Bethlehem (Ephratha) The City of David

The First thing that draws your attraction as you enter Bethlehem is Rachel's tomb  mentioned in Genesis 35 and also in Jeremiah 31 recollected during the account of Christ's Birth in the New Testament.

Rachel, the beloved wife of the third Patriarch, Ya'acov (Jacob), died in childbirth on the way to Hebron returning to his family's home:They set out from Bayt-El; but when they were still some distance from Efrat, Rachel went into childbirth, and she had hard labor,   When her labor 

was at it's hardest, the midwife said to her, "Have no fear, for it's another boy for you."  But as she breathed her last --as she was dying-- she named him Ben-Oni, but his father called him Benyamin. So Rachel died.  She was buried on the road to Efrat -- now Bethlehem.  Over her grave Ya'acov set up a pillar, it is the pillar at Rachel's grave to this day. Torah, Parshat Vayishlach 

                                                                                  (Genesis 35:16-21)

Ya'acov buried Rachel at this spot, rather than a the family burial plot at the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron, because he foresaw that his decedents would pass this site during the the forced exile to Babylon in the year 423 B.C.E.

And then Rachel would pray for their safety and ultimate return, as it's written:

Rachel, weeping for her children, she refuses to be comforted for her children who are gone. Thus said HaShem: Restrain your voice from weeping, your eyes from shedding tears for there is reward for your labor' declares HaShem. 'They shall return from the enemy's land and there is hope for the future' declares HaShem: 'Your children shall return to their own country.' 

                                                                                      Jeremiah 31:15-17

So Ya'acov set up a monument over her lonely grave site so that exiled Jews would recognize it and pray and be comforted as they were being led into captivity.  Ancient writings describe the grave marker as 12 stones that represented the 12 tribes of Israel with one large stone that symbolized Ya'akov.

Picture Courtesy rachelstomb.org

The next thing I was reminded as we stepped into this historic City  is the Prophecy of Micah and Isaiah and the Covenant the LORD made with David .

எப்பிராத்தா என்னப்பட்ட பெத்லகேமே, நீ யூதேயாவிலுள்ள ஆயிரங்களுக்குள்ளே சிறியதாயிருந்தும், இஸ்ரவேலை ஆளப்போகிறவர் உன்னிடத்திலிருந்து புறப்பட்டு என்னிடத்தில் வருவார்; அவருடைய புறப்படுதல் அநாதி நாட்களாகிய பூர்வத்தினுடையது.

நமக்கு ஒரு பாலகன் பிறந்தார்; நமக்கு ஒரு குமாரன் கொடுக்கப்பட்டார்; கர்த்தத்துவம் அவர் தோளின்மேலிருக்கும்; அவர் நாமம் அதிசயமானவர், ஆலோசனைக் கர்த்தா, வல்லமையுள்ள தேவன், நித்திய பிதா, சமாதானப்பிரபு என்னப்படும்.

7. தாவீதின் சிங்காசனத்தையும் அவனுடைய ராஜ்யத்தையும் அவர் திடப்படுத்தி அதை இதுமுதற்கொண்டு என்றென்றைக்கும் நியாயத்திலும் நீதியினாலும் நிலைப்படுத்தும்படிக்கு, அவருடைய கர்த்தத்துவத்தின் பெருக்கத்துக்கும், அதின் சமாதானத்துக்கும் முடிவில்லை; சேனைகளின் கர்த்தருடைய வைராக்கியம் இதைச் செய்யும்.

For unto us a Child is born,

Unto us a Son is given;

And the government will be upon His shoulder.

And His name will be called

Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,

Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.

 Of the increase of His government and peace

There will be no end,

Upon the throne of David and over His kingdom,

To order it and establish it with judgment and justice

From that time forward, even forever.

The zeal of the Lord of hosts will perform this.

We visited the Shepherds field in the village of Shepherds.

The traditional place of the angel’s visit is the town of Beit Sahur. Originally known as the Village of the Shepherds, it is now an eastern suburb of Bethlehem.

 "And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And the Angel said to them, Fear not, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people" (Luke 2:8-10).

