SIDE BAR NOTES
[1] To get the most out of this chapter, prereading the following Scriptures may be helpful: Lv 23:26-44, Neh 8:1-9:3, Mk 6:14-29, Lk 3:1-22, 4:1-13, 6:6-16, Jn 1:1-9. 2:1-12.
[2] The 10 at-bats are John the Baptist’s conception, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the Nativity, the Circumcision, the Presen-tation, the Disputation, the selection of Peter, the death of John the Baptist and the Transfiguration. The 11 hits are, respectively, Tzom Asara B’Tevet, Tzom B’Tammuz, Tzom Tisha B’Av, Shabbat Hazon, the anniversary of the Red Sea crossing, Rosh Chodesh Iyar, Shavuot, the anniver-sary of the Red Sea crossing (again), Erev Yom Kippur, Tzom Gedaliah and 1 Sukkot, [3] The argument for a December 25 Nativity, for instance, which (along with the 6 other dates that can be ascertained from that date) were shown in chapter 1 to produce zero connections to the Hebrew calendar.
[4] It also needs to be pointed out that this is true of even the most conser-vative estimates after many of the more subjective connections have been eliminated from the analysis.
[5] Since the data required for a thorough statistical analysis is divided between this and the 2nd book in this Series, the final probability assessment is reserved for the 2nd book. Some means is, never-theless, needed to prove that the claims being made in this book are legitimate, And that is provided at the end of Appendix A.
[6] It happened 2,000 years ago for the Old World, again, in 1492, for the New World, and it is happening now for the whole world. Christ makes all things new (Is 43:19. Rv 21:5).
[7] The Julian calendar dates in Figure 4.1 (also seen in Figure 2.9) are determined by the 2/3rds Rule. Whereas those of the Hebrew calendar are cal-culated (as is always the case) using NASA’s 6,000-year lunar phase catalog (Espenek 2014). And the reader is encouraged to confirm these dates by consulting either that cata-log or the tables created from that catalog provided in Appendix B.
[8] Lk 3:1.
[9] In chapter 1 that date was derived through Scripture as being 6 days prior to the Transfiguration. In chapter 2 (Figure 2.9) it was shown to be a direct calculation of the 2/3rds Rule. And by its assoc-iation with Tzom Gedaliah in chapter 3 it was heavily suggested that he died on that date, his 40th birthday, as a foreshadowing of his cousin Jesus’s death. [10] There being quite a few days of play in what would be considered a normal human gestation, this placement is a little shaky, And that shakiness is accounted for in the statistical analysis. The conviction, though, that it is 1 Sukkot comes from all the other holiday con-nections calculated from it and the huge relevance that holiday will have to John’s life. [11] Gn 17:12. [12] Lv 23:33-36. [13] Is 40:3 and Mk 1:3, NRSV (slightly paraphrased). [14] Dt 18:15[15] Jn 6:14, Acts 3:22. And Jesus also seems to identify as the Prophet in Jn 5:46, although in that verse He could have been referring to pretty much any of the many messianic prophecies found in the Torah. [16] Rashi and Mai-monides, in their commen-taries on Deuteronomy 18, both liken this prophet to Elijah (another fore-shadowing of John). And although John denied that he was the prophet in Jn 1:21 there is no contra-diction because he also denied in that same verse being Elijah, which we know from Mt 11:14 that he was. [17] They even share the same name. [18] There were, however, two notable exceptions: Caleb (the Judahite) and Joshua (Moses's successor). They were the two righteous spies who'd scoped out the land and trusted God would help them take it. (Nm 14:10-35). [19] Nm 20:7-11. (And the implication that he was to strike the rock comes from a similar command given in an earlier incident - see note 20). [20] It is difficult to decipher from the text exactly what Moses did that showed a lack of faith. The Bible does not say. But contrasting this account with a similar incident that occurred shortly after they entered the wilderness, where Moses apparently did it right (Ex 17:1-7) it heavily suggests that it had something to do with the second strike. Was it needed because Moses's faith was weak, or was God just testing him? Whatever the reason, the punishment seems severe. [21] Nm 20:12, GNT. [22] Lk 1:8, 11-20, NAB.
[23] Lk 1:34-35 (which shows the same basic response). [24] Gn 17:17-21 (which also shows the same basic response).
[25] Dt 10:17.
[26] Lk 1:57-64, NABRE.
[27] Zc 14:16.
[28] Lv 23:36, 39, Nm 29:35-38. [29] Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 4b. And a scriptural prec-edent for this tradition is found, perhaps, in Ne 9:2. [30] Rashi on Leviticus 23:36. [31] Gn 17:1-14.
[32] Jos 5:4-5.
[33] Jos 5:2-9.
[34] Doing the math, those that were already circum-cised would have made up only about 10% of the Israelites at the time.
[35] Jos 4:2-9.
[36] The Talmud recog-nized that a boy became a man on his 13th birthday (Babylonian Talmud, Nid-dah 46a) and it is rea-sonable that there may have been some customs associated with that com-ing of age that have been handed down from the time of Christ, or earlier, customs like reading a Torah portion in a public ceremony on that day. But most of the traditions associated with Bar Mitzvah’s today are not found in the written record until the middle ages. [37] And some of these readings (those from Ezekiel) are known to have been associated with the observance since the time of Christ. [38]. This is an Ashkenazi custom be-lieved to have origin-ated no earlier than the 7th century AD. [39] ... as prescribed in the Babylonian Talmud, Me-gillah 31a. [40] Ez 37:1-14. [41] Babylonian Tal-mud, Megillah 31a. [42] Ez 38:18-39:16. [43] Babylon-ian Talmud, Sanhedrin 97a-98b. [44] Mt 3:1-2.
[45] Dt 31:10-11, NAB.
[46] Ex 20:8-11.
[47] Lv 23:15-22.
[48] And every 7th, 7th year, was to be called a Year of Jubilee, to be treated as a time of even greater holiness (Lv 25:8-55). Putting it all together, It sure sounds like God wants us to be aware of this connection with time and the number 7, (but cer-tainly not for the purposes of numerology). Hmm? More on this in chapter 5. [49] Ex 23:10-11. [50] Dt 15:1. [51] Dt 15:9. [52] 1 Kgs 8:1-66. [53] 2 Kgs 23:2. [54] These two incidents may have been the inspiration for a Hakhel that is said to have occurred a decade or so after the Crucifixion. where the Judean king Agrippa read from the Torah during Sukkot (Mishnah, Sotah 7:8). [55] Ne 8:1-18.
[56] We don’t know today when these Sabbatical Years fell in New Testa-ment times. But if 33 AD (the year of Christ’s death and resurrection) was a Sabbatical Year, as reason suggests it should have been, then 5 AD (when counting from 1 Nisan) would have been one, too. [57] Nm 8:24.
[58] Mt 11:16-19.
[59] John's prenatal bap-tism is in reference to Lk 1:15 in conjunction with Lk 1:41-44, which some have interpreted to mean that John was born sinless, having been baptized in the womb at the Visitation. [60] These fast days asso-ciate John with the First Temple, a theme that will be explored further in Appendix A, where the question of whether he had a presentation is also discussed.
[61] … as defined by the Nicene Creed (with the 589 AD amendment that in-cludes the filioque).
[62] Hester 2004.
[63] Schrago and Russo 2003 and Fleagle, Bown, Obradovich and Simons 1986. [64] Roach 2003. See also Shreeve 2006.
[65] On a personal note, I had already discovered all the other Jewish holiday connections in the life of Christ prior to my real-ization there were actually three Lights associated with the first Period of every Level. So when I further realized I could now calculate the date of Christ’s baptism I couldn’t wait to find out which holiday it was connected to. From what I’d seen already, I knew there was going to be a connection and that it would be spectacular. Yet despite all this foreknow-ledge, I was still stunned when it turned out to be Yom Kippur. [66] Lv 23:27-28. [67] Ex 34:10, 28-29. [68] This was a re-placement set of Com-mandments. The original tablets had been destroyed when Moses caught sight of the Golden Calf and broke them in anger - a symbol of a broken cov-enant (Ex 32:19). [69] The actual day that this happened is not provided in Scripture, which suggests only that it might have been around the time of Yom Kippur. It is the long- standing oral tradition (and logic) that sets it exactly to that day (Seder Olam, Rabbah 6). [70] Lv 16:5-31. [71] Lk 11:24. [72] And John rightly pointed this out by refusing at first to baptize Him (Mt 3:13-15). [73] Mt 4:1, Mk 1:12, Lk 4:1. [74] Theologians have long understood that His actions at Calvary identify Christ as both the perfect Yom Kippur atonement sacrifice and the perfect scapegoat. And they have also recognized that it is through His baptism that the baptismal waters are cleansed. Like Passover illuminates Good Friday, however, it is only through this direct connection to Yom Kippur, that the par-allels are made obvious for everyone. [75] Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 39a.
[76] In Jn 1:27, it says that Jesus had not yet begun His ministry and in Jn 1:29 (the following day) it says that He had. So to be clear it is not directly stated that Jesus was baptized the day prior. It is merely implied by the language of the narrative.
[77] Jn 2:1-12.
[78] Jn 2:9-10.
[79] References to it can be found in Ps 19:6 and Jl 2:16.
[80] Pope 2014.
[81] Sukkot's association with covenant renewal will be brought out when this discussion moves on to the next date determined for Creation Level V. [82] This understanding is popular in the Messianic Judaism movement. [83] Rv 19:7-9.
[84] Barth 2021.
