Timing of the Messiah

After studying thousands of articles, documents, ancient testimonies, computer calculations and detailed studies of the birth, death and teachings of our Savior there is one factor that stands out that causes all the confusion about the timing–the year, months and dates of importance. That factor is that most researchers take someone else’s favorite theory and try to BACK INTO the true timing of the scriptures based on only a few seemingly agreeing secular findings and completely ignore the only real proven standard we have–the Holy Scriptures. If they can’t be relied on to provide the foundation for our understanding of the timing of the Father’s plans for the Son and for man, who or what can we rely on ? Jesus (Yeshua) and the apostles relied on them and encouraged others to do likewise.¹

If we take the Spoken word of the Father, the Logos, The Aleph Tav, Yeshua, the Savior at His word, then set that as our basic foundation and and put all the other facts that agree with those scriptures in line with the Word, then we’ll find out the real order of events, the why and how and when. We’ll see the wonderful coordination between prophetic events, the moedim (annual appointments for teaching, rehearsing and revealing the Father’s schedule), and the fascinating way He ties them all together in amazing synchronicity and accuracy. He’s always on time and does what He says He will do.²

Let’s examine just what Yeshua taught about the Feast Seasons (moedim in Hebrew). Passover starts the spring feasts (the Days of Unleavened Bread) off with the symbolism showing exactly why He became one of us to pay our death penalty for us if we will receive that gift from Him and become lifelong disciples.³

To lay a proper foundation for the timing of the birth, ministry, death and resurrection of the Savior and to properly account for and explain His fulfillment of the spring feast days we must understand that the feasts were “shadow pictures” showing the gospel message of salvation 1400 years before the arrival of the Savior. Hang on to your hats, here’s some really cutting edge information that shows the connecting links of all the events I’ve mentioned so far. Please study the footnotes given throughout this paper for more thorough scriptural and historical background information.

Luke 1:5 gives us the time setting for the conception of John the Baptist (Yehonan Ben Zechariah) who was six months older than Yeshua ( which was the name given to Mary by the angel Gabriel for her son meaning ” salvation from Yehovah the Father”⁴ not “Jesus “as most Bibles read ,since the letter “J” was not even invented until 1500 years later and r Yeshua or Yehoshua or Joshua or Jesus as He has been called since the translating of the New Testament had been changed by Greek, Latin and English scholars to avoid any semblance of the Hebrew name given by the angel Gabriel).

The “course of Abia” was the eighth group of priests out of 24 that twice annually served in the temple starting from Abib or Aviv 1(the beginning of the Hebrew calendar year) in what we know as late March or early April.⁵ Zacharias was in this group that served their week plus any Holy Day and cleanup that fell within or adjacent to that week, in this case the Feast of Pentecost caused him to stay later. In all a priest usually served a total of 5 weeks yearly in the temple and returned to his occupation and home during the rest of the year.⁶ This particular year (4BC) Zacharias was in the temple for the first 2 weeks of June then returned home to the hills 30 miles south of Jerusalem. Mary ,a cousin from Nazareth, of Zacharias’ wife Elizabeth came to visit in mid-December⁷ and stayed until mid-March and then John was born around the end of March near Passover. During February of 3BC a census or registration which was actually an oath of allegiance and taxing by Caesar Augustus was administered by Quirinius, the acting governor of Syria which included Israel, to celebrate Caesar’s 25th year of rule and the 750th year of the founding of the Roman Empire. The census was set to be paid and registered during the following 12 months. Joseph decided to pay his tax while attending the Feast of Tabernacles also known as the Feast of Ingathering since all the heads of households and many of their families came each year to Jerusalem with 10% of their annual agricultural profits to celebrate, share, give, sacrifice, worship and feast. In 3BC this was September 26 to October 2, the seventh month Tishri, day 15-22 on the Hebrew calendar.

