When Was Jesus Born?
When was the Man of Truth (Yeshua HaMashiach aka Jesus Christ) born?
This question has been debated many times. There have literally been small wars prompted by disagreement over the date of his birth. Most notable were a series of violent riots that lasted for weeks across England when the celebration of Christmas was outlawed by the Puritan Parliament in 1647. The Puritan Parliament believed that December 25 was not the correct date of his birth and was instead the date of a Pagan holiday that the Roman Catholic Church had only assigned as his birthday.
They have not been alone in this assertion. There were similar laws passed in many places in the United States as well. In fact, Christmas was not even celebrated by most people in the US until the mid 1800's when many Roman Catholics, Lutherans and Episcopalians immigrated to America. It did not become a national holiday in the US until 1870.
December 25 is not the only day that people have assigned as his birthday. For many centuries in Europe, April 1 was considered to be the date of his birthday, because many of the early church fathers taught that the Man of Truth was born in April. For this reason the start of the year was moved from January 1, the day that Julius Caesar assigned to be the first day of the year on the Roman Calendar, to April 1 by the religious professionals. (The Roman calendar originally began on March 1 that is why December (literally "tenth month") is called December, even though it is the twelfth month on the Julian and Gregorian calendars.) New Years Day continued to be observed on April 1, because many still considered that to be the month of the birthday of the Man of Truth until New Years Day was changed back to January 1 by Pope Gregory in 1582.
Then there are those maintain that the Man of Truth was born during the Feast of Sukkot (Booths or Tabernacles), because he came to live among men when he was born. Still yet others, give other dates centered around different Feasts of the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) for various reasons. So the question still remains.
When was the Man of Truth born?
Fortunately, this is not an unanswerable question. The Book of Truth (The Bible) gives enough information to nail down the date of his birth give or take a day. We will begin by examining the Book of Truth, to eliminate all dates when the Man of Truth could not have been born.
Many dates can be eliminated by a simple understanding of the ancient world, and particularly the Roman world that included all of modern Israel.
This begins with an understanding of the calendar systems that were in use, and referenced in the Book of Truth. The people that lived in Israel at that time, in very many ways had to exist in three worlds, and so had to deal with three different calendars.
First, they lived in a Jewish world, that was centered around the Law of Truth (Torah) that the Father of Truth gave to Moses and Rabbinical laws. The Jewish world used the Biblical calendar based on observation of the new moon and the state of the barley crop at Jerusalem, that regulated when the Feasts of the Father of Truth were observed . This calendar was used by Jews scattered all over the ancient world.
Second, they live in a Greek world, that was heavily influenced by the Greek culture and language that dominated the entire eastern half of the Roman Empire, as well as much of Asia east of the Roman Empire. The Greek world used the Macedonian calendar that was based on the calculations of the new moon and the movement of the Earth around the Sun (solar), that formed the nineteen year long Metonic cycle (that was later adopted by the Rabbis to create the modern Rabbinic calendar), and four year periods called Olympiads (based on the occurrence of the Olympics every four years). This calendar was used for conducting all kinds of business across the entire Greek speaking world, that stretched all the way to northern India and western China.
Third, they lived in a Roman world, that was dominated by a Roman military occupation of the entire Roman empire. The Roman world used the Roman calendar, that was based solely upon the movement of the Earth around the Sun. (This is the basis for the modern Gregorian calendar used in Europe, North America and most of the world). This was the calendar, that was used for conducting business across the entire Roman Empire.
Needless to say, it is necessary to consider which calendar is being referenced to date an event, in order to understand when the even actually occurred. There can only be confusion, if anyone tries to date an event without understanding the calendar, that is being used in reference to the event.
The Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka the New Testament) only references events by the Biblical calendar and the Roman Calendar, that is still in use today. It is usually quite obvious which is being referenced, if you have any familiarity with either calendar. The Biblical calendar is generally used to refer to events in terms related to the Feasts of the Father of Truth, or the Sabbath. The Roman calander is used to refer to events in other terms, such as seasons of the Roman calendar like winter.
When was the Man of Truth born?
The first really big clue to when the Man of Truth was born is the decree by Caesar Augustus that everyone should be taxed (Luke 2:1). The Romans took always took their census and levied a poll tax on each and every person in the empire during the month of Aprilis, known today as April. The month of April is so called, because it comes from the Latin word "aperio" which literally means "to open". This was the month that the barley grains opened up, showing that they were ready for harvest. Barley was the first crop that could be harvested after winter was over, and was extremely important in the ancient world. The purpose of the poll tax was to secure funds to ensure an adequate supply of food for the city of Rome, and the Roman army, for the rest of the year. (The US and most of Europe have also collected income taxes in the month of April for similar reasons.)
This taxing occurred during the first time when Cyrenius was the governor of Syria from 3 BC to 1 BC (Luke 2:2). (He served as the governor of Syria for a second time about ten years later.) The official records of the Roman Empire still showed, that there was a census during the first term of Cyrenius, when the Emperor Justin the Apostate tried to use those records to discredit the Gospel of Luke in 337 AD.
Caesar Augustus anticipated that there might be tax revolts, so he decreed that everyone had to go to the city of their ancestors to pay the tax (Luke 2:3). This was done so that people in every locality would be scattered, and unable to band together. This journey to pay their taxes, and be counted could take months for some people, that had moved to the opposite end of the Roman Empire from the city of their ancestors. This taxing began in April, because the Roman world, and indeed the entire ancient world, came to a complete standstill during the winter.
The Mediterranean Sea is too rough to travel during the winter. (When I lived in Greece giant iron ships would be moored together in the port of Pireaus, the deep water port of Athens, for the entire winter, because it was too dangerous for them to be on the Mediterranean Sea.) The ancient Greeks would not travel on the Mediterranean Sea from the middle of Autumn to the middle of Spring. The Jews would not travel on the Mediterranean Sea from the time of the Fast (late September to late October) until the first day of the Biblical year (middle March to middle April) (Acts 27:9). The Romans did not even dare to travel the Mediterranean Sea during the winter, except when it was a matter of the survival of Rome. This is why the Roman captain sought a port that was more accommodating to spend the winter at, when Paul (Shaul aka Saul) warned them to stay at Fair Havens, Crete (Acts 27:12). This is why the ship from Alexandria, Egypt had spent the entire winter in Malta, before continuing on to Rome (Acts 28:11).
