Christmas Origin – The Messiah’s Birth Foretold
The Christmas origin begins with the predictions of Christ over the many centuries before His birth. The sceptre (a Hebrew symbol of governmental authority) shall not depart from Judah, nor a lawgiver from between his feet, until Shiloh (Hebrew, the “Messiah”) come; and unto Him shall the gathering of the people be (Genesis 49:10). “But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting” (Micah 5:2). Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel.(literally, “God-with-us” in Hebrew) (Isaiah 7:14). For unto us a child is born, unto to us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9:6, KJV).
The fulfillment of over 300 Old Testament prophecies of the Messiah started with Christmas. As you can see above, these predictions included (i) the time of His birth being before the Jewish people lost their sovereign power to 1st Century Rome when Archelaus took the throne in Israel; (ii) Bethlehem, a small insignificant town, being the place of His birth; and (iii) that He would be born of a virgin. All of these prophecies show up in the Dead Sea Scrolls and the Septuagint versions of the Jewish scriptures, which have been established by secular sources as predating Jesus Christ by between 100 and 250 years. It is amazing to note that when Israel’s religious elite cried, “Woe to us, for the scepter has been removed and the Messiah has not come!” (Talmud, Babylon, Sanhedrin), Jesus had already been born and He was growing as a young boy in Galilee.