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  WONDERS OF BIBLE CHRONOLOGY
  by Philip Mauro
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Mauro's study of biblical chronology from creation to Christ based on the Hebrew
scriptural text, arguing that the Bible provides a complete chronological system
spanning approximately four thousand years without need for external sources.

  Chapters: 16

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  TABLE OF CONTENTS
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    1. WBC-00.2-Preface To Revised Edition
    2. WBC-01-Outline Of The Chronology Embodied In The Bible
    3. WBC-02-Chronology in General
    4. WBC-03-From Creation of Man to the End of the Flood
    5. WBC-04-From the Flood to Abram
    6. WBC-05-From Abram to the Death of Joseph
    7. WBC-06-Israel in the Days of Moses
    8. WBC-07-Chronology of Joshua and Judges
    9. WBC-08-The Kingdom
   10. WBC-09-The Divided Kingdom
   11. WBC-10-The Divided Kingdom (part two)
   12. WBC-11-Kingdom of Judah Alone
   13. WBC-12-From Fall of Samaria to Babylonian Captivity
   14. WBC-13-The Captivity and the Return "Unto the Messiah"
   15. WBC-14-The Seventy Weeks of Daniel
   16. WBC-15-The "One Week"

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  CHAPTER 1: WBC-00.2-PREFACE TO REVISED EDITION
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Preface To Revised Edition The first edition of this work appeared in 1922 and
other editions followed. It was published under the title, THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE
BIBLE, which might suggest that the volume consisted largely of tables of dates
and other statistical matter. Such, however, is not the case. The volume does
indeed contain tables which exhibit "The chronology of the Bible," by which is
meant that specific chronology which is found in the Bible itself. For it is not
the least of the wonders of the Sacred Volume that, embedded in the text
thereof, is a continuous line of dated episodes, which begins with the creation
of Adam and reaches across forty centuries of time even to the resurrection of
Jesus Christ and the coming of the Holy Spirit. Such being the case, it is a
matter of deep interest to all readers, and of surpassing value to all students
of the Holy Scriptures, to have at hand, in tabulated form, the chronological
data constituting that unique line. Nevertheless, this volume has a much larger
object, and the author’s reason for publishing this new edition under the title
THE Wonders OF BIBLE CHRONOLOGY is to suggest thereby that larger object. For
the chronology of the Bible, in contrast with all other chronologies, has
certain distinctive and unique features which are of a nature so remarkable as
to be worthily called "wonderful." The very existence of such a chronological
and genealogical line is itself a wonder of high import; for it is absolutely
unique. There is not another such line, either in the Bible itself or in the
extant literature of any nation. But it is a still greater marvel that, in
tracing the course of that dated line, one is brought into contact with
historical events and matters of truth and doctrine of super­lative value to
mankind. This marvelous chronology has a basis of its own, a plan of its own and
a purpose of its own. Its basis is the Bible itself; its plan is the
genealogical or life line that stretches from the first Adam to the last Adam,
from the beginning of the old creation to that of the new; and its purpose is to
bring those who follow its progress to revelations of vital truth pertaining to
God’s mighty work of Redemption, and to spiritual and practical lessons of
super­lative value. For reasons concerning which it were idle to speculate, God
has been pleased to reveal His Mind and Purpose for humanity in connection with
a line of events arranged in chronological relations, each with its immediate
predecessor and successor, in such manner as to form a connected chain four
thousand years long. This is what chiefly invests the chronology of the Bible
with its exceptional interest and value. But apart from this; it is the author’s
purpose to supply, in a convenient form adapted to the use of all students and
readers, a complete tabulation of the dated events of the Bible. There is, so
far as the author is aware, nothing of the sort now available. Works on
chronology are usually so bulky, costly and burdened with technical discussions,
as to be of little or no interest or value to the majority of Bible-readers. The
text of this edition has been carefully revised and, we believe, greatly
improved. The tables, however, are the same as in previous editions.

All dates are given both in terms of An. Hom. (Creation of Man) and B. C.
(Before Christ).

Washington, D. C., November, 1933.


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  CHAPTER 2: WBC-01-OUTLINE OF THE CHRONOLOGY EMBODIED IN THE BIBLE
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Outline Of The Chronology Embodied In The Bible The chronology of the Bible is a
subject of great importance as well as of deep interest; yet, because of the
difficulties connected with it, the study thereof is neglected by nearly all
Bible readers. Only the few who have a special aptitude for figures, and a
special interest in Bible dates and epochs, give any attention to it. We are
confident, however, that the difficulties to which we have alluded can be
greatly diminished, and the subject made compara­tively plain and easy. Indeed
we have been prompted to the writing of these pages by the conviction that, if
the chronology, which extends from the beginning to the end of the Old Testament
Scriptures, and which forms a very striking feature thereof, could be set forth
in such manner as to be readily understood by ordinary readers, it would be
studied not only with profit but with enjoyment also by many who now imagine it
to be beyond their capacity. Moreover, such an aid to an understanding of Bible
chronology may be expected to stimulate the study of all parts of Scriptures.
Our own interest in this subject was awakened by Dr. Martin Anstey’s great work,
THE ROMANCE OF BIBLE CHRONOLOGY, published in 1913 by Marshall Bros., London. In
that work, comprising two large volumes, every chronological statement contained
in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament is examined, and all the dated events
are noted and tabulated. From the abundant data thus gathered, Dr. Anstey has
formulated a complete chronological system, from the creation of Adam to Christ.
This system is of unique character and unique value, in that it rests on the
statements of the Word of God alone.

It is found that the Bible contains within itself, not merely a vast amount of
chronological material, but also a complete chrono­logical scheme, insomuch that
it is not necessary to seek from other sources information concerning Bible
events. And not only so, but lust where the (always imperfect and uncertain)
secular chronologies lose themselves in the impenetrable mists of the past, the
chronology of Scripture is most definite, complete, and perfect in its details.
In this, as in other respects, the Bible presents a marked contrast to human
histories and chronicles of the past.

Dr. Anstey’s work, while invaluable to those who wish to study the subject in
all its details, is too bulky and costly to be available to the majority of the
Lord’s people. The most valuable part, however, of the information it contains,
can be set forth in com­paratively small compass; and this we shall attempt to
do herein.

One of the most valuable and commendable features of Dr. Anstey’s work is that,
being based entirely upon the statements of Scripture, its results can be tested
by all Bible-readers. Other chronological systems are derived, in part at least,
from sources beyond the reach of ordinary readers, who, therefore, are unable to
verify the various details thereof. This feature of Dr. Anstey’s work will be
appreciated by those who wish to "prove all things" in order that they may "hold
fast that which is good.

Chronological systems are obviously worse than useless unless they are correct;
and, as matters now stand, the Bible is absolutely the only source from which
materials for a complete chronology can be obtained, or from which reliable
information can be had as to the dates of historical events prior to the
Macedonian era (331 B. C.). If, therefore, we assume the history of the human
race to have lasted about six thousand years it will be seen that for more than
half (nearly two-thirds in fact) of that history there are no records whatever,
from which a chronology could be constructed, apart from the Old Testament
Scriptures.

Furthermore, upon examining the ancient remains (fragments of histories,
tablets, inscriptions on monuments, etc.) we find that, the more ancient they
are, the more vague, uncertain, and meagre is the chronological information they
contain. Apparently it did not enter into the minds of any of the scribes and
scholarly men of those early nations to preserve connected historical records,
year by year (dating from some definite era), as has been the universal practice
of the modern nations. But, in the Bible, even if we regard it simply as the
annals of the Hebrew race, we have a remarkable exception to the practice of all
the other nations of antiquity, in respect to the manner of keeping their
national records, an exception so remarkable that it would be difficult or
impossible to account for it apart from the doctrine of the Divine inspiration
of the Hebrew Scriptures. We are speaking of the fact that, throughout the
Sacred Writings, there is the most marked attention paid to the matter of dates,
intervals of time, and epochs which begin with a definite era, and to such as
are marked by the birth of selected individuals in a definite line, from father
to son, those individuals being, from the days of Samuel, the successive kings
of Judah. It is most clearly manifest that whoever planned and decreed the
contents of the Bible attached a high value to chronology from the very
beginning. The first chapter of Genesis is a complete chronology of six days,
giving the order, day by day, of the main operations whereby the earth was
prepared as a habitation for man, and including the creation of man, male and
female. The Creation of Man supplies the first era; and from it the extended
chronology of the Bible starts. The fifth chapter of Genesis is pure chronology,
and not only so, but it is a perfect specimen of chronology in its definiteness
and completeness from beginning to end. Every statement connects in the most
exact way with the preceding; and furthermore, a simple arithmetical check is
provided whereby the accuracy of the entire tabulation is insured. The Author of
this remarkable chronological table had some reason (which we think can be
discerned) for taking special precautions to exclude error in making copies from
the original. This table begins with the first year of Adam, and extends to the
five hundredth year of Noah. It covers the entire epoch from the creation of man
to the flood, 1656 years. This complete genealogical and chronological table is
truly a marvelous thing in itself, and the more so when contrasted with the
historical fragments which have come down to us from the days of Moses, or even
with those of a thousand years nearer to our own times. It is safe to say that,
if Genesis 5 were not in the Bible, and if a tablet were exhumed, say in Assyria
or Egypt, bearing the same concise statistical statements, it would be hailed as
the most wonderful and valuable relic of antiquity. And not only so, but many
who attach little or no importance to the statements as found in the Bible,
would give full credence to the very same statements, if recorded by some
unknown Egyptian or Babylonian sinner.

Again in Genesis 11 is a similar chronological table. This table takes the one
hundredth year of Shem as its era (or starting point) and extends to the birth
of Abram. In subsequent chapters of Genesis we find the chronology from Abraham
to Joseph, which the succeeding books of Moses extend to the Exodus, and to the
wanderings of the Israelites in the wilderness. In the historical books (Joshua
to 2 Chronicles) is found the chronology of the nation of Israel from its
entrance into the land of Canaan to its captivity in Babylon.

Finally, from the later historical books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and the prophecy
of the ninth chapter of Daniel, we obtain the span of the years from the
captivity to the manifestation of Jesus Christ to Israel (through the witness
and baptism of John, whose coming was foretold in the last book of the Old
Testament).

Thus the Old Testament Scriptures contain a complete count of the years from
Adam to Christ; and this surely is not one of the least of the wonders of our
wonderful Bible. Moreover, the Author of the Bible deemed that count of years so
needful to His design as a whole that, although the Old Testament Comes to an
end four hundred years before Christ, a prophecy was given ere it closed (that
brought by Gabriel to Daniel) which contains the exact measure of time from the
re-birth of the nation of Israel, by virtue of the decree of Cyrus the Great
(Ezra 1:1-4), "unto the Messiah" (Daniel 9:25). This prophecy, therefore,
reaches forth into the then distant future, to make perfect and complete the
tale of the years from the first Adam who sinned and died, unto the last Adam
Who died unto sin and rose again, even to the supreme event of all time, the
crucifixion and resurrection of the Divine Redeemer (Dan. 9 26). But the entire
course of the 4,000-year period compassed by Bible chronology does not lie in
plain view upon the surface of the Sacred Text. At several points it disappears
beneath the surface thereof, so that there are seemingly several breaks in the
continuity of the chronological record; as for example, the Scripture does not
state the age of Noah at the birth of Shem (Gen. 5 32), nor that of Terah at the
birth of Abram (Genesis 11:26). But, in the case of each of these seeming
breaks, the needed information is supplied by other Scriptures, though in some
cases it has been found only after diligent search and careful deductions. It
will be a matter of deep interest to trace out these half-concealed links
between the several epochs of Bible history. Thus in respect to its
chrono­logical data, as in respect also to other categories of truth and
doctrine, some things of value are not found upon the surface, but must be
diligently sought in the sub-strata of the Divine Word.

We note then, at the beginning of our study, that the Bible is absolutely the
only available source of information concerning the chronology of the human race
prior to the seventh century B.C., when the first vague historical records of
existing nations such as Greece, Rome, China, &c., begin. In other words, if we
take it that the lifetime of mankind has been something less than six thousand
years (and there is no evidence at all for a longer term of human existence)
then we have the remarkable fact that for about three-fifths of the entire
period there is no chronological information whatever except in the Bible;
whereas, on the other hand, during that same period (wherein other records are,
as regards chronology, a perfect blank) the chronology of the Bible is most
definite and complete. From this we may learn, among other things, that we have
no need to look outside the Bible itself for information as to Bible chronology,
and also that, if we give credence to chrono­logical information derived from
other sources, we are most likely to be misled thereby.

Furthermore we find that, whereas human histories of the great nations of the
world have no beginning at all, but emerge gradually from a perfect fog of
myths, legends and fables (often absurd and grotesque), the Bible has, from its
very first word, a definite historical character, in the greatest possible
contrast with all other ancient writings.


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  CHAPTER 3: WBC-02-CHRONOLOGY IN GENERAL
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Chronology in General THE RECEIVED CHRONOLOGY, HOW ARRIVED AT; THE WORK OF
VARIOUS CHRONOLOGERS; SPECIAL FEATURES OF BIBLE CHRONOLOGY

We have seen that the Bible, at its very beginning, sets forth chronological
information in the most definite and precise terms, and that it dates its entire
scheme of chronology from the creation of the human race. In the greatest
contrast with this is the fact that, in the meagre and fragmentary literary
remains of ancient times, apart from the Bible, the statements respecting
chronology are vague, scanty, confused, and, for practical purposes, worthless.
For example, Porphyry, an opponent of Christianity, writing in the third century
after Christ, quotes from an alleged history by Sanchroniathon, supposed to have
been a contemporary of Gideon. Only a few fragments of the supposed writings of
Sanchroniathon have been preserved; and those fragments are not parts of the
originals but have been preserved only through the medium of quotations by other
writers (as Eusebius), which, even if authentic, are valueless for purposes of
chronology.

Fragments also remain of the writing of Berosus of Babylon (fourth century B.
C.), and of Manetho, a learned Egyptian priest (third century B. C.). But the
original writings have been lost; the portions quoted by later writers are, to
say the least, of doubtful value; and the information they contain, even were it
trustworthy, is very incomplete. This is in the greatest possible contrast with
the writings of Moses, whereof we have the original books complete. These
antedate Berosus and Manetho by many centuries, and the chronological statements
therein are most definite and precise.

It is only when we come to Ptolemy, in the second century after Christ, that we
find anything, apart from the Bible, which could serve as the basis for a system
of chronology. Ptolemy (whose full name was Claudius Ptolemaeus) was an Egyptian
of great learning and genius. He is famous as the author of the Ptolemaic System
of Astronomy, which was universally accepted by men of science until supplanted
by the System of Copernicus, devised in the 16th century, and improved later on
by Sir Isaac Newton.

Ptolemy has left on record a Canon or list of Persian Kings from Cyrus to
Alexander the Great of Macedon. Upon this canon all modern chronologists have
built their systems, and this for the simple reason that there is nothing else,
apart from the Bible, for them to build on. But Ptolemy is not a contemporary
historian, for he lived about seven hundred years after the reign of Cyrus; nor
does he refer to any contemporary historical records as authority for his
statements. All we have is a bare list of the names of supposed Persian kings,
with the number of the years each is supposed to have lived. Not only does
Ptolemy lack corroboration in respect to his chronological statements, but he is
contradicted by the writings of Josephus, the Jewish historian, who lived a
century earlier than Ptolemy; and also by the Persian traditions preserved by
Fidusi; and by the Jewish National traditions preserved in the Sedar Olam.
Josephus was a very learned man. He lived much closer than Ptolemy, both to the
Persian era, and to the Persian territory; and he would most likely have known
of any authentic records of that era and region, if any existed in that day.

But, most important of all, the canon of Ptolemy is in conflict with the
chronology of the Old Testament, in the light of which it appears that Ptolemy
makes the duration of the Persian Empire more than eighty years too long. This
is positive and decisive proof of the erroneous and hence untrustworthy
character of the canon of Ptolemy.

It is important to notice that, if the writings of Ptolemy had not existed,
there would be no profane chronology worthy of any consideration at all prior to
Alexander the Great; "nor would it have been possible," says Dr. Anstey, "to
have ascertained from the writings of the Greeks, or from any other source,
except from Scripture itself, the true connection between sacred chronology and
profane, in any one instance before the dissolution of the Persian Empire in the
first year of Alexander the Great. Ptolemy had no means of determining the
chronology of this period, so he made the best use of the materials he had, and
contrived to make a chronology. *** It is contradicted (1) by the national
traditions of Persia, (2) by the national traditions of the Jews, (3) by the
testimony of Josephus, (4) and by conflicting evidence of well-authenticated
events, which makes the accepted chronology imposs­ible. But the human mind
cannot rest in a state of perpetual doubt. There was this one system elaborated
by Ptolemy. There was no other except that given in the prophecies of Daniel.
Hence the Ptolemaic chronology remains to this day. There is one, and only one
alternative. We have to choose between the Heathen Astronomer and the Hebrew
Prophet (pp. 19, 20).

We shall have occasion to refer again to this important branch of our subject.
At present our purpose is merely to show how favourably, from every point of
view, the Bible compares with all other sources as the basis for a chronology of
the centuries before Christ. Indeed, it is so far superior to all other sources
combined, that there is no comparison between it and them. The Bible is, as we
have seen, the only contemporary historical writing, and the only one that even
purports to give definite and precise chronological information. For the
believer, moreover, it has a far higher claim to implicit confidence, in that it
is the inspired Word of God, Who has been pleased to give a complete count of
the years from the time the first Adam was created, to the time the last Adam
was "cut off." The Received Chronology The chronological knowledge of most
Bible readers does not extend beyond the dates which appear at the top of the
marginal columns of some of the more expensive editions of the Bible. How those
dates were determined they do not know; and it is beyond their power to verify
them. As there given they do not begin at the beginning and count forward in the
ordinary way, but they begin at the Christian era and count backward, so many
years before Christ ("B. C."). This is very confusing. The writer has never to
this day been able to adjust his mind to the unnatural operation of counting
time backward. But the most serious objec­tion to the method lies in this: The
first three thousand years and more of Bible history can be reckoned with
accuracy, because the Scripture gives full and clear information as to the count
of years; and inasmuch as there are no other sources of information whatever,
there is, and can be, no conflict of "authorities." As to that long period, one
must either accept the chronological information given in the Bible, or do
without; for there is none other. If, therefore, the chronological reckoning in
our Bibles began at the beginning, and proceeded forwardly, i.e. from past to
future, we should be sure at least of every date down to the days of Ezra and
Nehemiah. But from their days onward to the birth of Christ, confusion and
uncertainty exist as a consequence of the acceptance of the unreliable
chronology of Ptolemy in preference to that of Daniel; which unhappy choice of
our chronologers not only invalidates the chronology of the last 500 years of
the Old Testament era, but it also, through the necessary consequence of the
strange device of counting the years of that era backward, invalidates the
entire chronological scheme, making all the dates erroneous. The Chronological
Work of Bishop Ussher The received chronology owes its existence very largely,
if not mainly, to the great labours of James Ussher, Archbishop of Armagh, who
was born in Dublin, A. D. 1581. He was a man of conspicuous ability, and a
profound scholar. "He constructed," says Anstey, "a system of chronology which
has held its own to this day." His system, however, has been revised and amended
by others, as by Bishop Lloyd, who published in 1701 an edition of the Bible,
which was the first Bible having marginal dates. No improvement over Lloyd’s
chronology appears to have been made until about 1850, when the subject was
taken up by Henry Fynes Clinton, who, Anstey says, "is perhaps the ablest, the
soundest, and the most complete and satisfactory of all our modem chronologers."
But he, like his predecessors, adopts the figures of the canon of Ptolemy,
instead of those of the Book of Daniel.

Bible Chronology Compared with that of Other Ancient Literature

Chronology is, as we have seen, a prominent feature of the Book of Genesis,
especially of its early chapters, concerning which Anstey says:

"The more carefully those chapters are studied, and the more carefully they are
compared with the mythical and legendary accounts of the origins of the race in
other literatures, the more evident will be the striking contrast between them.
One cannot read those chapters aright without being struck with the unique
grandeur and sublimity of their language, and filled with wonder and amazement
at the marvel and glory of their message and content.

ANo one can place them side by side with the mythical accounts of other
religions without being struck with the incomparable distinction, which lifts
them out of the class and category of all other writings, and proclaims them as
being of another origin, and of another kind. And the one palpable difference
between those chapters and all other forms of religious literature is the fact
of their objective historical character. The religions of Greece and Rome, of
Egypt and Persia, of India and the East, did not even postulate a historical
basis. The mythical period of the Greeks, though similar in form, was distinct
in kind from the historic. The objective reality of the scenes and events
described as belonging to each period was not even conceived of as belonging to
the same order, or as being of the same kind. It is quite otherwise with the
religion of the Old Testament. There the doctrine is bound up with the facts;
and, moreover, it is so dependent upon them that without them it is null and
void. If there is no first Adam there is no second Adam. The facts are the
necessary substratum of the truths or doctrines of the Old Testament, precisely
as those truths or doctrines are the necessary substratum of the duties that
arise out of them. The chronology of the Old Testament is in strongest contrast
with that of all other nations. From the creation of Adam to the death of
Joseph, the chronology is defined with the utmost precision; and it is only
towards the end of the narrative of the Old Testament that doubts, difficulties
and uncertainties arise. With all other chronologies the case is exactly the
reverse. They have no beginning at all. They emerge from the unknown; and their
earliest dates are the haziest and most uncertain, instead of being the clearest
and most sure. If the trustworthiness of testimony and the canons of credibility
are accepted in this case, the early chapters of Genesis will answer every
legitimate test that can be applied to the determination of their genuine
historical character."

