Page 24 - Advanced Life of Christ - Student Textbook

Bethlehem.

The city of Bethlehem is located about six miles southwest of
Jerusalem. Bethlehem means “house of bread” and was known as
the City of David. It was there in young David’s hometown that the
prophet Samuel anointed him as king over Israel (I Samuel 16:1-13).
It sits about 2,600 feet above the Mediterranean Sea. The distance
between Nazareth to Bethlehem is about 80 miles or it takes about
four eight-hour days to walk.

At the time of Jesus’ birth, Bethlehem was a small village. The hills
around it were terraced and clothed with vines, fig trees, and
almonds and the surrounding valleys yielded full harvests of grain.
At the time of Christ’s birth, there were probably less than 200
people living in Bethlehem and probably not more than 15 to 20
male children under the age of 2. The shepherds had their animals
out in the fields all year round, so the presence of shepherds does
not give us a date for Christ’s birth.

Joseph and Mary both had to return to Bethlehem, because for the
first and only time in the history of Rome did Caesar require Jewish people to travel to their home or
heritage city to register for taxation. Both Joseph and Mary were born in the line of David, so both were
required by law to travel to Bethlehem. It could be that Joseph owned land in Bethlehem, because by
the time the wise men came from the East to worship Jesus, Joseph and Mary were living in a house.
Joseph was a poor stone cutter, so most likely built his family a simple house in Bethlehem. I’m sure you
are disappointed to learn that the wise men did not show up at the manger along with the shepherds!

Locate Bethlehem on the map. (Hint: It is to the left of the top of the Dead Sea, south of Jerusalem.)
Blue Arrow.

Jerusalem

No visitor seeing Jerusalem for the first time could fail to be impressed by its visual splendor. The long,
difficult ascent from Jericho to the east up to the Holy City ended as the traveler rounded the Mount of
Olives and suddenly caught sight of a vista like few others in the world. Across the Kidron Valley, set
among the surrounding hills, was Jerusalem, "the perfection of beauty," in the words of Lamentations,
"the joy of all the world”.

The view from the Mount of Olives was dominated by the gleaming, gold-embellished Herod’s Temple
which was in the most holy spot in the Jewish world. The Temple stood high in the old City of David or
Zion, at the center of a gigantic white stone platform. Only the Roman fort of Antonia stood on higher
ground 600 feet to the north.
A high, thick, gray stone wall encircled Jerusalem. It had been damaged, repaired and enlarged over the
centuries, and in Jesus' day it was about 4 miles in circumference, bringing about 25,000 people into an
area of about a square mile. At intervals along the wall were massive gateways. Just inside each gate
was a customs station, where publicans collected taxes on all goods entering or leaving the city.

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