Scriptural Clues to when Jesus was Born

[Deborah13]

Some of you will not be interested in this thread but for those of you who are interested in how the NT is a continuation of the OT and how God scheduled everything so perfectly as a witness to His Son, you may consider this information. Please if you see an error, post it. Thank you.

I believe that there are clues in the scriptures that given us a time of year for the birth of Jesus.
All scriptures are from the "Young's Literal Translation."
First clues,
Luk 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest, by name Zacharias, of the course of Abijah, and his wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name Elisabeth;
Luk 1:8 And it came to pass, in his acting as priest, in the order of his course before God,
Luk 1:9 according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot was to make perfume, having gone into the sanctuary of the Lord,
Luk 1:13 and the messenger said unto him, `Fear not, Zacharias, for thy supplication was heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear a son to thee, and thou shalt call his name John,

Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, was of the family of Abijah (English spelling). He was serving his coarse (appointed week of service) as priest at the temple in Jerusalem when the angel tells him that his wife will bear a son.
In 1 Chronicles 24:1-19, the family names are listed, there are 24, and which week they will serve in Jerusalem in a 24 week rotation. There were three times a year that all of the 24 must be in attendance at the temple. Passover, Weeks, and Tabernacles. Those 3 weeks were skipped and the order resumed afterwards.
1Ch 24:10 for Hakkoz the seventh, for Abijah the eighth,
Each priest would have served 2 weeks in the Jewish calendar year and approx. 3 weeks during the festivals.
Nisan is the first month of the Jewish calendar year. The first week that Zacharias would have served in his regular twice a year rotation would have been right after the Feast of Weeks, falling in May-June which is the month of Sivan.
Luk 1:23 And it came to pass, when the days of his service were fulfilled, he went away to his house,
Luk 1:24 and after those days, his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying--

continued.....

 

[Deborah13]

When was Jesus conceived? All scripture is from "Young's Literal Translation."
Luk 1:24 and after those days, his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying--
Luk 1:25 `Thus hath the Lord done to me, in days in which He looked upon me , to take away my reproach among men.'
Luk 1:26 And in the sixth month was the messenger Gabriel sent by God, to a city of Galilee, the name of which is Nazareth,
Luk 1:27 to a virgin, betrothed to a man, whose name is Joseph, of the house of David, and the name of the virgin is Mary.
Luk 1:31 and lo, thou shalt conceive in the womb, and shalt bring forth a son, and call his name Jesus;
Luk 1:36 and lo, Elisabeth, thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month to her who was called barren;
Luk 1:39 And Mary having arisen in those days, went to the hill-country, with haste, to a city of Judea,
Luk 1:40 and entered into the house of Zacharias, and saluted Elisabeth.
Luk 1:41 And it came to pass, when Elisabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the babe did leap in her womb; and Elisabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit,
So Jesus was conceived when Elisabeth was six months pregnant with John the Baptist. Mary makes an approx. 100 mile journey to see Elisabeth who is in her sixth month and Mary has conceived.

Luk 1:56 And Mary remained with her about three months, and turned back to her house.
Luk 1:57 And to Elisabeth was the time fulfilled for her bringing forth, and she bare a son,
This appears to say and considering this is child birth that Mary stays with Elisabeth until the time of John's birth. Six + 3, nine months.
If John was conceived right after Zacharias' serve in the temple 6 mths forward would be the month of Kislev (Nov-Dec) when Jesus was conceived. Towards the end of this month is the Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah. Part of this celebration is Eight days when it is said that the lamp in the temple would burn for eight day without running out of one days supply of oil.
John the Baptist is said to have witnessed to the coming of the "Light of the World" for 6 mths. prior to Jesus' baptism.

Continued....

 

[Kathi]

We can specuate when Jesus was born but we really do not know when Jesus was born.The most important fact is the Jesus was born.He came into the world to atone for our sins.

