When was our Messiah born?
When talking to our friends about the true date of the birth of Yeshua, this article (I hope) may help you. It is particularly relevant as we come up to the Feast of Tabernacles in just over 2 weeks.
I have asked people about this topic and have been given a ‘heads-up’ for our Messiah’s birth during the Feast of Tabernacles, but no-one has actually given me any evidence to support the claim. With this in mind, here goes! I believe this is a fundamental study for Hebrew Roots believers and would be a good talking point for non-Torah observant friends.
BIBLICAL REFERENCES
Obviously, we start in the B'rit Chadashah at the birth of Yeshua. We start with the messenger John the Baptist.
Luke 1:5 - 7
5 In the days of Herod, King of Y’hudah, there was a cohen named Z’kharyah who belonged to the Aviyah division. His wife was a descendent of Aharon and her name was Elisheva.
6 Both of them were righteous before God, observing all the mitzvot and ordinances of ADONAI blamelessly.
7 But they had no children, because Elisheva was barren and both of them were advanced in years. [do you recall this happening before? – the Bible is so cyclical]
Luke 1:8 – 17
8 One time, when Z’kharyah was fulfilling his duties as cohen during his division’s period of service before YHVH,
9 he was chosen by lot [just a coincidence – spooky really] (according to the custom among cohanim) to enter the temple to burn incense.
10 All the people were outside praying, at the time of the incense burning,
11 when there appeared before him an angel of ADONAI standing to the right of the incense alter.
12 Z’kharyah was startled and terrified at the sight.
13 But the angel said to him, “Don’t be afraid Z’kharyah; because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elisheva will bear you a son, and you are to call him Yochanan.
14 He will be a joy and a delight to you, and many people will rejoice when he is born,
15 for he will be great in the sight of Adonai. He is never to drink wine or other liquor, and he will be filled with the Ruach HaKodesh even from his mother’s womb.
16 He will turn many of the people of Isra’el to ADONAI their God.
17 He will go ahead of ADONAI in the spirit and power of Eliyahu to turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous, to make ready for ADONAI a people prepared.” (Malachi 4:5 - 6)
Luke 1:24 – 33
24 Following this, Elisheva his wife conceived, and she remained five months in seclusion, saying:
25 “ADONAI has done this for me; He has shown me favour at this time, so as to remove my public disgrace.”
Why was there a public disgrace?
The public disgrace was because she was barren, and this meant:
Because of the thought that barrenness was undesirable as it is an extension of the belief that maladies were caused by sin.
No children and so no security for the future as it was the children who looked after the parents.
Gavri’el visits again
26 In the sixth month (Question: is this the sixth month of the year or the sixth month of Elisheva’s pregnancy? Verse 24 talks about the fifth month of her pregnancy and this appears to link to verse 26), the angel Gavri’el was sent by YHVH to a city in Galil called Nazaret,
27 to a virgin engaged to a man named Yosef, of the house of David; the virgin’s name was Miryam.
28 Approaching her the angel said “Shalom, favoured lady! Adonai is with you!”
29 She was deeply troubled by his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be.
30 The angel said to her “Don’t be afraid Myriam, for you have found favour with YHVH.
31 Look you will become pregnant, you will give birth to a son, and you are to call Him Yeshua.
32 He will be great, he will be called son of Ha’Elyon, Adonai, God, will give Him the throne of His forefather David;
33 and He will rule the House of Ya’akov forever – there will be no end to His Kingdom!
Z’kharyah was a priest who belonged to the Aviyah division. We know that there were numerous temple priests and each of them had quite specific tasks. In other words, they only served in the temple for a certain time.
We know from the Jewish scribes and other sources that the Aviyah division served as priests during the second half of the fourth month of the religious calendar. This would have put it in late June. Remember the religious calendar starts with Pesach which is in March. This means Yeshua would have been born 15 (6 + 9) months later. This would be in the ‘fall’ or autumn of the year in late September or early October. His conception NOT HIS BIRTH would have been in December.
As we see later all of the priests were required to come to Jerusalem for the three feasts of Passover, Pentecost and Sukkot
ARGUMENTS FOR THE BIRTH DURING THE FEAST OF TABERNACLES
Z’kharyah’s Priestly duties
The first link of Luke 1 to the Feast of Tabernacles can be found with assistance from the Talmud and later on, YHVH’s word.
