Bible Chronology

Reasoning The Scriptures

BIBLE BIBLE CHRONOLOGY

By M.S.Mariadas and Y.R.Dinakaran Bible Students, M.B.S.A

hronology is the Science or Doctrine of Time. Chronometry is the measurement of Time. Chronology is writing about and recording Time. Apostle Paul uses the Greek word Kairos for time the word Kairos means- a measure of Time ;a larger or smaller portion of time or seasons – A fixed and definite time it signifies an opportune time as in Gal 6:10 and end time – a particular time as in 1 Cor 4:5 “Judge nothing before the time until the Lord come’. Paul uses another word ‘Chronos” for time as in Gal 4:4 Chronos signifies a running time or a time flowing ceaselessly as a stream which cannot be sopped, but which can be measured. It was in this flowing stream of time the event of Jesus Christ birth took place, in our Biblical studies and in Christian faith we find that god has been working out his purpose in the Stream of Time –Chronos In God’s plan we find the divisions of times as Ages or dispensation. The time during which something occurs –chronos- 2Tim 1:9,Tit 1:2 see the contrast Kairos in Tit 1:3 – the fixed definite time or proper season. The Chronological references in the Biblical records are numerous but not always easy to understand correctly. Bible time extends through thousands of years, and Bible history touches many different lands of the Near eastern and Mediterranean worlds. In the periods and places involved many deferent systems of Time reckoning were employed. Presently let us compare the Biblical chronology with historical and archeological Evidences. Here are some of the chronologies of the past and present Christian scholars Events/Names Events/Names Creation Flood Abraham Exodus Foundation of Solomon’s Temple Destruction of the Temple

Hales 5411BC 3155BC 2078BC 1648 BC

Jackson 5426BC 3170BC 2023 BC 1593BC

Ussher 4004BC 2348BC 1921BC 1419BC

Petavios 3983BC 2327BC 1961BC 1531BC

Russell 4128BC 2470BC 2043BC 1613BC

David Rice 3958BC 2303BC 1876BC 1446BC

1027BC

1014BC

1012BC

1012BC

1033BC

966BC

586BC

586BC

588BC

580BC

606BC

587BC

According to the Modern excavation Evidence and astronomical calculation which are now in British museum i.e. the secular history corroborates Bro.David Rice’s Chronology and our calculation is a twin of him

Quick Glance at the Chronology Chronology of 6000 years in the Plan of the Ages A Study on The Time Stream of The Bible

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Reasoning The Scriptures • • • • •

From Adam to the Flood Thence to the Covenant of Abraham Thence to the Exodus Thence to 4ht year of Solomon The Established date of 4th year of Solomon Is B.C.966- to B.C.1 is

1656 years 427 years 430 years 480 years

Total years from Adam to Christ

965 years -----------------------------------3958 years

From Adam to Christ we have

-------------------------------------3958 years

From thence to complete 6000 years

2042 years --------------------------------------------6000 years

We will not waste our time calculating each and Individual time stream right from Adam I think Bible students are very familiar with Time is at Hand. We have clear evidence up to The Division of land which we will be not discussing here, only the three prominent years should be revised and reconsidered. The three prominent years are 1. Period of Judges 2. Period of Kings 3. Destruction of Jerusalem -

350 years 463 years 587 years

1. Period of Judges According to the Secular historical Evidence it is proved B.C 966 was the year King Solomon laid the foundation of the Temple in his 4th year of his reign, from this we can easily conclude that Solomon’s Rule must have begun from B.C 970 (966+4=970) adding 40 years of David’s Reign will bring us to 1010BC (970+40=1010), again adding 40 years of Saul’s Reign will bring us to B.C.1050 (1010+40=1050). Samuel and his sons as Judges must have ended by 1050B.C. From Exodus to temple foundation or Solomon’s 4th year (1st kings 6:1) is 480 years, so the year of the Exodus of the Children of Israel will be 1446 BC (966 +480=1446).Now let us give some mathematical work to our brains, to know the correct period of Judges after the Land Divided, we must count the years from the division of Land to the Period of Judges and Samuel and his sons

