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![]() Scripture verses are in " MAROON " Koine Greek words and Hebrew words are in " PURPLE " ~ Text in " DARK BLUE " are highlighted points All scripture verses in this document are from the original 1611
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![]() And why is that ? Well because Jesus Himself told us this about His second coming:
![]() Now if we can find a " very close approximate year of his birth ", using the scriptures and historical documents, then we can get more of a clear picture of the times that we live in and if the " Second Coming Of Our Lord just might be closer than we think ..... " With the above in mind let's explore the scriptures together to see it there is anything we can pull from the Bible to come up with a date, " or at least a time of the year ", when Jesus was born. " And here is our first clue: " ![]()
![]() ![]() Now another clue within these verses is the statement " keeping watch over their flock by night ". There is only one time of the year that shepherds watch over their sheep during the night. " And why is that ? " Unless you have sheep of your own then " you probably don't know this about sheep " ..... They only give birth, unlike people, " during one time of the year " and not throughout the entire year. They basically only give birth in the Spring and then normally only in the months that we call " MARCH and APRIL " ..... And the main reason the shepherds watch over them " day and night " during this birthing season is to " insure " that any lambs born into their flock don't have any problems during birth ..... Because to them the survival of the flock is also directly tied to their and their family's survival ..... ![]() ![]() Let's also include this verse here by John the Baptist because it's kind of remarkable:
[ 29 ] The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.
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![]() [ 3 ] Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house:
[ 5 ] Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats:
[ 6 ] And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
So a " Passover Lamb " for the sacrifice was a year old " AND " also had to be born in the Jewish calendar month of " Nisan ".
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![]() The " 10th day of Nisan " was the original day Israel was to select a lamb to prepare for the sacrifice that they were to do on " Nisan 14 " ( noted above in Exodus 12:3 ). The " 10th day of Nisan " is known by those of the Jewish faith as the " Day Of The Lamb ! " The sacrifice of the lamb provided the blood to be applied to their doorposts which protected them from the final plague in Egypt. " As only God can do ", Nisan 10 based on our current calendar, would fall on what we now call a " Sunday " and was the slated day for Jesus’ formal presentation as the Lamb.
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![]() For more on when " Jesus rose from the dead " see my article:
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![]() So we see from the above that the Hebrew month of " Nisan " ( the first month of the Hebrew calendar ), along with the Feast's and Celebration's of the Jewish faith, play a big part in the life of our Lord Jesus the Christ ! And why shouldn't they:
Jesus wanted to prove to the " lost sheep of the house of Israel " who He was. What better day than the Sabbath and on the " Day of Firstfruits itself " to send a sign to the Jew's that He was exactly who He said He was. And what better time of the year then " Passover " itself. Of course we read later in Acts chapter 10 when Jesus let Peter know that not only was the " house of Israel " included in His salvation but also " ALL " mankind as well:
[ 3 ] What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common.
![]() So what do we know at this point ? ![]() Now " we already knew " that Jesus was crucified in March or April so " that isn't a big surprise to us " ..... However " knowing that Jesus was also born in March or April ..... that is a SURPRISE TO MANY ! " Now let's go on a search to find out if we can know the actual year, or at least a much closer year, than " A.D. 0 " which is the common current belief ! ![]() However ... " before we start searching for the year Jesus was born " ... it would help us out " a lot " if we could some how determine " how old Jesus was when He was crucified " ..... and to help us with that we must again look for clues within the Bible itself ..... and here are things we know at this point:
[ 3 ] And when eight days were accomplished for the circumcising of the child, his name was called JESUS, which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb.
So we know from the above scripture that Jesus was " eight days " old when he was " circumcised. "
[ 3 ] And when the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord;
" The Temple presentation "
We know at this point that " Jesus was 40 days old " since the Temple Presentation was done forty days, and exactly 40 days", after birth of a Jewish child. And it Jesus' case there were actually two ceremonies at the temple.
The first ceremony was called " The Purification Ritual. " This was the ritual that declared the child ( Jesus ) to be clean after coming into contact with His mother’s blood during childbirth. This was also the ritual that declared the mother ( Mary ) to be ritually clean after the uncleanness created during childbirth.
Because Jesus was the firstborn male of this family there was also a ceremony called " The Redemption Ceremony ". In this ceremony the family basically also had to purchase, via sacrifice, ( redemption ) the firstborn male because all firstborn male offspring ( human or otherwise ) were at the time of their birth basically owned by the Temple and had to be purchased back by the family.
