Socrates, having been condemned to death for his radical philosophical ideas, and as he was awaiting the poison being brought to him to drink that would carry out that sentence, said this:   “But if death is a journey to another place, and there, as men say, all the dead are, what good, O my friends and judges, can be greater than this? What would not a man give if he might converse with Hesiod and Homer?  Nay, if this be true, let me die again and again….. Above all, I shall be able to continue my search into true and false knowledge; as in this world, so also in that, I shall find out who is wise and who pretends to be wise, and is not. The hour of departure has arrived, and we go our way. I to die, and you to live. Which is better God only knows.”

Just as Socrates had a positive vision of life after life, with a hope to continue to learn and grow in that after life, so should we, through Christ, have even a greater hope and vision of what is to be for us as we progress through the eternities under the leadership of our Savior. The more and sooner we can internalize and live this truth the sooner and more abundantly we will find that joy and happiness that is intended for us. Brigham Young said it best when he said, “The more I can know of God, the dearer and more precious He is to me, and the more exalted are my feelings towards Him”. 

The scriptures state that all things are created to testify of Christ. Understanding more fully the birth and birthday of the Savior and “His Holy Days” and the symbolism attached to them, will help us to more fully understand the Savior himself as well as his plan for us. In observing a small glimpse of God’s organizational power through the meaning the Savior has attached to His holy days through numbers and other symbols and the use of the sun and moon calendars, is another way one can come to more fully appreciate God and the Savior. Even more so as we observe how God has even organized the timing of the rotation of celestial bodies, as well as the generations of the Patriarch’s from Adam to Zedekiah, as well as from the birth of Christ back to Adam, to testify of the Savior as will be shown as we continue on. Truly all things are made to testify of him.

The hand of God is in all of the history of the world, from the beginning to the end, and He has always been involved in mankind’s life and learning as much as man would allow by his actions, and always with the same message, that being of the Messiah Jesus Christ and His atonement, and that man must repent and come unto Him, as man cannot be saved in his sins, but is saved from his sins through the Messiah when man repents. The Messiah has also given mankind a pattern to follow that we may become like Him as we overcome our sins and weaknesses.

“And again, I will give unto you a pattern in all things, that ye may not be deceived.” (D & C 52:14) As we look for the patterns that describe the birth and birthday of the Savior Jesus Christ, one should begin in the 12th chapter of Exodus, as that is where we find the description of the Passover which sets the pattern to be found for the last days of the Savior’s life.

To find and understand the symbolism connected with His birthday, one must first find and understand His death date and the symbolism surrounding it. Proverbs states that the day of one’s death is better than the day of one’s birth, and that is especially true in the case of the Savior, as His birth was only so that He could later fulfill His covenant of Atonement as well as His resurrection through His death, creating the opportunity for our resurrection, as well as the possibility of our salvation and potential exaltation thru Christ and His sacrifice.

It is in Exodus 12 that we find the Lord God has changed the year for the Israelites from beginning near the Fall Equinox which it had been from the time of Adam, to the spring near the Spring Equinox, in the month they first called Abib (Exodus 13:4), meaning green ears of corn (referring to the ripening stage of the barley). This month was later called Nisan after the Jews were carried away to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar about 590 BC and is what it is known as today.

The Passover, as described in Exodus 12, states the Lamb (Christ) is to be selected on the 10th day, killed on the 14th day (7+7), and as we know Jesus was resurrected three days later, on the 17th day (7+10) of their lunar calendar's 1st month, the lunar month today known as Nisan and is the lunar month around the time of the spring equinox. The numbers 7, 8 and 10 thus appear to be used in various combinations that can and do testify of Christ and His mission. A few examples of that are, 7 being God’s perfection, when doubled is 14, the Savior’s atonement and death date, also being symbolic of God’s perfection doubled. As 10 is man’s perfect number, when added to God’s perfect number 7, is 17 and the resurrection day, and can be symbolic of all perfection combined.

Also one should recognize that the Jewish and/or Israelite months were moon or lunar months and contained the time between one new moon and the next new moon. The new moon appears monthly in the west near the end of dusk. Although in our society today we use a sun calendar, the lunar calendar that is created by the moon continues on even today, and when used with our present day sun calendar, together they can create patterns that can be used to find or to better understand significant dates and events on those dates, that point out that God truly is in charge.

As you read all this, it helps to have an understanding of the calendar in use at the time of the Savior. First, again recognize that the Jews and Nephites were using a lunar or moon calendar, and their days went from sundown to sundown. Their month went from the beginning of the new crescent moon which appears at dusk, to the beginning of the next crescent moon, that time averaging 29½ days, usually 29 days one month and 30 the next. This calendar, as described in Exodus, chapter 12 in particular, was given them to follow by the Lord that they might celebrate God's Holy Days at the proper time, especially the Passover.

A new crescent moon, which is the visible new moon, appears monthly in the West just minutes after sundown, towards the end of dusk, and that crescent moon is usually then only visible for a few minutes before it also goes down, that time fluctuating from about 2 to 35 minutes. It goes down closely behind the sun which preceded it, usually only about 30 minutes to an hour before and seldom more than an hour between them both going down. (Be aware that there are about 25+- minutes of dusk first between the time the sun goes down and the moon is visible. The time of dusk before the new moon is visible is included in this mentioned period of time which reduces the actual time the moon is visible.) 

That is the range of seeing the new crescent moon that begins and ends the moon month each month. Each day following, the moon goes down about 50 minutes later on average, until by the 14th of the month it is rising in the East about the time the sun is going down in the west and appears as a full moon at that time. That is the time of the month when most of us pay any attention to the moon. 

This same or similar calendar created by the moon is still used today by some countries. The United States Naval Observatory Applications Department publishes a listing of all the times of the new moon near the spring equinox over the last two hundred plus years, plus it can calculate the moon times into the future, as well as has published the moon times around the time of Christ for about 60 years, from about 25 BC to 38 AD.

