Don’t Miss the Miracle!
Consider the possibility that the Bible has told us all along when God’s Son, Jesus Christ, would be born. Consider the possibility that our traditions–as wonderful as they are–have obscured the historical reality of what happened when Christ was born. Consider the possibility that a whole new world of wonder and beauty will appear when we finally see what happened when Jesus was born. It is truly stunning. Don’t miss the miracle!
The Night Christ Was Born
Across Jerusalem, the prayerful blasts of shofar resonated throughout the fading stillness of the twilight. They were announcing the new moon of the seventh month, and were lifting up prayers to God for mercy and guidance. But as the chorus of soulful petitions all over the sacred city dissolved into silence, one single, sonorous note continued beyond them all, a lingering appeal for peace, until it, too, went to sleep beneath the sun’s golden veil.
Blowing the Shofar – Man in a tallith, a Jewish prayer shawl, is blowing the shofar.
But as the sun descended, the bronze thumbnail of a new moon was growing brighter against the darkening sky, the recurring sign of a new start, a new year, and a new hope. It floated above the western horizon for awhile until it, too, quietly followed the path of the sun.
The Fingernail of God
The head of every month was announced with trumpets, but the seventh month was special because it was the head of the year marking the creation of mankind. And yet in spite of its regularity, there was a different tone emanating from the shofar on this night. Their collective voice held a special plea, a special cry, a uniquely emotion-laden prayer. And after the eyes of the people had turned from looking above and went back to the dealings of this earth with its laws, noise, and needs, the heavens continued a rare, attentive form of worship. After three days of being washed by the sun, the new moon was leading a parade of planets unlike anything that had been seen for over eight hundred years.
Ethanim 1 – Parade of Planets with Comet Present.
Closest to the moon stood Mercury, the messenger of the gods. Tonight a message was being delivered to him.
To the left of him was Venus, the glowing, most beautiful diamond of them all, the Evenstar, the light of mankind. But tonight a star as bright as her had appeared upon the same stage as her, but he had a sparkling, colorful purity she could never achieve. She marveled at his singularity and knew that he had come to announce the coming of one greater than them all, birthed by a woman who would rise to outshine even her.
And beyond this new star marched the blood-red god of war, Mars, upon the milky highway of the gods which stretched from the top of the sky down to the earth. His presence normally wreaked havoc upon mankind, but at the advent of the Prince of Peace, for at least tonight, Mars had to sheath his sword.
Then, rising above the horizon at the opposite end of the sky across the dark expanse from the setting sun, the father, Saturn, rose above the eastern horizon fighting with his son, Jupiter. The father at war with his son.
But even they had to pause in the middle of their struggle as they witnessed the True Father, the True Son, and the True Spirit put on display their True Unity in the form of True Servanthood, when the True King was born, the one True God.
Below this parade of planets–beneath this formidable array of gods–was born the one to whom they all must bow. And as the prayers contained within the blasts of the shofar faded into the night, a light appeared like a beacon in the wilderness of this world, when the Creator became created. The Lamb of God–born in a sacred cave and laid in a stone manger which fed the sacrificial lambs–would feed our souls, and heal our wounds.
Thus the kingdom of God is revealed on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.
The Heavens Bow to the Light of the World
500 Year Journey
See history unfold on this epic journey that starts during Daniel’s captivity in Babylon and traverses over 500 years of history to the Roman Empire and the manger in Bethlehem. It’s a stunning revelation as God’s word and history come alive and we see that the Bible was right all along: Christ was born on the exact month, day, and year God intended–and it wasn’t December 25, 1 AD.
“Your book is so conversational, I feel like we’re just sitting in a coffee shop, sharing God’s touch on our lives….I really have trouble putting your book down. I’m on page 167, learning a lot and loving it.” John Voehl, Abraham Lincoln presenter and historian.
