NCCG.ORG Lev's Daily Devotionals 27 December 2011 - Springtime for Yah'shua: The Tavnith of Messiah's Birth Revealed

Month 10:3, Week 1:2 (Shanee/Matzah), Year 5935:261 AM
Gregorian Calendar: Tuesday 27 December 2011 Springtime for Yah'shua The Tavnith of Messiah's Birth Revealed

"And you, O tower of the flock, the stronghold of the daughter of Zion, to you shall it come, even the former dominion shall come, the kingdom of the daughter of Jerusalem...But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of you shall come forth to Me the One to be Ruler in Israel, whose goings forth are from of old, from everlasting" (Mic.4:8; 5:2, NKJV).

The Christian and Messianic worlds have pretty much made up their minds about the time of the birth of Messiah. Western Christians claim it was on 25 December in the Gregorian Calendar, Eastern Orthodox Christians claim it was on 6 January (before, they say, the Catholics moved it to 25 December), and Messianics for the most part claim that it was during the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot.

The more honest and studious Christians admit that the Messiah could not have been born on 25 December (almost no scholars do) but would rather leave things as they are because, they claim, it's the 'heart' that counts. The fact that the day was originally pagan and satanic does not figure into their thinking, nor do they pay attention to what Yahweh has to say about imitating the ways of the pagans for any reasons.

Messianics, as a rule, tend to both be cogniscent of the pagan problem and more anxious to avoid it and to do what is right. They argue for an autumnal (fall) birth for Messiah on two counts: (1) Yah'shua (Jesus) was "tabernacled" amongst us (that is, took on flesh or human body), and Sukkot is known as 'Tabernacles'; and (2) The courses of the cohenim (priests), according to their mathematics. It is our contention that a Sukkot (Tabernacles) birth breaks divine tavnith (pattern), that the calculations using the priests' courses are based on faulty assumptions (a subject for another study), and that the overwhelming evidence - including divine tavnith (pattern) - points not only to a spring birth but specifically a Passover or Pesach birth! For more orientation on this claim, see the articles at the end of this devotional.

Today I wish to look at some new evidence that clearly points to a spring birth and that concerns the place of Yah'shua's (Jesus') birth, namely, Bethlehem or Beit Lechem ('House of Bread'). It is not by any means contested, but rather universally accepted, that Bethlehem was a pastural area where shepherds grazed their sheep. Similalrly, no one contests that Yah'shua (Jesus) was born there. But what is not generally known is that Bethlehem was a set-apart place designated and ordained as the official birthing place of lambs which were used for the Pesach or Passover sacrifices!

"In Micah 4:8 we read about the "[watch]tower of the flock", or in Hebrew, Migdal Edar. According to the Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, by Alfred Edersheim, a Jewish believer in the late 1800's, Migal Edar was the location where the Messiah was to be revealed. This watchtower stood as a place of protection for the city from approaching enemies, but it was also utilized by shepherds to watch over the specific flocks from which sacrificial Passover lambs were taken.

"The shepherds who were tending these particular flocks were no ordinary shepherds. They were specifically trained by the Rabbis for a holy task. They had to insure that, as much as possible, every lamb was free of any blemish or injury, in order to be used for the Passover sacrifice. Since they were instructed by the Rabbis, they almost certainly knew of those passages in the Targums (Aramaic translations) and the Mishna associating the birth of the Messiah with Migdal Edar. For example, Migdal Edar is translated in one of the Targums as "The Anointed One of the Flock of Israel." It is also written in the Mishna that "He spread his tent beyond Migdal Edar, the place where King Messiah will reveal Himself at the end of days." (George Whitten, Worthy News Brief, December 26, 2011).

What greater evidence can there be, prophetically-speaking, for a spring birth of Messiah? "The Lamb of Elohim (God), who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29, NKJV) was not only born in the prophesied location of Bethlehem-Ephrathah but was born in the place where lambs were specifically reared for Pesach (Passover) sacrifices, as He Himself became our Sacrifice. It should be obvious - blatantly obvious, in fact - that Bethlehem is the place and time of birth - birth of Messiah in the lambing season for the Pesach sacrifices, of which Messiah was Himself the fulfilment. Can it be revealed any plainer than that? Not only that, but Messiah was born on same day that He died! Why was Yah'shua (Jesus) born? To die - for our sins! This is the Alef-Taw, or Alpha-Omega, the beginning (birth) and end (death) in one eternal round (Rev.1:8,11; 22:13):

"It is done! I am the Alef (Alpha) and the Taw (Omega), the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the mayim (water) of chayim (life) freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his Elohim (God) and he shall be My son" (Rev.21:6-7, NKJV).

Join with us next Passover as we celebrate not only Messiah's death and resurrection, but also His birth! Have you first Alef-Taw Pesach!