[85] The 3rd day (Jn 2.9) could calculate to either 12 or 13 Tishri depending on whether Yom Kippur is counted as the 1st day. And it is favorable too to the Talmudic requirement that weddings take place on either a Wednesday or Thursday (Ketubot 5a).
[86] Mishnah, Sukkah 4:9. [87] Every day, that is, unless it was Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot. That was the one exception, for those who want to get technical. And in 30 AD that would have occurred on 16 Tishri. [88] A better argu-ment (scriptural or other-wise) for seeking inter-cessory prayer of the Blessed Virgin Mary can-not be found (which is seemingly why God gave us this connection). [89] Jn 5:35, LH (a reference to Ps 132:17 and possibly Sir 48:1). [90] Jn 1:6-9, NAB.
[91] Mt 5:14, NAB, but see also Jn 1:9. [92] This is the same basic formula (Truth and Sacrament) used in the structure of the Catholic Mass, which is defined by the Liturgy of the Word followed by the Liturgy of the Eucharist. [93] Mk 1:14.
[94] Lk 6:6-13.
[95] Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 31a.
[96] 1 Kgs 8:66
[97] 1 Kgs 8:22-53.
[98] Neh 8:17 is suggestive of the 7th month, refer-enced in 1 Kgs 8:2, being counted from the civil new year, making the multiday festival being cited, Pass-over not Sukkot. Nisan, after all, is a much more appropriate time for a Tem-ple dedication, according to Scripture, (Ex 40:1-17, Ezr 6:15-16, 19). [99] Neh 8:1 - 9:1.
[100] Ezr 1:1-5.
[101] See Drews 2011.
[102] Rabbinical Judaism, as it is known today, was in its infancy in the 6th century BC. Taking a back seat to the Temple sacrifice system for the next 600 year, it did not become the dominant form of worship until after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. And the term "rabbi" did not even exist until then. But there are many prior to that time who fit the description of a rabbi. And Ezra was one of them. [103] Neh 9-1. [104] Ez 36:26, 37:1-7.
[105] Ezr 3:6-10.
[106] Eph 2:20-22, NRSV.
[107] End times prophecy also speaks of the Apostles as the foundation stones for the New Jerusalem (Rv 21:14).
[108] The requirement that novitiates discern for a year and a day prior to enrol-ment was decreed by Pope Honorius III for the Franciscan Order shortly after its founding in 1220. And it has since been adopted by other Orders. [109] It is a mitzvah to eat well on Erev Yom Kippur (The Sulchan Arukh, OC 604:1).
[110] Lv 19:23-25, NASB.
[111] Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 2a.
[112] 1 Mc 8:1-17.
[113] If counting from the liturgical New Year (Rosh Chodesh Nisan) or the civil New Year (Rosh Ha-Shanah) it was His 3rd year. But counting from the New Year for trees (Rosh HaShanah LaIll-ianot) it was His 4th year.
[114] Additional aspects of Christ’s sacrifice are also discussed in chapter 7.
[1]
In chapter 2 a mathematical key was said to lay hidden within the pages of the biblical Book of Genesis. It was further claimed that this key (dubbed the 2/3rds Rule) could be used to ascertain the date of the Annunciation and several other milestones in the life of Jesus Christ. And, to seemingly corroborate this claim, several of these 2/3rds Rule generated dates were found to land on major observances from the Hebrew calendar. So a test was proposed, a very stringent test, one that requires a perfect (or near perfect) score to pass (the idea being that, if this key truly is from God, every date determined by it in the life and times of Jesus Christ should be supported by the Hebrew calendar).
To that end, a formal search was begun in chapter 3 for these Hebrew calendar connections. And in that inquiry, 4 such connections were found. But, when you add those to the 6 connections that were already discerned in chapter 1, it brings the tally to 11 hits for 10 at bats, [2] which most should agree is an amazingly good batting average and one that far exceeds what would normally be expected by chance.
There are those who might want to argue that a couple of those hits look more like infield singles than homeruns. And that is a fair assessment. But they are definitely not outs. And when you look at all the failed attempts at finding connections to the Hebrew calendar from the other proposals out there, [3] it becomes apparent there is a much higher probability for striking out in this game than there is for getting a hit.
Still, there are many more dates to investigate. And when you factor those, as yet unexamined, data points into the equation, we are right now at the limit of what is statistically reasonable by chance. It could still, therefore, be logically plausible for a batting slump to occur, equal in size to the supposed lucky streak we've just seen, that will balance everything out. But that’s as far as it goes. With each new discovery made from this point on, even the diehard skeptic has to admit that we’re stepping out of the bounds of the ordinary and into the realm of the divine.
And for those few who haven’t yet figured out where this is going, rather than prolong the suspense, the outcome of this final test will simply be revealed. When this investigation is over, all 28 independent observances listed in Figures 3.1 and 3.2 will be shown to be fulfilled in the life and time of Jesus, with 6 finding relevance multiple times. Altogether there are 38 connections found from those 2 tables alone, with several more being seen when the observances that are dependent on those 28 are added.
And on the other side of the equation, of the 47 dates in the life of Jesus that can be discerned by this method, 45 will connect to at least one Jewish feast, fast or Special Sabbath, with many, like the Visitation, connecting to 2. And as to those 2 supposed anomalies where no Hebrew calendar connection is found, each does, nevertheless, connect to a major event from the Old Testament that probably should have been observed as a holiday (and maybe was in New Testament times).
This is the empirical proof alluded to in the earlier chapters, because statistically, the odds against this being a coincidence are astronomical. [4] And since there is selectivity in the assignment of each holiday such that each illuminates the event it attaches to with the same clarity as Passover illuminates Good Friday, there is even less room for doubt. It is likened to someone (while blindfolded) throwing 38 darts (each labelled after a different holiday) in the direction of a one-year wall calendar. What would be the odds of even one dart finding its way to the correct holiday, let alone 38 out of 38?
When everything is considered, even a conservative estimate places it at around 1 chance in 10 to the 23rd power (or rather 1 chance in 100 sextillion) that all this could have come about by accident. [5] Or to put it into more familiar terms, in a standard state lottery, where the probability of winning may be 1 chance in 14 million for each ticket sold, you would have a much better chance of winning 3 consecutive lotteries from the purchase of only 1 ticket per lottery. And if such a thing ever did happen it would be obvious to everyone that the game had been rigged. The same applies here. The odds that favor sheer coincidence are so slim they might as well be nonexistent. No rational person would entertain it.
And the beauty of our discovering these holiday connections today is that it mathematically validates not only the 2/3rds Rule, but the divine inspiration of the entire Bible, as well. Consider, for argument’s sake, what might have happened if these connections had been known to us from the beginning. Skeptics could (and would) have simply claimed that the early Christians made it all up, just as many do today regarding the Passover and Pentecost connections. And they'd have had an equally powerful argument. How could you prove otherwise?
But in keeping these connections hidden from us for two thousand years, until our science became advanced enough that it could reveal these secrets, there is no longer any room for human manipulation or trickery. Intelligent Design is all that remains, forcing even the atheist into the unwelcome conclusion that everything written of God in the Old and New Testaments is probably true! And let’s be clear. God could have easily done it that way. He is a rather smart fellow you know.
Even more than that, this all leads to one very startling conclusion, because it implies that at this juncture in history, we are in the midst of what appears to be a game change. God, for some reason, is trying something new, [6] by telling the whole world, for the first time, He exists. There is a lot to think about in all of this. And it will be discussed, at some length, in the final chapter. But here we are still laying the groundwork for that discussion and reconnecting Christianity to its Jewish roots in the process.
So let’s get back to that hunt, where our interest, thus far, has been mainly in the Infancy Narratives. Our focus now will be in the next Level of Creation, Level V, as laid out in Figure 4.1, which provides all the dates, days and times we’ll be working with as this journey continues on into a span of time Christian theologians are prone to call the Ministerial Years. [7]
The reader is encouraged to consult these NASA affiliated tables to confirm that any conclusions drawn from them here are accurate and not exaggerated. (See Espenek 2014). Alternatively, for any that are interested, the dates of the new moons during the time of Christ calculated from those tables are also provided in Appendix B.
The Ministerial Years (Level V) – Part 1: John the Baptist
This time period traditionally commences with the start of Mark's Gospel, which opens, not with Jesus, but with his cousin, John the Baptist (aka the Forerunner) being called by God to public ministry. And, as has been pointed out several times already, this happened, according to Luke's Gospel, in the 15th year of the reign of the Roman Emperor, Tiberius. [8] It is the only event, of note, the Gospels attach to that year, and it places it (by the more traditional assessments of Tiberius’s reign) at around 28 or 29 AD. Figure 4.1 also lists a date that would fall within that timeframe. It is September 22, 28 AD. And since it is reasonable that the 2/3rds Rule (being from God) would be emphasizing this watershed moment in time (in much the same way we knew it had to give us the date of the Incarnation) it is reasonable to further conclude that this date (being the only date given us in 28 AD) is the date John’s public ministry began.
So we have a date. And it's good with Scripture, too. But there’s a great deal more insight to be obtained by investigating its Hebrew calendar counterpart, 15 Tishri, for that is the 1st day of Sukkot, the 7-day Festival of Tabernacles (or Booths). And that is a holiday that appears to have played a very stunning and defining role in John’s life that started from the day he was born.
