Practically Indisputable Case for 31 AD Jesus’ Crucifixion and 2024 Jubilee

The Practically Indisputable Case for 31 AD Crucifixion of Jesus

The life of Yeshua (Jesus) consists of some of the most significant moments in history and the timing of His birth, death, and resurrection are key to understanding prophecy, His appointed times, and His calendar. We are given a puzzle with hundreds of moving pieces that must fit perfectly together and with this information we can determine with a high degree of confidence the most supported doctrines and the most likely appointed times of Yah.

In this post I will use information from Yeshua’s life to confirm the Jordan river crossing in 1406 BC and the start of the Shemitah and Jubilee cycle. By doing this, the evidence of the Jordan river crossing also helps to confirm Yeshua’s life timeline including His sacrifice in 31 AD. Collectively this evidence is relevant to our lives today because it points to Fall of 2024 being the 70th Jubilee and the start of the Day of YHVH (Nuclear WW3 and the Rapture).

Let’s start with the critical evidence that links the Jordan river crossing to the ministry of Yeshua because understanding this linking is critical for using evidence from one time period to nail down another time period almost 1440 years removed.

When is the Shemitah Cycle?

First let’s define what a Shemitah is.

YHVH said to Moses at Mount Sinai, 2 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘When you enter the land I am going to give you, the land itself must observe a sabbath to YHVH. 3 For six years sow your fields, and for six years prune your vineyards and gather their crops. 4 But in the seventh year the land is to have a year of sabbath rest, a sabbath to YHVH. Do not sow your fields or prune your vineyards. 5 Do not reap what grows of itself or harvest the grapes of your untended vines. The land is to have a year of rest. — Leviticus 25

At the end of every seven years you shall grant a release. 2 And this is the manner of the release: every creditor shall release that which he has lent to his neighbor; he shall not exact it of his neighbor, his brother, for the Lord’s release is proclaimed… 9 Beware lest there be a base thought in your [minds and] hearts, and you say, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand…12 And if your brother, a Hebrew man or a Hebrew woman, is sold to you (a slave) and serves you six years, then in the seventh year you shall let him go free from you. — Deuteronomy 15:1–12

10 Then Moses commanded them: “At the end of every seven years, in the year for canceling debts, during the Festival of Tabernacles, when all Israel comes to appear before YHVH your God at the place he will choose, you shall read this law before them in their hearing. — Deuteronomy 31:10–11

The diagram above shows the time when Israel entered the land after 40 years in the desert after coming out of Egypt. For now, I will ask you to assume that I have the 1406 BC crossing correct, but I will provide evidence for this date later in this post. The key is to understand where the cycle begins so that we can understand what year Yeshua read Isaiah and declared the Year of Release.

We know that Yeshua declared a Shemitah in the middle of his ministry, after his baptism, 40 days of testing, and having time to grow in fame.

Then Jesus went back full of and under the power of the Spirit into Galilee, and the fame of Him spread through the whole region round about. — Luke 4:15

And He came to Nazareth, where He had been brought up; and as was His custom, He entered the synagogue on the Sabbath, and stood up to read. And the scroll of Isaiah the prophet was handed to Him. And He unrolled the scroll and found the place where it was written:

“The Spirit of YHVH is upon Me,Because He anointed Me to bring good news to the poor (forgiveness of debts). He has sent Me to proclaim release to captives (release of slaves), And recovery of sight to the blind, To set free those who are oppressed (release of slaves), To proclaim the favorable year of YHVH. (Shemitah)”

And He rolled up the scroll, gave it back to the attendant, and sat down; and the eyes of all the people in the synagogue were intently directed at Him. Now He began to say to them, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.” — Luke 4:16–21

Some people claim that Yeshua was declaring the Jubliee, but this is impossible given a 1406 BC Jordan crossing because the nearest Jubilee dates would be 57 AD or 8 AD. It is entirely possible that the single story from Yeshua’s youth fell on the Jubilee year depending upon how the Greek was translated.

Every year Jesus’ parents went to Jerusalem for the Festival of the Passover. When he was twelve years old (or in his twelfth year?), they went up to the festival, according to the custom. — Luke 2:48–52

The age at which a prophet or teacher could begin a ministry was 30, the fact that Luke doesn’t say he was 30 is a strong indication that Yeshua was near the end of his 29th year.

