There comes a time every now and then that one finds something in their studies that goes completely against the grain of pop-Christianity. Like when you find out that Jesus wasn't a white dude with long hair, or that Jesus wasn't born on December 25th. Here we'll be discussing one such article: the place of Jesus' birth and the events leading up to it.
After Gabriel had appeared to Joseph and Mary, and convinced Joseph to go through with the marriage despite Mary's child, Caesar Augustus issued a command that everyone between the ages of 13 and 62 be rallied for a head count at the town on one's clan origin to be taxed. The two of them journeyed down to Bethlehem to pay their dues to Caesar, as that is where Joseph's family originated from. Now here's where things get mixed up.
As is commonly told to us, Mary is totally pregnant and about to give birth. Tragically, her and Joseph get a cold shoulder from the inn keepers, saying there is no room, and find the help of a random shepherd to use their stable for shelter.
Wrong!
The Greek word used for "inn" here in Luke's birth narrative is Kataluma, which actually has nothing to do with inns at all. This is the same word that is used to describe the room in which Jesus and His disciples have the Last Supper in, and therefore should more accurately be translated as "guest room". The word used for "inn" in Greek is actually Pandeion, which uses in the parable of the Good Samaritan [1]. So what does this all mean in regards to the Christmas story then?
Being that Joseph's relatives lived in Bethlehem, that means they actually had a home(s) there. Makes sense, right? According to archeological evidence in Bethlehem, houses of that day often had caves in the back where they would keep their animals to avoid thievery and the like. The living quarters were in the front of the house, and the animals' housing was in the back. Joseph and Mary had apparently arrived later than the rest of the family line, and therefore could not be housed in the living quarters [2].
"But why couldn't they have conceded room to them?" you might ask. Understanding the honor/shame culture of the Bible is an important factor in answering this question. To my knowledge, because Joseph and Mary were guests and had arrived late, it would have been dishonorable to argue with a relative of higher honor (such as the master of the house, or those who had arrived sooner, who very well could have been in similar situations as Joseph and Mary) about where they would be allowed to stay, and would also have been dishonorable to accept a more honorable relative conceding their place in the house to them.
Either way, I think God definitely had a lesson in mind for us concerning Jesus' place of birth. Not only was the statement made that "no place is too lowly for my Son's presence," but there's also the symbolic implication that being born among animals that were also used for temple sacrifice, Jesus found a place there as a future sacrifice Himself.
To my readers, I hope you can see that though this sort of thing may seem argumentative in nature, breaking the paradigm is not a bad thing. We are the bearers of the truth, so why should we continue subscribing to unnecessary, dead-weight stories? Miseducation should always be corrected with love (since it can't always be avoided), and the miseducated should by no means be looked down upon.
I hope you all learned something new, and furthermore, I hope you've learned something new that you can teach to others. It's a small detail, but I hope you all see the importance of the details themselves. Details are what make up the truth as a whole, after all. : )
Friday, November 12, 2010
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
The Virgin Shall Conceive...
My apologies for not blogging last week. Sometimes these types of blogs can be really difficult to maintain when you're as busy as I am. But I digress...
This week we'll be talking about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the events surrounding the virgin birth.
Canonically, Mary is the daughter of Heli ben-Mattat, though apparently in early extra-biblical texts her parents are named as Joachim and Anne [1]. Mary's name in Hebrew (canonically) would therefore be Miriam bat-Heli.
The etymology of Miriam is rather uncertain, and subject to much debate. Variants of the name are found throughout many languages and cultures, therefore making it's origin rather cloudy. Miriam is a Levite name, and as it seems, many Levite names are Egyptian in origin. It is speculated that the name Miriam is related to the Egyptian name Merari, which means "Beloved". Others who lean towards a Hebrew origin claim it's etymology with the word mara, meaning "to be rebellious". It is also associated with marar, "to be bitter (see Ruth 1:20); strengthen; strong". The word yam means "sea", so combining the two ("maryam"), Miriam may mean something like "Waters of Strength" or "Strong Waters" [2].
Because of the high death rates in ancient society, people often married very young. About 60% of all humans died before the age of 18, and so it was imperative to marry young and carry on the family name. With this in mind, it is estimated that Mary was probably about 13 or 14 years old when she became engaged to Joseph. We sure do live in different times, don't we?
Closely after their engagement is when Gabriel comes into the picture and informs Mary that, though she was still a virgin, she would soon conceive a child by the Holy Spirit, who was to be Jesus the Savior. Let's take a trip back to the Old Testament now, to Isaiah 7:14.
