Birth of Jesus

 

This Autumn (Northern Hemisphere) season is most likely when Messiah Yeshua (Jesus) was born!

 There is no prescribed holy day for the birthday of the Messiah mentioned in Scripture.

 As Believers, each day that we call upon His name in praise or prayer, we celebrate Him!

 Even so, most Christians celebrate Christ-mass in the winter, but it is not likely that Yeshua was born in that season, and certainly not on the pagan winter solstice of December 25. 

Lambs for Temple service could be raised anywhere within a 9 km (5.5 mile) radius of Jerusalem, but it seems that Bethlehem was an especially well-known source of sacrificial sheep.

 

Jesus was born in Bethlehem amidst the Temple sheep, God chose Yeshua from before the creation of the world to be our perfect lamb without blemish.

 

"For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your ancestors, but with the precious blood of Messiah, a lamb without blemish or defect.  He was chosen before the creation of the world, but was revealed in these last times for your sake."  (1 Peter 1:18-20)

 

While the Bible does not specify the timing of Yeshua's birth, like it does for His death and resurrection, we can determine its approximate timing:

· Miryam (Mary) conceived when her cousin Elisheva (Elizabeth) was in her sixth month of pregnancy (Luke 1:24-26).

· Elizabeth probably conceived early in the fifth month of the Jewish calendar (Av or early July).  This is likely since the angel Gabriel appeared to her husband Zachariah while he was serving in the Temple as a priest in the division of Abijah (Luke 1:5), and advised him that Elizabeth would become pregnant (Luke 1:11-24).

· The Talmud and other historical sources reveal that the Abijah served during the last two weeks of the fourth month of the Jewish calendar (Tammuz), which is about late June.

· And the Bible says that after Zechariah came home from his service (in early Av), Elizabeth conceived (Luke 1:23-25).

Nine months of pregnancy and another six months of Mary's pregnancy (15 months total) brings us to the seventh month of the Jewish calendar (Tishrei), during which the Fall Feasts occur, including the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot).

Through these Biblical, historical, and linguistic clues, we can come to a fairly educated guess that Yeshua may have, indeed, been born during the season of the Fall Feasts, which includes Sukkot (the Feast of Tabernacles) occurring in September or October.

Extract from 'Messianic Bible'