In theory, if one could pinpoint the day on which Zechariah and Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist, one could extrapolate an approximate date of Jesus’ birth. Elizabeth was “in her sixth month” of pregnancy when the angel Gabriel came to Mary. Therefore, approximately fifteen months after Elizabeth conceived, Jesus was born.
The Course of Abijah
The timing of John’s conception is tied to the annunciation to Zechariah while he was serving at the temple (Lk 1). Presumably, within a week or two of his return from Jerusalem, John was conceived. The key, therefore, is to narrow down the dates on which Zechariah would have been serving at the temple. This is a cottage industry among biblical chronologists, but unfortunately the results are more evocative than conclusive because the data are subject to varied interpretations.
What is known for sure is that the priests were divided into twenty-four courses, serving for one week at a time from Sabbath to Sabbath (2 Ch 23:8; 24:7-19; Josephus Ant. 7:14:7). In addition, there were three weeks of the year when all of the courses were on duty: Passover, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (Dt 16:16). Twenty-four divisions each serving two weeks per year, plus the three additional weeks, makes up the fifty-one weeks of a standard Jewish year. (About every third year, an intercalary month was added to the Jewish year to bring it back into alignment with the solar year.) The questions are myriad:
- Did the priests serve the same two weeks every year, perhaps counting from the start of the year? If so, did they calculate the beginning of the year from Nisan or from Tishrei?
- Did the priestly rotation proceed strictly in accordance with the numbering of weeks, without reference to the calendar dates?
- What happened in leap years? Did the priestly rotation simply continue apace, or was there some kind of special arrangement?
- Did the rotation schedule change at any point or was it consistent across the decades and centuries?
Keeping these questions in mind, what are some possibilities? We know from Josephus that the first division, the division of Jehoiarib, was on duty when Jerusalem was besieged during the first week of April, AD 70 (Nisan 1-8, AM 3830). When then would the division of Abijah (the eighth division) have been serving ca. 4 BC? If the courses served in the same weeks of every year, this would have the Abijah division coming on duty
- Passover week: beginning the second Sabbath in Nisan (March-April).
- Pentecost week: beginning the first Sabbath in Sivan (May-June).
- The tenth week of the year: beginning the second Sabbath in Sivan (May-June). (Abijah was the eighth course; the two pilgrimage festivals throws the rotation off by two weeks, resulting in the tenth week.)
- The thirty-fourth week of the year: beginning the second Sabbath in Tishrei (September-October). (Twenty-four weeks later) This places the course of Abijah on duty on the Day of Atonement, Tishrei 10.
- Tabernacles week: beginning the third Sabbath in Tishrei (September-October).
Assuming John was conceived within the week after Zechariah returned from his temple service, the May-June date would yield a date for the birth of Jesus in the fall; if the September-October date is preferred, the result is Jesus being born in winter. In other words, either of the prevailing theories can be supported by this method of calculation!
If, however, the divisions drifted through the year to keep strict time with the count of weeks—and if this week count was not interrupted by leap years—then we can calculate backward from Jehoiarib’s service the first week of April in AD 70.
If we bracket out for the moment the three weeks of the year when all twenty-four courses were on duty, we find by this approach that the course of Abijah would have come on duty during only one week that would yield a Christmas date within our established parameters. A week of service for the course of Abijah would have begun on June 23, 4 BC (Sivan 27, AM 3757).
Assuming John was conceived around July 1-7, this gives a date of the Annunciation around December 30-January 5, 3 BC and a date for the birth of Christ around September 22-28, 3 BC, during the feast of Tabernacles. It should also be noted that the date of the Annunciation by this reckoning falls very close to January 6, the feast of the Epiphany, which in ancient times may have marked the celebration not of the birth of Christ per se, but the fact of the incarnation.
The Day of Atonement?
Taking another approach, some early fathers such as John Chrysostom asserted that Zechariah heard the angelic annunciation on the Day of Atonement. This assertion is suspect from the outset because it seems to be based on an erroneous claim in Protevangelium of James that Zechariah was in fact the Jewish high priest! Even so, we have seen above that a date on or near the Day of Atonement is a possibility if the course rotation was tied to a fixed beginning point (i.e., the first of Nisan) every year. At any event, all the priestly courses would have been serving the following week during the feast of Tabernacles. With that in mind, let us proceed.
