Basic HTML Version
the Prince shall be seven weeks,
and threescore and two weeks ..."
(Dan. 9:25).
The commandment or decree to
restare and build Jerusalern was
rnade in the seventh year of the
reign of Artaxerxes I , king o f
ancient Persia (see Ezra 7:8)–
acco rding to the a uturnn-to–
autumn reckoning of the Jews, in
457 a.c. The archangel Gabriel told
Daniel that there would be a total
of 69 prophetic weeks frorn that
time until the public appearance of
the Messiah.
Sixty-nine weeks is equivalent to
483 days (69 x 7). A day of pro–
phetic fu lfillment is a year in actual
t ime (Nurn. 14:34; Ezek. 4:6). So
483 prophetic days (69 prophetic
weeks) is
483 years.
S imple arit hmetic now takes
over. Four-hund red-eighty-three
years frorn 457 a.c. (the year of the
decree) brings us to
A.D.
27-the
year when J esus, the Messiah,
began his public ministry. (In cal–
culating this, be aware that you
must add 1 to compensate for the
fact that there is no year zero.)
Now consider further: I t is gen–
erally understood that Jesus en–
tered upon h is ministry in the
autumn
of the year, immediately
after his bapt ism. ( His minis try
!asted 3'h years, ending in the
spring,
at Passover time.) In Luke
3:23 we learn that J esus was "about
thi rty years of age" when he began
his ministry.
If
he was about 30
years old in the autumn of
A.D.
27,
then he must have been
born
in the
end of surnmer or early autumn,
and in
4
B.c.! (Remember, there is
no year zero.)
lt
thus stands clearly revealed
from Daniel's prophecy that J esus
was born in 4 s.c.. But there is yet
fu rther proof!
Herod's Eclipse
Students of the Bible recognize
that Jesus was born
before
the
death of Herod the Great (Matt.
2:15, 19). When d id Herod die?
The fi rs t centu ry
A.D.
J ewish
hi storian Flavius Jose phus , in
Antiquities of th e J ews
(book
XVJI , chapter vi), tells of an
ecl ipse of the moon late in Herod's
reign. 1 have befare me, as
1
write,
the authori tative
Solar and Lunar
Eclipses of the Ancient Near East
November/ December 1985
by Kudlek and Mickler. Its tables
reveal that the luna r eclipse in
question occurred on March 13, 4
B.C.
Continuing with Josephus' ac–
count, we discover that sometime
after the eclipse, Herod- affiicted
with a painful and loathsorne d is–
ease-went beyond the river Jor–
dan to batbe himself in bot springs
there. The cures he under took were
unsuccessful. H is condition wor–
sened and he returned to Jericho.
There, in a wi ld rage, he plotted the
deaths of many prominent J ews.
He also ordered his own son, An–
t ipa ter, slai n. All these events
required sorne months.
Josephus further reveals (chap–
ter ix) that Herod 's death occurred
sornetime befare a spring Passover.
This Passover would have been 13
months after the ecl ipse, or the
Passover
Of
April, 3 B.C. This con–
fi rms ou r previously calculated 4
a.c. birthdate for Jesus.
Further corroborating this, J ose–
phus also records (XVII, viii, 1)
th a t at bis deat h, Herod had
reigned
37
years since he had been
declared king by the Rornans. That
had occurred in 40 a.c., a fact that
Di onysi us overlooked. H e rod's
death therefore took place late in 4
B.C.-shortly after Jesus ' birth in
the early autumn of 4 s.c.
This is the
only
date that is con–
sistent with all the provable facts!
The " Star" of Bethlehem
A word is necessary at this point
about the celebrated "Star of Beth–
lehern" (Matt. 2) that guided the
wise men (Greek,
Magi)
across the
deserts of the East to Bethlehem.
The Plain Truth
receives rnany let–
ters about this each December.
Scholars have tr ied to pinpoint the
date of Jesus' birth by means of
astronomical calculat ions related to
the appearance of this mysterious
"star." For centuries, theologians
and ast ronomers have puzzled over
and debated this perplexing ques–
tion.
Dozens of theories exist purport–
ing to explain what this "star"
actually was and when it appeared.
Sorne hold it was a cornet. Others
postulate a nova (exploding star).
Still others say it was a rneteor, or a
planet, or a conjunction of two or
more planets. (A conjunction takes
place when planets appear, from
our earthly viewpoint, to briefly
becorne a single bright object as
their paths cross the sky.) Dates for
proposed ce les ti a l phenome na
usually range from 7 B.c. to 2 a.c.
But the heart and core of the star
controversy goes beyond matters of
astronomy. To one who believes
that the Bible is the Word of God
and is to be taken at face value, the
account of the star in Matthew's
gospel can have only one explana–
tion.
lt
was clearly and incontro–
vertibly a
miracle,
of
supernatura/,
not natural origin!
·
What natu ral phenomenon in the
heavens-whether comet, meteor,
exploding star or planet-could
"go befare" the Magi and "stand
ov~r"
a specific house to
precise/y
pinpoint
it (Matt. 2:9- 11)? And if
it was attributable to a nonmiracu–
lous agency, how can we account
that it appeared and reappeared to
the Magi and apparently went gen–
erally unnot iced by others?
Natural explanations are sheer
as tronomical foolishness! lf the bib–
lical account cannot be accepted in
al/
its details, why should anyone
believe it has any meri t at all ?
T he star was clearly a special mir–
acle of God, of divine origin, defying
all the proposed natural explanations
of liberal scholarship.
lt
is quite pos–
sible that the Star of Bethlehem was
simply an
angel
sen t to lead the
Magi to Jesus, since the Bible often
symbolically uses stars to signify
angels (Job 38:7; Jude 13; Rev. 1:20;
9:1; 12:4; et al.) .
In Jesus' Name?
We have seen the proof that J esus
was born in the early autumn, not
in the winter. But, sorne will ask,
what difference does it rnake? ls it
not
the thought
that counts? What
is wrong with celebrating a day–
any day- in honor of J es us'
birth?
Each December, articles inevita–
bly appear in newspapers and mag–
azines pointing out the ancient ori–
gins of today's Christmas customs.
All authorities agree that the cus–
toms surrounding Christmas- the
Christmas tree, rnistletoe, holly
wreaths, yule logs, stockings on the
hearth, exchanging gifts and so
on-were practiced in connection
(Continued on page 27)
21