I. The Birth
Genesis 1:14 And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years:
Contrary to popular belief, Hebrews were not only aware of the art of horoscope, they also practiced it. Zodiac wheels have been found in their synagogues; Historians from antiquity have suggested that Moses’ birth was foretold by Egyptian priests and that the children of Israel knew that their deliverer had come because they saw it in the stars; The Star of David is a double grand-trine that comes from his birth chart. So it should not be too surprising when I say that the ancient people of Israel looked to the stars for “signs.” When I decided to look for the historical birth date of Jesus, I felt that I should start with the stars as well. After all, his birth was foretold by a “Star.” Here is what I found:
Anyone looking for the birth of Jesus needs to make sure that the birth dates they find correspond to his death at age 33. There are only a few years where the events in the crucifixion story line up with the ceremonies and other observations during the holy week of Passover. The date also needs to fall within the reigns of King Herod the Great and Caesar Augustus (a four year period) as indicated in the nativity story in the gospels. When projecting backwards 33 years from the only three possible crucifixion years (28 A.D., 31 A.D., 34 A.D. See research at the end of this article.), only one falls within the reigns of these two rulers. King Herod died in 4 B.C. making the crucifixion years of 31 A.D. and 34 A.D. Impossible. Only the crucifixion year of 28 A.D will work. This year corresponds to the birth being in the late spring/summer/fall of 6 B.C. or the winter/early spring of 5 B.C.
Once I narrowed it down, I began looking for something that only an astrologer would see. Something that is not obvious to the naked eye because the general public did not see it…something that only the Magi (or other such scholars) would have noticed. Everyone looking for the “Star” of Bethlehem has been blinded by the need to make it an event in the night sky visible to everyone. That is why no one has looked at the configuration I have found. If it were visible to the naked eye then cultures worldwide would have recorded it.
The ancients called astrology charts "Stars" so when someone refers to the “star you were born under,” they are talking about the astrological configuration of the planets at the time of your birth. Only people educated in the art of astrology would have "seen" the event I was looking for. The Magi from the east would have seen this "Star" in advance using their ephemeris to track heavenly movements. This would have given them time to travel to the place on the Earth where this conjunction of plants was at its tightest configuration. However, the “Star” would have only taken them to a wide geological area. I don’t believe there was a star in the sky with its tail pointing to the manger. Besides, if the Magi from the east were following a visible star or light in the night sky that was leading the way, then there would have been no need for them to stop to ask Herod the Great the location where the child of noble birth was going to be born.
When I was looking for a unique "Star" configuration I found a conjunction of the planets that is quite interesting. On March 16th at 9:17pm in the year 5 BC, the ruling planet of Pisces (Neptune) was rising in the east in the sign of Scorpio (the sign of the psychic and spiritually advanced) while all the other planets and the Sun where just below the western horizon in the signs of Pisces, Aries, and Aquarius. This places Neptune and Scorpio in the first house and the others in the seventh house of an astrology chart. This would have looked quite unique to the scholars of the day. On the morning of March 17th, 5 BC , the Sun was part of this conjunction and therefore it obscures the event from an unknowing public.
Jesus was a Pisces. He was the messiah and spiritual leader at the beginning of the Piscean Age. This makes sense because all of his icons had something to do with fish (e.g. the fish <><, fisher of men, fisherman, etc.)
I believe that the bright light over the manger on the night of His birth was not a star “with a tail as big as a kite*,” but the light of Archangel Gabriel heralding the birth of the messiah. This is the same angel that appeared to the shepherds. There is no scientific explanation for angels, so most historians dismiss it or try to explain it through other means.
(*As popularized by the Christmas Carol “Do You See What I See”.)
On the morning of His birth (March 17th) all of the planets (except Neptune), the moon and the Sun would have rose up to greet Him. The ancients believed the planets and the Sun to be gods. So in the minds of the ancient people this would have been a procession of gods coming up to greet the Son of God (messiah or king foretold in the prophesies) on the first morning after His birth.
Interesting note: The leading planet was Venus (love) and the trailing planet was Mars (War). So love entered the world…and war followed.