Not only did sea travel come to a complete stop during the winter, but so did land travel. The caravans could not travel, because of the scarcity of food and water during the winter. There as also the danger of being caught out in the open, when the temperatures dropped suddenly. Mountain passes were frequently blocked by snow and ice.
There was virtually no travel of any kind in the winter, just like there was virtually no travel by the Jews on the Sabbath day (Matthew 24:20)). It was for these reasons, that the Man of Truth says, that the Jews should pray, that their flight from the Man of Lies (The Antichrist) does not occur in the winter (Mark 13:18). This is why Paul (Shaul aka Saul) told the Corinthian church, that he planned to spend the winter with them before continuing on his journey (1 Corinthians 16:6). This is why Paul (Shual aka Saul) urged Timothy to make it to Rome before winter began (2 Timothy 4:21). This is why Paul (Shual aka Saul) said, that he was determined to winter in Nicopolis (Titus 3:12). So one thing is for sure, and that is that Caesar Augustus did not require everyone to be in their home town to be taxed during the months of December, January and February, that defined winter on the Roman calendar. The Man of Truth was definitely not born on December 25, or any other day during the winter.
When was the Man of Truth born?
Since many people had to travel a great distance to be taxed then it could be argued that Joseph and Mary (Mariam) did not have to have necessarily arrive in the Roman month of April to be taxed in Bethlehem. So the Man of Truth could have been born during any of the Feasts of the Father of Truth because none of them ever occurred in the winter. The most common one that is put forth is the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Law of Truth required that the Jews attend the entire Feast of Tabernacles in the place that the Father of Truth would choose (Deuteronomy 16:13-15). The place that the Father of Truth chose was Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:36). Joseph was man that sought to do everything in accordance with the Law of Truth (Matthew 1:19). Joseph and Miriam were careful to follow every commandment of the Law of Truth including circumcision and purification (Luke 2:21-24).
The Law of Truth required that they spend all of the Feasts of the Father of Truth in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 16:16). This is why they went up to Jerusalem every year to spend the days of the Passover feasts (Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits) there (Luke 2:41-43).
Also the Romans had a set of laws about the Jews that kept them exempt from doing anything that interfered with their observation of the Feasts of the Father of Truth or the Sabbath. People sometimes called these laws Jewish privileges. The Jews had helped Julius Caesar rise to power and Herod the Great had fought beside Caesar Augustus at the battle of Actium in 31 AD. Roman law was so strict about not interfering with the observance of these feasts that that the law of Sabbath observation even applied to the Jewish slaves on war galleys except when the ships were actually under attack. The Romans would not have required that the Jews go to the city of their ancestors during the Feasts of the Father of Truth nor would have the Romans even collected taxes in Judea from the Jews during these feasts during the reign of Herod the Great.
Joseph and Mary (Mariam) did go not to Bethlehem to pay their taxes and give birth to the Man of Truth during any of the Feasts of the Father of Truth because they were Jews that observed the Law of Truth and spent the days of those feasts in Jerusalem as the Law of Truth required. They would have been violating the Law of Truth if the Man of Truth was born in Bethlehem during any of the Feasts of the Father of Truth.
When was the Man of Truth born?
However, the Book of Truth not only tells when the Man of Truth could not have been born, but it also tells when the Man of Truth was actually born.
The next big clue is that the shepherds were abiding in the fields watching over their flocks by night when the Man of Truth was born (Luke 2:8). Shepherds normally do not keep their flocks out at night, but instead put them in little booths called cotes at night, where they are safe from wolves and thieves (2 Chronicles 32:27-29). These cotes are arranged around a pen, where the sheep spend the night, called a sheepfold (John 10:1-3). The shepherd then calls to the sheep to take them out in the morning, to feed them during the day, and then returns them to the sheepfold to spend the night (John 10:7-9).
The only time of the entire year, that the shepherds keep the sheep out at night, is during the lambing season, because the sheep will trample on and kill the newborn lambs in the sheepfold. The lambing season is always during the first two weeks of April, in the area around the Mediterranean Sea. I used to see the shepherds stay out at night during the lambing season every year, when I lived in Greece. The rest of the year, they put their sheep in the sheepfold at night, just as people in Greece, Israel, and most of the world, did during the days when the Man of Truth was born. The Man of Truth was born during the first two weeks of April without a doubt.
When was the Man of Truth born?
The Book of Truth gets even more specific than that, if you are willing to spend the time to count backwards from the Passover after he turned thirty. To do this, you have to know something about the Biblical calendar, that is defined in the Law of Truth.
Each Biblical day consists of a nighttime portion that begins in the evening (shortly after sunset), and a daytime portion that begins in the morning (shortly before sunrise) (Genesis 1:5). Each Biblical month lasts from the start of one new moon until the start of the next new moon, just like each week lasts from the start of one Sabbath until the start of the next Sabbath (Isaiah 66:23). The first month on the Biblical calendar is the month, when the nation of Israel was taken out of Egypt (Exodus 12:1-2). This month was the month that the barley in Israel (and other places nearby like Egypt) is ready for harvest (abib aka aviv), in time to be presented to the Father of Truth at the Feast of First Fruits as explained below (Exodus 13:3-5).
Passover occurs on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Biblical calendar (Leviticus 23:4-5). The fifteenth day of the first month is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which begins the moment that Passover is over (Leviticus 23:6-8). The Sunday (The daylight portion of the day after the regular Sabbath occurs on Sunday) after the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the Feast of Firstfruits when the barley must be ripe enough to presented to the Father of Truth (Leviticus 23:10-11).