In 4 BC, the Day of Atonement (Tishrei 10) fell on Monday, October 1. The following week was Tabernacles, so Zechariah could not return home to Elizabeth for another two Sabbaths, leaving Jerusalem perhaps Sunday, October 14. This means that even if we cannot prove that Zechariah was serving during the first week of October of 4 BC, he definitely would have been serving—along with the other twenty-three courses—during the second week of October, and would not have gotten home until after that.
Let us assume that John was conceived within one week of Zechariah’s return. This would therefore have been October 14-20 (regardless of the precise date of the angelic visitation), with the Annunciation following some twenty-six weeks later around April 14-20, 3 BC. (The angel told Mary that Elizabeth was “in her sixth month.” There is therefore a couple week’s leeway to play with here.)
Finally, the birth of Jesus would come thirty-eight weeks after that or around January 5-11, 2 BC. (Normal human gestation period is considered to be 38 weeks from conception.) It should be noted that this is the only documentary evidence for the date of Zechariah’s service in the temple. All other possibilities are based purely on speculative back-counting.
Zechariah – Priestly Order of Abijah
When considering the birth date of Jesus, it is easy to eliminate any proposed date that does not occur in the fall of the year. Although some have speculated that Jesus was born in the springtime – even during Passover – a birthdate in the spring is not reasonable, due principally to the biblical method of calculating the month of Jesus’ birth.
The biblical method of calculating the birthday of Jesus involves figuring the birthdate of John the Baptist and then applying other information in Luke’s Gospel regarding the time difference between their births. This clearly places Jesus’ birthdate in the fall of the year.
The Gospel of Luke covers the birth of John the Baptist before giving details of the birth of Jesus. There is a reason for this: The two are inseparably linked in the chronology of their births as well as in their ministries.
Determining the birth date of John the Baptist is the first puzzle piece in our process of assembling the “puzzle” of Jesus’ birth.
Luke provides clues related to John the Baptist’s father, Zechariah the priest, which help us unlock the date for the birth of Jesus. This requires some biblical “sleuthing” to derive the months and days of the year for the births of John and Jesus. Some important information from the Old Testament and from the Jewish Mishnah are also needed to calculate John’s birthdate – the initial step in figuring Jesus’ birthday.
In Luke we read:
“In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; . . .” Luke 1:5
This is an important clue, as the priestly division of Abijah was the eighth of the 24 divisions which King David, on God’s instructions, had set up to service the Temple (1 Chronicles 24:1-19; 28:12-13). King David had divided the descendants of the sons of Eleazar and Ithamar, the two sons of Aaron, into 24 groups (courses) and set up a schedule for the priests (Kohanim) to service the Temple in an orderly manner throughout the year. Each course served for one week (2 Chr. 23:8, 1 Chr. 9:25), from Sabbath to Sabbath, twice a year. In addition, according to the Jewish Mishnah all courses served together during the three Pilgrim Feasts (Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles). Each course therefore served for a total of five weeks during a normal year.
A normal year on the present Hebrew calendar consists of 12-lunar months of 29 or 30 days, for a total of 354 days, which is about 11 days fewer than a solar year (365.24 days). During a regular Jewish year, which occurs 12 times in a 19-year cycle, a total of 51 weeks would require Temple coverage (24 courses x 2 times per year + 3 weeks of Pilgrim Feasts weeks = 51 weeks coverage).
Calculated Dates for the Births of John the Baptist and Jesus
In 4 BC (Jesus’ birth is assumed to be in 3 BC from other historical evidence as well as astronomical evidence – to be presented in future Posts), Nisan 1 was the equivalent of our March 29, and the preceding Sabbath was March 24, making the week of the duties of the first priestly course from Sabbath noon, March 24, to Sabbath noon, March 31 (and the 2nd course from March 31 to April 7, etc.). The 3rd course (which started on our April 7) was interrupted by the Passover/Unleavened Bread week-long celebration, when all the priests officiated together; and this caused the 3rd course to extend its service until the Sabbath after Passover, which was April 21 in 4 BC.
