I am a retired pastor of
the Church of God (Tennessee). My name is Isaac Livingston. I am from Neyyoor India. |
Email: Pastor True Gospel
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"Romans 14:5 One man esteemeth one day above another: another esteemeth every day alike. Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind. 6 He that regardeth the day, regardeth it unto the Lord; and he that regardeth not the day, to the Lord he doth not regard it. He that eateth, eateth to the Lord, for he giveth God thanks; and he that eateth not, to the Lord he eateth not, and giveth God thanks." That is, it is up to us, whether to celebrate a day or not. God has given us liberty. But, if we celebrate, we must do it in a godly manner, without committing sin in our excitement. Whatever we do, we must do it for the Lord. But it is better to celebrate them in the actual days. So, we may find out the exact days of Christmas, Good Friday, and Easter.
Christians put up nativity scenes for Christmas. "Luke 2:7 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." Mary did not go to the inn to deliver the baby, but to keep the baby in a safe place for the night. They had no room for them in the inn, and so, they safely wrapped the baby in soft old clothes, and laid the baby in a manger, which is a trough in a stable, where we put grass or straw or hay for the oxen to eat. It is very safe for a baby, well protected like a cradle. The baby was born in travel. In countryside, working women are strong; especially in old days they could have been very strong. They were able to handle birth in travel. The question is, if Mary did not deliver the baby in the stable, where did the birth happen? Christians say that the baby was born in the stable. But the Bible did not say that. "Song of Solomon 8:4 I charge you, O daughters of Jerusalem, that ye stir not up, nor awake my love, until he please. 5 Who is this that cometh up from the wilderness, leaning upon her beloved? I raised thee up under the apple tree: there thy mother brought thee forth: there she brought thee forth that bare thee." Songs of Solomon describes the relationship of Christ and his bride in its own style. It is not an ordinary love story, written by a worldly author. It is inspired by the Spirit of the holy God. Here, Christ is the beloved. Mary brought forth him under the apple tree. Mary could have taken rest for a couple of days under the tree, and then they could have continued the journey. Only one night they laid the baby Jesus in the manger. Angels informed this to the shepherd. "Luke 2:16 And they came with haste, and found Mary, and Joseph, and the babe lying in a manger." They came with haste, because in the morning they would be gone. They saw the baby and told everybody about the angels and the baby. So, Jesus was not born in a stable as we all think, but he was born under a tree bush, during their travel.
Jesus
was the Passover Lamb and he was killed at the same time that every passover
lambs were killed. Again, God the Father sent 'God the
Word' as a man to die as the Passover Lamb. So, we may say that Jesus was born as a
man to die or he was set aside as the Passover Lamb. And, this day may very well be taken as the
birthday of Jesus. If so, this will be the true Christmas day. Then, Easter Day is the "Day of Resurrection." It will be very easy to find. So, let us
begin with the passover day.
"Deuteronomy
16:1
Observe the month of Abib and keep the
passover unto the LORD thy God:
Exodus 12:2
This month shall be unto
you the beginning of months:
it shall be the first month of the
year to you. 3
Speak
ye unto all congregation of Israel, saying, In
the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb."
So, on the 10th of the first month Abib, the passover lamb was set aside for
sacrifice. "6
And ye
shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of
the same month; and the whole assembly of the
congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening."
Here, we have two important days
in the first month Abib. 1) passover lamb was set aside on the 10th. 2) passover
lamb was killed in the evening of the 14th. This is about the passover lamb in
the old testament, and it was followed in the time of Jesus.
