Feasts.
Towards the end of each year the season of feasts arrives in many cultures around the world.
It is inevitable and the highlight for many people each year.
Yet, no one is concerned over its origin and birthplace.
In a confused world, what are we celebrating?
Look at the feasts of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Muharram, Dasara, Mawlid an Nabi, Christmas, Diwali, Muharram, Ashura, Rohatsu and many others.
They all celebrate something or someone. As a feast-goer we need to get behind the facts if we aim to celebrate well in all the rituals and customs.
Although all these feasts celebrate someone or something, they all have one commonality - NONE OF THEM CELEBRATE JESUS … even as a committed Christian we may think we do.
So the curious mind should investigate
It is easy to google the origins of all these feasts.
But here are a few thoughts to ponder our own celebrations … I’m just throwing them out there …
Originally, and in accordance with Babylonian traditions, 25 December celebrates the birth of the evil god-son of Baal, Tammuz and not the birth of Jesus Christ as we might have thought (see here and here).
Coming from an established Baal worshipping culture, December 25 was a date forced on Christians by Roman emperor Constantine in the 3rd century AD when he accepted Christianity and integrated it into Roman society to prevent a public outcry.
Not everyone celebrates birthdays
Notably, the celebration of birthdays is a western cultural phenomenon. Nothing wrong with it … but Jesus never said to celebrate His birthday …
With all these feasts and celebrations going on … and because the Truth matters, what is our part in all this?
Is the day even important?
Well, Jesus didn't say it was. He never said to celebrate His birthday.
He said to celebrate His death. There is also only one feast that Jesus suggested to celebrate as often as we could - He Himself! The Giver of life through His death! (1Co 11:26)
Maybe there is some kind of distraction going on here with the birthday-celebrating-spirit as such …
Curiously, the real date of birth of Christ can be accurately determined from scripture itself if we care to do a little in-depth research.
But let's just be clear before we start. If Jesus did not say to celebrate his birthday, then why should we?
But, Daniel … are you not taking it too far?
Maybe.
For me the purpose of determining the exact date of the birth of Jesus is of mere academic value. Yet, it will bring a better perspective to our appointed man-made feasts in the sense that these feasts all have pagan origins and nothing more. It will show that our so-called Christian feasts are nothing but pagan rituals and traditions. And that they are all about worldly decorations, bright lights, spending, fake giving and our going to church, a mere façade.
These holidays, dedicated to our religious lusts, are nothing but Christian compromised days of the year to celebrate what we have been brain-washed with over the centuries. So-called Christian holidays, like Christmas, are cooked-up mixtures of pagan (Babylonian) worship with a hint of Christian elements that suited power-hungry rulers such as Constantine the Great. He did this to pacify the Roman masses and keep his own popularity amongst them when he legalised Christianity for the first time during his rule of the Roman empire. The result, stretching even to the present, is a seriously corrupted Christian world view and understanding of who God is!
Instead of celebrating certain days, laws and rituals, Jesus calls us for intimacy and relationship with Him!
But … What about our feasts?
What about our feasts?
Already in the old covenant, He says about man's feasts in Isaiah 1:14 Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth: they are a trouble unto me; I am weary to bear them.
… and then goes on to explain, throughout the whole of the book of Isaiah, that Jesus Himself is the appointed feast! (see our posts on Jesus as the feast here and here)
Jesus is the feast!
And Jesus said to celebrate Him as often as we can.
Still in need of an accurate date?
Let's get the date then, if you really want a date.
In order to determine the date we'll have to go step by step.
It requires a bit of undivided concentration. So, bear with me.
The date can be easily calculated using scripture from the book of 1 Chronicles where king David determined the temple duties of the priests. From this schedule it would be easy to use some New Testament scripture (some of us never even knew what purpose these scriptures serve in the Bible) in the time of Jesus to determine His date of birth.
Lets go
Step 1: The Temple Duty Cycles
The temple duties date cycle was instituted by King David himself (See 1 Chr 24 -28)?