The period of service for the 8th course of Abijah, to which Zechariah belonged, was from May 19 to May 26. It was most likely this late spring administration when Zechariah’s service was interrupted by the angel’s appearance to him, announcing his wife’s imminent pregnancy. Because of his unbelief, he was struck dumb during his service in the Temple, which immediately disqualified him from his priestly duties (Lev. 21:16-23). Therefore, he left for home. Sometime between May 26 and June 1, Elizabeth would have conceived. She later gave birth to John the Baptist near March 10 in 3 BC (after the gestation period of 9 months and 10 days, a total of 280 days). This would place the birth of Jesus six months later (Luke 1:26-38) in the first half of September, in 3 BC.
Of course, the other possibility is that the date that the angel struck Zechariah and caused him to lose his speech was during Zechariah’s second service term in the second half of the year, rather than during the first term of service in the spring. However, this is unlikely, as it would have caused the birth of John the Baptist to be near mid-September. Consequently, Jesus’ birth would have been in March, during the rainy season. William Ramsay demonstrates in his book, Born in Bethlehem, that the general time of year for the start of the census was from August to October – to encourage higher participation – and not during the rainy season in mid-March. We therefore know that Jesus was most probably not born in the spring, since we know that Joseph was taking his family to Bethlehem for the census, at which time Jesus was born. And we then conclude that Zechariah’s service in the temple when he was struck dumb was during the first half of the year rather than during the second half.
From this method of calculating the birthdate of Jesus from information related to the birthdate of John the Baptist in Luke’s Gospel – as well as from information on the timing of the Roman census – we see that Jesus was most likely born in the fall of the year, probably in September. It is admittedly impossible to arrive at a specific date for the birth of either John the Baptist or Jesus based on the priestly courses and the information in Luke’s Gospel, but it helps to approximate a likely range of dates.
Tishri 1 (Yom Teruah, the Feast of Trumpets) began at sundown on September 11, 3 BC, when the day changed from Elul 30 to Tishri 1. In my next Post I will present both astronomical/zodiac evidence and a scriptural reference from Rev. 12:1-6 to “prove” that Jesus was born on September 11, 3 BC, when the astronomical signs in Revelation aligned precisely and uniquely with this specific date. Establishing the birth date of Jesus from the birth date of John the Baptist and doing so by use of precise astronomical evidence therefore appear to be in agreement. All this is building a case for the correct date of the birth of Jesus.
BACKGROUND OF “SIGNS” AND THE BIBLICAL ZODIAC
Signs in the Heavens
In this discussion we will find that even the stars and planets in the heavens point us to the actual date of Jesus’ birth. This astronomical/zodiacal evidence is our puzzle piece #2 in solving the “puzzle” of the birth date of Jesus.
Who has not looked up into the sky on a clear night and marveled at the vastness of the universe and wondered about the God who created all things? In Genesis, God explains His purpose for creating all those lights in the universe. He said,
“Let there be lights in the firmament of the heavens to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years; And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth; and it was so” (Genesis 1:14 KJV)
It is interesting that God created the stars, planets and other objects in the universe as “signs”, among the other reasons stated. Certainly, the Magi who came seeking the Jewish Messiah saw some kind of “sign” or “signs” in the heavens. The Bible calls our attention to starry objects, and the Psalmist gives us context in a poetic style, as the King James Version captures so well in its translation:
“The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard. Their line is gone out through all the earth and their words to the end of the world. In them hath he set a tabernacle for the sun . . .” (Psalm 19:1-4 KJV).
The heavens are for His glory, and they are there to teach us. It is wonderful that there is a reason for all these things we see. God has said so. Remember that He named each star (Isaiah 40:26) in spite of their vast number.