"John 18:24 Now Annas had sent him bound unto Caiaphas the high priest. 27 Peter then denied again: and immediately the cock crew." So, early in the morning, it could be 5:00 AM, when the cock crew, Jesus was at the house of Caiaphas the high priest. "28 Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early;" Now, Jesus is in the judgment hall, still early, may be 6:00 AM. Pilate went to the high priest and to the Jews, and discussed the matter. Jews required from Pilate a death sentence to Jesus. "33 Then Pilate entered into the judgment hall again, and called Jesus, and said unto him, Art thou the King of the Jews?" From 34 to 38, Pilate was talking to Jesus and asked him "what is truth?" Then, "38 Pilate went out again unto the Jews, and saith unto them, I find in him no fault at all." Then Pilate went to the Jews and asked them, if they want to release Jesus, because of the custom that Pilate let a criminal go free on the passover day. Pilate failed in his attempt. John 19:1-8 Soldiers scourged him, put a crown of thorns, put on him purple robe, and Pilate presented him before people to draw public sympathy, to release him; but he miserably failed in his attempt. In verse 9-11, Pilate came to the judgment hall and talked to Jesus. "12 And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar. 13 When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he brought Jesus forth, and sat down in the judgment seat in a place that is called the Pavement, but in the Hebrew, Gabbatha. 14 And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!" Jesus was brought to the judgment hall in the morning about 6:00 AM, Pilate has done many things, talked to the crew of high priest, to the Jews, to Jesus a few times, let the soldiers scourged him, and disfigured him, and so on, and then handed him over to be crucified in the sixth hour, which is about our 12:00 O'clock. Let us look at it from the other gospels.
The times regarding the trial,
crucifying of Jesus, and his death, are explained the same way in the
gospels of Matthew and John.
Mark 15:25 says,
And it was
the third
hour, and they crucified him.
I said between 3 and 4, which is the third hour, and it was the Roman Time. The apparent discrepancy comes next.
Mark 15:33 and Luke 23:44 say,
And
when the sixth hour was come, there was darkness over the whole land
until the ninth hour.
Then Mark 15:34 says,
And
at the ninth hour Jesus cried with a loud voice, saying, Eloi, Eloi,
lama sabachthani? which is, being interpreted, My God, my God, why hast thou
forsaken me?
If
we have preconceived understanding, we my reject the truth. So, with fresh
mind, please verify this. Then, you may accept it or to reject it. My
understanding is this.
1
Timothy 6:16 says,
Who
only hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto;
whom no man hath seen, nor can see:
Exodus 20:21 says,
And
the people stood afar off, and Moses drew near unto the thick darkness where
God was.
God dwells in light that men cannot approach. But when God the Father want
to meet people, he comes in darkness, so that people may be able to bear. God the
Father was here on earth from the time Pilate sat on judgment judgment seat
(John
19:13-14) until Jesus was crucified. So, 'the Father' was with 'the
Son' at the judgment and at the crucifixion.
Contrary to the common understanding, My
God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me? could be one of the first
words Jesus spoke. The Father heard what Jesus has
asked him and he left, and the darkness departed. This is the sixth hour to the
ninth hour, and it was in the Jews time. That is our 12:00 PM and 3:00 PM. The
darkness covered the earth at this time. It is
not a discrepancy, but it is additional information. Thank you.
So, Jesus was crucified and died as the passover lamb, on the evening of
the 14th of Abib, the first month on the year of the Jews. Since he was the passover lamb, he was set aside on the 10th
of Abib, as the lamb to be sacrificed, and we may say that he was born to die as the passover
lamb, on the 10th of Abib. So, Abib 10th could be the birthday of Jesus, which is
Christmas day. Since it is speculation at this point, this must be double checked or verified. The birthday of
Jesus is not directly given in the Bible. But this is a very strong clue. Luke
1: 30 the angel said unto her,
Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God.
31 And, behold, thou shalt
conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
36
behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she
hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her.
Here Marys child is Jesus, and Elizabeths child is John the Baptist. The angel
tells Mary that Elizabeth is six months into pregnancy, and it just begins to
Mary. So, John the Baptist will be 6 months older to Jesus. Let us see if we can
find the birthday of John the Baptist. Then, we can also find the
birthday
of Jesus Christ. We will also verify it with the 10th of Abib, the day the
passover lamb
was set aside.
"Luke
1:5 says
priest named Zacharias,
of the course of Abia:
his wife was of the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elisabeth."
Zacharias, the husband of Elizabeth, was a priest in the temple, and
he was from the course of Abia
(Abijah).