We’ll use these dates as a constant and as a reference to look at Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist who was a Levite priest responsible for priestly service immediately before the conception of John. The Duty Cycle was never deviated from and has the exact appointed date determined for Zachariah … and we can use this as our constant to determine the date of birth of Christ by means of simple calculation.
The Bible is very specific with regards to the dates determined for temple duty for the Levites and these dates were strictly adhered to from generation to generation, leading right up to the birth of Christ.
Why are these dates in the Bible? It's there for a reason.
According to scripture, King David determined the set cycle dates for Levite priest groups to perform yearly temple duty as per instruction of God (See 1 Chr 28:11-13; 1Chr 24:1-4).
24 groups (courses) were determined to perform temple duty on fixed dates and in a fixed sequence. According to 1 Chronicles 24:7-18 these were:
1. Jehoiarib
2. Jedaiah
3. Harim
4. Seorim
5. Malchijah
6. Mijamin
7. Hakkoz
8. Abijah (note that this course is in bold)
9. Jeshuah
10. Shecaniah
11. Eliashib
12. Jakim
13. Huppah
14. Jeshebeab
15. Bilgah
16. Immer
17. Hezir
18. Aphses
19. Pethahiah
20. Jehezekel
21. Jachim
22. Gamul
23. Delaiah
24. Maaziah
Temple duty dates are even accounted for outside of the Bible
According to historian Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 7, Chapter 14, Paragraph 7) the distribution of the course were determined by lot, in the presence of David, Zadok and Abiathar, the high priest. The course which came up first was written down as the first, and accordingly the second, and so on to the twenty-fourth. This partition hath remained to this day.
How did it work?
Very specifically, each one of the 24 groups (courses) of priests would begin and end their service in the temple in Jerusalem on the Sabbath (seventh day of the week). The length of duty was one week (2Chr 23:8, 1Chr 9:25). After group 24 had completed their temple duty, the courses would start again from course 1 (Jehoiarib) until course 24 (Maaziah) is reached and it will all repeat again year after year.
There are three exceptions, though. On occasion of the three great (major) Jewish feasts of each year, all the men of Israel were required to undertake a pilgrimage and travel to Jerusalem. The feasts were known as the festivals of the Lord and are:
the Feasts of Unleavened Bread;
Pentecost; and
Tabernacles (Deut 16:16).
During these festivals of the Lord, hundreds of thousands of people would come to Jerusalem and therefore all the Levite priests of all 24 groups were required to be present and do temple duty simultaneously. Keep this in mind for now …
According to the Hebrew calendar - let's get technical
Remember that these events and temple duties took place in accordance with the Hebrew (Jewish) lunisolar calendar (see here for the Hebrew calendar).
Note especially that the Jewish calendar begins in Spring (northern hemisphere), during the month of Nisan. The first group scheduled for temple duty would be that of the Jehoiarib family serving for one week, Sabbath to Sabbath. The courses of temple duty will repeat throughout the Jewish calendar year, which runs for 51 weeks or 354 days.
A Jewish calendar year features twelve lunar months of twenty-nine or thirty days, depending on the month. An extra lunar month is added every two or three years to fix the difference between the twelve lunar months and the longer solar year. The beginning of each Jewish lunar month is based on the appearance of the new moon in the sky. The appearance had to be called out and confirmed by more than one witness (priests). Confirmation came at the very moment the new moon appeared and was spotted. Keep in mind that the western Gregorian calendar is a solar calendar, a Babylonian inheritance imposed by Constantine and the Roman empire and later refined and renamed after Pope Gregory XIII, who introduced it in 1582.
Take note that in a one year period each group of priests would perform temple duty twice in addition to the 3 major festivals. This brings the tally of temple duty courses per group to five weeks each.
So, here we have our constant that we may now use to calculate our dates.
Step 2 - Zachariah's turn and how this accounts for the birth of Jesus
The book of Luke painstakingly points out the temple duties of Zachariah, the father of John the Baptist. This is done for a reason. So that you and I, by applying our constant may even today know the exact birthday of Christ.