1. Solomon’s 4th year is 966BC 2. King David’s Rule A Study on The Time Stream of The Bible

4 years 40 years 2

Reasoning The Scriptures 3. Saul’s Rule

40 years -------------------------84 years According to this calculation the end of the period of Judges will be 966+84 = 1050BC We can affirm and confirm that Judges period ended by BC 1050. So how are we going to confirm That Judges period is of 350 years instead of 450??? Below there is a mathematical Demonstration • •

The year of Exodus 966+480= Wilderness wandering

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Division of Land

• •

The Period of Judges began from The Period of Judges ended on

1446 BC 40 years Minus --------------1406 BC 6 years Minus ---------------1400 BC 1050 BC

Thus The Total Period of Judges will be 1050-1400=350 not 450 years What about Acts 13:1913:19-20??? Apostle Paul has taken into account the Overlapped period of the Following • Canaanite Servitude -Judge 4:2,3 20 years • Judgeship of Deborah –Judges 4:4-5 40 years • Judgeship of Eli – Judge 4:18 40 years --------------------------100 years St.Paul has taken into account of the above overlapped 100 years and if we deduct this from the popular 450 years of Judges we get 350 years 2. The period of Kings British Museum Tablet # 21346 states that “In the 7th year, in the month of kislev the Babylonian

King mustered his troops and having marched to the land of Hatti, Besieged the City of Judah, and on the Second day of the month of Adar took city and captured the king, He appointed therein a King of his won choice (Zedekiah) received its heavy tribute and sent (them) to Babylon” from the above quoted Secular history we have clear proof that Jehoiachim king of Judah was captured on 16th march 597 BC this also corroborate with the Scriptures 2 Kings 24:10-12 “The King

of Babylon took him in the eighth year (accession year added) of his reign on the second day of the Month of Adar took the city and captured the king” so it was 8 year of reign of Nebuchadnezzar th

from Nissan. According to the tablet his choice king whom he appointed is Zedekiah- What is lacking in tablet we have in the Bible and what is not in the bible we have in the Tablet one confirming the other. Scriptures confirm that Zedekiah ruled 11 years 2 Kings 24:18 Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem again in the 11th year of Zedekiah 2 kings 25; 1, 2 cities was broken up.

A Study on The Time Stream of The Bible

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Reasoning The Scriptures Now let us deduct 11 years from 597 BC (597-11=586)we arrive at 587/586 BC Jer39:2,2 kings25;3 We have clear proof of the date of Zedekiah’s overthrow was in 587/586 BC Method to Reckon the Total years of Kings From Saul to the divided kingdom is 120 years (Saul 40+David40+Solomon40=120) we have calculated earlier that on 1050BC Judges Period ended and Saul commenced his reign, So 1050 -120 = 930 BC • Rehoboam son of Solomon began to reign 930BC • Last king Zedekiah ruled up to 587BC minus -------------• From divided kingdom up to Zedekiah 343 years • Saul to Solomon 120 year ---------------463 years 3. Destruction of Jerusalem In order to know the correct date of the destruction of Jerusalem, we must first find out when King Nebuchadnezzar ascended the Royal throne because scriptures clearly states that Nebuchadnezzar captured Jerusalem in his 18th year reign, If we can find the correct date of Nebuchadnezzar’s first year in secular history then it will be easy for us to calculate the 18th year of his reign and the correct date of the Destruction of Jerusalem. In Jer25:1 the Hebrew word ‘Rishony’ is Translated ‘First” (that was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar though the meaning of the word is ‘first’, it was used in the sense of ‘Beginning’. This adjective is derived from ‘Rishown’, used in Isa41:4 “I the Lord the first …. I.e. the beginning”, Where accession year system is followed, Beginning” of reign points to accession year. When a king comes to throne on a certain day in a year after the end of reign of a previous king, from that day (date) of coming to throne, to the end of that calendar year, the time span is called accession year. And his first year of reign starts from the (first day) of the next calendar year to the end of that year. The word in Jer25; 1 ‘first’ was used in the sense of Beginning”, if we read it therefore as the year of Nebuchadnezzar, instead of “first’ year of Nebuchadnezzar, we maintain harmony with other scriptures and facts. It makes a lot of difference in saying “first” than saying “accession year”. Let us take the reign of Nebuchadnezzar as an example. Babylonian chronicles are preserved in British museum.

