Tradition informs us of December 25, Christmas, the manger, no room at the inn, the Near East astronomers, and a cold winter night. It sounds lovely, but this teaching asks a different question: when was Yehoshua really born?
This study follows the history of Yehoshua’s birth through Scripture, historical events, and Ivrim culture. It proposes that Yehoshua was born on Sukkoth, the Feast of Tabernacles, in late September or early October. Elohim’s ordained feasts are understood here as foreshadows of the Anointed One.
The Conception of Yochannan
In order to establish the date, we first rely on clues found in Scripture, then add historical and cultural elements. The birth of Yochannan is key, for he is the messenger who announces the Anointed One.
First Chronicles tells us that the Levitical priesthood was divided into divisions of priests. The ancient Jewish historian Josephus tells us that each division served for one week. The first division began its period of service on the first day of the year, 1 Nisan, also called Aviv or Abib, as YHWH established the calendar in Exodus 12:2. Three weeks each year are dedicated feasts in honor of YHWH: Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkoth. During these feasts, all the priests served together.
Zekharyah was in the division of Aviyah, Luke 1:5. His term of service began in early spring on the first day of the eighth week, the 27th of Ayyar, and ran through the 4th of Sivan. As the following week was Shavuot, he would have remained in the Temple to serve alongside all the priests. Luke 1:23-24 tells us that Zekharyah finished his duties at the Temple and Elisheva conceived shortly after his return home. This places Yochannan’s conception approximately in the third week of Sivan.
The Conception of Yehoshua
Scripture tells us that Yehoshua was conceived after Yochannan. Near the end of the sixth month of Elisheva’s pregnancy, the angel Gavri’el appeared to Miryam and told her, “this is the sixth month with her who was called barren.” Miryam immediately left Natzeret and went with haste to the hill country near Jerusalem, to the home of Zekharyah and Elisheva.
Yochannan, still in Elisheva’s womb, recognized the unborn Yehoshua. This places Yehoshua’s conception near the end of Kislev during Chanukah, the Feast of Lights, in mid-December. It gives special meaning to the confession that Yehoshua is the Light of the World.
Yehoshua is shown celebrating Chanukah in John 10:22-23. At this celebration, He declares, “I and My Father are One,” John 10:30. This teaching sees that declaration as reinforcing Chanukah as the time of His conception.
The Birth of Yochannan
Given these events, this teaching calculates Yochannan’s birth through the promise of Mal’akhi that Eliyah would prepare the hearts of the fathers and their children before Moshiach comes. In anticipation of Messiah, a place at the Pesach table is set and a cup of wine poured for Eliyah, with the door left open for his arrival.
Gavri’el’s announcement to Zekharyah makes clear that Yochannan was to fulfill Mal’akhi’s prophecy: “He will turn many of the children of Yisra’el to the Lord, their G-d. He will go before his face in the spirit and power of Eliyah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just; to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”
Luke 1:56 tells us that Miryam stayed with Elisheva for three months, up until the time Yochannan was born. A full-term pregnancy is understood here as 41 weeks. From the spring service of Aviyah to Chanukah are 27 weeks, with 14 weeks remaining from Chanukah to Pesach. The teaching therefore places Yochannan’s birth at Passover, most certainly on the first day of Unleavened Bread, and his circumcision on the eighth day, the last day of the feast.
The Birth of Yehoshua
With Yochannan’s birth placed at Passover and Yehoshua’s conception in Kislev, the teaching turns to the time of Yehoshua’s birth. Chanukah occurs on Kislev 25. Adding nine months brings us to Tishrei, the month in which Sukkoth occurs.
This reading proposes that Yehoshua became the Word made flesh on the third day of the Ivrim month of Tishrei, 3765, September 13, 6 BCE, a leap year. It questions the traditional account that the census forced thousands of people to return to Bethlehem at the same moment, noting that citizens had a full year in which to register.
Three great feasts called the people of Elohim to make pilgrimage to Jerusalem and bring their offerings before the priests of the Temple: Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkoth. During these feasts, the population of the Jerusalem area would swell as pilgrims arrived. The teaching understands Miryam and Yousef’s journey to Biet-Lechem in this context, as a pilgrimage for the Feast of Tabernacles.
During Sukkoth, every family was expected to live at least part of each day in their temporary dwelling, built from palm or bamboo branches to remember the wilderness journey. These sukkot could also provide overnight lodging for travelers, stocked with food for those keeping the feast.
Biet-Lechem, Bethlehem, the House of Bread, was a small village south of Yirushalayim. In this account, Miryam and Yousef found shelter in a sukkah rather than an animal stable. When their child was born, He was laid upon the food shelf, or food tray, used to keep provisions off the ground. The teaching connects this image with Yehoshua as the Bread of Life.
Luke 2:8 tells us that shepherds were staying in the fields and keeping watch over their flock by night. This teaching takes the shepherds’ presence in the fields as further reason to place the birth outside winter, and therefore in mid-Tishrei during Sukkoth.
Born Into the Covenant on the Eighth Day
In the culture and commands of Hashem, the circumcision of a Jewish baby boy on the eighth day was critical. Yehoshua’s presentation in the Temple included His circumcision according to Torah. This teaching therefore understands the birth of Yehoshua Ha’Moshiach as spanning the eight days of Sukkoth, beginning on the holy Shabbat and concluding with His circumcision on the final day of the feast.
Miracle on the Jordan
At the Jordan, tradition remembers the blessing of the waters and the miracle of the river’s flow. This teaching connects the baptism of Yehoshua with the consecration of His ministry, the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy, and the beginning of His public work before crucifixion and resurrection.
The Bread of Life
If this theological conclusion is correct, it gives added meaning to the Bread of Life analogy. Yehoshua was born in Biet-Lechem, the House of Bread, and was placed upon the food tray in the sukkah, demonstrating that He is the true Bread of Life, John 6:33-51.
Hashem’s preparation of Sukkoth centuries before His birth gives extra significance to Yochannan’s words: “The Word became flesh, and lived, literally tabernacled, among us. We saw his glory, such glory as of the one and only Son of the Father, full of grace and truth,” John 1:14.
Passover and the Feast of Tabernacles both last eight days. This teaching sees Yochannan, the forerunner of the Anointed One, as born and circumcised during the first feast, and Yehoshua six months later during the second. The Feast of Tabernacles is therefore remembered as a commemoration of the Redeemer of the World, our saving grace, our rock, and our King.
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