From that information, and by understanding the rotation patterns of the moon, the moon or lunar calendar dates of the past, present and future, can be found and placed on our present Gregorian calendar, as well as see the calendar at the time of Christ and thus determine Christ’s birth and death dates from that calendar and then place those dates on our calendar. As mentioned, the calendars used in the scriptures at the time of Christ and in the Book of Mormon were moon calendars. Yet a day is a day on any calendar. Once a day is determined for an event on either calendar, it is then very easy with the right information to place that day on the other calendar.

The first sighting of the new moon near or following the 20/21 of March was to begin the Israelites religious New Year and be the first day of the new month, beginning at sundown the same evening of the sighting of the new moon. This was the pattern for their year as was given by God to Moses as found in Exodus 12. This rotation of the months also eventually developed into a Hebrew/Israelite calendar with a nineteen year rotating pattern that can be found and followed through the years similar to the Babylonian calendar rotation.

The Babylonian rotation rule was that the first month of their New Year began with the sighting of the first new moon that followed the spring equinox. The Israelite rule for the beginning of their year added an agricultural rule. That rule stated that when the new moon for the New Year appeared near spring, the green ears of barley had to be at or past the ripening stage that would indicate it could be harvested and used for the wave offering that took place on the 2nd day of the Passover which occurred on the 16th day of that first month.

An interesting comment was found in the footnote on page 155 of Bill O’Reilly’s book “KILLING JESUS”. There it states ”The Sabbath was a day of complete rest, beginning at sundown on Friday and continuing until three stars were visible in the sky on Saturday evening. Strenuous work was forbidden, as were many other activities, in an effort to replicate God’s day of rest after creating the universe.”  I find it interesting here that the day is divided at the point that three stars become visible, symbolic of the Godhead, which is also represented by the number three, again adding to God’s patterns. That also would give a precise time in their day that the day breaks, similar as when our day breaks, at the stroke of midnight. 

The Israelites 1st month, then, was also determined by how ripe the barley was at the time of the new moon near the spring equinox, for as mentioned the barley had to be ripe enough that by the time of the 2nd day of the Passover, the 16th day of their 1st Month, that it could be harvested and used for the wave offering on that day. The calendar that is created by the rotation of the moon can be the same today, but for the convenience of not having to observe the moon, and a few other reasons, the modern moon calendar has had rules put in place by man some time after the destruction of the temple in 70 AD. Those imputed mathematical adjustments added to it by man, occasionally will move the calendar dates by a day for the year to start from what the older observed calendar would have been.

Exodus 12:2 states, “This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you.” As previously mentioned, the barley was to be ripe enough that it could be used in the wave offering on the 2nd day of the Passover, and had to be ripe enough to do so by that date or they were to start their year with the new moon the following month. The ‘wave offering” was symbolic of the Savior being "the bread of life” as He so stated in John 6:48, 51 “I am that bread of life.” “I am the living bread.” 

Prior to the time of Moses what they called the Civil year began in the Fall on the beginning of the lunar month called Tishrei and was the time that many of the kings began their regnal reigns, including the Jewish kings. That changing of the beginning of their year from the fall to the spring in itself is part of a symbolistic pattern. The fall time is somewhat of a reminder of the fall of Adam and his bringing death into the world as symbolized in the death of many of the plants at that time as winter approaches. Now, with the New Year in the spring, the symbolism shifts to that which Christ represents, “the light and life of the world. I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end. ” (3 Nephi 9:18), “I am the resurrection, and the life;” for “in him was life; and the life was the light of man” (John 11:25, 1:4;). The rebirth of the plants in the spring is also symbolic of the return of life given through the Savior. 

As we read down through the 12th chapter of Exodus the next thing we find is the Lord telling Moses that “In the 10th day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb,…a lamb for a house;” They were to select a lamb for each family “without blemish, a male of the first year” and they were to “keep it up until the 14th day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.’’ (Exodus 12:5-6)

Jewish tradition tells us that during these 4 days, the 10th thru the 13th, each of the family members were challenged to get acquainted with the lamb by each day visiting and examining the lamb to make sure of its perfection, and, through this process, it became not just another lamb, but one that they personally knew, similar as to how we should know the Savior. The 14th day is that Preparation day of the Passover when the lamb is to be killed, with the Passover beginning that evening.

Verse 7 and 8 tell us that the lamb was to be killed in the evening of the 14th. (At that time they had three divisions of the day: night, morning and evening, with their evenings being from just after high noon thru dusk.) They were to “take of the blood and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs…..”

This is all symbolic of how the blood of the Lamb of God was to save them from spiritual and physical death through the atonement and resurrection of the Lamb of God. Placing the blood on the door posts was a sign of faith; that those within that house would be saved from death that night because of the blood of the lamb, symbolic of the blood of Christ that was to be shed later.

Their days ended and began at sundown at the end of dusk, meaning the supper meal that night, the Passover meal, was eaten at the beginning of 15th day, with the lamb being killed on the evening of the 14th day, the preparation day of the Passover. They were also told exactly how to prepare the lamb for the meal, similar to how we are told how to repent and change our lives.

   They were told in verses 16-18 that this day was to be a memorial and the feast was to be kept on that day each year throughout their generations as a remembrance. “AND IN THE FIRST DAY THERE SHALL BE AN HOLY CONVOCATION, AND IN THE SEVENTH DAY THERE SHALL BE A HOLY CONVOCATION TO YOU; no manner of work shall be done in them, save that only which every man must eat, that only may be done of you.” (See Lev. 23:3-4 for additional scriptural references of Holy Convocation.)

It is in verse 16 we find that the 1st day and the last day of the Passover is what is called a “holy convocation”, a day “no manner of work shall be done”, a special high day Sabbath as we find being referenced to in John 19:30-31.  