Scriptural References to the Stars and the Biblical Zodiac
It is interesting to note the number of times that the stars and the constellations are mentioned in Scripture. The Book of Job is reported by some commentators to be the oldest book of the Bible, going back to approximately 2,150 BC – 650 years before Moses wrote the Pentateuch. Job has several astronomical references in Chapters 8 and 38:
“[God] which alone spreadeth out the heavens, and treadeth upon the waves of the sea. Which maketh Arcturus, Orion, and Pleiades, and the chambers of the south.” (Job 9:8-9 KJV)
“Canst thou bind the sweet influences of Pleiades, or loose the bands of Orion? Canst thou bring forth Mazzaroth [Hebrew: “The Constellations of the Zodiac”] in his season? Or canst thou guide Arcturus with his sons? Knoweth thou the ordinances of heaven? Canst thou set the dominion thereof in the earth?” (Job 38:31-33 KJV)
Also, from the book of Amos:
“Seek him that maketh the seven stars [Pleiades] and Orion . . .” (Amos 5:8a KJV).
The original zodiac was given by God to man as a means to display the Gospel story to man before the written word came through Moses. The “Mazzaroth” mentioned in Job literally means “the twelve signs [constellations] of the zodiac.” God displays each of the twelve signs of the zodiac in their appropriate months during the year.
The graphical depiction of the zodiac – with its 12 starry constellations – is used in the occult arts, astrology and fortune-telling. It is well known that these acts are forbidden in the Bible (Leviticus 20:27), largely because they may involve demonic spirits (Acts 16:16-19). This is a corruption and not the original purpose of the zodiac – given by God.
Biblical Astronomy in Prophetic Themes
The Gospel in the Stars
Strangely, there are early writings from virtually all civilizations describing the major stars contained in the 12 “Constellations of the Zodiac.” The records of ancient Egypt, Persia, Assyria, or Babylonia, all mention this ancient zodiac. The chart of the zodiac displays 12 major constellations around the ecliptic, which is the apparent path of the sun through the heavens, caused by the earth’s path around the sun during a year’s time.
Where did the descriptions of these 12 constellations come from? As noted earlier, the likely earliest book of the Bible, the book of Job, mentions several of these constellations, as well as the “Mazzaroth” (Job 38:31-32), which is the zodiac. A really good case can be made that the constellations were originally established in the heavens by God and described by God to either Adam or a descendant of his. In fact, it has been argued that the constellations depict a picture story of God’s plan of salvation for mankind through His Redeemer Son, Jesus.
According to Arabic tradition, the signs of the zodiac came originally from Seth, the son of Adam, and Enosh, the son of Seth. We know that the protoevangelium (the first evangel, the first Gospel) was given by God to Adam in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:15); this is the story of the future Messiah, the Seed of the woman, crushing the head of the serpent (Satan).
Jesus Christ is the subject of the written Word of God from Genesis to Revelation. Likewise, He is also the subject of the Word of God written in the heavens from Virgo (the initial, lead constellation) to Leo (the last of the 12 constellations). Jesus is the promised Seed of the woman (Virgo) and the King of Glory, the Lion of the tribe of Judah (Leo). He is also depicted in the heavens as the sun—the Righteous One, the bridegroom (spoken of in Psalm 19:4-5) racing through the heavens to redeem and restore His bride to glory.
In Psalm 19 David said a message was proclaimed by the sun’s path through the constellations:
“Their sound has gone out to all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world” (Psalm 19:4, NIV).
Of course, Scripture condemns astrology (Isaiah 47:13). Satan corrupted the use and purpose of the ancient zodiac. Instead of being simply the story of redemption through a future Redeemer (Jesus), the heavenly signs of the zodiac came to represent deities which influenced the daily lives of humans. This was not the original purpose. The word zodiac comes from the Hebrew sodi, and in Sanskrit means a Way, a Path, or a Step.
Balaam’s Prophecy (Numbers 22-24)
The prophecy of Balaam, as recorded by Moses, spoke about a “star” which was to arise in Israel that would be connected with ruler-ship or dominion:
“A star shall come out of Jacob and a scepter shall rise out of Israel” (Numbers 24:17 NIV).
Balaam’s reluctant, but divinely inspired, prophecy stated that a unique star associated with Israel would accompany a future King who – as we know from other Scripture – would eventually rule the world.
REVELATION 12:1-6 CONVEYS THE EXACT YEAR, DAY, AND HOUR OF JESUS’ BIRTH!
