Chance (8 Dec 2019)
"The Winter Solstice Then and Now"


 
Hello John and Doves,

We are presently in the 9th month of the Hebrew calendar.  The month of Kislev.  This month is best known for the day of Hanukkah, on the 25th day of Kislev..  The Feast of Dedication. It celebrates the rededication of the second Temple in Jerusalem.  Hanukkah is Hebrew for 'dedication'.  It is a festival that lasts for eight days.

This year, Hanukkah begins on the evening of Sunday, December 22nd and ends the evening of Monday, December 30th.

On the Gregorian calendar, we are in the 12th month.  The month of December.  This month is best known for the day of Christmas, on the 25th day of December.

On the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (the Eve of Hanukkah), King Antiochus IV placed a statue of Zeus in the Holy of Holies and sacrificed a pig on the altar; he then forced the Jewish people to bow down to his god, Zeus, under penalty of death. (Some scholars believe this 'penalty of death bowing' took place on the twenty-fifth day of the month.)  He declared himself 'God Manifest' (Epiphanes), Zeus' representative on earth; taking the name Antiochus IV Epiphanes.

"In 168 BCE, on December 25th, Zeus' birthday, Antiochus IV Epiphanes set up in the Jerusalem Temple a statues of Zeus, the Greek sun god, upon the altar, defiling it."  https://amos37.com/zeus/
Meet The Greek gods of Mythology Zeus | Amos37

Other 'gods' also have their birthday on December 25th - the Winter Solstice on the ancient pagan calendar - Ra, the Egyptian sun god, Tammuz (the reborn sun god Nimrod). Antiochus would have known of this date and it's significance to his gods, thus his declaring himself 'God manifest' on the day of December 25th...which was the twenty-fourth day of the ninth month (or possibly the twenty-fifth - later becoming known as Hanukkah) on the Jewish calendar.  In Rome, December 25 was the birthday of the Unconquerable Sun.

"The Winter Solstice, in solar myth, begins on December 21 midnight (December 22) and ends midnight December 24 (December 25).  "The sun stops moving south on December 22, it is then at its lowest point in the Northern Hemisphere....It stays at this lowest point for three days (December 22, 23, 24 appearing to not move south or north and was considered 'dead'. Until it "returns to life" at midnight on December 24 (December 25) when it begins its northern journey again and the hours of sunlight start to lengthen.  Therefore, the ancients said that the sun was born on December 25." 
https://shirleytwofeathers.com/The_Blog/pagancalendar/tag/winter-solstice/
Winter Solstice | Pagan Calendar

It was Pope Julius I that declared December 25th as Jesus' birthday.  This was around 350 AD.  Some scholars say that the Catholic Church had started changing pagan holidays into Christian 'Holy Days'; others say picking December 25th had nothing to do with paganism.

John 10:22-23:  "Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem.  It was winter."  On this day, Jesus was at the Temple in Solomon's Colonnade, where He declared Himself The Messiah, the Son of God. The true 'God Manifest'!  The Light of the whole world!

Hanukkah occurs with the time of the Winter Solstice.  Hanukkah as the twenty-fifth day of Kislev is a day where 'the night is dark and the day very short.'

The Eve of Hanukkah this year is the day of the Winter Solstice in Jerusalem, December 22!  It is also a 16% visibility of the waning moon.  With the new moon on about December 26.  (The Winter Solstice for the U.S. is Saturday, December 21 at 11:19 pm EST; for Jerusalem the Winter Solstice is Sunday, December 22 at 06:19 AM)

Maybe something will happen this Eve of Hanukkah or on Hanukkah.  We have already seen multiple fulfillments of various important days on the Jewish calendar.  Maybe there is still more coming for this time of year!

Pray for the peace of Jerusalem!

Maranatha!

Chance

More info on the Winter Solstice: from the telegraph: 

The December solstice happens at the same instant for everyone, everywhere on Earth - and this year the winter solstice occurs on Sunday December 22, at 04:19 GMT in the Northern Hemisphere...While it more often than not falls on December 21 or 22, the exact time of the solstice varies each year. The term 'solstice' derives from the Latin word 'solstitium' meaning 'Sun standing still'.  On this day the Sun seems to stand still at the Tropic of Capricorn and then reverses its direction as it reaches is southernmost position as seen from the Earth.

This year, astronomical winter begins on December 22nd, with the winter solstice...https://www.telegraph.co.uk/christmas/0/winter-solstice-2019-do-pagans-celebrate-shortest-day-year/
Winter solstice 2019: Why do pagans celebrate the shortest day of the year?


https://www.calendar-12.com/moon_calendar/2019/december
Moon Phases Calendar for December 2019 - Calendar-12.com