Of that day (John's birthday), it may be recalled that in prior chapters it was set to October 1, 9 BC by several indicators: the first by virtue of it being roughly 9 months (or 271 days) after his conception on January 4, 9 BC, and the others by virtue of it making October 1, 32 AD his 40th birthday. [9] But for those who need more to tie this all down, October 1 in 9 BC (the day being proposed for John's birth) would have landed on the 1st day of Sukkot in that year, as well. [10] Not only that, it also sets his circumcision (scripturally required on the 8th day after his birth) [11] to the day after the last day of Sukkot, linking it to the Jewish holiday of Shmini Atzeret. And both holidays are extraordinarily well suited to the events they're being assigned to.
With regard first to Sukkot, it is not difficult to see its relevance. The holiday commemorates the 40 years the Israelites wandered in the wilderness while being spiritually prepared by Moses for their eventual entry into the Promised Land. [12] So what better holiday to apply to John (whose life was one of 40 years and of whom Scripture describes as the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, making straight the way of the Lord)? [13] And like Moses, he was also called to prepare his people for a scriptural promise. But with John it wasn’t the Promised Land he was preparing them for. It was Jesus, the promised Messiah. In fact, in the Torah we hear Moses, himself, near the end of his life, seemingly prophesying of John’s arrival.
A prophet like me will the LORD, your God, raise up for youfrom among your own kindred; that is the one to whom you shall listen. [14]
This verse was well known to the early Christians who commonly applied it to Jesus. [15] But its application to John also seems appropriate, [16] and especially in light of the holiday just found to be connected to his birth, for also like Moses, John died just prior to getting his followers to their promised goal. Another shepherd, in both cases, had to step in to take their flocks to the finish line. And we see that reflected, too, in the holiday associated with John’s death, which was determined in chapter 3 to be Erev Yom Kippur (the eve of the Day of Atonement). Atonement, after all, was at the heart of John’s ministry. But the atonement John was offering in his baptizing (although valid) is slightly different from what Baptism is today. John’s Baptism was a Baptism in anticipation of the atonement that was coming. And we are now seeing that he died right on the eve of its arrival, only 6 months away from Calvary.
As to Moses, he and the adult Israelites who first entered the wilderness were denied access to the Promised Land for their lack of faith. It was only after that 1st generation had died off, that the 2nd generation Israelites (those younger than military age when their elders demonstrated their lack of faith, and those born thereafter) were allowed entry. They were led by Moses’s successor, Joshua (who may be a better fit as a foreshadowing of Jesus in the context of this discussion). [17] But there is a bit of a mystery associated with this story, too. And yes, we are getting a little off track. But bear with this, as all will be shown to be connected.
So where were we? Oh yes, getting back to the mystery, the 1st generation Israelites were denied access to the Promised Land because, as they were preparing to enter, they expressed fear of its current inhabitants (the Canaanites) and doubted God’s ability to subdue them. [18] And so the penalty does seem just. After all they'd seen God do in their liberation from the Egyptians (the ten plagues, the pillar of fire, the parting of the Red Sea, etc., etc.) that they would express doubt in His ability to do anything, is unconscionable. Moses’s sin was different, however, and seems extremely mild by comparison.
He was told by God, in the wilderness, to bring forth water for the Israelites from a nearby rock by speaking over it in their presence. And then it is implied that he was to strike it with his staff. [19] So Moses called the people to the rock and seems to have done all that God asked (but not exactly). Because the water apparently didn’t gush out, immediately, Moses struck the rock a second time. And that brought forth the water. But his little adlib, that tiny morsel of doubt Moses expressed by striking the rock twice, rather than follow God’s instructions to the letter, is the infraction that seems to have set God off. [20] To that God said to Moses ...
“Because you did not have enough faith to acknowledge my holy power before the people of Israel, you will not lead them into the land that I promised to give them." [21]
What can you say to that but, wow? Moses is considered the greatest of the Old Testament prophets and was in every other respect a righteous man. So to see him being lumped together with the faithless Israelites by being given their same sentence has tied Christian and Jewish apologists in knots trying to explain the justice of it. And their commentary is diverse. Did it display a lack of faith? Sure. Was it a punishable offence? God said it was, so the answer again is yes. But does the punishment fit crime? Many have thought, from what little is known of the affair, that God was being, maybe, a little harsh.
But we have here, in Moses’s connection to John, a potential solution to the problem, in that it is reminiscent of a similar incident associated with John’s conception. Revisiting that occasion, the infraction occurs this time right after the angel has informed John's father that he is to have a son in his old age, a son that he is to name John. To that Zechariah remarked …
“How am I to know this?
I am an old man, my wife too is advanced in age.”
The angel replied,
“I am Gabriel, who stand in attendance before God.
I was sent to speak to you and bring you this good news.
But now you will be mute - unable to speak -
until the day these things take place,
because you have not trusted my words.
They will all come true in due season." [22]
So once again we see a very stiff penalty being levied out for the crime of being a little incredulous to some miraculous news and blurting out what most anyone else might say under the circumstances. And the thing that makes this particularly difficult to understand is that his words don’t seem to be all that different from those of Mary, [23] or Abraham, [24] when they are given similar news from heavenly messengers. Yet they received no punishment.
And while many are quick to argue that Mary was not really questioning God’s ability, but merely expressing curiosity about how this might occur (a fair and reasonable objection), Scripture tells us Abraham thought it so preposterous that he was to have a child in his old age that he fell on his face laughing on hearing the news. So how does he get off scot-free? There seems to be a real double standard going on here, between God’s treatment of Zechariah and Abraham. And since God is not duplicitous, [25] that also makes it a mystery. So to get a better handle, let’s now fast forward to where the punishment is lifted. From Luke, again, we read …
When the time arrived for Elizabeth to have her child she gave birth to a son.
Her neighbors and relatives heard that the Lord had shown his great mercy toward her,
and they rejoiced with her.
When they came on the eighth day to circumcise the child,
they were going to call him Zechariah after his father,
but his mother said in reply, “No. He will be called John.”
But they answered her, “There is no one among your relatives who has this name.”
So they made signs, asking his father what he wished him to be called.
He asked for a tablet and wrote, “John is his name,” and all were amazed.
Immediately his mouth was opened, his tongue freed, and he spoke blessing God. [26]
So that sums up all we have from Scripture on the matter. And it does gives us the triggering mechanism for Zechariah having his speech restored. It occurred with his confirming what the angel, Gabriel, had told him, that his son was to be named John. But it doesn’t really add much else to solving the problem. So let’s now see what additional light can be brought to bear by putting it into the context of the two holidays just found to be associated with John’s birth.
Looking back then at Sukkot, and digging deeper, we see that during this 7-day festival, Jewish families are expected to construct and dwell in a makeshift hut (or booth), called a sukkah, to take their meals there and basically live there as they would normally live in their homes. And the
the point of it all, according to the Rabbis, is to disconnect from the outside world so as to recall for a short time what it was like for their ances-tors, the Israelites, whose every need in the wilder-ness was provided for by God. It is a wonderful way to renew one’s life every year for those who get into the true spirit of it, a time to remember who is really in charge. And Christendom is greatly diminished for having forgotten this holiday. But it was prophesied, that Sukkot will one day be observed universally by Jew and Gentile alike. [27] And, given the number of devices we moderns have come to so heavily depend on, it is understandable how this holiday might become popular as a time to unplug and get back to basics so that God's voice can be heard, once again, above the clamor.
Living in a sukkah is also a requirement of the holiday that follows, Shmini Atzeret. The Bible refers to it as the concluding convocation for Sukkot. [28] But unlike Sukkot, which is to be observed by all, the 8th day is traditionally taught to be for Jews only. [29] The Mishnah likens it to a king declaring a lavish 7-day festival for everyone in the realm, and then, after it is over, asking his children to stay with him one extra day. [30] It is, therefore, very appropriate that John would be given his name and circumcised on this day, considering that the Rite of Circumcision, established through Abraham, is a special covenant between God and the Chosen People, a covenant that actually identifies them as God’s chosen. [31]
But the location of this holiday on the calendar, coming as it does at the very end of Sukkot, can be seen to also play a role. It would logically represent the Israelites leaving the wilderness to reclaim their rightful heritage. But access to the Holy Land wasn't the heritage they reclaimed.
While in the wilderness they endured one other affliction for their lack of faith. The Rite of Circumcision was taken from them. [32] They were still God’s chosen but, with their sons being barred from circumcision, they were a people in limbo, a people that was slowly being replaced by the uncircumcised. And when they finally did cross the Jordan River to their ancestral homeland, in their minds that is what they'd become, a nation of citizens who'd lost their spiritual identity making them virtually indistinguishable from any other nation.
So the first thing they did on crossing over was renew the covenant. Scripture tells us the entire nation of Israel was circumcised en masse within a couple of days. [33] Theologians refer to it as the Second Circumcision, but not because anyone was being recircumcised (if that is even possible). It is so-named because the adults of the First Circumcision had all died off. [34] So it represents, not so much a renewal of their covenant, as it does a fresh start with a new generation being brought into covenant and becoming in their parent's stead, God's chosen.
For our purposes, here, we see also a major foreshadowing, with John being named and circumcised on the day that commemorates the Israelites receiving that same honor. They’d been in limbo for 40 years for their lack of faith (a limbo not unlike what John’s father was experiencing for his lack of faith). But now they were restored as a people. They had a voice again in the world, [35] on the very day John’s father’s speech was restored.