The months on the Biblical calendar that go from one new moon to the next new moon have an average time span of 29.5 days per month giving 354 days in a 12 month year. So some years have a leap month of either 29 or 30 days added when the barley in the area will not be ready for harvest by the Sunday that follows the fifteenth day of the next month. So Passover starts shortly after sunset sometime between March 25 and April 25 with the daytime portion of Passover occurring after sunrise of the next day. The exact date on the Roman calendar depends upon the year of the Roman Calendar. (This is why Easter bounces around the Roman calendar since when it occurs is based on when Passover occurs.)
The year on the Roman calender is given in this case. John the Baptist (Yochanon the Mikveh Man) began his ministry in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1-3). The fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar was from August 19, 28 AD to August 18, 29 AD using Roman reckoning of Imperial reigns. So the Passover in question is the Passover of 29 AD. NASA has been able to calculate the exact time of the null moon all the way back to 1 AD give or take fifteen minutes. (The null moon, when the moon is completely black, is often mistakenly referred to as the new moon but the actual new moon is when a sliver of the moon can first be seen by the human eye after the null moon has occurred. The new moon actually occurs about twelve hours and fifteen minutes after the null moon.) The month when the barley can be harvested is very regular in occurrence and always occurs during the Roman month of April give or take a day or two. (Remember that April is so named because that is when the barley harvest occurs). So the Passover of 29 AD is known to have started at the evening of April 16 on the Roman calendar.
The Man of Truth went to be baptized by John the Baptist (Yochanon the Mikveh Man) to prepare for his ministry when he was getting close to being thirty years old (Luke 3:21-23). After that he went into the wilderness to be tempted for forty days (Luke 4:1-2). After the temptation he began to operate in power and being recognized by Israel as being from the Father of Truth for the first time (Luke 4:13-14). This is the day that he turned thirty. (Thirty years old on the Biblical calendar which gives a slightly different date on the Roman Calendar than thirty years on the Roman calendar since the years on the Biblical calendar do not always contain only twelve months.)
The Man of Truth had to do this when he turned thirty years old to fulfill many of the types of him operating in power that were laid out in the Original Covenant (Tanach aka Old Testament). Joseph was revealed as the savior of the world (the Egyptians actually called him "Zaphnathpaaneah" which means "the savior of the world" ) when he was thirty (Genesis 41:45-47). David was thirty when he began to be accepted as the king of Israel (2 Samuel 5:4). The Levites were counted as being able to oversee the building up of the House of the Father of Truth when they turned thirty (1 Chronicles 23:2-4). The Man of Truth did all of these things when he began to operate in power.
The Man of Truth then went back to John the Baptist (Yochanon the Mikveh Man) a second time when the Spirit of Truth (HaRuach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) revealed that he was operating in power (John 1:29-34). The third day after that he was in Cana of Galilee where he first demonstrated that he was operating in power (John 2:1-11). Then he went to nearby Capernaum and spent a few days there (John 2:12). Then he made the three day journey to arrive in Jerusalem not long before Passover (by sunset of the Wednesday before Passover at the latest since Passover began when the regular Sabbath ended in 29 AD and no commerce was allowed on the Sabbath or Passover) and drove out the money changers from the Temple for the first time (on the Thursday before Passover) (John 2:13-16). Then he spent Passover of 29 AD in Jerusalem operating in power (John 2:23).
When was the Man of Truth born?
He was born on the first day of the first month of the Biblical year if the few days that he spent in Capernaum was four days (counting the Sabbath before Passover). (The Biblical year began on Sunday evening in 29 AD.) He met John the Baptist (Yochanon the Mikveh Man) after his temptation on the next day (his birthday), he was in Capernaum by the third day after his birthday, he was in Capernaum for four days after that, he spent three days traveling to Jerusalem, he was in Jerusalem three days before Passover, and finally he celebrated the Passover of 29 AD in Jerusalem. The fourteenth day of the first month of the Biblical year minus these thirteen days gives his birthday as being on the first day of the Biblical year.
Since the Man of Truth turned 30 in 29 AD then he was born in 2 BC (there is no 0 AD so you must add one to any year less than 1 when going from AD to BC.) This agrees with the year given in the Book of Truth concerning the visit of the wise men.
Herod the Great died in 1 AD as testified by Josephus who wrote that he was counted as the King of the Jews by the Romans for thirty seven years after they had declared him to be so in 37 BC. (There is no 0 BC, so you must add one to any year less than 1 when going from BC to AD.)
Some people have tried to discredit the Gospels by claiming that Herod the Great died in 4 BC. This timing of the death of Herod the Great is based on another passage by Josephus. Josephus says that the high priest had been arrested the day after a fast of the Jews. (There are seven fasts of the Jews each year of the Biblical calendar. One of these is the fast of the tenth month known as Asarah T'Bevet (Zechariah 8:19).) After that Herod (the Great) had the high priest executed. On that very night a full lunar eclipse (aka blood moon) appeared and Herod (the Great) was struck with a horrible, painful and incurable disease that he died from a few months later. Most of the lunar eclipses that occurred between 4 BC and 1 AD were not visible in Jerusalem since they either occurred in the daytime Jerusalem time or were penumbral. The full lunar eclipses visible at Jerusalem (Judea (Judaea)) during this five tear period were in the nights that began on 10 January 1 BC and in the night that began on 29 December 1 BC. (The lunar eclipse of 5 September 4 BC sometimes used to date the death of Herod (the Great) peaked at 4:24 pm Jerusalem time according to NASA and was not even visible in the Roman Empire.) The lunar eclipse of 10 January 1 BC was only four days after the first fast of Asarah T'Bevet of 1 BC (began at in the evening of 6 January) which would be enough time to effect the arrest and execution of the high priest but it would have occurred during the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Herod (the Great) from Jerusalem (Judea (Judaea)) causing him to have died in the thirty-sixth year of his reign instead of the thirty-seventh year as Josephus had also recorded. The lunar eclipse of 29 December 1 BC was only be five days after the second fast of Asarah T'Bevet of 1 BC (began at in the evening of December 24), which is also reasonable and occurred during the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Herod (the Great) from Jerusalem (Judea (Judaea)). (The fast of Asarah T'Bevet occurred twice in 1 BC because that Biblical year was only 354 days long while the Roman year was 365 days long.) So the eclipse of 29 December 1 BC is the one referred to by Josephus. Herod the Great died in 1 AD based on all of the facts given about his death by Josephus.