Now Jesus himself was about thirty years old when he began his ministry. — Luke 3:23

Using the Sabbath starting in 1408 BC starting, counting every 7 years, we come to the 205th Sabbath year starting in the fall of 28 AD through fall of 29 AD. If this Sabbath cycle is correct, then we should be able to identify a reasonable interpretation for how Luke counted Tiberius’ 15th year during which John the Baptist started his ministry. It lines up with history with the Jews starting counting years of foreign kings from first Nisan after the start of their reign. This means that there are two dates that the Jews could refer to, spring 13 AD or spring 15 AD. Any given year cannot be referred to by two different rulers, so once a year starts with one ruler, that ruler gets credit for the complete year.

This places Yeshua’s Baptism in the late summer of 27 AD, potentially on Shavuot or Pentecost.

As you can see from this timeline, if you start counting from fall 14 AD, the earliest possible date that doesn’t overlap the co-reign, then John’s ministry cannot start until the Sabbath year, but we know that Yeshua had already been baptized and grown in fame by that time.

This also means that we cannot move the 1406 crossing of the Jordan backward even one year because there would not be enough time between Yeshua’s testing in the wilderness and his reading of Isaiah to grow in fame throughout the whole region. Furthermore, we have the overturning of the money changers near Passover 46 years into temple construction to consider. Likewise, we cannot adopt a later date for Tiberius 15th year for the same reason, both would have to move forward or backward together, but other constraints prevent that.

When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, Jesus went up to Jerusalem… The Jews then responded to him, “What sign can you show us to prove your authority to do all this?” Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” — John 2:13–20

The temple wasn’t completed until around 64 AD, so these 46 years are from the start of construction in the spring of 19 BC. This event occurred after turning water into wine, and after John baptized Yeshua. This means it occurred after the 15th year of Tiberius which also started in the spring.

So far we have proven that the Shemitah year cannot be moved backward, but can it be moved forward? To move it forward would put it from Fall of 29 AD to Fall of 30 AD which would put less than 6 months between Yeshua reading Isaiah and declaring the Year of YHVH’s favor (found at the start of Luke) and the popular 30 AD crucifixion date. To move the Sabbath year forward would require a 31 AD (or later) crucifixion. To move it two years forward would eliminate 31 AD for the same reason while also completely eliminating 30 AD.

Because we know Yeshua’s age when he was baptized (almost 30), we are constrained to push the Shemitah forward by the circumstances of his birth unless someone can prove his ministry extends beyond 3.5 years and resolve other issues.

Birth of Jesus (Yeshua)

Now that we have identified many markers of Yeshua’s ministry, we can go back and confirm the timeline of his birth. The following chart shows when Yeshua would have had to be born given the constraints on the 15th year of Tiberius and the 46 years of building the temple.

Josephus records a blood moon (lunar eclipse) occurring shortly before the death of Herod the Great, and there is only one blood moon that would actually be visible and noteworthy in Jerusalem, and that is on Jan 10, 1 BC. The eclipse that some people attempt to associate with Herod’s death was an extremely small partial eclipse that would be unlikely to be noticed and documented. Furthermore, it would push John’s birth way beyond the timeline for him to be 30 in Tiberius’ 15th year.

John gives us a clue that Yeshua was born on the first day of the Feast of Tabernacles, which would have him circumcised on the 8th day of the feast.

And the Word (Christ) became flesh (human, incarnate) and tabernacled (fixed His tent of flesh, lived awhile) among us; and we [actually] saw His glory (His honor, His majesty), such glory as an only begotten son receives from his father, full of grace (favor, loving-kindness) and truth. — John 1:14 AMPC

The feast of Tabernacles would also contribute to the problem of Joseph and Mary finding a place to stay because everyone would be traveling toward Jerusalem. Furthermore, it means that Yeshua would have fulfilled all of the feast days during His first coming. If his first coming started on the Feast of Tabernacles, then perhaps His second coming will too! Could we be reborn on the very day Yeshua was born?

Covenant with the Many & End of Sacrifices

There is a verse in Daniel that describes the period of time, 73.5 years, in which Yeshua would strengthen the covenant (aka make a renewed covenant) to the time he puts an end to sacrifice and oblation. Since we know the temple was destroyed in 70 AD, this interpretation of Daniel supports a 4BC birth of Yeshua.

The common translation of Daniel 9:27 reads:

“And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease”

However, if you look at the Hebrew it could easily be read as something very different. Remember that Hebrew reads from right to left.

It reads, “He shall strengthen the covenant with many (multitude) for a week of “one and half weeks” and he shall stop the sacrifice and oblation because of the overspreading abominations he shall make it desolate.”

