turn, God is always speaking to us to keep us on course if we will only listen and respond. God said I do all those things that the GPS does for you 24/7 when you listen to my voice and are led by my Holy Spirit. God wants to be the navigator of your life keeping you on course, telling you when you get off course and showing you how to get back on course, and even warning you of impending danger.

Are you feeling forsaken, the circumstances of life closing in on you? Do not fear but get your eyes on the author and finisher of our faith: Jesus. God says He will not fail you or forsake you and we can confidently say, “The Lord is my helper, and I shall not be afraid, What will man do to me? (Deut. 31:6, Heb. 13:5) God is with you!

"For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His. (2 Chron. 16:9)

The next time you use a GPS or even pull up weather.com to see what the weather is doing at your exact location, think about God who knows you by name and knows exactly where you are and what you are doing...and even thinking.... He loved you enough to send His only son, Jesus, to die for you and to restore you back to Him.

Call out today and call upon His name and He will answer you. When you are in trouble He will make a way of escape. Let Him set your course and be your Navigator...your GPS.

The Birth of Christ-the Lamb

Tradition teaches us that Jesus was born on December 25^th,

but did you know for the first three centuries Christians did not even celebrate Christ's birth? Then when they decided they needed to celebrate it there was a lot of debate on the date. After considering several dates the eventual choice of December 25th was made. 336 AD Constantine declared that Christianity was the state religion. Either as a means to unify his empire, or to make converting to Christianity easier for the pagans, Constantine sought to blend Christian and pagan traditions. At that time two prominent pagan winter festivals were celebrated in December. The first, honored Saturn, the Roman god of agriculture, and the second, starting on December 25th commemorated the birth of Mithras, the Persian god of light. Constantine merged many of the traditions from these two festivals with the Bible story of Christ's birth and Christmas was born. From its beginning, Christmas was a holiday (or holy day), and from the Roman and Persian traditions gifts were exchanged, families and friends gathered to feast, and a birth was celebrated as these traditions were merged with Christianity.

The Bible does give us a timetable for the birth of Jesus when you begin to dig and study the scriptures and study our Jewish roots. In order for us to find out when Jesus was born, we’ve got to go back to Zacharias, the husband of Elizabeth, who was a priest in the temple. King David started the rotation of the priests with 24 rotations with a priest from each house. These rotations are listed in 1 Chronicles 24. Zacharias according to Luke was from the lineage of Abijah and therefore according to 1 Chronicles 24:10 would serve in the eight rotation. Those who have researched this say the eight rotation, Zacharias' rotation, would have been during the time after Pentecost. This would have been in the Jewish month of Sivan and would have put him serving between May and June. The rotations usually lasted 6-12 weeks depending on which house you were from and what rotation you were in. That meant Zacharias completed his temple service on a Sabbath, he went home, and some time around the end of June-beginning of July- Elizabeth would have conceived John the Baptist. The reason why John’s conception and his birth is important is because it will give us the timetable for Jesus' birth. According to Luke 1:26 we know that it was six months after Elizabeth conceived that Mary conceived because it says, “Now in the sixth month”. Mary then with haste-no delay- according to vs. 39 went to visit Elizabeth. In verse 41 it says Elizabeth’s baby leaped within her. A baby has to be in the last trimester of development to be leaping in the womb. This gives us a timetable for when Mary conceived. Some scholars say that Mary conceived Jesus on Dec. 25th during Chanukah which is the Festival of Lights. It's interesting to think that the Light of the World was conceived during the Festival of Lights. Jesus said in John 8:12, "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."

Working from when John was conceived, and then when Jesus was conceived, Scripture tells us Mary stayed with Elizabeth three months. If Elizabeth was already six months pregnant, then Mary stayed with her until the baby was born. That would mean that John the Baptist was born during Passover. Mary would have been three months pregnant so if you go from December 25^th and you count 40 weeks or nine months you come to the fifteenth day of the seventh month, Tishri, which is the Festival of Tabernacles. John 1:14 tells us, “And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, The English word translated as “dwelt” is the Greek word “eskenosen” which means, “to encamp”; “to pitch a tent”; “to tabernacle”. God came to earth and tabernacled among His people in the tent of a human body. In the Old Testament the Tabernacle or “The Tent” was the point of contact between God and man; but in the New Testament, Jesus of Nazareth—the incarnate Son of God—is the point of contact between God and man.

Don't just read God's Word, but study His word. Then having your eyes fixed on Jesus step out on the water.