Check it out! And remember to look out for the constant …
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth. (Luke 1:5)
And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course, … (Luke 1:8)
Jumping to verse 23 now.
And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. (Luke 1:23)
As soon … meaning in the Hebrew the very moment … and what did he immediately do?
You've got it right!
And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived. (Luke 1:24)
The date of conception of John the Baptist is known.
Step 3 - Can we get the date and time here, please?
Let's apply the algorithm involving our constant now!
Zachariah's temple duty, according to the Levite courses, had to be in the Spring (March-April) and during the 10th week of that year. Why? Because he was a member of the course of Abijah, the 8th course.
Both the Feast of Unleavened Bread (15-21 Nisan) and Pentecost (6 Sivan) would have occurred before his scheduled duty. So, the date of Zacharias' temple duty is easily determined to have commenced on the second Sabbath of the third month, Sivan (May-June). He would have completed his temple service on the third Sabbath of Sivan and returned home.
What did he do as soon as he arrived back home having abstained from intercorse for so long? (Remember they also had to abstain before reporting for duty to be fully clean)
He made love!
He immediately impregnated his wife, Elizabeth, procreating his son, John. Scripture tells us that John the Baptist was conceived shortly (immediately) after the third Sabbath of the month of Sivan.
Also, John the Baptist could not have been conceived any time before the temple duties of Zachariah since priests had to abstain from intercourse in preparation for their temple duties.
Step 4 - From here, how do we get to Jesus?
We continue with the algorithm.
We have another date to work from!
This is very important for our calculation.
The reason why the information about John is so critical, is because Jesus was conceived by the Holy Spirit in exactly the sixth month of Elisabeth's pregnancy (according to the book of Luke).
Let's continue in Luke 1 again and see how far we get …
And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.
And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary. (Luke 1:24-27)
Context please
We have to note here that verse 26 emphasises the sixth month of Elizabeth's conception (not Elul, the sixth month of the Hebrew calendar, but six months after the conception of John as clarified by the context of verse 24 as well as verse 36).
And, behold, thy cousin Elisabeth, she hath also conceived a son in her old age: and this is the sixth month with her, who was called barren. (Luke 1:36)
So, six months after Elizabeth, Mary conceived.
Step 5 - Still counting months …
Then, as we discover from scripture, Mary stayed with Elizabeth for the last 3 months of her (Elizabeth's) pregnancy, until John the Baptist was born.
And Mary abode with her about three months, and returned to her own house.
Now Elisabeth's full time came that she should be delivered; and she brought forth a son (Luke 1:56-57)
And John the Baptist was born.
We'll get to the simple-mathematics-part shortly … but first …
Some biology please
Human gestational averages 38 weeks (8.74 months) from conception.
However, pregnancy is customarily measured from the date of the last menstruation — about 2 weeks before conception. By this scale, pregnancy lasts 40 weeks, or 9.20 months. Counting then from the conception of John the Baptist shortly after the third Sabbath of the month of Sivan, a term of 10 lunar months (40 weeks), takes us to the month of Nisan for the birth of John the Baptist.
It is therefore abundantly clear that John the Baptist was born in the middle of the month, coinciding with Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread on the 15th day of Nisan (first month on the Jewish calendar, early Spring - April in our Gregorian calendar).
It becomes even more interesting to note that even today, the Jews in accordance with the prophecy in Malachi 4:5, would set out a special place at the Passover Seder meal in anticipation of the arrival of Elijah at this date on their calendar. (Remember that Elijah is one of only two people the Bible records not to have died and the old covenant prophecy states that Elijah must return before Christ is born).
Elijah returns
Even Jesus identified John as the "Elijah" that the Jews had been expecting.
