A
annier
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Here is a copy of a post from a fellow poster on another forum. I asked his permission to copy and use. I think you might be referring to similar things.Yes, for lambing season. The cold is why they were outside. It's the only time of year they had to be outside. They were Levite shepherds, and the lambs were for Pesach. Even today lambing season is in winter. Good 'drash, eh? All found in history.
Do your history work, and stop believing the pop theology of the internet. Work hard and you'll have a decent explanation as to why the ancient churches celebrated the Birth of the Messiah somewhere between Dec 22 and Jan 6.
I find the notion that the most devout generations of Christians surrendered to some pagan decree absurd. The myth of the copycat church.
I also find the notion that the Gospel writers, who took every opportunity to mention Jewish High Holy Days in their records, somehow forgot to mention how the Messiah was born on a High Holiday. To my mind, that is the myth/dream/preacher's tool.
Sure, your generation would easily surrender to trends and social pressures (eg. prosperity Gospel, ordination of females, rejection of family covenant, rejection of tradition etc) but the golden age of Christian martyrdom weren't Americans.
Do your own homework. I don't have time to educate you for free. Hint: check the Temple rota found in the DSS and figure out when John the Baptist was born according to archaeology, not whacky astronomical speculations and endless attempts at iconoclasm.
Big deal. Just pop doctrine. Do they ask if you want fries with your doctrine on that site?
Im afraid you will hear all kinds of conjecture and explanations, and if we are to base our understanding on just one or two pieces of data, then we might come up with all kinds of theories. But the only way to achieve a high degree of accuracy is to base our understanding on the weight of evidence, which means look at all the historical/archaeological data and then base our views on that. And there is quite a bit of historical and archaeological data about the shepherds and the flock at Bethlehem.
On a general note about the practices of Jewish shepherds, according to Rabbinic sources the wilderness flocks remain in the open alike in the hottest days and in the rainy season. (Bezah 40 a cf. Tosephta Bezah iv.6 and Jer. Bezah 63 b) The winter in Palestine is referred to as the rainy season because this is a moderate region of the Mediterranean where the winter is mild and rainy. After all, this is a land of palms, and fig trees, and pomegranates, plants which only grow in areas with moderate winter temperatures. The average nighttime temperature in Bethlehem on December 24 is 41 degrees F. I have actually seen temperatures on Christmas day in the 60s. This is simply not a cold enough climate to require that wooly sheep be brought into shelter for the winter. To verify the temperature data Ive provided log onto http://www.weather.com or http://www.jerusalempost.com and search their archives.
But there is other evidence that also must be taken into consideration. During the 1st century there were literally hundreds of thousands of animals sacrificed in the Temple every year. According to Josephus as many as a quarter million lambs were slain at Passover alone! Animals to be used for cultic purposes was the primary import commodity of Israel, and before these animals could be offered they had to be inspected by specially trained priests to be sure they were free of any blemish, deformity, scars, or infestations. According to Rabbinic writings (Mishnah, Baba K. 7.7 and Baba K. 80a) the Temple flock, as it was called referring to those flocks of sheep intended for sacrifice in Jerusalem, were kept at Bethlehem, five miles south of the city. This would not be a typical sheep fold, but a stock-yard where hundreds and even thousands of animals were temporarily kept until they were inspected and then brought to Jerusalem for sacrifice.
Another important piece of data, this time of particular archaeological interest, is that Bethlehem was the ancient site of the royal house of David, and there was at one time a castle there. Even in Jesus time that castle had long since fallen to ruin, but it is believed that the Migdal Eder, the tower of the flock which was located in Bethlehem was in fact one of the old watchtowers from the royal castle that was being used as the watchtower for the shepherds who were keeping watch over the temple flock. The Palestinian Authority has been peppered with requests for permits to conduct archaeological investigations in this area to attempt to locate the castle ruins, but permission has not yet been given. We know that this Migdal Eder stood just outside Bethlehem on the road to Jerusalem.
A messianic prophecy about this Migdal Eder was very familiar to 1st century Jews. The prophet Micah had foretold that the birth of the Messiah would be announced from this tower: 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 shall come to the daughter of Jerusalem. (Micah 4:8) We know from both the Gospels as well as the Rabbinic writings that it was commonly believed that the Messiah would be born in Bethlehem, but this prophecy about his birth being announced from the tower of the flock was equally well-known to the Jews (Targum Pseudo-Jon. On Gen. 35.21). There is also an ancient story of Messiahs birth related in the Jerusalem Talmud which says the Messiah was said to have been born in the royal castle of Bethlehem (Ber. 2.3 cf. Midrash on Lamentations 1.16). According to the Rabbis, even if a castle falls down, it is still called a castle (Yalkut, Vol. 2, p. 60 b).
And another piece of historical information, the shepherds who tended these flocks were no ordinary shepherds. The reason we know this is that shepherds, because of their necessary isolation from the religions life of the nation being required to live in "the wilderness" and migrate with their sheep, were under a Rabbinic ban, such as that imposed on others who engaged in trades that in some way rendered them unclean, such as tax collectors, weavers, tanners, physicians, midwives, city sanitation workers, etc. And yet, on the night of Christs birth, we see the shepherds who were keeping watch over the flock in Bethlehem going freely about the neighborhood conversing openly with the people about the things they had seen and heard. The only reason these shepherds were able to do so is that they were not under the Rabbinic ban because their duty was to guard and care for the Temple flock, a sacred purpose, and they were not required to live in isolation from the religious life but in fact played a very important role in that religious life.
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