The wise men came because they had seen the star appear in the sky that indicated when he was born while they were still far away in the East (Matthew 2:1-3). Herod the Great asked when they had seen this star before they went where the Man of Truth was living (Matthew 2:7-9). They found him living in a house (not a manger) as a young child (not a baby) when they gave him their gifts (Matthew 2:10-11). Then they left town by a different route instead of reporting back to Herod the Great (Matthew 2:12). Then Joseph and Mary escaped to Egypt with the Man of Truth that very night (Matthew 2:13-15). Herod the Great then had all of the baby boys killed from Bethlehem that was south of Jerusalem to Ramah that was north of Jerusalem that were two years old or younger based on the time when the wise man had seen the star appear in the East when the Man of Truth was born (Matthew 2:16-18). Herod the Great then died shortly thereafter and they came back to Israel (Matthew 2:19-21). Two years before 1 AD is 2 BC.
When was the Man of Truth born?
He was born on the first day of the Biblical year that started in 2 BC. (I had to calculate the times of the null moon before 1 AD myself since NASA had not made that data public. (I could find lunar and solar eclipse data, but not moon cycle data.) My approximation is not quite as accurate but it is still correct give or take 30 minutes. I know this because I compared my calculations going forward from 1 AD against the times given by their calculations.) This was the day that began on the evening of April 5 and ended on the evening of April 6 on the Roman calendar that is still in use today. Since he was born about the time that the shepherds were told, then his birth time could be narrowed down further to between the evening of April 5 and the morning of April 6 on the Roman calendar. If he was born exactly when the evening occurred (the midway point between sunset and nightfall) then his birth literally marked both the beginning and the end of the Biblical calendar. (This would be most fitting since the Man of Truth is known as the First and the Last (Revelation 1:16-18).)
So it turns out that the early church fathers were right about the Man of Truth being born in April on the Roman calendar. This is not too surprising since they lived during the Roman times, lived in the same area as he had lived and were much closer in time to his birth. Some of them were Jewish and some of them were disciples of the Apostles of Truth that had actually walked with the Man of Truth. They would have understood when he was born without any need for someone to explain to them the Roman and Biblical systems for keeping track of events.
So you might be wondering a few things about all of this. The first question might be if the early church fathers knew that the Man of Truth was born in April then why was the celebration of his birth moved to December 25 (Christmas) by the false church of Rome?
December 25 was a Roman holiday before the Man of Truth was ever born called Sol Invictus ("The Unconquerable Sun"). Sol Invictus was considered to be the birthday of the Sun because it fell on the winter solstice. The winter solstice was on December 25 when the birthday of the Sun was renamed to the birthday of the Man of Truth due to the Julian error that was corrected by the current Gregorian calendar in 1582. (There is no leap day on the century years that are not evenly divided by 400 in Gregorian calendar (1700, 1800, and 1900 did not have a leap day added for example) to correct a three day per four hundred year error that is created by having a leap day every fourth year in the Julian calendar.) So now the winter solstice is on December 21 while the renamed birthday of the Sun is still celebrated on December 25. The reason for celebrating the birthday of the Sun is because the Romans were Pagans (idol worshipers) that worshiped the Sun as their chief deity. They worshiped the Sun, the Moon and the stars like every other nation on Earth except the Jews (Deuteronomy 4:15-19).
This attempt to move the birthday of the Man of Truth to the birthday of the Sun has larger implications than you might realize. The Law of Truth warns against adapting the customs of those that worship the Sun (Deuteronomy 17:2-4). The bones of the Kings of Israel that adapted the customs of Sun worship were desecrated and the Jews that adapted the customs of Sun worship were scattered across the Earth (Jeremiah 8:1-3). They had carried out rituals associated with worshiping the Sun while they were in the House of the Father of Truth (Ezekiel 8:16).
Now, you probably are not actually involved in any kind of worship of the Sun, but that was the purpose of moving the celebration of the birthday of the Man of Truth from his actual birthday (early April) to the birthday of the Sun (December 25). You might be thinking what difference does it make if I sing songs about the Man of Truth being born on Christmas day (December 25) and otherwise celebrate December 25 as his birthday?
The problem is that it is a lie to act like December 25 is his birthday when it is clearly not his birthday. All lies are from the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan aka The Devil), so going along with this lie is going along with him (John 8:44). The Children of Truth are suppose to repent of everything that is from the Father of Lies and are not supposed to give him any place in their lives (Ephesians 4:26-28). The Father of Truth has no greater joy than when the Children of Truth (followers of the Man of Truth) are living according to the truth (3 John 1:4).
It really boils down to whether you are willing to go along with a lie that comes from the Father of Lies or to walk in the truth that comes from the Father of Truth. We are called to act like the Father of Truth when we come into the House of Truth (Ephesians 5:1-2). We are all called to live like the Man of Truth when we come in the House of Truth (1 John 1:7).
Of course, it does not make any real difference when the Man of Truth was born unless you first come into the House of Truth. You come into the House of Truth when you make the Man of Truth the boss of your life every day of the year, because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:8-10).
Come into the House of Truth.
This question has been debated many times. There have literally been small wars prompted by disagreement over the date of his birth. Most notable were a series of violent riots that lasted for weeks across England when the celebration of Christmas was outlawed by the Puritan Parliament in 1647. The Puritan Parliament believed that December 25 was not the correct date of his birth and was instead the date of a Pagan holiday that the Roman Catholic Church had only assigned as his birthday.
