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DETERMINING DATES IN THE LIFE OF JESUS:
(Para. #)
(1) The date of Jesus’ birth is an extremely complex thing to determine and in truth we might be only able to get close within a narrow range and only then if we are able to keep each pivotal timing mechanism also within its extremely limited range - because the more variables we have as our base data the wider will be the range of possibilities at the conclusion.
(2) Our objective is to take the facts given in the New Testament with what we find in the Law and try to match them to our calendar. This requires that we have at least one firm date which we can find historically expressed as a date relative to our modern calendar. To do this, we have to go to the secular historians (who are less concerned about establishing exact dates of a religious nature than are we - unless they think it can disprove what we believe).
DEATH OF KING HEROD THE GREAT:
(3) The one date I more or less recall from my previous study years ago is that of the death of King Herod. I believe it was Josephus who said that he died on the evening of Passover, April 10, 3 B.C.
(4) However; I have just done a web-search to confirm this and have come up with conflicting figures, most saying it was Apr. 11, 4 B.C.E. King Herod was King a total of 37 years OR he died in the 37th year of his reign. Secular scholars say that he was made King in 40 B.C.E.
(5) So, rather than take their word for it entirely, what one must do is check their calculations. The most firm date we have actually is the year (I don’t know the actual month and day) that Herod became king which is 40 B.C. Next, we do a year-by-year count backwards making 39 B.C. year # 1 of King Herod’s reign, 38 B.C. is Year #2, and so on. If you do this, you will find that King Herod’s Year # 37 would have ended sometime during 3 B.C. That would seem to establish the year.
(6) Now, since He died in the evening of Apr. 10, it would be counted as Apr. 11 on a Jewish calendar - and that’s where that conclusion comes from. As a side note and equally ironic; Herod while on his sick bed ordered the execution of his own son so that he would not try to usurp the throne while Herod was sick. This was 5 days previous to his own death which may have been the 10th of Abib - the Day when the Paschal lamb is selected and set aside for the coming Passover.
(7) To verify this date of 3 B.C., Herod Archelaus became king in Herod the Great’s stead. Caesar banished Archelaus to Gaul during the 10th year of his reign in 7 A.D. and his brother Herod Antipas was king into the time of Jesus’ ministry. 1 A.D. to 7 A.D. would be 6 years plus X months. 1 B.C. to 3 B.C. which according to our above date being when Herod the Great died, makes almost 3 years. 3 + and 6 + thus would make his 10th year be in 7 A.D.
(8) So now it looks very much like the evening of April 10/11, 3 B.C. is the time when King Herod the Great died. Since this is the king who ordered his guards to kill all male youngsters 2 years old and younger in Bethlehem and environs, this tells us at least that Jesus was born sometime before the evening of April 10/11, 3 B.C.
CALENDAR PROBLEMS:
(9) But how much before? We do not see the massacre of innocents recorded in secular history, but even secular historians admit that Herod was typically known to commit such acts. But from this point on we are very much on our own. It would be oh-so-nice if we could put the Jewish calendar along with our own on the computer and scroll the two backwards in time until we come to the dates we are seeking. But such is not as easy as it first sounds because Pope Gregory changed the Julian calendar slightly deleting 10 days (Oct. 5 thru 13) in 1582.
(10) We can make adjustments for this within the computer so that would seem to take care of that. However; the modern day Jewish Calendar is NOT the same one used during Jesus’ time. After the destruction of the Temple in 70 A.D. the High Priest no longer declared the beginning of the year, when a Leap Month was to be added, etc. but a progressive change in rules for establishing the calendar dates ensued up until around 1178 A.D. But basically, the modern Jewish Calendar is very much in accordance with rules laid down around the turn of the 5th Century A.D.
(11) Prior to 70 A.D. the priesthood defined the calendar year-by-year and we don’t know for absolute certain how that was done. So although we could make guesstimates, we can’t be precise by scrolling back on a computer. It was at that time based on the New Moon nearest the Spring Equinox, so we would also have to enlist an astronomer to run New Moons back to that time - as would have been seen from Jerusalem. Even they admit that they can only come up with nominal times that far back. However; a ballpark figure might still be useful as it would establish windows of time for us.
(12) In fact, that’s how they get the figure 4 B.C. because Herod’s death MAY have been a Leap Year on the Jewish Calendar. They calculate that a partial eclipse occurred around Mar. 24, 4 B.C. based on a certain slaughter of Essenes that Herod had ordere which Josephus said was attended by the moon turning red. This event happened sometime BEFORE Herod’s death so they are thinking maybe a month before rather than a year before.. Our date of Apr. 10/11, 3 B.C. still looks pretty good.
(13) Then, how long before this did the massacre of innocents occur? We are talking a few years or we would expect that this event might have been mentioned along with the others.
INPUT FROM THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION:
(14) For a possibility I am going to go to a strange source: Revelation - where in Rev. 12.1 thru 6 it tells of the Woman (representing the nation of Israel and also Mary the mother of Jesus) is there described giving birth to a male child which the Dragon attempts to consume upon its birth. It tells us that the Woman flees into the wilderness for 1,260 days.