Bible Chronology is Intimately Associated with One Definite Subject

It is a fact of great significance that the count of years, so carefully
preserved in the Bible, is bound up closely with one definite subject, namely,
with the line of descent along which the promised Redeemer was to come. The
details of this peculiarity of Bible chronology, which we propose to discuss
later on, are worthy of our most careful attention; for it invests the subject
with special interest. It is as if the Author of the Holy Scriptures would have
us take notice of the fact that, in the long process of the unfolding of years
and centuries and eras of time, there is only one line of succession of persons
and events which is of importance in His eyes, and that is the line which was to
lead to the coming into the world of the Divine Redeemer. Let it be realized
that, starting with Adam, and following the ever widening circles, from
generation to generation, of his rapidly multiplying offspring, there were
countless millions of directions which any selected chronological and
genealogical line might have taken. It is, therefore, to be reckoned among the
clearest evidences of Divine superintendence in the writing of the Scriptures
that the one line, to which alone dates are unfailingly attached, is that which
led finally "unto the Messiah, the Prince" (Daniel 9:25).

It is well worth while to dwell further upon this immensely significant fact,
because of the proof it affords of the inspiration of the Bible. Let it be
observed then that the chronological table of Genesis 5 goes no further than the
flood; and that the table of Genesis 11 stops abruptly at Abraham; and that
neither in Genesis, nor in any Book of Moses, nor indeed in any of the Old
Testament, is there any indication of God’s reason for counting the years along
this particular line only; nor was any indication given that the line of dated
events was to be continued any further; nor was there any indication as to where
that line was to lead. The purpose of God in all this comes not into view until
the Bible is completed by the addition of the New Testament Scriptures, in the
light of which (particularly of the genealogical tables of Matthew 1 and Luke 3)
that purpose may be clearly seen. Here then is proof of the most convincing sort
that He Who alone sees the end from the beginning is the Author of the Books of
Moses, and of all the later Books of the Old Testament, through which runs this
marvellous chronological line. For the Old Testament concerns itself, from
beginning to end, with but one subject, namely, the ordering of the historical
and other events which were to lead to the coming of the Redeemer. All other
matters of an historical nature which are found recorded in it are seen to be in
some way connected with the main subject. That is never lost sight of. And it is
a most impressive fact that, although the inspired history of the Jewish people
came to an end four hundred years before the birth of Christ, yet God saw to it
that, ere the last of the inspired writers laid down his pen, a chronological
line had been thrown out into the future, by means of "the sure word of
prophecy," whereby to span that wide chasm of four centuries, and to reach "unto
the Messiah." Moreover, the last sentences of the Old Testament leave its
readers looking forward to one of whom Jehovah said: "Behold, I will send My
messenger before My face, and he shall prepare My way before Me. Behold, I will
send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of
the Lord; and he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the
heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a
curse" (Malachi 3:1; Malachi 4:5-6).

Strong as is the proof set forth above that the chronology of the Bible had from
its very beginning a special purpose known only to its Author, that proof is
made even stronger by the fact that, when other lines of descent are given,
there is no chronology connected with them. Thus, the very first table of
descent is that of Adam’s eldest son Cain (Genesis 4:17-24). It has no dates.
Whereas, in the table of Seth’s line, in the very next chapter, the years are
given with such regularity, and with such precautions against error, as to show
that the chronology was the important thing in the mind of the Author. So,
likewise, though the descendants of Japheth and of Ham are given in Genesis 10
(and given before those of Shem) yet there is not so much as one chronological
fact set forth in connection with their names. When, however, in the very next
chapter, the chosen line which leads eventually to Christ is taken up again (the
line of Shem) we read:

"These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat
Arphaxad two years after the flood; And Shem lived after he begat Arphaxad five
hundred years, and begat Sons and daughters. And Arphaxad lived five and thirty
years, and begat Salah; and Arphaxad lived after he begat Salah four hundred and
three years"; and so on to Abraham, without a single omission of the
chronological data, pertinent to the Divine purpose, in the connected count of
years.

Even when we come to the genealogy of such important personages as Moses and
Aaron (Exodus 6:16-26) there is no chronology, that is to say, the father’s age
at the birth of that particular son through whom the line was to be continued is
not stated. Moses was in some way given to know that the chronology of his own
line (though personal pride would have prompted him to exalt it) was of no
importance in the records he was writing.

Thus we arrive at the remarkable fact that, for the first two thousand years of
the history of the human race, that is to say, from Adam to Abraham, there
exists a record of an unbroken line of descent, and of one only, in which line
the chronology is accurately preserved and safeguarded from error, by the simple
expedient of giving the father’s age, in each generation, when that particular
son was born, through whom the line was to be continued, the father’s age at the
birth of others of his sons being never given. This striking peculiarity is the
more remarkable when it is further noted that, so far as appears, it was not the
oldest son that was chosen in any instance. For Seth was not the oldest son of
Adam, nor Shem of Noah, nor Abram of Terah, nor Isaac of Abraham, nor Jacob of
Isaac, nor Judah of Jacob, nor David of Jesse. As to the others named in the
line of descent of Christ, it is not stated whether they were, or were not, the
oldest of their respective generations. Evidently, however, primogeniture did
not enter into the matter at all. This is very remarkable, particularly in view
of the importance given by the Hebrews to the firstborn (Genesis 49:3).

During the period of the Kings of Israel and Judah the line from father to son
passed through the successive Kings of Judah, from David to Jehoiachin. During
this period the chronology is preserved by the given length of the reigns of the
successive kings. A Connecting Link with Secular Chronology In Jeremiah 25:1 is
found a statement which constitutes a perfect connecting link between sacred and
profane chronology. This is the statement: "The fourth year of Jehoiakim, which
was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar." At this point of time God was preparing
to bring in the era of Gentile dominion, "the times of the Gentiles"; for
Nebuchadnezzar was the first of the God-appointed rulers of the world, "the
powers that be," which are "ordained of God," and who are to exercise dominion
until "the days of the voice of the seventh angel, when he shall begin to sound
his trumpet," at which time "the kingdoms of this world shall become the
kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ" (Revelation 10:7; Revelation 11:15). It
is very significant therefore, that, when the throne of David, as an earthly
thing, was about to be cast down to the ground (Psalms 89:39), and the sceptre
of earthly dominion was about to pass to the Gentiles, God caused the chronology
of the holy people to be connected by an "infallible link" with the first year
of the first Gentile ruler.

Concerning this remarkable fact Anstey says:

"The one infallible connecting link between sacred and profane chronology is
given in Jeremiah 25:1 :

"The fourth year of Jehoiakim, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar.’ If
the events of history had been numbered forward from this point to the birth of
Christ, or back from Christ to it, we should have had a perfectly complete and
satisfactory chronology."

We see then that the Bible is pre-eminently a book of chronology; but its
chronology is of a very exceptional sort. For chronology in general it shows no
regard whatever; but for one particular line it manifests the utmost solicitude.
That single chronological line delineates the central theme of the entire
Scripture. All the recorded events of the whole Bible cluster around it; for the
sacred records have to do only with persons and incidents which are more or less
closely associated with that line. In view of all this, and especially of the
supremely important fact that the line referred to leads to Christ, and stops
there, the study of Bible chronology should be of the deepest interest to all
His people.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 4: WBC-03-FROM CREATION OF MAN TO THE END OF THE FLOOD
========================================================================

From Creation of Man to the End of the Flood THE PATRIARCHS BEFORE THE FLOOD THE
CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CHRONOLOGY BEFORE AND THAT AFTER THE FLOOD

Having given, in the foregoing pages, a general outline of the chronology found
in the Bible, and having indicated the most prominent features thereof, we shall
now look more closely into the details of the subject. The chronology of the
Bible does not begin with the creation of the world, but with the creation of
Man. This should be carefully noted. Concerning the date of the creation of the
visible universe the Scripture is silent. All the information given us as to
that interesting matter is what is contained in the first verse of the Bible,
namely, "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." There is,
therefore, no warrant at all for the term Anno Mundi (year of the world). Anstey
very properly uses the term An. Horn. (Anno Hominis, year of man).

We do not enter into the discussion of the disputed question whether or not long
ages of time (as the theories of geologists require) intervened between the
first verse of Genesis and the third. On the one hand the Hebrew word rendered
"was," in Genesis 1:2 (" And the earth was waste and void "), undoubtedly has
the force and meaning of "became"; so that there is ample room in that verse
for the longest geological ages that have ever been conjectured. On the other
hand, we do not question the power of God to produce the raw materials of the
heaven and the earth in a moment, and to prepare the earth for the abode of
mankind in six days of twenty-four hours each. But we leave that question
untouched herein, because our subject begins, not with the first year of the
world, but with the first year of Adam, and it has to do with facts, affording
no room for conjectures. As to the time of the year when the first man was made
a living soul, and was placed in the garden of Eden, the indications point to
the Autumnal Equinox. For the Hebrew year began at that season, though it was
changed by the express command of God at the Exodus so as to begin at the Vernal
Equinox (Exodus 12:2). We know that the first plants did not develop from seeds;
for it is written that the Lor. God made "every plant of the field before it was
in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew" (Genesis 2:4-5). Thus
the first plants were full-grown and mature. They did not grow up from seeds or
shoots, any more than the first man and woman grew up from a boy and a girl.
From this we may gather, therefore, that an adult man was placed in a garden
filled with mature, fruit-bearing trees and plants, at that season of the year
(late summer or early autumn) when the harvest of grains and fruits is ripe. The
fifth chapter of Genesis is in the form of a family register, kept with the most
painstaking care, yet singularly unconcerned about the children save one only in
each generation, the selection being governed by a purpose which is not
disclosed. The chapter has a descriptive title: "The Book of the Generations of
Adam." It contains the names of ten men, one in each generation from Adam to
Noah, inclusive. The same form is used throughout, thus: "Adam lived an hundred
and thirty years, and begat a son, ...and called his name Seth; and the days of
Adam, after he had begotten Seth, were eight hundred years; and he begat sons
and daughters. And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty
years; and he died." By thus dividing each patriarch’s life into two periods
(marked by the birth of that particular son through whom the genealogical line
was to be continued), by stating the number of years contained in each period,
and by giving finally the total of the two periods, a means is provided whereby
any error, such as might be made by a copyist, for example, in any of the
figures in the table, would be instantly detected. This is the table

An. Hom.

B.C.

Adam created

0

4046

Adam’s age at birth of Seth

130

3916

Add Seth’s age at birth of Enos (105)

235

3822

Add Enos’ age at birth of Cainan (90)

325

3721

Add Cainan’s age at birth of Mahalaleel (70)

395

3651

Add Mahalaleel’s age at birth of Jared (65)

460

3586

Add Jared’s age at birth of Anoch (162)

622

3424

Add Enoch’s age at birth of Methuselah (65)

687

3359

Add Methuselah’s age at birth of Lamech (187)

874

3172

Add Lamech’s age at birth of Noah (182)

1056

2990

Add Noah’s age at the time of the flood (600)

1656

2390

Thus, if the figures given in the Hebrew text of the Old Testament are accepted
as correct, there is no possibility of arriving at any other conclusion than
that the period of time from the creation of Adam to the flood (whereby his
entire posterity then living, with the exception of the family of Noah, was
wiped out) is exactly 1656 years. As to this there is perfect agreement among
all chronologers who accept as correct the Hebrew text of the Old Testament.

"That is not First Which is Spiritual"

It is well worth while to notice at this point a striking peculiarity of the
selection made by God of the persons and genealogies that were to figure in the
Old Testament. The Book of Genesis is, among other marked characteristics, a
book of contrasts. In reading it we find ourselves contemplating, from time to
time, two contrasted individuals, or lines of descent, or sets of incidents.
Thus, we have at the outset two sons of Adam, Cain and Abel; then two lines of
descent from Adam, that of Cain and that of Seth; then the contrast between
Abraham and Lot; then that between Ishmael and Isaac; then that between Esau and
Jacob; then that between Reuben and Joseph (to whom was allotted the
birthright); and finally that between Manasseh and Ephraim.

What impresses the attentive reader in all this duplex character of the Genesis
narrative is that, in every instance, the elder (or the first to arrive on the
scene and to establish himself) is rejected of God, and the younger, or later,
is chosen. Thus by the Divine prerogative of election Cain is set aside and Abel
is chosen. Seth, which means substituted, takes the place of Abel as the one
chosen of God for His purposes, according to the prophetic word of Eve who, in
naming him, said, "For God hath appointed (or substituted) me another seed
instead of Abel, whom Cain slew" (Genesis 4:25). But Cain’s descendants
established themselves, founded arts and industries, and made a name for
themselves in the world; whereas we read of no achievement by Seth and his
descendants.

Similarly, as between Abraham and Lot (who was the son of Abraham’s elder
brother) we find Lot making a way for himself and attaining prominence in the
flourishing cities of the plain, while Abraham remains a childless tent-dweller,
a stranger and pilgrim on earth. In like manner we see Ishmael multiplying and
prospering, his twelve sons having their "towns" and "castles" and "nations,"
and waxing very great (Genesis 25:12-18); while Isaac lives a quiet, pastoral
life, occupied mainly in digging again the wells his father Abraham had digged,
which the Philistines had stopped by filling them with earth (Genesis 26:15-18).

Reading further, we find a like contrast between Esau and Jacob. Esau is very
progressive and becomes prominent in the land, while Jacob is yet serving as an
hireling and waiting. We read of the many "dukes" (or princes) descended from
Esau (Genesis 36:9-43); and it is expressly stated that "these are they that
reigned in the land of Edom, before there reigned any king over the children of
Israel" (v. 31). In all these cases we observe that the history and
"genera-lions" of the rejected elder are given before those of the younger, whom
God chose. For the generations of Cain precede those of Seth; the generations of
Japheth (the rejected elder brother) precede those of Shem, whose line was
chosen; the generations of Ishmael precede the generations of Isaac; and the
generations of Esau precede the generations of Jacob. In all this it is easy to
recognize the foreshadowing of the great Bible truth concerning the failure and
rejection of the first man, who is of the earth, earthy (1 Corinthians 15:45-47)
and the correlative and complementary truth of the bringing in of the Second Man
in his stead. For "that is not first which is spiritual, but that which is
natural, and afterward that which is spiritual." These dry chronological details
also put vividly before us that while the "natural" man, who comes first, is
pursuing whole-heartedly his earthly career, setting his heart upon, and
devoting his energies to, the acquisition of earthly place, possessions and
enjoyments, the "spiritual" man, who comes afterward, has to wait, to endure
trials and hardships, wherein, however, he is sustained by believing what God
has spoken concerning "things not seen as yet," and is well content to confess
that he is a stranger and pilgrim on the earth. From what is written of the
patriarch Jacob, we should probably not have regarded him as particularly
"spiritual." But spirituality is wholly of grace, which is given to those who
are of faith. Jacob believed God as to the value of the birthright; and the fact
that he set his heart upon that which was "not seen," but of which God had
spoken, constituted the difference (which is everything in God’s estimation)
between him and his elder brother, who "despised his birthright," and whom God
therefore counted a "profane person" (Hebrews 12:16). The facts to which we have
just referred serve to illustrate also the Scripture: "He taketh away the first
that He may establish the second" (Hebrews 10:9). For in each of the above
instances, "the first" was permanently taken away, whereas "the second" was
established. Thus the line of Cain was removed, while that of Seth was
established; the line of" Japheth, the elder "(Genesis 10:21) was set aside, and
that of Shem established; and so likewise of all the rest. This principle comes
to light in the later times also. Thus the first king of Israel, Saul, is the
"natural" man. He had endowments such as natural men admire; whereas David was
the "spiritual" king, the man after God’s own heart. Hence David has to wait,
amidst manifold trials and afflictions, while Saul comes "first," and is allowed
to fill out his full period of forty years on the throne. But ultimately Saul’s
dynasty is taken away, while that of David is established, according to the word
of the promise, "Thy seed will I establish forever" (Psalms 89:4).

We find the same sequence of "natural" and "spiritual" in connection with the
nation composed of the natural descendants of Abraham, and which came first into
existence, contrasted with the "holy nation" (1 Pet. 2 9) composed of the
spiritual "seed" of Abraham, which came upon the scene only after the former had
enjoyed a complete career in the world. Yet the first is set aside while the
second is established permanently as a people for God’s own possession.

Again we see the same truth illustrated by the two Covenants, of which "the
first" was associated with the temporary priesthood of Aaron, whereas the second
is associated with the priesthood of Jesus Christ, Who is established as an High
Priest forever (Hebrews 6:20). The Noah-Shem Connection

It has been shown that the first series of connected events to which dates are
attached extends from the creation of Adam to the flood, in the 600th year of
Noah, the length of the entire period being 1656 years. The next series begins
with these words:

"These are the generations of Shem: Shem was an hundred years old, and begat
Arphaxad, two years after the flood" (Genesis 11:10). But there is no statement
of the age of Noah at the birth of Shem; for the first table ends thus: "And
Noah was five hundred years old: and Noah begat Shem, Ham, and Japheth" (Genesis
5:32). There is, therefore, an apparent break between the generations of Adam
and the generations of Shem. And not only so, but there are other like breaks or
interrup­tions in the course of the entire chronology, the continuity of the
record being apparently broken at five places in all. The other four places are
as follows:

1. The second table of chronology, which, like the first, contains ten
generations "from Shem to Abram "ends by naming the three sons of Terah, just as
the first ends by naming the three sons of Noah, without stating the father’s
age at the birth of the son (in this case Abram) who was to continue the line of
God’s dealings. Here again there is an apparent break in the continuity of the
count of years. But the connecting link is in the Scriptures, and has been
discovered and clearly identified, as we shall see.

2. The Book of Genesis ends with the death of Joseph, down to which point the
chronology is clear; and the Book of Exodus begins with the birth of Moses. But
the time-link between the history of Joseph and that of Moses is not given in
the narrative, and must be searched for elsewhere in the Scriptures. This
apparent break needs also to be mended; and this too has been accomplished.

3. Again there is a break between Joshua (and the elders who overlived him) and
the period of the Judges, the chronology of which period begins with the
oppression of the Israelites by Cushan-Rishathaim (Judges 3:8).

4. Finally, there is no direct statement of the number of years between the
death of Eli (where the epoch of the Judges ends) and the beginning of the reign
of Saul, with whom began the epoch of the Kings. But the information needed to
fill these five gaps, and thus to make the chronology of the Bible complete from
start to finish, has been found through the studies of various chronologers; and
it will be brought to the attention of our readers in these pages. The break
which immediately concerns us, that between Noah, with whom the first table
ends, and Shem, with whom the second begins, is easily mended. Shem was not the
eldest son of Noah. Genesis 10:21 (which is correctly rendered in the A.V.)
states that Japheth was the elder. The words of Genesis 5:32 do not give us
Noah’s age at the birth of Shem. But from Genesis 7:6 we learn that Noah was 600
years old "when the flood of waters was (i.e. came) upon the earth"; and from
Genesis 11:10 we learn that Shem was 100 years old two years after the flood,
the year Arphaxad was born. From these statements it follows that Noah was 502
years old at the birth of Shem. For since Shem was 100 years old two years after
the flood, he was 98 at the time of the flood; and at that time Noah was 600
years old (Genesis 7:6). Deducting 98 from 600 gives us 502 years as the age of
Noah at the birth of Shem. Thus we have a perfect con­nection between the
chronological table of the patriarchs before the flood, and the corresponding
table of the patriarchs (Shem to Abram) after the flood. The Detailed Chronology
of the Flood

Between these two tables the Book of Genesis gives us the detailed chronology of
the flood itself. It began on the 17th day of the 2nd month of the 600th year of
Noah’s life (Genesis 7:11). The ark rested on the 17th day of the 7th month of
the same year (Genesis 8:4), five months later. This is the month Abib or Nisan,
in which the Passover was (later on) appointed to be observed on the 14th day.
The Passover, as a type, was fulfilled by the sacrifice of Jesus Christ, as it
is written, "Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us" (1 Corinthians 5:7). The
resting of the ark, as a prophetic type, was fulfilled by the resurrection of
Jesus Christ (1 Peter 3:21). Thus the type of the death of Christ occurred on
the very day He was crucified (the 14th Nisan) and the type of His resurrection
occurred just three days later (the 17th Nisan), that being the day the ark
rested on Mt. Ararat. These striking correspondences could not be mere
coincidences, nor could they possibly have been contrived by the several writers
of successive portions of the Bible, seeing that those writers were separated
from one another by long stretches of time. Hence the correspondences we have
noted afford strong evidence of Divine superintendence over the entire
Scripture. And what is of even greater importance, they tend to establish that
redemption through the death and resurrection of the Divine Redeemer was in
contemplation from the beginning. The five months from the beginning of the
flood to that day, during which time "the waters prevailed upon the earth," are
set down as a period of "an hundred and fifty days" (Genesis 7:24) which gives
30 days to the month. Then the waters were assuaged; and "after the end of the
one hundred and fifty days the waters were abated; and the ark rested on the
seventh month, on the seventeenth day of the month, upon the mountains of
Ararat" (Genesis 8:1-4). The process of the subsidence of the waters continued
until, by the first of the tenth month, the tops of the mountains were seen (v.
5). Then, after another 44) days (which brings us to the 11th day of the 11th
month), Noah sent forth a raven and a dove. The latter returned, and was sent
forth again after seven days (the 18th), on which occasion she returned in the
evening with an olive-leaf plucked off (v. 11). Another seven days passed, and
on the 25th of the 11th month the dove was sent forth the third time, and
returned not again. On the first day of Noah’s 601st year Noah removed the
covering of the ark, and saw that the earth was dry (Genesis 8:13); and on the
27th day of the 2nd month the earth was dried, and God bade Noah to go forth of
the ark (vv. 14-16). Thus the duration of the flood was one year and ten days.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 5: WBC-04-FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAM
========================================================================

From the Flood to Abram CHRONOLOGY FROM THE FLOOD TO ABRAM "THE CONNECTION
BETWEEN THE GENERATIONS OF TERAH AND THOSE OF ABRAHAM

Having ascertained that Noah was 502 years old at the birth of Shem, and that
Shem was 98 years old at the date of the flood, we are able to continue the
count of the years from the flood to the birth of Abraham, as given in Genesis
11:10-26, as follows:

An. Hom.