The Magi

Who were these Magi? Over the years the word Magi took on different meanings and has been interpreted to mean different things. Magi is not a translatable word but is simply the name of a certain religious tribe in Persia. When the Bible doesn't go into detailed explanation it is because it is already explained somewhere earlier in the Bible or it was an understood custom of that day. We can look in the book of Daniel to find that the ancient Magi were a hereditary priesthood of the Medes credited with profound and extraordinary religious knowledge. You may remember from the book of Daniel that one of the things that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, did was take Judah into captivity. While there the Babylonian Empire and the magi were very heavily influenced by the Jews. We see in Daniel 5:11 that one of the titles given to Daniel was Rab-mag, the Chief of the Magi. After the Jews were taken captive to Babylon, a large portion stayed in that area. These wise men who came to see Jesus probably came from the Babylonian area and were descendants of the Jews that where taken there captive. Many of these captive Jews followed their rich Jewish heritage and traditions. I believe these men studied the scriptures and knew Daniel's prophecies about the Messiah and also about a star coming out of Jacob in Numbers 24:17. Daniel 9:27 also gives the number of years until Messiah would be cut off and these descendants would have been knowledgable of this prophecy and must have been looking for him. In Matthew 2:2 they said they saw HIS star in the east. They evidently did not know the prophecy in Micah for upon arriving in Jerusalem they started asking everyone “Where is He that has been born King of the Jews?” When Herod the king heard of this he called in the priests and scribes and inquired where the Christ would be born. They led him to Micah 5:2 which said He would be born in Bethlehem. These scribes and pharisees, the religious sect of the Jews, knew the scriptures yet they were not looking for the messiah. Even with Daniel 9:24-27 giving the exact number of years from Daniel's prophecy to when Jesus, Messiah, would be cut off they still were not looking for him. How many times do we recite the word of God yet don't understand what we are saying due to religious traditions that blind us to the truth? Are we as blinded by tradition as these pharisees and scribes were because we read the Word of God through the traditions of men instead of being illuminated by the Holy Spirit?

I also find it interesting that Bethlehem is the Greek spelling of the Hebrew name Beith-Lehem, which means House of Bread. Did you ever think about the fact that God had Jesus, the bread of life, born in the town of Bethlehem, the House of bread? John 6:33 says, “ for the bread of God is that which descends from heaven and gives life to the world.” Nothing with God is mere coincidence. From the beginning God has woven His redemptive plan throughout scripture and given us glimpses of His plan through Noah, Abraham, Moses, and the prophets.

Do you think about the faith it took for the wise men to journey from Persia to Jerusalem based on a star in the sky and prophecies they had studied? The star appeared at the birth of Jesus but it did not remain there to guide them their entire journey for Matthew 2:9 states that the star they had seen in the east, indicating it had not traveled with them throughout their journey, appeared as they left Herod and led them and stood over the house that baby Jesus was staying in. Again the pictures of the wise men offering gifts to Jesus in the stable are not based on scripture but tradition. The Biblical account in Matt. 2:11 simply presents an unnumbered party of unnamed "wise men" visiting later after his birth, with Jesus described not as a baby but a child, and residing in a house, not a stable, with only "his mother" present.

The Scriptures do not tell us how many wise men came to see Jesus. Tradition teaches three due to three gifts but that in no way is an indication of how many traveled to honor Jesus. Most the time the magi comprised of 12-20 men and would travel in caravans of 50-100. They traveled on very fast and strong horses, not camels as depicted in the pictures. This is why we need to study the scriptures for what the word of God says and not just accept traditions that man has put into place. We have pictures in our mind based on man's pictures that we have seen, and we need to have the Word of God in our mind and draw accurate pictures from His Word.

Some say the star appeared in time for the wise men to make the journey and arrive soon after Christ's birth. Others say they started their journey and arrived much later due to Herod killing the babies 2 yrs and younger. Either way they knew the prophecies and believed them to be true in order to be willing to step out on a journey to find the Christ child. I love the fact that these wise men upon seeing Jesus fell to their knees and worshiped Him and paid homage to Him. The three gifts are also important as they each had meaning during that time period and they also had prophetic meaning. Gold as a precious metal was given to a King so they were acknowledging Jesus as the King of the Jews, frankincense was given as a sign of devotion to God and was acknowledging His role as priest, and myrrh was used to embalm and anoint the dead speaking of His role as savior.. These gifts were very costly gifts. Some speculate that these gifts were sold to provide for their travel and well being when they fled to and lived in Egypt. Fleeing to Egypt was also foretold in Hos. 11:1 as God says “Out of Egypt I called my son”.

I like to look at several things we can learn from these wise men. They allowed a star, light, to open the eyes of the scriptures to them. They stepped out on faith to follow the prophecies and traveled to Jerusalem, they fell down and worshiped Jesus, and they obeyed God when He spoke to them in a dream not to go back to Herod. Are you allowing the light of the Holy Spirit to open up the Word of God to you? Wise Men still seek Him!

Don't just read the Word of God, but seek to know God through His Word.