Piper makes the case that God told us exactly when the Messiah would be born and that the answer is foretold in Scripture, integrated with history, and confirmed by the stars. Hope came at just the right time and this theologically rich paradigm shift in the way we think about the birth of Christ will strengthen your faith in the word of God. It will prove that what the magi saw is more amazing than you have ever imagined.
Stunning!
“Finished your book, it was seriously phenomenal. I loved it from beginning to end and was kind of bummed when I hit the end.”-Scott Putnam, President/CEO of Apex Technology Management
“Book has been read. Oh, my! What a journey. You’ve invited your readers to consider well-researched conclusions all within a humble, enticing presentation of historical, astronomical scientific facts. Your mind must be overwhelmed but you “got er done.” May God be blessed and may this book be widely read and appreciated.” Bonnie, Woman of God
More about the book and the author. maar
My granddaughter Claire is one of your students. She gave me your book {500 Year Journey} for Christmas and I finished it today Dec 27. It was facinating and I learned many things which I will have to ponder. Jesus 40 years old? Harod exiling a high priest to Babylon and the obvious greater travel and communication between Babylon and J’lem then I had imagined. But it was with some consternation that there were no references to a 2015 book by Colin Nicholl, “The Great Christ Comet”. I would love to see you two authors communicate. Colin Nicholl is a dedicated Christian like yourself and I believe that your two books can be reconciled and combined. Colin was interviewed by Eric Metaxas which you can view at socratesinthecity.com–go to watch and it is on the third page. Let me know if I am the first to allert you to Colins book–I can hardly believe that to be possible.
Please see my web site: http://www.wehonorisrael.com
We have a Gala January 21 in Durham NC to honor Israel, Jewish people–and above all G_d.
Wonderful to hear from you, Hal. I’m sure you are very proud of Claire. She’s amazing! I’m humbled that you read it in two days! Many of the people who have contacted me after reading it, tell me that they are going to read it a second time and do a bunch of highlighting. Let me know if you have any other observations after you read it a second time 🙂 There are some VERY unexpected conclusions I draw that absolutely need some due consideration. One of those is the way I lay out the appearances of two different comets. I did buy Colin Nicholl’s book, “The Great Christ Comet” and it was early in my research and I was totally captivated by what he said. I even watched one of his presentations on Youtube. I thought deeply about what he said and it led me on a chain of thinking that was helpful, but as you probably noticed, I came to a bit different conclusion. I don’t think there needed to be a comet that would have been visible for a year, and I believe exegetically my conclusion is sound. Also, a comet doesn’t have to be big and bright to be noticed by astronomers. It could have been, so I don’t dismiss his idea, but there simply is no historical reference to any comet as bright and as long as he describes in 7 BC. There could have been, but my only real concern with his book is that he admits in the introduction that the comet he describes is completely theoretical. It could have been real and the comet he describes could have existed, but since his book only describes his theoretical model, I simply set it aside for some of his other information about comets in general that was useful. I’m not being critical of him, but I also decided to stay within the parameters of my belief that the Bible teaches that the magi saw “his star” while they were in the East, but it was a short appearance comet that appeared at the right time according to Daniel’s prophecies. Therefore, the reason they went to Jerusalem was not because a comet led them to Jerusalem, but because it was the logical place to go visit the recently born king of the Jews. Intriguingly (although I don’t talk about this in the book) the Chinese have a record of a comet that was visible sometime in 5 BC. If that is true, then I would say that the second comet the magi saw on their way to Bethlehem after visiting Herod, could have been that comet. In other words, it didn’t lead them to the manger on the night he was born, but it did lead them to the house of the holy family a year or two after his birth. Since Herod killed all the boys less the two years old, many scholars believe the magi took a year or two to get there. This would fit within that timeframe. That is a different scenario that Nichol’s presents, but we are definitely on the same page that “his star” was a comet. I just believe there were two of them and it was their timing that was so significant, not that it needed to be a long-term, bright extended appearance comet as he surmises.
Please let me know if you have any questions, and, again, thank you for reading and commenting! I truly appreciate it.
Blessings.