The Virgin Incarnation of God 

    2)   The other possibility is that Zechariah's term of service mentioned in the Gospel of Luke,  when his 

division was on duty  (Lk 1:8), was simply the usual duty of every division of priests to serve during the Feast 

of Tabernacles. In this case also, Zechariah would have waited until the feast had ended before returning 

home. As a priest of the Temple, he would not have left Jerusalem in the middle of the feast (Lk 1:23).  

    The Feast of Tabernacles ends on the eighth day (Tishri 22), and that day is a day of solemn rest (Lev 23) on 

which traveling more than a short distance was not permitted. Zechariah's earliest opportunity to set out for 

home was at the end of Tishri 22 (which in 16 

B.C.

 was a Monday), at sunset. If he departed in the evening, he 

could have traveled some distance before spending the night somewhere, then spent most of the next day 

(Tishri 23; a Tuesday that year) in travel. In this way, he could have arrived home late in the day on Tishri 23. 

Since Tishri 24, (like any day in the Jewish calendar), begins at sunset, the earliest opportunity for Zechariah 

and Elizabeth to have conceived John the Baptist would be Tishri 24 (which began after sunset at the end of 

Tuesday, Tishri 23). 

    Or, if Zechariah, who was  advanced in years,  took a little longer in getting home, he would have arrived a 

day later on Tishri 24 before sunset (which would be Tishri 25, if after sunset). Either way, the conception of 

John the Baptist would most likely have occurred at the end of Tishri. In the year 16 

B.C.

, Tishri 24 fell on 

September 27. The conception of John the Baptist, then, occurred at the end of September in 16 

B.C.

    In both of these above scenarios, the conclusion would be the same, that the earliest opportunity for the 

conception of John would be in the last week of Tishri, on or after Tishri 24. Zechariah and Elizabeth were 

both looking forward to having a child (Lk 1:13, 25). They were also both God fearing, devout Jews who 

followed God's commands (Lk 1:6). So, when God sent an angel to reveal to them that it was God's will that 

they conceive a holy child, they would not have added any unnecessary delay. Zechariah and Elizabeth 

conceived their child, John the Baptist, soon after Zechariah returned from God's service at the Temple. 

    John the Baptist's conception was not miraculous or virginal. However, God did grant to Zechariah and 

Elizabeth His miraculous and grace filled assistance in conceiving a child. By a miracle of God, Zechariah and 

Elizabeth became fertile and so were made able to conceive a child in the usual way. 

    Notice that the verse which describes the hour of incense, when Zechariah was in the Temple praying, is the 

10th verse (Lk 1:10), and it is on Tishri 10 that the holy day of Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) occurs. 

This was possibly the day when Zechariah saw the angel of God and received the promise of a son. Also, it is 

the 23rd verse which states that Zechariah went home after his term of service (Lk 1:23), and the Feast of 

Tabernacles concludes with a holy day on Tishri 22, so that people would be returning to their homes on the 

following day, Tishri 23. And it is the 24th verse (Lk 1:24) which tells us that Elizabeth conceived her child, 

John. The first opportunity for Zechariah and Elizabeth to conceive a child was likely Tishri 24 . So, by God's 

Providence, the verse numbers of this passage from Sacred Scripture give us an indication of the days when 

these event occurred. 

    Blessed Anne Catherine says that Zechariah had to wait four days before the day on which he offered 

sacrifice in the Temple and received the announcement from the angel. The Day of Atonement that year fell 

on the fourth day after the Sabbath. Zechariah began his term of service on the Sabbath. The Day of 

Atonement was a fitting time for such an announcement about John the Baptist, because John the Baptist's life 

was like one long Day of Atonement and of calling others to Atonement. Therefore, the most likely time for 

the angel's announcement to Zechariah was the Day of Atonement, rather than the Feast of Tabernacles. In 

the year 16 

B.C.

, the Day of Atonement (Tishri 10) fell on September 13.

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    Though the earliest date for the conception of John the Baptist is Tishri 24, his conception could not have 

occurred later than the end of Tishri. Sacred Scripture tells us that the Incarnation occurred in the sixth month 

of the Jewish civil calendar (Lk 1:26) and during the sixth month that Elizabeth was with child (Lk 1:36). If 

Elizabeth conceived after the month of Tishri (first month), then even the last day of the month of AdarI (sixth 

month) would not be within her sixth month, but rather her fifth month. If Elizabeth conceived in the month 

of Heshvan (second month), then the sixth month of the calendar, AdarI, would be her fifth month, not her 

sixth. Therefore, John the Baptist was conceived sometime on or after Tishri 24, but before the end of Tishri. 

    I believe that John was conceived on the night of Tishri 24, because Zechariah and Elizabeth would not 

have added any unnecessary delay to the doing of God's will, and because the verse of Sacred Scripture 

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