Birth of Jesus - a Bible Study

'Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit'. (John 12: 24).
"And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed and her seed;He shall bruise you on the head, and you shall bruise him on the heel." (Gen 3:15)

"...And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," says the LORD of Hosts". (Mal 3:1)

1 Chron 24:10: Zacharias (Luke 1:5) who was of the Levitical order of Abijah, had Temple duty, six Jewish months before Gabriel was sent to Mary.
"The Holy Spirit will come upon you, the power of the Highest hover over you;
Therefore, the child you bring to birthwill be called Holy, Son of God." The Message (Luke 1:35)

By working out the month that the priest Zachariah was on duty in the Temple earlier that year (1 Chron.24:10) it is clear that it was in Chislev, six months later, that Yeshua was conceived (in subsequent Gentile December; but as the Jewish calendar is lunar and not solar, sometimes late November).
The Hebrew month of Chislev was the sowing month when the fields were planted with grain and the early rains came. Jesus (Yeshua = God saves) the grain of wheat, the seed, the Son, became flesh in Mary by the Holy Spirit (Ruach = breath) of God. (Hanukkah 2007; Dec 5-12th).

He was born in Bethlehem (House of Bread) nine months later, as the prophet Micah had foretold.
"…you (pl) are a temple of God and … the Spirit of God dwells in you …" (I Cor.3:16")
…if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him." (Rom 8:9)

Does the living Messiah truly live in us? If so, then we are forever His Temple, just as Mary was for 9 months His physical temple. She was a type of the glorious Body of Messiah to come.

'Or what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For we are the temple of the living God; just as God said,"I WILL DWELL IN THEM AND WALK AMONG THEM;AND I WILL BE THEIR GOD, AND THEY SHALL BE MY PEOPLE." '(2 Cor 6:16)
Beginning in 167 BCE, the Jews of Judea rose up in revolt against the oppression of King Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire. The military leader of the first phase of the revolt was Judah the Maccabee, the eldest son of the priest Mattityahu (Mattathias). In the autumn of 164, Judah and his followers were able to capture the Temple in Jerusalem, which had been turned into a pagan shrine.

They cleansed it and rededicated it to Israel’s God. This event was observed in an eight-day celebration, which was patterned on Sukkot, the Sept/Oct festival of Tabernacles (which is probably when Jesus was actually born – although the Bible doesn't tell us so. It provides a good connection to the event of His Birth, and as the Festival of Tabernacles is a prophetic feast which also points to the Second Coming of Messiah, it's great to celebrate Hanukkah in the spirit of all three festivals. All three point to His coming.)
Later rabbinic tradition ascribes the length of the festival to a miraculous cruise of oil that burned for eight days.
Jesus was also in the Temple at Hanukkah (John 10:22-25). "At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. The Jews then gathered around Him, and were saying to Him, "How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly."
Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father's name, these testify of Me."

Much of the activity of Hanukkah takes place at home. Central to the holiday is the lighting of the Hanukkiah, an eight-branched candelabrum to which one candle is added on each day of the holiday until it is ablaze with light on the eighth day.

Interestingly, the 9th candle, which is used to light all the other ones, is called in Hebrew, the Shamash, or 'Servant'. Another root meaning of this word is 'Sun'. The Hebrew word for 'sun' is 'Shemesh' and means 'brilliant'. In Mal 4:2 it says,
"But for you who revere my name, the sun of righteousness will rise with healing in its wings."
(This was understood by the Talmudic rabbis as referring to the Messiah who would come, who is called the 'Servant' of the Lord in the Bible. This is why the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem of Jesus' robe, ('wings' is translated 'kanaph' or 'fringes', which were what a Jewish male had hanging from his prayer mantle) because she believed Him to be the Messiah.)

The Servant Messiah, the Seed, the Sun, the Son, has come to light our hearts with His light, to create a Temple out of pagans, those who were once dedicated to idols, and dedicate them to His Father.

The Talmud describes Hanukkah as a holiday of "praise and thanksgiving" in commemoration of the miraculous overthrow of the Syrian Greeks, the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem, and the single cruse of oil that lasted eight days. Hanukkah's festive atmosphere derives almost entirely from home ritual rather than organised religion and customs and is dominated by light as a metaphor for spiritual freedom. This is emphasized by special holiday songs, games, present-giving and foods.

'And in the sixth month (Chislev) (of Elizabeth's pregnancy) the angel Gawriel was sent from the presence of G-d to the city of Galeela whose name is Nasrath to a virgin who was betrothed to a man whose name was Yosip from the house of Dawid and the name of the virgin was Miryam…' Luqa 1: 31
Peshita Aramaic / English Interlinear B'rit Chadasha (New Testament)
Is it too much to imagine that Miryam was, like the Temple, rededicating herself to God, when Gabriel came to her?

'Christmas' was non-existent before the pagan Constantine fused Mithras and Christ together and formed a new form of religion with its roots in sun-worship. The sun-god Mithras is mentioned in the sacred writings of Chaldean Marduk (Baal) worship, the Avesta, and the Indo-Persian Vedas. Constantine made Christianity the Roman state religion, but its form was far from anything known to the first Nazarines. He had to merge the multitudes of pagans who were mostly his own soldiers with the burgeoning Nazarine faith in order to control his vast Hellenistic-thinking empire. This merger of faith in the God of Israel through Yeshua Ha Meshiah with Mithraism produced what we often see today as 'Christianity', far removed from its Hebrew roots. December 25th was observed as Mithras' Birthday, 'Natalis Solis Invictus', the birth of the unconquered winter sun.
It makes sense to celebrate the conception of the Jewish Messiah at this time of year, and to celebrate His birth around the end of September, the Feast of Tabernacles. After all, John's Gospel says 'the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us'… (John 1:14) and it's highly likely that Miryam and Yosip spent the first seven days of their stay in Beit Lechem in a stable, (although Luke doesn't use the word) which would correspond beautifully with the command that the Israelites should spend the seven days of the Feast of Tabernacles in shelters constructed out of branches. This feast also points towards the Second Coming of Messiah!

Interestingly, a passage in the Hindu Vedas says - 'A son will be born to a virgin in this world, take ye hold that (son) is what is superior (than everyone) Atharnava Veda 13 - 3- 4 ' born in a cattle shed ' Rig Veda 355 -1. J (see http://3tik.blogspot.com/2010/09/christ-in-vedas.html) and  http://www.louisraj.com/?p=165

(Incidently, if you want to find redemptive keys in Islam and the Qu'ran, find them in Camel Tracks.)

And here's something in Buddhism http://www.notjustnotes.ws/buddhasprophecy.htm

Chanukah celebrates the victory of the God of Israel over pagan-Greek/Babylonian culture, Hebrew thinking over Hellenistic, light over darkness, and that of Yeshua over Mithras/Tammuz/Satan, in that He became flesh by the power of the Holy Breath of God in Chislev, the month of sowing. 'Unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit' (John 12: 24). He was the holy seed, the seed of the woman (Gen.3:15) which, dying, would produce a mighty harvest; those who, believing in Him, would be born again and indwelt by the same Holy Breath of God.