Celebrating The Feast Of Tabernacles as the real birthday of Jesus Christ
Today, October 13th, the Jewish people begin the celebration
of the Biblical Feast of Tabernacles as they have commanded by God in
Leviticus 23:34-43. This festival celebrates the time when God led His
people through the wilderness after delivering them from Egyptian
bondage.
Along with celebrating this feast for those reasons, some Messianic
Jews and Christians celebrate this time when “the Word became flesh and
tabernacled among us.” (John 1:14 alternate reading) Could this be a
hint that it was during the Feast of Tabernacles that Jesus was really
born, rather than on the pagan feast of Saturnalia?
Although for many years I had believed that this feast was when Jesus was really born. I wasn’t able to prove it until I read the article: “On What Day Was Jesus Born?” by Michael Scheifler as found on the http://biblelight.net/sukkoth.htm website.
In this article Scheifler carefully puts together the clues about the time of Jesus’ birth found in Luke chapter one with the facts found in other Scriptures and Jewish sources to show when Zacharias (the father of John the Baptist) was performing his priestly service in the Temple in Jerusalem.
This is important to know when figuring out the date of Jesus’ birth because in Luke 1:36, the angel Gabriel tells the Virgin Mary that “ your relative Elizabeth (wife of Zacharias) has also conceived a son in her old age and she who was called barren, is in her sixth month.” This establishes the fact that John the Baptist was six months older than Jesus.
In his article citing Biblical sources, Scheifler states that Zacharias “completed his Temple service on the third Sabbath of [the Jewish month of] Sivan. (May-June) Zacharias returned home and conceived his son John.”
Then, after stating that, Scheifler projects an average gestation term of 40 weeks forward to the middle of the Jewish month of Nissan, which coincides with the Feast of Passover. Since John was born around the middle of the first Jewish month of Nissan, and he was six months older than Jesus; then the likely date for the birth of Jesus would be the middle of the seventh Jewish month of Tishri. This is when the Feast of Tabernacles begins!
The Feast of Tabernacles is a mandatory attendance feast, which meant that all Jewish men were required to come to Jerusalem to celebrate it in the Temple. As a result of that, all hotel rooms in the surrounding areas (including the Bethleham area) would be ‘booked solid’ at that time. This is the reason why there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the Inn as stated in Luke 2:7.
Another reason why I believe that Jesus was born on the Feast of Tabernacles comes from the comparison of the weather conditions found in the reading of Luke 2:8-15 to what usually happens in that area during late December.
When that Scripture passage is read, it sounds like the angelic host proclaiming the Savior’s birth to shepherds tending their sheep on the hills around Bethleham is on a warm autumn evening, rather than on the cold, rainy, and possibly snowy weather that often happens in late December and forces the shepherds to bring their flocks down into the valleys near their home.
One more major reason why I believe that Jesus was born on the Feast of Tabernacles is that in my study of God’s plan for the spiritual redemption of mankind, I see how God took thoudsands of years and worked very hard to bring about the right world conditions to fulfill many prophecies that He made about the coming Messiah. So why didn’t He cause such a glorious event as the birth of His Son to happen on a feast day fulfilling an important type similar to the way He has worked before, rather than having Jesus being born on December 25th during the pagan feast of Saturnalia?
The Feast of Tabernacles celebrates the time when God led His people through the wilderness after delivering them from Egyptian bondage. After Jesus completed God’s redemptive plan, He was able to fulfill that type by being able to deliver people who received Him as their personal Savior from the bondage to sin and death.
Now that this article has shown the reasons why I believe that Jesus was really born on the Feast of Tabernacles we can celebrate His birth during this feast happening today. We can also think of his conception happening nine months earlier during the Festival of Lights, also known as Chanukkah. Jesus, as the light of the world, being conceived on the Festival of Lights—now that sounds like something that God would do!
The glorious of event of Jesus coming to earth is something that should be celebrated-- whether on his real birthday on the Feast of Tabernacles or on the traditionally observed Christmas Day of December 25th.