அப்பொழுது அந்த நாட்டிலே மேய்ப்பர்கள் வயல்வெளியில் தங்கி, இராத்திரியிலே தங்கள் மந்தையைக் காத்துக்கொண்டிருந்தார்கள்.
அவ்வேளையில் கர்த்தருடைய தூதன் அவர்களிடத்திலே வந்து நின்றான், கர்த்தருடைய மகிமை அவர்களைச் சுற்றிலும் பிரகாசித்தது; அவர்கள் மிகவும் பயந்தார்கள். தேவதூதன் அவர்களை நோக்கி: பயப்படாதிருங்கள்; இதோ, எல்லா ஜனத்துக்கும் மிகுந்த சந்தோஷத்தை உண்டாக்கும் நற்செய்தியை உங்களுக்கு அறிவிக்கிறேன். இன்று கர்த்தராகிய கிறிஸ்து என்னும் இரட்சகர் உங்களுக்குத் தாவீதின் ஊரிலே பிறந்திருக்கிறார். பிள்ளையைத் துணிகளில் சுற்றி, முன்னணையில் கிடத்தியிருக்கக்காண்பீர்கள்; இதுவே உங்களுக்கு அடையாளம் என்றான்.

Once in royal Davids city,

Stood a lowly cattle shed,

Where a mother laid her Baby,

In a manger for His bed:

Mary was that mother mild,

Jesus Christ, her little Child.

 A short distance south of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem is a shrine called the Milk Grotto, on a street of the same name.

 The Church of the Nativity is a basilica located in Bethlehem. The church was originally commissioned in 327 AD by Constantine and his mother Helena over the site that is still traditionally considered to be located over the cave that marks the birthplace of Jesus of Nazareth. The Church of the Nativity site's original basilica was completed in 339 AD and destroyed by fire during the Samaritan Revolts in the sixth century AD. A new basilica was built 565 AD by Justinian, the Byzantine Emperor, restoring the architectural tone of the original.

 The Door of Humility, main entrance into the Church .The Door of Humility, a small rectangular entrance to the church, was created in Ottoman times to prevent carts being driven in by looters, and to force even the most important visitor to dismount from his horse as he entered the holy place. The doorway was reduced from an earlier Crusader doorway, the pointed arch of which can still be seen above the current door.

Trap doors in the present floor reveal sections of floor mosaics surviving from the original basilica. The mosaics feature complex geometric designs with birds, flowers and vine patterns, making a rich and elaborate carpet for Constantine's church. 

 Constantine's  4th century mosaic floor was  rediscovered in 1934

The Grotto of the Nativity, a rectangular cavern beneath the church, is the Church of the Nativity's focal point. Entered by a flight of steps by the church altar, this is the cave that has been honored as the site of Christ's birth since at least the 2nd century.

The antiquity of the association of the site with the birth of Jesus is attested by the Christian apologist Justin Martyr (c. 100 – 165 AD), who noted in his Dialogue with Trypho that the Holy Family had taken refuge in a cave outside of town:the Greek philosopher Origen of Alexandria (185 AD - circa. 254 AD) wrote:In Bethlehem the cave is pointed out where He was born, and the manger in the cave where He was wrapped in swaddling clothes. And the rumor is in those places, and among foreigners of the Faith, that indeed Jesus was born in this cave who is worshipped and reverenced by the Christians. (Contra Celsum, book I, chapter LI).

 The Grotto of the Nativity, an underground cave located beneath the basilica, enshrines the site where Jesus is said to have been born. The exact spot is marked beneath an altar by a 14-pointed silver star set into the marble floor and surrounded by silver lamps.

 The main altar includes an Orthodox iconostasis, which is crowned with gilded angels, icons, gilded chandeliers and lamps.



The gospel accounts don't mention a cave, but less than a century later, both Justin Martyr and the Protoevangelium of James say Jesus was born in a cave. This is reasonable, as many houses in the area are still built in front of a cave. The cave part would have been used for stabling and storage - thus the manger

 The columns are made of pink, polished limestone, most of them dating from the original 4th-century Constantinian basilica.The current basilica was rebuilt in its present form in 565 AD by Byzantine Emperor Justinian I. When the Persians under Chosroes II invaded in 614, they did not destroy the structure. According to legend, their commander Shahrbaraz was moved by the depiction inside the church of the Three Magi wearing Persian clothing, and commanded that the building be spared.

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