The Birth of Jesus Christ.
If you are going to tax an agricultural farming society and do a census –Which time of year would they have money to pay it? Harvest Time and what better time that when all the males in Israel are commanded to go to the Feast in Jerusalem.
Three times a year all males had to go to Jerusalem.!
Since Jesus was conceived six months after John the Baptist, and we have established a likely date for John’s birth, we need only move six months farther down the Jewish calendar to arrive at a likely date for the birth of Jesus.
From the 15th day of the 1st month, Nisan, we go to the 15th day of the 7th month, Tishri. And what do we find on that date?
It is the festival of Tabernacles! = The 15th day of Tishri begins the third and last festival of the year to which all the men of Israel were to gather in Jerusalem for Temple services. (Lev 23:34)
Jesus Tabernacled with us. (John 1:14)
In John 1:14 it says, ‘And the word became flesh and dwelt among us. ‘The word for dwelt used here, and it is only used 4 times in the New Testament, is literally rendered, ‘tabernacled’.
So the new Immanuel came among us. He tabernacled among us. But in a way that was totally new and unexpected.
Jesus is compared to the old Tabernacle – Hebews 9 Compared in form. In the old tabernacle God came in the form of an imposing cloud of fire. In the new tabernacle God came in the form of a little Baby.
Immanuel.
Isa 7:14 Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Immanuel means “God with us”. The Son of God had come to dwell with, or tabernacle on earth with His people.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt (tabernacled) among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Ex 25:8-9 And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them. According to all that I show you, after the pattern of the tabernacle, and the pattern of all the instruments thereof, even so shall ye make it.
Rev. 21:3 And I heard a great voice out of heaven saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself shall be with them, and be their God.
Strong’s: No OT:5521 booth = cukkah (sook-kaw’); booth, tabernacle, tent.
The word in the Hebrew for “dwell”” is succah and the name of the Feast of Tabernacles in Hebrew is Sukkot, a festival of rejoicing and celebration:
Luke 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn. Luke 2:8 And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. Luke 2:9 And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid.
Luke 2:6-7 And so it was, that, while they were there, the days were accomplished that she should be delivered. And she brought forth her firstborn son, and wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger; because there was no room for them in the inn.
Strongs No NT:4683 swaddling clothes = sparganoo (a strip; meaning to strap or wrap with strips); (Linen strips from the priests garments)
Manger: Strongs No 5336. phatne, (to eat); a crib (for fodder): stall i.e. What the cattle eat out of…
Gen 33:17 And Jacob journeyed to Succoth, and built him an house, and made booths for his cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth. (Another name for Tabernacles)
Lev 23:41,42 And ye shall keep it a feast unto the LORD seven days in the year. It shall be a statute for ever in your generations: ye shall celebrate it in the seventh month. Ye shall dwell in booths seven days; all that are Israelites born shall dwell in booths:
Here Joseph is in his sukkah on the feast of Sukkot and Yeshua is being born at the appointed time!
We are given a clue about the time of the birth by the angel who appeared to the shepherds and said “Fear not. For, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people.”. (Luke 2:10). There are actually two clues here. Succot is known as “The Season of our Joy”, and it is also known as the “Festival of the Nations (or Gentiles)”.
The angel was actually giving them a greeting for the Festival of Succot. This is the only festival where the gentile nations are positively encouraged to participate with negative results if they do not. (Z’achariah 14:16-19).
In addition, the narrative indicates that it was shepherds to whom the angels delivered their message, which is interesting in that for thousands of years Jewish literature ascribes a tradition known as “Ushpizin”, only to Succot, and it is practiced even to this day.
Ushpizin – Ushpizin is a tradition stemming from the Zohar (Zohar 5:103b) – a Kabbalisitic text, where we invite a different honorable guest to join us in the Sukkah each night. Traditionally these guests have been Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Aaron and David.
After entering the Succah, and reciting certain prayers, the ceremony of Ushpizin bids us to partake in the privilege of inviting and welcoming the “Shakinah or God’s Presence” and the seven “faithful shepherds” who enter the succah with us as exalted guests. These guests come to observe how their descendants FULFILL the mitzvah (commandment) of the Succah, in which they dwell under God’s protection, in accordance with what God had promised in the Torah.
These seven faithful shepherds of Israel are: Avraham, Yitzchak, Ya’acov, Yosef, Moshe, Aharon, and Melech (King) David. Back in the Luke narrative, though the text does not specify “seven” shepherds who went to visit Mary there seems to be a hint, when one reads between the lines. Moreover, the purpose of their visit is recorded to be very similar with that of the Ushpizin, in which the text states that it was to “see this thing that had happened, which the Lord has told us about.” (Luke 2:15).
Luke 2:10 And the angel said unto them, Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. v 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.
Why was there no room at the inn? Bethlehem is only about 5 miles from Jerusalem, and all the men of Israel had come to attend the festival of Tabernacles as required by the law of Moses. Every room for miles around Jerusalem would have been already taken by pilgrims, so all that Mary and Joseph could find for shelter was a stable.
So, if you have followed the above reasoning, based on the scriptural evidence, a case can apparently be made that Jesus Christ was born on the 15th day of the month of Tishri, on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which corresponds to the September – October time-frame of our present calendar!
