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The Bible tells that Joseph took his betrothed wife Mary and traveled to Bethlehem,
the city of their father David, to comply with the census that was required by Caesar Augustus (Luke 2:1). This would have been quite a hardship for Mary and Joseph — physically for Mary because of her pregnancy and financially for Joseph because they had little money. The Bible does not give any indication where they might have lodged, only that they were turned away from an inn because there was no room.
Reasoning would suggest that Joseph and Mary might have sought lodging with a relative in Bethlehem. Remember they had little money. We should also consider that their travel to Bethlehem was likely to have very been slow because of Mary’s condition — almost full term pregnant. Therefore, if they went to the home of a relative, it could have already been filled with other relatives who were also there to comply with the census.
Question: “Where was Jesus born?”
Answer: The Bible chronicles Jesus Christ’s birth in Matthew 1:18–25; 2:1–12; Luke 1:26–38; and 2:1–20. At the time of Mary’s pregnancy, a decree by Caesar Augustus went out that “all the world should be registered” (Luke 2:1). This meant that every person in the Roman Territory was required to return to the city of their ancestors to be counted in a census.
Joseph lived in Nazareth at the time but needed to travel south to the region of Judea,
“to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David” (Luke 2:4). Naturally, Joseph took his betrothed, Mary, to go with him to be counted as a member of his family. Thus, the young couple ended up in the small town of Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth.
This location aligns with the prophecy foretold by Micah, proclaiming that the Christ would be born in Bethlehem: “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2).
Because so many had returned to Bethlehem for the census, the small city was overflowing with people. There was no room for Mary and Joseph in the inn, which forced them to take refuge in the only place available—a shelter for animals. (Although the Bible never mentions animals being present at the birth of Christ, Luke does say that the baby Jesus was laid in a manger—and the presence of a manger strongly implies the presence of animals.)
Traditionally, the “inn” referred to in Luke 2:7 is thought to be a kind of commercial hotel. And the place where Mary and Joseph took shelter was a stable somewhere in the vicinity. However, we don’t know for sure if that was the case, because the Greek word translated as “inn” (kataluma) can also be translated as “guest room.” This translation would lead us to envision more of a private home filled with guests, plus a separate area used
to house the family’s animals.
Sometimes the place for animals was located on the lower level of a house, away from
where the people lived. So, when Luke refers to “no room in the kataluma,” he could have meant there was no room on the upper level, which was already full of sleeping visitors or family. Archaeological findings have also revealed homes that merely had a wall separating the front of the house from the back, where animals were kept safe. Both of these floor plans imply an indoor animal shelter connected to the house in some way. Regardless, there was a manger or feeding trough in the place where Christ was born, and that was used as a resting place for the newborn Jesus, as stated in Luke 2:7.
There is also a theory that the shelter in which Jesus was born was a place in the northern part of Bethlehem called Migdol Eder. This was a watchtower with a place underneath that shepherds used during the lambing season to shelter the newborn lambs that would later be used as sacrifices in the Jerusalem temple. The prophet Micah, who foretold Bethlehem as the place of the Messiah’s birth, also mentions Migdol Eder: “As for you, watchtower of the flock [Hebrew, Migdol Eder], stronghold of Daughter Zion, the former dominion will be restored to you; kingship will come to Daughter Jerusalem” (Micah 4:8). This theory is used to explain why, when the heralding angels gave the sign that the baby would be “wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger,” the shepherds seemed to know exactly where to look. And it would be apropos for the Messiah to be born in the same place where the sacrificial lambs were born.
Whether the actual location of Jesus’ birth was an indoor animal shelter, a separate barn,
or a tower used for lambing, the Bible is clear that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was born in a humble setting in the town of Bethlehem. What is important is that God sent His son to earth, to be incarcerate conceived in the womb of a young woman, to take on human form, to be born in humble surroundings, to live a sinless human life and then to present Himself the perfect Lamb of God and to finish the work His Father had sent Him to do —
to take away the sins of the world.
Jesus was born to die: Remember the sacrifice of the cross began in the cradle and without the Christmas Cradle we would not have the Calvary Cross.
Everything about the place where Jesus was born. The Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem.