Tablet #21946 #9#9-11 records

“For 21 years Nabopolassar had been king of Babylon. On the 8th of the month Ab he died (lit ‘the fate’), in the month of Elul Nebuchadnezzar returned to Babylon. And on the first day of the month Elul, he sat on the Royal throne in Babylon” According to our calendar, Nebopolassar died on 15th Aug 605 BC. And Nebuchadnezzar sat on the throne on 7th Sep 605BC.The accession year and the first year of Nebuchadnezzar appears as follows. A Study on The Time Stream of The Bible

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Reasoning The Scriptures •

•

ACCESSION YEAR 1st Elul (first day) BC605 to he end of the month Adar 604BC Our calendar 7ht September BC 605 to 1st April 604BC. FIRST YEAR OF REIGN Beginning of the next year Nisan 1st BC 604 to he end of Adar 603 BC Our calendar April2nd 604BC to 21st March 603 BC

We have record of both accession year and first year of Nebuchadnezzar. Now we require the accession year of Zedekiah, the key to open the Date of Destruction, which are other wise shut-up We have studied earlier under our 2nd heading that Nebuchadnezzar captured Jehoiachim in his Eight year of his reign i.e. 597 BC according to accession year -BM Tablet #21346) and appointed a king of his choice who was Zedekiah. Zedekiah reigned eleven years in Jerusalem 2 kings 24:18, Jerusalem was broken up on 29th July. And the temple and Jerusalem burnt between 25th to 28th Aug 587 BC, in the 11th year of Zedekiah. 11ht year of Zedekiah was 18th year of Nebuchadnezzar and it was in BC 587, The Temple was burnt Years Accession Year 1st year 2nd year 3rd year 4th year 5th year 6th year 7th year 8th year 9th year 10th year 11th year

Regnal Years of Zedekiah Adar 2 = March 16,597, to Adar 29 = April 12 587 BC Nisan 1= April 13, 597 to Adar 29 =April 2,596 BC Nisan1 = April 3, 596 to Adar 29 =April 21, 595BC Nisan1 = April 22,598 to Adar 30 = April 11, 594 BC Nisan 1 =-April 12, 594 to Adar 30 = April 29 ,593 BC Nisan1 = April 30, 596 to Adar 29 = April 18,592 BC Nisan =April 19,592 to Adar 29 =April7 ,591BC Nisan 1=April 8, 591 to Adar 30 = April 26 ,590 BC Nisan1 = April 27, 590 to Adar30 =April 14,589 BC Nisan 1= April 15,589 to Adar 29 = April 3 ,588 BC Nisan 1 = April 4,588 to Adar 29 =April 22 ,587 BC Nisan 1= April 23 ,587 to Jerusalem Broken up on Jul 587 BC Burnt on Aug 25-28 587 BC

History and Scripture go hand by hand one confirming the other!!!!

