ARTICLES

By Arlene Bridges Samuels 

As 2025 draws to a close, the Christmas season once again fills homes, churches, and cities with light and joy. Advent candles glow in churches across America, while Bethlehem’s Manger Square is illuminated by a Christmas tree lighting ceremony that has returned after a two-year pause. With Christmas falling on a Thursday this year, many communities are extending their celebrations through the weekend.

This season is filled with both magnificence and simplicity. Recently, audiences around the world experienced André Rieu’s Christmas concert featuring his Johann Strauss Orchestra from Maastricht in the Netherlands. The concert combined sacred and secular music that moved many listeners to tears during the hymns of worship. It felt like a glimpse of heaven’s music. Yet just as meaningful are the humble “Watch Night” services held in small churches across Haiti on Christmas Eve. In all these settings, the heart of Christmas offers a renewal of hope for every soul.

Today, more than one hundred sixty nations observe Christmas, representing more than two billion people. The sacred and the secular often coexist in these celebrations. Yet amid carols, gifts, and lights, one truth deserves more attention. Bethlehem is known throughout the world as the birthplace of Jesus, but few remember that the nation of Israel itself was chosen as the setting for God’s entrance into human history.

On the outskirts of ancient Bethlehem once stood Migdal Eder, the Tower of the Flock. Though the structure no longer exists, the Bible preserves its meaning. Micah 4:8 reads, “As for you, watchtower of the flock, stronghold of Daughter Zion, the former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem.” Micah 5:2 continues, “But as for you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, too little to be among the clans of Judah, from you One will come forth for Me to be ruler in Israel.” Genesis 35:21 also records that “Jacob camped beyond Migdal Eder after burying Rachel near Bethlehem.” The Hebrew phrase Migdal Eder means “tower of the flock.” For generations, this structure stood as both a lookout post and a birthing place for the sheep destined for Temple sacrifice.

According to Jewish tradition recorded in the Mishnah, shepherds in Bethlehem had long told stories of Migdal Eder. By the fourth century, a Byzantine monastery had been built on the site to mark its sacred significance. The Sadducees, who oversaw Temple sacrifices, appointed Bethlehem’s shepherds to care for the flocks used in worship. These shepherds were priestly caretakers trained to ensure that each animal was fit for sacrifice. When lambs were born, they were brought inside the lower chamber of the tower. The newborns were gently wrapped in strips of cloth to prevent injury and laid in a stone feeding trough until they were calm. Only perfect lambs could be offered in sacrifice, fulfilling Exodus 12:5: “Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year.”

This ancient practice reveals a powerful prophetic connection. Centuries later, angels appeared to these same Bethlehem shepherds and announced, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: you will find the baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger” (Luke 2:11–12). The shepherds needed no directions. They knew the exact place where newborn lambs were wrapped and protected. They ran to Migdal Eder, the Tower of the Flock, where they found the promised Messiah lying in a manger. The very shepherds who cared for sacrificial lambs were the first to see the Lamb of God, born where the sacrificial lambs were once laid.

As the lambs reached one year old, they were herded into Jerusalem for Passover. The priests examined each animal, accepting only those without blemish. Jesus Christ, the sinless Son of God, fulfilled this image perfectly. He became the final Passover Lamb, the Good Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep. It is no coincidence that the Lamb of God was born in the very place where Temple lambs were raised.

Centuries later, the story of that night spread around the world, shaping faith and culture alike. The celebration of Christ’s birth reached what historians call a tipping point, a moment when faith and festivity merged into a global observance. In the nineteenth century, this transformation gathered momentum through books, music, and tradition. In 1822, Reverend Clement Moore wrote A Visit from St. Nicholas, better known as Twas the Night Before Christmas. Two decades later, Charles Dickens published A Christmas Carol, inspiring renewed generosity and compassion. The United States established Christmas as a federal holiday in 1870. By the 1880s, Christmas carols such as “Away in a Manger” appeared in magazines, and the legend of Santa Claus, based on St. Nicholas, took hold in popular culture.

After World War II, Christmas shopping became a hallmark of the season, reshaping global economies. In 2024, Americans spent more than six hundred billion dollars during the holiday season. While the celebrations have grown increasingly elaborate, the sacred story remains unchanged.

For believers, the challenge is not to abandon the joy and beauty of Christmas, but to keep Christ at the center. Israel, the Holy Land, remains the cradle of our faith and the birthplace of the Savior. No other nation can make that claim. Author Max Lucado expressed it beautifully: “The story of Christmas is the story of God’s relentless love for us.”

As Christmas fills our hearts and homes this year, may we remember that the true light of the season still shines from Bethlehem. The promise of redemption began in a manger and was fulfilled on the cross. The same God who orchestrated the birth of His Son in Migdal Eder continues to call humanity to Himself with love that never ends.

CBN Israel invites readers to pray and reflect on Israel, the cradle of the Christian faith and the land of the Savior’s birth.

Prayer Points:

• Pray with gratitude that Israel allows citizens and visitors the freedom to celebrate Christmas in peace.
• Pray for protection throughout Israel, as terrorist attacks often increase during the holidays.
• Pray for Israel as it observes Hanukkah from December 14 to 22.
• Pray for the members of the IDF as they defend their nation on multiple fronts amid ongoing conflict.

Arlene Bridges Samuels is the weekly feature columnist for CBN Israel since 2020. Working on the staff of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) as their SE Regional Outreach Director for nine years, International Christian Embassy Jerusalem USA engaged her as the Leadership Outreach Director part-time for their project American Christian Leaders for Israel. Arlene is an author at The Blogs-Times of Israel, is published at AllIsrael.com and The Jerusalem Connection, and has traveled to Israel since 1990. By invitation, she attends Israel’s Government Press Office Christian Media Summits as part of Christian media worldwide. In 2024, Arlene and her husband Paul co-authored Mental Health Meltdown: Illuminating the Voices of Bipolar and Other Mental Illnesses. www.TheMentalHealthMeltdown.com.