The Study of Bible Chronology

God’s Great Time Clock for Mankind

Goal of this Study: Our God is a God of order and of time. He does everything according to His Plan of the Ages and the appointed times and seasons are an important part of this plan. WHY is chronology important?

Hand drawn stopwatch doodle sketch style time Vector ImageWHERE are we in the stream of time? HOW does chronology point to the Lord’s return and the establishment of his Kingdom?

Additional references: Studies in the Scriptures Vol.2, Chap. 1 and 2

What is Chronology and what is its purpose?

Chronology comes from two different Greek words – chronos meaning ‘time’ and logos meaning ‘word’. For example, the word chronometer is the technical term for a watch.

Purpose of Chronology: Chronology establishes how long mankind has been on the earth and where we are in the stream of time.

What are the different types of chronology?

There are two types of chronology: Bible Chronology and Secular Chronology.

  • Bible Chronology is the study of time according to the biblical record. Since God gave us His word, it is reasonable to assume He would furnish proof to those who search the Scriptures.
    • According to Bible chronology, 6,000 years from the creation of Adam was complete in 1872ad.
    • Since that time, we are chronologically in the seventh 1,000-year period, or the Millenium.
  • Secular Chronology is the study of time according to written histories (authors outside the Bible, like Herodotus), archeological findings, or scientific data.
    • These sources vary widely—saying man has been on the earth for thousands, tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of years.
    • These chronologies are often unreliable and inconsistent, especially as they reach further back in time, rarely offering a clear or unified answer.

Why is Bible Chronology important?

Bible Chronology is a gift to those in the right heart condition and who are truly seeking to know God.

  • Daniel 12:10 “But …none of the wicked shall understand; but the wise shall understand.”

Time prophecies help us to recognize foretold events when due.

  • Luke 21:34 “Be on guard…and that day will not come on you suddenly like a trap.”

At the end of the age, much truth is due to be uncovered that God did not make known in the past.

  • Habakkuk 2:2–3 (KJV) “And the LORD answered me, and said, ‘Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it. For the vision is yet for an appointed time, but at the end it shall speak, and not lie: though it tarry, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not tarry.’”
  • Daniel 12:4, 9 “’But thou, O Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end: many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.’ And he said, ‘Go thy way, Daniel: for the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end.’”

We should want to know whatever God reveals concerning its times and seasons. Faithful followers have long prayed “Thy Kingdom come…” and they should want to know when this will happen!

  • Deuteronomy 29:29 “The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our sons forever, that we may observe all the words of this law.”
  • John 15:1 5 (NIV) “I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.”

chain Uxia Fernández - Artelista.com How is Bible Chronology like seven links in a chain?

Each link is scripturally strong. and all the links together form a chain of testimony of God’s times and seasons. There are seven links or periods in the chain of Bible Chronology. It starts with the creation of Adam and ends in 536bc, the first year of the reign of Cyrus. This latter date is well-authenticated and generally accepted by scholars.
Bible Chronology meets with secular history at 536bc.

Seven Periods of Bible Chronology

Link #1: From Creation of Adam to the end of the Flood: 1,656 Years

In this period of Bible Chronology, God kept time by recording the age of a father when his son was born.

Adam lived 130 years and begat a son and called his name Seth. Genesis 5:3 130 years

Seth lived 105 years and begat Enos. Genesis 5:6 105 years

Enos lived 90 years and begat Cainan. Genesis 5:9 90 years

Cainan lived 70 years and begat Mahalaleel. Genesis 5:12 70 years

Mahalaleel lived 65 years and begat Jared. Genesis 5:15 65 years

Jared lived 162 years and begat Enoch. Genesis 5:18 162 years

Enoch lived 65 years and begat Methuselah. Genesis 5:21 65 years

Methuselah lived 187 years and begat Lamech. Genesis 5:25 187 years

Lamech lived 182 years and begat a son and called his name Noah. Genesis 5:28 182 years

Noah was 600 years old when the flood of waters was upon the earth. Genesis 7:6 600 years

Total from the creation of Adam to the day the Flood dried up. Genesis 8:13 1656 years

Link #2: From the Flood to the Covenant with Abraham: 427 Years

Just as in the last time period, God kept time by recording the age of a father when his son was born.

