Migdal Eder - The tower of the flock
This following quote is what the Mishna says about Jesus birth in a manger by:
—Alfred Edersheim, "The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah", pp. 186-87
"But as we pass from the sacred gloom of the cave [i.e., he was just talking about the birth of Jesus in a cave] out into the night, its sky all aglow with starry brightness, its loneliness is peopled, and its silence made vocal from heaven. There is nothing now to conceal, but much to reveal, though the manner of it would seem strangely incongruous to Jewish thinking. And yet Jewish tradition may here prove both illustrative and helpful. That the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem, was a settled conviction. Equally so was the belief, that He was to be revealed from Migdal Eder, “the tower of the flock.” This Migdal Eder was not the watchtower for the ordinary flocks which pastured on the barren sheep ground beyond Bethlehem, but lay close to the town, on the road to Jerusalem. A passage in the Mishnah leads to the conclusion, that the flocks, which pastured there, were destined for Temple-sacrifices, and, accordingly, that the shepherds, who watched over them, were not ordinary shepherds. The latter were under the ban of Rabbinism, on account of their necessary isolation from religious ordinances, and their manner of life, which rendered strict legal observance unlikely, if not absolutely impossible. The same Mishnaic passage also leads us to infer, that these flocks lay out all the year round, since they are spoken of as in the fields thirty days before the Passover—that is, in the month of February, when in Palestine the average rainfall is nearly greatest. Thus, Jewish tradition in some dim manner apprehended the first revelation of the Messiah from that Migdal Eder, where shepherds watched the Temple-flocks all the year round. Of the deep symbolic significance of such a coincidence, it is needless to speak."
Now let's follow the birth of Jesus in the Gospels.
1. First of all, we see from the book of (Mat. 1:18-25) The birth of Jesus as told to Mary.
2. In (Luke 2:1-7) We see Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem and delivering Jesus. We need to ask questions. Why would God have not prepared a place for the birth . . . or did He?
3. Then in (Luke 2:8-20) We see the angels announcing the birth. I can imagine that shepherds were prevalent in the area so why these shepherds in this field? How did the shepherds know where in Bethlehem to find Him with all the stables in the area for they found Him with haste?
4. Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the Priest on the eighth day for circumcision. According to tradition there should have been wise men bringing gifts to the new baby. Were there all the different animals there that we see in manger scenes?
5. Herod wanted all male babies under two years old killed (Mat 2).
1. First of all, we see from the book of (Mat. 1:18-25) The birth of Jesus as told to Mary.
2. In (Luke 2:1-7) We see Joseph and Mary traveling to Bethlehem and delivering Jesus. We need to ask questions. Why would God have not prepared a place for the birth . . . or did He?
3. Then in (Luke 2:8-20) We see the angels announcing the birth. I can imagine that shepherds were prevalent in the area so why these shepherds in this field? How did the shepherds know where in Bethlehem to find Him with all the stables in the area for they found Him with haste?
4. Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the Priest on the eighth day for circumcision. According to tradition there should have been wise men bringing gifts to the new baby. Were there all the different animals there that we see in manger scenes?
5. Herod wanted all male babies under two years old killed (Mat 2).