Come, come with me to the place where Jesus Christ was born. Church of the Nativity, Bethlehem
Historical evidence shows that Jesus was born in the year 3 B.C.E. It appears most probable that a late summer birth in 3 B.C.E. has the best credentials. I need not rehearse my reasons for this, but they are very strong. Indeed, the evidence from the priestly courses alone suggests that a September nativity is the most likely. This gives a pretty close approximation that most scholars would probably accept as reasonable. But now, we come to the nitty-gritty! To propose an early evening birth on September 11, 3 B.C.E. appears almost impossible to believe. To get that close to his time of birth might at first seem to be fanciful.Being Terrorist like to strike on a date of significance:
9/11 Terrorist attacks | The Unoffical 9/11 Wiki | Fandom
The fact is, however, I can state without a shadow of a doubt, that the celestial scene described by the apostle John in Revelation 12:1–5, if viewed astronomically, would center precisely on a New Moon date within mid-September, and that in 3 B.C.E. that exact celestial phenomenon would have occurred in the early evening of September 11th. I can also state with assurance that sundown on September 11, 3 B.C.E. was also the beginning of the
Jewish New Year (Rosh ha-Shanah ― The Day of Trumpets).
Even if the apostle John were only giving the symbolic time for Jesus’ nativity, and not the actual, we are provided with a great deal of insight on how early Christians interpreted significant periods of time on the holy calendar of Israel. If Jesus were actually born on Rosh ha-Shanah (the Day of Trumpets) in 3 B.C.E., a most impressive astronomical panorama of events burst forth on the scene that would have awed and astonished most Jewish people who lived at the time. Truly, this is not an exaggeration.
The Importance of the Day of Trumpets
Look at the celestial events that occurred around that Rosh ha-Shanah date of September 11th in 3 B.C.E. Exactly one month before (on August 12) the world would have witnessed the close conjunction of Jupiter (reckoned astrologically as the Father) and Venus (the Mother) when they were only .07 degrees from one another when they appeared as morning stars on the eastern horizon. This was a very close union. But then, nineteen days later (August 31), Venus came to within .36 degrees of Mercury in a very similar astronomical display.
Then, on September 11th, the New Moon occurred which represented the Jewish New Year. This happened when Jupiter (the King planet) was then approaching Regulus (the King star). And, on September 14, Jupiter and Regulus came to their first of three conjunctions in this extraordinary year. Then, over an eight month period, Jupiter made its “crowning effect” over the King star Regulus. There could hardly have been a better astronomical testimony to the birth of the new messianic king from the Jewish point of view. Why? Because every one of these celestial occurrences I have mentioned happened with the Sun or planets being positioned within the constellation of Leo the Lion (the constellation of Judah — from whence the Messiah was destined to emerge) or in Virgo the Virgin. The apostle John may have seen importance in these extraordinary occurrences when he symbolically showed that Jesus was born at the New Moon of Tishri, the Day of Trumpets (Revelation 12:1–3).
What we now need to do is to rehearse some of the typical and figurative features of the biblical accounts associated with this particular day. They may well reveal why John and early Christians looked on Jesus as the Christ and the king of the universe. The Day of Trumpets was a special day that symbolically showed this rule.
Jesus Was Born on the Day of Trumpets
If one can realize that the New Testament shows Jesus born on the Day of Trumpets (the first day of Tishri ― the start of the Jewish civil year) an impressive amount of symbolic features emerge on the biblical and prophetic scenes. Before the period of the Exodus in the time of Moses, this was the day that began the biblical year. It also looks like this was the day when people were advanced one year of life ― no matter what month of the year they were actually born. Notice that the patriarch Noah became 600 years of age
“in the first month [Tishri], the first day of the month
[later to be called the Day of Trumpets]”
(Genesis 8:13). That was the very day when “Noah removed the covering of the ark, and looked, and, behold, the face of the ground was dry” (v. 13). This was not only Noah’s official birthday, it became a new birth after the Flood for the earth as well.
There is more. Even the first day of creation mentioned in Genesis 1:1–5 could be reckoned as being this very day. The early Jews discussed whether the actual creation took place in spring or in autumn. But since the autumn commenced all biblical years before the Exodus (Exodus 12:2), and since all the fruit was then on the trees ready for Adam and Eve to eat (Genesis 1:29; 2:9, 16–17), it suggests that the month of Tishri was the creation month, beginning near the autumn. If so, then the first day of creation mentioned in Genesis was also the first of Tishri (at least, Moses no doubt intended to give that impression). This means that not only was this the birthday of the new earth in Noah’s day and what was later to become the Day of Trumpets on the Mosaic calendar, but it was also the day which ushered in the original creation of the heavens and the earth.
When Was the “Last Trump”?
The matter does not stop there. Each of the Jewish months was officially introduced by the blowing of trumpets (Numbers 10:10). Since the festival year in which all the Mosaic festivals were found was seven months long, the last month (Tishri) was the last month for a festival trumpet. This is one of the reasons that the day was called “the Day of Trumpets.” The last trump in the seven months’ series was always sounded on this New Moon day. This made it the final trumpets’ day (Leviticus 23:24; Numbers 29:1).