 

[Deborah13]

When was John the Baptist born and what does scripture say about his birth being a sign of the coming of the Messiah?
Zacharias served in the temple approx. the third week in the month of Sivan. Moving forward 40 wks. would put John's birth in the month of Nisan. The month of Passover.
Luk 1:17 and he shall go before Him, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn hearts of fathers unto children, and disobedient ones to the wisdom of righteous ones, to make ready for the Lord, a people prepared.'
This event is prophesied in Malachi 4:5.
Mal 4:5 Lo, I am sending to you Elijah the prophet, Before the coming of the day of Jehovah, The great and the fearful.
Mat 17:10 And his disciples questioned him, saying, `Why then do the scribes say that Elijah it behoveth to come first?'
Mat 17:11 And Jesus answering said to them, `Elijah doth indeed come first, and shall restore all things,
Mat 17:12 and I say to you--Elijah did already come, and they did not know him, but did with him whatever they would, so also the Son of Man is about to suffer by them.'
Mat 17:13 Then understood the disciples that concerning John the Baptist he spake to them.

continued......

 

[TOG]

We can specuate when Jesus was born but we really do not know when Jesus was born.The most important fact is the Jesus was born.He came into the world to atone for our sins.

We may not be told the exact date Jesus was born, but we can be sure of at least one date he wasn't born - December 25th. In fact, he could not have been born any time from around mid October to mid March, since we are told that shepherds were watching their flocks in the field at night, and that doesn't happen during the winter.

The TOG​

 

[Kathi]

We may not be told the exact date Jesus was born, but we can be sure of at least one date he wasn't born - December 25th. In fact, he could not have been born any time from around mid October to mid March, since we are told that shepherds were watching their flocks in the field at night, and that doesn't happen during the winter.

The TOG​

Yes,I have heard that alot.But when was He born?

 

[Deborah13]

When Mary visited Elisabeth, Elisabeth was in her sixth month and Mary had conceived. From scripture it appears that this would have been the month of Kislev (Nov-Dec). Moving forward 9 mths would be the month of Tishri (Sept-Oct). This is the time of the fall harvest, Yom Kippur (the day of atonement), the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot), and Shemini Atzeret (the Eighth Day).

This places Jesus birth somewhere in the month of Tishri (Sept-Oct).

 

[Deborah13]

Oh, also note why the inns would have been full when Jesus was born.
Bethlehem is only approx. 6 miles from Jerusalem. All the Jewish men were required to come to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles. They would have needed a temporary house (booth) to stay in during this festival.
Note that Jesus was circumcised in Jerusalem, as Jewish law says, on the eight day after His birth.

 

[tim-from-pa]

In another thread long, long ago, I mentioned at least 3 biblical clues implicating when he was born:

1) The timing of the priestly course mentioned in Luke.
2) The same book states that Jesus started his ministry at age 30, and ministered (by Jesus quoting the story of Elijah) for 3.5 years. I personally believe he lived exactly 12240 days.
3) Lastly, Revelation 12:1 hints at the astronomical position at the time of his birth. To me, it's more than a hint.

All these point to late summer or early autumn, namely, September.

I also started a similar thread awhile back if we want to revive that one again.

http://christianforums.net/Fellowship/index.php?threads/the-birth-date-of-christ.54771/

 

[TOG]

Yes,I have heard that alot.But when was He born?

There is a verse in John's Gospel which, while not decisive, might give us a hint.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14 ESV)
​

The word translated as "dwelt" is derived from a word that means "tabernacle". It could be translated as "... tabernacled among us". Some translations render it as "pitched his tent" or something similar. This may be a clue that Jesus was born during the Feast of Tabernacles.

The TOG​

 

[Deborah13]

In another thread long, long ago, I mentioned at least 3 biblical clues implicating when he was born:

1) The timing of the priestly course mentioned in Luke.
2) The same book states that Jesus started his ministry at age 30, and ministered (by Jesus quoting the story of Elijah) for 3.5 years. I personally believe he lived exactly 12240 days.
3) Lastly, Revelation 12:1 hints at the astronomical position at the time of his birth. To me, it's more than a hint.

All these point to late summer or early autumn, namely, September.

I also started a similar thread awhile back if we want to revive that one again.

http://christianforums.net/Fellowship/index.php?threads/the-birth-date-of-christ.54771/

I remember that thread and I learned a lot from it. I posted this new one to draw fresh attention to the time of year. Thanks Tim.
I think everyone should read your thread if they are interested in this subject.

 

[tim-from-pa]

I remember that thread and I learned a lot from it. I posted this new one to draw fresh attention to the time of year. Thanks Tim.
I think everyone should read your thread if they are interested in this subject.

Thanks Deborah. I'll post over here for the conversation, and other folks should only post over there if they have a specific question to ask me. I won't otherwise detract from this thread. I'm just too lazy to retype everything so when I created such a masterpiece It's a lot of work to do it again -- it's easier to reference it.