Some have said the Messiah had to be born on the Feast of Trumpets, (the first day of the 7th month) because of the prophetic significance of the blowing of trumpets signifying the coronation of a king and the alignment of the stars and planets, but His first coming was as Savior and High Priest and His second coming will be as King.

This assumption was wrong because of not knowing or following the scriptures and the “shadow pictures” and the cultural practices involved in keeping the feasts. No one in Israel came to Jerusalem who lived any distance away before the Feast of Trumpets for a ONE day feast. They did not even know which day it would fall on until the appointed watchers saw the first sliver of the new moon and lighted the signal fires and blew the trumpets announcing it’s arrival⁸ then everyone would leave their work, wash and prepare for a day of rest and study of the scriptures and eating together as a family.

According to the historian Josephus, Jerusalem’s 120,000 inhabitants were hosts to 2-300,000 people from all over Israel and surrounding countries thus filling every available motel, “bed-and-breakfast”, private home, campground, park and even stables.⁹

John 1:14 says “The Word (Logos) was made flesh and dwelt (TABERNACLED) with us”. Another thing to note in Luke is that even though there were unusual signs in the heavens announcing the arrival of “something “significant, there was no “star” over Bethlehem at that time. It was 15 months or so later. It was late September and the shepherds were with the flocks in the fields protecting them from animals and rustlers and fattening them up for the Feast of Tabernacles sacrifices when they saw a bright LIGHT and heard ANGELS quoting the Feast of Tabernacles liturgy “we have come to declare to you glad tidings of great joy”.¹⁰ They were 4 miles southwest of Jerusalem outside of Bethlehem which means “House of Bread”¹¹ which is very fitting for “the Bread of Life ” to be born there in the city of David since that was David’s birthplace.¹²

The manger, stable, cave, sukkah or whatever shelter name you wish to give it was in a unique position so that the shepherds knew exactly where to look for the newborn savior. The angels said the SIGN would be the MANGER and the SWADDLING cloths (2 inch wide strips of linen cloth wrapped around a baby of royal lineage after He had been washed in salted water; see Ezekiel 16:4). That told the shepherds that they would find Him in a manger in the shadow or beside Migdal Eder the “Tower of the Lambs” where the priests washed the lambs before they were to be chosen for sacrifice in Jerusalem at the temple for The Feasts. At Passover, in the spring each year, there were 250.000 lambs sacrificed and eaten. That watchtower from the time of Jacob was torn down several years ago after pictures had been taken of it. The swaddling cloths were used for 2 purposes. They were used to wash lambs and they were used as wicks to light 16 30 gallon vats of olive oil on the 35 foot high lampstands around the temple mount providing light for the entire area during feasts.¹³

Imagine that, the ”Light of the World-the Bread of Life” was wrapped in temple mount lamp wicks just after he was born at the beginning of the “Feast of Lights” which was another name for the Feast of Tabernacles. Also He was to become the LIGHT for all nations since another name for the feast was the “Festival of the Nations”.¹⁴

According to the most recent computer star and planet rotation calculations for the year 3BC on June 2 the planet Jupiter lined up with Venus on top of each other like a starry figure “8” visible at sunset from Shushan in Persia (today known as Shustar in Iran) 225 miles east of the city of Babylon 1000 miles from Jerusalem.¹⁵ This was a signal that the Messiah was coming. The astronomers and men of science called “Magi” were also Jewish sages or scholars trained in the scriptures and prophecies of Daniel, Isaiah, etc. whose families stayed behind to run their businesses when Ezra and Nehemiah returned to Israel to rebuild Jerusalem and they were wealthy and respected throughout the orient as it was known then.. There were many prophecies written concerning the Messiah all through the scriptures from Genesis to Malachi.¹⁶ Daniel who was taken captive to Babylon became the leader of the school there for bright young Jewish scholars and was elevated to the level of our equivalent position of secretary of state under 4 kings because of his ability to interpret their dreams. Daniel amassed a great deal of wealth with no heirs since he was a eunuch as most educated foreigners had to become to stay in the presence of the kings families. When he died he left a portion for the Messiah with instructions to watch for the Messiah’s star in the west.¹⁷ On September 11, 3BC Jupiter (called the King star and star of Righteousness) started a circle and came into union with Regulus the King star-the star of the Messiah¹⁸ in the constellation of Leo the Lion (the Judah constellation) in between it’s feet¹⁹ signifying to those knowing the prophetic scriptures the arrival of the “son of righteousness” to His place as the lion’s whelp to later become king.²⁰ The same alignment occurred February 17, 2BC and May 8, 2BC as Jupiter circled and crowned Regulus. The conjunction of Mars and Jupiter was on August 26, 2BC, and was the signal for the “Magi” to start preparing for the journey to the Messiah. After organizing, packing and traveling 10-15 miles per day by camel they arrived in Judea and started asking for the whereabouts of the new king. Then after talking with Herod and his historians on December 25, 2BC, Jupiter came into a position as seen from Jerusalem directly over Bethlehem and in the middle of the constellation Virgo.²¹

