Birth of Christ Timeline
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1Ch 24:1-18 “ 1Ch 24:5 Thus were they divided by lot, one sort with another; for the governors of the sanctuary, and governors of the house of God, were of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar. 1Ch 24:6 And Shemaiah the son of Nethaneel the scribe, one of the Levites, wrote them before the king, and the princes, and Zadok the priest, and Ahimelech the son of Abiathar, and before the chief of the fathers of the priests and Levites: one principal household being taken for Eleazar, and one taken for Ithamar. ….”
2Ch 8:14 And he appointed, according to the order of David his father, the courses of the priests to their service, and the Levites to their charges, to praise and minister before the priests, as the duty of every day required: the porters also by their courses at every gate: for so had David the man of God commanded.
Luk 1:5 There was in the days of Herod, king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abijah: and he had a wife of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.
Luk 1:6 And they were both righteous before God, walking in all the commandments and ordinances of the Lord blameless.
Luk 1:7 And they had no child, because that Elisabeth was barren, and they both were now well stricken in years.
Luk 1:8 Now it came to pass, while he executed the priest's office before God in the order of his course,
Luk 1:9 according to the custom of the priest's office, his lot was to enter into the temple of the Lord and burn incense.
Luk 1:10 And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the hour of incense.
Luk 1:11 And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of altar of incense.
Luk 1:12 And Zacharias was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him.
Luk 1:13 But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: because thy supplication is heard, and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.
Luk 1:22 And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: and he continued making signs unto them, and remained dumb.
Luk 1:23 And it came to pass, when the days of his ministration were fulfilled, he departed unto his house.
Luk 1:24 And after these days Elisabeth his wife conceived; and she hid herself five months, saying,
Luk 1:25 Thus hath the Lord done unto me in the days wherein he looked upon me, to take away my reproach among men.
Luk 1:26 Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God unto a city of Galilee, named Nazareth,
Luk 1:27 to a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary.
Luk 1:28 And he came in unto her, and said, Hail, thou that art highly favored, the Lord is with thee.
Luk 1:29 But she was greatly troubled at the saying, and cast in her mind what manner of salutation this might be.
Luk 1:30 And the angel said unto her, Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favor with God.
Luk 1:31 And behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS.
Luk 1:32 He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David:
Luk 1:33 and he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.
Luk 1:34 And Mary said unto the angel, How shall this be, seeing I know not a man?
Luk 1:35 And the angel answered and said unto her, The Holy Spirit shall come upon thee, and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee: wherefore also the holy thing which is begotten shall be called the Son of God.
Luk 1:36 And behold, Elisabeth thy kinswoman, she also hath conceived a son in her old age; and this is the sixth month with her that was called barren.
Luk 1:37 For no word from God shall be void of power.
Luk 2:6 And it came to pass, while they were there, the days were fulfilled that she should be delivered.
Luk 2:7 And she brought forth her firstborn son; and she wrapped him in swaddling clothes, and laid him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.
The Feast of Tabernacles is the fifteenth day of the seventh month (Jewish). That would be mid-October by our present day calendar.
"Three times in a year shall all the males appear before the Lord thy God in the place which He shall choose: in the Feast of Unleavened Bread, and in the Feast of Weeks, and in the Feast of Tabernacles: and they shall not appear before the Lord empty." - Deuteronomy 16:16
Feast of Tabernacles
“On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, when you have gathered in the produce of the land, you shall keep the feast of The Lord seven days; on the first day shall be a solemn rest, and on the eighth day shall be a solemn rest. And you shall take on the first day the fruit of goodly trees, branches of palm trees, and boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before The Lord your God seven days. You shall keep it as a feast to The Lord seven days in the year; it is a statute for ever throughout your generations; you shall keep it in the seventh month. You shall dwell in booths for seven days; all that are native in Israel shall dwell in booths, that your generations may know that I made the people of Israel dwell in booths when I brought them out of the land of Egypt : I am The Lord your God." (Leviticus 23:39-43 RSV)In that day will I raise up the tabernacle (sukkah) of David that is fallen down . . and I will raise up his ruins, and I will build it as in the days of old. (Amos 9:11)
Behold, the Tabernacle of God is with men and He will dwell with them and they shall be his people and God himself shall be with them and be their God." Revelation 21:3
Summary: (Please see the table below for months)
Zacharias served during the course of Abijah which was the two week period of our early August. (1 Chronicles 24) During his service in the Temple Zacharias was told his wife would bear a son. (Luke 1:8-22) After his service in the Temple he went home and his wife, Elizabeth, conceived a son (John the Baptist). (Luke 1:23-24) In the sixth month of Elizabeth’s pregnancy (Jewish month of Tevet or our late Jan. early Feb.) Mary was told she would bear a son, Jesus the Christ. (Luke 1:36) After 9 months Jesus was born (Luke 2:6-7) The timeline makes the birth of Christ late September to early October by our present day calendar.
The timing provided in Luke shows the birth of Christ happened in late September to early October. This coincides with the Feast of Tabernacles which falls in present day mid-October. The birth of Christ is a fulfillment of the Feast of Tabernacles since Christ is the perfect tabernacle.
Agreed! He was born around October and not December. Also when the world celebrate Christmas, they do it for a “holiday season”. Not to celebrate the Messiah, they do not care about it.
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