And so in getting back to the two mysteries, we have now a solution to both. To begin with, as punishments go, what Moses and Zechariah received was not really all that terrible. Moses, for instance, was already stuck shepherding the Israelites in the wilderness for 40 years even before he sinned, And when they were finally ready to enter the Promised Land, he was 120 years old and at the end of his life. So what difference would it have made to him where he died? In either location he was about to take a journey to a much greater reward (the real Promised Land).
And what did Zechariah lose? Nothing really. It was just a temporary setback and one that likely left him better off for the experience. So God wasn’t being excessively cruel to either of these men. The afflictions they received are better understood as being symbolic in nature, given them that we can readily see today how they applied to John and fortify the assertion that he truly was born on the 1st day of the Feast of Booths.
And so, just as the Passover has long been viewed as the defining holiday of Jesus’s life, Sukkot appears to be the defining holiday of John’s. We’ve just seen this demonstrated 3 times (in the holidays associated with his birth, his circumcision and the start of his ministry). But there are actually 6 arguments from the Hebrew calendar that testify to it.
A 4th connection to the holiday of Sukkot appears at the time of John’s Bar Mitzvah, which (if observed in accord with tradition) would have occurred on the 1st Sabbath after his 13th birthday (October 12, 5 AD) and 5 days into Sukkot that year. [36] And while falling, as it does, in the middle of the holiday may sound, on the surface, to be more of a miss than a hit, being a Sabbath, increases its status to a Shabbat Chol HaMoed observance. These are Sabbaths that occur midway into the multiday holidays of Sukkot and Passover. So there may be as many as two every year. And although they’re not considered Special Sabbaths, they do have similar characteristics, in that there are special readings. [37]
To get a better feel for this, though, we look to an ancient precedent. It is set by the New Testament link found for a Chol HaMoed Sabbath of Passover, which is Holy Saturday (the day our Lord lay in the tomb prior awaiting His resurrection). But in Jewish tradition, the Song of Songs is popularly read on this Sabbath. [38] And as Scripture goes, it is unique, because, at face value, it is often noted that it reads more like the lyrics of a torch song than it does a biblical Book. On a higher level, however, it has always been understood to be an expression of the great love God has for His chosen people. But, in its connection to the garden tomb, the Song of Songs can be seen to find it highest fulfilment in the person of Jesus Christ and the all-consuming love He has for His Bride, the Church; a love so great He has just laid down His life for her.
Much more telling, though, of the traditional readings for this Sabbath, is the Haftarah taken from the Book of Ezekiel, [39] where the prophet speaks of having had a vision of a valley of dry bones being reanimated as a metaphor of Israel being brought back to the land of the living after the Babylonian captivity. [40] Could there be any Old Testament prophecy more appropriately assigned to Jesus, as His dead body lay in dormancy on the eve of the miracle of Easter Sunday?!
This Hebrew calendar insight into Holy Saturday is a beautiful realization of a Chol HaMoed Sabbath. And we should expect to see something similar laid out for John when we look at the Haftarah for that Sabbath’s counterpart in Sukkot. [41] It too is taken from the Book of Ezekiel, the very next chapter, which speaks of the apocalyptic battle prophesied to take place with the coming of the Messiah, the battle of Gog and Magog. [42] Often thought today as an end times prophecy, in New Testament times it was viewed simply as a prophecy of the coming Messianic Age. And the battle was seen then (and now) by Jewish Rabbis as a metaphor for spiritual warfare, the fight between the ways of the world and those of the coming new world order, the Kingdom of God. [43] This was a kingdom John would soon be heralding. [44] And of that war to be waged, John would be its first casualty.
So that fits nicely. But there is one other Sukkot tradition worth noting that may pertain to John’s coming of age. It is called the Hakhel. And it is a scriptural command that comes from the Book of Deuteronomy, which reads …
Moses commanded them [the Levitical priests], saying,
On the feast of Booths, at the prescribed time in the year for remission,
which comes at the end of every seven-year period,
when all Israel goes to appear before the LORD, your God,
in the place which he will choose,
you shall read this law aloud in the presence of all Israel. [45]
So once again we have a biblical assertion of the number 7, when applied to time, being holy. The 7th day of the week, for instance, is the Holy Sabbath. [46] The 7th week is the formula to be used for determining the holiday of Shavuot (the Feast of Weeks). [47] The 7th month is Tishri, the month in which the High Holy Days of Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur are observed. And here we are being told that the 7th year is holy, too. [48]
Commonly referred to as Sabbatical Year, it was to be treated like a Sabbath among years, in that, the fields were to be given a rest, no crops were to be planted, and the vineyards were to be left idle. [49] All debts were also to be forgiven. [50] And it was a year requiring much greater reverence, [51] hence the requirement that the Torah be read publicly every Sabbatical Year on the holiday of Sukkot. As to how this may have been done at the time of Christ, the Talmud tells of three incidents of Hakhel in the Bible to draw from.
Two of the three involve kings (Solomon and Josiah) making public addresses during their reigns in the 1st Temple period. In Solomon's Sukkot address, Scripture tells us only of a prayer which he offered at the Temple's dedication ceremony. And that prayer is merely, at best, a reference to the Torah. [52] Not so with Josiah's supposed Hakhel. Scripture reports that he actually read from the Torah. But it doesn't say when, implying instead that he was moved to give a spontaneous public reading. So the likelihood of it being during Sukkot is slim. [53], [54]
The third example occurred just prior to the 2nd Temple period and it too was not performed exactly as Moses prescribed. But of the three, it seems most in keeping with both the rules and the spirit of the command. It is found in the Book of Nehemiah, which tells of the Scribe, Ezra, reading the Law to the people, over 23 days during the month of Tishri and finishing the day after Shmini Atzeret. [55] And due to its longevity, Jewish commentators today call this a special Hakhel. But it may have also set a biblical precedent, for the people of Jerusalem living in the late 2nd Temple period, on the proper way to do it.
If so, it congers up an intriguing scenario. Assuming, therefore, that this was the custom of the times and also that 5 AD was a Sabbatical Year, [56] it places John the Baptist on the day of his Bar Mitzvah having the privilege, perhaps, of reciting his Torah portion in the Jerusalem Temple as a participant of the 7-year Hakhel. This is all quite speculative, of course. But it is a very real possibility, and it is cause to wonder, which of the many Torah Scriptures might John have been tasked to read for the occasion.
So that is John's Bar Mitzvah connection to Sukkot. A 5th connection to the holiday comes to us, however, not from the Gospels, but from the Book of Numbers, which tell us that as a Levite, John should have been ordained into priestly service (just as his father before him) on his 25th birthday. [57] This would have been, of course, in John’s case, on 1 Sukkkot (or rather, September 24), in 17 AD. And we can speculate forever on what may have transpired on this day. But we know only that his ultimate destiny would take him far away from the Temple service his father was employed in and even farther removed from the religiosity of those to whom his father was employed. [58]
Moving on, the last connection seen between John and the holiday of Sukkot, is also a little speculative. Referring back to Figure 4.1, September 30, 31 AD is the next date that appears on the table after the start of John’s ministry. The holiday connection to that date, which corresponds to 24 Tishri, will be discussed shortly. But for here it is worth noting that, in 31 AD, it is 3 days after the last day of Sukkot. And that harkens back to Jesus being born on 24 Nisan, which is 3 days after the last day of Passover. That day marked a major shift in Christ's incarnate life. And with John’s life being so reflective of Christ's it implies that John is starting a new phase in his life, too. So if Sukkot defines his life and we’ve already determined that he died in the following year, this may logically be where his imprisonment began, thus ending his public ministry.
There will be more support for this conjecture in the next chapter, but here it brings this discussion on the life of John the Baptist to a close. Figure 4.3 is provided to summarize the 2/3rds Rule’s predictions about John. [59] And as the table shows, his was a truly remarkable life. It began and ended with the sorrow of 3 of Zechariah's 4 fast days being supplanted by joy, [60] with the entirety of his life in between being defined, as we’ve just seen, by the Festival of Sukkot. All told, the dates of 9 milestone events in John’s life have been discerned. And in those 9 dates, 11 links to Hebrew calendar observances are uncovered. But that is just John the Baptist. Wait'll we get to Jesus.
The Ministerial Years (Level V) – Part 2: Jesus and the Apostles
Turning, then, to the next important event in Salvation history (after the start of John's ministry) we see the Gospels pointing us to where Jesus finally steps onto the world stage. But before digging into it, there is a subtlety in the 2/3rds Rule that needs to be explained. And until it was discovered there appeared to be a serious flaw in the hypothesis. Some of the more astute readers may have already noticed it, for there are some important milestones in the Rule’s timeline of prehistory, detailed in chapter 2, that seemed to have been ignored. Simply dividing each successive date by 3 is inadequate to account for everything.
It doesn’t tell us, for instance, when the first simians (monkeys) evolved. That was a major developmental stage bridging the time between the first primates and the first apes that was oddly missing in the Rule’s otherwise seemingly comprehensive timeline of human evolutionary history. But it is not the only one.
Another lapse was the failure to tell us when the first members of our species evolved. The Rule provided a date that aligned well with science on when our cousin species, the Neanderthals, are first seen. And it lent support to the taxonomical system that divides our species into two subspecies by sharing its assessment on when the first members of our own subspecies (Homo sapiens sapiens) debuted. But the 2/3rds Rule failed to comply with that system in its inability to give a coming out date for the "firstborn" members of our human family (Homo sapiens idaltu).