For further research on this subject consult the following sources:
“On What Day Was Jesus Born?” Michael Scheifler, http://biblelight.net/sukkoth.htm
“When Was Jesus Born?” The Good News Magazine, January/February, 1997, http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn08/whenwaschristborn.htm
“Biblical Dates for Messiah’s Conception and Birth” http://messianic.com/articles/date.htm
“Birth of Christ and Feast of Tabernacles” http://heartofwisdom.com/biblicalholidays/?p=523
Although for many years I had believed that this feast was when Jesus was really born. I wasn’t able to prove it until I read the article: “On What Day Was Jesus Born?” by Michael Scheifler as found on the http://biblelight.net/sukkoth.htm website.
In this article Scheifler carefully puts together the clues about the time of Jesus’ birth found in Luke chapter one with the facts found in other Scriptures and Jewish sources to show when Zacharias (the father of John the Baptist) was performing his priestly service in the Temple in Jerusalem.
This is important to know when figuring out the date of Jesus’ birth because in Luke 1:36, the angel Gabriel tells the Virgin Mary that “ your relative Elizabeth (wife of Zacharias) has also conceived a son in her old age and she who was called barren, is in her sixth month.” This establishes the fact that John the Baptist was six months older than Jesus.
In his article citing Biblical sources, Scheifler states that Zacharias “completed his Temple service on the third Sabbath of [the Jewish month of] Sivan. (May-June) Zacharias returned home and conceived his son John.”
Then, after stating that, Scheifler projects an average gestation term of 40 weeks forward to the middle of the Jewish month of Nissan, which coincides with the Feast of Passover. Since John was born around the middle of the first Jewish month of Nissan, and he was six months older than Jesus; then the likely date for the birth of Jesus would be the middle of the seventh Jewish month of Tishri. This is when the Feast of Tabernacles begins!
The Feast of Tabernacles is a mandatory attendance feast, which meant that all Jewish men were required to come to Jerusalem to celebrate it in the Temple. As a result of that, all hotel rooms in the surrounding areas (including the Bethleham area) would be ‘booked solid’ at that time. This is the reason why there was no room for Mary and Joseph in the Inn as stated in Luke 2:7.
Another reason why I believe that Jesus was born on the Feast of Tabernacles comes from the comparison of the weather conditions found in the reading of Luke 2:8-15 to what usually happens in that area during late December.
When that Scripture passage is read, it sounds like the angelic host proclaiming the Savior’s birth to shepherds tending their sheep on the hills around Bethleham is on a warm autumn evening, rather than on the cold, rainy, and possibly snowy weather that often happens in late December and forces the shepherds to bring their flocks down into the valleys near their home.
One more major reason why I believe that Jesus was born on the Feast of Tabernacles is that in my study of God’s plan for the spiritual redemption of mankind, I see how God took thoudsands of years and worked very hard to bring about the right world conditions to fulfill many prophecies that He made about the coming Messiah. So why didn’t He cause such a glorious event as the birth of His Son to happen on a feast day fulfilling an important type similar to the way He has worked before, rather than having Jesus being born on December 25th during the pagan feast of Saturnalia?
The Feast of Tabernacles celebrates the time when God led His people through the wilderness after delivering them from Egyptian bondage. After Jesus completed God’s redemptive plan, He was able to fulfill that type by being able to deliver people who received Him as their personal Savior from the bondage to sin and death.
Now that this article has shown the reasons why I believe that Jesus was really born on the Feast of Tabernacles we can celebrate His birth during this feast happening today. We can also think of his conception happening nine months earlier during the Festival of Lights, also known as Chanukkah. Jesus, as the light of the world, being conceived on the Festival of Lights—now that sounds like something that God would do!
The glorious of event of Jesus coming to earth is something that should be celebrated-- whether on his real birthday on the Feast of Tabernacles or on the traditionally observed Christmas Day of December 25th.
For further research on this subject consult the following sources:
“On What Day Was Jesus Born?” Michael Scheifler, http://biblelight.net/sukkoth.htm
“When Was Jesus Born?” The Good News Magazine, January/February, 1997, http://www.gnmagazine.org/issues/gn08/whenwaschristborn.htm
“Biblical Dates for Messiah’s Conception and Birth” http://messianic.com/articles/date.htm
“Birth of Christ and Feast of Tabernacles” http://heartofwisdom.com/biblicalholidays/?p=523
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