This was the exact day that many of the ancient kings and rulers of Judah reckoned as their inauguration day of rule. This procedure was followed consistently in the time of Solomon, Jeremiah, and Ezra 3 The Day of Trumpets was also acknowledged as the time for counting the years of their kingly rule. Indeed, it was customary that the final ceremony in the coronation of kings was the blowing of trumpets.
For Solomon, “Blow ye the trumpet, and say, ‘God save king Solomon’”
(1 Kings 1:34).
For Jehu, “And [they] blew with trumpets, saying, ‘Jehu is king’”
(2 Kings 9:13).
At the enthronement of Jehoash,
“The people of the land rejoiced, and blew with trumpets” (2 Kings 11:11).
There could well be a reflection of this symbolic feature in the New Testament. The Day of Trumpets was the time for the start of the seventh month (since the time of Moses), and the time for the “last trump” to introduce festival months. Note that in the Book of Revelation, we have the record of a heavenly angel who will blow the seventh and last trumpet blast. And recall what happens at the exact time this “last trump” is sounded.
“And the seventh angel sounded [blew the last trump]; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, ‘The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ; and he shall reign forever and ever
[for the ages of the ages].’” Revelation 11:15
In New Testament parlance this shows the time of the coronation of Jesus, and it happens at the seventh (or last) trump in the Book of Revelation ― the Day of Trumpets.
Jesus as the King of Kings
The central theme of the Day of Trumpets is clearly that of enthronement of the great King of kings. This was the general understanding of the day in early Judaism and it is certainly that of the New Testament. In Revelation 11:15, recall that the seventh angel sounds his “last trump” and the kingdoms of this world become those of Jesus. This happens at a time when a woman is seen in heaven with twelve stars around her head and the Sun mid-bodied to her, with the Moon under her feet. This is clearly a New Moon scene for the Day of Trumpets.
And note: Professor Thorley who reviewed the first edition of my work has shown that there are exactly twelve stars surrounding the head of Virgo as we see them from earth. And indeed there are. If one will look at Norton’s Star Atlas, twelve visible stars will be seen around Virgo’s head. They are (according to astronomical terminology): (1) Pi, (2) Nu, (3) Beta (near the ecliptic), (4) Sigma, (5) Chi, (6) Iota — these six stars form the southern hemisphere around the head of Virgo. Then there are (7) Theta, (8) Star 60, (9) Delta, (10) Star 93, (11) Beta (the 2nd magnitude star) and (12) Omicron — these last six form the northern hemisphere around the head of Virgo. All these stars are visible and could have been witnessed by observers on earth.
Thus, the description of the apostle John describes a perfectly normal heavenly scene that could be recognized by all people. Here was Virgo with twelve stars around her head, while the Sun was in uterine position and the Moon under her feet. And again, the only time this could have occurred in 3 B.C.E. was on the Day of Trumpets.
This is when the “king of kings” was born.
Another explanation of the Twelve Stars around the head of Virgo is that it represents the headship position (the “head” of Virgo is situated in the last ten degrees of Leo) for the beginning of the story found within the Twelve Constellations as reckoned in the biblical Zodiac. In the biblical Zodiac, the tribe of Judah (the Lion, or Leo) was situated around the Tabernacle directly east of its entrance. This meant that half of the tribe of Judah was south and the other half north of the east/west line from the Holy of Holies.
This means, unlike some Gentile reckonings which started their zodiacal story with the zero line between Cancer and Leo (that is, at the very commencement of Leo), the biblical Zodiac that Drs. Bullinger and Seiss were talking about the 15th degree of Leo (of Judah). This signifies that the first constellation to be met with in this celestial story would have been the “head” of Virgo the Virgin which occupied the last ten degrees of Leo.
So, John began his story at this point.
Although December 25th is the day that we celebrate the birth of our Lord, most Bible students understand that it is not likely the date on which Jesus was born. We should not be surprised that the Bible doesn’t record the actual date, because nowhere in the Bible are we told to remember Jesus’ birth. We are clearly told to remember His death, burial, and resurrection, but not His birth. However, celebrating Jesus’ birth is a good thing. It brings to remembrance the first sacrifice that Jesus made when He humbled himself and came to earth, when the Lord of Glory took on human flesh,
when the King of kings entered into poverty.
Whispers of the Time
Although the Bible doesn’t specifically tell us when Jesus was born, it does provide some “whispers” of when He might have been born.
1) It was not likely to have occurred after October.
The weather in Israel turns very cold in the late fall, and it would have been
too cold for the flocks to have been in the fields overnight.