Biblical Text of Revelation 12:1-6
The events of the birth of Jesus are recorded in only three places in the New Testament: Matthew’s Gospel, Luke’s Gospel, and in Chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation (Revelation 12:1-6). It is true that Revelation contains much figurative language which is highly symbolic. However, within this figurative language are contained clues which precisely date the birth of Jesus – both the day and precise hour of His birth!
An evaluation of Revelation 12 – including an analysis of the astronomy depicted – provides additional support for the birthdate of Jesus as derived from Luke’s Gospel, specifically the birthdate of John the Baptist and the eighth priestly course of Abijah, as discussed in the previous Post “Jesus’ Birth – Evidence from the Birth of John the Baptist”. Both point to the fall season, the Hebrew month of Tishri (September). However, it is an analysis of Revelation 12 that gives us the precise day and hour.
The Apostle John wrote the following account of the “Woman and the Dragon” in Revelation Chapter 12, which has a veiled reference to God’s plan of redemption for mankind – the birth of Jesus:
“A great and wondrous sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet and a crown of twelve stars on her head. She was pregnant and cried out in pain as she was about to give birth. Then another sign appeared in heaven: an enormous red dragon with seven heads and ten horns and seven crowns on his heads. His tail swept a third of the stars out of the sky and flung them to the earth. The dragon stood in front of the woman who was about to give birth, so that he might devour her child the moment it was born. She gave birth to a son, a male child, who will rule all the nations with an iron scepter. And her child was snatched up to God and to his throne. The woman fled into the desert to a place prepared for her by God, where she might be taken care of for 1,260 days. (Revelation 12:1-6 NIV)
And there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon has hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.” (Revelation 12:7-9 NIV)
The following images depict the symbols found in Revelation 12:1-6.
Interpretation of the Signs in Revelation 12:1-6
For sure, the scene described in Revelation 12:1–6 is highly symbolic. Remember that Genesis tells us that one of the reasons that celestial bodies were made by God was to provide signs (Genesis 1:14). The passage in Revelation does just that.
It should be noted that the depiction in Revelation 12 could not be a literal description of the Virgin Mary, as the “woman” in the passage had the heavens associated with her – the sun, the moon, and the twelve stars. In addition, John stated that the display was a wonder (KJV; a great sign) and that it was in heaven. Of the three “heavens” – where the birds fly; where the sun, moon, planets and stars exist (Genesis 1:17); and where God lives (II Corinthians 12:2) – the most reasonable interpretation of the “heaven” as used in Revelation is where the sun, moon and the twelve stars are located.
What is all this symbolism communicating to us and how exactly does it tell us the precise birth date of Jesus? The key to understanding the passage in Revelation 12 is to analyze the astronomy depicted in this account in Scripture. This is a case of the written Word and the Word written in the stars coming together in parallel truths.
The sign given in verse 1 is that of a woman. The only sign of the zodiac which depicts a woman is the constellation of Virgo. The birth of the Messiah is associated with this heavenly spectacle (Revelation 12:2). The vision given to John associates specific positions of the sun and the moon in relation to Virgo, located within the normal paths of the sun and moon across the heavens. The specific locations of the sun and moon in relation to the woman give us clues to the specific day and time for the birth of the Messiah.
According to Ernest Martin in his book The Star of Bethlehem: The Star that Astonished the World:
“The only time in the year that the Sun could be in a position to ‘clothe’ the celestial woman called Virgo (that is, to be mid-bodied to her, in the region where a pregnant woman carries a child) is when the Sun is located between about 150 and 170 degrees along the ecliptic. This ‘clothing’ of the woman by the Sun occurs for a 20-day period each year. This 20 degree spread could indicate the general time when Jesus was born. In 3 B.C., the Sun would have entered this celestial region about August 27 and exited from it about September 15. If John in the Book of Revelation is associating the birth of Jesus with the period when the Sun was mid-bodied to this woman called Virgo (and this is no doubt what he means), then Jesus would have to be born within that 20-day period. From the point of view of the Magi . . . this would have been the only logical sign under which the Jewish Messiah might be born, especially if he were to be born of a virgin”
The sign of the sun “clothing” the woman (Virgo) defines a period of 20-days (August 27 to September 15 for the year 3 BC). It is the additional sign of the moon being “under her feet” which actually pinpoints the nativity to within a day – to within 90 minutes on that day. In the year 3 BC, these two relationships of the sun and moon and Virgo came into alignment for only an 81-minute period, as observed from Palestine in the twilight period of September 11. This relationship began at 6:18 p.m. (sunset) and lasted until 7:39 p.m. (moonset).