A week of “one and a half weeks” is 73.5 years. It is widely accepted that the 2nd Temple was destroyed on the 9th of Av (5th month) in 70 AD. This length of time is exactly how long it is from the birth of John the Baptist to the destruction of the 2nd temple which caused the sacrifice and oblation to cease.

With this perspective and understanding of Daniel 9:27, we can have a much higher degree of confidence in the date of Yeshua’s birth because it fits the prophetic timeline perfectly for starting the process of strengthening the covenant with John (while Yeshua was in the Womb). By inclusive counting we could round up to 74 years and capture the conception of Yeshua to the temple destruction.

We can therefore conclude that evidence of the Shemitah year starting in the fall of 28 AD is consistent with John’s 30th year and Tiberius 15th year from his co-reign. From this we can conclude that Yeshua was born in the fall of 4 BC and John the Baptist was born in the Spring, 6 months earlier. Both were conceived in 5 BC.

The Sign of Jonah

The sign of Jonah referred to by Yeshua may be far more than Yeshua’s death and resurrection on the third day. Consider for a moment that Nineveh didn’t see Jonah swallowed and spit up. The Sign of Jonah was the message he brought to Nineveh.

And Jonah began to enter into the city a day’s journey, and he cried, and said, “Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown.” — Jonah 3:4

Yeshua repeatedly warned Jerusalem that the only sign/message it would get is the sign/message/warning of Jonah.

The only sign it (Yeshua’s Generation) will be given is the sign of the prophet Jonah.

The crowds got even bigger and he addressed them, ‘This is an evil generation, it is asking for a sign. The only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah…’ — Luke 11:29

On judgment day the men of Nineveh will appear against this generation and they will be its condemnation, because when Jonah preached they repented (implying Yeshua’s generation won’t repent); and look, there is something greater than Jonah here. — Matthew 12:41 / Luke 11:32

It is an evil and unfaithful generation, and the only sign it will be given is the sign of Jonah. — Matthew 16:4

The sign or message of Jonah was a warning that in 40 days Nineveh would be overthrown. Using the common day-for-a-year pattern of prophecy, Yeshua was saying that in 40 years Jerusalem would be overthrown.

The death and resurrection of Yeshua wasn’t a sign to the unrepentant, it was only a sign to those who believed and repented. Destruction is the sign to the unrepentent.

We know the temple was destroyed in 70 AD. By inclusive counting, that would put Yeshua’s death at 31 AD. The length of time from spring 31 AD until fall 70 AD is 39.5 years, which rounds up to 40 years. Now if you start counting from the last time Yeshua warned before his death, then it might actually be a full 40 years; however, it is difficult to know exactly when Matthew 16 or Luke 11 took place.

If Yeshua died in 30 AD, then it would be 41 years from His last warning (sign) until the fall of the temple.

If we subtract 40 years from the 73.5 years prescribed by Daniel 9:27, then we get 33.5 years which points to 31 AD crucifixion when you start from John’s birth.

Some other “fun facts” about the significance of the number 33 in the bible

The 33rd person in Jesus’ lineage from Adam is King David and David ruled over all of Israel for 33 years. The 33rd time Abraham’s name is used in the Bible is when Issac, the child of promise, is born to him when he is 33 x 3 years old.

Given the sign of Jonah, we also have the following documents from Jewish history that confirm that for 40 years leading to the temple destruction there were numerous miracles and bad omens in the temple.

The Sages taught: During the tenure of Shimon HaTzaddik, the lot for God always arose in the High Priest’s right hand (for YHVH); after his death, it occurred only occasionally; but during the forty years prior to the destruction of the Second Temple, the lot for God did not arise in the High Priest’s right hand at all. So too, the strip of crimson wool that was tied to the head of the goat that was sent to Azazel did not turn white, and the westernmost lamp of the candelabrum did not burn continually. And the doors of the Sanctuary opened by themselves as a sign that they would soon be opened by enemies, until Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai scolded them.

And the doors of the Sanctuary opened by themselves as a sign that they would soon be opened by enemies, until Rabban Yoḥanan ben Zakkai scolded them. He said to the Sanctuary: Sanctuary, Sanctuary, why do you frighten yourself with these signs? I know about you that you will ultimately be destroyed, and Zechariah, son of Ido, has already prophesied concerning you: “Open your doors, O Lebanon, that the fire may devour your cedars” (Zechariah 11:1), Lebanon being an appellation for the Temple. — Joma 39b

Given the Jewish tradition of inclusive counting, 40 years from 70 AD would be 31 AD and not 30 AD as some like to claim.