And these two issues were bad enough, but the biggest issue, by far, was the unforgivable sin of failing to tell us when Jesus was baptized, and thus began His ministry. It told us with certainty that John the Baptist began his ministry in 28 AD. And with even greater certainty it told us that Jesus died in 33 AD. So, in keeping with the belief that Jesus had a 3-year ministry (as the majority of Scripture scholars seem to favor), the next date generated by the 2/3rds Rule, after 28 AD, should have been in the year 30. But it's not.
From Figure 4.1 we see that it is September 30 (24 Tishri), 31 AD, raising the possibility of Jesus having a 1-year ministry. And while those who advocate for Jesus having an abbreviated ministry might prefer that outcome, on closer inspection it is still problematic, because we are hard pressed to find the holiday associated with the 31 AD date having anything to do with Jesus’s baptism. We’ve come to see that the holidays illuminate the New Testament events they are attached to. And Jesus’s Baptism is a pretty big deal, deserving of a major observance. But there again is a problem, because the best we can find from Scripture, for 24 Tishri, does not measure up to to that requirement either.
So there was a real quandary here, until it was realized that these missing links were only showing up in the first Periods of their respective Levels. And more than this, it was always after roughly the same proportional length of time. To be more specific, they were all appearing about 2/3rds of the way into their Periods. Looking deeper and recognizing that the theme of the first Period of every Level seems to be the same as that of the 1st Day of Creation: the arrival of a new Light, it becomes apparent it is not just one, or even two Lights being called out. It is following, rather, a Trinitarian-like formula. [61] Each Period begins with a great Light followed, 2/3rds of the way into the Period, by a second great Light, begotten of the first. And from those two Lights a third and final Light is seen at the end of the Period, proceeding from the other two.
Applying this theme to the 1st Day of Creation, we see from chapter 2 that the Day began 15.8 Ga with the Big Bang flooding our universe with photons: Light. And then 2/3rds of the way into the Day (around say 8 Ga) science reports of another crucial step in the Creation saga that was previously skipped over. It is a second great Light, a supernova of a first-generation star spewing out, like a picnic lunch into our quadrant of the galaxy, all the various elements needed to produce our present solar system. [62]
That’s what stars do. They are gigantic fusion reactors. They start as gravity wells that form in interstellar gas clouds made up primarily of the hydrogen and helium produced in the Big Bang. And from that starting material, they fuse together all the higher level, naturally occurring elements until they can't fuse no more. And then they die, with some (like our first-generation star) ending their lives in massive explosions called supernovae.
And in the resultant debris field (or nebula) any further disturbance can cause it to find one, or more, new centers of gravity and start the whole process over with a new generation of stars fueled by all the residual hydrogen the parent star didn't convert. But it cannot be overstated how vitally important it was that this happened, because the Big Bang, as powerful as it was, gave us only 5 of the 94 elements that occur in nature. The rest, including carbon and oxygen (and all the other elements essential for life), are made by stars.
And so, when our now, element-rich, solar system finally did come together and our sun (a next-generation star) began to shine, the third Light was not the sun. As has already been discerned in chapter 2, it was something much more profound, something that the sun's ignition was merely heralding. The matter created by the second Light and the energy provided by the first came together to produce life in the first viable living cell (the prokaryote).
And with this nuance to the 2/3rds Rule in hand, we now have the means to account for all those other missing links. For starters, it predicts that the first monkeys should have appeared in the fossil record right where science says they did (around 35 Ma). [63] And the same holds true of the first primitive members of our species (Homo sapiens idaltu) whom the Rule and science both now agree, arrived around 150,000 years ago. [64] But the most spectacular event this new tool discerns is the onset of Jesus’s ministry, which we can now see by this method would have begun, as hoped, in 30 AD: September 27 to be precise.
But we already knew going into this that that issue was going to be resolved. Of much greater interest is what is found when this date is viewed from the perspective of the Hebrew calendar. And it’s not as though there isn’t any expectation of there being some kind of a link either. From all that's been seen already, that too seemed likely. The real surprise comes, however, when the holiday it does tie to Jesus’s baptism is revealed; for that is none other than the highest holiday on the Hebrew calendar: Yom Kippur! [65] So it more than lives up to expectations here too. And anyone familiar with this holiday can see immediately how beautifully it illuminates this event.
For those unfamiliar, however, here is a brief description. On Yom Kippur, all the sins the Jewish people committed in the previous year are atoned for, provided there is appropriate contrition and certain rituals are followed. [66] The holiday originated as a commemoration of Moses's plea before God on behalf of the Israelites, that they be given another chance after the Golden Calf incident. To that end, Moses met with God for 40 days on Mt. Sinai, fasting the entire time. [67] And he was successful in winning their pardon. He descended the mountain, at the end of those 40 days, with the tablets of the Ten Commandments in hand, [68] to publicly announce that the covenant had been renewed, and that atonement had been achieved.
This is traditionally understood to have taken place on 10 Tishri (Yom Kippur). [69] And thereafter it was commanded by God to be made an annual affair as a time of renewal through the relief of the burden of personal sin. This renewal is not guaranteed, however. There is also a need to prepare oneself internally for it. And this is expected to begin, 40 days earlier, on the 1st day of the 6th month (Rosh Chodesh Elul). It is a commemoration of Moses's 40-day fast. And the 1st day of the 7th month (Rosh HaShanah) marks the start of the final 10 days leading to Atonement (aka, the Days of Awe). It serves as the last call to right wrongs and make amends before the highest of the High Holy Days.
As to the rituals, from the Book of Leviticus we see that, during the Second Temple period (and earlier), they involved the sacrifice of two male goats. [70] One was chosen by lot to be the Lord's goat. And it was slaughtered on the altar as the atonement sacrifice. The other was the scapegoat. And it was laden with the sins of the people (by a laying on of hands) and sent out into the desert (the traditional abode of Satan) [71] to return those sins to the one who inspired them.
So, it should now be fairly evident why Jesus’s baptism should be associated with this holiday. Christ is our atonement sacrifice, perfectly taking on that role, at the very end of His ministry, at Calvary. But here, on the first day of His ministry, by being baptized He became also our scapegoat.
Being sinless, He had no personal need of baptism. [72] He did it rather that He could cleanse the waters of Baptism, taking our sins from those waters, putting them on His shoulders and hauling them off to the desert and back to Satan. And this complies extremely well with the Gospels, which tell us that after being baptized, Jesus did go immediately off into the desert where He met with and was tempted by Satan. [73] This is a remarkable fulfillment of a holiday that rivals that of Christ dying on Passover. And it is only now, 2,000 years after the fact, that we are being allowed to fully see and appreciate it. [74]
But the ancient Yom Kippur rituals that arose from oral tradition play a part in the corroboration process, as well. Specifically, there was a ritual involving two crimson threads. Every year, after the scapegoat was determined, one of these threads was tied to the goat and the other was tied to the door to the Temple sanctuary. And in this way the priests in the Temple were able to physically see when the scapegoat had completed its mission, because when this occurred, the thread was said to turn white. This, by itself, is, of course, amazing, if true. And the Talmud attests that it is.
But even more amazing is what the Talmud reports happened in 30 AD (the year Jesus officially took on the role of the entire world's scapegoat). And remember these are 1st century AD Jewish Rabbis (who have zero interest in promoting Christianity) that are making this claim. So that makes it doubly hard to refute. And they report that for the last 40 years of the Temple's existence (from 30 AD all the way until its destruction in 70 AD) the miracle stopped. The thread was no longer turning white. [75] And it is left to the reader to speculate why.
We're still done, though, exploring this Yom Kippur connection, for within it lies also a means of resolving a conflict between the 4 Gospels. It involves the true timing of Jesus’s 40-day fast. The Synoptic Gospel's (Matthew, Mark and Luke) tell us Jesus went into the desert immediately after being baptized. And Jesus's identification as the Yom Kippur scapegoat demands that He did this, as well. But John’s Gospel strongly suggests that Jesus didn't stay there, that He was back at the Jordan River the following day. [76] And it provides no window of opportunity for any kind of long break in Jesus's ministry for at least a week after that.
Theologians have traditionally accepted the Synoptic Gospel’s account since John's timing is only implied. And they commonly also teach that John’s chronology is symbolic, that it is not to be taken literally. But they say the same of the Synoptic chronologies when contradictions show up there. Nevertheless, it must surely be seen as a little odd that Jesus would begin His ministry and then immediately suspend it for 40 days. With only 3 years to accomplish so many things, it doesn't seem a very expedient use of time. Besides that, of the traditional authors of the four Gospels, John's is the only one written by someone who might have actually witnessed Jesus’s baptism.
For these reasons and several more, the 2/3rds Rule sides with John’s Gospel as being closest to the truth and suggests that the Synoptic Gospel authors, not having been eyewitnesses, got their timing a little mixed up. And I know, there are likely going to be many who are reluctant to let go of the traditional understanding. But bear with this, as there are two powerful arguments that may make this pill easier to swallow.
To begin with, by John's chronology, the more reasonable time for Christ's 40-day fast occurs just prior to His Yom Kippur baptism. And look at how well that fits. It places the start of the fast on the 1st day of the 6th month (Elul), the day when tradition calls everyone to begin preparation for Yom Kippur. The timing is tailor made for a 40-day fast! And this also answers the question of why Jesus was fasting. He was fasting for the people, just as Moses had fasted. He was fasting for their atonement. He was fasting for our atonement.
