One thing I hear from Christians in and out of church, is that "the Bible doesn't tell us when Jesus was born." WRONG. It does, and I'm going to show you. But first, we must take a look at Zachariah, John the Baptist's father:
"And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years. And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, According to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John." -Luke 1:7-13
and
"And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying, Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men. And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth, To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary." -Luke 1:23-27
Look at verse 8 - it says Zachariah was executing the 'priest's office ... in the order of his course.' Which priestly course did Zachariah execute? Luke 1:5 tells us:
"There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth."
So, we see above that Zachariah's wife conceived after John completed his priestly course - the course of Abia. Six months after Elizabeth conceived John the Baptist, Mary conceived Jesus, from the Holy Spirit. This makes Jesus 6 months younger than John the Baptist:
"And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God. And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren." -Luke 1:35-36
So, if the Bible tells us when the course of Abia is, then we can figure out when John the Baptist was born, and then we just need to add six months to that, and we'd land on when Jesus was born. Does the Bible tell us when the course of Abia/Abijah was? YES:
"The seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah" -1 Chronicles 24:10
If you read all of the above chapter, you see how the Levitical priests were divided into courses, of when who was to serve in the temple. In Luke 1, we learn that the priest Zachariah, John the Baptist's father, was serving the course of Abijah/Abia. There are twelve months in the Hebrew calendar. Below is their calendar, in comparison to the Gregorian calendar we are on:
Hebrew Month | Gregorian |
Nissan | March-April |
Iyar | April-May |
Sivan | May-June |
Tammuz | June-July |
Menachem Av | July-August |
Elul | Austust-September |
Tishrei | September-October |
Marcheshvan | October-November |
Kislev | November-December |
Tevet | December-January |
Shevat | January-February |
Adar | February-March |
There are 12 months, and 24 courses. There are two courses per Hebrew month. The course that John the Baptist's father served was the eighth course - the course of Abijah. That would put him serving in the fourth Hebrew month. Therefore the priest Zachariah served in the Hebrew month Tammuz.
This puts Elizabeth being pregnant with John at six months along in the Hebrew month Tevet. Tevet would then be the month that Mary conceived Jesus Christ, of the Holy Spirit. Nine months after Tevet puts Jesus being born in the seventh Jewish month, which is Tishrei. Jesus was killed on Passover, to be our Passover Lamb, to pay for our sins. He was likely also therefore born during a Jewish feast day. The likely feast day He was born on, was the Sukkot - the feast of Tabernacles. Tabernacle is synonymous with temple, and Jesus is the temple of God:
"Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. Then said the Jews, Forty and six years was this temple in building, and wilt thou rear it up in three days? But he spake of the temple of his body." -John 2:19-21
Further, the Feast of Tabernacles was a feast that celebrated God's being present with His chosen people, and a time of remembrance when God was with Israel in the wilderness. It is about God tabernacling/dwelling with man.
Jesus, the temple, or tabernacle of God, was born in the month Tishrei, which would have been Late September, early October. If Jesus was born in the year 3BC, that would put His birthday on or very near September 29.
The star of Bethlehem appeared, likely due to a very close conjunction of the star Regulus and the planet Jupiter. To see this in Stellarium, you need to set its date to September 10, -2. -2 is the astronomical year for 3BC. Look in the constellation Leo. Jesus is the Lion of the tribe of Judah:
"And one of the elders saith unto me, Weep not: behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof." -Revelation 5:5
The Regulus star resides in the heart of the constellation Leo, and means "little king." Add to this that Jupiter then went into conjuntion with the heart of Leo. Jupiter is the "king planet." Jesus is the King and kings, and Lord of lords:
"These shall make war with
the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords,
and King of kings: and they that are with him are called, and chosen,
and faithful." -Revelation 17:14
Following along in Stellarium, and comparing that with the feasts at that time, and Leviticus 23, we get the following:
September 10, 3 B.C. (Tishrei 1, 3759) - The star of Bethlehem appears, and stays apparent until the 19th, in which Jupiter moves away from Regulus, leading the wise men towards Jerusalem. September 10, 3BC was the Feast of Trumpets - "Speak unto the children of Israel, saying, In the seventh month, in the first day of the month, shall ye have a sabbath, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, an holy convocation." -Leviticus 23:24 A trumpet is a sound to give an alert. The star of Bethlehem was an alert, so it was perfect that it shined the brightest on the Feast of Trumpets.
September 19, 3 B.C. (Tishrei 10, 3759) Jupiter starts to noticeably move away from Regulus, leading the Magi towards Jerusalem. This was on the Day of Attonement - "Also on the tenth day of this seventh month there shall be a day of atonement: it shall be an holy convocation unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and offer an offering made by fire unto the Lord." Levitucus 23:27 Time to atone for sins, for God is coming to the earth.
September 24-30, 3 B.C. (Tishrei 15-21, 3759) - The Feast of Tabernacles - "Also in the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when ye have gathered in the fruit of the land, ye shall keep a feast unto the Lord seven days ... Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths: That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am the Lord your God." -Levitcus 23:39a and 42-43. On September 29, 3BC, Venus exited Virgo the Virgin's womb. The planet Venus is known as 'the bright and morning star:'
"I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." -Revelation 22:16
On or very near to September 29th, 3BC (astronomical year -2, Jewish date: Tishrei 20, 3759) Jesus Christ was born. Interestingly, the Jewish year 3759 can be 3+7+5+9, which is 24, and 2+4 is 6. And six is the number of man, with 7 being the number of God. God became man on or near Tishrei 20, 3759 (Tishrei is the 7th month, and the year reduces to 6). Jesus was likely born on September 29, 3BC.
Jesus was not born on or near December 25th, but Baal was. Christmas has nothing to do with Christ. The festivities of Christmas all come from ancient pagan rites, rituals, and celebrations of Baal. To learn more about this truth, click here.
Further, Jesus was not killed on a Friday, and rose three days after that Friday. Else, He would have arisen on Monday or Tuesday. The Bible says that Jesus rose on Sunday - the first day of the week, and it also says he died on Passover day. Therefore, He would have to had died on Wednesday evening, right before it changed to Thursday.
Since Jesus was born in the year 3BC, He would have died in the year 30AD, since the Bible says He died at age 33. In the year 30AD, Passover was Wednesday. Therefore, we see further proof that Jesus was born in 3BC. Jesus died on Passover, so He died on Wednesday, not a Friday. In the Jewish system, the days are not midnight to midnight, but evening to evening, so Thursday starts on our Wednesday evening. They couldn't do a full, proper burial, because Jesus was put to
death as Passover was drawing to a close. The Jews had to prepare for
the high Sabbath - a holiday Sabbath, not the weekly one. This high
Sabbath was the day of rest and the first day of the Days of Unleavened
Bread. They had a high Sabbath on the first day of these seven days,
and another on the last day of the seven days.
Since Thursday, 30AD was the first high, holy day Sabbath of the Days of Unleavened Bread, Jesus' body would have to wait to be properly anointed until after the high holiday Sabbath of Thursday, but also after the following Friday, because that was the Day of Preparation for the weekly Sabbath, in which the Jews needed to clean up from the Thursday Holy Day Sabbath, and cook all the foods and do all the preparations for the Saturday weekly Sabbath. That left Sunday being the first day they were able to go to the tomb to finish anointing Jesus' body. Jesus arose early Sunday, which was three days after He died.
As you see, Jesus was born on or near September 29, 3BC, which corresponds with his death and resurrection being in 30AD.