When was the Jordan Crossed?

The Shemitah years assume a Jordan river crossing in 1406 BC; however, if the Jordan was crossed in 1405 BC or 1407 or 1408 BC then we could get a different Shemitah year and throw all the above calculations into chaos.

The most straightforward way to prove the 1406 crossing is by utilizing 1 Kings 6:1

In the four hundred and eightieth (480th) year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the fourth year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of YHVH. — 1 Kings 6:1

If we can identify when Solomon started building the temple, then this verse tells us when they left Egypt.

967 BC for the start construction of the first temple is widely supported via both biblical chronologies and independent data preserved by classical antiquity.

This excellent documentary provides compelling evidence that Amenhotep II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus and he is known to have reigned from 1450 BC to 1425 BC.

Because this video is far more engaging and detailed than this blog, I will encourage you to watch it for all of the details. The short summary is that Josephus (1st century) provides direct quotes from Manetho, a Greek historian from the 3rd century BC, who translated ancient Egyptian records that have been lost to history. From this we know the Pharaoh’s name was Amenhotep, but from this source alone we don’t know which one as there were several.

Interestingly, this video also uses 1 Kings as one of several verses to identify which of the various Amenhoteps was Pharaoh, but uses the date 966 (instead of 967) for the temple construction, but as you will see later, evidence from Yeshua’s life all but eliminates the possibility of 966. I highly recommend watching this video to definitively eliminate the possibility of “Ramses” being the Pharaoh of the Exodus. This evidence narrows the potential years of Jordan crossing to 1409 BC to 1385 BC which is consistent with 1 Kings because at least 1 year of Pharaoh’s reign was before the Exodus during the plagues. Estimates of temple construction place the exodus in the 4th year of the Pharaoh’s reign.

If we move the Jordan crossing to 1407 BC, then the 205th Sabbath would start at the end of Tiberius’ 15th year. This would force the time between Yeshua’s baptism and reading of Isaiah to be under 2 months, 40 days of which was in the desert. That isn’t much time to grow in fame and would be inconsistent with Yeshua overthrowing money changers around Passover. Bottom line, it is impossible to move the Jordan crossing backward and maintain the timeline of Yeshua’s ministry.

Moreover, if I am right about the Day of YHVH being on the 70th Jubilee, then moving it back would put us in the middle of the 70th Jubilee from Fall 2023 to 2024 or clear past it. Since nukes haven’t fallen and we are already past Passover in 2024 it seems unlikely that the true Sabbath year was earlier.

If we move the crossing forward to 1405 BC, then the Sabbath year would be from Fall 29 AD to Fall 30 AD. This would put two years between Yeshua’s baptism and proclaiming the Year of Release and would entirely eliminate the popular theory that 30 AD was the year of the cross because all of Luke would have to happen in the 6 months from reading Isaiah to a 30 AD crucifixion.

If we move the crossing forward two years to 1404 BC, then the Sabbath year would be from Fall 30 AD to fall 31 AD. This would entirely eliminate the popular 30 AD crucifixion leaving the same problem with most of Luke having to occur in 6 months before the 31 AD cross.

We can’t move any further forward because of the Sign of Jonah requirement for 40 years.

It is safe to say that the Jordan crossing must have been 1406 BC or a multiple of 7 later because it isn’t possible to move the Jordan crossing back 7 years without leaving the reign of the Pharaoh of the Exodus.

Given the confidence level in dating the construction of the 1st temple to 967 BC is so high (less than 1 year error), there is no way to move the Jordan crossing from the 1406 date.

Daniel’s 70th Week

You are probably familiar with this prophecy which points to Messiah.

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto the Messiah the Prince shall be seven weeks, and threescore (60) and two weeks: the street shall be built again, and the wall, even in troublous times.” — Daniel 9:25

I am going to propose a simple transformation of the Hebrew that more accurate reflects the use of masculine (plural) form for the word “weeks”. For a complete explanation see my video Daniel 9 Unsealed and my blog post.