Nebuchadnezzar’s Regnal Years

Zedekiah’s Zedekiah’s Regnal Years

th

Accession Year Elul (7 Sep) 605 BC to Adar end 604BC 1. Nisan 1 ,604 BC to End of Adar 603 BC 2. ‘’ 603BC ‘’ 602BC 3. ‘’ 602BC ‘’ 601BC 4 ‘’ 601BC ‘’ 600BC

A Study on The Time Stream of The Bible

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Reasoning The Scriptures 5 ‘’ 600 BC ‘’ 599BC 6 ‘’ 599BC ‘’ 598BC 7 ‘’ 598BC ‘’ 597Bc 8 ‘’ 597BC ‘’ 596BC 9 ‘’ 596BC ‘’ 595BC 10 ‘’ 595BC ‘’ 594BC 11 ‘’ 594BC ‘’ 593BC 12 ‘’ 593BC ‘’ 592Bc 13 ‘’ 592BC ‘’ 591BC 14 ‘’ 591BC ‘’ 590BC 15 ‘’ 590BC ‘’ 589BC 16 ‘’ 589BC ‘’ 588Bc 17 ‘’ 588BC ‘’ 587Bc 18 From April 23 ,587 to Jerusalem Broken up on Jul 587 BC Burnt on Aug 25-28 587 BC

Accession Year of Zedekiah Nisan 1= April 13, 597 to Adar 29 =April 2,596 BC Nisan1 = April 3, 596 to Adar 29 =April 21, 595BC Nisan1 = April 22,598 to Adar 30 = April 11, 594 BC Nisan 1 =-April 12, 594 to Adar 30 = April 29 ,593 BC Nisan1 = April 30, 596 to Adar 29 = April 18,592 BC Nisan =April 19,592 to Adar 29 =April7 ,591BC Nisan 1=April 8, 591 to Adar 30 = April 26 ,590 BC Nisan1 = April 27, 590 to Adar30 =April 14,589 BC Nisan 1= April 15,589 to Adar 29 = April 3 ,588 BC Nisan 1 = April 4,588 to Adar 29 =April 22 ,587 BC Nisan 1= April 23 ,587 to Jerusalem Broken up on Jul 587 BC Burnt on Aug 25-28 587 BC

These above quoted Dates clearly establish the absolute chronology of Neo –Babylonian era A number of other cuneiform inscriptions are discovered in recent times, these times and dates agree completely with the figures given by Ptolemy’s cannon and with the astronomical texts, Nebuchadnezzar’s first year was 604/603 BC and his eighteenth year when desolated Jerusalem was 587/586 BC Another Established Date to prove 587BC is the Correct Date “VAT 4956” King Nebopolassar Nebuchadnezzar Evil –Merodach Neriglissar Labashi-Mafdul Nabonidus

Years of Reign 21 43 2 4 2-3 months 17

BC Dates 625-605 604-562 561-560 559-556 556 556-539

Astronomical Text VAT 4956 Nebuchadnezzar’s 37th year regnal years Was 568 BC

“VAT 4956” this Text superior to “Strassmaier kambyses 400” both with respect to he number of observation recorded and the accuracy of description and preservation, ‘VAT 4956” is dated to be Nebuchadnezzar’s 37th year 568/567 BC and record a great number of observations of the moon an planets from this year. All these observations were made in 568/567Bc according to modern computations there is not slightest doubt about this conclusion, as such a combination of planetary positions is not repeated again in thousands of years. If 568/567BC was the 37th regnal year of Nebuchudnezzar.his first year was 604/603BC and his 18th year when he desolated Jerusalem was 587/586 .what more we need than the above to establish 587 BC as the correct date??

Chronology confirmed with the above studies A Study on The Time Stream of The Bible

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Reasoning The Scriptures • • • • • • •

From Adam to the Flood Thence to the Covenant of Abraham Thence to the Exodus Thence to the Division of Canaan Period of Judges Period of Kings Zedekiah to BC 1

•

To comple complete mplete 6000 years we need

1656 years 427 years 430 years 46 years 350 years 463 years 587 years ---------------------3959 -1 year (3958) (3958) 2042 years ----------------6000 years

So 2042 /2043 AD will be the end of 6000 years!!!!!!

A Study on The Time Stream of The Bible

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