[ 41 ] Now his parents went to Jerusalem every year at the feast of the passover. [ 42 ] And when he was twelve years old, they went up to Jerusalem after the custom of the feast. [ 43 ] And when they had fulfilled the days, as they returned, the child Jesus tarried behind in Jerusalem; and Joseph and his mother knew not of it. [ 44 ] But they, supposing him to have been in the company, went a day's journey; and they sought him among their kinsfolk and acquaintance. [ 45 ] And when they found him not, they turned back again to Jerusalem, seeking him. [ 46 ] And it came to pass, that after three days they found him in the temple, sitting in the midst of the doctors [ didasko ], both hearing them, and asking them questions. [ 47 ] And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. [ 48 ] And when they saw him, they were amazed: and his mother said unto him, Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us ? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing. [ 49 ] And he said unto them, How is it that ye sought me ? wist ye not that I must be about my Father's business ?
" Jesus' first Temple Teaching "
These particular verses don't truly add to discoving the year of Jesus' birth however being only twelve years old and answering questions and teaching the Doctors [ didasko ] was, and always will be, " an amazing story about Jesus and it is the first recorded note in the Bible of Him teaching ! " The Koine Greek word didasko would be better interrupted as " Teachers ". So at the age of twelve Jesus was teaching the " Teachers " in the Temple " And all that heard him were astonished at his understanding and answers. "
[ 23 ] And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,
" Why did Jesus wait until He was 30 years old to start His ministry ? "
All son's born to Jewish families at that time were required to support their family until they were 30 years of Age. If Jesus had started any sooner " literally no of the Jewish faith would have taken him seriously as a Rabbi or Teacher because He would have been considered to have abandoned His family ! "
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![]() " Our Lord Jesus the Christ was crucified at the age of 33 ..... " So now we will investigate in what year He was possibly born in hopes of finding a time period, " or at least a very close time period ", of when His " Second Coming might indeed occur ! " Lets remember this as part of our quest: ![]() ![]() ![]() Believe it or not the answer comes from two sources: not only does it come from " the Bible " but also " from History " as well. And it all centers around and comes down to the life of " Herod " and we see the story in the Book of Matthew ( " Isn't it amazing that God the Father tied Herod to our Lord ? " ) :
[ 1 ] Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, [ 2 ] Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews ? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him. [ 3 ] When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him.
Now Herod hadn't heard of this so he asked his chief priests and scribes about this .... and they told him that the Christ was to be born in Bethlehem of Judaea. And Herod said to the wise men:
[ 8 ]  And he sent them to Bethlehem, and said, Go and search diligently for the young child; and when ye have found him, bring me word again, that I may come and worship him also. [ 9 ] When they had heard the king, they departed; and, lo, the star, which they saw in the east, went before them, till it came and stood over where the young child was.
So Herod asked the wise men, after they found the baby, to come back and tell him where the baby was so " that I may come and worship him also. " However the wise men were warned by " God " not to go back and tell Herod that they had actually found the baby Jesus:
[ 12 ] And being warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod, they departed into their own country another way. [ 13 ] And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
So the " wise men " immediately went back to their homes and did not go back to tell Herod where they had found the baby Jesus. This, of course, " infuriated " Herod and he took the following action:
[ 16 ] Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently inquired of the wise men. [ 17 ] Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying, [ 18 ] In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not.
So we see that " Herod " not only lied to the " wise men " but also basically murdered little children and babies because he was afraid of losing his kingship and kingdom. The best part of this story is that Joseph and Mary ( as we see Matthew 2:13 ) were also warned about Herod and to flee into what today is called the Sinai Peninsula, Egypt.
[ 13 ] And when they were departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeareth to Joseph in a dream, saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and flee into Egypt, and be thou there until I bring thee word: for Herod will seek the young child to destroy him.
![]() A trusted Jewish historian and writer during the above time frame in history was named " Flavius Josephus ". " Josephus' " written histories are still widely available and include a document titled " Antiquities of the Jews ". Now it should be noted that " Josephus' " did not " witness " all of the events he wrote about but still it is commonly excepted by today's historians that his writting are a vaild and valuable look into the historical events in this time period. In his document " Antiquities of the Jews " he included the historical note " that there was a lunar eclipse shortly before Herod died and the Feast of Passover occurred soon after his death " and all historians agree that this was the one and the same " Herod " mentioned in the Gospel of Matthew. Now prior to the division of time we call " A.D. and B.C. " there were 3 different Lunar Eclipses that occurred. Because of our current knowledge concerning the cycles of the moon, as you know, we are able to not only predict when the next one will occur ... but are also able to go back in time and discover when they occurred in the past. And that information is shown on the " NASA " website. ( National Aeronautics and Space Administration ) There is only " 1 Lunar Eclipse " that occurred that actually fits with our discussion here based on the discovery above that Jesus was born in the month of March or April. And that eclipse occurred on " March 13th in the year 4 B.C. " ![]() ![]()
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![]() But always remember the words of the Lord Jesus the Christ about his second coming:
![]() Let me bring this study to a close by urging the reader to study these truths from the " ONLY " true source, " God’s Word ". As you prayerfully read, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal God’s truths to you. Please do " not " take anything that I have written for truth, until you " verify " it with " God’s Holy Word ". ![]() ![]()
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Last modified: Saturday, January 30, 2021 ![]()
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