The Bible Old Testament Timeline

THE BIBLE’S PROPHETIC ORGANIZATION (GOD’S REDEMPTIVE TIMELINE) One example of documentary evidence to support the validity of the Bible is based simply on the way the Bible is organized, for it will be shown in this Topic that the entire Bible is organized prophetically in a manner predictive of God's entire Plan of Redemption from beginning to end.

OLD TESTAMENT BEGINNINGS Genesis

OLD COVENANT

ISRAEL'S HISTORY

WRITINGS

MAJOR PROPHETS

Exodus

Joshua

Job

Jeremiah

Hosea

Leviticus

Judges

Psalms

Lamentations

Joel

Numbers

Ruth

Proverbs

Ezekiel

Amos

Deuteronomy

I Samuel

Ecclesiastes

Daniel

Obadiah

II Samuel

Isaiah

MINOR PROPHETS

Jonah

Song of Songs

I Kings

Micah

II Kings

Nahum

I Chronicles

Habakkuk

II Chronicles

Zephaniah

Babylonian Exile

Babylonian Exile

Ezra

Haggai

Nehemiah

Zechariah

Esther

Malachi

NEW TESTAMENT NEW COVENANT Matthew

EARLY CHURCH HISTORY Acts

CHURCH LETTERS

HEBREW LETTERS

Romans

I Timothy

Hebrews

Mark

I Corinthians

II Timothy

James

Luke

II Corinthians

Titus

I Peter

John

Galatians

Philemon

II Peter

Ephesians

I John

Philippians

II John

Colossians

III John

I Thessalonians

Jude

II Thessalonians

Revelation

MATTHEW Inspect all of the 66 books in the Bible in the preceding chart, and notice that the books have been grouped in a particular way. You will quickly realize that all the books are there, falling in precisely the same order as they appear in the complete Bible. Although it is not yet clear just why they have been grouped as they are, you will realize quickly that the Gospel of Matthew is not only the first book in the New Testament, but it also happens to be the 40th book in the entire Bible. Think for a moment about the Biblical significance of the number “40”. Remember that it rained 40 days and nights before the great flood; Israelites spied out the Land 40 days at the time of Moses, then were forced to spend 40 years in the wilderness because of unbelief; Jesus was tested 40 days by Satan at the advent of His ministry; and Jesus remained 40 days on earth following His resurrection to confirm the fact of that miraculous event. On the basis of these examples, we would surmise that the number “40” must signify a time of testing, and by extension the 40th book in the Bible, i.e. Matthew, should also imply a time of testing for those people to whom it was written. Any student of the Bible will be aware that it was written to the Jews who were faced with the task of deciding whether or not Jesus was their long-awaited Messiah, who had been predicted in Old Testament Scriptures. Do you see the point? Matthew is placed at precisely the correct location in the Bible to be the time of testing for those who had been told of His coming, and should have been eagerly awaiting the fulfillment of those Old Testament prophecies. Here is but one of many prophetic connections with the organization of the Bible. OVERALL BIBLE ORGANIZATION Now turn your attention to the major groupings of books in both the Old and New Testaments. If you have studied the Old Testament, and are generally familiar with the contents of its books, you will realize that the first three groups contain subjects that are largely historical, with the books themselves placed generally in chronological order. In contrast, the books in that middle group from Job to the Song of Songs constitute the “Writings”, and do not deal with history but with subjects of timeless truths. Finally, those three groups from Isaiah to Malachi are all prophetic in nature. It is here that we begin to observe a very interesting characteristic of the organization of the Old Testament. Not only do the Writings and Prophetic books differ in character from the history books, but also books placed in the Writings and Prophetic groupings were actually written during the time periods described in the historical books. Therefore, the Old Testament is not organized chronologically, but in some peculiar way that seems to convey another purpose. Now the same thing is true about the New Testament. The first four books are parallel historical accounts of the life and ministry of Jesus Christ, and the book of Acts is the chronological account of the Apostolic period, which followed Jesus’ life and ministry. However, the letters following the book of Acts deal with subjects that are largely nonhistorical in nature, but were written during the earlier period of Acts, with the exception of those by John. Consequently, the New Testament is likewise not organized chronologically, but once again, in some manner appearing to convey another kind of message.

