Reading the Scriptures as the Word of God without recognizing the historical and cultural nuances that are recorded in the texts can allow readers to miss wonderful truths.
In the birth narrative of Jesus, Luke records, “And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night” (2:8).
Before the fall harvest season, shepherds begin moving their flocks into the fields to wait for the end of the harvest season. After every family has harvested their garden and have left their corners and whatever has fallen (Leviticus 19:9-10) for the poor, the shepherds are then to lead their flocks into the gardens to clean up whatever has been left by the poor. Over a month’s time, the sheep and goats will completely clean the gardens and leave their droppings to fertilize them for the next harvest season.
The Shepherds arrive just before the fall harvest season, which begins at the end of September/beginning of October, and ends before the next rainy season which begins at the beginning of November. During this entire season, the shepherds live in the fields with their flocks. The fields are a very specific area of land that runs between the ganim (Hebrew for “gardens”) and the green pastures, which are actually the very dry hills that are scattered with small patches of vegetation.
With the knowledge that the shepherds “live in the fields” every year just before the fall harvest season and are to be gone by the beginning of the rainy season (early November), we can very confidently suggest that Jesus was born in the month of October, while “there were shepherds living out in the fields.”
This is not any real news to many. However, the historical setting of Luke’s words give us a better understanding for why shepherds were living in the fields during the birth of Jesus, and clarify the actual timing of Christmas.
The date of December 25 was the birthday of Mithra, the sun god, also known as Sol Invicto, (Invincible Sun). Mithraism was celebrated every year on December 25th and was known as “the Day of the Lord. “The Sun of Righteousness,” Yeshua/Jesus was honored by Constantine after he became ruler of the Roman Empire, and following the Edict of Milan, he named December 25th the birthday of Jesus.