(15) Is this the amount of time from when the Angel told Joseph to flee Bethlehem and they went to Egypt to escape Herod’s guards until the Angel informs him that Herod was dead? Is this what Revelation is alluding to in these Verse? I suspect that it is. So, we will try out that figure and see how it works.
(16) If we back off of April 10/11, 3 B.C. by 1,260 days we get Oct 29, 7 B.C. for the date of the massacre of the innocents. That’s all well and good, but how old was Jesus at this point? To figure this out we need to do some more mathematical gymnastics.
THE CENSUS AND TAXATION::
(17) At this point we need to get some idea of when Jesus was born. There is an argument put forth by Jewish scholars in which they assert that the Romans collected taxes during the month of September thus Jesus would have had to have been born at that time.
(18) But in Luke 2.1 it tells us that Caesar Augustus decreed that all the world should be registered. Verse 2 tells us it was a census, not the paying of taxes - although it may have been ultimately related to that.
(19) Verse 2 also tells us that it was during the reign of Quirinius over Syria. Verse 3 tells us that everyone had to register in the district/city of his origination/heredity. Verse 4 tells us that for this reason Joseph needed to go to Bethlehem. At this time we presume that Joseph and Mary were living in Nazareth which was in the Roman province/district of Galilee, so this was quite a journey for a pregnant wife.
(20) Secular historians dispute that Quirinius was ever governor of Syria although he did wage a campaign against mountain people there during that time. Tertullian’s copy of Luke has Saturnius instead of Quirinius in that Verse. Some think that the original manuscript very probably had Satunius in Verse 2 rather than Quirinius. Saturnius was governor over that region at this time (8 -6 B.C.).
(21) The question of a census is not resolved by secular historians but they know that various censuses were taken at various times throughout the Roman Empire. It is felt that a decree for a census may well have been issued in 9 B.C. by Caesar Augustus. Given the slow means of communication in those times, the resulting censuses taken in the far reaches of the Empire probably lagged quite a bit behind the decree.
(22) My opinion is that secular history is not necessarily precise back in those times, remembering that their whole knowledge of the Roman Empire is reconstructed from numerous bits and pieces of inscriptions and documents from that period. It appears to me that our window for the birth of Jesus is at the earliest 9 B.C. and at the very latest 6 B.C.
(23) They had various sorts of taxes in those days, transportation taxes, duties on imports and exports, property taxes, production taxes, etc. none of which required a census to levy them. Only one type of tax might require a registration and that was a capitation tax, i.e.; “head” tax (which is illegal in the U.S.) and that is a fixed tax typically on each male say 14 and older and maybe also on each female say 12 and older.
(24) What does become quite clear is that Joseph went from Nazareth to Bethlehem because he was required by law to register for a census, NOT to pay taxes.
(25) It was the practice in those days to employ tax collectors. The tax collectors were independent operators who could charge anything they liked as long as they paid the government its share. Thus, tax collectors often charged heavy taxes to enrich themselves with the result that they were despised by the people. It was a sort of “pork barrel” operation. Levi/Matthew was just such a tax collector when Jesus found him (Matthew 9.9 thru 13; Mark 2. 13 thru 17; Luke 5.27 thru 32).
EVENTS PRIOR TO JESUS’ BIRTH:
(26) Matthew’s and Luke’s Nativity differ. Why do they differ? In Matthew we read of the shepherds, in Luke we read of the “wise men”. Luke does not tell of the fight to Egypt and the massacre of the innocents - Matthew does not associate the birth of Jesus with the birth of John the Baptist. Following. the two accounts are put together in a sort of outline so that it can be seen that they fit together harmoniously:
(27) Mary became betrothed to Joseph who lived in Nazareth (in Galilee). A betrothal is the first step in the marriage process being a pledging to be married - sorta like an engagement. (Matthew 1.18; Like 1.27)
(28) The Angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah while in the Temple to inform him that he was about to become a father (Luke 1.5 thru 24). Zechariah who had no children up to this point wanted to be re-assured that this was really going to happen. Because Zechariah doubted the Messenger of God, he was made unable to speak until the child was born (Luke 18 thru 22).
THE DAY OF ATONEMENT:
(29) In order to understand how we are determining certain dates, it is necessary to have a little information about the Day of Atonement. This is on the 10th day of the month of Tishri. On the religious, Exodus, and Prophetic calendars, Tishri is the 7th month of the year. On Secular, Civil, and Agricultural calendars, Tishri is the 1st month of the year.
(30) These two calendars are exactly 6 months apart and differ mostly according to which month is the 1st month of the year. I do all my calculations using the Prophetic/Exodus calendar in which there are always 12 months each having 30 days for a total of 360 days in a year - then adjust the results to the other calendars.
(31) The month of Tishri has 3 major observances within it. It begins with Trumpets, sometimes called the “Feast of Trumpets“, It actually is the first alert of the coming Day of Atonement which is the most sacred day of the year, closely followed in importance by Passover on the 15th of Abib (also called Aviv or Nisan) which has its own set of observances exactly 180 days from those in Tishri in the Prophetic/Exodus calendar.
(32) Trumpets in the Secular/Civil calendar is also the Jewish New Year’s Day called Rosh Hoshanah. On this day, trumpets are blown beginning the first of 9 days of reflection upon one’s sins of the past year in anticipation of the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur).
