1. Elizabeth´s conception
Another
biblical proof of the date of Jesus is the birth date of John Baptist who is
said to be six months older that Jesus Christ. So if the birth date of John
Baptist can be determined, it will not be that difficult to determine the birth
date of Jesus Christ, now concerning this matter we are told that, Zacharias
the father of John Baptist was serving in the temple according to the custom of the priesthood, his lot fell to burn incense when he went into the temple of
the Lord.”
And
the whole multitude of the people was praying outside at the hour of incense. Then
an angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar
of incense. And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon
him. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zacharias, for your
prayer is heard; and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall
call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice
at his birth.” (Luke 1:8-14).
The
rest of the story is that Zacharias doubted, for he said to the angel, "How
shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is well advanced in
years." And the angel answered and said to him, "I am Gabriel, who
stands in the presence of God, and was sent to speak to you and bring you these
glad tidings. But behold, you will be mute and not able to speak until the day
these things take place, because you did not believe my words which will be
fulfilled in their own time” (Luke 1:18-20).
But as soon as the days of Zacharias' service were completed, that he departed to his own house. Now after those days
(of his service in the temple) his wife Elizabeth conceived; and she hid
herself five months, saying, "Thus the Lord has dealt with me, in the days
when He looked on me, to take away my reproach among people" (Luke
1:23-25).
The
logical question now is, when was Zacharias days of service? According to the
scriptures; “There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain
priest named Zacharias, of the division of Abijah. His wife was of the daughters
of Aaron, and her name was Elizabeth.” It is further stated in scripture that Abijah
from whom Zacharias the father of John Baptist descended was of the eighth
division (Luke
1:5, 1Chronicles 24:10).
The
priesthood was made up of twenty-four divisions which means that the period of
service for each division would be 14.75 (approximately 15 days) per year, and
therefore, the eighth division would be during the last two weeks of the fourth
month of the year. Therefore, Zacharias, the father of John Baptist tour of
duty in the temple was during the last two weeks of the fourth month, and after
the fourth month he departed to his house and after those days, which takes us
to the fifth month of the year his wife Elizabeth was conceived.
Therefore,
if Elizabeth was conceived during the fifth month of the year, the birth of John
Baptiste was during the first month of the following year, and since he was six
months older than Jesus Christ, this means that Jesus Christ was born during
the seventh month of the year based on the Jewish Lunar calendar which falls between September and October in the Roman calendar.
To be continued
With brotherly love
Lucius Joseph
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