Why Joseph and Mary and Yeshua stayed in Bethlehem for over a year is never mentioned in any account except to mention the social pressure and explaining to do had they returned to Nazareth not knowing fully how to explain who they had in their care and the legal requirements because of children birthed to not-yet wed mothers. We do know they stayed for more than 40 days for Mary’s purification rites and lived in a house in Bethlehem and Yeshua was probably walking already since Matthew calls Him a young child–i.e. a toddler. (Matthew 2:11) Since Joseph was being contacted and instructed regularly by the angel Gabriel, it must follow that he had instructions to stick around for a special blessing and a blessing it was–gold, frankincense and myrrh from the Prophet Daniel and other messianic stargazers from Iran. It was such a blessing that when the angel appeared again telling him to flee to Egypt he had the funds to do so and to return later to Nazareth, his home town and set up a new carpentry business.

Why would the Edomite King Herod send out a decree to kill all boys under the age of two? He was afraid of a new king being announced that would motivate the people to revolt against his rule and give him a bad name in Rome and possibly losing his appointed position.

Since John was almost two years old, his mother took him to live in the hills to the south along the Dead Sea and raised him in the caves near Qumran and the Essene colony who stored away the Dead Sea scrolls for us to read today. They would never destroy any scrolls with YEHOVAH’s name (YHVH actually since there were no vowels added to scriptures at that time) on them so they stored them away. When the soldiers came to inquire of Zecharias as to his “less than 2 year old” son they killed him between the altar and the holy place in the temple since he refused to tell where Elizabeth took John (Matthew 23:35).

Joseph , Mary and Yeshua fled to Egypt around the end of December and the edict to kill all the little boys went into effect in the first week of January. On January 9, Herod had a rabbi named Matthias and another rabbi burned to death then there was an eclipse. Herod then died January 10, 1BC at age 70.²²

With all this information, it’s time to make some real sense about the actual length of time of Yeshua’s ministry. John the Baptist and Yeshua began their ministries in their 30th year (the age required to be attained before becoming a rabbi or priest) and the fact that they were both born in 3BC and there was no year “0” their ministries had to start in AD 27 since all babies were considered to be 1 year old at birth.

John 2:13 says the elders said it took 46 years to build this (Herod’s) temple to this point which proves the year to be 27AD since the temple was started in 19 BC. How long was the ministry of Yeshua? Some say only 70 weeks.²³ The defining argument for this new understanding of the timing of His crucifixion and the length of His ministry only being just over “1” year is the fact that in the year AD 28 Passover happened to fall on Wednesday evening and that allowed for the “3 days and nights in the grave” and the late Sabbath into early Sunday resurrection spoken of by Yeshua in His OWN WORDS in Matthew 12:39-40.²⁴ No other year matches that Passover date and is anywhere near 30 years from 3BC. This has messed up theologians for many years since they haven’t followed all the scriptures FIRST in their research and made sure that their other sources matched our foundation of all knowledge.

