Every year it seems I approach Christmas with a little more jadedness about all the hoop-la involved. I tend to search each year for something to bring fresh awe to our family’s commemoration.  This year I find so much that I will not be able to write it all in time for this Christmas - so at the moment I’m just picking out two "small" things amongst the treasure pile.

Several years ago a visiting speaker to our church gave a sermon about the different creatures Satan is either likened-to or named-as in Scripture.

Different Christmas Idea no 1.

I bought a beautiful nativity set earlier this year. It is currently being displayed on top of the microwave with a dragon poised at a distance.  I have done this a little bit cautiously – not wanting to give Satan any place of honour in the most beautiful Story of all time – but with the hopes that it will trigger some conversations with people who visit and notice this strange inclusion! 

“Why?” I hope you are wondering???

This is why… it’s not from the regular places we find the accounts of the Nativity, but rather, from the book of Revelation.

REV 12:1 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven:a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown oftwelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried out in pain as shewas about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven: anenormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on hisheads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of thesky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who wasabout to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all thenations with an iron scepter...

The wonderful DVD “THE STAR” (www.bethlehemstar.net) goes into somedepth about the significance of this and describes an event in the sky in 3 BC.

Here is a small portion from the website – I do hope you’llbuy the DVD or visit the website and read for yourselves… www.bethlehemstar.net

... a portion of the Book of Revelation provides clear and compelling guidance for our astronomical investigation. The apostle John wrote the book as an old man while in exile on the island of Patmos. Perhaps the austerity of this exile or a lack of companionship left him time to ponder the night sky.Whatever the reason, Revelation is full of star imagery. In Chapter 12,John describes a life and death drama played out in the sky: the birth of aking.

1 A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under herfeet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. 2 She was pregnant and cried outin pain as she was about to give birth. 3 Then another sign appeared in heaven:an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on hisheads. 4 His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them tothe earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth,so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. 5 She gave birth to ason, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron sceptre...

A woman in labor, a dragon bent on infanticide and a ruler of the nations. We have already seen this rulerin the Book of Genesis, above. This would be the Messiah, in his role asKing of Kings. If that interpretation is correct, then according to the gospel story the woman would be Mary, the mother of Jesus. The dragon which waits to kill the child at birth would be Herod, who did that very thing. John says the woman he saw was clothed in the Sun. She had the moon at her feet. What can he be describing? When we continue our study of the sky of September of 3 BC, the mystery of John's vision is unlocked: he is describing more of the starry dance which began with the Jewish New Year.

As Jupiter was beginning the coronation of Regulus, another startling symbol rose in the sky. The constellation which rises in the east behind Leo is Virgo, The Virgin. When Jupiter and Regulus were first meeting, she rose clothed in the Sun. And as John said, the moon was at her feet. It was a new moon, symbolically birthed at the feet of The Virgin.

The sheer concentration of symbolism inthe stars at this moment is remarkable…

http://www.bethlehemstar.net/dance/dance.htm

Tonight I was reading once again about the genealogies of Jesus in the Bible.  This website puts things so clearly… http://www.bcbsr.com/survey/sgosp1.html

I wrote once before about the significance of the two different records… it’s from a booklet “A Jesse Tree for Christmas” which you can download for free herehttp://www.mammafrazzle.com.au/A-Jesse-Tree-for-Christmas.php.  There’s a great deal of significanceto be found and quite a bit included in the booklet but here’s just a snippet:

The first prophecy of Jesus was written into what we now know as the book of Genesis about 1400 years before Jesus birth. This prophecy refers to the birth of Jesus taking place without a father.  Only one person has ever been born of the ‘seed’ of a woman only – all others are born of the seed of a man.  Matthew 1:18, written nearly 1500 years later, confirms this as so.

• Prophecy: Recorded approximately 1400 BC "born of the seed of a woman"
• Fulfillment: Recorded approximately 70 AD “ before they came together, she was found with child of the Holy Ghost”.

The Jews were very careful to keep track of their genealogy as this was what determined their property rights.  People who couldn’t trace their family history could receive no inheritance

The lists of genealogy in the books of Luke and Matthew are there to prove the line through which Jesus was born – to show the fulfillment of so many prophesies inthe old Testament.  The book of Matthew follows Joseph’s family line, and the book of Luke follows Mary’s family line.

The use of the word ‘son’ in the lists of descendants is not only referring to what we think of as a son, but also included other relationships.  Nephew’s, sons-in-law, grandsons and great grandsons as well as other ‘kinfolk’ are recorded as sons.  So descendants over many generations could be called a ‘son’.

The two lines of genealogy lists show Jesus absolute connection and right to the throne of David. With his death and resurrection from the dead - as a living King these two lines were sealed for ever.  Because of who He is, the right to rule cannot be passed on to, or ever again claimed by any one else.  WOW!

And so – we understand a little better why Jesus is referredto as “Son of David”.

And we understand a little better why they were specificallyin Bethlehem atthe time of Jesus birth.  Bethlehem being the placewhere David was born and crowned king – Mary AND Joseph both decending from hisline and visiting there to register in the census.

Q  So what is this‘different’ idea?

A  To make a paper chain with the children (to hang outside the front door) with the names of both lines written on the links – concluding at the last link that will bearthe name of Jesus.  (You can find thenames easily herehttp://www.bcbsr.com/survey/sgosp1.html)

Happy preparations!