Shem begat Arphaxad 2 years after the flood. Genesis 11:10 2 years

Arphaxad lived 35 years and begat Salah. Genesis 11:12 35 years

Salah lived 30 years and begat Eber. Genesis 11:14 30 years

Eber lived 34 years and begat Peleg. Genesis 11:16 34 years

Peleg lived 30 years and begat Reu. Genesis 11:18 30 years

Reu lived 32 years and begat Serug. Genesis 11:20 32 years

Serug lived 30 years and begat Nahor. Genesis 11:22 30 years

Nahor lived 29 years and begat Terah. Genesis 11:24 29 years

The days of Terah were 205 years and he died. Genesis 11:32 205 years

Total from the flood to the death of Terah 427 years

Link #3: From the Covenant with Abraham to the Giving of the Law: 430 Years

God hid the answer for this link in the chronological chain not in the Old Testament, but in the New Testament.

  • Galatians 3:17 “The law which was four hundred and thirty years after, cannot disannul, that it should make the promise of none effect.” This means that the Law came 430 years after the Promise to Abraham.
    • Promise: God gave the promise to Abraham when his father Terah died. Genesis 11:32, 33; 12:1–4
    • The Law: The first feature of God’s law for Israel was the Passover. This was the night before the Exodus when all the first born of Israel were saved because of the lamb’s blood on their doorposts.

Link #4: From the Law to the Division of the Land: 46 Years

After the Israelites left Egypt, they journeyed towards the promised land. One year, one month and five days passed from leaving Sinai for Paran. Numbers 33:3; 10:11–13 And it was from Kadesh-barnea, in the wilderness of Paran, that the spies were sent. Numbers 13:3–26; 32:8–13

The spies came back with a terrible report, they said the promised land was filled with giants! Numbers 13:32
This displeased God, who had delivered them from the hand of Pharoh and was ready to give them the land.
God punished Israel by letting them wander in the wilderness.

After Moses’s death the wandering ended and Israel returned to the promised land under the leadership of Joshua and conquered the Canaanites, and divided the land among the tribe for their inheritance. Joshua 11:23

Caleb was one of the original spies and when asking for his portion of the land said…

  • Joshua 14:7,10 “I was forty years old when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh-barnea to spy out the land, and I brought word back to him as it was in my heart. Now behold, the Lord has let me live, just as He spoke, these forty-five years, from the time that the Lord spoke this word to Moses, when Israel walked in the wilderness; and now behold, I am eighty-five years old today.”

So, it was 1 year from the exodus to the sending of the spies and 45 years from spying the land to its division among the tribes, a total of 46 years from the Exodus to the division of the land.

Link #5: Period of the Judges: 450 Years

Like link #3 (Promise to the Law), God hid a time period in the Old Testament and revealed it in the New Testament.

  • The period from the division of the land to the anointing of Saul as King is called the Period of the Judges, though the Judges did not fill the office continuously.
  • This record of time is difficult to trace so God gave us a simple answer in the words of Apostle Paul.
  • Apostle Paul states that after God divided their land into lots…
  • Acts 13:19–21 “…He gave unto them Judges about [during] the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the Prophet. And afterward they desired a king, and God gave unto them Saul.”

Link #6: Period of the Kings: 513 Years

The Period of the Kings started when Saul was anointed and ended when wicked King Zedekiah was removed from the throne by King Nebuchadnezzar. The record of the Kings can be found in the books of Kings and Chronicles, and the length of this period is measured by adding up the years each king was on the throne (reigned).

God hid another important link in the chain in the New Testament in Acts 13:21—the length of the reign of King Saul—found nowhere else in the Bible.

Link #7: Period of Desolation of the Land: 70 Years

When Israel was conquered by Babylon and King Zedekiah (Israel) was removed from the throne by Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon) this began the Period of the Desolation of the Land.