(33) On the Day of Atonement all the males of Israel are supposed to gather at the Temple to stand before the Lord. The Priest is to have fasted and cleansed himself, and then 2 goats are brought. Lots are pulled unseen from a box. There are only 2 lots, on one is written “To YHWH” and on the other is “To Azazel”. This determines which goat is God’s and which is Satan’s - the latter being the “scape-goat”. God’s goat is killed and blood from it is smeared on Azazel’s goat to mark it, and hands are laid upon Azazel’s goat thus conferring Israel’s sins to that goat and then it is to be taken far from civilization and set free.
(34) This scape-goat is to remain alive and no-one finding it is to add it to his herd for the sins of the whole nation are upon that goat (that is why that goat is marked with blood). As long as that goat is alive, the people are loosed from their sins but if that goat dies then their sins apparently return to them.
(35) While the goat is being led into the wilderness, the people stand outside the Temple waiting. As soon as it gets there and is released, a signal is sent back by relays to the Temple where-upon the priest sees it and informs the crowd and there is a loud cheer.
(36) Then the priest takes incense into the Holy of Holies to burn the incense around the Ark of the Covenant (also called the Ark of the Testimony) and this is the only time during the year that either the Holy of Holies is entered and God’s Name is spoken aloud. Meanwhile, the people stand outside to see if there is any Word from the Lord (given to the priest which he then tells the people waiting outside).
(37) This is exactly the scene we read in Luke 1.10 & 11 and thus we know that this was on the Day of Atonement. But critics say that Zechariah’s clan of Abijah (Luke 1.5) were designated to perform Temple services only during the 8th month (Heshban) which is the month after Tishri. Be that as it may, the scene described outside the Temple in Verse 10 is that of the Day of Atonement.
(38) Following the 10th of Tishri was another observance from the 15th through the 21st of Tishri called Tabernacles (or Booths, Tents, Shelters, or Succoth). This was done in commemoration of the Israelites’ years in the wilderness after the Exodus from Egypt. It required that crude shelters or “huts” be constructed in advance and prepared with food for them to reside in these “huts” for this 7 day period. Men could not lay with a woman during this time.
ELIZABETH’S PREGNANCY:-
(39) So, it tells us that when Zechariah had finished his duties at the Tem0ple, he returned home to the hill country of Judea. What “hill country” means since Judea is mostly hill country I don’t know but considering the size of Judea and the means of travel, it would not likely have taken him much more than a day’s travel to get home.
(40) The assumption here is that his Temple service was completed at sundown on the Day of Atonement although there may have been some final things to do the next morning. And assuming that he didn’t have a great distance to travel, he could have been home by the next evening - which at sundown would have been Tishri 12.
(41) One thing Zechariah had to do was observe Tabernacles (Succoth) and n order to do this, he had to cut certain kinds of fronds and branches to built himself a “shelter” before sundown of the 14th of Tishri. If you are following me, the amount of time he could have been with Elizabeth was quite limited. Basically it would have been the night of Tishri 12/13 and 13/14.
(42) At any rate, it was sufficient, for Elizabeth did conceive and having been barren up until this point, she kept that fact hidden - maybe not wanting to alert her neighbors to her condition lest it turn into a false pregnancy or maybe out of fear of a mis-carriage so that maybe she would rather not have let her neighbors know about any of this in advance.
(43) Luke 1.24 & 25 tells us that she kept herself hidden - not meaning hidden within her home but simply dressed in such a way as not to let others see her condition. She did this for 5 months apparently until it became rather difficult to hide the fact that she was pregnant.
MARY’S PREGNANCY:
(44) 6 months after the Angel Gabriel appeared to Zechariah, he appeared to Mary to ask if she would consent to being the Mother of the Messiah - which she did and she conceived instantly. (Matthew 1.1and 1.22 & 23; Luke 1.26 thru 38)
(45) The Day of Atonement and the Day of Dedication of the Passover Lamb are 180 days apart in the Exodus Calendar. These are the signicant dates because when Gabriel said “These 6 months” he was not speaking of the precise length of time Elizabeth had been pregnant - rather he was speaking with respect to his appearance before Zechariah in the Temple on the Day of Atonement up until his appearance here before Mary.
(46) The very day that Gabriel appeared to Mary was exactly 6 months from when he appeared to Zechariah thus making it the 10th of Abib (Nisan) - the Day of Dedication of the Paschal Lamb (when the choice was made of a lamb for the coming Passover and that lamb was then set aside on that same day in readiness for the Passover sacrifice),
(47) [Since the purpose of the Paschal lamb was for it to be killed and eaten, that is probably why Jesus used the matzo and wine as a figure of his flesh and blood symbolizing the Passover lamb.]
(48) Note again that what is significant here was not the day either Jesus or John the Baptist was born but the day that the announcement was made. It would thus make sense that this was the very day that Mary conceived as she no doubt conceived the moment she agreed to be the mother of the Messiah.
(49) Mary now knowing that Elizabeth was pregnant, went immediately to Elizabeth to be with her during the final 3 months of her pregnancy (Luke 1.39 thru 56). Zechariah and Elizabeth lived in Judea (Luke 1.39 & 40),but Mary lived in Nazareth in Galilee (Luke 1.26 & 27) so she had to travel quite a distance in those days although she may have rode an *** there.
