41 Days in Bethlehem
Jordan Blake Michiels
Chief Creative Director (Retired) at JBM Productions: Writer | Author | Poet | Vocalist | Speaker | Performer
The Keys To Understanding The “Star of Bethlehem Problem”.
Whenever you research the star of Bethlehem most often you will find a list of all the theories of when, where, and what the majority of scholars or writers think could be the truth. The first problem that I see is that the majority has failed to actually read the New Testament accounts. They seem to be reading what everyone else has written—about what was written in the first place and so they have to rely on the diligence and knowledge of those researchers.
Secondly, because they have not read the story straight from Matthew and Luke they do not perceive the course of events or the chronology which would lead them to an understanding of the truth of what happened historically. Moreover, Matthew and Luke provide clues to the timing of the birth of Jesus which requires that the reader is also familiar with Roman history and the Old Testament or Torah and other writing now in the Tanakh (Jewish Bible). Once we firmly understand the information inside scripture we can start looking at outside sources.
In this article, I am going to provide a little evidence. However, if you want more information or simply to see if I have done my homework please be my guest and read my article “Somewhere In Time”.
Please join with me as I share a few facts that will lead you to a closer understanding of the birth of Jesus, the Christ, and clear away some of the confusion surrounding our topic. Please allow me to share the conclusions and then if you don’t want to take my word for it you are free to check my research in the above article, check facts, and do even more research on your own.
Where Was Jesus Born?
Jesus of Nazareth was born in the small town of Bethlehem of Judea in the land of Israel. We are all familiar with the story that there was no room in the Inn. However, the Greek word "kataluma" translated as “Inn” in Luke 2:7 is also translated as “guest-chamber” in Luke 22:11 which is also called an upper room. More than likely Jesus was born in the lower main room of a 2 story house where the animals were brought in and kept for the night and usually had a manger carved out of stone.
When Was Jesus Born?
From the text of Res Gestrae Divi Agusti (The deeds of The Divine Augustus) the funerary inscription of Augustus Caesar: “During my sixth term as consul (28 BC), I, along with my comrade Marcus Agrippa, commanded a census to be taken of the people. I directed a lustrum (5-year period), the first in forty-one years, in which 4,063,000 Roman citizens were counted. And once again, with imperial authority, I single-handedly authorized a lustrum when the consuls of Rome were Gaius Censorinus and Gaius Asinius (8 BC) during which time 4,233,000 Roman citizens were counted. A third time, with the consular imperium, and with my son Tiberius Caesar as my colleague, I performed a lustrum in the consulship of Sextus Pompeius and Sextus Apuleius (AD. 6.) In this lustrum 4,937,000 Roman citizens were entered on the census roll.”
Res Gestae Divi Agusti 8 – The deeds of The Divine Augustus – translation from the Loeb edition 1924.
“The text, which was inscribed on two columns near the Mausoleum of Augustus in Rome, has survived as an inscription in the Temple of Roma and Augustus in modern Ankara (ancient Ancyra, Turkey, Republic of Türkiye), which is currently in use as a mosque.” - Livius.org
So directly from Augustus about Augustus, written in stone, we see there was a decree that went out from Augustus Caesar in 8 BC, and a “lustrum” is a 5-year period. Many articles and books have been written claiming there was no census decreed.
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia. 1 Chronicles chapter 24 provides the narrative of the courses being set in the court of King David. To understand the chronology we must start with the Hebrew calendar and then convert the event dates into the Gregorian calendar.
(My favorite tool is https://rosettacalendar.com/ )
Now when we follow the chain of events from when Zacharias served in the temple we get when John the Baptist and Jesus were born. John at the appointed time of Passover and Jesus at the appointed time of the Feast of Tabernacles and it is very interesting that the last day of which is called the eighth day.
Given that Augustus decreed the registration in 8 BC if we read Matthew, Luke, Josephus, and Tertullian we get that Jesus was born during the days of Herod the Great which ended just before Passover in 4 BC. Tertullian gives us the information that censuses were taken and Jesus was born while Gaius Sentius Saturninus was governor of Syria 9,8, & 7 BC and since he (Saturninus) was marching in Germany with Tiberius in early 6 BC—Saturninus was out of Syria by the end of 7 BC which gives us The Feast of Tabernacles 7 BC for the birth of Jesus around October 6th the beginning of the feast. Furthermore, Publius Quinctilius Varus served two terms as governor of Syria from Antioch 6 BC – 1 BC and no mention of dealing with a census or taxes has been found to date. Please if you find evidence Varus dealt with a census in any way contact me on LinkedIn and provide the source.
