Elisabeth’s Conception

The New Testament provides enough facts that one can date the birth of Messiah.  Luke recorded events that detail the events that lead up to Yeshua’s birth.  The starting point is from the time Zacharias is in the temple leading to the conception of John the Baptist.

Luke 1:5

⁵There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the course of Abia: and his wife was of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was Elisabeth.

Zacharias is the father of John the Baptist.  The significant piece of information here is “the course of Abia”.  The Course of Abia refers to the rotation of the priests’ service in the Temple in Jerusalem.  There was a course (also called division) of the priests’ service at the Temple.  Only Levites were allowed to perform service in the Temple, and of the Levites, only the descendants of Aaron were allowed to perform the duties of the Priest.

As time went on, Aaron had many descendants, so King David divided them up.  The courses, or divisions, are described in 1 Chronicles 24:1-3:

¹Now these are the divisions of the sons of Aaron. The sons of Aaron; Nadab, and Abihu, Eleazar, and Ithamar. ²But Nadab and Abihu died before their father, and had no children: therefore Eleazar and Ithamar executed the priest’s office. ³And David distributed them, both Zadok of the sons of Eleazar, and Ahimelech of the sons of Ithamar, according to their offices in their service.

The divisions were further divided in 1 Chronicles 24:4-5:

⁴And there were more chief men found of the sons of Eleazar than of the sons of Ithamar; and thus were they divided. Among the sons of Eleazar there were sixteen chief men of the house of their fathers, and eight among the sons of Ithamar according to the house of their fathers. ⁵Thus were they divided by lot, one sort with another; for the governors of the sanctuary, and governors of the house of God, were of the sons of Eleazar, and of the sons of Ithamar.

They divided lots, and in 1 Chronicles 24:10

¹⁰the seventh to Hakkoz, the eighth to Abijah,

The 8^th lot was Abia (or Abijah).

1 Chronicles 24 list 24 divisions.  Each division served in the temple for a week twice a year.  24 divisions twice a year covers 48 weeks of the year.  From Deuteronomy 16:16:

¹⁶ Three times in a year shall all thy males appear before Yehovah thy God in the place which he shall choose; in the feast of unleavened bread, and in the feast of weeks, and in the feast of tabernacles: and they shall not appear before Yehovah empty:

All males were to appear before God for the migratory festivals.  Those are Feast of Unleavened Bread, Shavous or Pentecost, and Sukkoth or Feast of Tabernacle.  During these festivals, all priests served in Jerusalem.  Adding the migratory festival weeks accounts for 51 weeks.   The Jewish Year (the lunar calendar) is 354 days or just shy of 51 weeks.

To determine when a priest served we only need to know when the year begins, Exodus 12:1-2.

¹And Yehovah spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ²This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.

Exodus 12 describes the original Passover in Egypt.  The sacred year starts in Aviv (also called Nisan), which corresponds to approximately beginning to middle of April in the Julian calendar.  From this we can determine the week when Zacharias was in the Temple.

Luke 1:8

⁸And it came to pass, that while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,

Zacharias is in the course of Abia, the 8th course.  Counting from the 1^st of Aviv or Nisan add 8 weeks, plus 1 to account for the Feast of Unleavened Bread would be when Zacharias was serving in the Temple. So Week 9 of the year, Zacharias was in the temple.  In Julian calendar months, if April is the start the year, and going forward nine weeks is approximately the end of May.

Next in Luke 1:9-13.

⁹According to the custom of the priest’s office, his lot was to burn incense when he went into the temple of the Lord. ¹⁰And the whole multitude of the people were praying without at the time of incense. ¹¹And there appeared unto him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. ¹²And when Zacharias saw him, he was troubled, and fear fell upon him. ¹³But the angel said unto him, Fear not, Zacharias: for thy prayer is heard; and thy wife Elisabeth shall bear thee a son, and thou shalt call his name John.

This ought to be exciting news for Zacharias; however, Luke records in Luke 1:18-20.

¹⁸ And Zacharias said unto the angel, Whereby shall I know this? for I am an old man, and my wife well stricken in years.

Gabriel is speaking to Zacharias in the Holy place and Zacharias passively argues and doubts the vision.  Because of this Gabriel tells him in Luke 1:19-20:

¹⁹ And the angel answering said unto him, I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings. ²⁰ And, behold, thou shalt be dumb, and not able to speak, until the day that these things shall be performed, because thou believest not my words, which shall be fulfilled in their season.

Until there is fulfillment Zacharias will be stricken until the prophecy is fulfilled.  Zacharias may not have been initially convinced, but the Luke tells us in Luke 1:21-22.

²¹ And the people waited for Zacharias, and marvelled that he tarried so long in the temple. ²² And when he came out, he could not speak unto them: and they perceived that he had seen a vision in the temple: for he beckoned unto them, and remained speechless.

It seems that even the people were aware of the vision.  As for Zacharias, his understand of what he has seen will change.  He can no longer speak and this will effect his later actions, Luke 1:23-24a.

²³And it came to pass, that, as soon as the days of his ministration were accomplished, he departed to his own house. ^24aAnd after those days his wife Elisabeth conceived,

The Bible says, “as soon as.”  Zacharias did not hang around Jerusalem, he went home, and Elisabeth conceived.  Zacharias was not going to risk any more, he became obedient to the word.

If we give one more week (week 10) to travel home, then conception was likely week 11. This would be about the middle of Sivan, which would be the middle to the end of June.

Elisabeth conceived John the Baptist in the middle to the end of June.

Once the conception of Elisabeth is known, determining the birth of Yeshua is a matter of simple math.

Next Mary’s Conception

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