And his disciples asked him, saying, Why then say the scribes that Elias must first come? And Jesus answered and said unto them, Elias truly shall first come, and restore all things. But I say unto you, That Elias is come already, and they knew him not, but have done unto him whatsoever they listed. Likewise shall also the Son of man suffer of them. Then the disciples understood that he spake unto them of John the Baptist. Mat 17:10
And the angel that appeared to Zachariah in the temple also indicated that John would be the expected "Elias".
Wow!
And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elias, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord. Luke 1:17
Step 6 - Counting months to the birth of Jesus
Now, let's continue with our algorithm and do the simple-mathematics-part …
Since Jesus was conceived exactly six months after John the Baptist and we have determined the date for John's birth, we need only to add six more months to arrive at the date for the birth of Jesus.
Ha!
Doing this simple maths brings us to the 15th day of the 7th month (Tishri - September/October on our western calendar). Admittedly this is far removed from our Constatine-Chritian celebration on 25 December … not even close!
But is it significant?
What do you think?
Amazingly, we arrive at the month of Tishri, the very date of yet another Jewish feast, the Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot, celebrated on the 15th of Tishri! (see here and here and here) and another prophecy that is fulfilled.
This is the very day that the Son of God tabernacled amongst mankind!
Go on … google it if you still don't believe me!
Algorithm problem solved!
The 15th day of Tishri is the beginning of the third and last major festival (festival of the Lord or Tabernacles) of the Jewish year for which all Jewish men were required to travel to Jerusalem (Lev 23:34).
On the western Gregorian-Roman calendar this date brings us to the end of September, or in some of our calendar years, the beginning of October.
The dates between the Hebrew and Greco-Roman calendars obviously don't line up, but these are the last days of Summer in Israel no matter what calendar we use. (Remember the dates on the western calendar differ every year because of the length of the Jewish lunar year being 353, 354 or 355 days, while a leap Hebrew calendar year can have a length of 383, 384 or 385 days, compared to the western fixed 365 1⁄4 days.)
Taking this important last point into account, we may use some simple logic. Jesus was not born in the Winter since we have proof that the Shepherds were out at night with their flocks in the open field. Shepherds never do this in the cold of Winter in Israel.
Prophecy fulfilled!
The birth of Jesus Christ is the brilliant fulfilment of the Feast of Tabernacles that starts on 15 Tishri on the Hebrew calendar (The Feast of Tabernacles or Sukkot - see here, here and here)
Yes, Almighty God came to tabernacle amongst man!
What is our role?
Focus on Jesus.
Not just the baby Jesus in the crib, the way the enemy wants the world to see Him … leaving the suggestion of an innocent, helpless and powerless Baby in a crib …
The true fact of the matter is that the Almighty God, creator of heaven and earth, tabernacled amongst mankind to restore life, light and dominion. That is why Jesus said to celebrate His finished work, His death and resurrection displaying openly His might, power and victory as an all-lovely, all-loving, resurrected and never-leaving Jesus, who resides within you and me right now (whether we want to know it or not), giving us authority and power over the wiles of the enemy!
Yes, Jesus was born to enter this world, but that was not the focus of His monumental, completed work. He was born so that He could fulfil the purpose of defeating sin (if you still don't know what sin is then read here) and death and to restore life, light and dominion authority!
Rather than celebrating His birth, we should focus on the all-victorious Jesus, our King and lover, our precious Saviour, our wonderful Redeemer and Victor by celebrating His body and His blood as often as we can!
Take Communion!
This is the feast of the finished work of Christ!
The only feast that matters!
Why do we want to celebrate the beginning when we can celebrate the victorious outcome, the finished work of Christ and restoration that comes with it?
In retrospect …
Now that we know what is celebrated out there, the fake hype and twisted, mixed up concoction called Christmas, shouldn’t we know better?
After all, we know what Jesus said we ought to be celebrating. It places us in a position of power and authority at the same time in doing so.
Now we can make an informed decision about what to celebrate and what not.
Let the real celebration start …
All honour, all power, all glory, all praise to Him who sits upon the throne and unto the Lamb that was slain!
Forever!
From before time was.
Forever more!