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Most Christians consider this to be a direct prophecy concerning the virgin birth, though I mentioned in my previous blog that there are some who view Isaiah 7:14 as a typology of the virgin birth. To reiterate, a typology is "... a verse [or story in the Old Testament] with independent historical context that also pertains to the life of Jesus... e.g. Abraham and Isaac, Jonah's 3 days in the fish, etc". In other words, some suggest that Isaiah 7:14 has an independent context pertaining to Isaiah's address to King Ahaz, of which Christ "brings to life" in the New Testament. I tend to lean towards the typology view myself, though I am not 100% certain, as most if not all the Christian apologists I look up to (Dr. Michael Brown, J.P. Holding, to name some) tend to lean towards the prophecy view.
One thing we know for certain though: whether by prophecy or typology, God has glorified His Son before His earthly birth centuries beforehand in the Old Testament, and we rejoice in God's great plan of salvation for all mankind. That's why Jesus came into the world after all!
This week we'll be talking about Mary, the mother of Jesus, and the events surrounding the virgin birth.
Canonically, Mary is the daughter of Heli ben-Mattat, though apparently in early extra-biblical texts her parents are named as Joachim and Anne [1]. Mary's name in Hebrew (canonically) would therefore be Miriam bat-Heli.
The etymology of Miriam is rather uncertain, and subject to much debate. Variants of the name are found throughout many languages and cultures, therefore making it's origin rather cloudy. Miriam is a Levite name, and as it seems, many Levite names are Egyptian in origin. It is speculated that the name Miriam is related to the Egyptian name Merari, which means "Beloved". Others who lean towards a Hebrew origin claim it's etymology with the word mara, meaning "to be rebellious". It is also associated with marar, "to be bitter (see Ruth 1:20); strengthen; strong". The word yam means "sea", so combining the two ("maryam"), Miriam may mean something like "Waters of Strength" or "Strong Waters" [2].
Because of the high death rates in ancient society, people often married very young. About 60% of all humans died before the age of 18, and so it was imperative to marry young and carry on the family name. With this in mind, it is estimated that Mary was probably about 13 or 14 years old when she became engaged to Joseph. We sure do live in different times, don't we?
Closely after their engagement is when Gabriel comes into the picture and informs Mary that, though she was still a virgin, she would soon conceive a child by the Holy Spirit, who was to be Jesus the Savior. Let's take a trip back to the Old Testament now, to Isaiah 7:14.
"Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel."
Most Christians consider this to be a direct prophecy concerning the virgin birth, though I mentioned in my previous blog that there are some who view Isaiah 7:14 as a typology of the virgin birth. To reiterate, a typology is "... a verse [or story in the Old Testament] with independent historical context that also pertains to the life of Jesus... e.g. Abraham and Isaac, Jonah's 3 days in the fish, etc". In other words, some suggest that Isaiah 7:14 has an independent context pertaining to Isaiah's address to King Ahaz, of which Christ "brings to life" in the New Testament. I tend to lean towards the typology view myself, though I am not 100% certain, as most if not all the Christian apologists I look up to (Dr. Michael Brown, J.P. Holding, to name some) tend to lean towards the prophecy view.
One thing we know for certain though: whether by prophecy or typology, God has glorified His Son before His earthly birth centuries beforehand in the Old Testament, and we rejoice in God's great plan of salvation for all mankind. That's why Jesus came into the world after all!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
His Wings as Drifted Snow, His Eyes as Flames
Well everyone, this week I was excited and had this post all written out on Monday, but it turned out I ran into a major snag. I was going to talk about Isaiah 7:14, but I hit a wall in my research on whether or not that verse is a direct prophecy to the virgin birth or a typology (that is, a verse etc with independent historical context that also pertains to the life of Jesus... e.g. Abraham and Isaac, Jonah's 3 days in the fish, etc). I personally lean more towards the typology view, but I want to make absolute sure of something on here before I present my case.
So instead (and unfortunately), I'll only be posting an excerpt of my original post (to which I'll be elaborating on), which covers a little bit of background information on the angel we know as Gabriel. Our "journey to the manger" begins with Gabriel and his proclamation to Zacharias. In next week's post we're going to skip to his proclamation to Mary however. But without further a due, let's learn a little bit about this interesting character:
Gabriel is one of two non-fallen angels mentioned by name in the entire bible, the other of which being Michael. Gabriel's name in Hebrew is actually pronounced “Gavriel” (Gahv-ree-el), and essentially means “mighty man of God.” He is first mentioned in Daniel 8:16, and while not much is said about him there, we learn later in Luke 1:19 that Gabriel “stands in the presence of God.” He is never explicitly titled as an Archangel, Cherub, or Seraph, but it is safe to assume by his statement in Luke 1:19 that he probably falls under one of those three as far as angelic hierarchy is concerned. Gabriel is typically viewed as a messenger, because of his roles in the book of Daniel, and of course the New Testament.