They have not been alone in this assertion. There were similar laws passed in many places in the United States as well. In fact, Christmas was not even celebrated by most people in the US until the mid 1800's when many Roman Catholics, Lutherans and Episcopalians immigrated to America. It did not become a national holiday in the US until 1870.
December 25 is not the only day that people have assigned as his birthday. For many centuries in Europe, April 1 was considered to be the date of his birthday, because many of the early church fathers taught that the Man of Truth was born in April. For this reason the start of the year was moved from January 1, the day that Julius Caesar assigned to be the first day of the year on the Roman Calendar, to April 1 by the religious professionals. (The Roman calendar originally began on March 1 that is why December (literally "tenth month") is called December, even though it is the twelfth month on the Julian and Gregorian calendars.) New Years Day continued to be observed on April 1, because many still considered that to be the month of the birthday of the Man of Truth until New Years Day was changed back to January 1 by Pope Gregory in 1582.
Then there are those maintain that the Man of Truth was born during the Feast of Sukkot (Booths or Tabernacles), because he came to live among men when he was born. Still yet others, give other dates centered around different Feasts of the Father of Truth (YHVH aka God aka THE LORD) for various reasons. So the question still remains.
When was the Man of Truth born?
Fortunately, this is not an unanswerable question. The Book of Truth (The Bible) gives enough information to nail down the date of his birth give or take a day. We will begin by examining the Book of Truth, to eliminate all dates when the Man of Truth could not have been born.
Many dates can be eliminated by a simple understanding of the ancient world, and particularly the Roman world that included all of modern Israel.
This begins with an understanding of the calendar systems that were in use, and referenced in the Book of Truth. The people that lived in Israel at that time, in very many ways had to exist in three worlds, and so had to deal with three different calendars.
First, they lived in a Jewish world, that was centered around the Law of Truth (Torah) that the Father of Truth gave to Moses and Rabbinical laws. The Jewish world used the Biblical calendar based on observation of the new moon and the state of the barley crop at Jerusalem, that regulated when the Feasts of the Father of Truth were observed . This calendar was used by Jews scattered all over the ancient world.
Second, they live in a Greek world, that was heavily influenced by the Greek culture and language that dominated the entire eastern half of the Roman Empire, as well as much of Asia east of the Roman Empire. The Greek world used the Macedonian calendar that was based on the calculations of the new moon and the movement of the Earth around the Sun (solar), that formed the nineteen year long Metonic cycle (that was later adopted by the Rabbis to create the modern Rabbinic calendar), and four year periods called Olympiads (based on the occurrence of the Olympics every four years). This calendar was used for conducting all kinds of business across the entire Greek speaking world, that stretched all the way to northern India and western China.
Third, they lived in a Roman world, that was dominated by a Roman military occupation of the entire Roman empire. The Roman world used the Roman calendar, that was based solely upon the movement of the Earth around the Sun. (This is the basis for the modern Gregorian calendar used in Europe, North America and most of the world). This was the calendar, that was used for conducting business across the entire Roman Empire.
Needless to say, it is necessary to consider which calendar is being referenced to date an event, in order to understand when the even actually occurred. There can only be confusion, if anyone tries to date an event without understanding the calendar, that is being used in reference to the event.
The Renewed Covenant (B'rit Chadashah aka the New Testament) only references events by the Biblical calendar and the Roman Calendar, that is still in use today. It is usually quite obvious which is being referenced, if you have any familiarity with either calendar. The Biblical calendar is generally used to refer to events in terms related to the Feasts of the Father of Truth, or the Sabbath. The Roman calander is used to refer to events in other terms, such as seasons of the Roman calendar like winter.
When was the Man of Truth born?
The first really big clue to when the Man of Truth was born is the decree by Caesar Augustus that everyone should be taxed (Luke 2:1). The Romans took always took their census and levied a poll tax on each and every person in the empire during the month of Aprilis, known today as April. The month of April is so called, because it comes from the Latin word "aperio" which literally means "to open". This was the month that the barley grains opened up, showing that they were ready for harvest. Barley was the first crop that could be harvested after winter was over, and was extremely important in the ancient world. The purpose of the poll tax was to secure funds to ensure an adequate supply of food for the city of Rome, and the Roman army, for the rest of the year. (The US and most of Europe have also collected income taxes in the month of April for similar reasons.)
This taxing occurred during the first time when Cyrenius was the governor of Syria from 3 BC to 1 BC (Luke 2:2). (He served as the governor of Syria for a second time about ten years later.) The official records of the Roman Empire still showed, that there was a census during the first term of Cyrenius, when the Emperor Justin the Apostate tried to use those records to discredit the Gospel of Luke in 337 AD.
Caesar Augustus anticipated that there might be tax revolts, so he decreed that everyone had to go to the city of their ancestors to pay the tax (Luke 2:3). This was done so that people in every locality would be scattered, and unable to band together. This journey to pay their taxes, and be counted could take months for some people, that had moved to the opposite end of the Roman Empire from the city of their ancestors. This taxing began in April, because the Roman world, and indeed the entire ancient world, came to a complete standstill during the winter.
The Mediterranean Sea is too rough to travel during the winter. (When I lived in Greece giant iron ships would be moored together in the port of Pireaus, the deep water port of Athens, for the entire winter, because it was too dangerous for them to be on the Mediterranean Sea.) The ancient Greeks would not travel on the Mediterranean Sea from the middle of Autumn to the middle of Spring. The Jews would not travel on the Mediterranean Sea from the time of the Fast (late September to late October) until the first day of the Biblical year (middle March to middle April) (Acts 27:9). The Romans did not even dare to travel the Mediterranean Sea during the winter, except when it was a matter of the survival of Rome. This is why the Roman captain sought a port that was more accommodating to spend the winter at, when Paul (Shaul aka Saul) warned them to stay at Fair Havens, Crete (Acts 27:12). This is why the ship from Alexandria, Egypt had spent the entire winter in Malta, before continuing on to Rome (Acts 28:11).