B.C.

The Flood

1656

2390

Add two years to the birth of Arphaxad

1658

2388

Add age of Aphaxad at birth of Salah (35)

1693

2353

Add age of Salah at birth of Eber (30)

1723

2323

Add age of Eber at birth of Peleg (34)

1757

2289

Add age of Peleg at birth of Reu (30)

1787

2259

Add age of Reu at birth of Serug (32)

1819

2227

Add age of Serug at birth of Nahor (30)

1849

2197

Add age of Nahor at birth of Terah (29)

1878

2168

This brings us to Genesis 11:26, where we read: "And Terah lived 70 years and
begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran." But this does not state the year of Terah’s life
in which Abram was born, which must be ascertained in order that we may connect
the generations of Abraham with what went before. How is this necessary
information to be supplied? As in the parallel case of the sons of Noah, where
Shem is named first, not because he is the oldest son, but because he is the one
through whom God’s purpose was to be accomplished, so of the sons of Terah,
Abram is first mentioned, though not the oldest son. From Genesis 11:32 we learn
that Terah, Abram’s father, died in Haran at the age of 205 years. The following
verse (Genesis 12:1) should be read as a continuation of this, and without the
word "had," for which there is no warrant in the original. For it appears by the
wording of the narrative, as well as by Stephen’s words in Acts 7:4, that God
gave two distinct calls to Abram. In response to the first call he went only so
far as to Haran, where he continued to abide until the death of his father.
Therefore, Genesis 11:32 and what follows should be read thus: "And the days of
Terah were two hundred and five years; and Terah died in Haran; and the Lord
said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy
father’s house, unto a land that I will show thee. … So Abram departed, as the
Lord had spoken unto him, and Lot went with him; and Abram was seventy and five
years old when he departed out of Haran" (Genesis 11:32; Genesis 12:4). From
this it appears that Terah died at the age of 205, and that upon the death of
Terah Abram departed out of Haran, being then 75 years old. If then Abram was 75
years old at the death of Terah, the latter was 130 years of age when Abram was
born. This enables us to complete the table of the generations of Shem as
follows:

TABLE II (Completed)

An. Hom.

B.C.

Terah Born

1878

2168

Add Terah’s age at birth of Abram (130)

2008

2038

Anstey says:

"The credit of the discovery of the age of Terah at the birth of Abram is due to
Archbishop Ussher. It is one of the principal improve­ments of his system, and
is a proof of the acuteness of his intelligence, and the keenness of his insight
into the chronological bearing of statements contained in the text of Holy
Scripture."

Commenting further upon this interesting point Anstey says:

"The lateness of Abram’s birth in the life of his father explains how he could
be only ten years older than his half-niece Sarah, or Iscah (Genesis 11:29), and
therefore of an age to marry her, notwithstanding that he belonged to a
generation earlier than that to which she belonged. Sarah married her father
Haran’s much younger brother; and similarly Milcah, Sarah’s sister, married her
father Haran’s brother, Nahor. Abram was probably Terah’s son by a second wife.
If so, this would explain how Abram could say to Abimelech, ’She is the daughter
(grand-daughter) of my father (Terah) but not of my mother ’." The lateness of
Abram’s birth in the lifetime of his father would also explain how, at the time
of the events described in Genesis 18, Abram could have a nephew (Lot) who was
old enough to have daughters who were married (Genesis 19:14), and others who
were of marriageable age.

It is a matter of interest to observe that the call of Abram divides the
chronology of the Bible into two periods of nearly equal length. In other words,
the first eleven chapters of Genesis cover a period of history almost equal in
length to that covered by au the rest of the Bible. When the Genesis narrative
reaches Abraham it pauses to give a detailed account of his life. Up to this
point many centuries had been covered, sometimes in a few words. But now the
narrative lingers. The reason for this is very clearly seen in the light of the
New Testament, where Abraham’s relation to die covenants, promises, and
world-wide purposes of God in Redemption, are plainly set forth, and where the
particular incidents of Abraham’s life, which are described in Genesis, are seen
to have a special significance. Now it is of the utmost importance to observe
that, at the time the account of Abraham’s life was written, the significance of
those incidents could have been known only to God Himself. Thus we learn only by
the revelation given in the New Testament the deep spiritual significance of
such incidents as the call of Abraham, his obedience of faith, the barrenness of
Sarah, the faith Abraham had in the promise of a numerous seed, the episode of
his marriage with Hagar, the "allegory" (Galatians 4) of his two wives and two
sons, the miraculous birth of Isaac the child of " the promise," the offering of
Isaac, and the seeking of a wife for him in Mesopotamia. Here is further
evidence that the Bible is of Divine authorship. Its first Book is a history
covering two thousand three hundred and sixty-nine (2369) years, from the
creation of Adam to the death of Joseph; yet this exceedingly condensed
narrative pauses to relate personal incidents in the lives of Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, whereof the significance could not be known until the work of Redemption
was finished, and its nature fully revealed by the Scriptures of the New
Testament.

Thus the chronological features of the Bible serve in a very marked way to
exhibit the fact that the theme of the Old Testament is Redemption, towards
which the line of God’s dealings was ever advancing. That purpose is connected
first with a line of individuals, including the ten ante-diluvian patriarchs and
the ten post-diluvian patriarchs (most of whom are mentioned for the sole reason
that they stand in the line which leads ultimately to Christ) and including also
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is connected next with a family, the sons of
Jacob. And lastly, it is connected with a nation composed of the twelve tribes
of Israel.

Everything connected with that line is deemed of sufficient importance in God’s
eyes to be dated. Other matters, mentioned solely because they come into contact
with that line, are not dated, until the time arrived for God to put His
rebellious people under Gentile dominion, at which time Bible chronology passes
from the line of the kings of Judah to the first year of the first Gentile
world­1ruler (Jeremiah 25:1). Thus the more carefully we consider the chronology
of the Bible, the more clearly we will see in it the evidences of the design of
One Who both knows and also plans the end from the beginning. As to how the
chronological facts, so clearly set down by Moses, were made known to him, we
are not informed. It may well have been that God imparted to him the knowledge
of those facts directly, just as He imparted the instructions for building the
tabernacle, and for its ordinances. Or He may have prompted those patriarchs who
knew Him to preserve the necessary records.

How easily this might have been, will be apparent when due notice is taken of
the facts that Adam was for 243 years the contemporary of Methuselah, that
Methuselah’s life overlapped that of Shem for 98 years, and that Shem was, for
150 years, the contemporary of Abraham. Thus there were but two persons between
Adam and Abraham. Moreover, it is now known that the times of Abraham were times
of advanced civilization. "The men of his day lived in a world which teemed with
schools and libraries and books" (Anstey). It would not be strange if Abraham,
"the friend of God," concerning whom He said, " Shall I hide from Abraham that
thing which I do, seeing that Abraham shall surely become a great and mighty
nation, and all nations of the earth shall be blessed in him?" (Genesis
18:17-18) had been Divinely instructed to preserve such records as were needed
for the purposes of the Scriptures. If so, those records would naturally have
been preserved in the "coffin" wherein Joseph’s remains were placed, which
"coffin" was an ark or chest (see Genesis 50:26; Exodus 40:20;

2 Chronicles 24:11, where the same word is used) concerning which Joseph took an
oath of the children of Israel ere he died, and which is the subject of the very
last verse of Genesis. Assuredly, whatever there were of family records,
preserved (as the custom then was) with the embalmed body of Joseph, went up out
of Egypt with the children of Israel, and were thus in the custody of Moses, who
wrote the book of Genesis. At this point we quote again from Dr. Anstey, who
says:

"The Hebrew records of the Old Testament possess, from the very earliest times,
a definite historical character, in marked contrast with those of other nations.
The antiquities of the Greeks are full of poetic fictions. They wrote nothing in
prose until after the conquest of Asia by Cyrus.... They had no chronology of
the times preceding the Persian Empire, except in so far as they subsequently
constructed one by means of inference and conjecture.

"The antiquities of all other nations are likewise lost in the mist of early
legend, myth, and fable. The religious systems of Greece and Rome, Egypt and
India, Persia and other nations of the East did not even postulate an historical
basis. The further back we trace their past history, the more obscure and
uncertain it becomes.

"With the Hebrew records it is quite different. The history of the race begins
with an epoch which is quite definite; and the record of the first 2369 years
"the period covered by the Book of Genesis "is stated with such minute accuracy
and precision that, for those who accept the Hebrew text, there is no possible
alternative to that of Ussher, as shown in the margin of the Authorized Version.
The chronological record, moreover, is accurately continued, and it may be
definitely traced through the succeeding centuries. It is only when we reach the
latest records of Ezra and Nehemiah that chronological difficulties become
acute.

"The annals of the Hebrew nation are authentic narratives by contemporary
writers. The Biblical record is the record of the redeeming activity of God.
This record is embedded in human history; but it is a miraculous history
throughout" (see 1 Corinthians 10:1 l). It is not only a history of the external
events of the lives of men. In its primary significance it is a history of God
and of His activity within the realm of human history.

"Hence none but men informed by the Spirit of God could write it; and only by
faith in the truth of the Revelation can we ever hope to be able to understand
it. The essence of Revelation is Redemption; and Redemption is a work of God,
done, as it were, within the vail, yet manifesting itself to us in the
Revelation given to us in Holy Scripture as a Divine movement in human history.

"We trace the history in one unbroken line, from the creation of Adam to the
crucifixion of Christ. Bible chronology is an exact science. It is not built
upon hypothesis and conjecture. It rests ultimately upon evidence or testimony;
but it does occasionally require the use of the method of scientific historic
induction." The Two Lists of Patriarchs in Genesis

Upon comparison of the two lists of patriarchs, those before the flood and those
after, it is seen that there is a certain similarity between them. Each is
preceded by a genealogical line to which no dates are attached, and which is
carried only a certain distance, and then dropped. Each list comprises ten
generations (if we include Abram in the second list). Each brings us to an
individual (in one case Noah, and in the other Abram) in connection with whom
the working out of God’s plan receives some special development. In Noah we have
one chosen of God out of all the families of the earth to bridge over the flood,
and to be the beginning of a new order of things in the world. In Abram also we
have one chosen of God out of all the peoples and nations of a world given over
to idolatry, to be the beginning of a new order of things, and through whom,
eventually, all the nations of the earth should be blessed (Genesis 12:1-3).
With Noah God established His covenant, promising the continuance of seed time
and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, and day and night; and promising
also that He would not again cut off all flesh by a flood (Genesis 8:21-22;
Genesis 9:9-17). God gave the rainbow as the token of this covenant. Similarly,
with Abram, God established His everlasting covenant, promises to make him the
father of many nations; and He gave circumcision as the token of this covenant.
All the inhabitants of the world have an interest in, and receive benefits in a
measure from, both these covenants; but those who have the faith of Noah and
Abraham participate in the full and eternal benefits thereof.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 6: WBC-05-FROM ABRAM TO THE DEATH OF JOSEPH
========================================================================

From Abram to the Death of Joseph THE FATHERS OF ISRAEL FROM THE BIRTH OF ABRAM
TO THE DEATH OF JOSEPH Our previous tables have carried the sacred chronology
from the creation of Adam to the birth of Abram, which was in the year 2008. We
come now to the exceedingly interesting and important period of the fathers of
Israel, a period that is immensely rich in instruction for the household of
faith.

We have observed that the first eleven chapters of the Bible cover a great
stretch of time, almost exactly equal, in fact, to that covered by the rest of
the Bible. The history which God has given us of the first 2000 years of our
race is composed mainly of the two elements genealogy and chronology. But now,
with the calling of Abram from out of the idolatries into which the entire race
had plunged, the working out of the eternal purpose of God, which He purposed in
Christ Jesus our Lord, enters upon a distinctly new phase. From this point
onward that purpose is to be identified with that solitary individual, whom God
thus called and separated unto Himself. Speaking through the prophet Isaiah
concerning this call of Abraham, God said: "For I called him alone" (Isaiah
51:2). And in order that the new work which was to be done through Abraham and
his seed might be manifestly all of God, that patriarch is permitted to advance
to a childless old age, to an age so far advanced that both he and his wife were
"as good as dead." Thus we have in Abraham, as it were, a new beginning; not the
creation of a race of men out of the dust of the ground, but the bringing forth
of a people from one who was virtually dead. This new work of God proclaims by a
type or shadow the great Gospel-truth of Resurrection; that is, that God would
procure a people for Himself by resurrection of the dead. From this may be
clearly seen the great importance bf the period upon which we are now entering.
No character of Scripture or of secular history is more important than Abraham.
He is the pattern man of faith, of whom it is written that "Abraham believed
God, and it was counted unto him for righteousness" (Romans 4:3). Hence all
they, whether Jews or Gentiles, who are "of faith," are counted as the spiritual
seed of Abraham, so that they become the heirs of all the promises, as it is
written, "Know ye, therefore, that they which are of faith, the same are the
children of Abraham" (Galatians 3:7); and again, "And if ye be Christ’s, then
are ye Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 3:29).

Manifestly, nothing can be of more vital concern to the perishing children of
Adam than the knowledge of what is stated in the foregoing Scriptures; for the
promises of "blessing" are definitely limited to "Abraham and his seed." Hence,
there is salvation only for the children of Abraham; and this being true, it is
supremely important for everyone to know that all, whether Jews or Gentiles, who
believe in Jesus Christ, are the "children" of Abraham. Therefore, we quote also
the following clear passage from the Word of God: "Therefore it (the promise) is
of faith, that it might be by grace; to the end the promise might be sure to all
the seed; not to that which is of the law only, but to that also which is of the
faith of Abraham, who is the father of us all" (Romans 4:16). The quality of
Abraham’s faith appeared in this, that he believed in God "Who quickeneth the
dead" (Romans 4:17). Hence saving faith is faith in the risen Christ, as saith
the Scripture:

"Now it was not written for his sake alone that it (righteousness) was imputed
to him; but for us also, to whom it will be imputed, if we believe on Him That
raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; Who was delivered for our offences, and
was raised again for our justification" (Romans 4:23-25). And again the
Scripture speaks of "the Word of faith," namely, "that if thou shalt confess
with thy mouth the Lord, Jesus (i.e. Jesus as LORD) and shalt believe in thine
heart that God hath raised Him from the dead, thou shalt be saved" (Romans
10:8-9). In the present volume we must needs confine ourselves to brief
references to the lives of the fathers, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph, with
whom the remaining chapters of Genesis are occupied; but we shall seek to notice
all the events which are dated, and to give the connected chronology to the
death of Joseph.

Abram was 75 years old when he left Haran and came into Canaan (Genesis 11:32;
Genesis 12:4). Hence, adding 75 to the year of Abram’s birth, 2008, we derive
the year 2083 as the date of his entrance into the land of Canaan. The next
dated event is Abram’s marriage with Hagar, at the instigation of Sarah. This
was "after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan" (Genesis 16:1-3).
Hence this was in the year 2093. Abram and Sarah had waited ten years, and there
was as yet no sign of die fulfillment of God’s promise to make Abram’s offspring
like the stars of heaven for multitude. Still he was childless, and the
possibility of offspring had become even more desperately hopeless. So we are
permitted to see that even Abram’s faith needed to be perfected. For he, like
Adam, "hearkened to the voice of his wife." But God’s time had not yet come; and
this was not God’s way of fulfilling His promise. The result of the expedient
suggested by Sarah was "Ishmael " "the wild ass man, representative of that
which "is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be" (Romans 8:7).

Abram was 86 when Ishmael was born (Genesis 16:16), year 2094; "And when Abram
was ninety years old and nine" (year 2107) God made with Abram the "everlasting
covenant" (Genesis 17:1-21); at which time He appointed circumcision as the sign
thereof, changed his name to Abraham, and promised him a son by Sarah, through
which son the "everlasting covenant" was to be carried out.

Between this promise (that Sarah should bear a son) and the record of its
fulfillment (Genesis 21:1-3) we find the account of the destruction of Sodom and
Gomorrah (Genesis 19), and also that of Abraham’s journey into the country of
the Philistines, where Sarah was exposed to danger. Those events evidently
occurred in 2107 or 2108, the latter being the year of the birth of Isaac, at
which epoch the age of Abraham was 100 years (Genesis 21:5).

Isaac and Jacob

Thus far all has been plain and easy. But we come now to events in the lives of
Isaac and Jacob, the dates whereof can be ascertained only by careful
computations and deductions from certain statements of Scripture, to which
attention has been drawn by Ussher and later chronologers.

One important statement for this purpose is that of Exodus 12:40-41 : "Now the
sojourning of the children of Israel who dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and
thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty
years, even the self same day, it came to pass, that all the hosts of the Lord
went out from the land of Egypt." This period of the "sojourning" of the people
of God is reckoned from Abraham’s entrance into Canaan, for then they (Abram and
Sarah, the beginnings of the family) became strangers and pilgrims (Hebrews
11:8-13). This is confirmed by Galatians 3:17, where the same period of 430
years is mentioned: "The covenant that was confirmed before of God in Christ,
the law, which was 430 years after, could not disannul." Here we see that the
430 years began with God’s promise to Abram, made at the time he entered into
Canaan at the age of 75 (Genesis 12:1-4), and ended with the giving of the law,
which was the same year as the Exodus.

Thus we place the Exodus as follows:

An. Hom.

B.C.

Abram entered Canaan at the age of 75 in the year…

2083

1963

Add 430 years, gives, as the year of the Exodus…

2513

1533

But, in addition to this period of 430 years, there is another of 400 years,
which also ended at the Exodus. Thus, in Genesis 15:13 we have God’s word to
Abraham, "Know of a surety that thy seed shall be a stranger in a land that is
not theirs, and shall serve them, and they shall afflict them four hundred
years." And again we have, in Acts 7:6, the words of Stephen, "And God spake on
this wise, That his seed should sojourn in a strange land, and they should bring
them into bondage and entreat them evil, four hundred years." The period of 430
years includes the sojourn of Abram and Sarah. That of 400, however, begins with
the experience of Abram’s "seed." This refers, of course, to Isaac in the first
place; for in Isaac the promised "seed" was to be "called"; but the era is not
that of the birth of Isaac, but that when he was acknow­ledged the "seed" and
"heir" by the casting out of Hagar and Ishmael. That took place at the time of
the "great feast" which Abraham made the day Isaac was weaned (Genesis 21:8-10).
This is an important event in the annals of God’s people, because of its deep
spiritual significance, as appears by the reference to it in Galatians 4:29-30.
From the foregoing Scriptures we are able to arrive at the date when Isaac was
weaned and Ishmael was cast out (whereby Isaac became the acknowledged "seed"
and "heir "). For there is a difference of thirty years between the two periods.
But we have already found that there were twenty-five years from the call of
Abraham (and God’s "covenant" with him) to the birth of Isaac. Hence, deducting
25 from 30 gives us 5 years as the age of Isaac when Ishmael was cast out.

There is no need to give at greater length the proofs concerning the 400-year
period, and the 430-year period, for all chronologers of repute, from Ussher
down to the present day, are agreed as to the chronological significance of
those proofs. By one and all the date of the Exodus is given as An. Hom. 2513.
With the help of the foregoing explanations we can now construct a table of the
lives of Abraham and Isaac down to the death of Abraham, and the marriage of
Esau.

An. Hom.

B.C.

Birth of Abram (see preceding table)

2008

2038

Abram’s entrance into Canaan (age 75)

2083

1963

Abram’s marriage with Hagar (Genesis 16:3)

2093

1953

Ishmael born (Genesis 16:16)

2094

1952

Isaac promised, everlasting covenant given, circumcision appointed, Abram’s name
changed to Abraham (Genesis 17); Sodom destroyed (Genesis 19)

2107

1939

Isaac born (Genesis 21:1-3)

2108

1938

Isaac weaned; Ishmael cast out

2113

1933

Death of Sarah (Genesis 23:1). Sarah was 90 years old when Isaac was born
(Genesis 17:17) and 127 years old when she died. Hence the year of her death
was…

(Sarah has the distinction of being the only woman whose length of life is given
in the Bible)

2145

1901

Isaac married (Age 40 – add 40 years to date of birth)

2148

1898

Birth of Jacob and Esau (Genesis 25:26)

2168

1878

Abraham’s death (Genesis 25:7, age 175, hence add 175 years to date of birth)

2183

1863

Esau’s marriage (Age 40, Genesis 26:34)

2208

1838

Jacob’s Hegira, Vision and Marriage

We must interrupt the table at this point in order to make the investigations
and computations which are needed in order to arrive at the date of Jacob’s
departure to Padan Aram, and that of his marriage. Those dates are not stated in
the Scripture, but they can be determined by statements made in later chapters
of Genesis. Thus, we learn that Joseph was 30 years of age when he stood before
Pharaoh (Genesis 41:46). Hence at the end of the seven years of plenty he was
37, and after two years of famine, when Jacob himself was 130 (Genesis 47:9), he
(Joseph) was 39 years of age. Therefore, since Joseph was 39 when his father
Jacob was 130, the latter was 91 at the birth of Joseph. Now Jacob had served
Laban 14 years when Joseph was born (Genesis 30:25). Therefore, Jacob was 77
(91-14) when he came to Padan Aram and entered the service of Laban. With this
information we can now proceed with our table.

An. Hom.

B.C.