(50) As quickly as Mary entered Elizabeth’s house, the baby in Elizabeth’s womb did an excited reaction. This was explained to be the result of John recognizing his Lord and also to tell us plainly that Mary was indeed pregnant at that time.
(51) It is not clear if Mary left before or after Elizabeth gave birth (one would assume the latter although the Text would seem to suggest the former - Luke 1.56), then she returned to her own home. Since she was 3 months pregnant now, she may have left while it was still easy for her to travel and thus did not stay to help Elizabeth with her baby - or it may have been that she thought it was time to tell Joseph about all this.
(52) Elizabeth gave birth to John, where-upon Zechariah then was able to speak again in accordance with what Gabriel had told him (Luke 1.57 thru 80).
(53) It may have been around this same time that the decree for a census was issued locally. It is thought that such a census may have been ordered by Caesar Augustus in the year 9 B.C. There of course would not have been an instant response to this census but it was likely a gradual process by which the order was fulfilled.
(54) Normally such a decree from the Caesar applied only to Roman citizens so we have to suppose that the regional politico must have included local residents. At any rate, the local people were required to register in the district/city of their heritage. (Luke 2.1 thru 3)
(55) When Joseph found out that Mary was pregnant (not with his child) he didn’t know what to do and thought about moving her where no-one would know her and there maintain her and the child without marrying her (we may assume from Matthew 1.19).
(56) Chances are she told Joseph she was pregnant as she was about 4 months along and probably still able to keep that fact hidden to that point but she knew it would soon be recognized by everyone. While Joseph was trying to figure a way out of this mess, an Angel informed him of the circumstances (Matthew 1.17 thru 21 and 1.24 & 25).
HUMAN GESTATION:
(57) Determining when Jesus was born hinges on discerning the correct duration of a human gestation period. An actual day count is no longer specified anywhere because the length of pregnancy tends to vary in individual cases and so the medical profession uses nominal timing.
(58) That figure is about 38 weeks (266 days). The old “9 months” plus 2 weeks from last menstrual cycle was always a generalization. My wife’s doctor told her he used 10 lunar months (also counting from last menstrual cycle) but his “Lunar Month” was 28 days rather than an actual Lunar Month of 29 ¼ days. This results in 280 days minus 14 = 266 days. So we have a nominal figure of 266 days.
(59) Since this was the Son of God, we must expect that Jesus was born precisely on time - neither being delivered early nor late. Remember that Gabriel’s “these 6 months” really means from when he appeared to Zechariah on the day of Atonement until he appeared to Mary on the 10th of Abib.
(60) Using the 10th of Abib, and adding 266 days on the Prophetic Calendar places Jesus’ birth on the 6th of Tevet, which in the modern Jewish calendar falls on January 6, 2006 which is the 12th Day of Christmas and is observed by Eastern Orthodox churches as the day Jesus was born. The Catholic Church observes it on the 1st Day of Christmas which is Dec. 25 as all Protestant churches also observe.
(61) The actual timing was determined to be in a range from the evening of Dec. 24/25 thru the evening of Jan.5/6 as determined long ago by the Catholic Church. That is why there are 12 days of Christmas. (I am impressed with how close their figures agree with mine because I had always assumed theirs to be somewhat arbitrary.)
(62) In my earlier calculations I used a range for the gestation period of 267- 273 days thus put the median point in the night of Jan. 9/10. Personally, I liked that date as it was also Mid-Winter’s Eve (at least as I observed over the years in Ohio).
BIRTH OF JESUS:
(63) When it came time to register for the Census, Joseph and Mary had to go from Nazareth in Galilee to Bethlehem in Judea (Luke 2.4 & 5). Since Mary was close to her time for delivery, this would have been a slow, difficult journey as it was the practice of pious Jews NOT to pass directly through Samaria but go out around it.
(64) This would have meant that they would have gone eastward to the Jordan river, then follow it southward to Jericho and then make the very tiring climb from Jericho to Jerusalem and from there south to Bethlehem which latter is not very far from Jerusalem (about 6 miles, I think).
(65) It is assumed that Joseph sat Mary on an *** and he led it on foot, which would make sense - because she being that heavy in pregnancy would not likely have walked the entire distance.
(66) As Joseph and Mary came to Bethlehem, it came time for her to give birth, but as there was no space left at the inn, she had to give birth in the stable. Being that Bethlehem has never been a large town, there probably was only that one inn in town. So Jesus was born in a stable and they used the feeding trough, also termed a “manger”.
(67) Incidentally; the “swaddling clothes” is an old practice of wrapping the baby in such a way that it cannot thrash around and fall out of bed, off a table, etc. This material probably came from tearing one of Mary’s garments into rather wide strips.
(68) [Consider a parallel to this at Genesis 35.16 thru 20 when Jacob and Rachael was also just outside the town of Bethlehem (note that it is not usually the practice to maintain stables within a town but either on the outskirts of town or a bit separated from the town) where she gave birth to a son under a tree along the road entering town.
(69) As Rachael was dying from the childbirth, she named him Benoni (Son of My Sorrows) but Jacob re-named him Benjamin (Son of My Right Hand). In this one child was the figure of both the Suffering Messiah and the Conquering/Kingly Messiah.