Not only did sea travel come to a complete stop during the winter, but so did land travel. The caravans could not travel, because of the scarcity of food and water during the winter. There as also the danger of being caught out in the open, when the temperatures dropped suddenly. Mountain passes were frequently blocked by snow and ice.
There was virtually no travel of any kind in the winter, just like there was virtually no travel by the Jews on the Sabbath day (Matthew 24:20)). It was for these reasons, that the Man of Truth says, that the Jews should pray, that their flight from the Man of Lies (The Antichrist) does not occur in the winter (Mark 13:18). This is why Paul (Shaul aka Saul) told the Corinthian church, that he planned to spend the winter with them before continuing on his journey (1 Corinthians 16:6). This is why Paul (Shual aka Saul) urged Timothy to make it to Rome before winter began (2 Timothy 4:21). This is why Paul (Shual aka Saul) said, that he was determined to winter in Nicopolis (Titus 3:12). So one thing is for sure, and that is that Caesar Augustus did not require everyone to be in their home town to be taxed during the months of December, January and February, that defined winter on the Roman calendar. The Man of Truth was definitely not born on December 25, or any other day during the winter.
When was the Man of Truth born?
Since many people had to travel a great distance to be taxed then it could be argued that Joseph and Mary (Mariam) did not have to have necessarily arrive in the Roman month of April to be taxed in Bethlehem. So the Man of Truth could have been born during any of the Feasts of the Father of Truth because none of them ever occurred in the winter. The most common one that is put forth is the Feast of Tabernacles.
The Law of Truth required that the Jews attend the entire Feast of Tabernacles in the place that the Father of Truth would choose (Deuteronomy 16:13-15). The place that the Father of Truth chose was Jerusalem (1 Kings 11:36). Joseph was man that sought to do everything in accordance with the Law of Truth (Matthew 1:19). Joseph and Miriam were careful to follow every commandment of the Law of Truth including circumcision and purification (Luke 2:21-24).
The Law of Truth required that they spend all of the Feasts of the Father of Truth in Jerusalem (Deuteronomy 16:16). This is why they went up to Jerusalem every year to spend the days of the Passover feasts (Passover, the Feast of Unleavened Bread and First Fruits) there (Luke 2:41-43).
Also the Romans had a set of laws about the Jews that kept them exempt from doing anything that interfered with their observation of the Feasts of the Father of Truth or the Sabbath. People sometimes called these laws Jewish privileges. The Jews had helped Julius Caesar rise to power and Herod the Great had fought beside Caesar Augustus at the battle of Actium in 31 AD. Roman law was so strict about not interfering with the observance of these feasts that that the law of Sabbath observation even applied to the Jewish slaves on war galleys except when the ships were actually under attack. The Romans would not have required that the Jews go to the city of their ancestors during the Feasts of the Father of Truth nor would have the Romans even collected taxes in Judea from the Jews during these feasts during the reign of Herod the Great.
Joseph and Mary (Mariam) did go not to Bethlehem to pay their taxes and give birth to the Man of Truth during any of the Feasts of the Father of Truth because they were Jews that observed the Law of Truth and spent the days of those feasts in Jerusalem as the Law of Truth required. They would have been violating the Law of Truth if the Man of Truth was born in Bethlehem during any of the Feasts of the Father of Truth.
When was the Man of Truth born?
However, the Book of Truth not only tells when the Man of Truth could not have been born, but it also tells when the Man of Truth was actually born.
The next big clue is that the shepherds were abiding in the fields watching over their flocks by night when the Man of Truth was born (Luke 2:8). Shepherds normally do not keep their flocks out at night, but instead put them in little booths called cotes at night, where they are safe from wolves and thieves (2 Chronicles 32:27-29). These cotes are arranged around a pen, where the sheep spend the night, called a sheepfold (John 10:1-3). The shepherd then calls to the sheep to take them out in the morning, to feed them during the day, and then returns them to the sheepfold to spend the night (John 10:7-9).
The only time of the entire year, that the shepherds keep the sheep out at night, is during the lambing season, because the sheep will trample on and kill the newborn lambs in the sheepfold. The lambing season is always during the first two weeks of April, in the area around the Mediterranean Sea. I used to see the shepherds stay out at night during the lambing season every year, when I lived in Greece. The rest of the year, they put their sheep in the sheepfold at night, just as people in Greece, Israel, and most of the world, did during the days when the Man of Truth was born. The Man of Truth was born during the first two weeks of April without a doubt.
When was the Man of Truth born?
The Book of Truth gets even more specific than that, if you are willing to spend the time to count backwards from the Passover after he turned thirty. To do this, you have to know something about the Biblical calendar, that is defined in the Law of Truth.
Each Biblical day consists of a nighttime portion that begins in the evening (shortly after sunset), and a daytime portion that begins in the morning (shortly before sunrise) (Genesis 1:5). Each Biblical month lasts from the start of one new moon until the start of the next new moon, just like each week lasts from the start of one Sabbath until the start of the next Sabbath (Isaiah 66:23). The first month on the Biblical calendar is the month, when the nation of Israel was taken out of Egypt (Exodus 12:1-2). This month was the month that the barley in Israel (and other places nearby like Egypt) is ready for harvest (abib aka aviv), in time to be presented to the Father of Truth at the Feast of First Fruits as explained below (Exodus 13:3-5).
Passover occurs on the fourteenth day of the first month of the Biblical calendar (Leviticus 23:4-5). The fifteenth day of the first month is the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread which begins the moment that Passover is over (Leviticus 23:6-8). The Sunday (The daylight portion of the day after the regular Sabbath occurs on Sunday) after the first day of the Feast of Unleavened Bread is the Feast of Firstfruits when the barley must be ripe enough to presented to the Father of Truth (Leviticus 23:10-11).
