When Was Jesus Really Born?

Christ's Birthday

I found this in a file on my hard drive. I did not create the whole article, but through the years I have opened it and added some thoughts here and there. To be honest, it has been in my file so long I cannot remember what I added, or what was originally in it when I found it. The original file date says 2004, and the last time I edited it was 2018, so it's been on my hard drive for almost 18 years. My how time can go by. I tried to find out who put the original article together, but all the links are dead. So I'm clueless as to who the original author is. I offer it as food for thought. The more we know, the more we know we don't know. However, with help from God, we can continue to grow in HIS knowledge.

Today, Christians around the world celebrate December 25 as the birth date of Christ. But this is incorrect. The date was chosen to attract the people of the pagan religion, who celebrated the birth date of the sun on that day.

The story of the birth of Christ and John, pinpoints the exact date of his birth. According to Luke, the Angel Gabriel visited Zacharias while he was performing his priestly duties. He announced the birth of his child, John.

Time	Event
Month 3 Day 7	Zacharias was serving, day 7-15
Month 3 Day 15	Elizabeth became pregnant after the third Sabbath
Month 9 Day 15	Gabriel visits Mary in Elizabeth's sixth month. She conceived at this time.
Month 1 Day 15	John the Baptist is born
Month 7 Day 15	Christ was born on the feast of Tabernacles
Month 7 Day 22	Christ was circumcised on the eighth day. This would have been the last sabbath of the feast of booths.

In the days of Herod, King of Judea, there was a priest named Zacharias, of then division of Abidjan and he had a wife from the daughters of Aaron and her name was Elizabeth. (Luke 1:5)

Now it happened that while he was performing his priestly service before God in the appointed order of his division. (Luke 1:8)

After these days Elizabeth his wife became pregnant. (Luke 1:24)

Now pay careful attention the dates of events mentioned in Scripture by the dates appointed for certain events taking place and you will see it all align up. We read that the Division of Abijah was the eighth division, serving in up to the third week of the third month. After he had finished serving, Elizabeth became pregnant. This must have been in the third or fourth week of the third month.

Mary - Gabriel visited Mary during the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy (Luke 1: 36). This would therefore be after the last 2 weeks of the month 9. This would be in the beginning of her sixth month. The middle of her sixth month would have been the beginning of Month 10.

Nine months after this (40 weeks of pregnancy), when the days were completed (Luke 2: 6) for her to give birth, Christ was born. The normal period of human pregnancy is actually 40 weeks or 280 days. This would be In the last two weeks of the Month 7 day 15 (Tishri 15) - The feast of Tabernacles (feast of booths). The closest date might have been Saturday, Tishri 15 in the year 3760 (Saturday, September 11, 1 B.C.)

#	1				2				3				4					5				6				7				8					9				10				11				12
Month	Nisan				Iyar				Sivan				Tammuz					Ab				Elul				Tishri				Heshvan					Chislev				Tebeth				Shebat				Adar
Weeks	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	5	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	5	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	1	2	3	4	5
Priests	1	2	All	3	4	5	6	7	8	All	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	1	All	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24
John	39	40	Birth	-					Abijah	All	-	-	-	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38
Jesus	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	37	38	39	40	Birth	-	-	-	Mary conceives						-	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13

The Place of Birth - There is one point of interest about the caves and the feast of booths. During this time the Israelites were supposed to live outside in booths. One side of this temporary dwelling was supposed to be constructed next to a permanent wall. The rest of the structure was made of branches. Stables were normally inside a cave. The structure made in the feast of booths sound a lot like the inside of a cave.

So the ancient feast actually portrayed the type of dwelling in which the King of the universe would live when he came to live with mankind.

The Circumcision - It is also significant that He was circumcised on the eighth day (Luke 2: 21) according to the commandment (Genesis 17: 12; Leviticus 12: 3). The eighth day of the feast was a Sabbath and it marked the end of the celebration of the feast of Tabernacles. It marked a new beginning. Christ marked a new beginning for mankind and He became a covenant keeper with His circumcision.

Circumcision represents the crucifixion. It was a symbol of cutting off the seed - the source of life. From the time He officially participated in Jewish life by joining in the covenant, He gave the source of life.

 All the ancient feasts and the Sabbaths marked significant events in the plan of salvation. The feasts demonstrated the meaning of the events, and the days marked the timing of the fulfillment. The Sabbaths marked the exact dates that Christ would play His significant role during this period. Therefore, the Sabbaths were prophetic.

Other Evidence - Luke 3: 23 states that Jesus began His ministry when He was about 30 years old. We know that He lived for another 3.5 years until He was crucified during the passover. If you count back 3.5 years from the passover, you will arrive at the period around the feast of Tabernacles - His birthday.

The Bread of Life - So Christ - the Bread of Life - was born in Bethlehem (the House of Bread) and came to tabernacle with mankind during the feast of Tabernacles. John 1: 14 states that the Word became flesh and tabernacled (lived) among us.

His place of birth was a sign of His death. (Luke 2: 12)
In the ancient world, animals were kept in caves, their feeding troughs were made of stone.
He was born in a cave and wrapped in strips of cloth and laid on a bed of stone.
He was buried in a cave wrapped in strips of cloth. Like a dead man.

He was born to die.