Revelation 12
Rosh HaShanah and the Birth of Christ
From: "Ronni"
Organization: Bible Prophecy Research and Study List
According to Ernest Martin's research concerning the dating of the birth of Christ, which he outlines in his book "The Star of Bethlehem," Jesus was born in 3 B.C. Martin further pinpoints the date of Jesus' birth to the exact day and even more intriguing, down to a specific 90-minute period.
This particular article will not deal with Martin's research and evidence as to how he arrives at the 3 B.C. date (his evidence is most convincing however). Instead, this article will concentrate only on the specific day that the book suggests could be the date of Christ's birth.
Revelation 12:1-5 is used as a symbolic reference for this argument:
(Rev 12:1-5) And there appeared a great wonder in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars: {2} And she being with child cried, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. {3} And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven crowns upon his heads. {4} And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and did cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. {5} And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with a rod of iron: and her child was caught up unto God, and to his throne.
Martin claims that the above passage gives the exact day and time of the virgin birth of Christ by first recognizing that the woman is symbolically referring to the constellation Virgo. This constellation is the only sign of a woman that is located within the normal paths (ecliptic) of the Sun and Moon as they journey through the heavens. Both planets are in line with or amidst the body of the woman. "She occupies, in body form, a space of about 50 degrees along the ecliptic. The head of the woman actually bridges some 10 degrees into the previous sign of Leo and her feet overlap about 10 degrees into the following sign of Libra, the Scales." At the time of Jesus' birth (which Martin claims was in 3 B.C.; read his book for further details on how he comes to this date), the Sun entered into the head position of the woman about August 13 and exited her feet around October 2. The scene that John describes in Revelation 12 however depicts the woman as being "clothed" by the Sun. To Martin, this describes the Sun's position as being mid-bodied to the woman, i.e. between the neck and the knees.
"The only time in the year that the Sun could be in a position to 'clothe' the celestial woman called Virgo...is when the Sun is located between about 150 degrees and 170 degrees along the ecliptic. This 'clothing' of the woman by the Sun occurs for a 20- day period each year." In the year 3 B.C., the position of the Sun as described in Revelation 12 could only have occurred during August 27 through September 15.
To further pinpoint the day of Jesus' birth, Martin now looks to the position of the Moon. He claims that John's description in Revelation actually gives us the exact day and time (within a 90- minute period) of this event. Revelation 12:1 tells us that the Moon was "under her feet." The feet of Virgo represents the last 7 degrees of the constellation. In order for the description in Revelation 12 to be astronomically satisfied and thus represent the birth of Christ, the Moon then has to be positioned somewhere within these last 7 degrees of Virgo. At the same time, however the Sun must also be positioned mid-bodied within the constellation as to give the "clothing" appearance. In the year 3 B.C., these two planetary alignments occurred on September 11, beginning at 6:15pm (sunset) and lasted until 7:45pm (moonset). This is the only day in the entire year (3 B.C.) that this alignment appeared exactly as described by John.
The most interesting point that is brought up about the Moon is the fact that it was a New Moon. The Moon was in crescent phase and thus signalled the beginning of a new lunar month. This New Moon that occurred on September 11, 3 B.C. coincides to Tishri 1 (Rosh HaShanah) on the Jewish calendar!
For further information into this topic, I highly recommend Martin's book:
"The Star of Bethlehem: The Star That Astonished the World"
Ernest L. Martin
A.S.K. Publications, (c) 1996
ISBN: 0-945657-87-0
This article referenced pages 80-91 in the above-mentioned book.
See also Rosh HaShanah
1997- Notes on Revelation
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