I agree in principle only with Sir Gardner's calculations as to when things took place and why the angel Gabriel sanctioned Jesus' conception. You see, according to the correct calendar of the day, which the Melchizedek priesthood used (of which the Gabriel was a member as the Michael-Zadok's assistant), Jesus was perfectly legitimate. We must also remember that there were two political factions at Qumran, the Hebrews and the Hellenists. These two parties had dramatically different views about everything.

As I discuss in the section for the Holy Spirit, the Hebrews were more male-oriented (using the solar calendar) and the Hellenists (Greek-thinking) were more female-oriented (using the lunar calendar). The Hebrews always claimed that Jesus was illegitimate and used the solar, or civil Jewish calender, to try to disinherit him, but the Hellenists were wise to this.

Mary was obviously of the Hellenists and Joseph was obviously of the Hebrews. This is why he thought at first to put her away when she became pregnant. According to the way the Hebrews did things (which in this author's opinion was wrong and still is), Jesus was illegitimate. However, I will prove below that even though Mary and Joseph were from two different political parties, they were married under the guidelines of the Hellenists, thus making Jesus legitimate. Gabriel was merely reminding Joseph of this fact. Joseph must have been getting a lot of flak for marrying Mary altogether. Fortunately love and common sense won out. This will become clearer as we continue on.

Let us turn back to the Old Testament for clarification. We know that Jesus was a Jew, so we must look to the Hebrew calendar, which is totally different from the Julian or Christian calendar in use today. Sir Gardner's calculations are based upon the Christian calendar, which automatically disqualifies him in this regard.

The Hebrew calendar is based on the moon, and every month is only 28 days long except when there is a leap year. It is therefore called a lunar calendar, whereas the Julian calendar is a solar calendar, based on a solar year. When compared, Hebrew months straddle Julian months. Therefore, Hebrew months parallel the zodiac.

God says the following in Leviticus 23 about the holiday He declared to be the Jewish New Year:

"Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread: These are the feasts of the Lord, holy convocations which you shall proclaim at their appointed times. On the fourteenth day of the FIRST MONTH at twilight is the Lord's Passover. (Author's Note: All Jewish holidays begin at sundown and end at sundown.) And on the fifteenth day of the same month is the Feast of the Unleavened Bread to the Lord; seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you shall have a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it. But you shall offer an offering made of fire to the Lord for seven days. The seventh day shall be a holy convocation; you shall do no customary work on it."

In the same section, this is what God has to say about the Feast of Trumpets, or Rosh Hashanah, which is now celebrated as the Jewish New Year by Jews all over the world:

"The Feast of Trumpets. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, saying, 'Speak to the children of Israel, saying, "In the SEVENTH MONTH, on the first day of the month, you shall have a sabbath-rest, a memorial of blowing of trumpets, a holy convocation. You shall do no customary work on it; and you shall offer an offering made by fire to the Lord.'"

According to the Lord, the Jewish New Year was to be celebrated by the holiday called Passover, which commemorates the events leading up to the Jews freedom from slavery in Egypt. That's when the Israelites were supposed to be reborn, right? The Lord specifically commanded that Passover (please see the section on Passover and Easter for more detail) be followed up by seven days of eating unleavened bread, or matzoh, which commemorates the Exodus. Typically, somewhere along the line, the Jews changed the Hebrew calendar from what God originally commanded and created something called a civil calendar, which moved everything up by six months, so that the present-days Jews in the world celebrate Rosh Hashanah, or the Feast of Trumpets, as the Jewish New Year.

Therefore, let us review these changes and their repercussions:

RELIGIOUS YEAR	ZODIAC SIGN	CIVIL YEAR	ZODIAC SIGN
Nissan (March - April)	Aries the Ram	Tishri (September - October)	Libra the Scales
Iyar (April - May)	Taurus the Bull	Heshavan (October - November)	Scorpio the Scorpion
Sivan (May - June)	Gemini the Twins	Chislev (November - December)	Sagittarius the Centaur
Tammuz (June - July)	Cancer the Crab	Tebeth (December - January)	Capricorn the Goat
Ab (July - August)	Leo the Lion	Shebat (January - February)	Aquarius the Water Bearer
Elul (August - September)	Virgo the Virgin	Adar (February - March)	Pisces the Fish
Tishri (September - October)	Libra the Scales	Nissan (March - April	Aries the Ram
Heshevan (October - November)	Scorpio the Scorpion	Iyar (April - May)	Taurus the Bull
Chislev (November - December)	Sagittarius the Centaur	Sivan (May - June)	Gemini the Twins
Tebeth (December - January)	Capricorn the Goat	Tammuz (June - July)	Cancer the Crab
Shebat (January - February)	Aquarius the Water Bearer	Ab (July - August)	Leo the Lion
Adar (February - March)	Pisces the Fish	Elul (August - September)	Virgo the Virgin

Sir Gardner says that among the royalty and priesthood, first marriages took place in September, sexual relations were not allowed until the beginning of December, then there was a waiting period of three months to make sure the pregnancy was viable. If it was, then the second marriages took place in the following March.

If we alter these events and push them up six months according to the original religious Hebrew calendar, then we begin to see what really happened: Mary and Joseph were first married in March, Jesus was conceived in early June, Mary and Joseph had their second marriage in September, and Jesus was born right on time on March 1st, using the RELIGIOUS criteria of the people who helped to put Jesus on the cross.

God's truth will always bear out. We just have to know where to look for it and recognize it when we see it.

Now this is of course using the Christian calendar. From my own experience, there is a lot of play between the Jewish and Christian calendars. Sometimes they are off by several weeks, which would explain why on the circular calendar above, it would appear that Jesus was born in the 12th month, not the first. Sometimes Rosh Hashanah falls out in early September...other times it doesn't arrive until late September/October. Now consider what it would have taken for Jesus' real birthday to have been December 25! (Please see my Christmas section to learn where this date really came from.)