SEVEN STEPS TO BETHLEHEM

CHAPTER 19

STEP FIVE

THE CLIMATE OF THE JUDÆAN HILLS

 

    At last we can get away from the sordid details of Herod’s life and focus our attention on the birthplace of the Christ-child, that "Little town of Bethlehem" which "though little among the thousands of Judah", became the centre-piece of an amazing drama, because "the Word became flesh" (at Jesus’ conception) and as John so graphically put it, now "tabernacles among us, full of grace and truth," (at His birth).

    We shall be taking no sentimental journey through the hill country of Judæa. My wife and I have no personal knowledge of the land of Israel from which to draw allusions, but this is hardly necessary in this chapter. Had we been there, we should still have had to obtain the information we needed from books more easily available here in Britain.

    Bethlehem was (and still is) a small town roughly six miles S.S.W. of Jerusalem, at latitude 31° 42’ North, and longitude 35° 12.2’ East of the Greenwich meridian. It lies high up on a grey limestone ridge running east-west, occupying the projecting summits at each end with a sort of saddle between. The ridge rises to a height of 2550 feet above sea level, and falls away in terraced slopes on all sides, the descent to the north and east being especially steep. The hillside around, merging into the hill country of Judæa, may look bare to the naked eye at a distance, but nevertheless  affords pasturage for sheep and goats. The valleys below and the fields away to the east, produce crops of wheat and barley, and the terraced slopes, when cultivated, bear crops of olives, almonds, pomegranates, figs and grapes.

    In Old Testament times, Bethlehem was famous for its stories of Rachel, (who gave birth to Benjamin, died, and was buried there by the grieving Jacob;) Ruth the Moabitess (who would not leave her mother-in-law, and eventually married Boaz;) and David the king "after God’s own heart". And now in the Gospels Bethlehem becomes the birthplace of "great David’s greater Son."

    Luke tells us (2:4-7) that "Joseph went up from Galilee, from the city of Nazareth, to Judæa, to the city of David to be enrolled together with Mary his betrothed wife who was with child. And while they were there the time came for her to be delivered. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the Inn."

    Try as we may, we cannot fill in the details beyond what is given in this narrative. We have no idea when Joseph set out from Nazareth. We can only guess how long the journey took, by donkey and walking, and we do not know how long they were in Bethlehem before Mary was delivered. But for some reason they were unable to find suitable lodging when her labour pains started.

    One thing is certain. It was the time for the census, and therefore many people would have been on the move, as we explained from the Egyptian records, where each person had to return to "his domestic hearth" for enrolment. This was presumably the reason why Joseph couldn’t find a lodging place for the night, and suggests that it happened almost as soon as they arrived in the town. Had Joseph known of relatives there, he would certainly have gone straight to them, but we can guess that he had lived away from Bethlehem for many years, and no family connections were then known to him. His “domestic hearth” was occupied by another family.

    The time of year most favoured by scholars for census-taking is August to October. The authorities realised that agriculture was the main employment of those in  Judaea, and chaos would reign if people were required to return to their "domestic hearths" during sowing and reaping. Hence Rome would favour a date in the August-October time-slot. This is helpful to us, because we have already seen that September was the most acceptable month for Jesus' birth, and Tishri the beginning of the census year.

    Joseph decided to stop at the Inn. The Greek word is KATALUMA, which being translated literally means "to loosen down", and describes the act of loosening down the burdens of travel from donkey or horse, and stopping off for the night. Normally these places were called khans, or caravanserai, and were frequently found, especially in towns where travellers might pass through. Bethlehem was one such town, being a stopping off point for people travelling back and forth from Egypt.

    A khan would consist of a building with rooms for the guests, and barns for the animals. In Bethlehem, one such khan was sited next to a roomy cave, which was useful for sheltering the animals overnight. It is this particular site where traditionally Joseph stopped, and found that all the rooms had been taken. In his emergency, he had no option but to lead his wife into the shelter of the cave, where a number of animals were tied up, and where mangers were provided for the hay they needed.

    Origen wrote in Contra Celsum 1:51, "If anyone desires certainty as to the birth of Jesus at Bethlehem, apart from the Gospels and Micah’s prophecy, let him know that in conformity with the narrative in the gospel regarding his birth, there is shown at Bethlehem the cave where he was born, and the manger in the cave where he was wrapped in swaddling clothes. And this sign is greatly talked of in the surrounding places, even among the enemies of the faith, it being said that in this cave was born that Jesus who is worshipped and reverenced by Christians."

    Justin Martyr (about AD 150) also spoke about Jesus’ birth. In his Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 78, he asserted that Jesus was born in a cave. He said that since Joseph could find in that village no place to lodge, he lodged in a nearby cave, and went on to quote Isaiah 33:16, "He shall dwell in a lofty cave of a strong rock."

    The fact that Joseph sought shelter for the night shows us that Jesus was born during the night. And this is confirmed by Luke 2:8ff. "And there were in that region shepherds out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. And the angel of the Lord appeared to them - - ."

    This now brings us to the crux of this chapter. Can we ascertain the probable time of year when this happened? Are there times when shepherds would not be out in the fields with their flocks? As I said earlier, Bethlehem sits at latitude 31° 42’ north, whereas London is 51° 30’ north. Being therefore some 20° further south in latitude should make the climate very much warmer than we experience in Britain, in fact we might even expect it to be sub-tropical. In point of fact there are parts of Israel that are sub-tropical, but the extreme variations in altitude have huge effects on weather patterns. One can go from the Dead Sea at 1260 feet below sea level to Bethlehem at 2550 feet above sea level, within just a few tens of miles of each other. And it is this height of over 2500 feet that governs the climate around Bethlehem.