Recap: He was born on March 16th at 9:17pm according to today's calendar. And the morning of His birth was March 17th. Consider this; the Hebrews start their new day at sunset. This close to the Spring equinox sunset would have been right about 6:00pm, making His birth at the third hour and seventeenth minute into the new day…the new day being March 17th according to today's calendar.
The reason I mention this is because of the numbers 3:16 and 3:17 . When I prayed for guidance and went looking for corroboration, my search lead me to this: John 3:16-17, For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through him might be saved. Can you see it? It's a birth announcement! Only God would have known the date of Jesus' birth at the time the bible was being indexed.
According to my research and understanding of the events, the twelve days of Christ(mas) would be as follows:
- Day 1: March 16th (evening); Birth of Jesus (or the 17th according to the Jewish day starting at sunset.)
- Days 2 & 3: March 18th through 19th; Jesus and the holy family are greeted and blessed by shepherds and locals that have been told of the birth by Archangel Gabriel.
- Days 4 through 7: March 20th through 23rd; Unknown
- Day 8: March 24th; Circumcision of Jesus. According to Jewish tradition a newborn male must be presented at temple and circumcised on the eighth day after birth.
- Day 9: March 25th; The Magi from the east arrive and ask King Herod where the child of noble birth is to be born.
- Day 10: March 26th; The Magi from the east greet the Holy Family and offer gifts. (Bethlehem is a little less than one day’s journey [less than 10 miles by caravan roads] from King Herod’s palace in Jerusalem.)
- Day 11: March 27th; As they are getting ready to leave, an angel tells the Magi from the east to go home by another route.
- Day 12: March 28th; Knowing the travel time to and from Bethlehem, King Herod realizes that the Magi from the east are not coming back and he orders the death of the innocence**. An angel tells Joseph to flee into Egypt because King Herod wants the child dead. It has been four days since the circumcision and the child is now well enough to travel.
On the following day, March 29th, (the thirteenth day) the Holy Family is already on their way to Egypt when King Herod’s men arrive in Bethlehem.
(**If there were other children born under this “Star,” they were put to death by King Herod’s men during the slaughter of the innocents.)
II. The Baptism
Now, let's jump forward to Jesus’ 30th birthday, March 17th 25 AD . On this date, there is a conjunction of the planets that is tighter than any I have seen. I believe this conjunction confirms the birth conjunction 30 years earlier. The moon, the Sun, Mars, Earth, Venus, Mercury and Saturn are lined up in a conjunction that is within a 17-degree angle of each other. See figures 1.3 and 1.4. Jupiter is also lined up but it is on the opposite side of the Earth. Neptune and Uranus are at right angles to the line created by the Jupiter-Earth-Sun-planetary alignment, but they are on opposite sides of the solar system from each other. This creates a configuration of a cross that is only visible to God and the angels. (Isn’t God cool?) I believe this is the date of Jesus’ Baptism. It also coincides with His crucifixion at age 33 on Wednesday, March 29th/Nisan 14 of the Holy week of Passover in the year 28 A.D.
I believe the baptism of Jesus to be of Great importance because it represents the end of his training and his studies and marks the beginning of his ministry. It is from this point that his teachings as “The Christ” begin.
I believe that his birth and ministry were preordained as part of God’s plan. That is why both events were marked by the stars. I believe that these two star configurations (Birth & Baptism) work together to confirm each other. In other words, I think it is too much of a coincidence that two such stellar events (which would be of interest to the scholarly of that time) would happen so close to two events in human history which are of such great importance.
I also believe that in finding the true date of Jesus’ birth, one must take into account the crucifixion and resurrection. The birth date must correspond to a workable date for his death at age 33. The following is my research into that subject.
III. The Crucifixion & Resurrection
One must understand the events and rituals that govern the Hebrew sacrifice of the lamb at Passover in order to understand the sequence of events that happened at the time of the crucifixion of Jesus. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the observance of Passover in Hebrew law. The following verses are excerpts from the Torah***:
· Exodus 12:2 This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.
· Exodus12:5-6 Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: 6and ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
· Exodus 12:8 And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it.
· Exodus 12:11 And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD's Passover.
· Exodus 12:14 And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. 12:18 In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at even, ye shall eat unleavened bread, until the one and twentieth day of the month at even.