It should also be noted that this is the only day (September 11) in the whole year (3 BC) that the astronomical phenomenon described in Revelation Chapter 12 could take place. That the birth of Jesus was after sunset is confirmed in Luke’s description:
“And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them . . . Today [the day started at sundown] in the town of David a Savior has been born to you . . .” (Luke 2:8-9a NIV).
In addition, the timing of the sun and moon relationship with Virgo was a New Moon day, with the small sliver of the moon setting after the setting of the sun. Jesus was born at that time in the early evening. This New Moon day was Tishri 1 on the Jewish calendar (September 11, 3 BC), which is Yom Teruah (the Feast of Trumpets).
The vision of Revelation 12 – with Virgo giving birth – also has a “Near/Far” fulfillment, which is common in biblical prophecy. Obviously, on September 11, 3 BC Jesus fulfilled the vision of the birth of Messiah. Satan later tried to kill the Messiah through the actions of Herod, after the Magi arrived and left. There is, in addition, a future fulfillment of this vision, in the end times. How do we know this? We know this because of the usage of the future tense “has” – not “had” – in the original Greek language in Revelation 12:6:
“Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she ha(s) a place prepared by God, so that there she would be nourished for one thousand two hundred and sixty days” (Revelation 12:6 ).
This particular insight belongs to Nelson Walters from an article on his website at http://www.thegospelintheendtimes.com/pictures-of-end-times-in-the-bible/christmas-end-times/.
However, for the purpose of this discussion, the important thing for us to take away from Revelation 12:1-6 is that it supports the birth of Jesus being on September 11, 3 BC – just after sunset, at the start of Tishri 1 on the Jewish calendar.
Evidence for the Birthdate of Jesus Being on the Feast of Trumpets
In Revelation 12:1-6 the Apostle John is presenting something of great significance in a symbolic way. The date of September 11, 3 BC was Tishri 1 on the Jewish calendar in 3 BC. Tishri 1 is, of course, the 1st day of the first Jewish month. This date is also called Yom Teruah: The Day of Trumpets; the Feast of Trumpets; and Rosh Hashanah: Head of the Year, or Feast of the New Year.
From the proper astronomical interpretation of Revelation 12:1-6 (see previous Post: Jesus’ Birth – Astrological/Zodiacal References in Scripture), the only day in 3 BC which meets the astronomical confluences discussed is September 11, 3 BC, during the period of sunset to moonset, 6:18 pm to 7:39 pm. The close proximity of the positions of the sun and the moon as described in Revelation indicate a new moon time frame, which is exactly the situation which exists on the first day of a Jewish lunar month, as on Tishri 1, the Feast of Trumpets. Jesus must have been born on the Feast of Trumpets, as no other day of the year in 3 BC could astronomically meet the specific requirements detailed in Revelation.
We can then also conclude that Jesus’ birth was not on the Feast of Tabernacles or on Passover, as others have proposed. Both the Feast of Tabernacles and Passover occur in the middle of lunar months; therefore, there can be no new moon, as required by Revelation 12:1-6.
Significance of Tishri 1 (Feast of Trumpets; Rosh Hashanah)
There is a great deal of significance associated with the fact that Jesus was born on Tishri 1. This significance was evident to the Apostle John when he wrote Chapter 12 of the book of Revelation.
The early Jewish Christians considered Jesus to be the Messiah (Christ). And because He was born on the Feast of Trumpets, they also considered Him to be the King of the Universe. The theological understanding of the Jews within their synagogue services for the Feast of Trumpets was that God rules over all and that He is the King of kings. Zechariah 14:16 was commonly quoted in this regard: “The king, the Lord of hosts.” Some have argued that the “enthronement Psalms” (Psalms 47, 93, 96-99), in which Yahweh reigns, were a part of the liturgy of the ancient synagogues on this date. This was the very date on which Jesus was born.
The Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah) is the start of the Jewish civil year. Before God told Moses that the month of the Exodus (Nisan) was to become the start of the religious year, Tishri 1 was the start of all years, from Creation to the Exodus from Egypt. There is an impressive assortment of biblical and prophetic scenes which align with this date. The Day of Trumpets was the day that commemorated the creation of the world, the first day of Genesis 1:1-5. We’re talking the birthday of the world! It is very fitting that the Creator of the world (John 1:1-3, 14) would come into the world on this date!
In Genesis we also find a reference to Tishri 1 in the account of Noah and the ark:
“By the first day of the first month of Noah’s six hundred and first year, the water had dried up from the earth. Noah then removed the covering from the ark and saw that the surface of the ground was dry” (Genesis 8:13 NIV).
This was not only the birthday of Noah but, in a sense, the birthday of a new world, as well. All on Tishri 1!
Tishri 1 was also the day that many of the ancient kings and rulers of Judah regarded as their inauguration date. This was certainly the case with Solomon, Jeremiah, and Ezra.
One of the key themes of the Day of Trumpets is kingship, and The Day of Trumpets was used in counting the years of a king’s rule. It only seems fitting that Jesus came into the world on this auspicious date. It is also possible that the patriarch Joseph of Egypt, who is a type of Christ in the Old Testament, rose to “kingship” on this new moon day, which began the month of Tishri. He had been in captivity in a dungeon for “two full years” (Genesis 41:1). The implication is that Joseph rose to “kingship” on a New Year’s Day. Psalm 81 (vv. 3, 5) is a New Year’s Psalm referencing Joseph’s royal enthronement (Genesis 41:40); the kingdoms of the world became Joseph’s on the day intended for coronations – the day which later became the Feast of Trumpets. Pharaoh still retained position over Joseph, just as God the Father is Lord over Jesus, even though Jesus was prophesied to rule the kingdoms of this world. Joseph therefore prefigured Jesus in many aspects of his life.
Other important events occurred on Rosh Hashanah (Tishri 1). On Rosh Hashanah Joseph was freed from an Egyptian prison. He subsequently became Viceroy of Egypt, provider of food to “the world,” and leader of Jacob’s family. Joseph set in motion the years of exile and enslavement of Israel, which led eventually to Israel’s exodus, freedom, nationhood, and entrance into the Promised Land. Accordingly, Rosh Hashanah is considered to be a day of freedom. This is further illustrated by the following entry in The Machzor, the Jewish Prayer Book used on the High Holidays of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur:
“On Rosh Ha-Shanah, the Jewish people in Egypt stopped their slave labor [they began their time of liberty and freedom] while they waited for the Ten Plagues to play themselves out so that Moses could lead them to freedom.”
The Day of Trumpets in the biblical and Jewish calendars is also New Year’s Day for commercial and royal reckonings. This day signified a time of “new beginnings” to all those in Israel who accepted biblical teachings. In his book The Symbolism of Jewish Holydays (1995), Ernest Martin includes information from The Complete Artscroll Machzor. In his book he provides a summary of accounts found in the Jewish Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 10b-11a) and has some interesting quotes related to important biblical figures of the Old Testament. For example:
“The Patriarchs Abraham and Jacob were born on Rosh Hashanah. Abraham was a new beginning for mankind after it [mankind’s] failure to realize the promise of Adam and Noah; Jacob was a new beginning for the Jewish people, for it was with him that Jews advanced from the status of individuals to that of a united family on the threshold of nationhood.”
Martin also notes that other prominent men – notably Isaac, Joseph, and Samuel – were also born on Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Trumpets.
Jesus was prophesied to be the King of the world, to lead all people into a time of freedom and peace. There could not have been a better day in the Jewish ecclesiastical calendar to introduce the Messiah to the world.
Lastly, it should be noted that both the birth of Jesus (His First Coming) and His Second Coming (at the Rapture/Resurrection of the Church) were (will be) on the Feast of Trumpets – two bookends in the life and redemptive ministry of Jesus, both occurring at the appointed times on this most significant date in the Jewish calendar year!