Esau’s marriage

2208

1838

Jacob goes to Padan Aram (age 77)

2245

1801

Jacob marries both daughters of Laban (He served 7 years before marriage for
Leah, 7 years thereafter for Rachel, his age at date of marriage being 84)

2252

1794

Joseph born seven years later

2259

1787

Jacob returned to Canaan 6 years later (Genesis 31:41) aged 97

2265

1781

Joseph stands before Pharaoh 24 years later, aged 30 (Genesis 41:46)

2289

1757

Add seven years of plenty, Joseph is 37

2296

1750

Two years later, Jacob goes down into Egypt, aged 130 (Genesis 45:6; Genesis
47:9)

2298

1748

Death of Jacob 17 years later (Genesis 47:28)

2315

1731

Death of Joseph (he was 39 when Jacob was 130, hence he was 56 when Jacob died.
He was 110 at the time of his own death 54 years later – Genesis 50:26).

2369

1677

This completes the chronology of the Book of Genesis, which is seen to contain a
perfect and connected system of dates from the creation of Adam to the death of
Joseph. It begins with Adam, a living soul in the garden of Eden, and ends with
the bones of Joseph in a coffin in Egypt.

Jacob’s Family in Egypt

Concerning the number of persons who came into Egypt with Jacob there are three
separate statements, each of which gives a different number.

1. In Genesis 46:26 we read, "All the souls which came with Jacob into Egypt,
which came out of his loins, besides Jacob’s sons’ wives, all the souls were
threescore and six" (66 persons). This excludes Jacob himself, and his wives,
and the wives of his sons. It excludes also Joseph and his two sons, who were
already in Egypt. It specifies only those who "came with Jacob" and who came out
of his loins."

2. In the next verse (Genesis 46:27) we read, "All the souls of the house of
Jacob which came into Egypt were threescore and ten (70 persons). It is evident
that this difference of four persons is made up by adding to the 66 of verse 26
Jacob, Joseph, Manasseh and Ephraim. This agrees with what Moses said in
Deuteronomy 10:22, "Thy fathers went down into Egypt with threescore and ten
persons."

3. In Acts 7:14 Stephen said, "Then sent Joseph and called Jacob to him and all
his kindred, threescore and fifteen souls" (75 persons). The apostles and other
Jews of their day used the Septuagint version, fr6m which version Stephen was
evidently quoting, for that version adds two sons of Manasseh and three sons of
Ephraim (see Numb. 26:28-37 and 1 Chronicles 7:20) who are not included in the
Hebrew text. The expression used by Stephen "and all his kindred" is broad
enough to include these five additional persons.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 7: WBC-06-ISRAEL IN THE DAYS OF MOSES
========================================================================

Israel in the Days of Moses The chronology of the fathers of Israel comes to a
full stop at the death of Joseph. There is no record of his age at the birth of
either Manasseh or Ephraim. This, however, need not be wondered at, seeing that
the line of Christ does not run through Joseph but through Judah. The closing
chapters of Genesis are occupied with Joseph because, in the first place, he
obtained the birthright after the deposition of Reuben for his crime against his
father (1 Chronicles 5:1); and in the second place, Joseph shines forth as a
most conspicuous type of Christ; for the Scripture exhibits him as one who,
through hatred and betrayal by his brethren, was delivered to the Gentiles, was
cast into prison by false accusa­tion, was associated in his punishment with two
malefactors (of whom one was saved and the other lost) and who, after three
years, was exalted to be a prince and a saviour, to work "a great deliver­ance"
(Genesis 45:7) for his own brethren and for the world. It is most fitting that
Genesis, which contains in condensed form the entire truth and doctrine of the
Bible, should thus conclude with a~ wonderfully bright and clear type of the
Saviour of men. But the genealogy (with which runs the chronology) did not pass
to Joseph with the birthright. Let us carefully note the language" of 1
Chronicles 5:1-2 :

"Now the sons of Reuben the firstborn of Israel (for he was the firstborn, but
forasmuch as he defiled his father’s bed his birthright was given to the sons of
Joseph, the son of Israel; and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the
birthright; for Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief
ruler; but the birthright was Joseph’s)."

Thus, although Joseph, the firstborn of Rachel, received the double portion (two
tribes in Israel) in place of Reuben, the firstborn of Leah, "the genealogy" did
not pass to Joseph along with "the birthright," but passed to Judah according to
Jacob’s dying prophecy (Genesis 49:10).

Hence, in accordance with the scheme of the Bible as a whole, the chronology
must be brought to, and must follow thenceforth, the line of Judah. From
subsequent books of the Bible we learn that from David to Jehoiachin it does
follow that line; but in the intermediate period of Moses, Joshua, and the
Judges, it pursues a somewhat devious course. Nevertheless, as will be seen, the
count of the years is never lost. The line of dated events in Exodus begins with
Moses. But there is no direct statement of the length of the time between the
death of Joseph and the birth of Moses. This necessary information, however, can
be derived from the 430-year and 400-year periods, to which reference has been
already made. For since those periods both end with the Exodus, and since the
age of Moses at the date of the Exodus is given (80 years, see Exodus 7:7), we
have in those facts all the information that is required to connect the
chronology of Exodus with that of Genesis. For since the Exodus and the giving
of the law took place 430 years after the call of Abram, we have 2083+430,
giving 2513 (An. Hom.) as the year of the Exodus. And since Moses was then 80
years old we have 2513-80=2433 as the year of the birth of Moses. And since
Joseph died in the year 2369, the interval between the death of Joseph and the
birth of Moses was 64 years.

Tabulating these results, we obtain the following:

An. Hom.

B.C.

Death of Joseph (see preceding table)

2369

1677

Birth of Moses (add 64 years)

2433

1613

Flight of Moses from Egypt (Exodus 2:11-15)

2473

1573

Birth of Caleb (see chapter seven)

2474

1572

Return of Moses; Exodus of the children of Israel from Egypt

2513

1533

Israel in the Wilderness The journeyings of the Israelites in the wilderness
occupied a period of forty years. For some of the important events of that
period the inspired record gives not only the years, but the months and days as
well. Thus, the sacrifice of the paschal lamb was on the 14th day of what
became, from that time onward, the first month of the year (see Exodus 12:2);
and that night, which would be the 15th, "all the hosts of the Lord went out of
the land of Egypt. It is a night to be much observed unto the Lord for bringing
them out from the land of Egypt; this is that night of the Lord to be observed
of all the children of Israel in their generations" (Exodus 12:41-42). This is
confirmed by Numbers 33:3, where it is recorded that, "They departed from
Rameses (in Egypt) in the first month, on the fifteenth day of the first month;
on the morrow after the passover the children of Israel went out with a high
hand in the sight of all the Egyptians." From the Exodus to the wilderness of
Sin occupied just one month; for "the congregation of the children of Israel
came unto the wilderness of Sin, which is between Eliin and Sinai on the
fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of
Egypt." Hence the experiences at Marah and Elm (Exodus 15:23-27) occurred in the
first month of their journeying in the wilderness. The second month was also
eventful; for in it occurred the first giving of the manna (Exodus 16) and the
smiting of the rock to bring forth water (Exodus 17); and also the refusal of
Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, to accompany the Israelites, and his return to his
own land (Exodus 18). That these incidents took place in the second month of the
first year of the Exodus appears from the statement of Exodus 19:1, "In the
third month, when the children of Israel were gone forth out of the land of
Egypt, the same day came they into the wilderness of Sinai." The Giving of the
Law In this third month of the Exodus occurred the most momen­tous event in the
history of the earthly people of Israel prior to the crucifixion of their
Messiah.

John Lightfoot notes the interesting and instructive fact that the giving of the
law is a foreshadowing of Pentecost, just as the Passover is a foreshadowing of
Calvary. The interval of time was about the same; but the correspondence lies in
the fact that although the law came down from heaven it could not make men
submissive and obedient to God, and hence the Holy Ghost came down from heaven
to write the law in the hearts of God’s new covenant people, so that "the
righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us who walk not after the flesh
but after the Spirit" (Romans 5:5; Romans 8:4). The correspondence then is
between the law coming down from heaven at the beginning of the dispensation of
law, and the Holy Spirit coming down from heaven at the beginning of the
dispensation of grace. The law of God was the equipment of His people of old for
their service and testimony; the Spirit of God is the equipment of His people
now.

We have noted that the giving of the law, the Ten Command­ments, which was on
the third day after Moses went up unto God the first time (Exodus 19:3; Exodus
19:11), occurred in the third month after the Exodus. The Israelites remained at
the foot of Mount Sinai 9~ months, that is, to the 1st day of the 1st month of
the second year (see Exodus 40:17). The principal events of those 9 months were
the giving of the "statutes" and "judgments" to Moses, together with the tables
of stone, during the first period of 40 days he spent up the Mount (Exodus
21-31); the making of the golden calf by the people (Exodus 31 :l-6); the
breaking of the tables of stone by Moses (Exodus 32:19); the execution of
judgment upon Israel by the children of Levi, as a reward for which the Levites
afterwards obtained the priesthood (Exodus 32:26-28); the second 40 days spent
by Moses upon the Mount, when he received the second tables of stone (Exodus
34); and the building of the Tabernacle (Ex. 3540). Thus it will be seen that
some of the most significant events in the history of the people of Israel,
events which are rich in spiritual lessons, occurred in the year of the Exodus.
The whole period covered by the Book of Exodus was 144 years, 111 months, a very
short period as compared with the 2369 years of the Book of Genesis. Of the
nearly 145 years embraced by the Book of Exodus, about 144 years are covered in
chapters 1 and 2, the events of the remaining year filling the rest of the Book.

Dates in Leviticus The chronology of Leviticus is very brief indeed, covering
only one month; for the events it describes occurred between the first day of
the first month of the second year (Exodus 40:17) and the first day of the
second month of that same year (Numb. 1:1). The historical events of the Book of
Leviticus are the consecration of Aaron and his sons to the priesthood (ch. 8);
and the offering by Nadab and Abihu of strange fire, and their death by fire
from the Lord (ch. 10).

Dates in Numbers The Book of Numbers begins with a date, the 1st day of the 2nd
month of the 2nd year of the era of the Exodus. On that day the Lord commanded
the taking of the number of the children of Israel by their tribes (Numb. 1:1,
2). This enumeration was finished in 20 days; for it is recorded that "it came
to pass on the twentieth day of the second month, in the second year, that the
cloud was taken up from off the tabernacle of the testimony, and the children of
Israel took their journeys out of the wilderness of Sinai" (Numb. 10:11, 12).

Thus the measure of the stay of the Israelites at Sinai was very nearly one
year. The verse last quoted (Numb. 10:12) goes on to say," And the cloud rested
in the wilderness of Paran." Between Sinai and Paran occurred the complaints of
the Israelites because of dissatisfaction with the manna (ch. 11), and the
leprosy of Miriam (ch. 12). From the wilderness of Paran, whereof Kadesh Barnea
is on the north-east border, not far from Palestine, Moses sent forth the twelve
spies to view the land (Numb. 13:3). It is recorded in Deuteronomy 1:3 that it
is but "eleven days’ journey from Horeb, by way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea."
Hence God was ready, as well as able, to bring His people into their promised
inheritance without delay after He had given them the law, statutes and
judgments they were to obey in the land. It was "because of unbelief" (Hebrews
3:19) that they " could not enter in." They were in the wilderness only one year
by God’s appointment, and by their own choice. For, upon hearing the evil report
of the spies, they said, "Would God we had died in this wilderness" (Numb.
14:2); and God took them at their word, saying, "As ye have spoken in My ears,
so will I do unto you; your carcasses shall fall in this wilderness" (Numb.
14:28, 29).

We now have a comparatively long interval, 37 years 11 months, without a single
dated event. It would seem as if, in this way, God emphasized His disapproval of
that evil generation who "provoked" Him, and who "despised the pleasant land."
For He has practically ignored the history of those years. The next date is in
Numbers 20:1 : "Then came the children of Israel, even the whole congregation,
into the desert of Zin, in the first month; and the people abode in Kadesh; and
Miriam died there, and was buried there." From chap. 33:36-38 we learn that this
"first month" was the first month of the 40th year of the era of the Exodus. So
38 years have passed since the last dated event. The only recorded events of
those 38 years, which the Israelites spent in the wilderness by their own
choice, are the stoning of the Sabbath-breaker (Numb. 15:32-36) and the
rebellion of Korah, Dathan and Abiram (Numb. 16). These are very significant
incidents in that they serve to reveal the character of that generation. They
serve also to illustrate the words of Paul in the synagogue at Antioch in
Pisidia, "And about the time of forty years suffered He their manners in the
wilderness" (Acts 13:18). On the first day of the fifth month of that 40th year
of the Exodus, Aaron died on the top of Mount Hor (Numb. 20:23-29; 33:38). The
Last Year of the Forty in the Wilderness From the death of Aaron on the first
day of the fifth month, to the beginning of Moses’ last address to the children
of Israel, was just six months; for we read in Deuteronomy 1:3, "And it came to
pass in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month,
that Moses spake unto the children of Israel, according to all that the Lord had
given him in commandment unto them." The last year of the forty in the
wilderness was, like the first year thereof, a time of important events. These
have been recorded for our admonition, and they are full of instruction for the
household, of faith. In Numbers 20, between the death of Miriam and that of
Aaron, three months later, we have the incident of the striking of the rock (in
this case the Hebrew word means an exalted or uplifted rock, not a sunken rock
as in Exodus 17:6) when God had bidden Moses and Aaron to speak to the rock
(Numb. 20: 8). It would seem that Aaron was jointly at fault with Moses in this
act of in subjection, and in applying to the Lord’s people the opprobrious term
"ye rebels" (see Matthew 5:22), for the Lord said to them both, "Because ye
believed Me not to sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore,
ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them"
(Numb. 20:12).

Following the death of Aaron is the deeply instructive incident of the lifting
up of the brazen serpent in the presence of those who were bitten by the fiery
serpents, which the Lord sent among the people as a judgment for speaking
against God and against Moses (Numb. 21: 5-9). Upon this incident the Lord Jesus
based His instruction to Nicodemus, concerning the Kingdom of God, in answer to
his question, "How can a man be born when he is old?" (John 3:1-18). In the same
period (between the death of Aaron and the final address of Moses on the plains
of Moab) occurred also the defeat of Sihon, King of the Amorites (Numb. 21:
21-25), and Og the King of Bashan (Numb. 21: 33-35); also the interesting
incident of Balaam and Balak (Numb. 22, 23, 24); the apostasy of Baal-peor, and
the plague brought thereby upon the people (Numb. 25); the second numbering of
the people, the new generation, concerning which it is written, "But among these
there was not a man of them whom Moses and Aaron the priest numbered, when they
numbered the children of Israel in the wilderness of Sinai, …save Caleb the son
of Jephunneb, and Joshua the son of Nun " (Numb. 26:64,65); the appeal of the
daughters of Zelophehad for a part in the inheri­tance (Numb. 27); and the war
of vengeance upon the Midianites (Numb. 31).

Tabulating the information we have gathered concerning the 40 years in the
wilderness, we obtain the following:

An. Hom.

B.C.

Month

Day

The Exodus

2513

1533

1

15

Arrival at Wilderness of Sin

"

"

2

15

Giving of the Manna and Smiting of the Rock

"

"

2

"

Arrival at Sinai and giving the Ten Commandments

"

"

3

15

Sojourn at Sinai; Statutes and Judgments given; the golden calf; the Tables of
Stone broken and renewed; and the Tabernacle built. All this occupying nine
months

2514

1532

1

1

The events of Leviticus bring us to the numbering of Israel.

"

"

2

1

Numbering finished, spies sent forth. Interval of 38 years (minus one month)
during which the Israelites wandered in the wilderness, no event being dated
until death of Miriam.

2552

1494

1

1

Death of Aaron

"

"

5

1

During the next six months occurred the lifting up of the brazen serpent, the
defeat of Sihon and Og, the incident of Balaam and Balak, the apostasy of
Baal-Peor, and the numbering of the new generation of Israelites. This brings us
to…

"

"

11

1

But one man now remains (except for Joshua and Caleb) of all the males above 20
years of age who came out of Egypt: Moses, who died…

"

"

12

1

Moses must have died early in the 12th month of the year 2552, for there were 30
days’ mourning for him on the plains of Moab (Deuteronomy 34:8); and then
followed the crossing of the Jordan "after three days " (Joshua 3:2, during
which time the spies entered Jericho); "and the children of Israel encamped in
Gilgal and kept the passover on the fourteenth day of the month" (Joshua 5:10).
This would be year 2553, month 1, day 14. The statement of Deuteronomy 34:7 that
Moses was 120 years old when he died (which means in his 120th year) enables us
to check our results. For Moses was born in 2433 (see Table 5). Consequently in
the last month of 2552, he would be in his 120th year.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 8: WBC-07-CHRONOLOGY OF JOSHUA AND JUDGES
========================================================================

Chronology of Joshua and Judges THE CHRONOLOGY OF JOSHUA AND JUDGES "HOW THE
BREAK BETWEEN THE TWO PERIODS IS MENDED The first part of the Book of Joshua
describes the various wars, beginning with the siege of Jericho (chap. 6),
whereby the land was subdued. But no dates are recorded; and no information is
directly given whereby the length of this period can be deter­mined. Joshua died
at the age of 110 (ch. 24:29); but this does not help us, for the date of his
birth is not known. But the needed chronological link is supplied through Caleb,
the son of Jephunneh, of the tribe of Judah. We have seen that the spies were
sent out the 2nd year after the Exodus, in the early Fall (" at the time of the
first ripe grapes," Numb. 13:20). This was the year 2514, 2nd month (see Table
6). At that time Caleb was 40 years old; for he said, "Forty years old was I
when Moses the servant of the Lord sent me from Kadesh Barnea to espy out the
land" (Joshua 14:7). Hence Caleb was born in the year (25 14 "40) 2474. At the
time of the division of the land by Joshua, at the conclusion of the wars of
conquest, Caleb was 85 years old; for he said at that time, "And now behold, the
Lord hath kept me alive as He said, these forty and five years, … and now, lo, I
am this day fourscore and five years old" (Joshua 14:10). Add 85 to 2474, and we
get 2559, as the year of the division of the land after the wars of conquest.
Therefore, the duration of those wars was six years (2553 to 2559). This is as
far as the chronology of the Book of Joshua carries us. The next time-note we
find is in Judges 3:8, where it is recorded that "the children of Israel served
Cushan-rishathaim eight years." So the question to be answered is, how many
years were there between the division of the land by Joshua, An. Hom. 2559, and
the oppression of Cushan-rishathaim? This has been a very difficult problem to
solve. The question is examined at great length in Dr. Anstey’s work; but we are
concerned rather with the answer to the question, than with the arithmetical
calculations by which it has been reached.

Briefly then, the answer is deduced from the words of Jephthah who said to the
King of Ammon that Israel had occupied Heshbon and her towns three hundred years
(Judges 11:26). The conquest of Heshbon was the year before the Israelites
entered Canaan, or 2552. Hence the 300 years would bring us to 2852. Now the
Scripture gives the various constituent periods, making up these 300 years
except the interval concerning which we are inquiring. Hence, by deducting from
300, the total of the known constituent periods, we arrive at the length of said
interval. Those periods are 1 year in the wilderness, 6 years to the division of
the land, servitude under Cushan 8 years (Judges 3:8), rest by Othniel 40 years
(Judges 3:11), servitude under Eglon 18 years (Judges 3:14), rest by Ehud 80
years (Judges 3:30), servitude under Jabin 20 years (Judges 4:3), rest by Barak
40 years (Judges 5:31), servitude under Midian 7 years (Judges 6:11), rest by
Gideon 40 years (Judges 8:28), usurpation of Abimelech 3 years (Judges 9:22),
judgeship of Tola 23 years (Judges 10:2). These total 286 years, deducting which
from 300 gives 14 years as the interval between the dividing of the land by
Joshua and the servitude under Cushan-rishathaim.

It is worthy of note that each of the several periods, during the course of the
turbulent 300 years, in which God gave His people rest, was just 40 years,
except the rest-period under Ehud, which was twice 40 years.

We must refer our readers to Mr. Anstey’s work for the details of this
calculation, and particularly for the proof that the judgeship of Shamgar
(Judges 3:31) is concurrent with the servitude under Jabin, and that the
judgeship of Jair (Judges 10:3) and the servitude under Ammon (Judges 10:8) are
not included in Jephthah’s 300 years.

We make the duration of Joshua’s wars of conquest to be 6 years, instead of 7,
as by Anstey; for it would appear that he inadvertently made the "second year"
after the Exodus to be two years after (which would be the third) whereas it was
plainly the next year. Thus he got the period one year too long. But this slight
error is automatically compensated for by making the interval from the division
of the land to Cushan’s oppression a year longer (14 instead of 13 according to
Anstey) so that the total count of the years is not affected.

We can now tabulate the period of Joshua-Judges.

Event

An. Hom.

B.C.

Entrance of Israel into Canaan (14th day, 2st month)

2553

1493

Add 6 years to division of the land by Joshua (Joshua 13:7-10)

2559

1487

Add 14 years to oppression by Cushan (Judges 3:8)

2573

1473

Add 8 years of servitude under Cushan to rest by Othniel (Judges 3:8; Judges
3:11)

2581

1465

Add 40 years leading to servitude under Eglon (Judges 3:11-14)

2621

1425

Add 18 years to rest by Ehud (Judges 3:14; Judges 3:30)

2639

1407

Add 80 years leading to servitude under Jabin (Judges 3:30)

2719

1327

Add 20 years (which includes Shamgar’s judgeship) (Judges 3:31; Judges 4:3) to
rest by Barak

2739

1307

Add 40 years’ rest by Barak to servitude under Midian (Judges 5:31)

2779

1267

Add 7 years’ servitude to rest by Gideon (Judges 6:1; Judges 8:28)

2786

1260

Add 40 years’ rest to the usurpation of Abimelech (Judges 8:28; Judges 9:22)

2826

1220

Add three years’ usurpation (Judges 9:22) to judgeship of Tola (Judges 10:2)

2829

1217

Add 23 years from Tola to judgeship of Jair (Judges 10:2-3)

2851

1194

Add 22 years (Judges 10:3) to servitude under Ammon (Judges 10:8)

2874

1172

Add 18 years of oppression (Judges 10:8) To the judgeship of Jephthah

2892

1154

Add 6 years to Ibzan (Judges 12:7)

2898

1148

Add 7 years to Elon (Judges 12:8; Judges 12:11)

2905

1141

Add 10 years to Abdon (Judges 12:11; Judges 12:14)

2915

1131

Add 8 years to servitude under Philistines (Judges 12:14)

2923

1123

Add 40 years’ servitude (Judges 13:1) which include the 20 years of Samson’s
judgeship (Judges 16:31) to Eli.