· Exodus 12:26-27 And it shall come to pass, when your children shall say unto you, “What mean ye by this service?” 27That ye shall say, “It is the sacrifice of the LORD's Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses.” And the people bowed the head and worshipped.
· Leviticus 23:5-6 In the fourteenth day of the first month at even is the LORD's passover. 6And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the feast of unleavened bread unto the LORD: seven days ye must eat unleavened bread.
Just to clarify, the Hebrew new day starts at sunset and not at a point in the middle of the night where there is no measurable event to mark the passing of the old day. This means that “at even” is the point in time when one day ends and another begins…sunset.
The following verse seems to indicate that the sacrifice of the lambs was supposed to be shortly before sunset:
· Numbers 28:16-17 And in the fourteenth day of the first month is the Passover of the LORD. 17And in the fifteenth day of this month is the feast: seven days shall unleavened bread be eaten.
The following passage from the Book of Jubilees supports this assumption:
· Jubilees 49:1 Remember the commandment which the Lord commanded thee concerning the Passover, that thou shouldst celebrate it in its season on the fourteenth of the first month, that thou shouldst kill it before it is evening, and that they should eat it by night on the evening of the fifteenth from the time of the setting of the sun.
This indicates that the sacrificial lamb shall be slaughtered before sunset, not at or after sunset.
My research has shown me that the crucifixion was on a Wednesday, the body of Jesus was placed in the tomb just before sunset, and the resurrection was Sunday at sunrise. This was in fulfillment of Jesus’ prophecy: Matthew 12:40: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.
(***Books of Moses. They are the main text in the Hebrew faith and first five books at the beginning of the Christian Bible.)
With that said, here is the material that supports my conclusions:
The week of Passover in the year 28 A.D.
First, it is important to note that the entire week is considered the “Feast of the Unleavened Bread” because Hebrew law requires that no one eat leavened bread from the 15th of Nisan to the 21st of Nisan. However, upon closer examination, scripture indicates that the LORD "passed over" the people of Israel
According to the apostle John, the crucifixion was on the "preparation day" for the Feast of the Unleavened Bread:
· John 19:14 And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King!
· John 19:31 The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the Sabbath day, (for that Sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away.
· John 19:42 There laid they Jesus therefore because of the Jews' preparation day; for the sepulcher was nigh at hand.
This indicates that Jesus was crucified on the "preparation" day, which is the day before the "Feast of Unleavened Bread." The Jews refer to all holy days as "Sabbath" days. However, the Sabbath of the "Passover" is considered a "high day" and more holy than the regular weekly Sabbath because of the significance of the Exodus story.
· Matthew 26:17-20 Now the first day of the feast of unleavened bread the disciples came to Jesus, saying unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare for thee to eat the passover? 18And he said, Go into the city to such a man, and say unto him, The Master saith, My time is at hand; I will keep the passover at thy house with my disciples. 19And the disciples did as Jesus had appointed them; and they made ready the passover. 20Now when the even was come, he sat down with the twelve.
According to this scripture, Jesus and his disciples observed Passover and had their Passover Feast on the evening before his crucifixion. It is a possibility that Jesus was keeping the feast days according to the details of the calendar as described in the Book of Enoch (found among the Dead Sea Scrolls). That would allow for the crucifixion to occur on the preparation day (the 14th day of Nisan) of the Hebrew calendar and still have Jesus in the tomb before the High Sabbath commenced as stated in the book of John. The feast of Jesus and his disciples would have been on Tuesday night just after sunset. His arrest and trial would have been during that same night. This leads us to the scourging and crucifixion during the daylight hours on Wednesday, March 29th/Nisan 14.
Due to the fact that the body of Jesus was taken down from the cross just before sunset on the “preparation day” and the resurrection stories all indicate that he rose on the morning after the weekly Sabbath (Saturday), it is not possible to reconcile his being exactly “three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” No matter how you figure it, you will always have one more night than the total number of days. However, I believe it is safe to say that my calculations allow for him to be in the “heart of the earth” for at least three days and three nights. What can I say; he got an extra night of sleep. Can you blame him…after the day he had!
Notice: The Year 28 A.D. date is the same as the date that I concluded in my research using Planetarium software. Two of the three sources (the third one does not provide data) agree on the Tuesday, the 28th of March date without footnotes or exceptions.