Yeshua made such a stir among the religious controllers of Jewish society , the Pharisees and Sadducees and the High Priest , during that ONE YEAR that they couldn’t allow Him to live since He had taught against all THEIR exaggerations, nitpicking and overdoing of the TORAH or as it says in the KJV “the Law” (as seen in examples in the Talmud or as the Jews call it “The Oral Law”). YEHOVAH had given the Torah 1400 years earlier to Moses for Israel to use as a way to enjoy life to it’s fullest, safest and healthiest. It was so simple a 5 year old child could understand it and obey it. Having burdened the way of life with their “Takanot, ma’asim and other Oral laws that are not found in Torah, the scribes, Pharisees, Sadducees and priests couldn’t stand the thought of losing control over all that tithe and temple tax and offering money and the power of LEGALISM over all the Jews, should Yeshua decide to announce His kingship at that time and actually do something about it with the people’s help or supernatural help.

Another thought as to Yeshua’s ministry. If Yeshua gave us chapters 13,14,15,16, and 17 of the book of John, the evening of His last supper with his disciples, that’s one fourth of the book of John in ONE evening, and most of the parables and travels of His ministry only covered a little over ONE year that was requoted 4 times by Matthew , Mark, Luke and John, where do they, the theologians, get the 3 1/2 years for Yeshua’s ministry? That teaching has messed up proper figuring the birth and resurrection dates for Yeshua for hundreds of years. Eusebius bishop of Caesarea, 3 hundred years later invented it to fit his own undocumented interpretation of Daniel’s prophecies.²⁵

Yeshua was an observant Jew and would not break His Own Law (Torah) so He observed the Feast days and they are listed, but only 2 Passover seasons and 1 of each of the other feasts during His ministry. Several early writers and historians who had access to the records and testimonies of the apostles and other eye witnesses corroborate the ONE year ministry. Clement of Alexandria (150-215), Tertullian (160-220), Origen (185-254), and Lactantius (260-330) ALL said Yeshua of Nazareth had only a 1 year ministry. AND their writings call Him by His correct name– not Jesus since the “J” hadn’t been invented yet.

Study the detailed charts and the footnotes and read the scriptures for yourself and see if you agree that all that we have been taught hasn’t always been “inspired by the Holy Spirit” but has been polluted by the minds and hands of men who forget what the standard for our scholarship, our knowledge and our lives is supposed to be—the Holy Scriptures–the Bible.

Footnotes

1. II Timothy 2:15, 3:15-17
2. Isaiah 55:11
3. John 8:31
4. Hebrew Strong’s concordance #3444: Yeshua means Salvation, Isaiah 12:2
5. Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews, Vol.7, pp.7-14
6. Luke 1:23, 39-40
7. Luke 1:36, 39-40
8. Matthew 24:42, Mark 13:32-33
9. moedim, appointed times, times of rehearsal, Genesis 1:14, Deuteronomy 16:16
10. Luke 2:10 the Feast of tabernacles was also called Feast of Our Joy
11. Micah 5:2, Matthew 2:6
12. John 7:42 and V.P.Wierville’s “Jesus Christ Our Promised Seed”
13. Isaiah 42:6, 49:6, John 8:12
14. Zechariah 14:16, Leviticus 19:34, Ephesians 2:19, Isaiah 56:6-8, Luke 2:32
15. Jim Thompson’s “The Birthday of Jesus”
16. Genesis 3:15, 47:10, Isaiah 7:14, 9:6-7
17. Genesis 1:14, Numbers 24:17, Isaiah 60:3,6
18. D.Ronas Allen, The Stars of His Comng, p.15
19. Genesis 49:9-10 20. Numbers 24:17 21. Matthew 2:9 22. Daniel 9:24
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23. The Chronological Gospels, p.60
24. Matthew 12:39-40, 16:4, Luke 11:29
25. The Chronological Gospels, pp.2-3