When Was Jesus Born?
Posted: Wednesday, December 17, 2008
by Rabbi Stanley
Mosaic Ministries
Now
that
most people are aware that Yeshua wasn't born on December 25th or
even in December at all, the next question people have been asking is,
"When was He really born then?" . There are some Scriptures that answer
that question and it's pretty simple to see once we understand some
Jewish customs and Jewish traditions.
In
order to make our calculations we first have to look at John the
Baptist and his father Zechariah. in Luke 1:5 it tells us that
Zechariah was a priest of the order of Abijah. While he was performing
his duties an angel appeared and told him his wife Elizabeth would have
a son, Yochanan (John).
1
Chronicles 24:7-18. tells us about the order in which the priests
performed these duties. The family of Abijah was eighth in line so he
would've been performing his duties during the Feast of Succoth
(Pentecost). Since a pregnancy is 9 months, that means John the
Immerser (Baptist) was born during Pasach (Passover).
So
now that we know when John the Immerser was born we have to look at
Luke 1:36. There we see that John was 6 months older then Yeshua. So
that would have put His conception at Chanuka and 9 months later the
birth of Yeshua at the time of Succoth! We see also in Luke 2:10 at the
birth of Yeshua that an angel gives typical Succoth wording (Luke 2:10)
"Behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all Nations.
These are words used during Succoth. Matter of fact Succoth is the
"Festival of Joy", and it is also known as the "Festival of the
Nations". How appropriate that the angel uses these words to announce
the Saviour of the world!
There
are other indications. The Hebrew word for "stable" is "succah" and a
succah is a booth that we make every year during the Feast of Succoth
(Pentecost). So Yeshua was not only born on Succoth, He was even born
IN a succah!
These
succhas were temporary dwellings built outside or along the side of the
house. Inside of these succahs were placed a food box with enough food
in there to eat for the entire holiday for the family. This food crib
in the King James Bible it was translated as "manger". Because it was
Succoth it also stands to reason why the Magi were able to see the star
through the roofs of their Succahs because the three wise men were
Jewish as well.
Have
you ever wondered why all the inns were full just before they went to
the "stable"? There's a very good reason why. Three times a year all
the male adults had to go to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. Jews
came from all over the world to sacrafice at the temple. So, Jerusalem
and all the immediate areas, like Bethlehem were full of visitors. It
would be very difficult to get a room during these High Holy days. So
that's why Joseph and Mary couldn't find a room and had to stay in a
succah.
One
last point against December 25th being the day that Yeshua was born.
Anyone who has lived in Israel in the Jerusalem area knows that it gets
very cold there in the winter time. I lived there for 19 years and it
snowed almost every year. Jerusalem is 2500 feet above sea level and
it's much too cold for the sheep to be out grazing at night...
(Luk 2:8) And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.
Many
silly ideas and doctrines can be solved by simply living in The Land
rather then trying to be solved by translaters and theologians a
thousand miles away who say they've "heard from God" while millions
believe these men are "inspired by the Holy Spirit".
Shalom beYeshua and Happy Chanukah!
Rabbi Stanley
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Top-level comments on this article: (5 total)Thank you for this informative article. I found it very interesting as I usually do when reading about The Christ. Your last statement, Rabbi Stanley about the weather/climate in Jerusalem, isn't it possible climate conditions have changed since then? I have watched documentaries that showed rivers being all but dried up but were flowing generously during those times. Just a thought as we are speaking of thousands of years ago.
Shalom beYeshua and Happy Chanukah to you!
Shalom,Thanks for replying.In other times in that area it would be difficult to know much about the weather, but we have quite a bit of information from other sources that testify to the cold weather in Jerusalem during the winters of the first century.I'm not saying that all of this is iron clad, it's hard to say with 100% certainty on some things that happened that long ago. But we can look at what has the most evidence. I even base my faith on what has the most evidence. If it was all 100% provable, then it wouldn't be called a faith, it'd be a science. It does seem to me that all arrows point to what I've written above though.Thanks again and may HaShem (The Name) richly bless you.Rabbi Stanley
I read your article with great interest, but am still unclear what month or period Jesus was born. Succoth may translate into something for you, but I am still lost.
Shalom Jeff,I'm glad you enjoyed the article.Succoth is a Festival on the Jewish calendar. The Jewish calendar is not based on a solar year, it is based on a lunar year. So the days on the solar calendar differ with it from year to year. This year for example, Chanukah is on the 21rst of December. Next year it’s on December 11th. The lunar calendar is an older calendar and it’s what was used by the Israelites, it is a Biblical calendar. You can get more details at jewfaq dot org as it can get pretty detailed.Shalom in Him,Rabbi Stanley
Succoth is around September-October roughly.R. Stanley
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