These daily Advent studies are provided for your personal devotionals or for your daily family Advent devotionals during the evening meal. They are an excellent way to introduce daily Bible readings and discussions at the evening meal. Once begun during the Advent season the tradition can become a lifelong practice of your family. They seek to challenge both you and your children beyond the simplicity and often erroneous information provided in so called Advent calendars and children’s Christmas books. May you find it a blessing and may they be a starting point for your family in daily readings, discussions and meditations on the holy, eternal, inerrant written Word of God.
(T = True; F = False) According to the Bible...
34_____ Joseph wandered through Bethlehem knocking on doors trying to find a place to stay but he was turned out everywhere he looked.
35_____ Jesus was born in a Manger. Joseph and Mary ended up in a manger because there was no room for them in the inn.
36_____ At Jesus’ birth a star shown over the manger.
Answer Key
1. F – (Joseph wandered through Bethlehem knocking on doors trying to find a place to stay but he was turned out everywhere he looked.) In Luke 2:7 the Bible only records Joseph being turned away from one Inn and from there going directly to the location of the manger.
2. F – Luke 2:4 - 7, 12, 16 (Jesus was born in a Manger. Joseph and Mary ended up in the manger because there was no room for them in the inn.) A manger is by strict definition a crib or feeding trough. It can be by association also used to identify the crib or area in which it is located. The meaning of the word as used in Luke 2:2, 7, 12 & 16 though is clear and no other use of the word my be taken from these verses than that of the primary definition, of a feeding trough, thus Joseph and Mary could never stay in nor dwell in a manger. In Luke 2:7 it is recorded that when Joseph could not find room in the Inn, that he resorted to other options. As previously stated, the depiction of the manger as a stall is not the first meaning of the word nor the context. Notice the use of the word in the following verses - Luke 2:7 “And she gave birth to her first-born son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.” Luke 2:12 "And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths, and lying in a manger." Luke 2:16 “And they came in haste and found their way to Mary and Joseph, and the baby as He lay in the manger.” The first meaning of the Greek word PHANTE used here and in the other passages is that of a crib or feeding trough. God the Holy Spirit does not fill in for us all the details in the Historical Revelation of Christ’s birth. A number of key events though are clearly recorded – 1. Joseph’s first choice for his wife was the Inn 2. There was no room at the Inn so Joseph took another option. It is not recorded whether he immediately lit upon an environment where a manger would be handy or whether this was settled upon after an extensive search. Either is plausible, neither is revealed to us by God the Holy Spirit. 3. It was in this context that Christ was born. This may have been in a barn, a stall, a dugout, in the shelter of the Inn’s overhang, or in the open air, the Bible does not say. In the Scriptural narrative no mention of cows, sheep or other animals is mentioned. Again, it is a plausible conclusion but God the Holy Spirit is silent on the details 4. After giving birth, Jesus was wrapped in cloths and laid in a manager, a feeding trough, which was commandeered for use as a make shift crib. 5. Joseph and Mary were themselves never in a “manger” as this is where Jesus was laid, not where they took shelter.
3. F - Luke 2:1 – 20; Matthew 2:1,9-12 (At Jesus’ birth a star shown over the manger.) At Jesus’ birth there was no star. The shepherds followed the instructions they were given by the angels (see question 11) in order to ultimately find their way to where Jesus was lying in the manger. The star did not appear until later, most likely more than a year later, guiding the Magi. The common manger scenes sold in stores with the star attached to the pitched roof of stall is fabrication for the sake of convenience.
Authors Note: To ask the rhetorical questions “What is the big deal?” strikes at the heart of reformation Christianity. The “big deal” is that the Bible is God’s Word, it is the Revelation of God the Holy Spirit (II Timothy 3:16; II Peter 1:20 & 21) and should be represented to the world in its pure form and truth. The stories of Santa Clause, Ebenezer Scrooge, Father Christmas, Father Frost, Frosty the Snowman, The Snow Queen and others are merely children’s stories – how they are recounted and the liberty taken with the details are of little or no consequence. The Revelation of God the Holy Spirit is another matter. Misrepresenting the Word of God which is the direct Revelation of God the Holy Spirit is of great consequence. Christians everywhere need to return to the truth of Revelation 22:18 and heed it’s admonition, “I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: if anyone adds to them, God shall add to him the plagues which are written in this book;” Now think a moment about your own life. Supposing you had gone to great lengths to put together a resume. This resume would impact how others viewed you and in many ways determine if they accepted you. What would your reaction be if those representing you began to embellish, change, rearrange and distort the exact factual data you had taken great pains to record? The application being – “Don’t mess with God’s resume!”
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