On The 6th Day of Christmas the Lord Revealed To Me ......

...... modern bible translations are grossly falling short of the truth. If the translation says "New" it's probably best to avoid it. In fact, there is nothing "new under the sun" when it comes to these faulty translations. In fact, there was a movie a few years ago called "Lost In Translation" and boy are these "New" versions ever lost.

A great example of this is the birth of Jesus Christ as told in Luke 2, specifically verses 10-12.

Let's see what the New International Version or NIV has to say about this:
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

This is how the New American Standard tells it:
10 But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people;
11 for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.
12 "This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

This is how something called the New Century Version tells it:
10 The angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I am bringing you good news that will be a great joy to all the people. 11 Today your Savior was born in the town of David. He is Christ, the Lord. 12 This is how you will know him: You will find a baby wrapped in pieces of cloth and lying in a feeding box."

Now, in contrast, let's look at this scripture in the King James Version.
10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

Did you notice the words in bold in each translation and the distinctive difference in the King James version of this account? The King James version is the only one that uses the term "swaddling clothes". You may say, "so what". Well, I am here to tell you what. This is tremendously significant and symbolic and is just another example of losing so much meaning in translation.

The "New" versions just say the baby Jesus was wrapped in a "cloth".

But the question arises, why would a baby in cloth be a "sign" to the shepherds that this was the Christ-child? The angel didn't mention the manger first, he mentioned the swaddling clothes. What is it about swaddling clothes that would be a sign?

The term swaddling clothes is still used today by nurses who wrap the baby after birth. Unfortunately, that term is a 2000 year old misnomer. The origin comes as a result of the harsh countryside in the Middle East. As people took off on trips that often lasted days into months, it was not uncommon for sickness or accident to take place. There we deaths in these journeys.

The Middle Eastern culture developed a way to deal with in-journey deaths. Each person would take a long, thin, gauze-like cloth and wrap it around their waist many times. This would be one of the bottom layers of clothing. This cloth would be reserved for death. If someone died during the journey, their friends or family would remove the "swaddling cloth" and wrap them from head to toe so they could compete the journey.

The baby Jesus was wrapped in Joseph's death cloth. The sign for the shepherds wasn't that they'd find a baby wrapped in a blanket in a manger. The sign was that they'd find a baby prepared for death. Jesus came to earth to die for our sins. That was his purpose. This was shown even from the instance of his birth.

By the way... this makes the wise man's gift of myrrh even more appropriate. Myrrh was the spice used for death. It was basically deodorant for the dead. Even though the wise men didn't actually show up until he was toddler, the theme continues.

Another neat fact is the baby Jesus was wrapped in the death clothes of a man named Joseph, and thirty three years later was buried in the tomb of a man named Joseph?

It's sad to think of how many people are going to miss the significance of this scripture because they only read the "New" versions of the Bible and never are exposed to such great truths.

Or what about Colossians 1:14, where it says "In whom we have redemption through his blood, even the forgiveness of sins." Why has "through his blood" been removed from all of the "New" translations? Do you really believe that you can be saved without the shed blood of Jesus Christ?

On The 8th Day of Christmas, the Lord Revealed To Me ......

........ that Angels do not look like the above pictures as they are not children nor female and they do not sing.

Are angels male or female?

Angels are referred to in the Hebrew language as bene elohim, or "sons of God." Bible scholar Dr. Henry Morris says about the angels:

"The only obvious and natural meaning [of the designation, “sons of God”]... is that these beings were sons of God, rather than of men, because they had been created, not born. Such a description, of course, would apply only to Adam (Lk. 3:38) and to the angels, whom God had directly created (Psa. 148:2, 5; 104:4; Col. 1:16)." Dr. Morris explains further:

"Whenever angels have appeared visibly to men, as recorded in the Bible, they have appeared in the physical bodies of men. Those who met with Abraham, for example, actually ate with him (Gen. 18:8) and, later, appeared to the inhabitants of Sodom in such perfectly manlike shape that the Sodomites were attempting to take these ‘men’ for homosexual purposes. The writer of Hebrews suggests that, on various occasions, some ‘have entertained angels unawares’ (Heb. 13:2).

