#18~The NATIVITY—Hallmark vs. the Bible

I fear most people have a wildly erroneous concept of the Nativity. A large reason is because they’ve seen too many lame Christmas cards with a very pregnant Mary on a donkey, or three wise men traveling across a sand dune alone adorned in royal regalia and carrying wealth that fairly screams, “Rob me!” Or maybe three kings are gathered with a few shepherds round the outdoor manger accompanied by girl angels or chubby naked cherubs, halos all around. And then there’s the light shaft compliments of the long-tailed eight-pointed star presiding over everything.

Let’s get real.

You might wonder why I’m publishing my Nativity Story now instead of around Christmas. Because December 25 is meaningless. I believe late January or early February is when it all began—when John, the forerunner, was conceived.

I’m not including maps here; you can find the ones you need in your Bible. If you don’t already know where to find Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Judea, Idumea, Hebron, Ur, and the Euphrates River, you’l…