The months on the Biblical calendar that go from one new moon to the next new moon have an average time span of 29.5 days per month giving 354 days in a 12 month year. So some years have a leap month of either 29 or 30 days added when the barley in the area will not be ready for harvest by the Sunday that follows the fifteenth day of the next month. So Passover starts shortly after sunset sometime between March 25 and April 25 with the daytime portion of Passover occurring after sunrise of the next day. The exact date on the Roman calendar depends upon the year of the Roman Calendar. (This is why Easter bounces around the Roman calendar since when it occurs is based on when Passover occurs.)
The year on the Roman calender is given in this case. John the Baptist (Yochanon the Mikveh Man) began his ministry in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar (Luke 3:1-3). The fifteenth year of Tiberius Caesar was from August 19, 28 AD to August 18, 29 AD using Roman reckoning of Imperial reigns. So the Passover in question is the Passover of 29 AD. NASA has been able to calculate the exact time of the null moon all the way back to 1 AD give or take fifteen minutes. (The null moon, when the moon is completely black, is often mistakenly referred to as the new moon but the actual new moon is when a sliver of the moon can first be seen by the human eye after the null moon has occurred. The new moon actually occurs about twelve hours and fifteen minutes after the null moon.) The month when the barley can be harvested is very regular in occurrence and always occurs during the Roman month of April give or take a day or two. (Remember that April is so named because that is when the barley harvest occurs). So the Passover of 29 AD is known to have started at the evening of April 16 on the Roman calendar.
The Man of Truth went to be baptized by John the Baptist (Yochanon the Mikveh Man) to prepare for his ministry when he was getting close to being thirty years old (Luke 3:21-23). After that he went into the wilderness to be tempted for forty days (Luke 4:1-2). After the temptation he began to operate in power and being recognized by Israel as being from the Father of Truth for the first time (Luke 4:13-14). This is the day that he turned thirty. (Thirty years old on the Biblical calendar which gives a slightly different date on the Roman Calendar than thirty years on the Roman calendar since the years on the Biblical calendar do not always contain only twelve months.)
The Man of Truth had to do this when he turned thirty years old to fulfill many of the types of him operating in power that were laid out in the Original Covenant (Tanach aka Old Testament). Joseph was revealed as the savior of the world (the Egyptians actually called him "Zaphnathpaaneah" which means "the savior of the world" ) when he was thirty (Genesis 41:45-47). David was thirty when he began to be accepted as the king of Israel (2 Samuel 5:4). The Levites were counted as being able to oversee the building up of the House of the Father of Truth when they turned thirty (1 Chronicles 23:2-4). The Man of Truth did all of these things when he began to operate in power.
The Man of Truth then went back to John the Baptist (Yochanon the Mikveh Man) a second time when the Spirit of Truth (HaRuach HaQodesh aka The Holy Spirit aka The Holy Ghost) revealed that he was operating in power (John 1:29-34). The third day after that he was in Cana of Galilee where he first demonstrated that he was operating in power (John 2:1-11). Then he went to nearby Capernaum and spent a few days there (John 2:12). Then he made the three day journey to arrive in Jerusalem not long before Passover (by sunset of the Wednesday before Passover at the latest since Passover began when the regular Sabbath ended in 29 AD and no commerce was allowed on the Sabbath or Passover) and drove out the money changers from the Temple for the first time (on the Thursday before Passover) (John 2:13-16). Then he spent Passover of 29 AD in Jerusalem operating in power (John 2:23).
When was the Man of Truth born?
He was born on the first day of the first month of the Biblical year if the few days that he spent in Capernaum was four days (counting the Sabbath before Passover). (The Biblical year began on Sunday evening in 29 AD.) He met John the Baptist (Yochanon the Mikveh Man) after his temptation on the next day (his birthday), he was in Capernaum by the third day after his birthday, he was in Capernaum for four days after that, he spent three days traveling to Jerusalem, he was in Jerusalem three days before Passover, and finally he celebrated the Passover of 29 AD in Jerusalem. The fourteenth day of the first month of the Biblical year minus these thirteen days gives his birthday as being on the first day of the Biblical year.
Since the Man of Truth turned 30 in 29 AD then he was born in 2 BC (there is no 0 AD so you must add one to any year less than 1 when going from AD to BC.) This agrees with the year given in the Book of Truth concerning the visit of the wise men.
Herod the Great died in 1 AD as testified by Josephus who wrote that he was counted as the King of the Jews by the Romans for thirty seven years after they had declared him to be so in 37 BC. (There is no 0 BC, so you must add one to any year less than 1 when going from BC to AD.)
Some people have tried to discredit the Gospels by claiming that Herod the Great died in 4 BC. This timing of the death of Herod the Great is based on another passage by Josephus. Josephus says that the high priest had been arrested the day after a fast of the Jews. (There are seven fasts of the Jews each year of the Biblical calendar. One of these is the fast of the tenth month known as Asarah T'Bevet (Zechariah 8:19).) After that Herod (the Great) had the high priest executed. On that very night a full lunar eclipse (aka blood moon) appeared and Herod (the Great) was struck with a horrible, painful and incurable disease that he died from a few months later. Most of the lunar eclipses that occurred between 4 BC and 1 AD were not visible in Jerusalem since they either occurred in the daytime Jerusalem time or were penumbral. The full lunar eclipses visible at Jerusalem (Judea (Judaea)) during this five tear period were in the nights that began on 10 January 1 BC and in the night that began on 29 December 1 BC. (The lunar eclipse of 5 September 4 BC sometimes used to date the death of Herod (the Great) peaked at 4:24 pm Jerusalem time according to NASA and was not even visible in the Roman Empire.) The lunar eclipse of 10 January 1 BC was only four days after the first fast of Asarah T'Bevet of 1 BC (began at in the evening of 6 January) which would be enough time to effect the arrest and execution of the high priest but it would have occurred during the thirty-sixth year of the reign of Herod (the Great) from Jerusalem (Judea (Judaea)) causing him to have died in the thirty-sixth year of his reign instead of the thirty-seventh year as Josephus had also recorded. The lunar eclipse of 29 December 1 BC was only be five days after the second fast of Asarah T'Bevet of 1 BC (began at in the evening of December 24), which is also reasonable and occurred during the thirty-seventh year of the reign of Herod (the Great) from Jerusalem (Judea (Judaea)). (The fast of Asarah T'Bevet occurred twice in 1 BC because that Biblical year was only 354 days long while the Roman year was 365 days long.) So the eclipse of 29 December 1 BC is the one referred to by Josephus. Herod the Great died in 1 AD based on all of the facts given about his death by Josephus.