2963

1083

Add 40 years for Eli’s judgeship (1 Samuel 4:18) to Samuel

3003

1043

Add 20 years Samuel’s judgeship (1 Samuel 7:2) to King Saul

3023

1023

The 450 Years of Paul (Acts 13:20) In connection with the period now under
consideration attention should be given to the statement of the apostle Paul in
addressing those gathered in the synagogue at Antioch in Pisidia (Asia Minor).
He said, "And about the time of forty years suffered He their manners in the
wilderness. And when He had destroyed seven nations in the land of Canaan, He
divided their land to them by lot. And after that, He gave unto them judges
about the space of four hundred and fifty years, until Samuel the prophet" (Acts
13:18-20). This epoch of 450 years, the period of the Judges, appears to be made
up in the following way. By examining details of Table 7 it will be found that,
if the several periods, beginning with the 8 years’ servitude under Cushan, and
ending with the 20 years’ judgeship of Samuel, be added together, they make up a
total of just 450 years. It is reasonable, therefore, to infer that this is the
period spoken of by the apostle; and on the other hand it is warrantable to take
his statement as a confirmation of the conclusions stated above, and summarized
in Table 7, in which we have followed Anstey. The 480 Years of1 Kings 6:1

Great difficulty to chronologists has been occasioned by the statement of 1
Kings 6:1, which says that the beginning of the building of the temple in the
4th year of King Solomon was "in the four hundred and eightieth year after the
children of Israel were come out of the land of Egypt. The total of the years
taken in detail, from the Exodus to the 4th year of Solomon, is 594, an excess
of 114 years over the statement of 1 Kings 6:1. This raises one of the most
difficult chronological problems of the Bible. Some chronologers, as Jackson,
Clinton, and Hales, reject the statement of 1 Kings 6:1 as an interpolation,
because manifestly contradicted by the detailed chronology of the Scriptures.
But Bishop Ussher (whose dates are incorporated in the margin of some editions
of the Bible) adopts it without qualification, making the length of the period
in question 480 years, instead of 594. To bring this about, he abridges the
period from the entrance into the land to the reign of Saul, by taking off some
years at one place and some at another. For example, he changes the rest by Ehud
from "fourscore years" (Judges 3:30) to 20, and so on. Manifestly this affects,
to the extent of 114 years, every previous date expressed in terms "B. C.," and
all subsequent dates expressed in terms "An. Hom." or "A. M."

Dr. Anstey, however, calls attention to the striking fact that the discrepancy
"114 years "is exactly the measure of the six servitudes and the one usurpation
which interrupt the period of God’s government of His people through the Judges;
and Dr. Anstey suggests that the 480 years are put down as the measure of the
Theocracy (God’s rule over His people), and that the years when God gave over
the rule of His people to their enemies are not reckoned in the statement of 1
Kings 6:1. This we accept as the best available explanation of the difficulty.
But, in any case, the detailed chronology, derived by putting together the
several statements of Scripture, must be maintained. The period covered by Table
VII is one of much confusion in Israel, and of departure from the statutes and
judgments which God had given His people to walk in. "There was no king in
Israel" in those days, and hence "every man did that which was right in his own
eyes" (Judges 17:6; Judges 18:1, &c.). It would seem as if, on this account, it
were a matter of unusual difficulty to trace the workings of the hand of God in
the affairs of His people, and that the chronology is, in consequence,
relatively obscure. In regard to no other part of the Bible is there a greater
lack of unanimity amongst chronologers of repute.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 9: WBC-08-THE KINGDOM
========================================================================

The Kingdom

King Saul The annals of the reign of Saul are almost destitute of chrono­logical
information. In fact it is doubtful if the length of Saul’s reign could be
determined but for the statement of the apostle Paul in Acts 13:21, "And
afterward they desired a king; and God gave unto them Saul, the son of Cis, a
man of the tribe of Benjamin, by the space of forty years." The only statement
of a chronological character in the Old Testament concerning Saul is one so
remarkable that it has been quite a puzzle to chronologers. It is found in 1
Samuel 13:1-2. As rendered in the A. V. it reads: "Saul reigned one year; and
when he had reigned two years over Israel, Saul chose him two thousand men of
Israel," etc. The margin tells us that the words "reigned one year" read in the
original Hebrew "the son of one year in his reigning." There is, however, a
disagreement as to the text, which is rendered in some versions, "Saul was -- "
years when he began to reign, and when he had reigned two years," etc. So we
dismiss this passage as being of no importance for our present purposes, it
being enough to know, from Acts 13:21, that the reign of Saul lasted 40 years.

David and Solomon

David and Solomon each reigned 40 years. We would judge that to be the normal
length of the reign of a ruler; for 40 appears to be the Bible-number of a full
period of testing or probation, instance the forty years of the Israelites in
the wilderness, the forty days of the Lord’s trial in the wilderness, etc. There
is something significant in the fact that each of the first three kings of
Israel, the only three who reigned over a united kingdom, reigned each for 40
years. Of David it is recorded that "David was thirty years old when he began to
reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years
and six months; and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty and three years over all
Israel and Judah" (2 Samuel 5:4-5). During the time David reigned over Judah
only, Ishbosheth, the son of Saul, reigned two years over Israel (2 Samuel
2:10). These two periods make a total of 40 1/2 years; but when reduced to
calendar years they figure 40 years. The length of Solomon’s reign is stated in
2 Chronicles 9:30, "And Solomon reigned in Jerusalem over all Israel forty
years."

These were typical reigns. In Saul we have the trial of the natural man; and
though his unfitness to rule was quickly mani­fested, yet God permitted him to
fill out his full term. This suggests God’s long patience and forbearance with
the natural man, giving him full opportunity to prove his worth in every
capacity. As regards the ideal "governor," we could have no better descrip­tion
than that given in the last words of David, "He that ruleth over men must be
just, ruling in the fear of God" (2 Samuel 23:3). The natural man cannot meet
this test. Indeed none can fully measure up to it save the Lord Jesus Christ
Himself.

David and Solomon are both typical of Christ as King. The former foreshadows
Christ in His rejection and conflicts; the latter foreshadows His reign of peace
and glory, when He shall have put all enemies under His feet (1 Corinthians
15:25). To each God gave a full measure of time. Hence the fitness in the type
of a reign of forty years to each of those kings.

During David’s reign the materials for the building of the temple were prepared.
During Solomon’s reign the temple was completed in all its marvelous beauty and
glory. This suggests the fact that now, during the time of conflict with the
enemies of God, the materials for the church are being gathered and made ready;
and in the coming day it will be manifested with Christ in glory. The dated
events of Solomon’s reign are the beginning of the temple in his fourth year (2
Chronicles 3:2); its completion in the eleventh year (1 K. 6:38, "so he was
seven years in building it"); the beginning of his own house in the eleventh
year, and its completion in the 24th year (1 K. 7:1, 9:10). This gives us, for
the time Israel existed as a united kingdom, the following:

An. Hom.

B.C.

Beginning of Saul’s reign (see table seven)

3023

1023

Beginning of David’s reign

3063

983

Beginning of Solomon’s reign

3103

943

Death of Solomon

3143

903

The Divided Kingdom

We come now to a portion of Scripture, Kings and Chronicles, where difficulties
abound, and where the utmost care, patience, and penetration are required, in
order to elucidate the facts per­taining to chronology. But the ground has been
carefully explored, and the evidences scrutinized by able men in by-gone days;
so that our own task is the comparatively easy one of setting forth, in a manner
as simple as possible, the results of their fruitful labours. Dr. Anstey,
speaking of the period of the kings of Israel and Judah, says, "There is not a
single difficulty that has been raised which is not capable of a simple and easy
solution, without doing violence to the text; there is not a single difficulty
that has not been satisfactorily cleared up in standard works by able
chronologers, from The Chronicle of the Events of the Old Testament, by Dr. John
Lightfoot, in the 17th century, down to our own day."

Dr. John Lightfoot, to whom Anstey refers, makes some quaint observations, which
give a good idea of the difficulties in question, and also of the spirit in
which he, and other men of God, undertook the solution of them.

"In casting up the times of the collateral kingdoms," says he, "your only way is
to lay them in two columns, one justly paralleling the other, and run them both
by years as the text directs you. But here nicety is needed "not to see how
strangely they are reckoned, sometimes inclusive, sometimes otherwise (for this
you will easily find) but "to find a reason why they be so reckoned. Rehoboam’s
years are counted complete; Abijam’s are current. Whereas it is said that
Jeroboam reigned 22 years, and his son Nadab 2 years, you will find by this
reckoning that Nadab’s 2 years fall within the sum of his father’s 22. This may
seem strange; but the solution is sweet and easy from 2 Chronicles 13:20. The
Lord smote Jeroboam with some ill disease, that he could not administer or rule
the kingdom, so that he was forced to substitute Nadab in his own lifetime. And
in one and the same year, both father and son die." The passage to which
Lightfoot here refers as giving the simple solution of this seeming
contradiction, reads thus: "Neither did Jeroboam recover strength again in the
days of Abijah; and the Lord struck him, and he died."

There were other instances then, as has commonly happened since, that a son has
ascended the throne during his father’s lifetime. In such cases the years of
their joint reigns would be reckoned to the reign of each. This is a point for
which chronologers have to be continually on the lookout; but the knowledge of
it enables many difficulties to be cleared up.

Continuing, Dr. Lightfoot says:

"Divers such passages as these you will find in this story of the Kings. Ahaziah
two years older than his father (2 Chronicles 22:2); Baasha fighting nine years
after he was dead (2 Chronicles 16:1); Jotham reigning four years after he was
buried (2 K. 15:30); Joram crowned king in the 17th year of Jehoshaphat
(according to 2 K. 1:17 with 1 K. 22: 51), and in the 22nd year of Jehoshaphat
(according to 2 K. 8:16), and after Jeshoshaphat’s death (2 Chronicles 21:1).

"For the resolution of such ambiguities, the text will do it, if it be well
searched. This way, attained to, will guide you in marking those things that
seem to be contradictions in the text, or slips of the Holy Ghost, in which
always is admirable wisdom.

"Admirable it is see how the Holy Spirit of God hath, in discords, showed the
sweet music. But few mark this, because few take a right course in the reading
of Scripture. Hence, when men are brought to see flat contradictions (as,
unreconciled, there be many in it) they are at amaze, and ready to deny their
Bible. A little pains, right spent, will soon amend this wavering, and settle
men upon the rock whereon to be built is to be sure."

Dr. Anstey refers to an article by Willis J. Beecher on "The Kings of Israel and
Judah," in the American Presbyterian Review for April, 1880, as giving "the key
to the solution of all these difficulties." We quote some of the rules given by
Mr. Beecher, and which, according to Anstey, "are obeyed with entire uniformity
in all the dates of the period under consideration."

"Rule 1. All the years mentioned are current years of a consecutive system. The
first year of a king is, not a year’s time beginning with the day and month of
his accession, but, a year’s time beginning with (1) the preceding, or (2) the
following New Year’s Day "i.e., the New Moon before the Passover, Nisan 1st.

"Rule 2. When a reign closes and another begins during a year, that year is
counted to the previous reign (Judaite mode).

"Rule 3. Regularly in the case of the earlier kings of Israel, and occasionally
in other cases, the broken year is counted to the following reign, as well as to
the previous reign (Israelite mode)."

Concerning the history of the period of the divided kingdom, Dr. Anstey says

"The Hebrew text of the history of this period is self-consistent and
self-contained. All the data required for the resolution of any, difficulties
that may arise are to be found in the text itself. There is no need to fall back
upon Josephus. Still less is there any need to introduce any of the harmonizing
expedients of the LXX, or any of the "emendations," "restorations," and
"corrections" of the text by modern critics, who present us with a view of the
history as they think it ought to be, not with a view of the history as it is.

Similarly, the use of’ Sothic Cycles,’ the calculation of eclipses, and other
astronomical methods and expedients for settling Bible dates, are all alike
inadmissible. They are liable, first, to errors of observation on the part of
the original observer; second, to errors of calculation on the part of the modem
astronomer; and consequently, third, to errors in the identification of the
observed and recorded eclipse with the eclipse reached by calculation. Those
methods are used mainly in support of assumptions and pre-suppositions already
arrived at by hypothesis and conjecture. They may be true or they may not. But
in any case, they cannot be erected into a standard by which to correct the data
given in the Hebrew text. Modern Egyptologists make much of astronomical data.
Each advocate regards his own scheme as thereby invested with the certainty of a
mathematical calculation. But there are many such schemes, and they differ from
each other by more than a century. As Willis J. Beecher says, ’Each chain has
links of the solid steel of astronomical computations, but they are tied
together with the rotten twine of conjecture.’ The quasi-infallible dates
arrived at by modern investigators are erected into a standard by which to amend
and correct the dates of the Hebrew text of the Old Testament. But this is
correcting standard coin of the realm by means of counterfeit fabrications. For
the authentic documents of the Hebrew Old Testament are both accurate, complete,
and self-sufficient. The fact and the events, the dates and the periods, there
given, are as accurate and as much to be relied upon as are those other
statements upon which we base our confidence in the goodness of God, and rest in
hope of eternal salvation."


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 10: WBC-09-THE DIVIDED KINGDOM
========================================================================

The Divided Kingdom THE CHRONOLOGY OF THE DIVIDED KINGDOM TO THE ACCESSION OF
JEHU

We now give a table exhibiting the contemporary reigns of the kings of Judah and
Israel, and events which are dated in the Bible, from the death of Solomon, An.
Hom. 3143, where our last table ended, down to the death of Ahaziah of Judah and
Jehoram of Israel, both which kings were slain by Jehu in the same year (An.
Hom. 3232). The year of the death of Solomon was the year of Rehoboam’s
accession to the throne of Judah, and of Jeroboam’s accession to the throne of
Israel. Following this table we -.will give some explana­tions (where such are
needed) of the passages of Scripture from which the chronological facts are
taken.

TABLE IX The Contemporary Kingdoms of Judah and Israel from the Death of Solomon
to That of Ahaziah of Judah Where a king’s name appears for the first time it is
the year of his accession to the throne.

Events

Judah

Israel

An. Hom.

B.C.

Death of Solomon. Disruption of the Kingdom. Ten tribes revolt and set up an
independent kingdom under Jeroboam (1 Kings 12:19-20).

Rehoboam

Jeroboam

3143

903

Rehoboam reigned 17 years (1 Kings 14:21). For the first three years, he walked
in the ways of David (2 Chronicles 11:17).

In the fifth year of his reign, Shishak (king of Egypt) plundered the Temple (1
Kings 14:25)

"

"

3147

899

Rehoboam died

"

"

3159

887

Abijam reigned in the 18th year of Jeroboam, for three years (1 Kings 15:1-2)

Abijam

"

3160

886

Abijam dies, succeeded by Asa (1 Kings 15:9)

Asa

"

3162

884

Nadab reigned over Israel in the 2nd year of Asa (1 Kings 15:25)

"

Nadab

3164

882

Baasha reigned in the 3rd year of Asa (1 Kings 15:28-33)

"

Baasha

3165

881

Great religious revival un Asa’s reign, under the prophesying of Azariah and
Oded (2 Chronicles 15:1-10) in Asa’s 15th year

"

"

3177

869

Baasha invades Judah (2 Chronicles 16:1; see explanation below)

"

"

3178

868

Elah, son of Baasha reigned in the 26th year of Asa, for two years (1 Kings
16:8)

"

Elah

3188

858

Zimri slew Elah, in fulfillment of the Word of the Lord (1 Kings 16:3; 1 Kings
16:9-10) and is in turn slain by Omri the same year. Omri and Tibni reign
concurrently as rival kings

"

Zimri Omri Tibni

3189

857

Tibni died. Omri continued to reign in the 31st year of Asa (1 Kings 16:22-23).

"

Omri

3193

853

Omri bought the hill of Samaria, built a city there, and made it the capital of
his kingdom (1 Kings 16:23-24).

"

"

3194

852

Ahab succeeds Omri in the 38th year of Asa’s reign (1 Kings 16:29)

"

Ahab

3200

846

Asa diseased in his feet (2 Chronicles 16:12)

"

"

3201

845

Asa dies, Jehoshaphat succeeds him (2 Chronicles 16:13, 1 Kings 22:41-42).

Jehoshaphat

"

3203

843

Jehoshaphat, in his third year, sent forth princes and priests to teach the Book
of the Law in the cities of Judah (2 Chronicles 17:7-9).

"

"

3206

840

Ahab slain in battle with the Syrians, Ahaziah, his son, succeeds him (1 Kings
22:37-40; 1 Kings 22:51) in the 17th year of Jehoshaphat and reigned two years.

"

Ahaziah

3220

826

Jehoram reigns for Jehoshaphat (see 2 Kings 1:17 with 3:1) (co-regent)

Jehoram

"

3220

826

Elijah calls down fire from heaven, destroying two captains and their companies
(2 Kings 1:9-12). Ahaziah of Israel dies, succeeded by Jehoram, in the second
year of Jehoram of Judah (2 Kings 1:17; 2 Kings 3:1).

"

Jehoram

3221

825

Jehoram of Judah reigns with Jehoshaphat as co-regent (2 Kings 8:16-17)

Jehoram as co-regent

"

3225

821

Jehoshaphat dies, Jehoram reigns as sole king (1 Kings 22:50)

Jehoram as king

"

3228

818

Ahaziah begins to reign (jointly with his father) in the 11th year of Jehoram of
Israel (2 Kings 9:29).

Ahaziah (co-regent)

"

3231

815

Ahaziah one year as sole king (2 Kings 8:25-26)

Ahaziah (sole king)

"

3232

814

Ahaziah of Judah and Jehoram of Israel both slain by Jehu. Athaliah takes the
throne in Judah, Jehu takes the throne in Israel (2 Kings 9:13-33; 2 Kings
10:36; 2 Kings 11:1-4)

Athaliah

Jehu

3232

814

Some explanations are required to make the foregoing table clear.

Baasha’s Invasion of Judah In 2 Chronicles 16:1-3 it is stated that "in the six
and thirtieth year of the reign of Asa, Baasha, king of Israel, came up against
Judah." But the 36th year of Asa would be nine years after the death of Baasha,
this being what Lightfoot referred to in speaking of "Baasha fighting nine years
after he was dead." The Hebrew text, however, says, not that it was the 36th
year of the reign of Asa, as in our A. V., but that it was the 36th year of the
kingdom of Asa. So it is evident that the reckoning here is from the beginning
of the separate kingdom of Judah. Hence the invasion of Judah by Baasha would be
in the 16th year of Asa, and the 13th of his own reign, as tabulated above.

Apparent Contradictions as to Jehoram

Again there is apparent disagreement or contradiction in regard to the beginning
of the reign of Jehoram, son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah. According to 1 Kings
22:41; 1 Kings 22:50 Jehoshaphat reigned 25 years, and was succeeded by Jehoram.
This would make the beginning of the latter’s reign in the year 3228. But,
according to 2 K. 1: 17, Jehoram of Judah had been already reigning one year
when Jehoram of Israel succeeded his father Ahab, which was in the year 3221.
Again, in 2 Kings 3:1 it is stated that Jehoram the son of Ahab "began to reign
over Israel the eighteenth year of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah." Thus, Jehoram of
Israel began to reign in the 18th year of Jehoshaphat, and in the 2nd year of
Jehoram his son. Evidently then, Jehoram was at that time reigning in the place
of his father, Jehoshaphat, either because of some disability, or for other
reason, not stated. Such incidents have often occurred. In the margin of the
Cambridge Bible is the following note on 2 Kings 1:17, which explains the
matter: "The second year that Jehoram was Prorex, and the eighteenth year of
Jehoshaphat: ch. 3:1."

Again in 2 Kings 8:16 we find the following record: "And in the fifth year of
Joram, the son of Ahab, king of Israel, Jehoshaphat being then king of Judah,
Jehoram, the son of Jehoshaphat, king of Judah, began to reign." Here is a plain
statement that Jehoram reigned at the same time with his father Jehoshaphat.
Accordingly his name appears on the table as co-rex. The words "began to reign"
should be simply "reigned" (see margin). In fact Jehoram began to reign, as we
have seen, five years previously.

Finally, Jehoram’s reign as sole king began at the death of his father, after
the latter had reigned 25 years (1 Kings 22:41; 1 Kings 22:50).

Thus the seeming contradiction as to the three several beginnings of Jehoram’s
reign is clearly explained. Those who wish a more complete and detailed
explanation will find it in Dr. Anstey’s work.

How the Accuracy of the Record is Insured In regard to this period of Bible
history, and the way the succession of the several kings is recorded, we quote
some helpful observations of Dr. Anstey:

"The reigns of the kings of the first two periods are so locked and interlocked
that it is impossible for any error to have crept into the chronology between
the year of the disruption and the year of the fall of Samaria.

"The accuracy of the chronology of the kingdom of Judah from the fail of Samaria
to the captivity is likewise guaranteed, being checked by’ the long numbers
which measure the intervals between two distant events, e.g., the period from
the 13th of Josiah, when the ministry of Jeremiah began, to the 4th year of
Jehoiakim, which is given as a period of 23 years. (Jeremiah 25:1-3)."

