I have read the many posts and blogs concerning this same question here on the ULC and on other sites. To be honest I did not want to even post on the subject until I read something sent to me just before Christmas.
Last year, in response to the growing number of Christians who celebrate Hanukkah but hate Christmas, I wrote an article for our Church website titled "Hanukkah or Christmas?" I explained why I think Jesus was either conceived or birthed on December 25.
In summary, Hanukkah, also referred to as the Festival of Lights, begins every year on the 25th of Kislev (December) on the Hebrew calendar. (The date for Hanukkah shifts on the western calendar because we use the Gregorian calendar.)
I mentioned that the early Jews believed that your birthdate was your date of conception; not your date of physical birth. So regardless of whether Jesus was conceived or born on December 25 (or Hanukkah), that date should have been a sign to the Jews that the true Light of the world had come, and that His light would burn forever.
Yes, I am aware of the current arguments that the "real" date of Jesus’ birth was sometime in the fall. However, I am also aware that the Bible does not tell us when Jesus was born. Therefore, any date that we argue in favor of is still speculation, regardless of how dogmatic we are about it.
A few days ago I received in the mail an article entitled, "Jewish Holy Days: The Making of a Baby." Last night I took the time to sit down and read it and I am so glad I did. This correlation between gestation and the Jewish Holy Days was realized by Zola Levitt during his conversation with a gynecologist, so credit belongs to him for what I am going to tell you.
After I read this, I was more convinced than ever, based on the patterns, that Jesus really was conceived at Passover and birthed on December 25, or the first day of Hanukkah. Here is a summary of the doctor’s explanation of gestation and the correlation to the Jewish Holy Days:
Doctor: On the 14th day of the first month, the egg appears.
Zola: That is Passover.
Doctor: The egg must be fertilized within 24 hours, or it will pass on.
Zola: That represents the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the seed that "fell into the ground and died" in order to produce a harvest.
Doctor: Within 2 to 6 days, the fertilized egg attaches itself to the wall of the womb and begins to grow.
Zola: The Feast of Firstfruits is observed anywhere from 2 to 6 days after Passover.
Doctor: Around the 50th day, the embryo takes on a human form, with arms, hands, fingers, legs, feet, toes, a head, and eyes.
Zola: That’s Pentecost.
Doctor: On the first day of the 7th month, the baby’s hearing develops. It is able to hear and distinguish sounds outside the womb.
Zola: That is the date of the Festival of Trumpets.
Doctor: On the 10th day of the 7th month, the hemoglobin of the blood changes from that of the mother, to a self-sustaining baby.
Zola: That is the Day of Atonement, when the blood was taken into the Holy of Holies.
Doctor: On the 15th day of the 7th month, the lungs become fully developed. If born before then, the baby will have a hard time breathing.
Zola: That’s Tabernacles, a time of celebrating the Temple, home of the Shekinah glory, or Spirit of God. In the New Testament, the Greek term pneuma, normally translated as breath, is applied to the Holy Spirit.
Doctor: Birth takes place on the 10th day of the ninth month.
Zola: The eight days of Hanukkah are celebrated right on schedule, nine months and ten days after Passover. In Jewish families, eight days after birth, a son is circumcised.
Do you see a pattern here? For a moment, forget all the arguments you have heard about why Jesus could not have been born on December 25 and look only at the pattern.
Can you see the gestation of Christ beginning on Passover, and ending with His birth on December 25? Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days, thus lasting long enough for Jesus to be circumcised. Hanukkah is also known as the Feast of Dedication (because it celebrates the rededication of the second Temple), and I picture the circumcision to be similar to the baby dedication that we celebrate in the Christian churches.
If these indeed are the true dates, then Jesus also died and was resurrected during the same feast in which He was conceived—Passover. There’s another pattern.
Do not let Christians or other groups get you in bondage because December 25 once might have been affiliated with various pagan gods. Why do you think the enemy would choose to pervert December 25 unless that day was significant to God? Some Christians take the joy out of living because they concentrate so much on the devil and what the pagans have done. December 25 must have been a very important day in God’s eyes if the enemy chose it as a day to glorify himself.
Now even the Christians are trying to steal Christmas and give it back to the pagans. Don’t let it happen. Keep Christmas alive! Jesus was indeed born, and the date that we celebrate His birth is December 25. So remember the reason for the celebration and have a Merry Christmas!