(70) This historical event was the source of the passage about Rachael weeping for her children. What do you wanna bet that the birth of Jesus and the birth of Benjamin occurred at the very same spot?]
(71) Very likely, the next day Joseph being among relatives here found a house to stay in until Mary and child were able to make the trip back. We can discern this because the next time we read of them, they are in a house - not the stable. (Matthew 2.11)
(72) That evening when Jesus was born, some shepherds in the hills outside Bethlehem were startled to see an Angel standing before them who told them of the birth of the Savior right below them in Bethlehem. Then a Host of Angels appeared saying, “Glory to God in the Highest ! Peace on earth to men of good will.” Afterwards, the shepherds decided to go see what this was all about and they found Joseph and Mary there with the baby in a manger just as the Angel had said. (Luke 2.8 thru 20)
(73) At this time what appeared to be a new star appeared in the sky and was seen by those in the east watching for the sign of the Messiah’s birth and they began to make ready for a pilgrimage to Jerusalem to pay homage to the Messiah. (Matthew 2.1 & 2) Would a foreign king, or an astrologer been watching for a sign of a new king being born in Israel, or even be aware of such prophecies? Logically; no.
(74) On the 8th day after this, Joseph and Mary took Jesus to the Temple in Jerusalem to be circumcised. (Luke 2.21) Remember, Bethlehem is only about 6 miles from the Temple which latter is on the southeast corner of Jerusalem, thus not overly difficult to get to from Bethlehem.
(75) Then on the 40th day after Jesus had been born Mary went to the Temple for her purification rites in accordance with the Law. (Luke 22 thru 38) We may assume that the wise-men came some time after this.
(76) Here in Luke 2.39 it does not mention their flight to Egypt so from this reading one would assume a contradiction. However; it is true that after the Law was fulfilled that they EVENTUALLY returned to Nazareth but only after escaping to Egypt and Herod was dead which for some reason Luke did not include this - maybe because Matthew already had done so. For this additional information we must go to Matthew Chapter 2.
THE WISE-MEN:
(77) Manger scenes almost invariably include “the 3 wise-men”. In reality, if they in the east saw His star when He was born, and set about to make the pilgrimage to see the Messiah, they could not have arrived that same night. They would have had to first put together the money to assemble the supplies and equipment needed to make such a long journey. Who were these “wise-men” - some Bible versions calling them “Magi”, and others “kings”?
(78) [Incidentally, I wonder where this term “creche” comes from. It’s obviously French. But we never used or even heard this term when I was growing up. Began hearing it when they began outlawing the exercise of the First Amendment, and I asked, “What’s a “kresh”?]
(79) It seems unlikely that merely 3 men alone crossed the Arabian desert to reach Judea. It more likely would have been a small caravan of people. More pointedly, who exactly were these people? Obviously no-one in any other culture would have been that excited by the prospect of a new Jewish king EXCEPT other Jews.
(80) Most probably they were scholars from the Hebrew university in what formerly was Babylon - because it often goes un-said that when the Jews returned from the Exile, only a comparative handful actually returned. Most stayed in the Persian Empire where they had settled down and become quite comfortable.
(81) Probably over the 4 centuries or so since the Exile, other Jews immigrated back to their homeland - but again, most of them did not return. There were thus more experts in the Law in Babylon (which would not be destroyed completely for another 2 centuries or so) than there were in Judea.
(82) The Babylonian Talmud was written and amassed there, it being far more massive than the Jerusalem Talmud. Almost certainly the “wise-men” were Jews from Babylon who were highly educated in the Law. We might call the “adepts” and that’s where the terms “magi” and “wise-men” come from.
(83) Why THREE wise-men? There were very probably more than that but we don’t know their actual number. The idea that there were 3 comes from the Verse that tells of the gifts brought to the Messiah, among which 3 types in particular were mentioned: gold, frankincense, and myrrh (Matthew 2.11). There is a symbolism in those 3 substances which reflect upon Jesus’ later ministry.
(84) Apparently it was the Catholic Church who actually decided from the fact that since there were 3 gifts, there must have been 3 “magi” or “kings” - one for each gift. In medieval Germany they even went so far as to give the 3 Kings names, those being Caspar, Melchior, and Balthasar.
(85) How long it would have taken for this pilgrimage across the Arabian desert is another unknown variable because we can only guess at the route they took. But when they got there they went straight to the Temple. Who would go first to the Temple except pious Jews? Had they been foreign Kings, they would have sent envoys to King Herod so that he should greet them in an appropriate manner. But no, they went instead to the Temple. This alone is a strong clue that they were Jews.
(86) It happened that Herod had built his palace right next to the Temple wall, and it was likely his guards who alerted Herod to the presence of foreigners. Herod would have then ordered his guards to fetch them to him to see who they might be (foreign spies, for report back to me that I may go and worship Him” (Matthew 2.8).
example). It was then that he was told why they had come (Matthew 2.1 thru 8). Being crafty, he said. “When you find Him,
(Part 12 - Continued)
(87) The “wise-men” told Herod where they expected to find the Messiah, so without their knowledge; Herod summoned his priests and experts in the Law. So, as soon as these “wise-men” were out the door, Herod’s people went to work to determine exactly when the Messiah would have been born - so that Herod would know about how old a youth he should be looking for (Matthew 2.7).