Another point which must be kept in mind in order that the details of the
chronology may be understood is that the same year is often counted twice, being
allotted both to the reign of the deceased king, and also to that of the king
who succeeds him. This is the common practice in reckoning the succession of the
kings of Israel, but not that of the kings of Judah. We give the explanation of
this point also in the words of Dr. Anstey:

"Scripture chronology deals only with integral years. It reckons a broken year
sometimes as one whole year which it gives to the outgoing king, and sometimes
as two whole years, of which it gives one to the outgoing and one to the
incoming king, the year being thus reckoned twice over. It follows from this
fact that the chronology of the period cannot be ascertained by applying the
process of simple addition to the figures denoting the lengths of the reigns of
the various kings. This is easily demonstrated.

"In the first period the sum of the reigns of the six kings of Judah, Rehoboam
to Ahaziah, is 95 years. The sum of the reigns of the 9 kings of Israel, from
Jeroboam to Jehoram, is 98 years. But the true chronology of the period is 90
years. The explanation of the discrepancy lies in the fact that in the figures
95 and 98 some years have been reckoned twice over.

"In the second period the sum of the reigns of the 6 kings and 1 queen of Judah,
from Athaliah to the 6th year of Hezekiah, including the inter­regnum of 11
years, is 176 years. The sum of the reigns of the 10 kings of Israel from Jehu
to Hoshea, including the interregnums of 22 and 8 years respectively, is 175
years, reckoning a full year each to Zechariah and Shallum. The true chronology
of the period, however, is 174 years, and the explanation of the discrepancy is
the same as before.

"In the third period, the sum of the reigns of the six kings of Judah, from the
6th year of Hezekiah to the 3rd year of Jehoiakim, is 114. The true chronology
of the period is also 114 years."

Jehoshaphat and His Affiliations with Ahab

Jehoshaphat was one of the good kings of Judah; for it is recorded of him that
"the Lord was with Jehoshaphat, because he walked in the first ways of his
father David" (2 Chronicles 17:3); and further that, in the third year of his
reign, he sent forth princes, priests and Levites, throughout all the cities of
Judah, with the Book of the Law, to teach the people. God accordingly
recom­pensed the fidelity of His servant, during that period of his reign, in
that the fear of the Lord was upon all the kingdoms round about Judah, so that
they made no war against Jehoshaphat (2 Chronicles 17:7-10).

But, after certain years, Jehoshaphat "joined affinity with Ahab," who was the
worst of all the bad kings of Israel (see 1 Kings 16:30-34); and from that time
onward the record of his reign is largely one of wars and other troubles. The
history of Jehoshaphat seems, therefore, to have been written for the special
purpose of showing what evil consequences may be expected to follow when one of
the people of God "joins affinity with," that is to say, enters into intimate
relations or makes common cause with, the ungodly.

We have only to look at the chronological table (Table 9) to see the results of
this misstep on the part of king Jehoshaphat. Instead of a clear separation from
the ungodly king of Israel and his wicked queen Jezebel, there are plain marks
of intimacy, in that the same names, Ahaziah and Jehoram, appear in both the
royal families. Apparently Jehoshaphat named a son after Ahab’s first born,
Ahaziah, and Ahab reciprocally named a son after Jehoshaphat’s first born,
Jehorani. And not only so, but Jehoram (of Judah) "had the daughter of Ahab to
wife" (2 Chronicles 21:6) and the consequence was that he exceeded all the kings
of Judah in wickedness; for he slew all his own brethren; he made high places in
the mountains of Judah; and he walked in the ways of the house of Ahab,
introducing the licentious worship of Baal, and-even compelling the people of
Judah to commit fornication (2 Chronicles 21:4-13). Therefore the Lord smote the
people with a great plague; and smote Jehoram himself with a loathsome disease,
wherewith he was afflicted for two years, until his bowels fell out by reason of
his sickness, and he died of sore diseases.

It is evident that Ahaziah, son of Jehoram of Judah, began to reign as co-rex
with his father during the last two years of his (Jehoram’s) reign, and
doubtless because of his very serious illness. For it is stated in 2 Kings 9:29
that "in the eleventh year of Joram, the son of Ahab, began Ahaziah to reign
over Judah." This would be the year 3231, as shown in Table 9. But we read in 2
Kings 8:25-26, that Ahaziah began to reign in the twelfth year of Joram, and
reigned one year, from which it appears that the reference here is to the
beginning of his reign as sole king, after the death of his father, Jehoram.
That same year he paid a visit to his uncle Jehoram of Israel (his mother’s
brother) when the latter was sick by reason of wounds received in battle with
the Syrians (2 Kings 8:28-29). The Seeming Contradiction Concerning the Age of
Ahaziah This Ahaziah of Judah is the king whose age, as given in 2 Chronicles
22:2, makes him out to be older than his own father. (See the remarks of Dr.
John Lightfoot, quoted above.) Yet there is, as Lightfoot said, "admirable
wisdom" in these seeming "slips of the Holy Ghost"; and "sweet music" for the
anointed ear, where another would find "discords." For on the face of the two
passages there is a plain contradiction. In 2 Kings 8:26 it is recorded that
"Two and twenty years old was Ahaziah when he began to reign"; whereas in 2
Chronicles 22:2 we read, "Forty and two years old was Ahaziah when he began to
reign."

Dr. Anstey gives two rules for solving this and like difficulties:

"First, look to the original Hebrew; and second, read carefully the context." In
this case he gives the literal translation of 2 Chronicles 22:2, as follows: "A
son of 42 years was Ahaziah when he began to reign." What meaning do we gather
from the peculiar words, "a son of 42 years"? The first year of Ahaziah was
3231 (see Table 9). Counting back 42 years brings us to 3186 which (see Table 9
again) was the year that Omri, Azariah’s great grandfather, on his mother’s side
(Athaliah, daughter of Ahab), founded the new dynasty, whereof Azariah of Judah
was an off-shoot. "So that," to quote Anstey, "just as the sacred writer reckons
the years of the kingdom of Asa from the true origin of the separated kingdom of
Judah (2 Chronicles 16:1), so here he reckons the years of Ahaziah from the
accession of the dynasty of Omri." And why this unusual mode of reckoning? For
answer we follow the second rule laid down above, and look to the context. The
complete translation of 2 Chronicles 22:2-9, as given by Anstey, is as follows:

"A son of 42 years was Ahaziah when he began to reign; and he reigned one year
in Jerusalem, and his mother’s name was Athaliah, the daughter of Omri. He also
walked in the ways of the house of Ahab. He did evil like the house of Ahab. And
the destruction of Ahaziah was of God by his coming to Joram. For he went out
with Joram against Jehu, whom the Lord had anointed to cut off the house of
Ahab. And when Jehu was executing judgment upon the house of Ahab, and found the
princes of Judah and the sons of the brethren of Ahaziah, he slew them. And he
sought Ahaziah; and they caught him (for he was hid in Samaria) and when they
had slain him, they buried him; for they said, He is the son of Jehoshaphat, who
sought the Lord with all his heart." The inference from this is that, in making
up the Book of Chronicles, which has a different purpose from that of Kings,
being the record of the house of David in connection with the building and the
maintenance of the Temple, Ahaziah is not counted as a son of David’s line at
all. "He is," as Anstey says,

"the son of Athaliah, the daughter of Ahab and Jezebel. He is no seed of David.
He is an imp of the house of Ahab, a son of the house of Omri, and as such he is
’a son of 42 years’; for the dynasty of the house of Omri was exactly 42 years
old. That is not the ’modern’ way of writing history, but it is the way of the
Old Testament writers; and if we wish to understand their writings, we must put
ourselves at their point of view, and not force our meaning upon their words.

"This interpretation is confirmed by St. Matthew, who will have it that . . .
Jehoshaphat begat Jehoram, but not that Jehoram begat Ahaziah, or Joash, or
Amaziah "but only the fourth in the line of descent ’Jehoram begat Uzziah,’ his
great-great-grandson. ’Let the posterity of the wicked be cut off, and in the
generation following let their name be blotted out’ (Psalms 109:13)."

Elijah and Elisha The reign of Ahab was distinguished by the ministry of those
great prophets, Elijah and Elisha, wherein was given a conspicuous manifestation
of the faithfulness and the grace of God. Wickedness was at its very height in
Israel. But when the enemy comes in like a flood, then the Spirit of the Lord
raises a standard against him (Isaiah 59:19). There were some thousands in
Israel who refused to follow in the ways of Ahab; and therefore the Lord raised
up the two great prophets to bear a testimony to His Name in those days of
almost total corruption and apostasy.

Vengeance Executed by Jehu This dark period was brought to a bloody end by a
ministry of judgment executed by the hand of Jehu. He made a thorough work of
it, slaying Joram (Jehoram) and his mother Jezebel (2 Kings 9:21-37), and the
seventy sons of Ahab (10:1-7) and "all that remained of the house of Ahab in
Jezreel, and all his great men and his kinsfolks and his priests, until he left
him none remaining" (10: 11). Moreover, "when he came to Samaria, he slew all
that remained unto Ahab in Samaria, till he had destroyed him, according to the
saying of the Lord which He spake to Elijah" (10:17). And finally, he executed
the vengeance of God upon the priests and worshippers of Baal (10:19-27).
Moreover, because of the intimacy between Ahaziah, king of Judah, and the house
of Ahab, the former also was involved in the extermination of the latter, for
Ahaziah was slain at the same time with his uncle, Jehoram of Israel (2 Kings
9:27). In 2 Chronicles 22:7-9 it is recorded that "the destruction of Ahaziah
was of God by coming to Joram; for when he was come he went out with Jehoram
against Jehu the son of Nimshi, whom the Lord had anointed to cut off the house
of Ahab. And it came to pass that when Jehu was executing judgment upon the
house of Ahab and found the princes of Judah, and the sons of the brethren of
Ahaziah, … he slew them. And he sought Ahaziah; and they caught him (for he was
hid in Samaria) and brought him to Jehu. And when they had slain him they buried
him." The Miraculous Preservation of the House and Lineage of David This
execution of the wrath of God by Jehu marks a distinct epoch in the history of
the two concurrent kingdoms of Judah and Israel, in that both thrones became
vacant at the same time, and by reason of the same execution of the righteous
judgment of God. Jehu succeeded to the throne of Israel; but there was more
trouble and humiliation for Judah. For " when Athaliah the mother of Ahaziah saw
that her son was dead, she arose and destroyed all the seed royal of the house
of Judah." Thus the extermination of the house of David would have been as
complete as that of the house of Ahab; but that Jehoshabeath, the daughter of
the king, stole Joash, the infant son of Ahaziah, and hid him from Athaliah, so
that she slew him not (2 Chronicles 22:11-12).

Thus the second period of the divided kingdom begins with the fierce and
impetuous Jehu on the throne of Israel, and with a woman, a daughter of the
house of Ahab, ruling over Judah. Such were some of the consequences of
Jehoshaphat’s intimacy with the wicked king of Israel.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 11: WBC-10-THE DIVIDED KINGDOM (PART TWO)
========================================================================

The Divided Kingdom (part two) THE DIVIDED KINGDOM: SECOND PERIOD, TO THE FALL
OF SAMARIA The second period of the divided kingdom extends from the beginning
of Jehu’s reign over the Northern Kingdom to the fall of Samaria (the end of
that kingdom), which was in the 6th year of Hezekiah, King of Judah. The
principal dated events of this period appear on the following table:

Events

Judah

Israel

An. Hom.

B.C.

Ascension of Athaliah and Jehu (see previous table)

Athaliah

Jehu

3232

814

Athaliah reigned 6 years and in the seventh year she was slain, and was
succeeded by Joash (called in 2 Kings 12:1 Jehoash; 2 Kings 11:4-16).

Joash

"

3239

807

Jehu reigned 28 years (2 Kings 10:36) and was succeeded by his son, Jehoahaz, in
the 23rd year of Joash (2 Kings 13:1).

"

Jehoahaz

3261

785

In this same year, Joash stirred up the priests to repair the Temple (2 Kings
12:6-7).

"

"

3261

785

In the 37th year of Joash began Jehoash to reign in Israel (as co-regent with
Jehoahaz; 2 Kings 13:9-10)

"

Jehoash (as co-regent)

3275

771

In the 40th year of Joash, Jehoahaz, King of Israel died, and Jehoash reigned as
sole king (2 Kings 13:9-10)

"

Jehoash (as sole king)

3278

768

Amaziah succeeded his father Joash as king of Judah in the 2nd year of Jehoash
of Israel (2 Kings 12:21; 2 Kings 14:1-2).

Amaziah

"

3279

767

In the 15th year of Amaziah, Jeroboam II reigned as king of Israel (2 Kings
14:16; 2 Kings 14:23). He reigned 41 years.

"

Jeroboam II

3293

753

Amaziah, King of Judah, lived after the death of Jehoash, king of Israel,
fifteen years (2 Kings 14:17) and died.

"

3308

738

Amaziah had no immediate successor, for Uzziah did not come to the throne until
the 27th year of Jeroboam II, hence an Interragnum for eleven years.

Interregnum

"

3308

738

Uzziah (Azariah) begins to reign in the 27th year of Jeroboam II (2 Kings 14:21;
2 Kings 15:1-2)

Uzziah (Azariah)

"

3319

727

Following the 41st year of Jeroboam II, the throne of Israel was evidently
vacant for 22 years, for Zechariah did not ascend the throne until Uzziah’s 38th
year (2 Kings 14:29; 2 Kings 15:8).

"

Interregnum

3334

712

Zechariah reigns 6 months in Isreal

"

Zechariah

3356

690

Shallum reigns 1 month, and Manahem succeeds him (2 Kings 15:10-17) and reigns
10 years.

"

Shallum Menahem

3367

679

Jotham is made ruler during the last years of Uzziah (2 Kings 15:5, 2 Chronicles
26:21).

Jotham (as judge)

"

3367

679

Pekahiah reigns in the 50th year of Uzziah (2 Kings 15:22-23).

"

Pekahiah

3368

678

Pekah conspires against Pekahiah, slays him, and reigns in his stead (2 Kings
15:25-27).

"

Pekah

3370

676

Isaiah’s great vision (Isaiah 6:1) Death of Uzziah

"

"

3371

675

Jotham succeeds Uzziah in the 2nd year of Pekah (2 Kings 15:32-33)

Jotham (as king)

"

3371

675

Ahaz succeeds Jotham in the 17th year of Pekah (2 Kings 15:38; 2 Kings 16:1-2).

Ahaz

"

3386

660

Isaiah’s prophecy, Epharim to be broken in 65 years (Isaiah 7:8)

"

"

3387

659

Hoshea slew Pekah in the 20th year of Jotham, but was not made king until the
12th year of Ahaz (see explanation below) (2 Kings 15:30; 2 Kings 17:1)

"

Interregnum

3390

656

Hoshea becomes king of Israel.

"

Hoshea

3398

648

Hezekiah’s accession as co-regent with Ahaz, 3rd year of Hoshea (2 Kings 16:20;
2 Kings 18:1-2)

Hezekiah

"

3401

645

Death of Ahaz, Isaiah’s prophecy against the Philistines (Isaiah 14:28)

"

"

3402

644

Hezekiah as sole king

"

"

3403

643

Shalmaneser besieges Samaria (2 Kings 18:9)

"

"

3404

642

Samaria taken. Endo fothe Kingdom of Israel (2 Kings 18:10).

"

"

3406

640

The foregoing table covers a period of 174 years. It begins with a new dynasty
in Israel, that of Jehu, who overthrew and completely exterminated the house of
Omri, and stamped out Baal-worship. As a reward for this service, the Lord
promised Jehu that his children of the fourth generation should sit upon the
throne of Israel (2 Kings 10:30). We see, by the foregoing table, that this
promise was fulfilled; for there were four kings of his line, Jehoahaz, Jehoash,
Jeroboam II, and Zechariah. But it is written that "Jehu took no heed to walk in
the law of the Lord God of Israel with all his heart; for he departed not from
the sins of Jeroboam which made Israel to sin" (2 Kings 10:31). Consequently "In
those days the Lord began to cut off the ends of Israel (marg.); and Hazael
smote them in all the coasts of Israel, from Jordan eastward, all the land of
Gilead, the Gadites and the Reubenites" (2 Kings 10:32-33). This second period
begins in Judah with a usurping queen, a daughter of the house of Ahab, on the
throne, and with none left of the seed royal of the house of David but an infant
of one year. Yet God did not suffer the house and lineage of David to be
extinguished, but preserved the one frail life upon which it depended. In the
7th year of Athaliah, Jehoiada the priest brought about a great political
revolution, as a result of which the child Joash, then seven years of age, was
proclaimed king, and Athaliah was put to death (2 Kings 11:1-16). At the same
time Jehoiada brought about a great religious revival; for he caused the king
and the people to enter into a covenant with the LORD, that they should be His
people. Jehoiada, moreover, broke down the house of Baal, his altars and images,
and slew Mattan, the priest of Baal (2 Kings 11:17-18). He also acted as
instructor to the young king; with the happy result that "Joash did that which
was right in the sight of the Lord all his days wherein Jehoiada instructed him"
(2 Kings 12:2). Jehoiada lived to be 130 years old, and was buried with royal
honours among the kings in the city of David, "because he had done good in
Israel, both toward God and toward His house" (2 Chronicles 24:16). But after
the death of Jehoiada, Joash departed completely from the Lord. For he and all
the princes of Judah left the house of the Lord, and served groves and idols;
wherefore "wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass" (2
Chronicles 24:17-18). Moreover, when the Lord sent prophets to them to bring
them again to Himself, they would not give ear; and when Zechariah the son of
Jehoiada reproved them, they conspired against him, and stoned him with stones
in the court of the house of the Lord. Wherefore the king of Syria came "and
destroyed all the princes of the people from among the people. So they executed
judgment against Joash. And when they were departed (for they left him in great
diseases) his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of
Jehoiada the priest, and slew him upon his bed" (2 Chronicles 24:19-25). Thus it
is seen that the evil effects of Jehoshaphat’s "affinity" with Ahab extended to
the fourth generation.

Joash was succeeded by his son Amaziah, who also did well in the first part of
his reign of 29 years, but towards the end he introduced the worship of the gods
of the Edomites; wherefore God suffered him to be defeated by Jehoash, king of
Israel, after which a conspiracy was made against him, and he was slain (2
Chronicles 25). The Interregnum From the statements of the text (2 Kings 14:17
and 2 Kings 15:1) it appears that the throne of Judah was vacant for a period of
11 years between the death of Amaziah and the accession of his son Uzziah (or
Azariah, as he is called in Second Kings). This appears from the following
facts: "Amaziah lived after the death of Jehoash, king of Israel, fifteen years"
(2 Kings 14:17). This was An. Horn. 3308 (see Table 10). Uzziah did not come to
the throne until the 27th year of Jeroboam II (2 Kings 15:1). The death of
Jehoash was in the year 3293. Addng 27 years gives 3319 (by the Israelitish
inclusive reckoning) as the year of Uzziah’s accession. Thus we have, between
3308 and 3319, a period of 11 years, during which the throne of Judah was
vacant. The reason why Uzziah was not crowned as king earlier is seen in the
fact that, when he came to the throne, he was but 16, so that he was only 5
years old at the time of the death of his father, Amaziah.

There was also an interregnum in Israel between the reign of Jeroboam II and
that of Zechariah; for Jeroboam’s 41st year, which was his last, coincided with
the 15th of Uzziah, king of Judah, and Zechariah did not succeed until the 38th
of Uzziah (2 Kings 14:29; 2 Kings 15:8). This makes an interval of 22 years.

It was during the reign of Jeroboam II that Jonah the prophet, the son of
Amittai, of Gath-hepher, prophesied (2 Kings 14:25). Those were days of" bitter"
affliction in Israel (v. 26). It was the time of a great earthquake, the gravity
of which is indicated by the fact that the prophet Amos, the herdsman of Tekoa,
dated his prophecy with reference to its occurrence (Amos 1:1). The "
"Twentieth" Year of Jotham In 2 Kings 15:30 is a statement which has given rise
to what Anstey calls "one of the most interesting, and at the same time one of
the most illuminating puzzles of the chronology of this period." The statement
is that Hoshea made a conspiracy against Pekah, and slew him, and reigned in his
stead, "in the twentieth year of Jotham the son of Uzziah." But Jotham reigned
only sixteen years; so apparently we have, as Lightfoot said, "Jotham reigning
four years after he is buried." But the statement is perfectly correct as a
matter of chronology; for the death of Pekah did take place in the 20th year
after the accession of Jotham. So the question is, why is the event dated from
the beginning of Jotham’s reign, instead of from that of Ahaz, who had been
actually on the throne for four years? Why did the writer of 2 Kings ignore the
accession of Ahaz? The reason is found in the extreme wickedness of king Ahaz,
because of which "the Lord brought Judah low." For Ahaz "made Judah naked, and
transgressed sore against the Lord."

"He sacrificed to the gods of Damascus," which "were the ruin of him and of all
Israel." And he "shut up the doors of the house of the Lord, and he made him
altars in every corner of Jerusalem. And in every several city of Judah he made
high places to burn incense unto other gods, and to provoke to anger the Lord
God of his fathers " (2 Chronicles 28:19-25). This explains why the accession of
Ahaz is ignored in 2 Kings 15:30. As John Lightfoot says, "The Holy Ghost
chooseth rather to reckon by holy Jotham in his grave than by wicked Ahaz
alive." The Reign of Ahaz

King Ahaz, the father of Hezekiah, reigned for 16 years, and did wickedly from
beginning to end. "For he walked in the ways of the kings of Israel, and made
molten images for Baalim. Moreover, he burnt incense in the valley of the son of
Hinnom, and burnt his children in the fire, after the abominations of the
heathen "(2 Chronicles 28:1-4). "Wherefore the Lord his God delivered him into
the hand of the king of Syria; and they smote him, and carried away a great
multitude of them captives, and brought them to Damascus. And he was also
delivered into the hand of the king of Israel, who smote him with a great
slaughter. For Pekah, the son of Remaliah, slew in Judah an hundred and twenty
thousand m one day, all valiant men; because they had forsaken the Lord God of
their fathers" (2 Chronicles 28:5-6).

