WHEN DOES THE THIRD MILLENNIUM BEGIN?

HAVE you heard the claim that the third millennium will not begin in the year 2000 but in 2001? That claim is correct-up to a point. If we assume that Jesus Christ was born in what is now known as 1 B.C.E., as some once supposed, then December 31, 2000 (not 1999), will indeed mark the end of the second millennium, and January 1, 2001, the beginning of the thirde. However, today almost all scholars agree that Jesus Christ was not born in 1 B.C.E. Well, then, when was he born?

When Was Jesus Born?

The Bible does not reveal the exact date of Jesus' birth. It does say, however, that he was born "in the days of Herod the king." (Matthew 2:1) Many Bible scholars believe that Herod died in the year 4 B.C.E. and that Jesus was born before then-perhaps as early as 5 or 6 B.C.E. They base their conclusions about Herod's death on statements by the first-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus.

According to0 Josephus, shortly before King Herod died, there was an eclipse of the moon. Bible scholars point to a partial lunar eclipse on March 11, 4 B.C.E., as proof that Herod must have died in that year. However, in the year 1 B.C.E., there was a total lunar eclipse on January 8 and a partial eclipse on December 27. No one can say whether Josephus was referring to one of the eclipses in 1 B.C.E. or to one in 4 B.C.E. Consequently, we cannot use Josephus' words to pinpoint the precise year of Herod's death. Even if we could, without more information we still could not determine when Josephus was born.

The strongest evidence we have of the date of Jesus' birth, comes from the Bible. The inspired record states that Jesus' cousin John the Baptizer began his career as a prophet in the 15th year of Roman Emperor Tiberius Caesar. (Luke 3:1, 2) Secular history confirms that Tiberius was named emperor on September 15, 14 C.E. John began his ministry during that time, and Jesus evidently started his ministry six months later. (Luke 1:24-31) This, combined with other evidence, would take place the beginning of Jesus' ministry in the fall of 29 C.E. The Bible states that Jesus was "about thirty years old" when he began his ministry. (Luke 3:23) If he was 30 years old in the fall of 29 C.E., he must have been born in the fall of 2 B.C.E. Now,if we count forward two thousand years from the fall of 2 B.C.E. (remembering that there was no zero year; hence, from 2 B.C.E.to 1 C.E. in two years). we realize that the second millennium ended and the third millennium began in the fall of 1999!

Next time: Conclusion of WHEN DOES THE THIRD MILLENNIUM BEGIN?

Watchtower, 1999