(88) Remember also that the High Priests were not legitimate priests but were Herod’s appointees so they may not have been as adept at Prophecies as they should have been. The closest that they could come to the time for the birth of the Messiah actually left Herod with n age range (the same kind of calculation problem we face ourselves) so Herod knew that if he killed every male 2 years old and younger, he would nail Him.
(89) This tells us that Jesus had to have been well under 2 years old at this time. [Actually, that they come that close to timing it is amazing to me.] It no doubt took some time to figure all of this out.
(90) In the meantime, the wise-men were in route to Bethlehem. On the way, the star re-appeared and stood immediately above the house where Jesus was (Matthew 2.9 thru 11). This clearly shows us that this was no nova of a star or conjunction of 5 planets as has been conjectured as a natural explanation by astronomers - but instead it was a supernatural event.
(91) Once they had worshipped Jesus and had presented Him with gifts, they took apparently took rest because they were warned in a dream not to return to Herod as he had told them to do. And so that same night they got up and left, taking a circuitous route to avoid Jerusalem while leaving Judea. (Matthew 2.11 & 12)
(92) Please note that at this point the baby Jesus is no longer being called a “babe” or “infant” but is here called a “young child” (Matthew 2.9). Maybe this difference in terms means nothing but I am of the opinion that it signifies that Jesus was older here.
(93) How old? Well, we know he wasn’t nearly 2years old otherwise Herod would have killed all males 3 years old and younger. He may have been old enough to be taking His first steps. This then could make him as old as 9 months. That seems a little old to me because it just seems like a long time for them to remain in Bethlehem unless they had ran into financial difficulties or they were contemplating settling down there. I feel as though it would be more reasonable to believe that he was about 5 months old when the “wise-men“ arrived.
(94) Consider this possibility: After Jesus was born, Joseph being amongst relatives (no matter how distant) probably was able to get a house from one of them or move in with one of them until it was safe to transport a baby back to Nazareth. This would have gave Mary plenty of time to get her strength back.
(95) While waiting, Joseph would have had to ply his trade there in Jerusalem to earn enough to support themselves and in the course of this; time simply marched on. It may be as I mentioned above that they were thinking about living there permanently. This would then go far to explain why they might still be there after 5 months or so.
FLIGHT TO EGYPT:
(96) That same night when the wise men were warned, Joseph also was warned by an Angel in a dream to take Mary and Jesus and flee to Egypt until advised again when it would be safe to return (Matthew 2.13). Exactly what time of night this occurred is impossible to tell but we get the sense that Herod had given the order and his palace guards had started on their way to Bethlehem - about a 2 hour trek on foot (half that if they rode horses). Point is; Joseph, Mary, and Jesus apparently escaped just ahead of the arrival of the guards.
(97) Here is where I bring into this a figure likely to be hotly argued against, but as we read Revelation 12.1 thru 6, we are being given there a historic symbolism of how the Woman (simultaneously both the nation of Israel and Mary mother of Jesus) brought forth the Messiah. In the meantime, the Dragon was intending to destroy the child, which we know was attempted by the means of King Herod. The escape into the wilderness is there described as being 1.260 days (Rev. 12.6) - and then the scene switches from the past to the future (Rev. 12.7).
(98) Two flights into the wilderness are described in Revelation Chapter 12, designating a former and a later flight, the first being described as having been 1,260 days in duration, and the last is couched in ambiguous terms.
(99) So, one day I was reading this and it suddenly occurred to me that this might be telling us how long it was from when the Angel warned Joseph to flee to Egypt until when the Angel informed Joseph that King Herod was dead. So, I tried that figure in the course of calculating the date of Jesus’ birth and it just may well be that this is exactly what it is telling us.
(100) This is commonly where we get one of our figures for calculating the length of the Judgment Period. However; the other source is Daniel 9.26 & 27(b) where we are told that the 70th Week (of years) is Prophesied for the Messiah, but He will be cut off in the middle of His week. That has to mean that His ministry on earth was 1,260 days and He has 1,260 days remaining to be completed at the end of this Age.
(101) This 70th Week (of years) is thus split squarely in two and between the two halves is the “Acceptable Year of the Lord” which has thus far been about 2 millennia long. Perhaps in similar fashion we are to understand that Matthew’s account of the wise-men and the flight to Egypt fits between Luke 2.39(a) and 39(b).
(102) Where they went into Egypt is not told but they would only have needed to go far enough inside that nation to be well beyond any border with Judea. This then would have only needed to have been in the Suez (and that is where I believe they went).
(103) At the end of 1,260 days Herod died, which turns out to have been on the evening of Passover (there has to be a message in that), April 10 by our reckoning (but since it was after sundown it would be considered April 11 by Jewish reckoning) - in the Year 3 B.C. (Unless alternate sources saying it was 4 B.C. are correct. This is a jump of one year but all other times remain constant.)
(104) We can thus use this date to count backwards 1,260 days which should give us the date of the massacre of the innocents. This would have thus occurred during the night of Oct. 28/29, 7 B.C.