We are struck by the fact that the non-chronological organization of the Bible nevertheless displays decided patterns, which are curiously repeated. Notice how the historical groupings of one-four-nine-and three books are repeated in the prophetic groupings of onefour-nine-and three books. Observe how there are four groupings of four books, two in the Old Testament and two more in the New Testament. Finally, recognize that there are also four groupings of nine books, two in the Old Testament and two others in the New. If it is becoming apparent that these patterns are not coincidental, we will add that the numbers of books in each of the groupings also have prophetic significance. For example, the number “one” relates to “uniqueness”, “three” to “accomplishment”, “four” to a transition in God’s earthly Kingdom, and “nine” to “fullness”. All of the observations just made will now serve as a starting point from which we will discover shortly that the organization of the Bible actually reveals the totality of God’s Redemptive Plan for mankind, from its very beginning until its very end! OLD TESTAMENT ORGANIZATION To show this, let’s develop this organizational perspective by initially scanning across all of the groupings of books in the Old Testament. Clearly, the book of Genesis is unique, because there was only one beginning of creation and only one fall of mankind. Genesis spans a very long period of time from that creation until the advent of God’s Covenant of Law in the following group of books. There are “4” books in that next group of historical books dealing with the Covenant of Law, suggesting that it deals with a time of transition in God’s earthly Kingdom. Indeed, the giving of the Law not only brought new instructions, responsibilities, communications, and promises, but also witnessed the creation of a new nation of Israel whose responsibility would be to honor that Covenant. New instructions and responsibilities were provided in all four of the books, with a new form of communications through the Tabernacle and priesthood. Deuteronomy was written at the conclusion of Israel’s 40-year wandering in the wilderness. It recalled the attitude of unbelief that had kept the first generation of Israel who made the Exodus out of the Promised Land, but concluded with specific instructions regarding their conduct in the Land, and prophecies about Israel’s future failures, which would eventually cause that nation to be disannulled from the Covenant. In a proper historical sequence, the next group of “9” books from Joshua through II Chronicles shows how God’s promised blessing in the Land was affirmed in (Joshua 21.4345), and fulfilled over a subsequent period of about 800 years. The existence of these “9” books might appear artificially designed, because Samuel, Kings, and Chronicles were originally divided in the Greek Septuagint from earlier Hebrew manuscripts to create “9” books instead of the earlier “6”. However, a closer inspection of the content of those books will reveal the prophetic import of those divisions, made in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BC, for it will be discovered that Samuel was divided between the reigns of Saul and David, and Chronicles between the reign of David, and all of the remaining kings in the southern kingdom of Judah. These divisions prophetically set David apart from all of the other kings, he being the human prototype of Messiah, who would be his biological descendant and would eventually set up an everlasting Millennial Kingdom during the times in which we presently live. This fact is substantiated in Topic III dealing with “Modern Israel”, where it is shown that the timing for the setting up of David’s Old Testament kingdom has been duplicated by the State of Israel since its inception on May 14, 1948, to an accuracy

within a day! The division of the book of Kings also has prophetic significance, for that division occurs at precisely the place in the kingly lineage where God began to annul from the Covenant some of the subsequent kings of Judah, because of their acts of willful disobedience against Him (For details study "Generations"). Finally, Biblical scholarship has already shown that the books of Kings offer an editorial on the history of that period, whereas the books of Chronicles present a divine perspective, therefore there is convincing justification for the inclusion of I and II Chronicles distinct from I and II Kings in this nine-fold grouping of historical books. The group of “3” historic books following the Babylonian Exile signify a time of “accomplishment”, because they record a time when a remnant of the Jews were permitted to return back to their Land. They occurred in three migrations: Zerubbabel led the first return in 536 BC, Ezra the second in 458 BC, and Nehemiah the third in 445 BC. Those Jews described in the book of Esther remained outside of the Promised Land within the provinces of the Medo-Persian Empire. This was an accomplishment of prophetic dimensions, because it was necessary that there be a remnant of the kingdom of Judah in the Land when Messiah came so that Old Testament prophecies identifying Judah in the Land at the time of Messiah’s coming could be fulfilled. We have now arrived at the “Writings”, that fivefold centerpiece of Old Testament Scriptures. The number “5” signifies “grace”, reflected in the Writings by God's everpresent loving concern that He has for His people. These five books both serve as the heart of the Old Testament, and a division between the historic and prophetic portions. We noticed earlier that the books of the Prophets also appear in groups of one-four-nineand three, as a mirror image of the historic groups of books. Indeed, they complete the picture of the Old Testament in several respects. The prophets begin typically with pronouncements of judgement against Israel, because of their continuing disobedience of the Law and unwillingness to trust God, but then typically end with promises of future blessings consequent to His love. That mirror image is seen even within the individual books. For example, •

Genesis uniquely spans the period from the eternity past till the advent of the giving of the Law --- Whereas, Isaiah uniquely spans the period from the Law to eternity future, it being the only prophetic book that ends with the New Heaven and New Earth.

•

The four-fold group of historical books from Exodus to Deuteronomy describes a transition in God’s earthly Kingdom, with the giving of the Covenant of Law --Whereas, the four-fold group of prophetic books of Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, and Daniel describe another time of transition, when God annulled that Covenant with Israel.

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The nine-fold group of historic books from Joshua to II Chronicles describe the fullness of Israel's Old Testament history in the Land, beginning on a high note with victories under the leadership of Joshua, but ending on a low note, with the destruction of the northern kingdom of Israel by the Assyrians, then later the southern kingdom of Judah by the Babylonians --- Whereas, the nine-fold group of prophetic books from Hosea to Zephaniah describe Israel’s prophetic fullness, beginning on a low note of judgement, but ending on a high note with their restoration and blessing in the future Millennial Kingdom.