And just as the Passover Lamb was to be sacrificed at a specific time, the 14th day of the month at evening, so was Christ to be sacrificed at a specific time, also on the 14th day “in the evening” at Passover time, the time called in the New Testament the “preparation day of the Passover”.  (See Matthew 27:62; Mark 15:42; Luke 23:54; John 18:28, 19:14: Memo: These verses not only point out that the Savior died on the preparation day which is the 14th, but that the day following, Passover day, is also a Sabbath day or the ‘high day’ as found in John 19:31, one of the two special Sabbath days of the Passover, the other being the last day of the Passover.)

This “holy convocation” that is to take place on the first and last day of the Passover is referring to a special Sabbath day or “high day” as referred to in John 19:31 where it states “The Jews therefore, because it was the preparation, that the bodies should not remain upon the cross on the sabbath day, (for that sabbath day was an high day,) besought Pilate that their legs might be broken, and that they might be taken away……But when they came to Jesus, and saw that he was dead already, they brake not his legs: But one of the soldiers with a spear pierced his side, and forthwith came there out blood and water.” Also we read in the LDS's edition's footnote “c” of this verse: “Jesus arose on the first day of the week. The previous day was the weekly Sabbath. The day before the Sabbath, being also the day after the Passover meal, could be the ‘high’ day.”

Understanding that Passover Pattern was to help the Israelites recognize Christ at His coming. Let us now turn to the New Testament to John 12:1-15. Here in verse 1 we see Jesus coming to Bethany six days before the Passover. The Passover being on the 15th would make this day Jesus arrived at Bethany the 9th day of their 1st month (15 -6 = 9). The Jews today call that month Nisan. It is near the spring equinox and moves through the months we call March and April on our calendar, similar to how Easter Sunday moves during this period, as the time for Easter is also determined by the moon calendar. Verses 2 and 3 indicates that they then made Him a supper that night, after which Mary anointed Jesus with a very costly ointment, and during this anointing, wiped His feet with her hair. This act occurred then during the beginning hours of the 10th day, the day of the selection of the lamb as we have observed above in Ex. 12.

We next read in verses 12-15 that “On the next day much people that were come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord. And Jesus, when he had found a young ass, sat thereon;” 

This is the day we commonly today call Palm Sunday. This is also still the 10th day of their month, as this day began the evening before and ended Sunday evening at the end of dusk. Again recognize their days run from evening to evening, not midnight to midnight like our days are structured. Also recognize that the next day as referenced to here are the daylight hours of the 10th day that began that Saturday evening before when Jesus had supper and was anointed by Mary, the 10th following the day Jesus came to Bethany on the 9th day, thus the reference “the next day”.

Thus in summery of the Old Testament description of the Savior’s death, we find the lamb (the Savior) is to be selected on the 10th day of the 1st month and is to be observed for four days to the 14th when the whole congregation is to kill the lamb (the Savior) “in the evening”. Again, this is the period of the day when the sun begins to descend shortly after high noon, which includes 2 pm, the average beginning of the Israelite 9th hour, the hour the Savior gave up the ghost, to sundown, again sundown being the time their new day begins at the point when three stars are visible in the night sky during dusk.

Notice also the 10th day, the day of selection of the lamb, was on a Sunday that year, and as mentioned above is what we today call Palm Sunday. As we study Jesus’ actions over the next four days we see Him going to the Temple and there being examined by the people and questioned by the Pharisees as they tried to find fault with Him, but could find none, symbolic with the people observing the lamb for four days to assure it was also without blemish.

We now find Jesus on Wednesday evening at what we call the “Last Supper”. John 13:14 indicates that this meal was before the feast of the Passover. (The Passover, as we can determine from the above calculation showing the 10th to be Sunday, began this year on Thursday evening and ran to Friday evening, Friday being the 15th. We thus should see that Thursday is the 14th day of their first month that year, that day also being called in all four Gospels of the New Testament, the Preparation day of the Passover.)

We also find in chapter 12 of Exodus in verse 26-29 that the Israelites were told “When your children shall say unto you, What mean ye by this service? That ye shall say, It is the sacrifice of the Lord’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he smote the Egyptians, and delivered our houses….And it came to pass, that at midnight the Lord smote all the firstborn in the land of Egypt….” It appears it was also at or near midnight when the Savior was betrayed by Judas at the garden. Just as the midnight event put into motion the Israelites going forward as a free nation, so did the betrayal by Judas put into motion the final events for Jesus. It was Wednesday evening, at midnight, that Judas betrayed Him to the Jewish leaders where He was soon taken to Pilate and condemned to die on the cross.

We find in John 19:14: “And it was the preparation of the Passover, and about the 6th hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your king.” Here we plainly see that it is the preparation day of the Passover, and the 14th day that Jesus is condemned to die by the whole congregation after four days of examination, just as was the Passover lamb. Those days are Sunday the 10th, Monday the 11th, Tuesday the 12th, Wednesday the 13th, with both the death of the Passover Lamb and the death of Christ on the 14th and Thursday afternoon, the Preparation day of the Passover, the 14th day beginning on the calendar Wednesday evening and ending Thursday evening.

We can also see Christ’s Thursday afternoon death in Matthew 12:39-40 where Jesus is asked by the Pharisees to give them a sign. Jesus responded with: “An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas: For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale’s belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.”  

Again, then, we should see from this that in order for the Savior to be in the tomb three nights with a Sunday morning resurrection, those nights would have to be Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. This again points out a Thursday afternoon death. The statement about removing Him from the cross before the Sabbath began has led some to understand His death was on a Friday, as the Sabbath was on Saturday. Understanding that Passover Day was a special Sabbath day helps us to see that the Thursday time of death does work, as they were to remove Him from the cross before the Sabbath started because it was the special ‘high day’ Sabbath they were referring to, and not the normal Sabbath day that followed the Passover Day that year. 

Knowing that the Passover began on a Thursday evening allows us to find the correct year of the Savior’s death. It is only with that understanding, when combined with the information from the Book of Mormon as found in 3 Nephi, that leads us to the correct day and year of His death and then birth.