But John’s Gospel provides an even greater argument in the events that occurred right after the Baptism. It is the story of Jesus at a wedding reception in Cana, performing His first public miracle by turning (at the behest of His mother) several large ceremonial vessels of water into wine. [77] As to its timing, John places Jesus's mother at the wedding ceremony on the 3rd day after the Baptism. And since she is the only one specifically mentioned at the event, it is implied that Jesus and His disciples arrived a little later for the reception. But this makes sense, too, because the miracle took place, not on the actual wedding day, but towards the end of the subsequent feast. [78]
And with wedding feasts being multi-day affairs back then, that would put it at the 2nd day (or later). In stepping off that many days, therefore, from Yom Kippur we arrive once again at the Feast of Sukkot, with 1 Sukkot corresponding to either the 2nd or 3rd day of the wedding feast, depending on how the days are counted. So Jesus apparently has a connection to this holiday, too. And the connection is also quite stunning. But its full impact comes more, this time, from the rituals of the holiday, than from its meaning.
Regarding those rituals, a typical Jewish wedding ceremony takes place under a small, make-shift, canopy called a chuppah that the groom has constructed for the occasion. It is a custom whose
whose roots go back to biblical times, [79] with the chuppah's canopy symbolizing the marriage contract and the roof the bride and groom are soon to share. [80] The chuppah's resemblance to a sukkah, and Sukkot's association with covenantal bonds, [81] has inspired many to see a spiritual parallel between the two, [82] with some Christ-ians also seeing Sukkot playing a role, somehow, in the prophesied Wedding Feast of the Lamb. [83] So it is understandable that it might become an attractive time of year for a wedding.
Marriage ceremonies on the 1st day of Sukkot are, however, forbidden due to the Sabbath-like work restrictions of the day. And the same is true of Yom Kippur. But given that the Day of Atonement is also associated with covenant, the 4 days in between the two holidays have become very popular days for exchanging vows. It is considered a highly auspicious time. [84] So the conditions are already favorably inclined toward this claim that the wedding ceremony at Cana took place on either 12 or 13 Tishri, with the wedding feast continuing on into Sukkot. [85]
A great deal more support is found, however, in the Sukkot rituals at the Jerusalem Temple. Sukkot, being one of the three annual harvest festivals, is associated with the fall fruit harvest. And one of the main events of the festival in the time of Christ was the elaborate Water Drawing Ceremony (Simchat Beit HaShoeivah). It involved two large vessels, one made of gold, the other, silver. The gold vessel was filled with water from the nearby healing pool of Siloam, and paraded back into the Temple, through the Water Gate. It represented a prayer for rain for the following year’s fruit harvest. The silver vessel was filled with fine wine, symbolic of the hoped-for yield of that harvest. And once in place, both vessels would then be ceremoniously poured out onto the altar, with care being taken to ensure they emptied at the same rate. [86] It was a ritual that was performed on almost every day of the festival. [87]
In other words, what we are being told here in this tradition is that, on the same day (and maybe the very moment) the Temple priests were ceremoniously asking God to turn water into wine, Jesus, at a wedding feast some 70 miles away (and through the intercession of his blessed mother), was quite literally answering their prayer. [88]
So that’s 3 holidays (Rosh Chodesh Elul, Yom Kippur and Sukkot) all attesting that we’ve gotten the date right for Jesus’s baptism. And by that understanding two of the three Lights of Level V are accounted for. The first is depicted in the 4th Gospel as a lamp set ablaze and burning bright. [89] It is John the Baptist being called to set up shop on the banks of the Jordan River to prepare the people for the second Light. And the same Gospel also refers to this second Light that was coming into the world. [90] It is Jesus being baptized by John, and giving us, in this manner, our Sacrament of Initiation.
But the third Light is to be something that proceeds from the other two. So what do you have when you put Truth (John’s testimony) together with Sacrament (Christ)? You have a body destined to one day be recognized as the light of the world. [91] You have the Church, which at this point in time is still in its embryonic stage. [92] But she is alive and visible to the laity, and all that she seems to be in need of to function properly is clergy, which is what the last day of this first period appears to be about – providing this primordial Church with her first ministers.
And we know from Scripture that Jesus began attracting followers from the time He began His ministry. [93] Given all the wonders they must have been witnessing, He likely also had quite a few. But it wasn’t until sometime later that He selected 12 from that number to be His Apostles. The 2/3rds Rule predicts that He did this on September 30, 31 AD, with the day and time (shown in Figure 4.1) being in good accord with Luke’s Gospel, which tells us it occurred on a Sunday morning. [94] But its Hebrew calendar complement, 24 Tishri, makes this a lot clearer.
And some will surely be quick to point out that there are no Jewish holidays (then or now) that fall on 24 Tishri, which is true. But in consideration of what Scripture tells us happened on this day, it will become obvious that an established holiday is associated with it. And, for lack of a better name, it will be called Simchat Torah. Yes, that holiday name is a modern invention, set up for 22 Tishri, to commemorate the start of the Torah readings for the year. But the idea isn't new. The annual Torah cycle readings reset is touched on in the Talmud, but not as a separate holiday. [95] It is mentioned merely in reference to the oral tradition that King Solomon performed a Hakhel at his Temple's dedication ceremony (employing several verses from Deuteronomy) and that he finished on Shmini Atzeret. [96]
But if basing this solely on Scripture, the only words we have of Solomon at the Temple dedication are from the prayer he offered at the start of Sukkot, And they contain no passages from the Torah. [97] So although Solomon did offer sacrifices at the festival, and consecrated many things throughout, any verses he may have recited from the Torah in doing that are not known. And the Book of Nehemiah questions whether this even happened during Sukkot. [98]
So to justify the tradition, the special Hakhel made by Ezra the Scribe (mentioned earlier in Part 1) is often cited. And it really is the only good argument solely from Scriptrue for the Torah cycle being reset every year at the end of Sukkot, as that is when Scripture tells us Ezra completed his reading of it, but not exactly. Ezra read the Torah to the people throughout the month of Tishri starting on the 1st day. And although Scripture doesn't say exactly when it ended, it does highly suggest that he finished on the 23rd day (which is two days after Sukkot and one day after Shmini Atzeret). So, if the Bible is to be the final authority on the matter, the proper day to restart the Torah cycle would be 24 Tishri, because that is the day it is emphasizing. [99]
There is much more to the story, however, than a simple liturgical recalibration. And there is a much greater reason for a holiday commemoration too. To understand it though we need to back up a little to put it into the proper context.
Most of the people in Jerusalem at the time of Ezra's Hakhel had just returned from exile. Having lost their kingdom to the Babylonians several decades earlier they'd been scattered to the four winds, some to Babylon, some to Egypt, and some to who-knows-where. Living among the gentiles they'd also lost much of their identity and nearly all hope of ever seeing Jerusalem again. So had it not been for the intervention of the Persian Empire, that would have been the end of their story. But as providence would have it, Cyrus, king of the Persians, attacked and defeated Babylon in 539 BC. And in a magnanimous gesture, unheard of in ancient times, he befriended the beleaguered Judahites and restored them to their former homeland the following year. [100]
So the Hand of God was certainly involved in their rising from the ashes. (That's how they saw it, anyway, as do many others). And it likens their homecoming to that of their ancestor's entry into the Promised Land centuries earlier, but maybe not quite as jubilant. On arriving they were greeted by a city in ruin and a Temple that had been razed to the ground. But there was also hope, and it was personified in the figure of Ezra the Scribe.
During the exile another means of worship was needed to fill the void created by the loss of the Temple. The rabbinical system was born from this, with the centralized, Jerusalem based, system giving sway to worship at local synagogues, and the focus being taken away from animal sacrifice in favor of personal sacrifice and adherence to the Torah. Many new Books were also added (the wisdom literature, the words of the prophets, and the oral histories that had been handed down). [101] And Ezra was in the vanguard of this liturgical revolution.
As a scribe, Ezra's job in Babylon was to study, copy, preserve and protect the sacred texts, and to ready them for greater dissemination. So throughout the month of Tishri, while the people were rebuilding their altar for the ritual sacrifices they so desperately desired, Ezra was in the town square, being for them their first rabbi, [102] and reading to them from the Torah. For most this is their first exposure to it, and many are brought to tears. From his reading, they relearned of a forgotten feast called Sukkot and they celebrated it that month for the first time in centuries.
But the main impact for them, on hearing the Torah read aloud, was discovering who they were as a people and what they had done to bring about the calamities they’d just faced. So right after Ezra completed his special Hakhel, on 24 Tishri we're told, they all came together, remnants from all 12 tribes of Israel, in sackcloth and ashes and repledged themselves to the Covenant they’d broken years earlier. [103]
As the prophet, Ezekiel, had foretold, they were a people who'd been raised up from the valley of dry bones. They'd received a new spirit, and their hearts of stone that day were replaced by hearts of flesh. [104] It is a renewal of covenant being seen here (on a par with, and foreshadowed by, the Second Circumcision), the commencement of a new and elevated means of relationship with the Almighty, and how it escaped becoming an annual celebration is hard to fathom. Or maybe it once was, but over time, with its full meaning becoming obscured by the Torah cycle reset, it slipped down on the calendar to be absorbed by Shmini Atzeret (and to where Simchat Torah appears today).
In any event, on the day after that we are told they began rebuilding their Temple, starting, of course, with its foundation. [105] And in applying all this to Creation Level V, we see that when Jesus selected His 12 Apostles, He too was creating a new and higher form of worship. He was doing this by laying the foundation for a structure He would later be calling His Church. It would contain all the advantages of rabbinical Judaism with the added embellishment of the Sacraments provided by His ministers to grant the people access to the fullest relationship one can have with God, to actually become one with Him, through a liturgy that the rituals of the rabbinical system merely foreshadow. It is an ecclesiastical metaphor recognized from the earliest times, as is seen in St. Paul's Epistle to the Ephesians, which reads ...