‘It is true that the Lord Jesus said that...in the resurrection they ‘neither marry, nor are given in marriage, but are as the angels of God in heaven’ (Mat. 22:30). However, this is not equivalent to saying that angels are "sexless," since people who share in the resurrection will surely retain their own personal identity, whether male or female.

Furthermore, angels are always described, when they appear, as ‘men,’ and the pronoun ‘he’ is always used in reference to them. Somehow they have been given by God the capacity of materializing themselves in masculine human form when occasion warrants, even though their bodies are not under the control of the gravitational and electromagnetic forces which limit our own bodies in this present life."

Yet how many times do we see figurines of Angels as female and often as babies. Yet another "tradition of man" that we have bought into as a society.

As far as angels singing, there is a famous christmas carol called "Hark The Herald Angels Sing" yet not once in scripture does it record angels singing. See Luke 2:8-14
And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; You shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger. And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, (not singing) Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men."

I am not saying don't sing the song Hark The Herald Angels Sing if it gives you the warm fuzzies, but realize you are singing incorrectly.

Incidently, one of the arguments some have that claim angles sing is in Revelation verse 5:11-12 "Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. In a loud voice they sang:
"Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain,
to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength
and honor and glory and praise!"

There is one problem. This is from the NIV which has more errors in it than I care to go into.

Compare this same scripture in the King James

"And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands;
Saying with a loud voice, Worthy is the Lamb that was slain to receive power, and riches, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and blessing."

In Job 38:7, even the NIV doesn't mention that the angels sing
"while the morning stars sang together and all the angels shouted for joy?" Obviously, there is a great difference between shouting and singing.

This time of year is a great time to dig into the Bible and see what it really says and not rely on the church or the "traditions of men" for your doctrine.

On the 9th Day Of Christmas the Lord Revealed To Me ..........

.......... Santa Clause or "St. Nick" is no saint at all.



While Saint Nicholas was originally portrayed wearing bishop's robes, today Santa Claus is generally depicted as a plump, jolly, white-bearded man wearing a red coat with white collar and cuffs, white-cuffed red trousers, and black leather belt and boots.

Let's look at 4 characteristics of Santa Claus and see how they falsely parallel those of Jesus Christ's. In a sense, Santa Claus is a type of anti-christ. In fact, the very name is close, just take the "n" and move it to the end and you have "satan".

1) Santa is portayed as "all knowing".
You've heard the song... "he knows when you've been sleeping, he knows when you're awake, he knows when you've been bad or good ..."

Here, Santa is said to be able to know all about you and to be able to see you at all times. Not only you, but everyone in the world. This ability is only something God can do.

2) To piggy back off of # 1, Santa judges based on works. According to the rules, the only way kids will get toys is if they are good. The bad kids will go without. In contrast, Jesus imputes his righteousness to us when we trust Him for our salvation. True, He knows when we are obedient and not obedient but it does not affect our salvation, only our fellowship.

3) Santa is portrayed as being able to be everywhere at one time.
It is physically impossible to cover the entire globe in one night yet that is what Santa is supposed to be able to do with the special power of his magical reindeer. Even Jesus could not be everywhere when He was walking the earth. This is the reason when He left He sent the Holy Spirit to endwell us. Because it indwells us, He (the Holy Spirit) can be anywhere we are.

4) Santa dresses in all red. Red is the color of sin. Scripture says our sins are scarlett (red) yet Jesus washes us white as snow. In contrast, white is the color of purety. Jesus is always seen in a white robe. When the lost are to be judged before being condemned to Hell, they will stand before the Great White Throne.

Isaiah 1:18 "Come now, and let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool."

Revelation 17:3 "So he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet colored beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns."

Daniel 12:10 "Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried; but the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand."

Matthew 17:1-3
1 And after six days Jesus takes Peter, James, and John his brother, and brings them up into an high mountain apart,
2 And was transfigured before them: and his face did shine as the sun, and his raiment was white as the light.

