Second in a series of three:
If Jesus’ conception occurred in mid December, then Jesus would have been born nine months later during the Jewish month of Tishri. This month corresponds with our month of September. Is there documentation that Jesus was born during September or October? Again we go to Scripture for additional puzzle pieces. This one is from Luke.

Luke 2:8

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.

At the time that Jesus was born there were shepherds living in the fields. Shepherds lived in the open country during the months from spring until the rainy season, which began most often in early October. This would not have been mid December. There would have been no grass for the sheep to eat. It would have been sometime before the rainy season.

Earlier we established that John the Baptist was born during the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Passover) one of three main festival days of the Lord. We have established the month of Jesus’ conception as mid December which places His birth in mid September. Feast of Tabernacles is celebrated in the seventh month, the month of Tishri, corresponding with our months of September or October (according to whether or not it is the Jewish leap year). Is there reason to believe that Jesus may have been born during the Feast of Tabernacles?

John gives us a piece of the puzzle.
John 1:14a
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.

The “Word” is Jesus who was born a baby. He made His dwelling among us. The Greek word “dwelling” means “to encamp, to make a temporary residence, to tabernacle”

Jesus came to earth as a baby to “tabernacle” among us, to take up temporary residence with us.

The Feast of Tabernacles is an eight day festival. If Jesus was born on the first day of the feast, then he would have been circumcised on the eighth day of the feast.

Luke 2:21

On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived.

So we can place the date of Jesus’ birth during the Feast of Tabernacles. Can we know the year? We again return to Scripture for that piece of the puzzle.

Matthew gives us the piece of that puzzle. After Jesus was born, Joseph was warned in a dream to take Jesus and His mother to Egypt until the death of Herod.

Matt 2:14-15

So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt, where he stayed until the death of Herod. And so was fulfilled

Jesus was born while Herod was in power. Matthew tells us that wise men from the east appeared in Jerusalem and inquired of Herod concerning the birth of the “king of the Jews”. The possibility of another “king” in the midst angered Herod so much that he ordered the deaths of all baby boys aged two years and younger. Of course Joseph by this time had already taken Jesus safely to Egypt.

According to the Jewish historian, Josephus, Herod died in the spring of 4 B.C. This means that Jesus was born before 4 B.C. at least one to two years before, either 5 B.C or 6 B.C. A date of 5 B.C. fits with other Biblical data. Jesus was “about” 30 when He began His official teaching mission. (Luke 3:23). We know that Jesus was baptized in or around 27 AD based on the scripture account in Luke 3:1 In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar-- when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene--

We say in or around 27 AD because Tiberius Caesar ruled prior to his “official” rule that began in 14 AD. Scripture tells us that Jesus started His ministry when He was about 30 years of age. We do not know for certain that He was baptized at the very beginning of His ministry. As a cross reference for date finding, we add three years to the date of 27 AD and arrive at 30 AD as the date of Jesus’ crucifixion. In looking at the Hebrew calendar we discover that all the Biblical days of the week during Holy week exactly match the Hebrew calendar year 3790 (30 AD). None of the years immediately before or after 30 AD match the Biblical timeline. It is established by Biblical truth with calendar and scientific cross references. So the birth year of 5 B.C. fits with the date of crucifixion in 30 A.D.

We have placed the birth of Jesus during the Feast of Tabernacles in 5 B.C., using several Biblical and historical references. As a “cherry on the top”, ponder this.

Many times in Scripture darkness is associated with evil and Satan as the ruler of the darkness or the night. In Genesis 1:16a we read,

“God made two great lights-- the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light (the moon) to govern the night”.

What better way to illustrate that the birth of Jesus overshadowed the ruler of the night, than with a lunar eclipse? In 5 B.C. on September 15 in the nation of Israel there was a total lunar eclipse.

September 15 of that year just “happened” to fall on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles! Coincidence???