  • This is called “the desolation of the land” because all the Israelites, both younger and old, rich and poor were removed from the promised land.
  • Even before Nebuchadnezzar conquered the Israelites, God foretold the length of this period through the prophet Jeremiah, that it would be 70 years. Jeremiah 25:11; Jeremiah 29:10; 2 Chronicles 36:21
  • After 70 years passed, King Cyrus (Persia) issued a decree to let the Israelites return to their land. 2 Chronicles 36:22–23; Ezra 1:1–4 This happened in 536bc and is a date well established in secular history. Here Bible Chronology ends.

How do we know that 6,000 years since the creation of Adam ended in 1872ad?

Now that we have established all the links in our chronological chain, let’s see where 6,000 years since the creation of Adam ends:

Why is 6,000 years important, and what does it have to do with the Kingdom?

Though the Bible contains no direct statement that the seventh thousand-year period from the creation of Adam will be the epoch of Christ’s reign, the Bible contains many examples of six periods of labor followed by a seventh period of rest and freedom.

Biblical examples of 6 periods labor + 1 period rest and freedom

  • Rest from Creation: God created the earth in six epochs and on the seventh epoch God rested. Genesis 2:1–3
  • Rest from Work: God told Israel that they were to have six days of labor followed by a seventh day of rest from work. The seventh day of rest was called the Sabbath. Exodus 20:8–11
  • Rest for the Land: The Israelites were allowed to sow the land for crops for six years, but on the seventh year the land was to rest. Exodus 23:10–11
  • Freedom for Servants: If a fellow Hebrew was sold as a servant to pay off a debt, they could work for six years, but on the seventh they had to go free. Exodus 21:2; Deuteronomy 15:12

How much greater and grander will this be for mankind, who has labored under sin and death for 6,000 years to be followed by the seventh 1,000-year great Sabbath (Millennial) Day of restitution for the world!

The Millennial Kingdom under Jesus Christ

During his first advent, Jesus told his followers that He was to inherit the Kingdom from his Father and to show the beautiful character of this Kingdom, Jesus performed miracles to heal suffering and disease—many times on the Sabbath!

  • Healing the lame man: John 5:6–9
  • Man with the withered hand: Matthew 12:10–13
  • Woman with infirmity: Luke 13:11–16
  • Man with dropsy (swelling/edema): Luke 14:1–4

To show that Jesus was to rule in God’s Kingdom and that it would be a time of rest and freedom, Jesus referred to himself as the “Lord of the Sabbath.”

  • Matthew 12:8 “For the Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.”
  • Mark 2:27–28 “Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for man, and not man for the Sabbath. So the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’”
  • Luke 6:5 “And He was saying to them, ‘The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath.’”

So, during the Greater (antitypical) Sabbath, the Millennium (the seventh 1,000-year day), it will be declared to all the world that all can have everlasting life and health eternal, if they take the steps of faith and obedience through Jesus and the Church who will reign in this Kingdom for 1,000 years.

  • Revelation 20:6 “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death
    hath no power, but they shall be priests of God and of Christ, and shall reign with him a thousand years.”

Now we know where we are in the stream of time! We have traced 6,000 years from the creation of man and
find ourselves in the seventh 1,000-year period. In this Millennial Age, Jesus has returned invisibly as the “Lord of the Sabbath.” He is tearing down the old order to make way for the Kingdom in power and glory, where the dead will be raised and sorrow and sighing will flee away forever! Praise be to God for His plan for everyone!

This graphic shows the chronology links from Adam’s creation and ends in 1874, which is 6,000 years from Adam’s FALL. Because Jesus came to save that which was lost, his return happens exactly 6,000 years from Adam’s fall in 1874 ad.
There are more time prophecies that also point to this date, such as the Jubilee cycles and the Days of Daniel for future study!

The framework of Bible chronology in this keynote follows that presented in the Studies in the Scriptures. The fact that the Scriptures contain numerous time markers, genealogies, and dates invites careful study for a deeper insight into God’s unfolding plan. Together with 2 Tim. 2:15, we urge every reader to “study to show yourself approved unto God… rightly dividing the word of truth.” Becoming familiar with the biblical time features can ground our faith and help us understand where we are on the stream of time.