Happy Birthday Jesus

Happy Birthday Jesus

The way to determine the birth date of Jesus Christ is hidden but yet it is in plain sight if you’re willing to dig a little deeper in to the Word of God. The key to this understanding is the ministration of the 24 courses of the Levitical priests found in 1 Chronicles 24:7 through verse 18. The time of Zacharias ministration is the key because it locks in the time and date of Jesus conception.

Zachariah was on his second ministration of the course of Abia found in Luke 1:18 which was June 22 to the 25th and shortly after his ministration he went home to his wife and John the Baptist was conceived. This is important because it gives us the sequence of events that lead to the conception and the birth of our Lord.

Six months had passed by after this conception and Zacharias and Elisabeth decided to visit Mary the cousin of Elisabeth in Nazareth and Mary through the Holy Spirit had just conceived Jesus the night before. Here is the verse that gives us an indelible time stamp on Jesus’ conception in Luke 1:36, Gabriel speaking to Mary; 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.

Gabriel said to Mary that John had been conceived six months earlier. Six months from June 25th is December 25th give or take a few days depending on how long it took Zacharias to get home from his priestly duties. Zacharias was the father of John the Baptist and the husband of Elisabeth and he was a Levitical priest. During this time he was on the Course of Abia which arrived twice a year at December 6th-13th and June 13th-19th. At his return from his Levitical duties on or around June 22 to 25 John the Baptist was conceived. Six months later Elisabeth met with Mary in her travels to Nazareth the night after Jesus was conceived around December 25th and this can be found in Luke 1: below;
Luke 1:23 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house.
24 And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months, saying,
25 Thus hath the Lord dealt with me in the days wherein he looked on me, to take away my reproach among men.
26 And in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
27 To a virgin espoused to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
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.
37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.

Twice it is said that six months passed by after the conception of John the Baptist on June 22-25 and 6 months later is December 25th the day Jesus was conceived. Nine months later he was born on Sept 29. December 25th is the day our LORD became flesh and was concieved and Sept 29 was the day HE was born. September 29 should be celebrated just as December 25.

Gabriel announced that Mary and Elisabeth were cousins and that Elisabeth would conceive John and that Mary would conceive Jesus. Gabriel announced it, I believe it.

Luke 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. 31 And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name Jesus. 32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David: 33 And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end. 34 Then said Mary unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man? 35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee: therefore also that holy thing which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God.

Isaiah 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.

"THE COURSE OF ABIA" (Luke 1:5) Taken from the Companion Bible
>This was the eighth of the priestly courses of ministration in the Temple (1Chronicles 24:10), and occurred, as did the others, twice in the year.
The "Courses" were changed every week, beginning each with a Sabbath. The reckoning commenced on the 22nd day of Tisri or Ethanim This was the eighth and last day of the Feast of Tabernacles = the "Great Day of the Feast" (John 7:37), and was a Sabbath (Leviticus 23:39).
The first course fell by lot to Jehoiarib, and the eighth to Abia or Abijah (1Chronicles 24:10).
Bearing in mind that all the courses served together at the three Great Feasts, the dates for the two yearly "ministrations" of Abiah will be seen to fall as follows:
The first¹ ministration was from 12-18 Chisleu = December 6-12.
The second ministration was from 12-18 Sivan = June 13-19.
The announcement therefore to Zacharias in the Temple as to the conception of John the Baptist took place between 12-18 SIVAN (June 13-19), in the year 5 B.C. After finishing his "ministration", the aged priest "departed to his own house" (Luke 1:23), which was in a city² in "the hill country" of Juda (verse 39).
The day following the end of the "Course of Abia" being a Sabbath (Sivan 19), he would not be able to leave Jerusalem before the 20th.
The thirty miles journey would probably occupy, for an old man, a couple of days at least. He would therefore arrive at his house on the 21st or 22nd. This leaves ample time for the miraculous "conception" of Elizabeth to take place on or about 23rd of SIVAN³—which would correspond to June 23-24 of that year. The fact of the conception and its date would necessarily be known at the time and afterwards, and hence the 23rd SIVAN would henceforth be associated with the conception of John the Baptist as the 1st TEBETH would be with that of our Lord. But the same influences that speedily obscured and presently obliterated the real dates of our Lord's "Begetting" and Birth, were also at work with regard to those of the Forerunner, and with the same results. As soon as the true Birth day of Christ had been shifted from its proper date, namely, the 15th of Tisri (September 29), and a Festival Day from the Pagan Calendars substituted for it (namely, December 25), then everything else had to be altered too.
Hence "Lady Day" in association with March 25 (new style) became necessarily connected with the Annunciation. And June 24 made its appearance, as it still is in our Calendar, as the date of "the Nativity of John the Baptist", instead of, as it really is, the date of his miraculous conception.
The Four "Quarter Days" may therefore be set forth thus: first in the chronological order of the events with which they are associated, namely:
or, Or placing the two sets together naturally:—
The conception of John 23rd SIVAN = June 23-24 in the year 5 B.C.
The birth of John 7th NISAN = March 28-29 in the year 4 B.C.
The Miraculous "Begetting" 1st TEBETH = December 25 in the year 5 B.C.
The NATIVITY 15th TISRI = September 29 in the year 4 B.C.
Reckoning of course from Ethanim or Tisri—the First month of the civil year. The sacred year was six months later, and began on 1st Nisan.
² The "city" is not named (possibly Juttah, some 30 miles to the south of Jerusalem).
³ The conception of John the Baptist was, in view of Luke 1:7, as miraculous as that of Isaac; but it is not necessary to insist upon the complete period of forty sevens (No. II above) in the case of Elizabeth. Therefore the birth of the Forerunner may have been three or four days short of the full two hundred and eighty days,—as indicated in the above table