BABYLON
Looking east just before sunrise: July 31st, 501 AM - 2 BC.
 
Below is a recreation of the constellation "Leo,"  with the  sun: moon, and planets, Mercury, Mars, and Jupiter as they would have appeared in the sky over Babylon (now Iraq)  in  the summer of 2 B.C.

At the "time" of Jesus birth the Roman government, under Caesar Augustus, declared a TAX on all the world.

Luke 2:1   And it came to pass in
   those days, that there went out
   a decree from Caesar Augustus,
   that all the world should be  taxed.

Luke 2:2   (And this taxing was
   first made when Cyrenius was
   governor of Syria.)

Luke 2:3   And all went to be
   taxed, every one into his own
   city.

Friends, reason with me for a moment. Imagine  you are the Caesar of Rome, and want to collect a tax from your subjects. When would you do this? First ask yourself what kind of work do most of your people do? In Jesus time most people were farmers, or herdsmen. These people did not have modern aids to farming such as tractors: combines, threshing machines, or, refrigeration so everything had to be done by hand, and that requires a great deal of time and people.

When do you tax farmers, and herdsmen? Do you tax them in the spring when they have no crop, and are planting? Do you tax them in the middle of winter after they have killed their animals: sold the meat, and spent the money, or do you tax them at harvest time, just before slaughter  when they would have fat animals and abundant crops. The answer is obvious. You tax them at harvest time.

Next the nation of Israel was commanded by God to do a certain thing: They were commanded to appear in Jerusalem, before God, three times in every year.
The first time  all men of Jerusalem were to appear before God was at the feast of unleavened bread: We call this feast of unleavened bread: "The Passover."

Exo 34:18   The feast of unleavened
   bread shalt thou keep. Seven
   days thou shalt eat unleavened
   bread, as I commanded thee, in
   the time of the month Abib: for
   in the month Abib thou camest
   out from Egypt.

The next two times occur at the feast of weeks, (Pentecost) and at the feast of "ingathering, or  "booths"  at the end of the main wheat harvest.

Exo 34:22   And thou shalt observe
   the feast of weeks, of the
   firstfruits of wheat harvest,
   and the feast of ingathering at
   the year's end.

Exo 34:23   Three times in the year
   shall all your menchildren
   appear before the Lord GOD, the
   God of Israel.

As we have already discussed the best time to tax a farmer/herdsmen is at harvest time, and after the cattle fattening in the fall.  Now consider If Israel was going to gather in Jerusalem at that time of year anyway, wouldn't it be foolish for Rome to command another later gathering, when the weather would be much colder, and adverse to travel, and at a time of year when "LESS" tax could be collected?

Rome was not foolish my friends.

And finally, please pay particular attention here, and consider one more thing about the final feast of the year.  At this feast the Israelites were to build temporary shelters out of branches of trees:

Lev 23:40   And ye shall take you
    on the first day the boughs of
    goodly trees, branches of palm
    trees, and the boughs of thick
    trees, and willows of the brook;
    and ye shall rejoice before the
    LORD your God seven days.
 
The Israelites were to dwell in these shelters called "BOOTHS" for seven days

Lev 23:40   And ye shall take you
    on the first day the boughs of
    goodly trees, branches of palm
    trees, and the boughs of thick
    trees, and willows of the brook;
    and ye shall rejoice before the
    LORD your God seven days.

 Lev 23:41   And ye shall keep it a
    feast unto the LORD seven days
    in the year. It shall be a
    statute for ever in your
    generations: ye shall celebrate
    it in the seventh month.

Lev 23:42   Ye shall dwell in
   booths seven days; all that are
   Israelites born shall dwell in
   booths:

Lev 23:43   That your generations
   may know that I made the
   children of Israel to dwell in
   booths, when I brought them out
   of the land of Egypt: I am the
   LORD your God.

Now it is a curious thing that the Hebrew word used for "BOOTH," (cukkah,) is also the word used to indicate a  shelter for cattle or a cattle stall.

5521. cukkah, sook-kaw'; fem. of ·
H5520; a hut or lair:--booth, ·
cottage, covert, pavilion, ·
tabernacle, tent.

One good example of calling a "booth a cattle stall is found at:

Gen 33:17   And Jacob journeyed to
   Succoth, and built him an house,
   and made booths (cukkah) for his cattle:
   therefore the name of the place
   is called Succoth.

Now to clear up the confusion generated by switching from Hebrew in the Old Testament to Greek in the new testament, let's use the Greek word here for cattle stall (booth) which is the Greek: "MANGER."

Gen 33:17   And Jacob journeyed to
   Succoth, and built him an house,
   and made booths (MANGERS) for his cattle:
   therefore the name of the place
   is called Succoth.

And again:

Lev 23:42   Ye shall dwell in
   booths (mangers) seven days; all that are
   Israelites born shall dwell in booths. (mangers)

Next let's substitute Hebrew for Greek in the "New Testament:"

Luke 2:7   And she brought forth
    her firstborn son, and wrapped
    him in swaddling clothes, and
    laid him in a   (booth) manger;
   because  there was no room
   for them in  the inn.

And how long were the Israelites required to STAY in their manger/booths?

Lev 23:42   Ye shall dwell in
   booths (mangers) seven days; all that are
   Israelites born shall dwell in
   booths:

And how long did Mary and Joseph and Jesus stay in their booth Mangers?
Seven days, and on the eighth day they did as the law commanded, and had baby Jesus circumcised:

Luke 2:21   And when eight days
    were accomplished for the
    circumcising of the child, his
    name was called JESUS, which was
    so named of the angel before he
    was conceived in the womb.
 
And after living in their  booth/manger for seven days Mary and Joseph presented Jesus to the LORD.

Luke 2:22   And when the days of
    her purification according to
    the law of Moses were
    accomplished, they brought him
    to Jerusalem, to present him to
    the Lord;

Below is a Hebrew chart showing the date of John the Baptist's birth, and Zechariah's temple service. Priestly service was preformed for two weeks and always came at the same time of year. These service courses were numbered and so a person can easily compute the dates of these courses. THen on these events the birth of Jesus is computed. This chart shows Jesus (Yeshua) to have been born on the feast of Tabernackles. "As we have said."It also gives the year as 3 BC, but it has been two thousand years since the saviours birth, and I think the Star of Bethlehem will show that year date is 1 year too long. I believe the "STAR" will show that Jesus birth was in 2 BC. Roman / 1BC - 3999 Hebrew.


 
 The manger spoken of in the Holy Scripture is the "booth" commanded of by God. The manger/booth that: Mary; Joseph, and Jesus lived in for seven days during the feast of tabernacles is amother strong indicater that Jesus was born on the feast of booths. (September or October.) 

Luke 2:16   And they came with
   haste, and found Mary, and
   Joseph, and the babe lying in a
   manger.

One more thing: It was the custom of people in those days to build  booths in the courtyards, and on the flat roofs of the houses, and in and upon the inns because in that way they would be protected from robbers and wild animals and other dangers. The roofs were reached from inside the inns and the houses.

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