Difference between revisions of "Bible Chronology"

Latest revision as of 22:21, 18 July 2011

Introduction

Jesus was born on the 29th of October in the year 1 BC on the first day of the Festival of Tabernacles. He died at the Passover on May 1st 33 AD. Modern Israel became a state exactly 4000 years from God's promise of the land to Abraham, and was recognised by the United Nations on the solar anniversary of the crossing of the Red Sea!

These and many other facts are hidden in the pages of Scripture. God has revealed them in recent times to assist his people in understanding his present purposes.

Chronology is the study of time and dates. Bible chronology is particularly the study of time and dates of events in the Bible. Dates and periods of time appear on almost every page of its historical parts. Chapter 5 of Genesis gives details of Adam's age when Seth was born, Seth's age when his son Enos was born and so on down to Noah. Chapter 11 gives details from Noah's son Shem down to Abraham. Other parts of scripture give the ages of the patriarchs when their sons were born, the lengths of the reigns of the judges and of the kings of Israel.

Understandably most people have no idea of the significance of all this material, and read the Bible as though it were not there.

When I was at school I had to learn the dates of all the kings and queens of England. Most of these I have now forgotten, mainly because there was no particular pattern or significance in the dates. Here Bible chronology is different. It is full of patterns and significance.

These patterns are not immediately visible. Like many other works of God they are hidden until he reveals them. No one knew of the patterns in a snowflake till microscopes were invented. Hundreds of other scientific secrets were hidden from all mankind till the very recent days of modern science. The mystery of God's purposes for the gentiles was hidden till he revealed it to Paul. So now in relatively recent times God has opened up the subject of time. Revelations have come particularly through Sir Edward Denny in the 19th century, and through Arthur Ware and Frank Paine and their associates in the 20th century.

In this writing I want to explain the most important discoveries they made, and then give some indication of their significance as I see it.

Frank Paine's book Miracle of Time (Book)

Three Keys

Many people in times past have attempted to put together all the relevant information in the Bible to arrive at an accurate dating system. Some old Bibles have in their margins the dating system of Archbishop Ussher who calculated that the creation took place in 4004 BC. Unfortunately other people have come to different conclusions, because the various time statements of the Bible appear to contradict each other and different people ignored different statements that did not fit their schemes.

Three key ideas unlock the chronology of Scripture.

Firstly, in the main time structure of Scripture God ignores all periods when his purposes were temporarily in abeyance. Man counts time continuously, but God ignores time when his redemptive purposes are not being fulfilled. In other words a period of time might be 100 years by normal human reckoning, but if the Israelites were in captivity for 40 years during that period, God would only count it as 60 years.

Secondly, years in the Bible are not the 365.25 day years that we normally use. Until the time of the Exodus God used lunar years which are 354 days long (12 revolutions of the moon). From the Exodus until the death of Jesus he used luni-solar years. After that he reverted to 354 day lunar years again.

Thirdly, key events in the Bible frequently occurred on Jewish festival days. Everyone knows that Jesus died at the Passover. When was he born? John chapter 1 verse 14 translated literally reads: 'The word was made flesh and tabernacle among us '. Jesus was born at the Festival of Tabernacles! At first hearing that sounds like a wild guess. When one gets further into the mind of God it begins to sound like the obvious day for God to choose! In 1 BC the first day of the Festival of Tabernacles was October 29th.

The Redemption Cycles

Applying the principle of omitted time periods, we find that Bible history is divided up into 4 periods each of exactly 490 years, and one period of 1960 years, which is 4 times 490. These periods are known as Redemption Cycles.

If you add up all the years mentioned in the genealogies of Adam's descendants and then Noah's descendants down to the birth of Abraham you get a total of 2008 years. It can be shown that there were 48 years between the death of Abel and the birth of Seth. During that period God's clock stopped. He could not continue his redemptive purposes through Cain and his offspring. He had to wait till Seth (the appointed seed) was born. Subtracting 48 from 2008 we get 1960.

From the birth of Abraham till the Exodus from Egypt we find 505 years recorded. There were 15 years from the birth of Ishmael to the birth of Isaac. God again waited for the child through whose seed the Redeemer would come. 505 minus 15 makes 490.