Also, Publius Sulpicius Quirinius (aka Cyrenius of Luke) served as legatus Caesaris proconsulari potestate for the purpose of making war upon the Cilician tribe (the Homonadenses) from 12 BC to 6 BC after his consulship in 12 BC; and, as Cilicia was, at that time, attached to the province of Syria. Luke uses the word hegemoneuo which gets translated as Governor. Both Saturninus and Quirinius were governing from Syria at the same time in 7 BC. However, from different regions and with different responsibilities. Quirinius was governor of Syria a second time from AD 6-12 which explains Luke’s statement about the first time meaning his term in Syria-Cilicia where he also oversaw the building of the Via Sebaste road completed in 6 BC. Too often a writer will take the position one source must be right and the other wrong instead of asking “How can they both be correct?” Those who try to pit Luke against Tertullian are simply ignorant of Roman history. We should never allow our ignorance to proceed us – but studying to show ourselves approved unto God.
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Luke 2:39 So when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee, to their own city, Nazareth.
Leviticus chapter 12 spells out that for a male child, the mother is ceremonially unclean for seven days. On the eighth day, the boy is to be circumcised. Then the woman must wait thirty-three days to be purified from her bleeding. She must not touch anything sacred or go to the sanctuary until the days of her purification are over. So, doing the simple math we have 7 days, the eighth day, then a 33-day waiting period. This gives us 41 days. Joseph and Mary being law observant Jews would have been in Jerusalem at the temple on day 42.
The most important key has been in plain sight all along. Luke tells us in Luke chapter 2: And when they had performed all things according to the law of the Lord, they returned into Galilee, to their own city Nazareth. Luke 2:39
What? Wait...
...are you saying Jesus was in Bethlehem for only 41 days and then we have the story of Simeon and Anna prophesying at the temple when Jesus was presented to the Lord? Then they went back to Nazareth? Yes, that about sums it up.
The triple conjunction of 7 BC does speak to the birth of Jesus who was born a prince of Israel from the lineage of King David. However, we need to look 2 years later in 5 BC for the event that has been named “The Star of Bethlehem”. The irony is that Herod’s men told him where the baby would be born, but the star led the Parthian Magi north to Nazareth where the child was...So we can calculate that the Magi came to Herod between 5 BC and his death in 4 BC.
The birth of Jesus and the events of the Magi need to be separated by two years in our understanding. Most of the theories out there do not take into account the chronology of the narrative. My research if the star was a physical heavenly body is strongly pointing to the broom star of 5 BC which was seen for more than 70 days until the Chinese lost track of it due to the monsoon season and overcast skies. The Magi would have still been able to see the broom star from Israel. Isaac Newton in his Principia shows a diagram of how a comet of this type appears, disappears, and reappears again explaining why the Magi were so happy when they saw the star again. However, keep in mind that in the Old Testament and New Testament angels are referred to as stars and just might explain how the “Star” came to rest over the house where he was.
The star of Bethlehem probably should have been called the “King Star” or the “Star of the Magi” or simply an angel because the wise men never went to Bethlehem. The Parthian Magi found the child Jesus in Nazareth sometime in 5BC. Then the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream sending them to Egypt. If they did not flee to the Jewish community in Alexandria they may have gone to Heliopolis where the true priests fled after Onias III was replaced by his brother Jason. There in Heliopolis over the ruins of the Biblical city of On they built a rival Jewish Temple which stood for hundreds of years before and after the time of the life of Jesus of Nazareth.
In conclusion,
...too often the story of Jesus is clumped together blurring the truth of the events written about so long ago. Jesus of Nazareth was born in Bethlehem of Judea but was there for only 41 days before Joseph and Mary stopped off in Jerusalem for the dedication and sacrifice of two doves before then heading back to Galilee, to their own hometown of Nazareth. Two years later the Parthian Magi came to visit with Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh (which they probably purchased in Petra) to the house where they lived. There was no cave, Sukkah, or manger in the Magi story. Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt until after Herod was dead and then they returned to Nazareth where Jesus grew up to become the Son of Man. Dying on a cross in AD 30 on the 16th of Nissan and then rising from the grave on the 3rd day. The rest is History.
Bless Be HaShem
Now, I have provided you with some information and conclusions. I have told you “What” but I have not really told you “How” or “Why”, the conclusions are true and that is what is interesting. For more information and charts – For proof of when Jesus was born and why it could not have been 6,5,4,3,2, or 1 BC check out the article Somewhere In Time because understanding chronology is very important.
The article Somewhere In Time
For proof Jesus was crucified in AD 30 check out the article – Timeline: The Last Passover With Jesus
Timeline: The Last Passover With Jesus
#starofbethlehem/ #birthofjesus/ #augustuscaesar/ #quirinius/ #cyrenius/ #magi/ #parthian/ #chronology/ #jewishlaw/
never let google do your thinking for you. my YHWH be praised.
10 个月I do not agree with all of your conclusions... but I feel your heart is in the right place... and the ruach is leading you in the right step... I'm going to start reading your past catalog of articles.... and maybe we can start having a Sabbath Torah teaching. You are our YHWHs son. J