"8
It came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the
order of his course, 9
according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when
he went into the temple of the Lord.
11
there appeared unto him an angel of
the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense.
13
the angel said unto him, Fear not,
Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy
wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and
thou shalt call his name John."
So, an angel told
Zacharias at the temple that his wife Elizabeth will conceive a son soon after
he goes home, and Zacharias must name him John. Let us find when Zacharias went
home.
The priests were divided into 24
courses, in which the course of Abia comes as the
8th according to
1 Chronicle 24:7-19.
The 24
courses serve in the temple one week at a time. When they
have completed one round, they will start it all over and serve a second term. So, each course
serves twice in a year. But, on special feast days,
all courses serve
according to 2
Chronicle 8:13, Deuteronomy 16:10&16, & Exodus 34:22.
Special weeks are, feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and of the
Tabernacles. Our aim is to find the week that the course Abia served in the temple; since
the angel of the Lord spoke to Zacharias, and it is the key to find out the
birthday of John the Baptist. "Luke
1:23 says it came to pass,
that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to
his own house. 24
after those days his wife Elisabeth
conceived..." If we can pinpoint
that week, then we can find the birthday of John; and Jesus is six
months younger to John, and so we can find the birthday of Jesus. Let us find
the two weeks that the course Abia served in the temple.
The first course serves in the first week. Second week is the feast of Passover, third week is the feast of unleavened bread, the ninth week is feast of Pentecost. All courses served together in these three weeks. Abijah, being the eight, it's turn comes in 8+3, the 11th week. So, Zacharias served this week and might have seen angel Gabriel. This is one possibility. The next is that the angel might have visited Zacharias at his second round of service in the temple. 24 weeks for the first round, 4 feasts days, and Abia is the 8th course; that is 24+4+8= 36 weeks. So, at the 36th week from the first Sabbath of the year, the course Abia would have served in the temple for the 2nd term. So, in one of these two weeks, the angel could have met Zacharias. That is, either on the 11th week, or on the 36th week. Let me pick up the 36th week; and if it did not match, then we will try the 11th week. If angel Gabriel had met Zacharias at this week, he would have gone home at the 37th week, which is the last week of the 9th month or the first week of the 10th month. In this case, Elizabeth would have conceived during the first two weeks of the tenth month, and John would have born during the first 2 weeks of the 7th month. Since Jesus will be six months younger to John, we must take 6 months away from the 7 months; and so, Jesus must have born during the first two weeks of the first month Abib. If we look in the account that God set aside the passover lamb, for the birthday of Jesus, it is the 10th of Abib, which falls within this first two weeks of the 1st month Abib; and this matches perfectly. So, the birthday of Jesus, must be the 10th of the first month Abib. So, Christmas day is the 10th of the first month of the Jews. However, the name of the first month Abib, was changed to "Nisan" after the Babylonian exile. So, Christmas day is the 10th of Nisan, according to the Bible. This day comes approximately at the end of March, which is four days before the Passover day, and it is the Christmas Day.
Jesus is our Passover and he was crucified on the 14th
of Nisan, and hastily buried just before the Sabbath day. This sabbath day was
the day next to the passover day, which was the high day sabbath. It was not the
seventh day sabbath. Preachers thought that it was the seventh day sabbath and
made a mistake. "Leviticus
23:5
In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the
LORD'S passover.
6
And on the fifteenth day
of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye
must eat unleavened bread.
7
In the first day ye
shall have an holy convocation: ye shall do no
servile work therein.
John 19:31 says
because it was the preparation,
that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day,
for that sabbath day was an high day,
..." So, it was high day Sabbath, but
not the seventh day sabbath. But being ignorant, church leaders thought that
this Sabbath was a seventh day Sabbath, which made them think that Jesus was
crucified on a Friday.