From the Exodus till the dedication of Solomon's temple the Bible actually records 621 years. However during that time there were 7 periods when the Israelites were in subjection to neighbouring tribes, such as the Philistines. The lengths of these 7 periods add up to 131 years. Subtracting 131 from 621 we again get 490.

From the dedication of the temple to the rebuilding of Jerusalem by Nehemiah is 560 years in elapsed time, but 70 years of it was the Jewish captivity in Babylon. How could God count such a time as that? That leaves us again with 490 years. From then till the death of Jesus on Calvary was an unbroken 490 years. This period alone of the 490 year cycles is actually stated in Scripture in the veiled language of Daniel's prophecy. Daniel 9:24 reads, 'Seventy "sevens" are decreed for your people and your holy city to finish transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the most holy. ' It was this verse that originally led Sir Edward Denny to the discovery of the 490 year cycles.

49 and 490 are highly significant numbers in scripture. 49 years, as mentioned in Leviticus chapter 25, were reckoned as 50 years. A jubilee year, which began on the Day of Atonement in the 49th year, and ended on the Day of Atonement in the first year of the next cycle, was added to the 49 years to make 50. At this time all debts were forgiven, all slaves set free and all land returned to its original owner. 490 years has 10 jubilee years added and therefore counts as 500 years. Similarly 1960 years has 40 jubilees added and counts as 2000 years. It is amazing to see from this that the 50th jubilee - a jubilee of jubilees - was the Exodus from Egypt. What a setting free of slaves! The restoration from Babylon had to be related to another jubilee - this time the 70th. The crucifixion - the ultimate exodus and setting free of slaves - fell on the 80th jubilee. 8 is the number especially associated with Jesus.

For more on this see The Year of Jubilee.

We meet the number 490 in the new testament. Jesus told Peter that he should forgive his brother not 7 times, but 70 times 7. That makes 490! These 490 year cycles are clearly associated with forgiveness and redemption.

The redemption cycles are summarised in the table at the beginning of this article. The last entry in the table I will explain later.

Implications

Here we must pause to consider some implications of what I have said so far. Firstly God is in complete control of history. Everything happens exactly according to his plan. Just as the very hairs of our heads are numbered, and not a sparrow falls to the ground without him knowing, so also is every last detail of timing under his control. Do not fear. God will accomplish all his purposes at exactly the right time. Your life is in his hands.

Secondly let us realise that God does not measure time in the same way as man. Einstein surprised the scientific world by announcing that time was relative. The length of time between two events is not absolute and fixed. It depends on the observer. That is even more so with God. Man can see 70 years pass by when God sees no time pass at all.

So what of our personal lives? Time stands still for us when we give birth to Cain's and Ishmaels. Both of these men represent the works of the flesh, and flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of heaven. Time stands still for us when the Philistines or Midianites rule over us. Time stands still for us when we are carried away captive to Babylon. Let us learn the personal lessons of God's clock.

God's unreckoned years may teach us something else rather different. It appears to me that God only began to measure time from about the creation of Adam. To man by scientific measurement, there were billions of years before that. In God's sight there was no time apart from man. All that went before was a blank. Till he created man in his image time did not exist.

If this is right, all conflict between scientific and Biblical chronology disappears. They each have their own separate clock.

June 12th 1933

So far we have looked at the 80 jubilees that make up the 4000 years of Bible history. What happens if we measure forward another 40 jubilees or 2000 (lunar) years from the death of Jesus? If we do that we come to June 12th 1933. This was a highly significant date in God's calendar, as I will now try to explain.

Towards the end of 1932 a group of 6 students of the Bible, led by Arthur Ware, were occupied with studying the prophecy of the seven times during which Jerusalem would be trodden down and the Gentiles would rule over the earth. This prophecy occurs 3 times in different forms in the Bible. It is illustrated by King Nebuchadnezzar's dream and its fulfilment in Daniel chapter 4. Jesus said that Jerusalem would be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled (Luke 21:24). Revelation 11:2 takes up the theme, with further information in the following chapters. A time is a period of 360 years. 7 times is therefore 2520 years. Arthur Ware and his friends had watched the progressive steps by which the land of Israel had been restored to the Jewish people. They had calculated that this time period would finally end the following June and they believed that Jesus would then return in power and glory to set up his kingdom. Accordingly they called a meeting in London at which they gave warning that there were only about 200 days left of the age.

