Contemporary Errors

Many contemporary errors and much misinformation have made what should be obvious—the signs of the Messiah’s coming—difficult to see.  Great men have searched for signs, dates, and evidence and have failed to recognize them.  For example, Johannes Kepler, who first proposed the laws of planetary motion, tried to find the birth signs but looked in the wrong years.  He worked from the mistaken premise that King Herod died in 4 BC.  So why would he look in 2 BC?​

 

Many contemporary historians have disregarded the early Christian historians who proposed a narrow window between 3 and 2 BC for Jesus’ birth.  Many have applied the eleventh-century and later Greek versions of one sentence from historian Josephus’ works, considering these versions of his statement over a vast array of other information, including the Latin heritage of that same sentence.  This narrow perspective has led many to conclude Herod died in 4 BC erroneously.​

 

The profession of the Magi, the study of stars to find and interpret signs, has been rejected by many who consider looking for signs evil.  After all, Jesus said, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks after a sign” (Matt 16:4a).​

 

Some propose that before the flood of Noah’s time, the world was covered with clouds so that no one could see the stars.  So why consider the ancient star patterns before the Flood, since men couldn’t see the stars anyway?​

 

Others have proposed that a solar year used to be 360 days long.  Some dramatic events changed the Earth’s rotation around the Sun to 365 days, and we don’t know when that occurred.  Therefore, projections of the ancient star patterns are not accurate.  So why look?​

 

Then there is the census that required Joseph to travel with his pregnant wife, Mary, to Bethlehem.  The census occurred “while Quirinius was governor of Syria” (Luke 2:2).  But many have concluded that Quirinius was governor of Syria from AD 6/7 to AD 12, not during 2 BC.  Others have said that Quirinius was governor twice, as indicated in the “stone of Tibur,“ and the first governorship must have been at the nativity of Christ.  However, the location of the stone upon its discovery and the text engraved on it seem to fit a different governor better, not Quirinius.  Since there appears to be no credible record that Quirinius was governor of Syria in 2 BC, how could Jesus have been born that year?​

 

The year assigned to Jesus’ death is usually AD 30.  Since He started His ministry at about age 30 (Luke 3:23) and there were at least two Passovers between the start of His ministry and His crucifixion, He had to be born before the spring Passover of 2 BC.  A summer 2 BC birth, therefore, could not be possible.​

 

Another error: many conclude that Solomon built his temple in 966 BC.  Therefore, the exodus of Israel from Egypt was in 1446 or 1445 BC (I Kings 6:1).  And since there were no spectacular astronomical signs in those years, none of the star patterns and configurations from that era coincide with matching star patterns occurring during significant events in Jesus’ life.​

 

The above erroneous information and assumptions have clouded the vision of those looking for the signs of Messiah.  The full and abridged versions lift these clouds.