Matthew 12:40 clearly points out that there were three nights between his death and resurrection. With a Sunday morning resurrection, that would have to be Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights. We should now be able to recognize here that Jesus did die on a Thursday afternoon and not on Friday as so many mistakenly believe. The importance of the day that He died on, the 14th, and the day of the week, Thursday, becomes more relevant when looking back on the calendars to find the year that the death of the Savior took place in. We now should be able to see that His death would have had to be in a year that the Preparation day of the Passover fell on a Thursday, and if a particular year is determined to be the Savior’s death year, that year would have to have the 14th day of the first moon month in the spring as determined by the ripening of the barley, the Preparation Day, falling on a Thursday.

We also read in Luke 3:1 that John the Baptist began preaching in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar whose reign began in late summer of 14 AD, making then the 15th year approximately the year Sept. of 28 AD to Sept of 29 AD, depending on what day the beginning of his reign was counted from. Catholic tradition gives January 4th as Jesus’ baptism date. If that be true, then it would also make Jesus Baptism and the beginning of His 3 year ministry no earlier than January of 29 AD.

 All possible Passover times from 15 BC thru 38 AD with  Julian dates converted to correct presently used Gregorian Calendar dates,  as

there was a two day difference at that time between the Julian calendar in use at that time and the Gregorian calendar we use today.  

       Astronomical                1st Evening      1st of Nisan   14th of Nisan     Astronomical         1st Evening             1st of Nisan   14th of Nisan

       New moon On                of Visual           Beginning      Beginning           New Moon              of Visual            Beginning    Beginning

        Or preceding                     New             at Sundown   at Sundown         Following                   New              at Sundown at Sundown

           Equinox           Moon           the Evening   the Evening        the  Equinox             Moon              the Evening     the Evening

       Gregorian Date        Gregorian date      Before              Before          Gregorian Date           Gregorian Date        Before           Before

Year Date    Time   Day   Date      Day    Date   Day         Date Day         Date   Un.Time  Day   Date    Day     Date    Day     Date     Day

15 BC Feb 25 10a.m.  Tue    Feb 26 Wed   Feb 27 Thur    Mar 12 Wed        Mar 27   1a.m. Thur Mar 28  Fri     Mar 29  Sat   Apr 11   Fri

14 BC Mar 16   6a.m. Mon   Mar 17 Tue   Mar 18 Wed   Mar 31  Tue     Apr 14   7p.m.*Tue   Apr 16 Thur     Apr 17   Fri   Apr 30 Thur

13 BC Mar 4 6p.m.*Fri     Mar 6  Sun    Mar   7 Mon       Mar 20 Sun     Apr 3 4a.m.  Sun       Apr   4 Mon     Apr   5  Tue  Apr 18 Mon

12 BC Feb 22 11a.m. Wed    Feb 23 Thur   Feb 24    Fri   Mar 9  Thur     Mar 23  7p.m.*Thur     Mar 25 Sat     Mar 26 Sun   Apr 8   Sat 

11 BC Mar 13  Noon  Tue    Mar 14 Wed   Mar 15 Thur  Mar 28 Wed   Apr 11   8p.m.*Wed      Apr 13  Fri          Apr  14  Sat       Apr 27   Fri

10 BC Mar 3 2a.m. Sun    Mar  4  Mon   Mar    5  Tue  Mar 18  Mon Apr  1 Noon   Mon      Apr   2  Tue   Apr   3 Wed   Apr 16 Tue

  9 BC Mar 20 11p.m.*Fri    Mar 22  Sun    Mar 23 Mon  Apr   5   Sun   Apr 19  11a.m.  Sun   Apr 20 Mon     Apr 21 Tue    May 4 Mon

  8 BC Mar 10  3a.m. Wed    Mar  11 Thur     Mar 12   Fri    Mar 25 Thu   Apr 8    6p.m.* Thur      Apr 10  Sat         Apr 11 Sun        Apr 24   Sat   

  7 BC Feb 27   3a.m. Sun     Feb 28  Mon     Mar  1  Tue    Mar 14 Mon   Mar 28  7p.m.*Mon   Mar 30 Wed       Mar 31 Thur     Apr 13 Wed

  6 BC Mar 17  9p .m.*Fri     Mar 19  Sun       Mar 20 Mon   Apr  2 Sun   Apr 16   Noon   Sun   Apr 17 Mon    Apr 18 Tue        May 1 Mon

  5 BC Mar 6     5a.m.Wed    Mar 7 Thur    Mar 8   Fri      Mar 21 Thur Apr  4    5p.m.*Thur Apr  6   Sat     Apr   7  Sun       Apr 20  Sat

  4 BC Feb 23   6p.m.*Sun    Feb 25 Tue      Feb 26 Wed    Mar 11   Tue   Mar 25  4a.m.  Tue   Mar26 Wed   Mar 27Thur  Apr 9 Wed

  3 BC Mar 14  7p.m.*Sat      Mar 16 Mon   Mar 17 Tue    Mar 30 Mon   Apr 13   4a.m.  Mon Apr 14  Tue    Apr 15 Wed       Apr 28  Tue

  2 BC Mar 4    Noon Thur    Mar 5   Fri          Mar  6  Sat     Mar 19  Fri    Apr   2   9p.m.* Fri  Apr  4  Sun     Apr 5   Mon   Apr 18 Sun

  1 BC Feb 22 0**  Tue      Feb 23 Wed     Feb 24 Thur   Mar 9 Wed    Mar 22   Noon Wed      Mar23 Thur        Mar 24  Fri   Apr 6 Thur

  1 AD Mar 11  8p.m.*Sun    Mar 13 Tue     Mar 14 Wed (**)Mar 27 Tue        Apr 10   9 a.m. Tue  Apr 11 Wed  Apr 12  Thur Apr 25Wed

