Welcome to Studies with Stearman.

Join us as we look deeper into the Bible.

Strengthen your faith with us, even as we see the day approaching.

And now, here's Gary.

It's my belief that the season in which we celebrate the coming of Messiah

dates all the way back to 164 BC and the Seleusa Dynasty and the origination of the

festival of Hanukkah.

And we'll talk about that a little bit.

Remember the Seleucid Despot Antiochus four Epiphanes, who in 167 BC overthrew the

temple and placed a figure of Zeus with his own face. Antiochus Epiphanes liked to think of himself as the

God Zeus. And he placed that in the Holy of Holies in the Jerusalem Temple.

And there it stayed for three years until the 25th of Kislev, in 164 BC.

And the miracle of the lights happened on that day. A one day's supply of consecrated

oil, when they relit the lamps, lasted for eight days until new oil could be provided.

And when that happened, a festival was born. It's called the festival of Hanukkah or dedication. It's called dedication

because that's when the temple was rededicated in 164 BC. But the fulfillment of that prophecy

has everything to do with Christmas. And most people don't know about that. Every year around

this time, we kind of refresh our memories concerning

Hanukkah and concerning Christmas. And I want to read some scripture this morning. We're

going to be talking about the birth of Christ. And let's turn to Matthew chapter 1, verse 18, as we begin to recount this story.

Matthew 1.18, now the birth of Jesus Christ was on this wise, when as his mother Mary was espoused to Joseph before they came together. She was found with child of the Holy Ghost.

That's a very clear statement. That's an unequivocal statement, period. A lot of people, you know, wonder, you know, is the virgin birth really a true thing?

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