So, then you are no longer strangers and aliens,
but you are citizens with the saints and also members of the household of God,
built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets,
with Christ Jesus, himself, as the cornerstone.
In him the whole structure is joined together
and grows into a holy temple in the Lord;
in whom you also are built together spiritually into a dwelling place for God. [106]
And here, at the end of this 1st Creation milli-Second, we see that all three components of that foundation; the Apostles, the prophets (represented by John the Baptist) and Christ Jesus, Himself, have been put in place in the construction of the Church. [107] That is the theme of this entire Level (and the next) with the further refinement of, and additions made to, that Church showing up at every subsequent Period.
This is certainly true of the date that follows. It is 9 Tishri (the Eve of Yom Kippur), which was already discerned in chapter 3 to be the day Jesus named Peter His lead Apostle. But being also October 1, 32 AD, it is also exactly a year and a day from the day we've just discerned the Apostles were first selected (September 30, 31 AD). Appropriately enough, this is the same length of time that many Christian Orders assign to their novitiates before they are enrolled into the Order. [108] So, what we may be seeing here is yet another case of Church intuition being validated, for it suggests that it wasn’t merely Peter who got a promotion. All the Apostles, having gotten through the trials of their first year, appear to have been bumped up to a higher level in a fledgling clergy that can now also boast of a hierarchy.
So there is much to celebrate here, which, coincidentally, is the custom of Erev Yom Kippur. [109] In consideration, however, of the High Holy Day this observance merely heralds, there is, of course, a lot more to come for the Church, as the need for providing a means of atonement still looms in her future. And as pertains to that need, there is another very appropriate holiday showing up at the start of the next Period (milli-Second 4). It is Rosh HaShanah La'Illanot, or as it is more commonly referred to: Tu B’Shevat (Jewish Arbor Day).
Rosh HaShanah La'Illanot is one of the four New Year's celebrations on the Hebrew calendar. This one is the New Year for trees. It came into practice from the scriptural ruling found in the Book of Leviticus. which reads ...
Now when you enter the land and plant all kinds of trees ...
you shall count their fruit as forbidden.
For three years it shall be forbidden to you; it shall not be eaten.
And in the fourth year all its fruit shall be holy, an offering of praise to the LORD.
But in the fifth year you shall eat its fruit, so that its yield may increase for you ... [110]
This necessitated a date to count tree years from. And since the Bible didn't provide one, it makes sense, especially in regard to those living in colder climates, that it would become traditional to count tree years from the time of year they came out of dormancy, in the spring.
Today this New Year for trees is observed on the 15th day of the 11th month, Shevat. But at the time of Christ there was a debate going on as to when it should be observed, [111] the rabbinical House of Shammai favoring 1 Shevat, and the House of Hillel, the 15th. The 15th eventually won out, hence the name Tu B’Shevat (which literally means, the 15th of Shevat). But it raises the question why was there a debate going on in the first place. They surely must have had a way in place, already, to tell them when to count tree years from. But neither rabbinical school cites it as precedent to support their argument. So what was the original date and why did it need to be changed?
These questions are not addressed in the Talmud. But the 2/3rds Rule seems now to have a solution to the riddle. It comes from the next date it gives us in Level V (after October 1, 32 AD) which falls right in the middle of the month of Shevat. And Tu B’Shevat being the only holiday of note in that month it suggests a connection. The actual date is, however, 3 days removed. It calculates to 12 Shevat in 33 AD. So there is a bit of a problem with the Hebrew calendar. But this time it may be the Julian calendar date that holds the key, for 12 Shevat was February 1 in 33 AD. And in many of the pagan cultures of the vast Roman Empire, that was the first day of spring. In some Celtic lands it is still celebrated as such. It is the holiday they call Imbolc.
Noting also that when the Romans first appeared as a major power in the Middle East they were not the hated enemies of the Jews as they were in the 1st century AD. In fact, only 150 years earlier, during the time of the Maccabees, they were lauded as friends and allies in their wars with the Greeks. [112] And in the diaspora there were Jewish communities spread out into every corner of the Roman Empire. With the Roman calendar (and especially its offspring, the Julian calendar) being, therefore, so much better at determining the growing seasons, from year to year, it is not much of a stretch to assume that the original date set for the New Year for trees, the date the Rabbis seemed so bent on changing, was February 1.
Assuming, therefore, solely on the basis of how poignantly it fits the situation, that this holiday did occur on the first day of the Period (on 12 Shevat in 33 AD), we find Jesus, the embodiment of that holiday, officially into His fourth ministerial year, [113] and on the road to Jerusalem so that the fruit of the tree He would plant there can be eaten and the tree would continue to yield.
And just as this holiday connection portends, from this juncture on everything points to Calvary. But that is as far as we can go in this chapter with the tools we presently have. In the next we will be given two more powerful aids that will allow us to peer deeper into the process by which the Word embellished and refined His beloved Church. And we will follow along with Him on His own great journey as well, all the way into Passion Week (Level VI) and to the Cross (the 7th and highest Level of Creation) where definitive answers to many age-old questions can be found.
Is there a historical basis for Lent? Is Christ truly present in the Eucharist? How are we saved by Christ’s sacrifice? If there is anything about your faith you need clarification or reassurance on, you won’t want to skip over chapter 5, [114] because there we will be using every aspect of the 2/3rds Rule to explore the very heart of Christianity.
In closing this chapter though, a timeline of the life of John the Baptist is presented in Figure 4.5 below. It is the 1st of 5 timelines that will be created in the course of this book as the dates of all the major milestones in those timelines are discerned. And for those who may be keeping track, our overall score in that effort has risen substantially. It is now at 19 hits for 19 at bats.
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The Ancient Origins of Religious Conflict in the Middle East. College of Arts and Science,
Vanderbilt University. Available at https://my.vanderbilt.edu/robertdrews/publications/.
Espenak, Fred. December 21, 2014. "Six Millennium Catalog of the Phases of the Moon."
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Fleagle, J. G., T. M. Bown, J. D. Obradovich, and E. L. Simons. 1986. "Age of the Earliest
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ENDNOTES
[1] To get the most out of this chapter, prereading the following Scriptures may be helpful: Lv
23:26-44, Neh 8:1-9:3, Mk 6:14-29, Lk 3:1-22, 4:1-13, 6:6-16, Jn 1:1-9. 2:1-12.
[2] The 10 at-bats are John the Baptist’s conception, the Annunciation, the Visitation, the
Nativity, the Circumcision, the Presentation, the Disputation, the selection of Peter, the death
of John the Baptist and the Transfiguration. The 11 hits are, respectively, Tzom Asara
B’Tevet, Tzom B’Tammuz, Tzom Tisha B’Av, Shabbat Hazon, the anniversary of the Red Sea
crossing, Rosh Chodesh Iyar, Shavuot, the anniversary of the Red Sea crossing (again), Erev
Yom Kippur, Tzom Gedaliah and 1 Sukkot,
[3] The argument for a December 25 Nativity, for instance, which (along with the 6 other
dates that can be ascertained from that date) were shown in chapter 1 to produce zero
connections to the Hebrew calendar.
[4] It also needs to be pointed out that this is true of even the most conservative estimates
after many of the more subjective connections have been eliminated from the analysis.
[5] Since the data required for a thorough statistical analysis is divided between this and the
2nd book in this Series, the final probability assessment is reserved for the 2nd book. Some
means is, nevertheless, needed to prove that the claims being made in this book are legitimate,
And that is provided at the end of Appendix A.
[6] It happened 2,000 years ago for the Old World, again, in 1492, for the New World, and it
is happening now for the whole world. Christ makes all things new (Is 43:19. Rv 21:5).
[7] The Julian calendar dates in Figure 4.1 (also seen in Figure 2.9) are determined by the
2/3rds Rule. Whereas those of the Hebrew calendar are calculated (as is always the case)
using NASA’s 6,000-year lunar phase catalog (Espenek 2014). And the reader is encouraged
to confirm these dates by consulting either that catalog or the tables created from that catalog
provided in Appendix B.
[8] Lk 3:1.
[9] In chapter 1 that date was derived through Scripture as being 6 days prior to the
Transfiguration. In chapter 2 (Figure 2.9) it was shown to be a direct calculation of the 2/3rds
Rule. And by its association with Tzom Gedaliah in chapter 3 it was heavily suggested that he
died on that date, his 40th birthday, as a foreshadowing of his cousin Jesus’s death.
[10] There being quite a few days of play in what would be considered a normal human
gestation, this placement is a little shaky, And that shakiness is accounted for in the statistical
analysis. The conviction, though, that it is 1 Sukkot comes from all the other holiday
connections calculated from it and the huge relevance that holiday will have to John’s life.
[11] Gn 17:12.
[12] Lv 23:33-36.
[13] Is 40:3 and Mk 1:3, NRSV (slightly paraphrased).
[14] Dt 18:15
[15] Jn 6:14, Acts 3:22. And Jesus also seems to identify as the Prophet in Jn 5:46, although
in that verse He could have been referring to pretty much any of the many messianic
prophecies found in the Torah.
[16] Rashi and Maimonides, in their commentaries on Deuteronomy 18, both liken this
prophet to Elijah (another foreshadowing of John). And although John denied that he was the
prophet in Jn 1:21 there is no contradiction because he also denied in that same verse being
Elijah, which we know from Mt 11:14 that he was.