  2 AD Feb 28 10p.m.*Thur  Mar 2  Sat       Mar  3  Sun    Mar 16 Sat      Mar 30  2 p.m.   Sat  Mar  31  Sun Apr 1  Mon     Apr 14 Sun

  3 AD Mar 19  3p.m.  Wed   Mar 20 Thur  Mar 21 Fri      Apr  3   Thur  Apr 18   7 a.m.  Fri   Apr 19   Sat  Apr 20  Sun        May  3  Sat

  4 AD Mar  7 6p.m.*Sun   Mar 9  Tue      Mar 10 Wed   Mar 23 Tue     Apr   6   9 a.m. Tue   Apr  7 Wed  Apr 8 Thur    Apr 21 Wed

  5 AD Feb 25   3a.m.   Fri     Feb   26 Sat     Feb 27   Sun        Mar 11 Fri      Mar 26  2 p.m. Sat    Mar27 Sun   Mar 28 Mon  Apr 10 Sun

  6 AD Mar 16   3a.m.Thur   Mar 17 Fri       Mar 18  Sat        Mar 31 Fri      Apr 14   Noon   Fri     Apr 15  Sat   Apr 16  Sun   Apr 29 Sat

  7 AD Mar  5   8p.m.*Mon   Mar  7 Wed     Mar 8 Thur    Mar 21Wed   Apr   4 4 a.m. Wed Apr  5 Thur  Apr  6   Fri    Apr 19 Thur

  8 AD Feb 23   Noon Sat    Feb 24 Sun      Feb 25 Mon        Mar 10 Sun     Mar 23   9 p.m.*Sun  Mar 25 Tue Mar26 Wed       Apr 8 Tue

  9 AD Mar 13 10a.m.  Fri         Mar 14 Sat      Mar 15 Sun    Mar 28  Sat         Apr 11   9 p.m.*Sat   Apr 13 Mon  Apr 14 Tue    Apr 27Mon

10 AD Mar 2 4p.m.*Tue   Mar 4 Thur     Mar 5 Fri        Mar 18Thur   Apr  1 6 a.m. Thur   Apr  2   Fri    Apr  3   Sat    Apr 16  Fri

11 AD Mar 21 10a.m.Mon    Mar 22 Tue     Mar 23 Wed   Apr   5 Tue     Apr 20   1 a.m. Wed Apr 21 Thur  Apr 22  Fri        May 5Thur

12 AD Mar 9   11a.m. Fri      Mar 10  Sat         Mar 11  Sun    Mar 24 Sat      Apr 8 3 a.m. Sun    Apr 9  Mon   Apr 10  Tue   Apr23 Mon

13 AD Feb 26   3p.m. Tue     Feb 27 Wed     Feb 28  Thur   Mar 13 Wed        Mar 28 5 a.m. Thur  Mar 29 Fri    Mar 30  Sat    Apr 12  Fri

14 AD Mar 17  Noon Mon    Mar 18 Tue     Mar 19 Wed    Apr  1  Tue      Apr 16    0**  Wed    Apr 17 Thur  Apr 18 Fri     May 1 Thur

15 AD Mar 7 2a.m.  Sat         Mar 8  Sun      Mar 9  Mon      Mar 22 Sun     Apr  5  11 a.m. Sun   Apr  6 Mon        Apr  7 Tue    Apr 20 Mon

16 AD Feb 24  8p.m.*Wed    Feb 26   Fri     Feb 27   Sat          Mar 11 Fri       Mar 25   4 a.m.  Fri  Mar 26 Sat    Mar 27 Sun   Apr  9  Sat

17 AD Mar 14  8p.m.*Tue    Mar 16 Thur   Mar 17   Fri      Mar 30Thur   Apr 13  4 a.m. Thur  Apr  14  Fri   Apr 15  Sat   Apr 28   Fri

18 AD Mar 4 7a.m.  Sun        Mar 5 Mon      Mar   6 Tue          Mar 19 Mon    Apr 2  7 p.m.*Mon   Apr  4 Wed   Apr 5  Thur      Apr 18Wed

19 AD Feb 21  Noon Thur    Feb 22  Fri       Feb 23  Sat           Mar 8  Fri        Mar 23 3 a.m.  Sat         Mar 24 Sun  Mar 25 Mon  Apr  7  Sun

20 AD Mar 11  5a.m. Wed    Mar 12 Thur   Mar 13 Fri       Mar 26 Thur  Apr 9  9 p.m.*Thur  Apr  11  Sat  Apr 12  Sun  Apr 25 Sat

21 AD Feb 28   6a.m.  Sun        Mar 1  Mon      Mar 2  Tue      Mar 15 Mon    Mar 29 10p.m.*Mon Mar 31Wed      Apr 1 Thur        Apr 14Wed

22 AD Mar 19  1 a.m. Sat     Mar 20 Sun      Mar 21 Mon    Apr  3   Sun     Apr 17 3 p.m.*Sun Apr 19 Tue   Apr 20 Wed   May 3 Tue

23 AD Mar 8  11a.m. Wed    Mar 9 Thur      Mar 10  Fri          Mar 23 Thur      Apr  6  10p.m.*Thur Apr 8  Sat         Apr 9  Sun    Apr 22 Sat

24 AD Feb 26   2a.m. Mon    Feb 27 Tue       Feb 28 Wed      Mar 12 Tue    Mar 26 11 a.m. Tue   Mar 27Wed      Mar28 Thur Apr 10Wed

25 AD Mar 16   4a.m. Sun    Mar 17 Mon     Mar 18 Tue      Mar 31 Mon   Apr 14  Noon  Mon  Apr 15 Tue  Apr 16 Wed       Apr 29 Tue

26 AD Mar  5   7p.m.*Thur  Mar  7   Sat       Mar 8  Sun          Mar 21 Sat     Apr 4 5 a.m.  Sat    Apr  5 Sun    Apr 6 Mon     Apr 19 Sun

27 AD Feb 23   4a.m.  Tue        Feb 24 Wed      Feb 25 Thur     Mar 10 Wed   Mar 24  5p.m.*Wed   Mar 26 Fri   Mar 27 Sat    Apr 9   Fri

28 AD Mar 13   0** Mon       Mar 14 Tue      Mar 15 Wed     Mar 28 Tue    Apr 11 2 p.m. Tue     Apr 12 Wed     Apr 13 Thur       Apr 27 Wed

29 AD Mar   2   0**  Fri    Mar 3   Sat       Mar 4   Sun          Mar 17  Sat    Mar 31 5 p.m.*Sat     Apr 2  Mon  Apr 3 Tue      Apr 16 Mon

 Below are all the possible years that the Savior could have died in.  His death year has to have a 14th of Nisan Thursday death date.  Only 34 AD qualifies.