Jesus Christ says in "Matthew 12:40; as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth." It says three days and three nights. In John 2:19-21, Jesus says in three days. In Matthew 16:21, 17:22&23, 20:19, Mark 9:31, Luke 24:7, and in 1 Corinthians 15:4; Jesus says as the third day. In Matthew 27:63 and Mark 8:31, Jesus says as after three days. Even though they appear different, they all mean the same thing. So, it was three days and three nights, in the contexts of the verses. So, if Jesus stayed buried for three days and three nights, he must have been crucified on Wednesday and buried just before 6:00 PM. If it was a Friday, it will not fulfill these verses of three days and three nights in the heart of earth. So, his death was not on Good Friday, but it was on a Wednesday.
"Luke 23:55
women also, ... and beheld the sepulcher,
and how his body was laid."
Let us use the names of the days here. He must have been crucified on Wednesday.
He was buried in evening just before 6:00 PM.
At the sunset begins the High day
Sabbath. Sabbath continues on the daytime of Thursday, and so they cannot do
anything. Thursday night also they cannot do anything, because it was night. So,
two nights and one day were passed. "56 they
returned, and prepared spices and ointments;
"
Then, on the next day, which was Friday, they bought spices and ointments and
prepared them. So, two nights and two days were passed. "56
and rested the sabbath day according to the
commandment."
Then, it was Friday night and
the daytime of Saturday, that was the seventh day sabbath, and they must again
be in rest. At the end of the daytime on Saturday, the three days and three
nights were completed. So, according to scripture, Jesus could have resurrected
at this time, and no one was there to see it, until morning. Women came to
embalm the body early in the morning even before sunrise. "Luke
24:1
Now upon the first day of the week,
very early in the morning,
they came unto the sepulchre, bringing the spices which they had prepared, and
certain others with them.
2
And
they found the stone rolled away from the sepulchre.
3
And they entered in, and found not the
body of the Lord Jesus."
Then they found out that the body of Jesus was not there. That is, he was raised
at the sunset of Saturday and the people knew it only when they came to the
sepulcher early in the morning before the dawn, that is even before Sunday
morning. So, Jesus was raised at the end of the Saturday Sabbath; and it was
Easter, if we use the name.
9. What is the takeaway from this lesson?
The things we study here is not spiritual. Yet, we have seen a few points from scripture. Jesus was born under a bush tree; they rested a few days under the tree and continued the journey. They spent one night at a stable, laid the baby in the manger. The Christmas day is the 10th day of the first Jewish month Nisan. Jesus was crucified on the 14th of Nisan. He was raised from death on the 17th night, but we may celebrate it on the 18th morning as the resurrection day, or as Easter. However, if the 18th does not fall on a Sunday, we may pick up a Sunday close to the 18th of the month of Nisan, as the resurrection day or as Easter. Take the previous Wednesday as the day that he was crucified; please notice it is not a Friday and so it is not Good Friday. And the biggest puzzle is that the day of the birth of Jesus, or the Christmas day is four days before the day of his death, which will be Saturday. The passover lamb was separated on the daytime, and so, Christmas is on the day, not at night. This is a true biblical study. But, since it does not have spiritual significance, just take it as some information. I have not done it to change your celebration pattern. So, please don't get mad at me; really, I did not intent any mischief. God gives freedom to do whatever you like in this matter.
Note: If any point needs
explanation, OR, if you find an error according to scripture,
Please write to me in the 'Mail
Box' below. I will reply promptly. Thanks.
God Bless You
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Matthew 28:20, & Mark 16:15. Jesus Christ preached his commandments to obey, as his
Gospel; it is the true Gospel to inherit Eternal life. Genesis 3:1-4 & 2 Corinth 11:2-4. But Preachers, who are Serpents of Satan, preach the life of man Jesus just to believe, but not to live as a chaste virgin, as the gospel; it is another gospel, which cannot and will not give Eternal life.The true gospel will convert evil people to do good and thereby they will inherit the kingdom in heaven.
John 3:19-21 say that people are two kinds, evil and true. Evil doers will not come to the Light, who is God; but people of truth come to God for their deeds to be made manifest. We have good and evil people by our standard of our society or culture. These evil people may be converted to be doers of truth by the power of God, and they may inherit the kingdom of God in heaven.
Email: Pastor True Gospel