In April 1933 they again issued a public warning that the end of the age was due in about 40 days' time, on or about June 12th. This time the publicity was greater and included large advertisements in all the leading newspapers as well as a large public meeting.

As June 12th approached it became known that a conference for the leaders of all the main countries of the world had been convened to meet in London. This was the first time in history that representatives of every major country had ever come together. Its purpose was to solve the world's economic problems, which in recent years had been very severe. The conference began at 3 p.m. with speeches by King George V and the British prime minister welcoming the delegates; but to human eyes the day passed with no apparent fulfilment of the prophecies of this unknown group of men.

One fact, however, must be noted. In all the leading speeches at the conference there was absolutely no mention of God. The world as represented by its leaders had assembled to solve its problems, but with total disregard for its Creator. Those accustomed to living their lives with little or no reference to God will probably find nothing strange in this, but those who know God in reality as the omnipotent ruler of the universe and have learnt to see things from the divine perspective can appreciate the significance of this omission. In God's sight human government had made a plain statement that it could manage without him, and thus demonstrated its rejection of him.

The conference continued for a few weeks, and then adjourned with no problems solved and plans for no further meetings. Its failure was one contributory factor to the outbreak of the second world war.

Things had not happened quite as the six men had expected, but their conviction remained that they had acted upon divine instruction. They had not made a mistake, nor joined the ranks of the many misguided cranks of religious history who had apparently made similar predictions. They set to work to make a comprehensive study of Bible chronology, and their discoveries in the next few years abundantly confirmed that it had been God who had directed their actions.

They discovered that not only did the main measurement of the times of the Gentiles end on the 12th of June 1933. Three other chronological periods all ended on the same day, in all making four periods as follows.

• 7 times from the Fall of Jerusalem
• 6000 solar years from the Creation of Adam
• 6000 redemption years from the Fall of Adam
• 1900 solar years from the Ascension of Jesus

Each of these periods ended exactly on June 12th 1933.

I knew both Arthur Ware and Frank Paine personally in their latter years, and deeply appreciated fellowship with them. Both gave the remainder of their long lives to studying Bible chronology. They built upon the foundations laid by Sir Edward Denny and Gratton Guiness in the 19th century. Both Frank and Arthur are now with the Lord. Whether they are still studying chronology I am unable to say for sure.

The facts that I present in this article are derived from their writings. Any interpretations of these facts are my own and may differ from theirs.

The Life of Jesus

No one will be surprised to learn that the events in the life of Jesus were perfectly timed by God. Paul hints at this when he writes, 'But when the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law' (Galatians 4:4). The obvious time - in divine logic - for Jesus to be born was at the Festival of Tabernacles. Jesus was laid in a manger (he was the Bread of Life), presumably in some sort of shelter or tabernacle. The Bible makes no mention of a stable. In the year 1 BC the Festival of Tabernacles began on October 29th.

Jesus was baptised by John on the Day of Atonement which was October 5th in 29 AD. After fasting 40 days he began his ministry on 26th November of that year. This was his thirtieth birthday, which was by law the first day a priest could begin his service. The wedding at Cana was 3 days later on Nov 29th.

Jesus' final visit to Jerusalem was in 33 AD. Mary of Bethany anointed him with oil on April 26th of that year. Jesus was then 33 (lunar) years old and had reached the 10th day of the 7th month in his 34th year! It was his personal Day of Atonement (The Day of Atonement is the 10th day of the 7th month). It was exactly 1300 days from the Day of Atonement when John baptised him in Jordan. Also it was exactly 2000 lunar years from the outbreak of the Yom Kippur war on October 6th 1973 - another Day of Atonement!

Jesus died on Friday May 1st and rose at midnight on Sunday making Monday May 4th the resurrection morning. (No other way could he spend 3 days and 3 nights in the tomb.) For what it matters, the church is therefore wrong on the details of both his birth and his death.