30 AD Mar 20  6p.m.*Wed   Mar 22 Fri       Mar 23  Sat          Apr  5   Fri          Apr 19 9 a.m.  Fri       Apr 20 Sat    Apr 21 Sun     May 4 Sat

31 AD Mar 9  11p.m.*Sun    Mar 11 Tue      Mar 12 Wed     Mar 25 Tue    Apr 8 Noon  Tue    Apr 9 Wed    Apr 10 Thur       Apr23 Wed

32 AD Feb 27  10a.m. Fri      Feb 28  Sat           Feb 29   Sun    Mar 13 Sat      Mar 27  8 p.m.*Sat    Mar 29 Mon Mar 30 Tue     Apr 12Mon

33 AD Mar 17 10a.m.Thur    Mar 18  Fri          Mar 19 Sat       Apr   1   Fri     Apr 15   7 p.m.*Fri   Apr 17 Sun   Apr 18 Mon       May1 Sun

34 AD Mar   7  4a.m.  Tue     Mar 8 Wed       Mar 9 Thur     Mar 22 Wed    Apr 5   Noon  Wed    Apr 6 Thur   Apr  7   Fri    Apr 20Thur

35 AD Feb 24  6p.m.*Sat       Feb 26  Mon         Feb 27 Tue      Mar 12 Mon    Mar 26  4 a.m. Mon  Mar 27 Tue   Mar 28Wed      Apr 10 Tue

36 AD Mar 14  3p.m.  Fri      Mar 15 Sat       Mar 16 Sun     Apr  10  Sat     Apr 13  3 a.m. Sun    Apr 14 Mon   Apr 15 Tue       Apr 28Mon

                                                          Pontius Pilate was removed as ruler of Jerusalem in 36 AD

37 AD Mar   3  7p.m.*Tue     Mar 5 Thur     Mar 6 Fri         Mar 19 Thru    Apr 2  10 a.m. Thur  Apr  3   Fri     Apr  4  Sat        Apr 17  Fri

38 AD Feb 20  7p.m.*Sat       Feb 22 Mon     Feb 23 Tue       Mar 8  Mon          Mar 22 Noon  Mon   Mar 23 Tue        Mar 24Wed  Apr 6  Tue

  *Conjunction occurs too late in the day for crescent to be seen the following evening.     **Conjunction at midnight.

(**) 3 days before the 14th of Nisan Places the birth of Jesus on the 11th of Nisan on Saturday, the 24th of March in 1 AD.

                The "Thur" dates are underlined to point out the randomness of and the number of times the 14th day is on a Thursday, 5 times out

           of a possible 46 times from 15 AD to 37 AD.  As one can see from the above, only 34 AD allows for the 14th of Nisan, the Saviors Lunar

           Calendar death date, to fall on a Thursday.

As one looks at all possible years for the Savior’s death from a historical view point, meaning all the years being between as early as 30 AD and as late as 36 AD, (30 AD being at least one year after the start of the earliest time based on the reign of Tiberius Caesar, and as late as 36 AD, as Pontius Pilate was removed as the Roman ruler of Jerusalem in 36 AD), and as one reviews those years with the information found from the “United States Naval Observatory Astronomical Applications Department” (see chart above), it will be found that of all those years, only the year 34 AD has the preparation day of the Passover, the 14th day, on a Thursday, making 34 AD the only possible year for His death when following the details given in the bible with the astronomical facts from the moon times. (The bottom of the page in 3 Nephi 8 where it describes the events in America at the time of the Savior’s death, interestingly also states 34 AD.)  

  It can be determined that in 34 AD, the first moon month of the Jewish year, the month today known as Nisan, did have the 14th day of that month on Thursday. That moon day on our Sun calendar was on Thursday, April 20th in 34 AD, thus His sun calendar death date. This would make the 17th day of that same moon calendar month, Sunday, April 23rd, His sun calendar resurrection day in 34 AD.

Thus, from the information from the Bible, the stick of Judah which is the Old and New Testament, when combined with actual astronomical readings, we can truly find the Savior’s death and resurrection days on both the sun and moon calendars, but not His birthday.

Let us now turn to the stick of Joseph, the Book of Mormon, to 3 Nephi 1:24-25, 2:7-8 and 8:5. Here we will find the Nephite moon calendar days of the Savior’s birth and death. It is in 1:24 we are reminded the Nephites did live the Law of Moses which included the celebration of the Passover with the month beginning on the new moon in the spring just as the People of Israel and Judah did. In 2:7-8 we learn that the Nephites changed their calendar at the birth of Christ to begin from the time the sign was given of his birth, the day and night and day of light. Thus the 1st day of the 1st month of the 1st year of the new Nephite calendar was the actual day of the birth of Jesus.

We next find in 3 Nephi 8:5 that His death on their new calendar based on Christ’s birth, was on their 4th day of the 1st month of their 34th year, that being 3 days and 33 years from the time of the Savior’s birth on the moon or lunar calendar. Here we see that on the lunar calendar Jesus lived 3 days and 33 years, as He was born on the 1st day of the 1st month of the Nephite 1st year, and now we see His death on the Nephite 4th day of the 1st month of their 34th year, a difference of 3 days and 33 years.