SUMMARY
Conception Birth of
6 months Of Yeshua 9 months Yeshua
June ----- December ----- September
Feast of
Tabernacles
Tabernacle and Sukkot
These words both have been mistranslated and the true meaning adds weight to our argument.
John 1:14 “The Word became flesh and dwelt among us, full of grace and truth.”
The word dwelt is the ‘Greek’ word ‘skenoo’ which literally means to tabernacle.
So, when YHVH came to earth to tabernacle among men it appears that He timed his arrival in the Bethlehem manger to coincide with the Feast of Tabernacles. That was only appropriate, for the Feast of Tabernacles is the most joyous of the Jewish feasts. It is, in fact, their feast of thanksgiving.
We know our Messiah was made manifest into a temporary body when He came to earth. Is it possible He also was put into a temporary dwelling? The fields would have been dotted with sukkots during this harvest time to temporary shelter animals. In Hebrew a “stable” is called a
sukkot.
No room in the inn Just as an aside.
The KJV translation of Luke 2:7 is:
And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
The B'rit Chadashah was originally written in Greek. It translates the word ‘kataluna’ as “inn”, It, in fact, means a place of rest, usually a guest room. This is what we understand the Jewish people did when they travelled from town to town. They stayed with their relatives.
In Luke 22:11:
and say to the owner ‘The Rabbi says to you, “Where is the guest room, where I am to eat the Pesach meal with my talmidim?”
The word for guest room is the same one ‘kataluna’.
In Luke 10:34:
So he went up to him, put oil and wine on his wounds and bandaged them. Then he sat him on a donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him.
Luke translates here using the Greek word ‘pandokheion’ the normal word for an inn.
SUMMARY – to this stage.
Z’kharyah’s temple division served in the temple during the second half of the fourth month – JUNE. This appears to be the date of the conception of John the Baptist. Six months later Gavri’el appears to Myriam and she conceives – Yeshua. Add nine more months and we get to the Feast of Tabernacles (late September – early October).
Correct translation of dwelt – skenoo and kataluna – inn gives us tabernacle and guest room. Further evidence for the timing being at the Feast of Tabernacles!
YHVH’s order and the Cyclical Nature of His Word
If there is one thing we have learnt, is that YHVH is an Elohim of order.
The momentous occurrence of the son of YHVH our Elohim being born on earth, MUST line up with the Feast days. As it is an event of great celebration it logically must be on the Feast of celebration - Tabernacles. It appears to do so!
The important occurrences in Biblical History tend to happen on High Sabbaths and Feast days. Just as an example, on the 17th day of Nissan
Noah’s Ark successfully rested on Mt Ararat (Genesis 8:4)
Hebrews entered Egypt (Exodus12: 40 - 41), 430 years before deliverance.
Moses led the Israelites through the parting of the Red Sea (Exodus 3:18, 5:3)
Day of First Fruits, Israel entered and ate the fruits of the Promised Land (Joshua 5:10 – 12)
The walls of Jericho (Joshua 5:13) fell
The cleansing of the temple by Hezekiah, 800 years after entering the Promised Land (2 Chronicles 29: 1 – 28)
Queen Esther saved the Israelites from extermination (Esther 3:12, 5:1)
The resurrection of the Messiah.
The odds of all these events occurring on the same day of the Hebrew calendar are:783 quadrillion, 864 trillion, 876 billion, 960 million (783 864 960 000 000) to 1.
{just a coincidence – spooky really}
The total meaning of that feast will not be fulfilled until the Lord returns again to tabernacle among men for a thousand years while He reigns over the earth from Mt. Zion in Jerusalem.
Isn’t the word of YHVH our Elohim great!
The Priestly Order and their tasks.
There is no biblical record of the service of the priests and so we must use other sources. One such source is Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, Book 7, Chapter 14, Paragraph 7. He talks about the - The 24 Courses of the Temple Priesthood.