I know many people are well intentioned with this whole Santa Claus thing, but thanks to "tradition", young children are deceived and when they become adults they pass on the tradition of deception to their children. I don't believe the deception is intentional but founded in ignorance of the truth. As Jack Nicholson said in the movie "A Few Good Men" some ... "can't handle the truth."

On The 11th Day of Christmas, the Lord Revealed To Me .....

.... The Wise men were no where near the Manger that night. Also, there is no mention in the Bible of the exact number of wise men. Since the Bible lists 3 gifts they are carrying, human tradition chooses to say there were 3 wise men, but there is no biblical proof of this.

We have all seen it and probably even have it in our homes. I am talking about a nativity scene, usually a decorative add on to the christmas tree. What does every nativity or manger scene have? Everyone I have ever seen has the baby Jesus, Mary, Joseph, shepards, farm animals and yes, Wise Men. Most do not even question it because including the Wise Men is a "tradition". I believe that if we are going to display a nativity scene that we should at least be accurate.

If we go to the scriptures (always a wise idea don't you think?) we will find the account of the Wise Men in Matthew 2:1-16

1 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, 2 saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”
3 When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ was to be born.
5 So they said to him, “In Bethlehem of Judea, for thus it is written by the prophet:
6 ‘ But you, Bethlehem, in the land of Judah,
Are not the least among the rulers of Judah;
For out of you shall come a Ruler
Who will shepherd My people Israel.’”

7 Then Herod, when he had secretly called the wise men, determined from them what time the star appeared. 8 And he sent them to Bethlehem and said, “Go and search carefully for the young Child, and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.”
9 When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. 10 When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. 11 And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
12 Then, being divinely warned in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed for their own country another way.
The Flight into Egypt

13 Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, “Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him.”
14 When he arose, he took the young Child and His mother by night and departed for Egypt, 15 and was there until the death of Herod, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying, “Out of Egypt I called My Son.”[b]
Massacre of the Innocents

16 Then Herod, when he saw that he was deceived by the wise men, was exceedingly angry; and he sent forth and put to death all the male children who were in Bethlehem and in all its districts, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had determined from the wise men.

As we can see in verse 11, the Wise Men did not arrive at the manger the night Jesus was born. Because their journey was so long, they arrived at the "house" of Mary and Joseph some 2 years after the birth of Christ. This is shown in that King Herod ordered to have all male children up to 2 years old killed. This was Satan's attempt to kill Jesus before He could fulfill the will of God to be the Messiah for us.

There are also some interesting observations that can be made about the gifts that were brought by these Wise Men. In our modern christmas celebration, the Wise Men would have exchanged gifts with each other. How silly would that have looked? Let's look at the 3 gifts closely.

1) Gold
Gold symbolizes kingship on earth. The Wise Men knew Jesus was King of The Jews and this is why they brought gold as one of the gifts. It is also believed that the gold gift symbolized virtue.

2) Frankincense

Frankincense is an incense that symbolizes priesthood.
Hebrews 7:23 "Now there have been many of those priests, since death prevented them from continuing in office; but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them."

Frankincense is also said to be symbolic of prayer. Jesus is at the right hand of the Father and is constantly making intercessory prayer on our behalf.
Hebrews 7:25 "Wherefore He is able also to save them to the uttermost that come unto God by him, seeing he ever lives to make intercession for them."

3) Myrrh
Myrrh is an embalming oil and is used to symbolize death. The baby Jesus had but one main function and that was to die.. to die for the sins of the world so we could be made right with God the Father. Myrrh is also said to symbolize suffering. We all know how Jesus suffered (both physically and emotionally) shortly before His death. In the Garden of Gethsemane, He suffered in the thought of what He had to do so much that he perspired drops of blood.

So we can learn something from the entire account. This christmas season when we see a nativity scene with Wise Men we know it's historically incorrect but we can use it as a teaching lesson. We can see how the gifts given were not just random gifts but they all had meaning and were very symbolic of the nature of Jesus.