Luke 2:8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields,
keeping watch over their flock by night.
2) It’s also unlikely that the Roman official, Caesar Augustus, would have issued
a decree for a census in December (Luke 2:1).
The census required people to travel to the city of their birth (Luke 2:3) and the terrain of Judea would have been difficult, or even impassable, during winter months. Jesus expressed this when warning about fleeing during tribulation:
Matthew 24:20 And pray that your flight may not be in winter…
3) A clue that Jesus’ birth might have been in September is that He came to the tabernacle (dwell) with us. September is the time of the Feast of Tabernacles, celebrated in remembrance of the Israelite’s time of wandering in the desert This feast is a time of remembering when God dwelt among them and provided for them, and a time of looking forward in joy to the coming of the Messiah and the Messianic age.
John 1:14 And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt [tabernacled] among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
Matthew 1:23 Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and shall bring forth a son, and they shall call his name Emmanuel, which being interpreted is, God with us.
For these reasons and more, most Bible students believe Jesus’ birth was more likely in September during the Feast of Tabernacles than in December. In September, the sheep would have been in the fields overnight, travel in Judea would have been possible, and, significantly, God came to dwell with His people.
John the Baptist’s Birth Provides Insight
Additionally, the timing of the birth of John the Baptist lends further support that Jesus was born in September. Luke tells us that John’s mother, Elizabeth, was Mary’s cousin and the wife of Zacharias, a priest of the course of Abijah (Luke 1:5 , 8-13, 23-24).
Luke 1:36 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.
Luke 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named
Zacharias, of the division of Abijah.
Determining the Time of John’s Birth.
To begin to understand when John was born, we start with the clue that his father was of the priestly course of Abijah. Priests were divided into 24 courses for their service in the Temple, and they served for one week, beginning on the Sabbath (1 Chronicles 24:7-19)
We know from the Talmud (rabbinic teachings) and Josephus (a reputable Roman-Jewish scholar and historian) that the Temple was destroyed by Titus on August 5th, 70 AD, and that the first course of priests had just taken office. Since the course of Abijah was the eighth course (1 Chronicles 24:10), it can be determined by counting backward that Zacharias would have ended his duties on July 13th, 3 BC. He returned to his home and soon after Elizabeth conceived Luke 1:23-24 And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministry were accomplished, he departed to his own house. And after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived, and hid herself five months.
Elizabeth hid herself for five months, uncertain about how her pregnancy would be viewed. The Bible tells that in the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy, the angel Gabriel visited Mary and told her… Luke 1:31 behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. Soon thereafter, Mary visited her cousin Elizabeth and stayed with her until Elizabeth’s ninth month. Mary departed just prior to John’s birth.
If John was born nine months after Zacharias completed his course (July 13, 3 BC), he would have been born in April, 2 BC. If his birth occurred 280 days from July 13, 3 BC, the date would have been April 19-20, 2 BC, which was Passover that year.
We know that Elizabeth was in her sixth month when Mary conceived and went with haste to visit her. Luke 1:36 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.
Luke 1:39 And Mary arose in those days, and went into the hill country with haste, into a city of Juda. Because Elizabeth was in her sixth month, and Mary was already pregnant, John would have been five months older than Jesus, which would place Jesus’ birth date in September, 2 BC at the time of the weeklong Feast of Tabernacles, fitting with the Scriptures that says Jesus came to tabernacle (dwell) with us.
Conclusion
Of course, this reasoning is all very interesting, but remember that no one knows for certain the exact date of Jesus’ birth. The details the Bible does provide makes it likely that Jesus was born in September. But remember that the actual date on which we celebrate Jesus’ birth is not what is important. What really matters is that we remember and praise God for what He has clearly revealed to us, that which we know to be true — Jesus came to earth to live among us, fully God and fully man. He experienced everything that we experience and yet He lived a sinless life in obedience to the will of His Father. He lived to be our example and gave His life to be our Saviour.
He paid for our sins so we can be forgiven and have eternal life with Him.
One Final Thought
Assuming that Jesus was born at the Feast of Tabernacles (late September), there is still a very good reason to celebrate on December 25th, which would be nine months prior to a late September birth. Late December would be the time when the Holy Spirit overshadowed Mary and she conceived. Since we know that life begins at conception, late December would have been the time when Jesus entered into our world. Our December 25th celebration is really a time of celebrating the Lord’s incarnation, which began at conception, and it’s a reminder of the importance of fighting against abortion and upholding the sanctity of life of the pre-born. Life is sacred and must be protected. . . from the time it begins at conception.
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Read also: Should we celebrate Jesus’ birthday in September?
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