It's that time of the year again... the "ber" months. Already malls are playing Christmas carols and displaying all sorts of decorations for the season. I feel sad for them because the Lord Jesus was NOT really born on the 25th of December. At the time of this writing, we are within a few days of His actual birth anniversary. Like I wrote in a post last year, I believe His birth was during the 7th month of the Hebrew calendar (Sept-Oct). At first I thought it was specifically during the Feast of Trumpets but after a few more months of study I now believe it to be at the start of the Feast of Tabernacles.

The Lord Jesus' birth date can actually be counted logically using details revealed in the Holy Bible. One method uses a count from the conception of John the Baptist using the courses of the Temple Priesthood. It is quite complex so here is a link to the article.

There is I believe an easier way to count it arriving at roughly the same time. (Here I share my own method so please let me know if there is an error in my approach). This method involves the prophecy in the Book of Daniel about the coming of Messiah the Prince (Daniel 9:24-27). In that prophecy we are told that the Messiah would be "cut off" in the middle of His ministry. This means He will be killed in the middle of the last prophetic week. One day is one year in prophecy. His ministry spans 3 and a half years. From this we know two things: first, His death during Passover(14th Aviv-1st month in the Hebrew Calendar) and second, we know His baptism date by counting 3.5 years backward from his death. Now we must determine His age when He was baptized. From the Laws concerning the Temple Priesthood, we know that someone who is to serve in the Temple (that is to minister) must be of a certain age. In the previous passage we determined it to be 30. Note that the specific age is actually not important to our birth date study but the timing is. Here is the important point: We must in faith assume that our Lord would never delay the fulfillment of His Word in Daniel concerning Himself. I therefore say that His Baptism was on or near His birth date. It is safe to assume He was counting His years because He must fulfill the requirements of the Law. Knowing these facts, we count backward from the time of His death - the 14th of the 1st Hebrew month. Counting six months back we arrive at the 14th of the 7th Hebrew month to take into consideration the "half" year of the prophecy (the Hebrew calendar also has 12 months so half of it is 6 months). From there counting 3 whole years we arrive at His Baptism. Notice that we don't even have to count a full 3 years, it is enough to consider the "half" of the 3-and-half years because the 3 years are whole 12 month segments so the backward count will always fall on the same date. Therefore from our count and the assumption that the Lord Jesus Christ would not delay this prophecy in the Book of Daniel, we can safely say that He was born around the time of the Feast of Tabernacles which starts at the 15th of the 7th month. Making His name "Immanuel" or "God with Us" all the more meaningful.

These two methods arrive at the same date: between the 14th and 15th of the 7th Hebrew month. Which is September 22 and 23 in the Roman calendar year of 2010 (it falls on slightly different dates yearly because of differences in the Hebrew and Roman calendars). If we do not wish to be that specific, it should be enough to say that the birth of the Lord when He came in the form of a Man occurred during the 7th month of the Hebrew Calendar which falls in September-October of the Roman Calendar.

Therefore to all who were allowed by God Almighty to know, Let us celebrate the Feasts of the Lord knowing full well that the Lord's salvation plan is outlined in His Solemn Feasts. Let us observe them spiritually in remembrance and anticipation of fulfillment of the 7th month Feasts (without the sacrifices and oblations which the Messiah caused to cease) while we await the return of our Resurrected Saviour and Lord Jesus Christ.

Please let me know of any error I may have made. May the Lord God Almighty forgive any mistakes here and cause us to come to the full knowledge of the Truth.

UPDATE 10/8/2010: It occurred to me that I did not consider leap years. If assuming a leap year (presence of Adar I) fell within the last half-year of the prophetic 3.5 year period, we would have to accept a margin for error. And even if we use a margin of +/-15 days (half a month - half Adar I), the Birth estimate would still fall within or around the seventh month. Given the other supporting Scriptures and the prophetic meaning of the Feast days, our overall conclusion of the Birth occurring around the time of the 7th Hebrew month still stands.

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Last July 24, 2010 at 7:34AM Philippine time (a Sabbath), I finished reading through my KJV Bible. It's the first time I read the Scriptures from cover to cover. I believe it took me approximately 2 years and 4 months to finish my study. It was an eye opening experience. My intent was to dig deep in the Bible and have some of my lingering questions answered.

With the help of God, I was able to finish reading and learned a lot of new things. I am now confident that true Christians should keep the Lord's Sabbath among other things (it is Saturday not Sunday: from sundown Friday to sunset Saturday). Not to be legalistic, but to keep the Commandments out of love for God our Creator with the help of Jesus our Savior and the Holy Spirit. We are saved by grace not works but our works are among the fruits of our faith.

Furthermore, out of brotherly love, I advice you all to stop eating pork and all the unclean foods. Read your Bible. Never was it mentioned that those foods unfit for eating has already been cleaned. This is another false doctrine that is causing many health problems because God didn't intend us to eat those animals.

I urge everyone to read their Bibles with an open mind and test your pastors or church leaders with what the Bible says. Do not rely on what man teaches no matter how charismatic the person - test what they say against the Holy Scriptures to see if they are truly of God. Life everlasting is at stake.

Again, please read your Bibles - pray and ask God and the Holy Spirit to guide and teach you. This is the essence of the New Covenant: where God will put his laws in our hearts and write them in our minds (Hebrews 10:16).

Dear Reader, please let me know of any questions you may have and I will answer with God's help.

To my co-members from my former church, you know who you are, and you are witnesses to my zeal when I was among you. I am sorry to say that your leader is blind. Visit me and I will show you proof from the Bible itself.