[17] They even share the same name
[18] There were, however, two notable exceptions: Caleb (the Judahite) and Joshua (Moses's
successor). They were the two righteous spies who'd scoped out the land and trusted God
would help them take it. (Nm 14:10-35).
[19] Nm 20:7-11 (And the implication that he was to strike the rock comes from a similar
command given in an earlier incident - see note 20).
[20] It is difficult to decipher from the text exactly what Moses did that showed a lack of
faith. The Bible does not say. But contrasting this account with a similar incident that
occurred shortly after they entered the wilderness, where Moses apparently did it right (Ex
17:1-7) it heavily suggests that it had something to do with the second strike. Was it needed
because Moses's faith was weak, or was God just testing him? Whatever the reason, the
punishment seems severe.
[21] Nm 20:12, GNT.
[22] Lk 1:8, 11-20, NAB.
[23] Lk 1:34-35 (which shows the same basic response).
[24] Gn 17:17-21 (which also shows the same basic response).
[25] Dt 10:17.
[26] Lk 1:57-64, NABRE.
[27] Zc 14:16.
[28] Lv 23:36, 39, Nm 29:35-38.
[29] Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 4b. And a scriptural precedent for this tradition is
found, perhaps, in Ne 9:2.
[30] Rashi on Leviticus 23:36.
[31] Gn 17:1-14.
[32] Jos 5:4-5.
[33] Jos 5:2-9.
[34] Doing the math, those that were already circumcised would have made up only about
10% of the Israelites at the time.
[35] Jos 4:2-9.
[36] The Talmud recognized that a boy became a man on his 13th birthday (Babylonian
Talmud, Niddah 46a) and it is reasonable that there may have been some customs associated
with that coming of age that have been handed down from the time of Christ, or earlier,
customs like reading a Torah portion in a public ceremony on that day. But most of the
traditions associated with Bar Mitzvah’s today are not found in the written record until the
middle age.
[37] And some of these readings (those from Ezekiel) are known to have been associated with
the observance since the time of Christ.
[38] This is an Ashkenazi custom believed to have originated no earlier than the 7th century
AD.
[39] ... as prescribed in the Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 31a.
[40] Ez 37:1-14.
[41] Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 31a.
[42] Ez 38:18-39:16.
[43] Babylonian Talmud, Sanhedrin 97a-98b.
[44] Mt 3:1-2.
[45] Dt 31:10-11, NAB.
[46] Ex 20:8-11.
[47] Lv 23:15-22.
[48] And every 7th, 7th year, was to be called a Year of Jubilee, to be treated as a time of even
greater holiness (Lv 25:8-55). Putting it all together, It sure sounds like God wants us to be
aware of this connection with time and the number 7, (but certainly not for the purposes of
numerology). Hmm? More on this in chapter 5.
[49] Ex 23:10-11.
[50] Dt 15:1.
[51] Dt 15:9.
[52] 1 Kgs 8:1-66.
[53] 2 Kgs 23:2.
[54] These two incidents may have been the inspiration for a Hakhel that is said to have
occurred a decade or so after the Crucifixion. where the Judean king Agrippa read from the
Torah during Sukkot (Mishnah, Sotah 7:8).
[55] Ne 8:1-18.
[56] We don’t know today when these Sabbatical Years fell in New Testament times. But if 33
AD (the year of Christ’s death and resurrection) was a Sabbatical Year, as reason suggests it
should have been, then 5 AD (when counting from 1 Nisan) would have been one, too.
[57] Nm 8:24.
[58] Mt 11:16-19.
[59] John's prenatal baptism is in reference to Lk 1:15 in conjunction with Lk 1:41-44, which
some have interpreted to mean that John was born sinless, having been baptized in the womb
at the Visitation.
[60] These fast days associate John with the First Temple, a theme that will be explored
further in Appendix A, where the question of whether he had a presentation is also discussed.
[61] … as defined by the Nicene Creed (with the 589 AD amendment that includes the
filioque).
[62] Hester 2004.
[63] Schrago and Russo 2003 and Fleagle, Bown, Obradovich and Simons 1986.
[64] Roach 2003. See also Shreeve 2006.
[65] On a personal note, I had already discovered all the other Jewish holiday connections in
the life of Christ prior to my realization there were actually three Lights associated with the
first Period of every Level. So when I further realized I could now calculate the date of
Christ’s baptism I couldn’t wait to find out which holiday it was connected to. From what I’d
seen already, I knew there was going to be a connection and that it would be spectacular. Yet
despite all this foreknow-ledge, I was still stunned when it turned out to be Yom Kippur.
[66] Lv 23:27-28.
[67] Ex 34:10, 28-29.
[68] This was a replacement set of Commandments. The original tablets had been destroyed
when Moses caught sight of the Golden Calf and broke them in anger - a symbol of a broken
covenant (Ex 32:19).
[69] The actual day that this happened is not provided in Scripture, which suggests only that it
might have been around the time of Yom Kippur. It is the long-standing oral tradition (and
logic) that sets it exactly to that day (Seder Olam, Rabbah 6).
[70] Lv 16:5-31.
[71] Lk 11:24.
[72] And John rightly pointed this out by refusing at first to baptize Him (Mt 3:13-15).
[73] Mt 4:1, Mk 1:12, Lk 4:1.
[74] Theologians have long understood that His actions at Calvary identify Christ as both the
perfect Yom Kippur atonement sacrifice and the perfect scapegoat. And they have also
recognized that it is through His baptism that the baptismal waters are cleansed. Like
Passover illuminates Good Friday, however, it is only through this direct connection to Yom
Kippur, that the parallels are made obvious for everyone.
[75] Babylonian Talmud, Yoma 39a.
[76] In Jn 1:27, it says that Jesus had not yet begun His ministry and in Jn 1:29 (the following
day) it says that He had. So to be clear it is not directly stated that Jesus was baptized the day
prior. It is merely implied by the language of the narrative.
[77] Jn 2:1-12.
[78] Jn 2:9-10.
[79] References to it can be found in Ps 19:6 and Jl 2:16.
[80] Pope 2014.
[81] Sukkot's association with covenant renewal will be brought out when this discussion
moves on to the next date determined for Creation Level V.
[82] This understanding is popular in the Messianic Judaism movement.
[83] Rv 19:7-9.
[84] Barth 2021.
[85] The 3rd day (Jn 2.9) could calculate to either 12 or 13 Tishri depending on whether Yom
Kippur is counted as the 1st day. And it is favorable too to the Talmudic requirement that
weddings take place on either a Wednesday or Thursday (Ketubot 5a).
[86] Mishnah, Sukkah 4:9.
[87] Every day, that is, unless it was Shabbat Chol HaMoed Sukkot. That was the one
exception, for those who want to get technical. And in 30 AD that would have occurred on 16
Tishri.
[88] A better argument (scriptural or otherwise) for seeking intercessory prayer of the Blessed
Virgin Mary cannot be found (which is seemingly why God gave us this connection).
[89] Jn 5:35, LH (a reference to Ps 132:17 and possibly Sir 48:1).
[90] Jn 1:6-9, NAB.
[91] Mt 5:14, NAB, but see also Jn 1:9.
[92] This is the same basic formula (Truth and Sacrament) used in the structure of the
Catholic Mass, which is defined by the Liturgy of the Word followed by the Liturgy of the
Eucharist.
[93] Mk 1:14.
[94] Lk 6:6-13.
[95] Babylonian Talmud, Megillah 31a.
[96] 1 Kgs 8:66.
[97] 1 Kgs 8:22-53.
[98] Neh 8:17 is suggestive of the 7th month, referenced in 1 Kgs 8:2, being counted from the
civil new year, making the multiday festival being cited, Passover not Sukkot. Nisan, after all,
is a much more appropriate time for a Temple dedication, according to Scripture, (Ex 40:1-17,
Ezr 6:15-16, 19).
[99] Neh 8:1 - 9:1.
[100] Ezr 1:1-5.
[101] See Drews 2011.
[102] Rabbinical Judaism, as it is known today, was in its infancy in the 6th century BC.
Taking a back seat to the Temple sacrifice system for the next 600 year, it did not become the
dominant form of worship until after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 AD. And the
term, rabbi, did not even exist until then. But there are many prior to that time who fit the
description of a rabbi. And Ezra was one of them.
[103] Neh 9-1.
[104] Ez 36:26, 37:1-7.
[105] Ezr 3:6-10.
[106] Eph 2:20-22, NRSV.
[107] End times prophecy also speaks of the Apostles as the foundation stones for the New
Jerusalem (Rv 21:14).
[108] The requirement that novitiates discern for a year and a day prior to enrolment was
decreed by Pope Honorius III for the Franciscan Order shortly after its founding in 1220. And
it has since been adopted by other Orders.
[109] It is a mitzvah to eat well on Erev Yom Kippur (The Sulchan Arukh, OC 604:1).
[110] Lv 19:23-26.
[111] Babylonian Talmud, Rosh Hashanah 2a.
[112] 1 Mc 8:1-17.
[113] If counting from the liturgical New Year (Rosh Chodesh Nisan) or the civil New Year
(Rosh HaShanah) it was His 3rd year. But counting from the New Year for trees (Rosh
HaShanah LaIllianot) it was His 4th year.
[114] Additional aspects of Christ’s sacrifice are also discussed in chapter 7.
Published: February 29, 2024
Last Update: April 16, 2024