These and many other dates have remained hidden beneath the pages of Scripture waiting till God revealed them to those whom he had chosen for that purpose in the 20th century.

The Bible is not an ordinary history book. It records and places emphasis on the things that are important in God's sight. A few brief years or even days of critical significance to God will sometimes occupy many chapters. At other times many years or even centuries will only occupy a few sentences. God does not reckon as man reckons. As Isaiah said, '"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts"' (Isa 55: 8,9). That is true until by the wonderful working of the Holy Spirit our minds are renewed and his thoughts become our thoughts and his ways become our ways.

Thus we find that the dates of events important in the sight of God are recorded, though deeply hidden, in his Book. The life of Jesus has far more events that can be given dates than any other comparable period of Bible history. Thus the chronology of Scripture gives Jesus the same pre-eminent place that the Bible as a whole gives him. His birth, his ministry and his death are the central events of all time and eternity.

Time measurements are like spotlights on a stage. They are trained to shine on the most important actor especially when he is performing his most important acts. They focus with particular brightness on Jesus. Their brightest beams shine on his death and resurrection. They also highlight his birth, the starting phases of his ministry, and its final phases.

After the times of Jesus and the early church, chronology becomes silent and the spotlights are dimmed, till they are refocused to shine on the 20th century and the days in which we are now living.

Israel

In the dramatic 20th century, I believe the Jewish people and the land of Israel have seen events more dramatic than those of any other nation. No people has ever been scattered all over the world for nearly 1900 years and then returned to reclaim its original country. The tragic mass destruction of 6 million Jews by the Nazis under Hitler must also be unique in history (though Haman the Agagite attempted the same thing in the time of Esther).

Perhaps not surprisingly for those who have read this far, each major event in the 20th century relating to Israel and the Jews has been exactly timed by God. The following facts illustrate this.

As already mentioned, Jesus said that Jerusalem would be trampled on by the Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles were fulfilled . These times are 7 periods of 360 years each, totalling 2520 years. Jerusalem grew weaker and weaker and eventually fell to the Babylonians under Nebuchadnezzar over a period of time. The Jews were restored to the land of Israel and Jerusalem liberated from foreign rule over a corresponding period of time. Two of the main events were the liberation of Jerusalem from the Turks in 1917 by General Allenby and the declaration of the state of Israel in 1948. The interval between these and major events in the decline and fall of Jerusalem was exactly 2520 years.

Israel declared itself an independent state on May 14th 1948, and was recognised by the US. This date marked the end of the times of the Gentiles. 3 days later on May 17th the USSR recognised Israel, exactly 4000 years from the day when God confirmed his covenant with Abram promising him the land - then called Canaan (Gen 15). The state of Israel was finally recognised by the United Nations 360 days later on May 11th 1949 at midnight. The Exodus took place at midnight on May 11th 1639 BC! Several other exact time measurements relate to the beginning of the State of Israel.

What then of the holocaust? God warned Abraham of a "horror of great darkness" that was to come. This was fulfilled firstly by a 3 day darkness in the land of Egypt; and then by a 3 hour darkness when Jesus hung upon the cross; and finally by a 3 year "darkness" when 6 million Jews perished in the concentration camps of Europe. These events are linked chronologically, but details are beyond the scope of this article. 3 years after the end of the appalling "death" scenario of the holocaust, we see resurrection manifested in the establishment of the state of Israel.

Jerusalem, the city of peace, has in the course of history been besieged no less than 30 times and destroyed at least 3 times. It was the place which God chose, under the old covenant, to put his name. From its siege by Nebuchadnezzar in 588 BC till it finally returned to Israeli hands in June 1967 it was in the words of Jesus, 'trodden down by the Gentiles'. The Jewish people have spent most of the intervening time in diaspora or dispersion throughout the world. We can and should marvel at the amazing demonstration of God's hand in their restoration to the land of Israel and praise God for what he has done for them. But is there more for us to learn? I believe there is a deep and important lesson in their history that most people have not seen.