So instead (and unfortunately), I'll only be posting an excerpt of my original post (to which I'll be elaborating on), which covers a little bit of background information on the angel we know as Gabriel. Our "journey to the manger" begins with Gabriel and his proclamation to Zacharias. In next week's post we're going to skip to his proclamation to Mary however. But without further a due, let's learn a little bit about this interesting character:
Gabriel is one of two non-fallen angels mentioned by name in the entire bible, the other of which being Michael. Gabriel's name in Hebrew is actually pronounced “Gavriel” (Gahv-ree-el), and essentially means “mighty man of God.” He is first mentioned in Daniel 8:16, and while not much is said about him there, we learn later in Luke 1:19 that Gabriel “stands in the presence of God.” He is never explicitly titled as an Archangel, Cherub, or Seraph, but it is safe to assume by his statement in Luke 1:19 that he probably falls under one of those three as far as angelic hierarchy is concerned. Gabriel is typically viewed as a messenger, because of his roles in the book of Daniel, and of course the New Testament.
The Qur'an references Gabriel (called by "Jibrail" in Arabic), though I don't think it's really worth citing in this case, as views of Gabriel in the Qur'an were most likely adopted and distorted from Jewish or Christian views anyway. Normally I find value in citing extra-biblical texts to give my readers an idea of what popular Ancient Near Eastern thought was on certain subjects, but considering that the Qur'an was written really late in the game (610 - 632 CE), there's nothing worth citing from it.
The Book of Enoch however does mention Gabriel, and while the credibility of that text is in obvious question, it does at least give us a hint to what some or most Jews thought at the time. In the Book of Enoch, Gabriel is said to have been commanded by God to instigate war between the offspring of Nephilim (who are called "The Watchers" in the Book of Enoch) because they were so corrupt. Furthermore, it mentions that Gabriel is an authoritative figure above "all that is powerful" (including the seraphim and cherubim) and sits at the left hand of God with the angel Metatron (supposedly the angel who interceded and saved Isaac from Abraham's sacrifice). Considering the Book of Enoch focuses a lot on angel literature (an unnecessary deviation from the Tanakh), it's probably just fanciful elaboration for the most part... but there is still educational value to it historically speaking.
Case and point though, Gabriel is a pretty powerful guy! His name says so, and God certainly says so if He allows him to stand in His presence for eternity. If Gabriel ever dropped you a line, I'd recommend you listen up!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
Following the Star
During this Christmas season's production of Journey to the Manger, the staff of Masquer Ministries will be leading the audience on, well... a journey, as usual. "We have seen His star, and we have seen the light...", and it is yet again time to share the light of that star with the world.
Accompanying us this time are, thankfully, most of the familiar faces in the company, as well as some not-so-familiar ones. Sadly we lost a foundational member at the end of our last show, and so it's nice to see a good sized handful of newbies in the company. I have been with this ministry going on 4 years now, and it's exciting to see how much it is growing.
Once the show progresses a little more, I have some interesting topics related to the nativity to touch on. Things such as when the wisemen arrived to Jesus and company, who they were, the meaning of their gifts, as well as some other interesting facts about Jesus' place of birth. Did you know that Jesus was not actually born in a cave, or even necessarily a "stable" as we know or think of? Controversy, I know! We'll be diving into the Greek text on that one, and it should make for an interesting and hopefully informative adventure.
Stay tuned next week for more updates.
Sincerely in Christ,
D
Accompanying us this time are, thankfully, most of the familiar faces in the company, as well as some not-so-familiar ones. Sadly we lost a foundational member at the end of our last show, and so it's nice to see a good sized handful of newbies in the company. I have been with this ministry going on 4 years now, and it's exciting to see how much it is growing.
Once the show progresses a little more, I have some interesting topics related to the nativity to touch on. Things such as when the wisemen arrived to Jesus and company, who they were, the meaning of their gifts, as well as some other interesting facts about Jesus' place of birth. Did you know that Jesus was not actually born in a cave, or even necessarily a "stable" as we know or think of? Controversy, I know! We'll be diving into the Greek text on that one, and it should make for an interesting and hopefully informative adventure.
Stay tuned next week for more updates.
Sincerely in Christ,
D
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