The Birth of Jesus Was Not on the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) or on Passover
Other theologians have proposed that Jesus was born on the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot) or on Passover. Even some prominent Messianic rabbis have written articles supporting this position. For example, Avi Ben Mordechai, author of Messiah – Volume 2: Understanding His Life and Teachings in Hebraic Context (1997), has taken the position that Jesus, the Jewish Messiah, was born on the first day of Sukkot (Feast of Tabernacles, which is a festival beginning on Tishri 15). Note that I do agree with Avi Ben Mordechai on the Jewish month of Jesus’ birth (Tishri), but I disagree on the day in Tishri which he proposes. In my opinion, the case for Jesus’ birth on the Feast of Trumpets (Rosh Hashanah, Tishri 1), is much, much stronger; and Revelation Chapter 12 is the clincher. It is clear to me that although many scholars have “taken a stab” at establishing the date of Jesus’ birth, most have never fully considered the totality of evidence which I have endeavored to assemble.
In his Gospel, the Apostle John said that Jesus “tabernacled [Greek] among us” (John 1:14 NIV). However, this does not mean he was saying that Jesus was born on the Feast of Tabernacles, which will have its fulfillment in Jesus at His Second Coming when He, indeed, will tabernacle with men – both during the Millennium and for eternity.
The Feast of Tabernacles occurred from September 26 to October 3 in the year 3 BC (Tishri 15-22). Jesus’ birth during that time is impossible for several reasons. When properly examined, it is obvious that Jesus could not have been born during any one of the three Pilgrim Feasts: Passover/Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, or Tabernacles. These were times when all Jewish men in Israel were required by the Law given by God to Moses to be in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 16:6, 11, 16). However, Luke tells us that during Jesus’ nativity “everyone went to his own city” (Luke 2:3). Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem, not to Jerusalem at the time of His birth! This necessarily rules out both Passover/Unleavened Bread and Tabernacles as dates for his birth.
Joseph and Mary traveled specifically to Bethlehem for a census. The Romans would not have selected the three primary festival seasons for a census in Israel. This would have been highly impractical, as the Romans wanted full compliance with the census. Avoiding these three festival seasons would have been of primary consideration by the Romans in order to increase compliance by the Jews. It is highly probable that Joseph did indeed travel from Bethlehem to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles, starting on Tishri 15 (two weeks after the birth of Jesus on Tishri 1). It makes perfect sense that Joseph would time his trip to register for the census in Bethlehem and then attend the Feast of Tabernacles in Jerusalem – located only 6 miles away – just two weeks later.
But why was there “no room in the inn” for the family when Joseph and Mary arrived? One argument is that they arrived during a festival season, when Jews flocked to Jerusalem from all parts of Israel and occupied every possible living space. But this may not have been the case. Although it is true that a high influx of Jews occurred during the festival seasons, it does not necessarily mean that the family arrived during the festivals of Passover/Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, or Tabernacles. Luke tells us that they were there to be registered for a Roman census. That is what caused the numbers of Jews to increase in Bethlehem at that particular time.
Additionally, why does it make sense that Mary accompanied Joseph? Women were not required to attend the three Pilgrim Feasts in Jerusalem; only men were required by Jewish law to attend. The historical background related to the Roman census sheds light on this. A new understanding of history, as explained by Ernest Martin, indicates that the census and the oath of allegiance to Augustus were both conducted at the same time. Since Mary was of the linage of David and able to bear a rightful King of the Jews, she would have been required – along with Joseph, who was also of the line of David – to register and give an oath that she and her offspring would remain loyal to the existing government under Augustus.
Finally, we know from Scripture that Joseph was a faithful Jewish man, true to Jewish law. It would, therefore, have been highly unlikely that he would travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem during the Feast of Tabernacles, when Jewish men were required by law to be at the Temple.
This piece fits nicely with the other pieces we have already placed into the “puzzle” we are building to determine the actual date of the birth date of Jesus. All of the pieces fit together, and we therefore conclude that the birth of Jesus occurred on the Feast of Trumpets on September 11, 3 BC, not on the Feast of Tabernacles or on Passover (Feast of Unleavened Bread).
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