 

[Deborah13]

In another thread long, long ago, I mentioned at least 3 biblical clues implicating when he was born:

1) The timing of the priestly course mentioned in Luke.
2) The same book states that Jesus started his ministry at age 30, and ministered (by Jesus quoting the story of Elijah) for 3.5 years. I personally believe he lived exactly 12240 days.
3) Lastly, Revelation 12:1 hints at the astronomical position at the time of his birth. To me, it's more than a hint.

All these point to late summer or early autumn, namely, September.

I also started a similar thread awhile back if we want to revive that one again.

http://christianforums.net/Fellowship/index.php?threads/the-birth-date-of-christ.54771/

Rev 12:1 scripture is interesting. We just started a Bible Study of Matthew and were discussing the fact that the wise men probably were astronomers. They would have been very aware of the constellations visible at that time of year.

 

[Deborah13]

Thanks Deborah. I'll post over here for the conversation, and other folks should only post over there if they have a specific question to ask me. I won't otherwise detract from this thread. I'm just too lazy to retype everything so when I created such a masterpiece It's a lot of work to do it again -- it's easier to reference it.

I would appreciate anything you can add or correct in this thread. I surely welcome your participation and everyone else's.
I think I will bake a cake this afternoon or evening for Lexy to take to church tomorrow with all the scripture references. She is fortunate that she is attending a church where the members are interested in how it all ties together. Especially one older gentleman she really likes. He put on a Sedar meal this past Passover at the church.

 

[Kathi]

The three wisemen did not visit Jesus at the stable but came days later or even months later Matthew 2:11.

 

[Deborah13]

The three wisemen did not visit Jesus at the stable but came days later or even months later Matthew 2:11.

Good point, I agree. It may have been as much as 2 yrs. after His birth.
I was thinking that they would have seen the constellation in the sky and then begin their long journey to Bethlehem following the star. I should read again what Tim says about this in his old thread.

 

[tim-from-pa]

Well, Deborah, I'll say this much. The scriptural case for Christ being born in September is pretty strong IMO. I know there's those who want dates and scripture to spell things out clearly, but this is not always the case since it is a coded book at times. But like a good detective, there's enough clues there to build a case.

As for the Revelation vision, the reason I also ascribe that to an astronomical position is because the constellations were also signs of the coming Redeemer. Virgo was always associated with the virgin, holding a branch in her one hand and ears of grain in her left hand depicting the coming Branch.

Now of course, when we look at these stars the average person is not going to see a woman holding these things. They were thus named to depict a woman, the same woman symbolic in Revelation 12. With every prophecy, I noticed there's a physical counterpart to it. So, if the subject is talking about a woman that the same constellation represents, why would John be describing an actual, possible astronomical position in Virgo if say, Christ was born when the sun was in Taurus? Makes no sense. To me this is a strong case of the sun being in that constellation depicting the timing of that vision.

But we have to understand the symbolism. It does not say it straight out, but is a code so-to-speak for those familiar with it.

 

[Deborah13]

Well, Deborah, I'll say this much. The scriptural case for Christ being born in September is pretty strong IMO. I know there's those who want dates and scripture to spell things out clearly, but this is not always the case since it is a coded book at times. But like a good detective, there's enough clues there to build a case.

As for the Revelation vision, the reason I also ascribe that to an astronomical position is because the constellations were also signs of the coming Redeemer. Virgo was always associated with the virgin, holding a branch in her one hand and ears of grain in her left hand depicting the coming Branch.

Now of course, when we look at these stars the average person is not going to see a woman holding these things. They were thus named to depict a woman, the same woman symbolic in Revelation 12. With every prophecy, I noticed there's a physical counterpart to it. So, if the subject is talking about a woman that the same constellation represents, why would John be describing an actual, possible astronomical position in Virgo if say, Christ was born when the sun was in Taurus? Makes no sense. To me this is a strong case of the sun being in that constellation depicting the timing of that vision.

But we have to understand the symbolism. It does not say it straight out, but is a code so-to-speak for those familiar with it.

I went back and read your original posts in your thread. It certainly seems to all align with scripture and the feasts in scripture. I wish I had been aware of all these things back in the days when one of my best friends, from before I was saved, was really into astrology and the Dead Sea Scrolls. I would have known better how to witness the Messiah to her when I first came to know Him.
What the Virgo holds in her hands adds to the understanding.