Isaiah had prophesied during the hostilities between Judah and Rezin, king of
Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, declaring by the Word of the LORD that their
attempt to take Jerusalem should not succeed. Isaiah also bore a message to Ahaz
through the symbolical name of his son, Shearjashub, which means "the remnant
shall return" (Isaiah 7:1-8). Apparently the immediate fulfillment of this
prophecy was the release, by Pekah’s men (when met by the prophet Oded, by whom
the Lord sent them a message) of the 200,000 captives (including women and
children) which they had brought up with them out of Judah (2 Chronicles
28:8-15). The Prophecy of the Virgin Birth of Christ

It was at this time that God, through Isaiah, sought to recover king Ahaz and to
turn him to Himself and lead him to trust in Him, by bidding him ask a sign of
the Lord, either in the depth or in the height above. But Ahaz was so hardened
that he refused even to prove God in this way. This brought forth the prophecy
of the Virgin-birth of Christ, which prophecy God addressed, not to Ahaz
personally, but to "the house of David," of which Ahaz was the representative,
saying: "Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary
men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore, the Lord Himself shall give you a
sign: Behold a virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name
Irnrmanuel" (Isaiah 7:10-14). This is the first prophecy quoted in the New
Testament (Matthew 1:20-23), and is, of course, of funda­mental importance. It
foretells the great event to which the chronological line of the Bible was
leading "the coming of Christ. It further declares that the Son who was to be
born to a virgin of the house of David, was GOD coming in the likeness of men,
and for their salvation. But, what is most pertinent to our present purpose, it
declares that, though the men of the house of David should be all as unfit to
rule as was king Ahaz, nevertheless, God would raise up an horn of salvation in
the house of His servant David, by causing a virgin to conceive and bring forth
a Son, Who should save His people from their sins.

It is recorded that "At that time did king Ahaz send to the kings of Assyria for
help. …For the Lord brought Judah low because of Ahaz." However, the king of
Assyria "distressed him, but strengthened him not…And in the time of his
distress did he trespass yet more against the Lord: this is that king Ahaz" (2
Chronicles 28:16-22). So evil was the life of Ahaz that they buried him not in
the sepulchres of the kings. The period to which our attention is now directed
(that which extends from the accession of Jehu as king of Israel to the
extinction of the northern kingdom) is distinguished as the era of the prophets
"Isaiah, Joel, Hosea, and others "through whom God, in His faithfulness, sent
urgent and solemn warnings to His people, " rising up early and sending them,"
seeking thereby to turn the people from their evil ways, which were fast leading
them to destruction, and to recall them to Himself. But the general trend of
things was down­ward, and in the reign of king Ahaz conditions were at their
worst. The recovery during the reign of Hezekiah was but for a time; and even
the warning given by the judgment which overtook the kingdom of Israel did not
avail to stem the tide of apostasy in Judah. Had the people been living in
obedience to the law there would have been no need to send prophets to them.
Therefore the sending of the prophets was a mark of an evil state of the people.
The general burden of all their messages was one of rebuke for the sins of the
people, warnings of the consequences of persisting in their evil ways, and
urgent calls to repent and return to the Lord.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 12: WBC-11-KINGDOM OF JUDAH ALONE
========================================================================

Kingdom of Judah Alone THE FAILURE OF SEVEN PROMINENT KINGS OF JUDAH The kings
of Israel were, without exception, depraved and ungodly men, wholly given over
to idolatry and licentiousness. And it is a striking fact, worthy of our most
thoughtful considera­tion, that their evil characters and deeds are stated in
the Scriptures, without any attempt at concealment or palliation. Never were the
annals of any kingdom so written by a human chronicler. Wherefore we have in
this remarkable feature of Bible history a further proof of the Divine
Authorship of the Holy Scriptures. The history of the line of the kings of Judah
is characterized by the same outspoken truthfulness, notwithstanding that there
would be every incentive, humanly speaking, to glorify the house of David by
concealing the faults and extolling the virtues of his descendants. Of some of
the kings of Judah, it is stated in the baldest terms that they were wicked men;
and of others, who did follow the Lord, their failures and departures are
recorded quite as impartially as are their virtues.

Taking a rapid survey of the career of the most prominent kings of David’s line,
we may read therein some valuable lessons, and receive therefrom some wholesome
and impressive warnings.

David, in his "last words" (2 Samuel 23:1-7), had declared by inspiration what
God requires in those who rule over men, saying, "The God of Israel said, the
Rock of Israel spake to me, He that ruletlh over men must be just, ruling in the
fear of God" ; and, being a prophet, David foresaw and foretold the failure of
his own line, for he went on to say, "Although my house be not so with God, yet
He hath made with me an everlasting covenant, ordered in all things and sure."
The subsequent history of David’s line fully confirms this prophecy, making it
quite clear that his house was "not so with God." Again and again we read of a
king who began well, and continued for a longer or shorter time to walk "in the
first ways of his father David," that is to say, in the fear of God, and
according to the law of God, but who, later on, departed from those ways, some
after one manner, some after another. It will be a profitable exercise to pass
briefly in review the most prominent of those instances of departure from the
right ways of the LORD.

1. Solomon, who was beloved of God, made a good start; and God blessed him with
riches and honours in abundance, so that his kingdom is famed above all the
kingdoms of the world for its glory and magnificence. For "King Solomon exceeded
all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom." "And the king made silver
to be in Jerusalem as stones, and cedars made he to be as the sycamore trees
that are in the vale for abundance" (1 Kings 10:23; 1 Kings 10:27). "And all
King Solomon’s drinking vessels were of gold, and all the vessels of the house
of the forest of Lebanon were of pure gold; none were of silver, it was nothing
accounted of in the days of Solomon" (1 Kings 10:21). But Solomon failed in the
vital matter of obedience to the law of the LORD. Moses had expressly said,
concerning the one who should be chosen for a king: "But he shall not multiply
horses to himself, nor cause the people to go down to Egypt, to the end that he
should multiply horses. ...Neither shall he multiply wives to himself, that his
heart turn not away; neither shall he greatly multiply to himself silver and
gold. And it shall be, when he sitteth upon the throne of his kingdom, that he
shall write him a copy of this law in a book, out of that which is before the
priests the Levites; and it shall be with him, and he shall read therein all the
days of his life; that he may learn to fear the LORD his God, and to keep all
the words of this law and these statutes to do them." (Deuteronomy 17:14-20.)

Solomon violated the law in the most flagrant manner, in each of the three
particulars expressly stipulated in the above Scripture. We have already quoted
the passages which record how he greatly multiplied to himself silver and gold;
and we further read that "Solomon loved many strange women (together with the
daughter of Pharoah) ...And he had seven hundred wives, princesses, and three
hundred concubines; and his wives turned away his heart. For it came to pass,
when Solomon was old, that his wives turned away his heart after other gods" (1
Kings 11:1-8). Further it is written that "Solomon had forty thousand stalls of
horses for his chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen" (1 Kings 4:26). "And
Solomon gathered together chariots and horsemen; and he had a thousand and four
hundred chariots, and twelve thousand horsemen, whom he bestowed in the cities
for chariots, and with the king at Jerusalem. And a chariot came up, and went
out of Egypt for six hundred shekels of silver, and an horse for an hundred and
fifty" (1 Kings 10:26-29). Because of this flagrant disobedience, the Lord rent
away the ten tribes from the Kingdom of David.

2. King Asa also began well. He "did that which was right in the sight of the
Lord, as did David his father. He took away the sodomites out of the land, and
removed all the idols that his fathers had made" (1 Kings 15:11-15). Moreover,
he "com­manded Judah to seek the Lord God of their fathers, and to do the law
and the commandment. Also he took away, out of all the cities of Judah, the high
places and the images; and the kingdom was quiet before him" (2 Chronicles
14:3-5). "And he brought into the house of God the things that his father had
dedicated, and that he himself had dedicated, silver, and gold, and vessels" (2
Chronicles 15:18). Thus Asa avoided the sin of multiplying gold and silver unto
himself, and devoted those precious things to the LORD.

Therefore, the LORD greatly prospered him, and gave him rest on every side.
Moreover, when the Ethiopians and the Lubims came against him with a huge host,
and Asa cried to the LORD for help, He smote his enemies before him, insomuch
that they were destroyed before the men of Judah; and they carried away very
much spoil (2 Chronicles 14:7-15). Nevertheless, afterwards, when Baasha came
against Asa with a relatively small army, Asa brought out the silver and the
gold out of the treasury of the LORD, in order to hire aid from the king of
Syria, thus not only turning to man for help, but actually bartering away the
precious things of the LORD in order to procure it. And not only so, but when
God sent a prophet to reprove him, he flew into a rage, and put him in prison.
And finally, when God chastened him by sending a disease upon him, Asa, in his
sickness, sought not to the LORD, but to the physicians (2 Chronicles 16:1-14).
Thus in Asa we have the example of one who knew the LORD, and who "yet," in
difficulty and sickness, turned to man for help.

3. Again in the history of King Jehoshaphat we find one who began well, and went
on well for a time. We have already given a sufficiently full outline of the
career of this good king. So we need only, for our present purpose, point out
that Jehoshaphat’s error was of a different character from that of his
forefathers, Asa and Solomon. It consisted in "joining affinity" with Ahab, the
utterly corrupt king of Israel, even going so far as to say to him "I am as thou
art, and my people as thy people, and we will be with thee in the war" (2
Chronicles 18:1-3). That friendship with his ungodly neighbor caused far more
damage to the house of David and to the people of Judah than the worst that Ahab
could have inflicted by waging incessant warfare against them. Thus we learn
from the career of Jehoshaphat the vital importance to the people of God of
separation from the world; for "the friendship of the world is enmity against
God" (James 4:4). Jehoshaphat did not, like Solomon, multiply wives to himself,
or horses, or silver and gold. Nor did he, like Asa, fail to seek the Lord in
time of need (see 2 Chronicles 18:4). But he became "unequally yoked together
with unbelievers"; he had fellowship with unrighteousness, and joined himself
in a common cause with men of Belial (2 Corinthians 6:14-17); and thereby he
brought disaster upon himself and his posterity for four generations (Exodus
20:4).

4. Joash was a king who enjoyed from his infancy the great benefit of godly
restraint and tuition under the care of Jehoiada, the priest. So it is recorded
that "Joash did that which was right in the sight of the Lord all the days of
Jehoiada the priest" (2 Chronicles 24:2). But it appears that the commendable
deeds of Joash were due to the strong influence of Jehoiada. There is no
evidence that the heart of Joash was ever changed, but the contrary appears.

For, "after the death of Jehoiada came the princes of Judah, and made obeisance
to the king. Then the king hearkened unto them; and they left the house of the
Lord God of their fathers, and served groves and idols; and wrath came upon
Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass" (2 Chronicles 24:17-18). Moreover,
the people under Joash stoned the prophet whom God sent to reprove them; and
Joash manifested the basest ingratitude toward the house of his benefactor,
Jehoiada, by slaying his son. Therefore he was afflicted with " great diseases,
" and" his own servants conspired against him for the blood of the sons of
Jehoiada the priest, and slew him on his bed, and he died; and they buried him
in the city of David; but they buried him not in the sepulchres of the kings" (2
Chronicles 24:20-25). From the career of Joash we may learn the immensely
important fact that a good bringing up, and the restraints of good moral
influences, though of very great value, are but external in their action, and do
not avail for salvation and a new heart without personal faith and the inward
work of" the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Ghost" (Titus
3:5). Without personal faith and the regenerating work of the Spirit of God it
will surely happen "according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own
vomit again, and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire" (2 Peter
2:22).

5. Amaziah, the son of Joash, was one who "did that which was right in the sight
of the Lord, but not with a perfect heart" (2 Chronicles 25:2). He obeyed the
voice of the prophet in dismissing the army of Israel which he had hired to help
him; and God thereupon gave him victory over the Edomites. Yet, when he returned
from the slaughter of the Edomites, he brought their gods with him, "and set
them up to be his gods, and bowed down himself before them, and burned incense
unto them. Wherefore the anger of the Lord was kindled against Amaziah, and He
sent unto him a prophet which said unto him, Why hast thou sought after the gods
of the people which could not deliver their own people out of thine hand?" (2
Chronicles 25:6-15). Amaziah would not, however, receive this reproof, but
silenced the messenger of God; and when he essayed to go to war against the king
of Israel, he was defeated. The end of his career is told in these words: "Now
after the time that Amaziah did turn away from following the Lord,. they made a
conspiracy against him in Jerusalem; and he fled to Lachish; but they sent to
Lachish after him, and slew him there" (2 Chronicles 25:27). From the history of
this king we may learn the inveterate disposition of the natural heart of man to
turn to idols, and to trust in any creature rather than in the living God. The
folly of trusting in the gods of a nation who could not deliver that nation is
apparent. Yet such was the folly of this descendant of the wise King Solomon,
and such were the gods chosen by this degenerate scion of the house of David.

6. Uzziah’s reign was the next to the longest of all the kings, fifty-two years.
(Manassah reigned fifty-five.) "And he did right in the sight of the Lord,
according to all that Amaziah his father did. And he sought God in the days of
Zechariah, who had knowledge of the visions of God, and as long as he sought the
Lord, God made him to prosper" (2 Chronicles 26:4-5). "But when he was strong,
his heart was lifted up to his destruction; for he transgressed against the
Lord, and went into the temple of the Lord to burn incense upon the altar of
incense" (v. 16). This was the sin of pride and presumption. For Uzziah was not
content with the honours of the throne, but desired those of the priesthood as
well. But "no man taketh this honour to himself, but he that is called of God as
was Aaron" (Hebrews 5:4). God had strictly separated the offices of king and
priest. Only in Jesus Christ are they united. Hence, of all the characters in
the Old Testament none was both a king and a priest, save Melchisedec, in whom
the two offices were united only that he might stand as a type of Christ in His
royal and eternal priesthood (Hebrews 7:1-3). Therefore was Uzziah smitten with
leprosy for his presumption, and had to live apart "in a several house" until
the day of his death (2 Chronicles 26:17-21). Hence Uzziah stands before us as a
warning against the pride of the natural heart. Man is a sinner; and leprosy is
a type of sin. He may effectually conceal the corruption of his heart from his
fellow men; "but God looketh upon the heart"; and all things are naked and open
unto the eyes of Him with Whom we have to do. None can approach unto the
presence of a holy God, except such as are " called," and are made fit for His
presence by the Atonement which He has provided. When Uzziah transgressed this
rule, which guards~ the sanctity of God’s presence, the corruption that was in
his heart was allowed to come to the surface, where all could see it; and then,
in bitter humiliation, "he himself hasted to go out" (v. 21). If others could
see what is in our hearts we would shun the light of day, and much more the
light of God’s holy Presence.

7. Finally, in Hezekiah we have doubtless the best of all the kings of David’s
line "after David himself; for it is written that "he did that which was right
in the sight of the Lord according to all that David his father had done" (2
Chronicles 29:2). "He trusted in the Lord God of Israel; so that after him was
none like him among all the kings of Judah; nor any that were before him. For he
clave to the Lord, and departed not from following Him, but kept His
commandments, which the Lord commanded Moses. And the Lord was with him, and he
prospered whithersoever he went forth" (2 K. 18:5-7). Of the chief incidents of
his reign we shall speak later on. At this point we would only call attention to
his conduct in the incident of the ambassadors from Babylon, who came to bring
the congratulations of their king after that Hezekiah had been healed from a
deadly sickness by the direct action of God in answer to prayer. The incident is
related three times (2 K. 20:12-19; 2 Chronicles 32:24-31; Isaiah 39:1-8). In
the account in 2 Chronicles 32 it is stated that Hezekiah, after his miraculous
recovery when sick unto death, "rendered not again according to the benefit done
unto him; for his heart was lifted up, therefore there was wrath upon Judah and
Jerusalem" (v. 25). His ingratitude and failure consisted in this, that when
those heathen ambassadors of high rank and station came and paid their respects
to him, he did not glorify the Lord, Who had healed him, but, with puerile
vanity, he displayed the baubles and showy trumpery, which constituted his own
regal glory. For "he showed them all the house of his precious things, the
silver and the gold, and the spices and the precious ointment, and all the house
of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures; there was nothing in his
house, nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah showed them not" (2 K. 20:13). In
all this there was not one word to the praise and glory of God. Wherefore, in 2
Chronicles 32:31 we have this comment: "Howbeit, in the business of the
ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the
wonder that was done in the land, God left him to try him, that he might know
all that was in his heart." Ingratitude and vanity were "in his heart," but he
was unaware of it. Such sins, however, are very grievous in one on whom God has
lavished the riches of His grace and mercy. Therefore God "left him," so that
what was in the heart might come out, as in the case of Uzziah. How earnestly
then ought we to pray continually, "lead us not into temptation"

Here we have before us a complete sheaf of seven typical kings of Judah,
illustrating the various ways in which one who "did run well" may falter, or
stumble, or turn aside. We can make no better or more apt comment upon these
inspired records, which have been written for our admonition, than that of the
apostle Paul, who, speaking of the lessons which are to be found in the Old
Testament types, said: "Wherefore, let him that thinketh he standeth take heed
lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). In the case of all these kings it was
prosperity and ease that led to their downfall. We may well, therefore, contrast
with them the case of their father David, whose life was one of hardships,
persecu­tions and afflictions, during the entire reign of Saul, and of conflicts
and domestic troubles after he himself came to the throne. But in all that
befell him he was humble, lowly minded, tender-hearted, submissive to the will
of God, and always full of thanksgiving and praise to the Rock of his Salvation.
Hence David made a good~ ending; for "he died in a good old age, full of days,
riches and honour" (1 Chronicles 29:28). Let such of us, therefore, as are
advanced in years, seek grace continually that we may end well; and let our
ambition be that of the apostle who said, "Neither count I my life dear unto
myself, that I might finish my course with joy’" (Acts 20:24).


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 13: WBC-12-FROM FALL OF SAMARIA TO BABYLONIAN CAPTIVITY
========================================================================

From Fall of Samaria to Babylonian Captivity THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH FROM THE FALL
OF SAMARIA TO THE CAPTIVITY From the fall of Samaria, in the 6th year of
Hezekiah, to the capture and destruction of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, in the
11th (and last) year of Zedekiah, was a period of 131 years. The following table
shows the principal events of that period.

Events

Kings of Judah

An. Hom.

B.C.

Fall of Samaria in the 6th year of Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:10)

Hezekiah

3406

640

In the 14th year of Hezekiah Judah was invaded by Assyrians under Sen­nacherib,
fortified cities were taken (2 Kings 18:13); and Jerusalem besieged. But the
Assyrian army was over­thrown by the angel of the Lord (II Kings18:17-19: 36)

"

3415

631

In the same year occurred Hezekiah’s illness and recovery; and also the visit of
the ambassadors of Merodach Bala­dan, king of Babylon (2 Kings 20:1-20).

"

"

"

Sargon sent Tartan to Ashdod and took it (Isaiah 20:1, 2 Kings 18:17). All this
was in the 14th year of Hezekiah.

"

"

"

God, in answer to prayer, added 15 years to the life of Hezekiah, who died and
was succeeded by Manasseh (2 Kings 20:21) after reigning 29 years)

Manasseh

3429

617

Isaiah had prophesied (Isaiah 7:8) in the days of Ahaz, that in 65 years Ephraim
should be broken, that he should be no more a people~ Sixty-five years from
Ahaz’s accession brings us to the days of Esar-haddon, and it is recorded in
Ezra 4:2 that the "adversaries" had been transported into Palestine by
Esar-haddon. Sixty-five years from Ahaz’s first year would be…

"

3452

594

Manasseh reigned 55 years, and was succeeded by his son Amon (2 Kings 21:1; 2
Kings 21:18).

Amon

3484

562

Amon reigned 2 years, and was slain by servants who conspired against him, and
succeeded by Josiah (2 Kings 21:23-26)

Josiah

3486

560

Josiah, in the 8th year of his reign, "while he was yet young" (16 years old)
"began to seek after the God of David, his father" (2 Chronicles 34:3).

"

3494

552

In the 12th year of his reign he began to purge Judah and Jerusalem by
destroying the places of idol worship.

"

3498

548

The prophet Jeremiah began to prophesy in the 13th year of Josiah. He prophesied
for 23 years to the 4th of Zedekiah (Jeremiah 1:2; Jeremiah 25:3). This
establishes the chronology of that period. The beginning of Jeremiah’s prophecy.

"

3499

547

The purifying of Judah and Jerusalem (which occupied 6 years) completed.

"

3504

542

In the same year (Josiah’s 18th), the repairing of the Temple was begun, and the
Book of the Law was found and read to Josiah, whose conscience was smitten upon
hearing the words of the Law, because of the departures of the people therefrom.
Josiah inquires of the Lord concerning this (2 Chronicles 34:8-21).

"

3504

542

In the same yea (Josiah’s 18th) was observed the great Passover, concerning
which it is recorded that "there was no Passover like that kept in Israel, from
the days of Samuel, the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a
Passover as Josiah kept" (2 Chronicles 35:18-19).

"

"

"

Josiah, after reigning 31 years, was killed in battle with Pharaoh Necho, king
of Egypt, and was succeeded by his son Jehoahaz (2 Chronicles 36:1), who reigned
three months

Jehoahaz

3517

529

Jehoahaz was carried captive into Egypt, his brother Eliakim put on the throne
by Pharaoh Necho, and his name changed to Jehoiakim (2 Chronicles 36:2-4).

