Last week we examined the real birthday of Jesus and God’s calendar. This week we will connect some important insights gleaned from scripture that will make us take a second look at the validity of how the church was led astray by Emperor Constantine and His mother, Helena, in the 4th Century AD that supported the traditional site of the cave under the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem as the birthplace of Jesus. It is all about location, location, location! The manger was not a manger as in a randomly selected one. The Hebrew word for manger means a “night resting-place” and was not a stable as we know it with donkeys, cows and hay but refers rather to sheepfolds. It was “the” manger, as in a place very specific, chosen by God Himself, and prophesied by name in the Scriptures 800 years before. There was good reason that there was no room in the inn. In those days, in compliance with the law, a woman who is about to give birth were to the Jews considered unclean, like a woman who had an issue of blood (Leviticus 15:25). She wasn’t supposed to be around people and remain secluded so the “no vacancy” notice from the inn-keeper probably wasn’t given because there was literally no room in the inn; rather it was given because there was no mistaking her condition. She was about to give birth. God used the natural to fulfil the supernatural as both Joseph (thru the legal line of Solomon) and Mary (thru the biological line of Nathan) were descendants of David and by law had to journey to Bethlehem (House of Bread; Jesus) to register for taxation.
The announcement by John the Baptist “Behold the Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world” is a major clue in discovering the actual place of Jesus’ birth! At the birth of Jesus 2000 years ago, the angel of the Lord directed the shepherds to the very place where lambs were birthed for Temple sacrifices! The bits and pieces of scripture taken together provide a road map to the location of the birth of the Lamb of God.
Many people have never heard of the Tower of the Flock. Yet, along with the prophecies of the Bethlehem birth of the Messiah also came a clearly stated prophecy about the location in the village where the child would be born. Let’s begin with the first mention of Bethlehem in scripture in Genesis 35: 16-22 which is the account of the death of Rachel and the first listing of the sons of Jacob (Lineage of David) and reveals that Ephrathah and Bethlehem are the same and the location of the place of the Tower of Edar. Micah 5: 2 also connects these locations: “But thou, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though thou be little among the thousands of Judah, yet out of thee shall he (Messiah; Jesus) come forth unto me that is to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth have been from of old, from everlasting.” We gain further insight from Micah 4:8 “And thou, O tower of the flock, the strong hold of the daughter of Zion, unto thee shall it come, even the first dominion; the kingdom (the Messiah shall bring the Kingdom) shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem (Mary the mother of Jesus).” The Tower of the Flock mentioned in Micah 4:8 is in Hebrew “Migdal Edar” and literally means “watch tower of the flock.” The shepherds abiding in the field watching over their flocks by night were not ordinary shepherds but were “shepherd priests” from the Levitical priesthood responsible for the sacrificial system of Temple worship and looked after the sheep that would be given as offerings and were specialists in raising and preparing lambs for the ongoing rituals. It appears to be a sound conclusion that God was going to reveal Messiah from Migdal Edar, close to where the shepherds would be camped in Bethlehem that night. All of this was foretold more than 800 years before it happened. The area was known as the “Shepherds Field” and about a dozen shepherds’ towers were scattered through the valley so that they could watch over their sheep. The bottom level of each tower was also used for birthing rooms—specialized stables for the lambs. These lambs were cared for with the utmost concern because they needed to be spotless—without blemish. They placed them in a manger carved out of stone and wrapped them in special cloth bands called swaddling bands made from old priestly clothes which ensured the animals’ perfection.
Jesus was born in the Tower of the Flock because He came to be the ultimate sacrificial Lamb. It made perfect prophetic sense that the Lamb of God would be born in the same place as the lambs for Temple sacrifice. Those shepherds knew exactly where to go when the angel said baby Jesus was wrapped in swaddling clothes and lying in the Lamb’s manger!
The detail of the swaddling bands in Luke 2 ties to Old Testament foreshadowings because that same detail involves not only the physical reality, but also the spiritual. We are also overshadowed by, swaddled in, and wrapped in the eternally protective blood of the Lamb. In this way, we are spiritually “clothed” with Christ just as He was clothed when He made His grand entrance into this earthly reality. The “holy child” was to be Heaven’s perfect sacrificial Lamb, the one who would be our Great High Priest, as well as our Good Shepherd.
Now you know the rest of the Christmas story about baby Jesus who is the ‘Lamb of God.’ Although the world is rocking and reeling today and its very foundations are crumbling at the center, God’s eternal throne is still as solid and secure as ever. God is sovereign, and the Lamb is still Savior, and everything is under perfect control.
Whereas Jesus was referred to as a Lamb once in the Old Testament (Isa. 53:7), twice in the Gospels (John 1:29, 36), and once in the Epistles (1 Peter 1:19), He is referred to as the Lamb twenty-eight times in the Book of Revelation. We have to conclude as they rejoiced in heaven, Then I looked, and I heard the voices of many angels around the throne and the living creatures and the elders; and the number of them was myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice, “Worthy is the Lamb that was slaughtered to receive power, wealth, wisdom, might, honor, glory, and blessing.” Revelation 5:11-12