[Just mythoughts]

Luke 1:5 uses the phrase "course of Abia", (IChron. 24:10 and Neh. 12:17) describes a specific time of the year. During our present day of June, and it was after this "course" that John the baptist was conceived.

We are told that while John was 6 months in the womb he leaped when Mary came to tell Elizabeth her cousin about what had happened.

Six months from the end of June would be right about December 25th when the conception took place.

[carton253]

Yet, Jesus was 30 when he began His ministry and ministered for 3 and 1/2 years. That would make Him 33 and 1/2 years old in March or April... pushing back His birthday until August - October range.

[AlGone2001]

Certainly we can use the course of Abijah to determine John the Baptist's conception, which helps us mathematically determine Christ's conception and birth.

The only issue with specifically attributing it to December 25th is that there were 24 courses.

I personally don't know the length of each course.

Did each course report for duty once a year? Did they serve two weeks?

The lunar year is about 360 days. If they reported once per year, that comes out to fifteen days for each course.

This means that the fifteenth course would have served from days 106-120 of the year.

However, doing a small search on the Internet has led me to believe that the changes occurred once a week. Since there are 24 courses, that would mean that a seven day course throws off the math. This means that the courses would not necessarily serve at the same time each year.

In other words, in the lunar year there are 51.4 weeks. The math does not line up to allow for an order to serve at exactly the same time each year, since 24 (course) times 2 (weekly services) comes out to 48 (weeks). This leaves 3.4 weeks unaccounted for.

Using that math, one would not expect the same course to be at the temple at the same time each year.

If it is true that the courses were seven days in length, there is mathematically no reason to conclude either John's or Christ's conceptions/births.

I would greatly appreciate any help you can give if I am off base.

[AnAmericanMother]

When they found the Dead Sea Scrolls they found a temple service calendar. Zechariah's time of service can be calculated from the calendar. If you calculate forward from that date to when John the Baptist was 6 months in the womb, then an additional 9 months gives you December 25th.

More than you wanted to know about the various methods used for calculating the date of Jesus's birth

[editor-surveyor]

"Six months from the end of June would be right about December 25th when the conception took place."

Yes, you got it exactly right.

[DennisR]

So you are saying the conception of Jesus happened in December?

If so, maybe we are actually celebrating the conception of Jesus rather than His birth??? And does this mean that Jesus was a Person at conception?

As Artie Johnson used to say, "Veddy intedesting!"

[GourmetDan]

" Six months from the end of June would be right about December 25th when the conception took place."

More likely that the conception of Christ took place at the feast of Hanukkah, rather than on Dec 25 specifically. Hanukkah was the feast of the re-dedication of the temple after it had been defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes. This feast was a prophetic type of the re-dedication of the human body as a temple of the Holy Spirit through the conception of Jesus Christ after it had been defiled through sin by Adam.

This would also put the birth of Christ at the Feast of Tabernacles, again a prophetic type of the "Word became flesh and 'tabernacled' among us" (John 1:14) This is witnessed by the words of righteous Simeon when he said, "...For mine eyes have seen thy salvation, Which thou hast prepared before the face of all people..." referring to the crowds gathered in Jerusalem for the feast. Tabernacles is also known as 'The Season of Our Joy' (Deut 16:15).

In the same manner, the feast of Passover was the prophetic type of the sacrifice of the 'Lamb of God' so that the destroying angel might 'pass over' us and was fulfilled with Christ's crucifixion and His resurrection on the first day of the Feast of Firstfruits, the first Sunday after Passover.

In the same manner, the feast of Pentecost was the prophetic type of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the birth of the Church. Pentecost was associated with the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai. As we read in Exodus 20:18, "...all the people saw the thunderings, and the lightnings..." (KJV), if we look at our Strong's Concordance we find that the words for 'thunderings' and 'lightenings' have within them the meaning of 'torches and voices' representing the fire and tongues given in Acts 2.

The three feasts which Jews were commanded to return to Jerusalem (Tabernacles, Passover & Pentecost) were not arbitrary rules given by God. They were designed to ensure that the maximum number of Jewish people were in Jerusalem to witness the birth of Christ, his crucifixion and resurrection and the birth of that marvelous entity, His Church.

There is really no mystery to all of this. It is in plain sight for those who have eyes to see. Both Jew and Gentile.