The wise men came because they had seen the star appear in the sky that indicated when he was born while they were still far away in the East (Matthew 2:1-3). Herod the Great asked when they had seen this star before they went where the Man of Truth was living (Matthew 2:7-9). They found him living in a house (not a manger) as a young child (not a baby) when they gave him their gifts (Matthew 2:10-11). Then they left town by a different route instead of reporting back to Herod the Great (Matthew 2:12). Then Joseph and Mary escaped to Egypt with the Man of Truth that very night (Matthew 2:13-15). Herod the Great then had all of the baby boys killed from Bethlehem that was south of Jerusalem to Ramah that was north of Jerusalem that were two years old or younger based on the time when the wise man had seen the star appear in the East when the Man of Truth was born (Matthew 2:16-18). Herod the Great then died shortly thereafter and they came back to Israel (Matthew 2:19-21). Two years before 1 AD is 2 BC.
When was the Man of Truth born?
He was born on the first day of the Biblical year that started in 2 BC. (I had to calculate the times of the null moon before 1 AD myself since NASA had not made that data public. (I could find lunar and solar eclipse data, but not moon cycle data.) My approximation is not quite as accurate but it is still correct give or take 30 minutes. I know this because I compared my calculations going forward from 1 AD against the times given by their calculations.) This was the day that began on the evening of April 5 and ended on the evening of April 6 on the Roman calendar that is still in use today. Since he was born about the time that the shepherds were told, then his birth time could be narrowed down further to between the evening of April 5 and the morning of April 6 on the Roman calendar. If he was born exactly when the evening occurred (the midway point between sunset and nightfall) then his birth literally marked both the beginning and the end of the Biblical calendar. (This would be most fitting since the Man of Truth is known as the First and the Last (Revelation 1:16-18).)
So it turns out that the early church fathers were right about the Man of Truth being born in April on the Roman calendar. This is not too surprising since they lived during the Roman times, lived in the same area as he had lived and were much closer in time to his birth. Some of them were Jewish and some of them were disciples of the Apostles of Truth that had actually walked with the Man of Truth. They would have understood when he was born without any need for someone to explain to them the Roman and Biblical systems for keeping track of events.
So you might be wondering a few things about all of this. The first question might be if the early church fathers knew that the Man of Truth was born in April then why was the celebration of his birth moved to December 25 (Christmas) by the false church of Rome?
December 25 was a Roman holiday before the Man of Truth was ever born called Sol Invictus ("The Unconquerable Sun"). Sol Invictus was considered to be the birthday of the Sun because it fell on the winter solstice. The winter solstice was on December 25 when the birthday of the Sun was renamed to the birthday of the Man of Truth due to the Julian error that was corrected by the current Gregorian calendar in 1582. (There is no leap day on the century years that are not evenly divided by 400 in Gregorian calendar (1700, 1800, and 1900 did not have a leap day added for example) to correct a three day per four hundred year error that is created by having a leap day every fourth year in the Julian calendar.) So now the winter solstice is on December 21 while the renamed birthday of the Sun is still celebrated on December 25. The reason for celebrating the birthday of the Sun is because the Romans were Pagans (idol worshipers) that worshiped the Sun as their chief deity. They worshiped the Sun, the Moon and the stars like every other nation on Earth except the Jews (Deuteronomy 4:15-19).
This attempt to move the birthday of the Man of Truth to the birthday of the Sun has larger implications than you might realize. The Law of Truth warns against adapting the customs of those that worship the Sun (Deuteronomy 17:2-4). The bones of the Kings of Israel that adapted the customs of Sun worship were desecrated and the Jews that adapted the customs of Sun worship were scattered across the Earth (Jeremiah 8:1-3). They had carried out rituals associated with worshiping the Sun while they were in the House of the Father of Truth (Ezekiel 8:16).
Now, you probably are not actually involved in any kind of worship of the Sun, but that was the purpose of moving the celebration of the birthday of the Man of Truth from his actual birthday (early April) to the birthday of the Sun (December 25). You might be thinking what difference does it make if I sing songs about the Man of Truth being born on Christmas day (December 25) and otherwise celebrate December 25 as his birthday?
The problem is that it is a lie to act like December 25 is his birthday when it is clearly not his birthday. All lies are from the Father of Lies (HaShatan aka Satan aka The Devil), so going along with this lie is going along with him (John 8:44). The Children of Truth are suppose to repent of everything that is from the Father of Lies and are not supposed to give him any place in their lives (Ephesians 4:26-28). The Father of Truth has no greater joy than when the Children of Truth (followers of the Man of Truth) are living according to the truth (3 John 1:4).
It really boils down to whether you are willing to go along with a lie that comes from the Father of Lies or to walk in the truth that comes from the Father of Truth. We are called to act like the Father of Truth when we come into the House of Truth (Ephesians 5:1-2). We are all called to live like the Man of Truth when we come in the House of Truth (1 John 1:7).
Of course, it does not make any real difference when the Man of Truth was born unless you first come into the House of Truth. You come into the House of Truth when you make the Man of Truth the boss of your life every day of the year, because you believe that the Father of Truth raised him from the dead (Romans 10:8-10).
Come into the House of Truth.
Labels: Birthday of Jesus, Christmas, Feast of Tabernacles, History, Sukkot
posted by The House Of Truth @ December 22, 2013
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