•

The three-fold group of historical books from Ezra to Esther shows the Lord’s accomplishment of returning a remnant back to the Land, following the Babylonian exile --- Whereas, the three-fold group of prophetic books from Haggai to Malachi initially describes the Lord’s accomplishment of returning a remnant back to the Land following the Babylonian exile, but ends with His accomplishment of returning a future remnant back to the Land following the Times of the Gentiles, during the End Times.

NEW TESTAMENT ORGANIZATION We are now ready to complete this story of God’s Redemptive Plan in the organization of the Bible, by adding the organization of the New Testament. Once again, we will scan horizontally across all of the groupings of books in the New Testament, but as we proceed, also compare each group of books in the New Testament with that corresponding group in the Old Testament, appearing vertically above it. The first four-fold group of books in the New Testament from Matthew to John describes the coming of Jesus Christ, and the fact that there are “4” Gospels indicates that His coming constitutes another transition in God’s earthly Kingdom. Certainly it brought a new Covenant of Grace, but the Gospels falling beneath the Old Testament Covenant of Law also indicates that the Covenant of Grace fulfilled that Old Testament Covenant of Law (Matthew 5.17). The next "group" contains only the one book of Acts, which begins with the Pentecostal arrival of the Holy Spirit. Truly, this was a unique first-time occurrence in the history of the human race, for never before had the Holy Spirit routinely in-dwelled all believers, making them "temples" of God. In fact, we look back on that occasion as the beginning of the Church Age. However, Israel's Old Testament "Inheritance" in the Land (Joshua to II Chronicles) under the Law was fulfilled, but Israel's New Testament "Inheritance" under Grace was not. Why? --- Because Israel refused to accept their Messiah following Pentecost. Acts spans about 34 years of history following Messiah's resurrection, but it records a systematic rejection by Israel of the new Covenant of Grace offered through Jesus Christ. The result was essentially an all Jewish Church on Pentecost, but nearly an all Gentile Church at the conclusion of the book of Acts, shortly before the AD 66-70 invasion and destruction of Israel by Roman armies. The New Testament organization now makes it clear why the following group of "9" Letters from Romans to II Thessalonians were all written by the Apostle Paul, the one commissioned to go to the Gentiles. Those Letters reveal how God's Old Testament promised blessings, originally intended for Israel, were fulfilled instead through the mystery of the Body of Christ during the Church Age, consisting largely of Gentile believers. The vertical connection between these Church Letters and the prophet Isaiah also becomes understandable, because Isaiah is the Old Testament prophet who most clearly prophesied the details of the coming of Messiah, e.g. (Isaiah 53), and who most clearly forecast Israel's refusal to accept Messiah when He came, e.g. (Isaiah 6). It will also become clear in the Topic titled "The Revelation" how the "Seraphim" in that chapter provide the key link that enables us to clearly identify the location of the Times of the Gentiles within The Revelation.

The ("4") Letters to Timothy, Titus, and Philemon, falling as they do beneath the ("4") books of the Old Testament prophets Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel, must depict another transition in God's earthly kingdom. Indeed, they describe a salvation fundamentally the same as that described in the Church Letters, but there is no reference to the Body of Christ. Moreover, there is a subliminal prophetic character to these Letters that has been detected by numerous Bible scholars. For example, J. Sidlow Baxter perceptively wrote, "In this, are these two Timothy epistles latently prophetic? Coming, as they do, just at the end of the nine Christian Church Epistles, do they throw on the screen an advance picture of tragic break-away and breakdown which are to characterize organized Christianity at the end of this present Church Age?" --- "Yes, undoubtedly Paul is directly thinking about these eventualities; but the further point which we are here making is that perhaps in a way which he himself did not suspect, his two Timothy letters as a whole (not just their occasional direct references to the latter days) give a prophetic photograph of our own twentieth century Christendom. If this is so, how carefully ought the Lord's Timothies to be studying them, and praying over them again today!" J. Sidlow Baxter, "Explore the Book" We arrive finally at that final grouping of ("9") Hebrew Letters from Hebrews to Revelation, which fall directly beneath ("9") of the Old Testament Minor Prophets from Hosea to Zephaniah. If this organizational rendition of God's Redemptive Plan is to remain consistent to the end, that final group of "9" Hebrew Letters must describe the fullness of the blessing for the "Hebrews". Furthermore, that blessing should constitute a fulfillment of those promises for the future Millennial Kingdom prophesied by those Old Testament Minor Prophets. We shall reserve the more detailed investigation of these final "9" Letters for Topic VIII dealing with "Kingdom Redemption", but simply observe here that these Letters have been studied over the centuries without distinction from the Church Age Letters. However, this organizational approach shows that they are actually Letters applicable for the Kingdom, though their purpose has not been disclosed until the arrival of that Kingdom. You will find detailed discussions of the "Bible's Prophetic Organization" in "A Topical Organization For The Bible". (Topic II)

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