"A Time To Be Born"
Most scholars agree that Jesus was thirty-three and one-half
years old when He died at Passover (Abib). He, therefore, had
a birthday six months earlier in the month of Tishri (September-October).
This is the month in which the Feast of Tabernacles is observed.
TABERNACLES - His Birthday Celebration!!
Jesus Christ, Himself, once uttered a very profound, yet simple
statement pertaining to the worship of our Heavenly Father in
St. John 4:23,24: "But the hour cometh, and now is, when
the true worshippers shall worship the father in spirit and
in truth: for the father seeketh such to worship him. God is
a spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit
and in truth."
No sincere believer would deny that part of our worship of
God should be in honoring the birth of His Son, our Savior,
the Lord Jesus Christ. This glorious event, to all believers,
is certainly the most outstanding manifestation in all human
history of God's love toward man, His creation.
Solomon tells us in his words to the wise, "To everything
there is a season and a TIME to every purpose under heaven.
A time to be BORN and a time to die . . . " Ecclesiastes
3:1-2. Jesus, therefore, had a specific time, both to be born
and to die. In the case of His death, it was Passover; in the
case of His birth, the scriptures indicate that it occurred
during the Biblical festival of Tabernacles.
The following is a scriptural account of the birth of Jesus
Christ. The reader is invited to examine and consider these
facts very carefully:
Luke (the Physician) has given us the most thorough birth record
and declared that he "had perfect understanding of all
things from the very first," therefore our source of information
is reliable.
It is necessary that we start with John the Baptist since his
birth and that of our Saviour are so closely related. In Biblical
days there were twenty-four priests, or governors, who served
yearly in the temple, two for each month. (I Chronicles 24:7
- 10) Zacharias, the father of of J ohn the Baptist, was of
the eighth course called Abijah. Luke 1: 5; 1 Chronicles 24:
10. So Zacharias' ministry in the temple was in the fourth month,
Tammuz (June). (The first of the Jewish months is Abib, Exodus
12:1,2; 13:4.)
Immediately after those days in the beginning of the fifth
month Ab, Zacharias returned home to Elizabeth and John is conceived
in Elizabeth Nine months later in the next yeah he is born in
the month Abib (near our March).
The Scripture teaches us that Jesus was six months younger
than John the Baptist. Luke 1:26,36. Therefore, Jesus was conceived
at the beginning of the eleventh month Sebat (JanuaryFebruary)
and born nine months later in the month Tishri (September-October).
From January to October would be a normal gestation period of
280 days.
The Feast of Tabernacles was celebrated annually during the
month of Tishri. It was during this Feast that the Jews traditionally
dwelt in booths made of tree boughs, etc., and gazed toward
the east hoping to see the star, or phenomenon, that would herald
the birth of their Messiah (Leviticus 23:34,41).
The prophet Isaiah also bears witness to the occasion of the
birth of Jesus Christ during the Feast of Tabernacles when he
said, "They joy before thee according to the joy in harvest."
Isaiah 9:3. This feast was in the fall of the year at the time
of ingathering, or harvesting of all things out of the field
(Exodus 23:16). Isaiah explains this joy in the sixth verse
of this ninth chapter when he declared, "For unto us a
child is born, and unto us a son is given indicating that the
"joy of harvest" was actually the birth of Yahshua,
Jesus Christ, at the time of harvest, or Ingathering.
Another small scriptural clue which has been overlooked and
lends credence to this thought is found in John 1:14, which
translated literally declares, "And the Word became flesh;
and tabernacled among us," (Gr.-ho logos sarx egeneto,
pai eskenosen en hemin.) Here we have a key which reveals to
the alert eye that the time at which the Word was made flesh
and tabernacled among men was in the Feast of Tabernacles (Isaiah
9:2,3).
So we see that it can be logically concluded that the date
of the Nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ was undoubtedly during
the Feast of Tabernacles in the Jewish month Tishri (SeptemberOctober),
probably on Tishri 22, the great day and solemn assembly of
the Feast (Leviticus 23:39; John 7:37). In this deduction, every
event and circumstance seems properly reconciled. WHY NOT HONOR
THE BIRTH OF OUR LORD AT THIS FEAST TIME?
Since God never changes (Malachi 3:6), this might well -tell
us something about His second coming, also.
"And his feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of
Olives . . . and it shall come to pass, that all the nations
. . . shall go up from year to year to worship the King, the
Lord of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. "
-Zechariah 14:4,16 (See Chronology)
INGATHERING
-Exodus 23:16-
As an agricultural celebration, The Feast of Tabernacles was
also known as the Feast of INGATHERING. At this time of year,
there was a special offering of praise and thanksgiving to God
for the blessings of the seasons harvest.
In the same manner, we the people of God today should take
this memorial time to reflect on how productive we have been
for God in sowing the spiritual seed of His word and reaping
souls for the kingdom, Luke 8:5-15.
This is the biblical THANKSGIVING time. How wonderful God has
been to us all!
"Oh, come let us
adore Him!"
Feast
of Tabernacles