7. But David, being desirous of ordaining his son king of all the people, called together their rulers to Jerusalem, with the priests and the Levites; and having first numbered the Levites, he found them to be thirty-eight thousand, from thirty years old to fifty; out of which he appointed twenty-three thousand to take care of the building of the temple, and out of the same, six thousand to be judges of the people and scribes, four thousand for porters to the house of God, and as many for singers, to sing to the instruments which David had prepared, as we have said already. He divided them also into courses: and when he had separated the priests from them, he found of these priests twenty-four courses, sixteen of the house of Eleazar, and eight of that of Ithamar; and he ordained that one course should minister to God eight days, from Sabbath to Sabbath. And thus were the courses distributed by lot, in the presence of David, and Zadok and Abiathar the high priests, and of all the rulers; and that course which came up first was written down as the first, and accordingly the second, and so on to the twenty-fourth; and this partition hath remained to this day.
In 1 Chronicles 28:11 – 13:
11 Then David gave Shlomo the designs for the hall of the temple, its buildings, its supply areas, its upper rooms, its inside rooms, and the place for the ark-cover.
12 also the designs for everything he had been given by the Spirit – for the courtyards of the house of Adonai, for all the rooms surrounding it, for the storehouses in the house of God, for the storehouses of the holy articles
13 and for the areas set aside for the cohanim and the L’vi’im [arrangements] for the work involved in the service of the house of ADONAI and for all the articles needed for the service of the house of ADONAI.
and 1 Chronicles 24:1 – 4:
1 The divisions of the descendants of Aharon were as follows:
The sons of Aharon: Nadav, Avihu, Eli’azar and Itamar.
2 But Nadav and Avihu died before their father and had no children; therefore, Eli’azar and Itamar functioned as the cohanim.
3 David together with Tzadok from descendants of Eli’azar, and Achimelekh from the descendants of Itamar, arranged them in divisions for service.
4 There were more men who were chiefs found among the descendants of Eli’azar, than among the descendants of Itamar, and 8 divisions of the descendants of Itamar; therefore, there were 16 divisions of the descendants of Eli’azar and 8 divisions of the descendants of Itamar.
I have included this to link the scriptural references and the other references. These divisions were than setup into a schedule by which the Temple of YHVH would be staffed with cohanim all the year around in an orderly manner.
After the 24 groups were established, lots were drawn to determine the roster for serving in the Temple.
This is shown in 1 Chronicles 24:7 – 19:
The sequence of serving is as follows:
The 24 courses of priests;
1 Chr 24:7 1. Jehoiarib 2. Jedaiah
1 Chr 24:8 3. Harim 4. Seorim
1 Chr 24:9 5. Malchijah 6. Mijamin
1 Chr 24:10 7. Hakkoz 8. Abijah
1 Chr 24:11 9. Jeshuah 10. Shecaniah
1 Chr 24:12 11. Eliashib 12. Jakim
1 Chr 24:13 13. Huppah 14. Jeshebeab
1 Chr 24:14 15. Bilgah 16. Immer
1 Chr 24:15 17. Hezir 18. Aphses
1 Chr 24:16 19. Pethahiah 20. Jehezekel
1 Chr 24:17 21. Jachim 22. Gamul
1 Chr 24:18 23. Delaiah 24. Maaziah
1 Chr 24:19
These were the orderings of them in their service to come into the house of the LORD, according to their manner, under Aaron their father, as the LORD God of Israel had commanded him.
SUMMARY
Now each one of the 24 "courses" of priests would begin and end their service in the Temple on the Sabbath, a tour of duty being for one week (2 Chr 23:8, 1 Chr 9:25) READ. On three occasions during the year, all the men of Israel were required to travel to Jerusalem for festivals of the Lord, so on those occasions all the priests would be needed in the Temple to accommodate the many sacrifices offered by the crowds. Those three festivals were Unleavened Bread, Pentecost, and Tabernacles (Deut 16:16) READ
We know six months after John’s conception, Mary conceived Jesus (Luke 1:26-33). Therefore, Jesus would have been conceived six months later in the month of Kislev. Kislev 25 is Hanukkah.
Starting at Hanukkah, which begins on Kislev 25 and continues for eight days, and counting through the nine months of Mary’s pregnancy, one arrives at the approximate time of the birth of Jesus at the Festival of Tabernacles (the early fall of the year).
Don HRM
