Synopsis of the Matter

I will now present the conclusion of the matter that will be proved in this book. I fully understand that many will simply look at this conclusion and then find some excuse for rejecting it without going through the prerequisite truths that support, prove, and confirm it. Adonai Yahweh will need to deal with these people his own way to bring them to a point where it is evident that their faith in their tradition or their emotional attachment to tradition is misplaced faith. Hopefully this happens in such a way that their faithfulness is not also destroyed when they find themselves ill equipped for the test. We may avoid this fate and this situation by learning to confirm or disconfirm things we assume are true rather than just taking our heart or elders word for it. The deadliest of all sins is pride. Pride is the heart telling itself that it already knows the whole truth and has no need to seek any confirmation of it.

3 BC

   Division of Abijah:      July 6 to July 13

   Conception of John:      July 14             New Moon     Month of Av      V.1

   Conception of Messiah:   December 10         New Moon     During Hanukkah  X.1

2 BC

   Birth of John:           April 6*            New Moon-?   Second Month     II.1

   Birth of Messiah:        September 1         New Moon     Yom Teruah       VII.1

   Visit of Wise Men:       December 29*        New Moon     Eleventh Month   XI.1

   *In the ideal case

The dates marked ideal case could be slightly different. April 6, 2 BC is the term date for John, but we have no closing data proving that it did not go any days past term. The December 29th date for the visit of the wise men is defined by the degree of precision in that the star (a.k.a planet) they were following stopped at a stationary point. I singled the new moon date out of the range based on Isaiah 66:23 and the pattern established by the previous new moons. The precise stopping point of the star was 12-27 at 22 hours JMT. But as far as the Magi could tell with the precision of observing they had, the stopping point was between 12-24 and 12-30. Neither of these uncertainties contribute any uncertainty to the date of Messiah’s birth.

There are exactly five months and one day from the conception of John to the conception of Messiah. This is based on Luke 1:26. The sixth month was the first day of the sixth month. We know that this is the case because Messiah was born exactly on the term date.

The average term days from conception to birth are 266. From December 10, 3 BC to Sept. 1, 2 BC are exactly the number of days to term: 266. We know that the child was not born before the term date according to Luke 2:6, the days were fulfilled (ἐπλήσθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι). So the birth was not pre-mature even by one day. We also know that the birth was not past the due date. The reason the rooms were full was that 8/31 was apparently during the rush to register before the deadline imposed by the authorities. The inn was full. Registrants would normally stay only one day and then be on their way. This means that vacancies were opening in the local hospitality up every morning as registrants left. Anyone arriving on 8/31 or 9/1 would find all the rooms booked, due to the registration rush and due to the Holy Day. On the morning of 9/2 the registrants would begin to leave since the Holy Day was over. We can be sure that Joseph told the innkeepers that he would be back in the morning of 9/2 to take the next possible room if someone left. In the meantime the innkeeper said they would have to do with the stable. Luke says that the term date was reached while they were there. So even one whole day of searching for a place would have turned up a vacancy, except on 8/31 and 9/1. 9/2 would have turned up a vacancy, one day after the term.

The early assembly must have known that Yom Yeruah (a.k.a. Rosh Hashanah) was the date. Firstly it was a memorable date. For the Jews a birth on this date is the equivalent of remembering that a child was born on Christmas day for a Catholic. They call them Christmas babies. It is not easily forgotten. Therefore, the oral knowledge of a Yom Teruah birth would persist. Luke, therefore, only has to strongly suggest the date by the trail of clues that he leaves. The oral knowledge explains everything. Now of course, some may think this presumes the knowledge. This is because the oral knowledge was forgotten with the dispersion of the Jews. This loss of the oral knowledge is redeemed by a statement in the book of Revelation. The Almighty knew that the oral record would fade away, so he provided a final clue in Revelation 12:1-2 which would make up for the loss of the oral transmission that he knew would occur.

Revelation 12:1-2 tells of a woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet. The woman turns out to be the mother of Messiah, and so a virgin. The sign is in heaven. Now the greatest sign in heaven where the sun may go is the constellation of Virgo. It so happens that on the precise date of September 1, 2 BC that the sun was in the constellation of Virgo “clothing the woman” and the moon was under her feet precisely. As viewed from earth the moon appears exactly under the feet and the woman with her feet (a.k.a “legs” in Hebrew) up as if giving birth. Amazingly Revelation 12:1-2 has used the constellation position of the sun and moon to give us the date.