(105) Their where-abouts in Egypt is not critical to our calculations but we can assume that they took the quickest route there leaving just ahead of Herod’s guards. We do not know what their escape rote was - but they would have either crossed over into the Hebron valley or simply went straight south. It is for certain that they went the shortest way so that they could stay ahead of Herod’s guards all the way. (I suspect that they went by way of the Hebron valley and ended up in the Suez near the Mediterranean coast.)
(106) I am speaking here of Herod’s “guards” rather than soldiers because in the vernacular of that time, any organized armed group was referred to as “soldiers”. King Herod would not have been permitted by the Romans to have a standing army - and he would not have had the authority to order Roman soldiers to go anywhere or do anything. But he would have been granted the courtesy to maintain his own palace guards and also Temple guards,
(107) Again, it was very likely Temple guards rather than Roman soldiers (as if often depicted in movies) who were referred to as the “soldiers” who arrested Jesus on the Mount of Olives. It would have had to have been his palace guards that Herod sent to kill all the male children 2 years old and younger in Bethlehem and environs.
(108) Considering the small population of that area at that time, I would guess that they canvassed the entire area, not just the town; and murdered something less than two dozen children. Their parents would have no idea what it was all about - they were simply victims of a vicious act of insanity.
THE RETURN HOME:
(109) Matthew 2.19 thru 21 gives us the announcement that Herod was now dead. Again this came in a dream via an Angel - which makes complete sense because Joseph would have been asleep at the time of Herod’s death, it having been in the evening of Passover, April 10/11, 3 B.C.
(110) Hearing that Archelaus reigned in his father Herod the Great’s stead, Joseph was nonetheless afraid to pass through Judea. We are told that he returned by another way - that is; avoided Judea (Matthew 22 & 23).
(111) The return home from Egypt meant back to Nazareth, not to Bethlehem. Believing that they had probably sojourned in the eastern part of the Suez near the Mediterranean sea, they likely found passage on a boat heading north which dropped them off at Haifa. I’m just guessing of course, but this would have been the simplest way to avoid passing through Judea to get to Galilee.
(112) If they were further west in the Suez - say; more near the Red sea the alternative would have been to either cross the Gulf of Aqaba and follow the rift valley all the way to Galilee - or stay on the west side of the Gulf of Aqaba all the way up to Ezion Geber and then cross over to come up on he eastern side of the Jordan river. I don’t favor this easterly return for the simple reason that most of their journey would have been over very harsh traveling conditions, and among foreigners at that - potentially not too friendly toward Jews.
(113) The age of Jesus by the time they returned to Nazareth would have been about 4 years old. (Age variable at time of wise-men = 2 to 9 months of age, + 3 years, 6 months + plus return time from Egypt to Nazareth maybe as much as 2 weeks = minimum age; 3 years, 8 ½ months to maximum; 4 years, 3 ½ months.)
(114) It is not clear how Matthew knew of these things which occurred well before he ever met Jesus. But he being Jesus’ disciple may have heard it told by Mary.
(115) Luke on the other hand had never met Jesus at all as far as we know, but apparently at Paul’s insistence, Luke went to Jerusalem and throughout the region in order to verify the things which Paul had been teaching. Luke did this by interviewing eye-witnesses (Luke 1.2). Luke was a physician which to us doesn’t sound like much for those times compared to our own, but he was a very serious, professional, methodical person at digging out facts.
(116) But when reading Luke, it should be kept in mind that all of his accounts were from memories of the eye-witnesses who probably didn’t remember things with as much detail as given by Matthew which latter was much closer to the events in time. [I place Luke’s research into this maybe as much as 17 years after Jesus ascended.]
(117) Part of Luke’s account came from no less than Mary the mother Jesus herself as attested to by the strange Verses at Luke 2.19, 33 & 51. These Verses affirm that this information came from Mary’s own memory.
(118) Matthew in Verse 22 makes it sound as though Joseph had never been there before, yet he went to Nazareth which Luke tells us is where they began this adventure. It appears that Matthew did not know the complete story of those early years but recorded them only to the extent that he knew.. After all, Matthew did not join the group until sometime after Nathaniel, Peter, John. Andrew, James, etc.
(119) We can rest assured that Matthew’s account is valid (even though Luke’s account is better supported by Mary’s testimonies as is itself validated) because of the scenario given in Revelation 12.1 thru 6 is definitely reflective of Matthew’s account of the attempt of the young Jesus’ life.
SUMMARY:
(120) In Part 2, we have pretty much established (relying heavily on secular determinations) that Herod the Great died on Passover evening April 10/11, 3 B.C. - although they say 4 B.C. However; we can back-track using their own data and arrive at the 3 B.C. date.
(121) In Part 4, we have postulated that the Sojourn in Egypt may well have been 1,260 days - basing this on what is intimated by applying Revelation 12.1 thru 6 to Matthew‘s account of the fight to Egypt.
(122) In Part 5, we saw that according to secular sources that the window for the birth of Jesus had to have been during the taking of a Census and this was from 9 B.C. at the earliest to 6 B.C. at the latest.
(123) In Part 6, we saw how Gabriel appeared to Zechariah on a very specific day by virtue of clues in the Text of Luke. That being on the Day of Atonement - which is the 10th of Tishri - the seventh month in the Hebrew religious calendar.