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem unto Anointing the Prince shall be seven (groups weeks), after the 60th (group of weeks) and a second (group of weeks): the plaza shall be built again, and the moat, even in troublous times.” — Daniel 9:25

While the text doesn’t tell us precisely the size of each “group of weeks”, I believe the context (and history) leads us to the following:

“Know therefore and understand, that from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem (the first time) unto Anointed Prince shall be seven (70s) [490 years] , after the 60th (Jubilee, group of 49 years, [from Jordan]) and a second (490 years): the plaza shall be built again (the second time rebuilt), and the moat, and then the Tribulation Times” — Daniel 9:25

I’ll leave you to watch a prior video that shows how a second decree was issued at the start of the 60th Jubilee just as this interpretation predicts, complete with plaza and moat. However, even if you assume the traditional view that there will be 69 weeks until the Anointing you will get the same approximate result.

Ezra left Babylon to rebuild in the spring of 457 BC, and the last week of the 490 years was from spring 27 AD to the spring of 34 AD. This places Yeshua’s baptism and anointing in the 1st year of the last week of the group of weeks and it puts Yeshua’s death precisely on the start of the 4th year of the last week, just like His death marked the start of the 4000th year of His 7000 year prophetic timeline.

While Daniel 9:25 doesn’t specify at a level of resolution less than a week, it does eliminate any possibility of Yeshua starting his ministry before the spring of 27 AD. Lining up perfectly with the start of John’s ministry and His crucifixion at the start of the 4th year is just the kind of poetic touch I have come to expect from YHVH.

Chinese Records

The Chinese kept detailed and highly accurate records of astrological events. The following quotes were taken from these records which document some very relevant information that aligns perfectly with Passover week in 31 AD.

“Yin and Yang have mistakenly switched, and the sun and moon were eclipsed. The sins of all the people are now on one man. Pardon is proclaimed to all under heaven.” History of Latter Han Dynasty, Volume 1, Chronicles of Emperor Guang Wu, 7th year.

“In the day of Gui Hai, the last day of the (3rd) month, there was a solar eclipse. [The emperor] avoided the Throne Room, suspended all military activities and did not handle official business for five days.” History of Latter Han Dynasty, Vol. 1, Chronicles of Emperor Guang Wu, 7th year.

“Eclipse on the day of Gui Hai, Man from Heaven died”. History of Latter Han, Annals, №18, Gui Hai.

“During the reign of Emperor Guang Wu, on the day of Bing Yin of the fourth month of Jian Wu, a halo–a rainbow–encircled the sun.” History of Latter Han, Annals №18, Gui Hai.

A Google search for “Reign of Emperor Guang Wu” will provide a helpful answer:

Guangwudi (born c. 6 bc, Nanyang [now in Hubei province], China — died ad 57, Luoyang) was the Chinese emperor (reigned ad 25–57) who restored the Han dynasty after the usurpation of Wang Mang, a former Han minister who established the Xin dynasty (ad 9–25)

From the earliest records, the beginning of the year occurred at a New Moon near the winter solstice. The first new moon after the winter Solstice in 30 AD was Jan 11th, and the last day of the 3rd month would have been around April 10th. Here is the list of all eclipses recorded by NASA.

As you can see, the May 10th, 31 AD eclipse is the only eclipse visible in China to occur in the fourth month. There are no eclipses recorded by NASA in the third month of any year during the reign of Emperor Guang Wu. This means the darkness recorded by this record was likely the supernatural eclipse at the cross regardless of any claims of mistranslation of “The sins of all the people are now on one man”. Furthermore, it is impossible to have two solar eclipses that are just 1 month apart.

These records strongly imply that we might know the exact day the supernatural eclipse came across the whole world and we can prove it wasn’t a natural eclipse. April 10th, 31 AD appears to be the day of supernatural darkness on the true passover.

All of that said, in spite of tremendous effort to understand the ancient Chinese calendar, I believe there is still room for some error in understanding these records. If anyone has better information please add it to the comments.

Conclusion

In this post I have demonstrated via scripture, history, and science that Yeshua must have died in 31 AD and must have been born at Tabernacles in 4 BC. I have shown that the Shemitah cycle and Jubilee cycle must begin at the Jordan crossing in 1406 BC and therefore we can trust that Fall of 2024 is the 70th Jubilee and the Day of YHVH.

The Chinese evidence strongly suggests that Nisan 14 falls on a dark moon, which would mean the true Hebrew calendar might start on the Full Moon. I produced a video and blog exploring the possibility that the April 8, 2024 eclipse was the true Passover.

There are many other calendar implications with a 31 AD conclusion, such as the implication that Passover fell on a Tuesday or Wednesday according to the Gregorian weekly cycle. I will explore the consequences of this conclusion in a future post, so be sure to subscribe to catch that update.