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It's less than 20 hours to 2010. For the past month or so Filipinos have been celebrating the holiday season like there's no tomorrow (seems like everyone has lots of money these days). Tonight, I expect another display of fireworks firepower that will rival a small war. The sonic fury and visual display from a fireworks-crazy nation is sure to terrorize small animals once more ;-) I know that once again we have to cuddle up with our dogs who are terrified of fireworks. Let's stay safe... don't use dangerous illegal firecrackers and don't shoot guns in the air. And remember:

Always thank God Almighty for His blessings and Love your neighbors.

I wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous 2010!

By the way, the start of the Biblical New Year is the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) which every Christian should also celebrate. 


Edit 10/7/2011: As true Christians,  I now believe that we should have no more part in the observance of the modern Roman-calendar New Year celebrations (and any other non-Biblical celebrations the world observes). The Bible teaches that the true New Year is on the first month (Abib) of the Hebrew calendar and the Spiritual New Year (Spiritual renewing) is on the seventh month (Ethanim) of the Hebrew calendar.

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I spend hours in the supermarket, more than any other person I know. It's not that I just like hanging out in the air conditioned mall - it's because I read product labels carefully. I also observe the buying habits of Filipinos. I noticed that the majority never bother knowing what they are ingesting. They just buy what's cheap and tastes good. People don't know that whatever their ailments are, it probably came from the food they ate. Lifestyle diseases like cancer and diabetes are very prevalent these days, so much more than in our grandparent's time. The popularity of fast food, instant snacks and the like are causing people to eat bad things. Among the things most Filipinos buy that's not good for them: instant noodles(has many artificial ingredients), polished rice, refined sugar, canned or processed meats, pork products, artificial drinks  - all are cheap and in good supply. Even cosmetics and lotions are not spared, most contain harmful substances too.

Did you know that some food additives that were banned elsewhere are being sold with our food? For example BHA, which was banned in other countries, yet I found this in margarines, cheese hotdogs, and many other items. Then there's Sodium Nitrite, this is linked to cancer yet it's in the hotdogs and canned meats kids love. There are many more such things including BHT, MSG (locally known as vetsin), and artificial sweeteners like saccharin, acesulfame-k, aspartame, - too many to list everything here. Some of these artificial sweeteners are actually claiming to be healthy substitutes!

Most doctors are not much help in the area of advising  people what to eat. I've seen many doctors and most lack knowledge when it comes to nutrition. I knew one that even said smoking was good for you :-( And another that said that these poisons won't affect you when taken in small quantities! Then there are conflicting studies that say they are harmless. Come on, who can predict each individual's body tolerance? Why do we gamble with people's health just to make a buck? Are we to wait until we have a terrible disease before we act?

If we read our Bibles, you will notice that God even advises us what to eat and not to eat (also Deut 8:8). And these do not include artificial and chemical ingredients. Some would debate that these verses are obsolete because Jesus "cleaned" all food - Read your Bible friends - God never takes back any fact he says. The error comes from an out-of-context reading of Acts:11 and Mark 7:19 . Anyway, the point is, let us be responsible (even religious) in what we consume. More so with what we feed our children. I can't blame people for buying these things specially because of the economic difficulties (since healthy food tends to be much more costly), but we must stop and think - what's more expensive? eat the right foods now or be hospitalized (or dead) later?

Further reading from CNN
also here 

Excuse the bad pic it was taken in the supermarket :-)

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It's the first day of December. We are again bombarded by reminders from merchants peddling their wares, each one trying to get a slice of our holiday budgets. From TV ads, to holiday music in malls, we are constantly reminded that to be happy this season we must spend, give, and receive. Although there's nothing blatantly wrong with this, businesses must make a profit after all, but I am worried that some people forget the true reason for the season - The Lord Jesus Christ's birth.

I am a religious man and read my KJV Bible systematically. Most of you probably know that the true date of the Lord's birth is unknown (EDIT 9/24/10 we now know it with reasonable certainty) and the current date of December 25 is linked to former pagan holidays. But I think we must keep in mind what is being celebrated in the here and now. If all Christians moved the date to the most probable time of year, I would be a very happy man, but let us accept that this probably won't happen unless the majority of Christians actually begin to read their Bibles.

From my readings I believe the Lord was born sometime during the Feast of Trumpets. I also believe that He will return during one of these Feasts (which heralds the coming of the King - the last trump) and will coincide with a Jubilee year (acceptable year of the Lord). God is, after all, the foremost mathematician I know. The Feast of Trumpets is celebrated on September or October - where ever it falls in the Jewish Calendar.

Am I saying that we boycott the current Christmas holiday date? Not at all. My personal belief about this is that Christians are celebrating this as the Lord's birth - not some long forgotten pagan holiday. (EDIT 9/24/10 But now that we can determine His true birth date, there is no reason to continue the false one except maybe to use as a witnessing opportunity). What I am saying is let us remember the true Christmas and get rid of all the pagan trimmings (I'll leave that bit for you to research). Let us learn about the Lord and his reason for coming as a man (to save man from the wages of his sin). Let us love the Lord with all our hearts (which will inevitably mean to follow his commandments and will). Let us spend quality time with our families and friends this Christmas. Let us love our neighbors and enemies. It's OK to give gifts to our loved ones specially kids - but do we remember to give to our Lord who is the original recipient of Christmas gifts? What can we possibly give the Almighty? I say let us give our allegiance to Him, surrender our lives and will DAILY, that is, accept Him as Lord and Savior - otherwise it would be pointless commercialism (paganism?) to celebrate Christmas.




Note: I am currently not a member of any denomination. Past experience with oppressive cult-like behavior from our former congregations prevents me from joining any group at this time - until I have read the Word completely with God's help (so I will not be fooled again by false teachers).  I am simply a Christian who reads his Bible now.

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