(Note.  A diagram appeared here in the book, but we are unable to reproduce it due to the large volume required for pictures. We have only 15 megabytes allowance for our free web site. We are sorry about this, but the conclusions are mentioned in the following text.)

From the ancient Talmud we are given to understand that in the higher parts of Palestine, flocks were taken in to shelter in November and allowed into the fields again at the end of March. This has been shaded on the graph as the "forbidden period". The rainfall chart shows why. Out of an annual rainfall of some 23 inches,
21 inches fall within this forbidden period.

    Looking at the temperature graphs, we see that outside the forbidden zone the temperature varies from an average minimum of about 60° F during the night to an average of about 80° F during the day, a very comfortable range. But in December and January the night temperature falls as low as the mid-forties, and on clear nights frost is not unknown. Under such conditions of wet, cold, and occasional frost, it is unacceptable for sheep to be left out, and would be most unpleasant for shepherds to spend all night in the open air.

    From these considerations the idea of a December birth must be firmly ruled out. In our previous searches we found that the time of Jesus' birth was in early autumn, perhaps September. This being the case, it would be feasible for atmospheric conditions to be (a) still pleasant enough for Joseph and Mary to spend the night in the cave connected to the Khan, and (b) suitable for the shepherds to be out on the hills by night.

    In those days the winter solstice (shortest day) fell on December 25th, and the summer solstice June 24th. The equinoxes were March 25th and September 25th. During the last 2000 years these dates have slipped back a few days to their present values due to the precession of the equinoxes.

    Now a new factor emerges to help us. It is surprising just how many different and varied evidences can be found in a study of this sort. We have already seen that Herod’s death was kept as a feast day, remembered in the Megillath Ta’anith. In our ancient church records there are also some dates that bear investigation, dates which have been accepted from the earliest days, so that no one seems to be able to find reference to their origin.

    First of all one should mention September 29th, known as "The Feast of Michael and all angels." (Michaelmas Day) And then there is December 25th, traditionally kept as the date of Jesus’ birth. But let’s stop for a minute and dwell on these two dates. Isn’t there something out of phase here? All the evidence suggests that they should be the other way round! Furthermore, if September 29th remembers Michael and all angels, for what reason has this date been chosen? Why should angels be given a special day of remembrance? But if it commemorates the appearance of the angelic host to the shepherds, then it is not only meaningful, but most helpful to our enquiry, because on that very night the Saviour of the world was born!

    Let’s assume for a moment that Jesus was born on September 29th B.C.2. The period of gestation for humans is 40 weeks, that is 280 days on the average. Very few pregnancies deviate from this mean by more than a few days. 280 days before September 29th can easily be calculated by looking in a diary, where serial numbers of the days are often printed. It comes out to be December 24th. This gives us confidence in the assertion that September 29th could be the day of the nativity, and December 25th the day of the annunciation.

    So why did the church reverse it? Surely the early church must have known the true facts? This is where Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History helps us out, because it was during the days of the Emperor Constantine that festival dates began to tumble. To quote Canon 29 of the Council of Nicæa, (A.D. 325) "Christians must not play Jews by ceasing to work on the Sabbath, but that they work on that day and prefer the Lord’s Day by ceasing work as Christians if they can." Constantine was an ardent sun-worshiper. Before his conversion to Christianity, he appears to have been anti-semitic. We find him saying, "Let us have nothing in common with the most hostile rabble of the Jews." And then, "Let all the judges and townspeople, and the occupation of all trades, rest on the venerable day of the Sun."

    But it was not just the revoking of the Sabbath Day that was on Constantine’s mind. He was also a great traditionalist, and in Rome there was a custom going back to the dim ages of pre-history, that a festival should be kept at the winter solstice, and it was called DIES NATALIS INVICTI SOLIS ("The feast of the unconquered Sun") that lasted seven days, known as the Saturnalia and Brumalia festivals. In ancient Babylon and Egypt this festival was also kept, symbolised by a mother (the old year) bringing forth a manchild (the new year) as the Sun once again began to rise after the solstice.

    It doesn’t take much imagination to see how Constantine managed to combine the ancient rites of "the unconquered Sun" with the birth of "the risen Son". Hence by the 4th century A.D. much of the original chronology had been lost. However, the dates remained in the church calendar, and although out of phase, can easily be restored to their original meaning.

    No one is certain just when December 25th was first celebrated as the birthday of Jesus. However, in A.D. 386 John Chrysostom preached a sermon on December 20th, in which he said that he looked forward to Christmas in five days time.  The first actual reference to 25th December being the birthday of Jesus has been found in a Roman city calendar for the year A.D. 354. It was called Chronographos Anni CCCLIIII (i.e. the Chronograph of the year 354). In the calendar was the following entry - VIII Kal. Ian. natus Christus in Betleem Iudaea - meaning that Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea on the 8th day before the Kalends of January, which was December 25th.

    There are two other dates in the church calendar, making up what are normally called the "quarter days", and these are March 25th and June 24th. By referring to the Anglican Prayer Book we find that June 24th is the birth of John the Baptist, and March 25th the annunciation. Once again, the order has been changed. Possibly as a result of Constantine’s insistence on celebrating December 25th, it was necessary to make the annunciation March 25th . But now it becomes necessary to restore all these dates to their original meaning. John the Baptist was born six months before Jesus, therefore in March. Hence his birth date is March 25th, and his conception the previous June 24th. Once these re-adjustments are made, everything fits into place. In the next section we shall investigate this in more detail.