We should recognize that this Nephite 4th day of the 1st month of the 34th year, their death day of the Savior, is also that year, the preparation day of the Passover and the 14th day of the 1st month on the Israelite or Jewish calendar, as a day is a day on any calendar.

Thus, the Nephites 4th day is the same as the Jewish 14th day, which would also make the Nephites 1st day, the Jewish 11th day of that first month. Now by recognizing that on the Nephite calendar, the 1st day of that same month is the Savior’s birthday, we should realize the Savior’s actual Jewish moon calendar birthday would then be the 11th day of the 1st month. Now, again, when placing the Preparation day on a Thursday in the year of His death, His death on our current sun or Gregorian calendar, is on Thursday the 20th of April of 34 AD, with His resurrection 3 days after His death on Sunday the 23rd of April, with His birthday that year 3 days earlier on Monday the 17th of April in 34 AD, the year of His death. The day of His selection would also be found on Sunday the 16th of April.

All these mentioned dates do fit with what the Old and New Testament writers, as well as Book of Mormon writers, describe concerning the timing of all those events, His selection to be on the 10th on Saturday evening and Sunday day, His birthday three days prior to His death on the Nephite 1st day and the Israelite 11th day, His death on the Nephite 4th day and the Israelite 14th day and on a Thursday afternoon, allowing for the three nights in the tomb before the Sunday Resurrection, with His resurrection following three days after His death, on Sunday the 17th on the Israelite calendar and the 7th on the Nephite calendar.

Now again recognize that this is a lunar or moon calendar, and like Easter, the moon calendar days move around on our Gregorian sun calendar. As we now go back 33 years to the actual year of Jesus’ birth, using the information from the U.S. Navy Department, we find the 11th day of the 1st month, the month of Nisan, was on Saturday, the 24th of March in the year 1 AD. Thus we have found the true moon and sun calendar day of the birth of the Savior. (Again, 3 Nephi 1, where the sign is given, also states 1 AD.)  

The Savior’s birth and death dates are literally found and confirmed by 3rd Nephi 2:7-8; 8:5 in the Book of Mormon. Those two references give us the information that is necessary to find both the Savior’s actual birth day and death day on both the Nephite and Israelite moon calendar as well as on our current Gregorian sun calendar when used with the information concerning the birth and death of the Savior as found in the Bible. It is from there that we can also see that the Savior lived a total of 33 years and three days on the moon or lunar calendar and 33 years and 27 days on the sun calendar. Here we again find a beautiful example of the Bible and the Book of Mormon being “one in thy hand” in finding the actual moon and sun calendar birth, death and resurrection days of the Savior. 

(Memo: Notice here also the fun symbolic play with the numbers on the two calendars. With the Savior's birth being possibly right at sunrise as the Bible description and the symbolism of more light entering the world which the Savior's birth alludes to, with also sunrise being at exactly 6:00 am that morning in Bethlehem, remembering the Savior is to be born in the meridian or middle of time, with the center of the lunar day also being at sunrise and thus a part of the pattern of the middle of time, and his death being right at the beginning of the 9th hour as also mentioned in the Bible, would make those exact 8 hours 1/3rd of a day, thus 33 years and 3.33333+ days on the lunar calendar and 33 years and 3x3x3 and.33333+ days on the sun calendar, the number 3 being symbolical of the Godhead.)

An additional observation verifying the Savior’s birthday from the Book of Mormon is that it is stated three times in the Book of Mormon that Lehi left Jerusalem 600 years before the coming of the Messiah. If there were people trying to kill him as stated, he would have chosen near sunrise to leave Jerusalem with those first few individuals leaving at that time. It also states that he and the family traveled three days and then stopped and built an alter and made a sacrifice. Being a Jew, it was his obligation to live the law of Moses which included the Passover. If he truly left exactly 600 years from the coming of the Messiah, meaning that he would have left Jerusalem on the Savior’s birthday, he would have traveled on the 11th 12th and 13th, then stopped and built an alter on the 14th to make the Passover sacrifice, which he did. With him leaving at sunrise and with the Savior being born at sunrise, it was 600 years to the very hour. This is also verified with the non-believers picking a day to kill all the believers at the time of the Savior’s birth. To pick that date, they would have gone back into the records and found the actual day Lehi left Jerusalem. By so doing, the believers would have no grounds to protest. And what happened? The Savior came on that date. Interestingly, the calendar rotation is so that every 600 years the calendars they are the same again, thus making Lehi leaving Jerusalem on the 11th day of the 1st month and the 24th of March in 600 BC and the Savior being born on the 11th day of the 1st month and the 24th of March in 1 AD, exactly 600 years later on both calendars.

Another interesting and important Symbolic alignment with dates is one that gives more understanding as to why the 24th of March may have been chosen for the Savior's birth. When one goes back to the time of the fall of Adam, with the earth falling from Kolob and then taking its present location and rotation around our sun, we find the Sabbath day of Saturday, the 21st of March of 4070 BC on our sun calendar and the 14th of the 1st month on our lunar calendar to be the most likely day for that event to begin. That alignment was found from Joseph Smith's comments concerning Adam being 6 months short of a thousand years when he died but 930 years old when he exited the Garden of Eden; then recognizing Adam leaving the Garden of Eden on Tishrei 1, the accepted date by Jewish tradition, that date landing on September 22, in 4001 BC and that also being the beginning of fall that year; (that calendar alignment, Tishrei 1 and September 22nd , also being the same when Joseph Smith received the plates from Moroni as well as the final day when the Israelites completed the conquest of the promised land after 5 ½ years) then going back 69 ½ years from September 22, 4001 BC and the fall equinox, to the Spring Equinox of 4070 BC, brings us to Saturday, March 21st, 4070 BC and the 14th on the lunar calendar that year. (Memo: there is a one day change every 10,000 years on our sun calendar, thus changing the spring equinox from the 20th to the 21st that year.)

