Preface: I am not going to rehash the arguments for or against 1) dating Jesus’ birthday as September 11, 3 BC or 2) choosing to follow Tishri 1 instead for American Cultural reasons. Instead, I am arguing that there is Ancient Jewish Cultural significance if Jesus was born on Tishri 1 (aka September 11, 3 BC).
If you would like to see arguments for September 11, 3 BC as Jesus’s birthday or why if we are to take that view, we should not choose to celebrate it on September 11 but on Tishri 1, please see my previous post here.
Today (Tishri 1) is the Day of Trumpets or the Feast of Trumpets. It is the end of the agricultural year. It is the beginning of a sacred month. The Day of Trumpets, Yom Kippur, and the Feast of Booths; all falling within a few weeks. This sacred month is started by the blowing of Trumpets. But why?
Leviticus 23:24 tells us this was an act of remembrance. The phrasing tĕrû͑â is used both for warcrys and shouts for joys. So what is the significance of this? The Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology lists 5 reasons for a trump blast in the Bible:
1) The Theophany at Sinai
2) The Destruction at Jericho
3) Commonly as a military signal (ex. 2 Samuel 2:28)
4) Commonly used by prophets to warn of coming judgment (ex. Jeremiah 4:5)
5) Signally the end of an era, such as the installation of a New King (ex. Solomon’s Coronation, 1 Kings 1:34)
So here is what I am proposing, if Jesus was born on the night of Tishri 1, this would have been shortly after the Trumpet Blasts. In parallel to Solomon, this was the end of an Era, and the beginning of a King’s reign. But I don’t think this Trumpet Blast has to be limited to just the Announcement of a coming king. God coming to Earth is a Theophany in itself. Jesus came for both spiritual victory and destruction over spiritual strongholds. Lastly, he also came to pronounce a coming judgment. The Trumpet Blast proclaimed the New King had arrived and was here to fulfill the entirety of the Old Covenant.
Works Citied/Further Reading
Garrett, Duane A. 1996. “Feasts and Festivals of Israel.” In Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology, electronic ed., 252. Baker Reference Library. Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
Trent Hipp 