The visible natural Israel is a picture of the true spiritual Israel of God. Above the natural Jerusalem we must see the heavenly Jerusalem. The heavenly Jerusalem has also has been trodden down by spiritual gentiles, and its people scattered far from their spiritual land. For centuries heathen (spiritually gentile) popes, bishops and priests have ruled over God's true people and treated them spiritually in the same way that the natural gentiles have treated the Jews. Long after the reformation the protestant world has continued the man-centred legacy of the catholic church, though changing its outward form. Still far too often the blind not only lead the blind, but attempt to lead the partially sighted as well.

At the same time as liberating the earthly Jerusalem from gentile rule, I believe God has been liberating the heavenly Jerusalem from heathen rule. The last 30 years have seen large numbers of people leaving the established churches and meeting in simplicity in their homes with Jesus in the centre. They have escaped from ecclesiastical control and domination. Spiritually this is a big step in the process of returning from a spiritual diaspora and reclaiming the holy city.

The very year 1948 that saw the rise of the state of Israel also saw a most significant revival sweep across America. The emphasis of this revival was "body ministry". No longer were churches to be dominated by one man managing directors, in the form of pastors, ministers or priests. Every believer was a member of Christ's body, and each was able to fulfil his function and impart spiritual life to others.

Most people are too ignorant of both Jewish history and church history to grasp the full impact of what I am saying. Jewish history is an embarrassing subject for the church. Jews have been persecuted, slaughtered and massacred in almost every country of nominally Christian Europe. They have through the centuries suffered every kind of racial discrimination. Often just when they seemed to be safe and prosperous in a new country, fresh persecution arose and they had to flee with little more than their hands could carry to begin again from nothing to build their lives and their communities. In the light of many centuries of such suffering, the establishment of the state of Israel in fulfilment of scriptural prophecy and centuries of Jewish prayer takes on new meaning. Here at last was a safe haven and home for Jewish people. Here at last, in the words of Israel's national anthem, they were able to be a 'free people in our own country.'

Church history is a parallel story. When written by the church, it is often a catalogue of heresies and wrong doctrines and other offences committed against the establishment. The truth is very far from that. Paul's prophecy in 2 Thessalonians 2:3,4 has been fulfilled, '... that day will not come until the rebellion occurs and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the man doomed to destruction. He will oppose and will exalt himself over everything that is called God or is worshipped, so that he sets himself up in God's temple, proclaiming himself to be God.' The man of lawlessness has set himself up in the midst of the visible organised church. Doctrines both true and false have been used to suppress and control the minds of men, and bring them into subjection. Many millions in the course of church history have been put to death for standing against the church for freedom and truth. Many, many more have lived, but in spiritual bondage and darkness.

Now at last that day has come and the man of lawlessness has been revealed. The heavenly Jerusalem is being liberated from those who have trodden it down.

A New Age

We must return now to June 12th 1933. What really happened on that most significant date? I believe it was the beginning of a new age. I believe at that point we entered the Day of the Lord. Some turning points in history, both divine and secular, are dramatic and widely publicised. Others are almost hidden from view.

The birth of Abraham occurred, as we have seen, exactly 2000 (redemption) years from Adam. As Terah (whose name how many people know?) held his infant son in his arms, he hardly could have believed that baby would become the best known name in history. Every Christian, Jew and Muslim knows the name of Abraham. With God, a new age had begun, but no one on earth knew it.

So also 500 years later a large company of slaves fled from one of the world's superpowers. Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. The importance of the event was far beyond what anyone could have dreamt at the time.

1500 years after that, in a remote corner of the Roman empire, a little known religious leader came to a very painful end by the standard Roman method of execution. Outwardly he was only one among many unfortunates who got on the wrong side of the Roman authorities. To God and to us now, it was the supreme turning point of all history.

Both Peter (2 Pet 3:10) and Paul (1 Thes 5:2) said that the day of the Lord would come as a thief in the night. When thieves come in the night, no one knows much about it till dawn breaks the next day. Only then do they find out what has been taken.

On either side of our date in 1933 there were two wars of which mankind has never seen the like. History has nothing that can compare with them. They played their part in ushering in a new age.

The occult world believes we are in a new age, and they want to claim it for their master. The man in the street knows we are in a new age. Whether he calls it the scientific age, the nuclear age, the computer age or by any other name, it is clear that the world has changed irreversibly and in almost every country since the time of our grandfathers. Sometimes it seems that only the church sleeps on in the belief that everything is the same as it always has been.