God said "I give you a pattern in all things that you be not deceived". Here we find a beautiful pattern of not only of the counting of the time for Adam's death beginning in 4070 BC on Saturday, the last day of the week and the Sabbath day, but also on the Spring Equinox, symbolic of the time of new life and the beginning of the transformation of Adam from immortal to mortal. On the lunar calendar it is also the date of the Saviors future atonement and death date, the 14th day of the first month, the month presently know as Nisan. Thus the beginning of Adam's death as well as the beginning of his mortal life began on not only a Holy Sabbath day, but also on the future date of the Saviors death and atonement date.

Jesus was also in the grave three days after His death before His resurrection. Three days from March 21st is March the 24th and the actual future sun calendar birth date of the Savior. March 24th of 4070 BC is also the 17th day on the lunar calendar that year, the 17th also being His future lunar calendar resurrection day. All that patterning lends to the possibility that indeed this was the time the earth began its rotation in this solar system at the time of Adam's fall, as the Lord gives us a pattern in all things that we be not deceived.    

We have only been able to find the Savior’s birthday by following that which is taught in Ezekiel 37:16-17 where it talks of the stick of Judah (the Bible) and the stick of Joseph (the Book of Mormon), “And join them one to another into one stick; and they shall become one in thine hand.” We should here recognize that it was only by using the information from both of them together that we were able to find the actual birthday of the savior. The Prophet Lehi from the stick of Joseph in 2 Nephi 3:6-15 also speaks of these two writings stating that they “shall grow together, unto the confounding of false doctrines, and laying down of contentions”.

The Book of Mormon is another witness of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and His teachings and mission. Yet His birthday, as found in and from the Book of Mormon in the way described above, is at the same time also another witness that the Book of Mormon is true, and that Joseph Smith did translate that book from the plates just as he said he did. This can especially be shown from the facts that with further analysis it is found that in 1830 on April 6, the day the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was organized, the moon calendar date that day was the 11th day of the 1st month, Nisan, and the Savior’s moon calendar birthday. (The 6th of April is also significant because it is the 17th day from the spring equinox, the 17th as we have observed being the Savior’s resurrection day, making that day then symbolic of the birth (Nisan 11th) and resurrection (17th day from Equinox) of the Savior’s church in these latter days.)

It appears that both the appearance of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith, that which is called “The First Vision”, was found to be on March 26th 1820 according to articles written by John Pratt and others, and the organization of the Savior’s Church on April 6th 1830, “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”, were both on the Savior’s moon calendar birthday of Nisan 11th in the year those events occurred. Another pattern I see pointing to Christ and His organizational ability, as well as that the dates are correct, is found in the fact that April 6th is the 11th day from March 26th as well as the 17th day from both the spring Equinox and the 23rd of April, the Savior’s sun calendar resurrection day.

The question might now be asked, “If Joseph Smith made up the book of Mormon as some people believe, how could that random date, the 4th day of the 1st month of the 34th year, be placed in the book of Mormon by Joseph Smith to now be found to show those two sacred events, the First Vision and the organization of Christ’s church, to actually be on the Savior’s moon calendar birthday, the calendar used at the time of the Savior, along with all the symbolism of the timing that surrounds those events?”

Remember also Joseph couldn’t remember the exact date the “First Vision” took place on. He only remembered the conditions that surrounded that date, of being in the early spring, on a beautiful clear day, during a time when the family was involved with maple syrup production. In one interview he mentioned that when he went to pray that beautiful morning, it was near the place where he had left his ax the previous day.

  That ax the day before would have been being used to chop wood used to boil the syrup. If Joseph had the knowledge to actually construct those events, the First Vision and the organization of the Church, to reflect the timing of those events in the way here shown, both on the Savior’s lunar calendar birthday, why was this never mentioned by him? Would it be because he wasn’t the one who arranged those events in that way, that perhaps it truly was God? What a beautiful way this is to tie those two sacred events together, having those two sacred events in a pattern with the Savior's birthday in such a way that they literally do testify of each other as well as the Savior and His work, all at the same time.

Reviewing some of the patterns that testify of the restoration we recognize that there are 11 days from the 26th of March to April 6th, the 11th being the birthday of the Savior. From The Spring Equinox on March 20th to April 6th is 17 days and from the 6th of April to April 23rd, the Saviors sun calendar resurrection day, is also 17 days, again the 17th is the Savior’s lunar calendar resurrection day. It appears that one reason March 26th and April 6th seem to have been chosen for the restoration is because they are symbolically reflecting both the birth and resurrection of the Savior as well as the birth and resurrection of His Church in the latter days. 

 Another amazing pattern tied to the Passover pattern and Joseph Smith and the restoration of the gospel showing that the Savior truly is in charge is as follows: Recognize that the Passover lamb is to be selected on the 10th day and killed on the 14th day, symbolic of the selection and death of the Savior on those same days. The Savior then rose three days later on the 17th, with then the Passover ending on the 21st. Now, look at the timing of the events in the Prophet Joseph Smiths life. When Joseph Smith was in his 10th year his family was inspired to move to the New York area where the First vision could take place. When Joseph Smith was 14, the First Vision took place. When he was 17, the Angel Moroni appeared to him. And when He was 21, the Book of Mormon plates were finally given to Joseph to translate. Another pattern is found in the dedication of the Kirtland and St George temples. The evening that Kirtland Temple was dedicated some very spiritual events took place. The Kirtland Temple was the preparatory temple and that evening on the lunar calendar was the beginning of the 10th day of the 1st month and the day of the selection of the lamb. The St George Temple was the first temple that had all the temple ordinances and was dedicated on the lunar calendar on the 21st day of the first month and the last day of the Passover. Can you not see the hand of God in the timing of all those events? Truly, all things are made and done to testify of the Savior and his work.