So then, if the date of Jesus
Christ birth is unknown the question is who hid it and why was it hidden? It
was hidden because according to the book of Lamentations; “The Lord was like an
enemy. He has swallowed up Israel, He has swallowed up all her palaces; He has
destroyed her strongholds, and has increased mourning and lamentation in the
daughter of Judah. He has done violence to His tabernacle, as if it were a
garden; He has destroyed His place of assembly; The LORD has caused the
appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion.”
“In His burning indignation He has
spurned the king and the priest. The Lord has spurned His altar, He has
abandoned His sanctuary; He has given up the walls of her palaces into the hand
of the enemy. They have made a noise in the house of the LORD as on the day of
a set feast” (Lamentations 2:5-7).
There is a penalty for disobedience
which is spiritual blindness as stated by the prophet Isaiah saying; “Pause and
wonder! Blind yourselves and be blind! They are drunk, but not with wine; They
stagger, but not with intoxicating drink. For the LORD has poured out on you the
spirit of deep sleep, and has closed your eyes, namely, the prophets; And He
has covered your heads, namely, the seers. The whole vision has become to you
like the words of a book that is sealed, which men deliver to one who is
literate, saying, "Read this, please." And he says, "I cannot,
for it is sealed."
Then the book is delivered to one
who is illiterate, saying, "Read this, please." And he says, "I
am not literate." Therefore the Lord said: " Inasmuch as these people
draw near with their mouths and honor Me with their lips, but have removed
their hearts far from Me, and their fear toward Me is taught by the commandment
of men, Therefore, behold, I will again do a marvelous work among this people,
A marvelous work and a wonder; For the wisdom of their wise men shall perish, and
the understanding of their prudent men shall be hidden" (Isaiah
29:9-14 ).
Our disobedience and lack of
reverence to God have caused a spiritual blindness preventing us from observing
the day which was designated for the joy of all people as again illustrated by
the prophet Isaiah saying; “Go, and tell this people: ' Keep on hearing, but do
not understand; Keep on seeing, but do not perceive. Make the heart of this
people dull, and their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; Lest they see with
their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their heart, and
return and be healed" (Isaiah 6:9-10).
Unfortunately, the whole world is
under a heavy cloud of deception and for some reason has not been able to
associate the date of Christ’s birth with the Feast of Tabernacles which is
intertwined with each other and the Eighth Day of the feast which commemorates
the date of His circumcision.
The crux of the matter is, the most
important criterion when it comes to worship the One and only true God is that
we worship Him in spirit and in truth for the Father is seeking such to worship
Him. Now to worship the Father in spirit denotes that there must be purpose,
intent, rationale and objective for presenting ourselves before Him and this
intent or rationale must be in truth which according to the Psalmist David; “The
entirety of Your word is truth” and according to the apostle John; “Sanctify
them by Your truth. Your word is truth” (Psalms 119:160; John
17:17).
Therefore, since the Word (Jesus
Christ) who is the same yesterday, today and forever and does not change
ordained His date of birth, the day that God took on flesh and dwelt among men
as a time of great joy to all people became to be unknown, forgotten and
reached the point of being substituted by a pagan festival?
When the word of God clearly states
that, “And it shall come to pass that everyone who is left of all the nations
which came against Jerusalem shall go up from year to year to worship the King,
the LORD of hosts, and to keep the Feast of Tabernacles. And it shall be that
whichever of the families of the earth do not come up to Jerusalem to worship
the King, the LORD of hosts, on them there will be no rain.”
“If the family of Egypt will not
come up and enter in, they shall have no rain; they shall receive the plague
with which the LORD strikes the nations who do not come up to keep the Feast of
Tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt and the punishment of all
the nations that do not come up to keep the Feast of Tabernacles” (Zachariah
14:16-19).
As one can clearly see that there
is a feast ordained by God for the joy of all people. In the Old Testament the
Israelites were commanded saying; “You shall keep it as a feast to the LORD for
seven days in the year. It shall be a statute forever in your generations. You
shall celebrate it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven
days. All who are native Israelites shall dwell in booths, that your
generations may know that I made the children of Israel dwell in booths when I
brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the LORD your God " (Leviticus
23:41-43).
In our New Testament dispensation
this festival is to commemorate the day that God took on flesh and dwelt among
us and in whom we live and move and have our existence. So, I beg to ask the
question, what about this festival that one is unable to understand? Whether to
observe and commemorate it as the arrival of the King of kings and Lord of
lords or as the day of Joy which God ordained for the joy of all people?
God has overlooked these times of
ignorance and now commands all men everywhere to repent. The sin of irreverence
the lack of love, respect, adoration and appreciation for what the Lord has and
is doing for humanity is the root cause of the division and dissensions that
exist in the church, the failure to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth and
laying aside the commandments of God and following the customs and traditions
of men. What a shame!
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With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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