The Day of The Lord

Both old testament and new testament writers speak of the Day of The Lord. The fourth commandment speaks of the Sabbath as the Lord's Day. The one is a picture of the other. One day, as we learn from Peter, is with the Lord as a thousand years. 6 days are as 6000 years. The 6 days or 6000 years of man are now finished and the Day of the Lord has begun!

From Adam till the last century God allowed human government to rule over the earth. At the national level he has appointed and allowed kings, presidents and prime ministers to rule over the countries of the world. At the economic and social level masters have ruled over servants and bosses over workers. At the family level husbands have ruled over wives and parents over children. In the churches, bishops and priests and pastors have ruled over their so called flocks. But at each of these levels we have seen failure, and we are now witnessing their dissolution. In June 1933 God officially terminated human government. Six in the Bible is the number of man and 6000 years in two separate reckonings had come to an end. Seven is the number of God and the divine rule is now due to begin.

God is now preparing the "male child" who is to rule the earth with a rod of iron. There is only one qualification for ruler ship, and that is likeness to Jesus. His righteousness, his wisdom, his power and his love are all essential for the ruling of the world. These qualities are conspicuously absent in world leaders, of today - even in those few who claim to be his followers. Those whom God is calling to rule the world must and will first share in the rejection and crucifixion of their master. Only those who have shared his sufferings can reign with him. During those sufferings they will be purged and purified and delivered from their carnal nature.

In these days God is doing a work in the visible church. He is doing another work in the land of Israel and among his people the Jews. In every activity of the Spirit of God we rejoice and glorify him; but I believe his primary work in this time is the quiet and hidden preparation of the "male child" who is to reign with Christ.

We have come to the end of 6000 years from Adam, and we are also at the end of 2000 lunar years from the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. He was 2 days in the tomb and the third day he rose from the dead. Just as Jesus the Head spent 2 literal days in the tomb, so his body has spent 2 days each of a thousand years in the tomb; but those 2 days are now over and the glorious time of his body's resurrection is now at hand. It is time for his saints to come out of their graves and enter into the Holy City. It is time to put off the grave clothes and come forth like Lazarus from the tomb.

We see this great truth of resurrection proclaimed visibly before our eyes in the nation of Israel. This nation has come forth from the graves where its people have been buried throughout the other nations of the world and reclaimed its own land. So also must the spiritual people of God arise from their graves of denominational bondage and Babylonian captivity where they have languished through two millennia and move forward to possess their promised land. Conclusion

When Jesus stood on the Mount of Olives and wept over the city of Jerusalem (Luke 19), he predicted all the things that would come upon it because its people had not known the time of their visitation. Peter and the other disciples recognised Jesus by the revelation of the Holy Spirit. I don't believe for a moment that they recognised him by studying Daniel's prophecy. The scribes and the Pharisees on the other hand were students of scripture. Even without a divine revelation they could have known the time of their visitation and been ready for the coming of Israel's Messiah.

Today is a fresh time of divine visitation. We must know that primarily and fundamentally by the inward witness of the Holy Spirit. Study of the scriptures and their hidden chronology then stand in the witness box to confirm what the Holy Spirit tells us.

Supplement

I now want to give a list of some of the more important events with their dates, in scripture and modern times. Here I am simply reproducing without explanation or comment some of the findings of Arthur Ware and Frank Paine. Where known and where relevant, I have also included the Festival at which the event occurred.

One further point is worth mentioning. Our present calendar is two days behind what the calendar was in the time of Jesus. This is because when Pope Gregory corrected the accumulated error in the calendar in 1582, he only omitted 10 days when he should have omitted 12. The implication of this is that although Jesus was born on the 29th of October, the anniversary of his birth is actually the 27th. The anniversary of his death is April 29th, though he actually died on May 1st.

List of Dates

1Exactly 3 years from the Pentecost in Jerusalem.
2Exactly 4000 lunar years from the call of Abraham and on the anniversary of the Red Sea crossing.
3Exactly 2000 lunar years from the Day of Atonement when Mary anointed Jesus.