About the Shepherds
The first century Jew often boycotted, scorned, and didn’t trust shepherds, yet the angels’ message was given to them. Shepherds were one of the most unlikely types of people God would deliver the good news of Christ’s birth to because they were regarded as untrustworthy, and for the most part, they actually were untrustworthy.
How often do we give up on classes of people because of the lifestyles they live and those they want to associate with?
About Mangers
From Poet & Peasant and Through Peasant Eyes:
The Westerner reads Luke 2:7, “She laid him in a manger,” and assumes that Jesus was born in a stable because, of course, mangers are in stables. This judgment is…culturally conditioned…the Middle Eastern Palestinian farmer reads the same text and assumes that Jesus was born in a private home. In the Middle East, the villager’s home is one room with a lower level at one end where the family donkey and cow are brought at night. The family lives on the upper level. This raised terrace has mangers built into the floor at the end nearest the animals. So the Middle Eastern peasant…decides that Jesus was born in a private home. I have seen homes here in the Middle East with mangers in the floor…built in the 11th century. This is my earliest evidence. We are then faced with 3 alternatives:
1. We can continue assuming our own Western culture…
2. We can say, “We don’t have any 1st-century evidence about where animals were kept…
3. We can tentatively agree, “We know that the peasant has not changed his ways from the 11th century until now, and it is reasonable to assume that the centuries before were also culturally unchanging.
About the Wise Men and Their Transportation
The wise men likely came on camels. There’s no reason from the Bible to believe there were exactly 3 wise men, or even that there were camels. But donkeys carry only up to about 100 pounds each (45 kg), and camels can carry 880-1323 pounds (or for a female camel, 400-600 kg). And from “How Long Can a Camel Go Without Water?”
When temperatures rise above 110 degrees Fahrenheit, camels can survive for about five days without drinking water. During the winter, camels can survive six or seven months without drinking water. During that time, they may obtain moisture from plants they consume.
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