A Sign to Bethlehem Shepherds, a Warning to Wisemen

A Sign to Bethlehem Shepherds, a Warning to Wisemen

By David Parsons, ICEJ Senior Vice President & Spokesman

The Christmas season is upon us, so let us pay a visit to the fields outside Bethlehem, where Jesus was born.

The hillsides around Bethlehem were known for two things. First, Bethlehem means “House of Bread,” and every year a crop of winter wheat and barley grew in these fields. They were harvested in the spring, between Passover and Shavuot, and then these grains would help feed the people of Jerusalem, just to the north.

Fields just outside Bethlehem where shepherds tended their sheep in Jesus' day — Fields of Bethlehem

Second, these hillsides also served as the place where shepherds raised these young sheep for temple sacrifices in Jerusalem. And it was to shepherds abiding with their flocks at night in these fields that a multitude of angels came and announced the birth of the Son of God. The messenger angel said, “his will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger” (Luke 2:12). This sign, given to the shepherds, carried a special meaning because all the sheep for temple sacrifice were raised in these same fields between Bethlehem and Jerusalem. And when these lambs were born in the caves of Bethlehem during birthing season, they were wrapped in swaddling cloth to dry them off and then laid in a manger until they were ready to walk. So the hidden message in this “sign” proclaimed by the angel is that Jesus was born to die as the sacrificial lamb for the sins of the world. . . .

3 wise men journeying in the dessert — Wise men from the East were warned to go back another way

This Christmas season, we as Christians can rejoice that Jesus indeed came in human flesh, as that promised child born in Bethlehem two thousand years ago to pay the price for sin and whose destiny is to rule over the nations. But we also need to be praying that God’s purposes prevail in this day, amid this ever-darkening world. As we draw closer to the second coming of the Lord, we know that light will break forth, and the very brightness of His appearing will vanquish his enemies. But we need to stand against the darkness and antisemitism we are witnessing today.

Thus, we see in both the sign given to the shepherds in the fields of Bethlehem and the divine warning given to the wisemen from the East that glorious purpose of the Son of God. He came first to pay the price for sin, but He is coming again in great power and glory to destroy His enemies, save the faithful remnant, and rule the world in righteousness and peace.

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