(124) In Part 8, we see that there is indeed a window of opportunity for Elizabeth to become pregnant and this is found to have been on either of 2 days; these being the 12/13th or the 13/14th of Tishri.
(125) In Part 9, Luke tells us that exactly 6 months after Gabriel appeared to Zechariah, he appeared to Mary. This makes that day be the 10th of Abib - the first month in the Hebrew religious calendar - and she conceived immediately.
(126) In Part 10, we saw that the average human gestation period is determined to be 266 days.
(127) Also in Part 10, Jesus’ birthday was calculated to be on 6/7th of Tevet - the tenth month in Hebrew religious calendar. This coverts to January 6/7th, 2006 using the modern Jewish Calendar - so it is not a fixed date yet.
(128) In Part 11, Luke having told us of Jesus’ circumcision on the 8th day after His birth, we find this to have been on the 14th of Tevet. It converts to January 15th, 2006 using the modern Jewish calendar.
(129) Also in Part 11 - and again from Luke, we see that Mary observed her purification on the 40th day after Jesus was born. This calculates to be the 7th of Shevat - the eleventh month in the Hebrew religious calendar. This converts to February 16, 2006 using the modern Jewish calendar.
(130) In Part 13, we deducted the 1,260 days (Revelation 12.6) from Herod’s death and found that the massacre of the innocents and escape to Egypt occurred during the night of October 28/29, 7 B.C.
(131) In Part 14, we estimated from the above data that the age of Jesus upon their return to Nazareth was between 3 rears + 8 ½ months to 4 years + 3 ½ months - thus about 4 years old.
CONCLUSIONS:
(132) Without question, the date of the death of Herod the Great is our most pivotal and thus most important date - from which all other dates might be calculated.
(133) Luke’s Gospel gives all the clues we need to establish when Jesus was born by adding the modern medical figure of 266 days for the gestation period to the date of conception which based on Like was the 10th of Abib.
(134) Back-tracking from Herod’s death in the evening hours of April 10/11, 3 B.C. by the 1,260 days supplied by Revelation gives us the date of the night of October 28/29, 7 B.C. (adjusting one day for leap year). This also gives us the year of Jesus’ birth.
(135) It may seem sketchy to use the 1,260 days from Revelation but I strongly suspect that it is here telling us that this was how long their sojourn in Egypt was. Note that using it puts us smack-dab within the Census window of 9 thru 6 B.C.
(136) If it were to turn out that the secular date for Herod’s death were proven to actually be 4 B.C. rather than 3 B.C. this would move back all of our dates by one year earlier but all the times would remain constant with respect to one another.
(137) We have seen that using computer conversion of the current date of Tevet 6 for Jesus’ birth results in a date of January 6/7, 2006 but that is as if Jesus were to be born on that date this very year.. The slash mark that I use denotes the evening or night hours between the daylight hours of the two dates. It also reflects that the evening of our January 6 is the beginning of the Jews’ January 7.
(138) Note that if Jesus was born January 6/7, 7 B.C. and the massacre of the innocents was on October 28/29, Jesus would have been 9 months and 22 days old using the Exodus/Prophetic calendar but 9 months and 17 days old using the current Jewish calendar. This raises the question of why Joseph, Mary, and Jesus were still in Bethlehem at that time. The only reason I can imagine is that they either were stuck there because of finances and Joseph found lots of work or that they anticipated settling down there as opposed to returning to Nazareth.
(139) We know that if the wise-men saw the star the night Jesus was born, it would have been impossible for them to mount a pilgrimage and arrive in Bethlehem that same night, so some time would have had to elapse before they would have embarked on their pilgrimage. It also would have taken them some time to get from Persia or Babylon to Judea - but I don’t think it would have taken them over 9 months to do so.
(140) My earlier estimates is that they could have done all that in 5 months. Although 5 months strikes me as being a more realistic figure all the way around, we are stuck with the figures as we have them which suggest close to 10 months.
(141) I am using the Exodus/Prophetic calendar for all my calculations because it is simple to use, but if we were to use the Jewish system with Leap months, this would move all dates earlier by about 6 days not taking into account the possibility of a Leap month of 29 days. If a Leap month were added to any of these 3 years, then that would shove the date of the massacre of the innocents behind 29 days to November 26/27.
(142) Again, if Gabriel’s “these 6 months” referred to when Elizabeth conceived rather than when Gabriel appeared to Zechariah, this would put his appearance to Mary on the evening of the 15th of Abib, thus sliding Jesus’ birthday another 5 days later in Tevet to the 11th.
(143) All this shuffling could conceivably make Jesus about 8 months + about 3 weeks old or as much as 9 months + 3 weeks old when the wise-men came. But the range is somewhat limited by the clues in the Text and external factors. Taking into account the potential of as many as 270 days in a gestation period and allowing for the alternative conception date of Abib 15 makes Jesus’ birthday fall somewhere between Tevet 6 and Tevet 15.
(144) The median date then is at sundown of Tevet 10/11. I have chosen the evening of January 9/10, 7 B.C. on our calendar (which is mid-winter’s eve) as a nominal date for the birth of Jesus. Admittedly it is a bit arbitrary but it appears to be right in the center of the ballpark.
SEARL MILLER
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Yahshua HaMashiach
Posts: 17 | Registered: Dec 2006
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