Some Little-Known Biblical Facts Concerning Christmas!

There are many who, when they attend a church func- tion or other stage-play featuring the manger scene, with the three wise men, along with their visit to consult Herod to determine the location of the then recently born Christ Child, fail to fully comprehend all of the events taking place in the surrounding history which are seldom revealed. This will be an effort to divulge some of the missing data.

First of all, the Herod family were Edomites who were converted to Judaism about 105 B.C., which we find record- ed at Josephus’ Antiq. bk. 13: ch, 9: par. 1, in part:

“... Hyrcanus took also Dora and Marissa, cities of Idumea, and subdued all the Idumeans; and permitted them to stay in that country, if they would circumcise their genitals, and make use of the laws of the Jews; and they were so desirous of living in the country of their forefathers, that they submitted to the use of circumcision, and the rest of the Jewish ways of living; at which time therefore this befell them, that they were hereafter no other than Jews ....”[Note: These “jews” were NOT Judah!]

I will now quote from Eusebius, The Church History, (I.7), translated by Paul L. Maier, pp. 34-35:

“When the line of Jewish [sic Judaean] rulers ceased, the orderly succession of high priests from generation to generation fell into instant confusion. The reliable Josephus reports that Herod, once made king by the Romans, no longer appointed high priests of the ancient line but obscure sorts[i.e. Edomite-jews] instead, a practice followed by his son Archelaus and the Roman governors after him when they took over the government of the Jews [sic Judaeans]. The same writer reports that Herod was the first to lock up the sacred vestment of the high priest and keep it under his own seal rather than priestly control, as did his succes- sor Archelaus and the Romans after him.”

Ibid. 1:7, p. 37: “... So Herod, with no Israelite ancestry and pained by his base origins, burned the genealogical records, think- ing he would appear of noble birth if no one were able to trace his bloodline from public documents. A few, however, carefully kept private records of their own, either remembering the names or finding them in copies, and took pride in preserving the memory of their aristocratic birth ... (cf. Eusebius’ The History of the Church, by Penguin Books, pp. 18-19).”

IMPORTANT: By the time of Christ’s birth in 3 B.C., the rulership of Judaea was fully usurped from true Israelite Levitical leadership to the converso-Edomite misrule under Rome accord- ing to The Zondervan Pictorial Encyclopedia, vol. 3 of 5, p. 126:

“THE HERODIAN DYNASTY (67-47 B.C.): The dynasty of the Herods became prominent during the confusion which resulted in the decay of the [Levitical] Hasmonean dynasty, the transference of Syria and Palestine to the rule of the Romans, and the civil wars which marked the decay of the nation. The first of the [Edomite]-Herodian dynasty was Antipater (or Antipas) who was appointed governor of Idumea (Josephus’ Antiq, 14.1.3-4.). His son was also named Antipater and Josephus considered him an Idumean by race and of great wealth (Josephus’ War 1.6.1-3, (especially par. 2) ...

“Antipater, Herod’s father, came into prominence after the death of Alexandra, the Maccabean queen. Her eldest son, Hyr- canus II, assumed the royal power in 67 B.C. But being a quiet and peaceful man he was set aside by his younger brother Arist- obulus after only three months’ reign (Josephus’ Antiq. 14.1.2; 15.6.4; War 1.5.4). Hyrcanus, declaring that he never really had desired the throne, surrendered all his honors to Aristobulus who became king and high priest. Although Hyrcanus and Aristo- bulus publicly made peace with each other it was short lived. Antipater saw in the position of Hyrcanus an opportunity to fulfill his own dream of being a political power in Judea. It was not difficult for Antipater to persuade Hyrcanus that he had been unjustly deprived of his hereditary rights by his younger brother, and suggested he should flee to Aretas, king of Arabia, with a view to recovering his rightful kingdom. Thus he fled to Petra (Josephus’ Antiq. 14.1.3-4).”

CONFUSED DATING OF WISE MEN:Most Biblical com- mentaries have Herod the Great’s death at 4 B.C. which conflicts with Luke 2:1-23. However, Insight On The Scriptures, volume 1 of 2, p. 1093, under subtitle “Date of His Death” says in part: “A problem arises with regard to the time of Herod’s death. Some chronologers hold that he died in year 5 or 4 B.C. Their chronology is based to a large extent on Josephus’ history. In dating the time that Herod was appointed king by Rome, Josephus uses a ‘consular dating,’ that is, he locates the event as occurring during the rule of certain Roman consuls ... This might indicate that the date of his death was 2 or perhaps 1 B.C.” This agrees with a 3 B.C. date for the birth of Christ. It is quite clear that the wise men visited Christ at Galilee about two years after the manger scene at Bethlehem. Christmas, as celebrated today, does not separate these as two different events. It would seem, if we are going to celebrate Christ’s birth, we would keep these two events in there proper order!

Evidence is found on Josephus’ chronology in The Birth Of Christ Recalculated by Ernest L. Martin, p. 107 in part:

“The Anomalies of Josephus: Josephus is not an easy author to understand relative to his chronological statements. At times he seems so consistent in his chronological information, and then at other times inconsistent. For certain periods he avoids giving any chronological details at all (often at the very times when the modern historian needs them). For example, the main years of Archelaus, Herod’s successor, are glossed over with one or two general statements, and the period from A.D. 6 to the time of Pilate, A.D. 26, is practically blank ... Why did he abandon the chronological indications in the latter years of Herod’s and the beginning of Archelaus’ reign? This is a mystery. The fact is, some of the most important events in Palestinian history were occurring during that period of sixteen years ....”

To comprehend the very race-mixed cosmopolitan popu- lation of Judaea at the birth of Christ, it is paramount that we grasp the fact that 99.99% of the twelve tribes of Israel had been taken captive by Assyria and Babylon, whereupon, being able to escape from them, they migrated into Europe, America and other White British colonies around the world! Further, Yahweh has built a “hedge” so we CAN NOT return to Palestine without getting all bloodied-up, (Hosea 2:6).

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