What does the birth of Jesus and the Jewish New Year have in common? I make the case in 500 Year Journey, that they both happen to be on the same day.

Here’s the essence of my argument: In Leviticus 23 God commanded the Hebrews to keep eight convocations: 

1) the Sabbath; 2) Passover; 3) the Feast of Unleavened Bread; 4) the Feast of Firstfruits; 5) the Feast of Weeks; 6) the Feast of Trumpets; 7) the Day of Atonement; and 8) The Feast of Tabernacles.

He also gives very specific instructions as to when each of the convocations is to be held.

Dates of God’s Holy Convocations

As one can see, God commanded every convocation (except the sabbath) to be commemorated on a specific month and day, and, if you didn’t know, the first day of a month is at the first visibility of the new moon at sunset. Therefore, since the Passover lamb is killed at the end of Nisan 14 just before sunset, the full moon would have been rising in the east when Christ died. (For more on this, please see my post The Hebrew Seventh Month.)

But why does any of this matter?

More Than a Technicality

The idea that God selected specific months and days to celebrate his holy convocations is more than an intriguing fact–it reveals God’s amazing plan! 

For example, when Leviticus 23 tells us the exact month and day of Passover, God was revealing that he had a plan for when his Son would be crucified. Jesus was crucified on Nisan 14 and was in the tomb until Nisan 17 (the Feast of Firstfruits) when he rose from the dead. Jesus also fulfilled the Feast of Unleavened Bread while he was dead by removing the leaven of sin (1 Corinthians 5:7-8).

Likewise, when God tells us the exact time of the Feast of Weeks, we can now see that God was revealing his plan for when the Church would be born: Abib 7, which is the fiftieth day after Christ rose from the dead. It’s a very precise plan that God revealed 1500 years before the events were fulfilled by Christ.

But what about his plan for the remaining three fall feasts?

Second Coming or First Coming?

Here’s the tricky part–the part where I step on a lot of toes. It is commonly believed that Jesus will fulfill the fall feasts at his second coming, but I have come to believe that they were fulfilled by him at his first coming, the advent of the Son. They were fulfilled when Christ was born, when he was circumcised, and by all that he did during his life and ministry. In other words, I believe that Jesus was born on Tishri 1, that his circumcision happened eight days later just  before Tishri 10, and he fulfilled the Feast of Tabernacles with his life and ministry because God wandered in the wilderness of this world among us in the tabernacle of human flesh (John 1:14). 

I realize that this may strike many as a shocking suggestion, considering that the accepted view is that Jesus will return on the Feast of Trumpets, but there are several good reasons to reconsider that interpretation.

First of all, many believe that when Paul says in 1 Thessalonians 4:16  “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first,” that Paul means that Jesus will return at the Feast of Trumpets. That kind of makes sense if we only consider that he mentions “the trumpet of God”, but does Paul really mean to say that Jesus will return at the Feast of Trumpets? Is Paul actually saying that Jesus will return on Tishri 1? It is a popular belief, but consider the problems with that interpretation.

One–In fact, Jews blow trumpets (the shofar) many times during the year, not just on the Feast of Trumpets, so it is a major assumption to say that Paul means Jesus will return on the Jewish New Year. The Hebrews blow trumpets at the beginning of every month, at other convocations, on sabbaths, and when they go into battle. They blow trumpets to rejoice, warn, and inspire, so to which trumpet blast is Paul referring? Exegetically it makes more sense to think that he is connecting the return of Christ to a trumpet blast before a battle, and in this case the final battle. It’s the last trumpet of war, and that is a very different purpose from the celebratory trumpet blasts blown on the Jewish New Year.  However, this isn’t a definitive point, so please consider the following:

Two–Jesus told us that we would never be able to know when he would return. No one will ever be able to spiritually know the date or calendrically know the date, and this is a major problem because we know exactly when the Feast of Trumpets is: Tishri 1. Are we to believe Paul told us that Jesus would return on Tishri 1 when he knew perfectly well that Jesus told us no one would ever be able to know the day or the hour? Jesus said about his return: “Of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” (Mark 13:32).

The Greek word for “hour” means “any period, fixed by natural laws and revolutions, whether of the year, month, or day.” In other words, when Jesus uttered the words “But of that day and hour no one knows,” he was emphatically stating that “No one will be able to figure out the year, season, month, day, or moment of my return. Not a bit of it. Nothing. It will be a surprise that not even I, the incarnate Son of God, knows.” In the clearest possible terms, he was unequivocally telling us lowly mortals that “You won’t be able to figure out when I will return. It’s impossible!” 

This fact alone should cause us to reconsider the idea that Jesus will return on Tishri 1.

But now consider the positive reasons for believing Tishri 1 (Ethanim 1) points to the birth of Christ.

Typologies

One–The Jewish New Year celebrates the beginning of the world, our creation. This may seem strange considering that it happens in the seventh month of the Hebrew calendar, but God commanded Moses to make the first month Nisan, in the spring, because that is when the Exodus occurred. But Jewish tradition teaches that the beginning of the world was in Tishri. Could this be what John meant by, “In the beginning was the Word…and the Word became flesh”?

Two–Ezra and Nehemiah chose Tishri 1 to be the day they read the Word of God at the dedication of the wall. This would make sense because they were repenting and returning to obedience to the Word, and they wanted to restart their calendar on the New Year. Also, God’s law declares that the Year of Jubilee begins during the fall feasts and they were restoring property, eliminating debt, and thereby establishing themselves as the people of God who would obey God’s law. Might Jesus have been born at the beginning of the year of Jubilee, or on a sabbath year? And could the reading of the Word of God by Ezra on Tishri 1 point to the birth of Christ, who is the living Word of God? 

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are naked and open to the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. (Hebrews 4:12-13)

Three–Solomon dedicated the temple during the Feast of Tabernacles, and after he prayed, God’s presence descended on the temple and entered the holy of holies. Likewise, when Jesus was born, God’s presence entered the tabernacle of human flesh, and Jesus is the holy of holies. By the way, some Messianic Jews believe the birth of Christ happened during the Feast of Tabernacles because of this kind of typological association, but I believe it points to his life and ministry, not the date of his birth. The reason why is as follows:

Four–The Apostle John records a vision in Revelation 12:1-2 that reveals that Jesus was specifically born at the new moon of the seventh month:

Now a great sign appeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, and on her head a garland of twelve stars. Then being with child, she cried out in labor and in pain to give birth.

The constellation Virgo marked the seventh month two-thousand years ago, and when he sees Virgo “clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet,” that is a reference to Mary who represents Israel (the twelve stars), and she is giving birth to the Messiah as the sun sets with the new moon still above the horizon.

A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet.

So, with these various typologies and visions–and many other clues–I make the case in 500 Year Journey that Jesus was born on the Jewish New Year.

I hope you won’t off-handedly dismiss these points and that you will please consider the full–and joyful–ramifications of these truths. God had a plan, and he fulfilled that plan down to the very month and day! When Christ was born is more than a date…it’s a miracle!!

Buy Now

See the full story of God’s plan unfold in history and in the heavens, and not just the month and day, but also the year. See the truth come into clear focus once the accumulated assumptions and traditions get removed.  Purchase a signed copy today of the book 500 Year Journey from Babylon to Bethlehem for 20% off and free shipping, or visit Amazon.com.