Jehoiakim

3517

529

In Jehoiakim’s 3rd year, Nebuchadnezzar began to reign as co-regent (Daniel
1:1). This was the year of the captivity of Daniel and his three companions, the
starting point of the 70 years’ captivity foretold by Jeremiah (Jeremiah
25:11-12, Daniel 9:2).

"

3520

526

Nebuchadnezzar began to reign as sole king in the 4th year of Jehoiakim
(Jeremiah 25:1-3). That same year, Jeremiah prophesied that all nations should
serve the king of Babylon 70 years, after which he should be punished (Jeremiah
25:11-12). This establishes the date to the overthrow of Babylon by Darius and
Cyrus. Other prophecies by Jeremiah that same year are found in Jeremiah
25:1-38; Jeremiah 27:6-7; Jeremiah 36:1-2; Jeremiah 45:1-5; Jeremiah 46:2.

"

3521

525

In the 5th year of Jehoiakim (2nd of Nebuchadnezzar as sole king) Daniel
interpreted Nebuchadnezzar’s dream of the great image of the gold, silver,
brass, iron and clay.

"

3522

524

The same year, Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, after having served
him three years (2 Kings 24:1)

"

"

"

The same year, Jehoiakim cut the roll of the Book with a pen knife, and burned
it in the fire.

"

"

"

In the 7th year of Nebuchadnezzar, he took captive 3023 Jews (Jeremiah 52:28).

"

3527

519

In the 8th year of Nebuchadnezzar Jehoiakim died and was succeeded by
Jehoiachin, who reigned only three months, when Nebuchadnezzar sieged Jerusalem,
took Jehoiachin to Babylon, with certain other captives, and treasures out of
the temple (2 Kings 24:8-16).

Jehoiachin (Jeconiah or Coniah)

3528

518

He made Mattaniah (Jehoiachin’s uncle) king in his stead, changing his name to
Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:17).

Zedekiah

"

"

Ezekiel was carried away with Jehoiachin, and dates his prophecies from the
captivity of Jehoiachin (see Ezekiel 1:2; Ezekiel 40:1).

"

"

"

Mordecai was also carried away in that captivity (Esther 2:5-6)

"

"

"

Ezekiel begins to prophesy in the 5th year of Jehoiachin’s captivity (Ezekiel
1:2).

"

3532

514

In the same year (which was the fourth of Zedekiah), Hananiah uttered his false
prophecy, and died under the hand of God (Jeremiah 28:1-17)

"

"

"

Ezekiel’s vision of the departure of the glory of God from the Temple (Ezekiel
8:1)

"

3533

513

God refuses to be inquired of (Ezekiel 20:1-3)

"

3534

512

Nebuchadnezzar besieged Jerusalem in the 10th year of Zedekiah, 10th month, 9th
day (2 Kings 25:1; Jeremiah 39:1; Jeremiah 52:4)

"

3537

509

Jeremiah buys his uncle’s field while Nebuchadnezzar was besieging Jerusalem.
Jeremiah imprisoned by Zedekiah (Jeremiah 21:1-13).

"

3538

508

The end Jeremiah’s prophecies (Ezekiel’s 40 years – Ezekiel 4:5-6).

"

"

"

Ezekiel prophecies this same year against Tyre (26:1); against Pharaoh (30:21);
and against Egypt (31:1).

"

"

"

In the 11th year of Zedekiah famine prevailed in Jerusalem, city broken up (2
Kings 25:1-4; Jeremiah 39:2). Same year, Nebuzaradam burnt the Temple and broke
down the walls; Jerusamel carried away captive (Jeremiah 1:3). One comes to
Ezekiel and tells him "the city is smitten" (Ezekiel 33:21). Ezekiel’s
lamentation for Pharaoh and Egypt (Ezekiel 21:1; Ezekiel 32:17)

"

3539

507

END OF THE KINGDOM OF JUDAH, 11th year of Zedekiah (2 Kings 24:18)

"

3539

507

We will comment briefly upon some of the events of the period covered by the
foregoing table: The beginning of Hezekiah’s reign was in bright contrast with
that of his father Ahaz. For in the very first year of his reign he opened the
doors of the house of the LORD, and charged the priests and Levites to sanctify
themselves, and to cleanse the Temple. This was done in eight days; and
thereupon Hezekiah gathered the rulers, went into the house of the LORD, and
offered many offerings and sacrifices, besides setting the Levites to praise the
LORD with the instruments of David, and the priests to praise with the trumpets
(2 Chronicles 29). Moreover, Hezekiah sent to all the remnant of Israel which
had not been carried away into captivity; and he wrote letters to Ephraim and
Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to keep
the passover unto the Lord God of Israel. But though "they laughed them
(Hezekiah’s messengers) to scorn and mocked them, nevertheless, divers of Asher,
and Manasseh, and of Zebulun humbled themselves, and came to Jerusalem" (2
Chronicles 30:1-11). Because of this, God had mercy upon Judah at that time, and
spared them the fate that had overtaken the northern kingdom at the hands of the
Assyrians in the 6th year of Hezekiah. In this connection we should notice the
message of Hosea, who also prophesied in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and
Hezekiah, kings of Judah, and of Jeroboam II, king of Israel.Hosea had three
children, to each of whom had been given a prophetic name. The first was
Jezreel, which means the harvest of God, signifying God’s complete judgment upon
the house of Jehu (Hosea 1:4, fulfilled 2 K. 15:10). The second was Lo-ruhamah,
meaning I will not have mercy. This signified that God would "no more have mercy
on the house of Israel," but would "utterly take them away" (Hosea 1:6). "But,"
God said, "I will have mercy upon the house of Judah, and will save them by the
Lord their God, and will not save them by bow, nor by sword, nor by battle, by
horses, nor by horsemen" (Hosea 1:6-7). This remarkable prophecy was fulfilled
by the overthrow of the hosts of Sennacherib, which had surrounded the walls of
Jerusalem, and whose generals sent defiant and insulting messages to Hezekiah.
The latter spread them before the Lord, and both the king and the prophet Isaiah
"prayed and cried to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the
mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of
Assyria; so he returned with shame of face to his own land "(2 Chronicles
32:1-21). This important incident is more fully described in Isaiah, chapters 36
and 37. There we have also God’s answer to the prayer of Hezekiah, to whom God
said: "For I will defend this city to save it for Mine own sake, and for My
servant David’s sake. Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the
camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand" (Isaiah
37:35-36). This was in the 14th year of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36:1). The destruction
of Sennacherib’s army by an angel, "a mighty one," had been foretold by Isaiah
(Ch. 10:34). The third child of Hosea was named Lo Ammi = not My people, "For ye
are not My people and I will not be your God" (Hosea 1-9). Likewise Isaiah
prophesied: "Within three-score and five years shall Ephraim be broken that he
be not a people" (Isaiah 7:8). In 2 Kings 25:21 is the record: "So Judah was
carried away out of their land."

Also in the year of the fall of Samaria occurred Hezekiah’s illness, when he was
sick unto death, and God healed him in answer to prayer. This date is known
because Hezekiah reigned 29 years (2 Chronicles 29:1), and since God added 15
years to his life (2 K. 20:6), it follows that the illness was in his 14th year.
Then followed the unhappy incident of the Babylonian ambassadors, upon which we
have already commented.

Manasseh, Hezekiah’s son and successor, was born three years after his father’s
recovery, for he was twelve years of age when he began to reign (2 K. 21:1).

Sennacherib’s Third Campaign

Among the tablets which have been recently exhumed in Assyria is a six-sided
cylinder containing accounts of Sennacherib’s military campaigns. In the light
of Bible history it may be seen that these records are in the main authentic and
correct, though written, of course, in such way as to reflect the greatest
possible credit upon that proud monarch, and to heighten the lustre of his
reign. The account of his third campaign is worth quoting for the purpose of
comparison with the inspired narrative of the Bible:

"As for Hezekiah of Judah, who had not submitted to my yoke, 46 of his strong
cities, together with innumerable fortresses and small towns dependent on them,
by overthrowing the walls and open attack, by battle-engines and battering-rams,
I besieged, I captured. I brought out from the midst of them and counted as
spoil, 200,150 persons, great and small, male and female; besides mules, asses,
camels, oxen, and sheep without number. Hezekiah himself I shut up like a bird
in a cage in Jerusalem, his royal city. I built a line of forts against him, and
kept his heel from going forth out of the great gate of his city. I cut off his
cities which I had spoiled from the midst of his land, and gave them to
Mentinti, king of Ashdod; Padi, king of Ekron; and Zil-baal, king of Gaza; and I
made his country small. In addition to their former tribute and yearly gifts I
added other tribute and the homage due to my majesty, and I laid it upon them.
The fear of the greatness of my majesty overwhelmed him, even Hezekiah, and he
sent after me to Nineveh, my royal city, by way of gift and tribute, the Arabs
and his body guard whom he had brought for the defence of his royal city
Jerusalem, and had furnished with pay, along with 30 talents of gold, 800
talents of pure silver, carbuncles, and other precious stones, a couch of ivory,
thrones of ivory, an elephant’s hide, an elephant’s tusk, rare woods of all
kinds, a vast treasure, as well as the eunuchs of his palace, and dancing men
and dancing women, and he sent his ambassador to pay homage (or tribute) and to
make submission."

It is true, as stated in 2 Kings 18:13-16, that Hezekiah did at first make
submission to Sennacherib; for we read that he "appointed to Hezekiah, king of
Judah, 300 talents of silver and 30 talents of gold; and Hezekiah gave him all
the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the
king’s house. And at that time Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the
temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah, king of Judah, had
overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria."

It is easy, however, to read between the lines of the inscription quoted above,
that Jerusalem was not taken. But the inscription is significantly silent as to
the reason why Sennacherib raised the siege of Jerusalem, and returned to his
own land. The inscription makes very interesting reading in the light of 2
Chronicles 32 and Isaiah 36, 37.

These Assyrian inscriptions are not dated.

Manasseh and Amon The reign of Manasseh, though the longest of all the kings (55
years, 3429-3484) calls for but little comment. He began to reign at the age of
twelve years, "but did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord, like unto
the abominations of the heathen." For he built up again the high places which
Hezekiah had broken down; he caused his children to pass through the fire; he
resorted to enchantments and witchcraft, and dealt with a familiar spirit and
with wizards; and he set up a carved image which he had made in the house of
God. And the Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they would not
hearken (id. 3-10). Because of this, the Lord brought upon them the host of the
Assyrians, who captured Manasseh, and carried him in chains to Babylon. When,
however, he was in affliction he humbled himself greatly, and besought the Lord,
who was entreated of him, and brought him again to Jerusalem. "Then Manasseh
knew that the Lord He is God"; and thereafter he took away the idol out of the
house of the Lord, and made other reformations (id. 11-19). His son Amon reigned
but two years (3484-3486), during which he did that which was evil in the sight
of the Lord; and, moreover, he "humbled not himself before the Lord, as Manasseh
his father had humbled himself; but Amon trespassed more and more" (2 Chronicles
33:21-23). Wherefore his servants conspired against him, and slew him in his own
house (v. 24).

Reign of Josiah

It is recorded of Josiah that in the 8th year of his reign, "while he was yet
young" (16 years), he began to seek after the Lord (2 Chronicles 34:3), and he
purged Judah and Jerusalem of idol worship. In the 18th year of his reign he
repaired the house of the Lord. While this work was in progress Hilkiah the
priest found a copy of the Book of the law. Evidently, during the seventy-five
years that had elapsed since the death of Hezekiah, the Word of God had been
banished from the minds of king, priests, and people. When, however, Josiah
heard the words of the Book, he greatly humbled himself, and sent to inquire of
the Lord for them that were left of Israel and Judah. "For," said he, "great is
the wrath of the Lord that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not
kept the word of the Lord, to do after all that is written in this Book" (2
Chronicles 34:1-21). The reply which came to him through Huldah the prophetess,
whom his servants consulted, gave him to know that the Lord would surely bring
upon that land, and upon the inhabitants thereof, all the curses written in the
Book; but because Josiah’s heart was tender, and he humbled himself when he
heard the words of the Lord, the evil was deferred until after his days.

Moreover, Josiah went up to Bethel, where Jeroboam had founded the worship of
the golden calf, and there fulfilled a prophecy which had been uttered about 350
years before by a man of God who had come out of Judah to cry against the altar,
and who had said (1 K. 13:1-3), "0 altar, altar, thus saith the Lord; behold, a
child shall be born unto the house of David, Josiah by name, and upon thee shall
he offer the priests of the high places that burn incense upon thee, and men’s
bones shall be burnt upon thee." (For the fulfillment see 2 K. 23:15-18). In the
18th year of his reign (3505) Josiah kept a most solemn passover "according to
the word of the Lord by the hand of Moses" (2 Chronicles 35:6), concerning which
it is recorded that "there was no passover like that kept in Israel, from the
days of Samuel the prophet; neither did all the kings of Israel keep such a
passover as Josiah kept, and the priests, and the Levites, and all Judah and
Israel that were present, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. In the eighteenth
year of the reign of Josiah was this passover kept" (id. 18, 19).

Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoichin, Zedekiah No sooner was Josiah dead (3517) than
the death-throes of the kingdom of Judah began. Jehoahaz (also called Shallum),
who succeeded his father, reigned but three months, when he was deposed by
Pharoah Necho, the king of Egypt, who placed his brother Eliakim on the throne,
changing his name to Jehoiakim. And Necho carried Jehoahaz captive into Egypt.

Jehoiakim reigned 11 years. His evil character and deeds are set forth in the
prophecy of Jeremiah. His attitude toward the word of God was rebellious and
defiant, just the reverse of that of his father Josiah. This attitude was
specially manifested in the incident recorded in Jeremiah 36:9-32, where it is
related that, when Jehudi read to Jehoiakim the words of God by Jeremiah, which
had been inscribed upon a roll, the king with his penknife cut the leaves as
they were read, and cast them into the fire before which he was sitting in his
winter house. This was in the fifth year of his reign (v. 9), the same year that
Jehoiakim rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, after having served him three years
(2 Kings 24:1).

Jeremiah’s Prophecies The prophecies of Jeremiah uttered during the reign of
Jehoiakim are too long to be quoted here, or even described; but they should be
read in connection with the study of this part of the chronology of the Bible.
We will, however, refer briefly to the important prophecy in Jeremiah 22, where
God speaks directly concerning the three kings, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and
Jehoiachin. Concerning Shallum (Jehoahaz) he said:

"Weep ye not for the dead " "i.e. Josiah, who had just died "" but weep sore for
him that goeth away (i.e. Jehoahaz); for he shall return no more, nor see his
native country. For thus saith the Lord touching Shalom, the son of Josiah, king
of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father; which went forth out of
this place, he shall not return thither any more but he shall die in the place
whither they have led him captive (i.e. Egypt) and shall see this land no more"
(Jet. 22:10-12). By this we know that Jehoahaz died a captive in Egypt. His
unrighteousness and covetousness are stated in verses 13-17, in contrast with
the godliness of his father, Josiah.

Concerning Jehoiakim, the brother and successor of Jehoahaz, this word was
spoken:

"Thereforth thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of
Judah, They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother ! or Ah sister they
shall not lament for him saying, Ah lord or Ah his glory! He shall be buried
with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem"
(Jet. 22: 18, 19).

Concerning Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah, and Coniah) this word was spoken:

"As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah,
were the signet upon My right hand yet would I pluck thee hence. And I will give
thee into the hand of them that seek thy life and into the hand of them whose
face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and
into the hand of the Chaldeans. And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that
bare thee into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die.
But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return.
Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? Is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure
? Wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which
they know not? 0 earth, earth, earth (or land, land, land) hear the word of the
Lord:Thus saith the Lord, Write this man childless, a man that shall not prosper
in his days:for no man of his seed shall prosper sitting upon the throne of
David, and ruling any more in Judah" (Jet. 22: 24-30). This is a very notable
prophecy. Jehoiachin was the last occupant of the throne of David in the direct
line from father to son; for Mattaniah, whom Nebuchadnezzar placed upon the
throne as his vassal, changing his name to Zedekiah, was Jehoiachin’s father’s
brother (2 Kings 24:17); and Zedekiah is not counted in the genealogy of Matthew
1. Thus the line of David comes to an end, as a ruling line, with the solemn
word and oath of the Lord that none of the last occupant’s seed should sit upon
the throne of David, or rule any more in Judah. But, in view of this it will be
asked, what then becomes of God’s oath which He swore to David, saying, "I have
sworn unto David My servant, thy seed will I establish forever, and build up thy
throne to all generations" (Psalms 89:3-4; Psalms 89:35-36)? And again: "The
Lord hath sworn in truth unto David, He will not turn from it: of the fruit of
thy body will I set upon thy throne" (Psalms 132:11)? And again, after
Jehoiachin had been carried away to Babylon, the Lord said:

"David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; . .
. . Thus saith the Lord, If ye can break My covenant of the day, and My covenant
of the night, and that there should not be day and night in their season; then
may also My covenant be broken with David My servant, that he should not have a
son to reign upon his throne" (Jet. 33 :17-21).

It is a matter of the deepest interest to trace the complete fulfillment of both
these lines of prophecy concerning David and his house, prophecies which seem on
their face to contradict each other. The genealogy of the royal line was
carefully preserved and is given in Matthew 1, from Abraham and David (the two
Old Testament pillars of the Gospel) to Joseph, the betrothed husband of Mary,
of whom Christ was born. This line runs through Jelzoiachin (Jeconias), but,
according to the Word of God in Jeremiah 22:30, no man of his seed was to sit
upon the throne of David or rule any more in Judah. This word, however, does not
bar Jesus Christ, for He was not "of the seed" of Jeconiah, being born of a
virgin, the Seed of the woman. But He was born under the roof of Joseph, the son
of Jeconiah, the heir to the throne, and of one whom Joseph had betrothed to
himself as his wife. Hence, under the law of Israel, He was entitled to the
throne. The other prophecy, which pledged the throne to David’s seed forever, is
also fulfilled in that Mary, the mother of Jesus Christ, was of the house of
David, but her descent (given in Luke 3) does not come through Jeconiah and the
other kings of Judah, but through David’s son Nathan, the younger brother of
Solomon, Nathan being also a son of Bathsheba (1 Chronicles 3:5).

God’s stern word concerning Coniah, that though he were a signet upon His hand,
yet would He pluck him thence (Jeremiah 22:24) should be compared with His
gracious word to Coniah’s grandson, Zerubbabel (for the relationship see Matthew
1:12) who rebuilt the Temple, and to whom God said, ’In that day will I take
thee, O Zerubbabel, the son of Shealtiel, said the Lord, and shall make thee as
a signet, for I have chosen thee, said the Lord " (Haggai 2:23).

Zedekiah’s Reign

Many important events occurred in the eleven years of Zedekiah; but these are
set forth with sufficient fulness for our purposes in the table; so we will not
comment further upon them. We will refer only to a single prophecy (that in
Ezekiel 21) which is of exceptional importance, for it pronounced the doom of
Israel at the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, and the downfall of Zedekiah. In it are
these words:

"I have set the point of the sword against all their gates, that their heart may
faint and their ruins be multiplied. Ah! it is made bright, it is sharpened
(marg.) for the slaughter."

"And thou, profane wicked prince of Israel (i.e. Zedekiah), whose day is come,
when iniquity shall have an end, Thus saith the Lord God, Remove the diadem, and
take off the crown; this shall not be the same. Exalt him that is low, and abase
him that is high. I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no
more, until He come Whose right it is; and I will give it Him."

Thus it was decreed that the crown should be taken away, and the throne of David
overturned, and that none of his line should wear the crown until Jesus Christ,
of the seed of David, should be raised from the dead and crowned in heaven, the
King of the Kingdom of heaven, "the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only
wise God, to Whom be honour and glory forever and ever. Amen" (1 Timothy 1:17).
The Eighty-ninth Psalm is a prophecy concerning David and his house. It might
appropriately be entitled, "The Sure Mercies of David," for it contains a
sevenfold promise of the perpetuity of God’s "mercy" to that chosen one.

But, beginning at verse 30, God plainly says: "If his children forsake My law,
and walk not in My judgments; if they break My statutes, and keep not My
commandments; then will I visit their transgression with the rod, and their
iniquity with stripes." This was fulfilled again and again in the experiences of
David’s successors. But a still more severe visitation was needed; and in verses
38 to 47 of the Psalm we find a wonderful foretelling of the long period (over
five hundred years) during which the house of David was brought low. With bitter
grief the prophet says: "But Thou hast cast off, and abhorred, Thou hast been
wroth with Thine anointed. Thou hast made void the covenant of Thy servant.
......Thou hast made his glory to cease and cast his throne down to the
ground."

Nevertheless, God never forgot that He had made with David "an everlasting
covenant, ordered in all things and sure" (2 Samuel 23:5).


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 14: WBC-13-THE CAPTIVITY AND THE RETURN "UNTO THE MESSIAH"
========================================================================

The Captivity and the Return "Unto the Messiah" THE CAPTIVITY AND THE RETURN
"UNTO THE MESSIAH" The true beginning of the captivity was in the year 3520,
when Daniel and others were taken captive to Babylon, in th&3rd year of
Jehoiakim (Daniel 1:1). Anstey dates the seventy years of Jeremiah 25:11-12 and
Daniel 9:2, from this date (see Table 11). From this date onward we have to do
with two periods of time whereof the measures are given to us prophetically,
rather than historically. The first is a period of seventy years, announced in
Jeremiah 25:11-12 and mentioned in Daniel 9:2, and the other is a period of
seventy sevens of years, announced by the angel Gabriel in Daniel 9:24-27. The
longer period begins where the shorter period ends, that is, with the notable
decree of Cyrus (Ezra 1:1-4), which brought to an end the captivity of the Jews,
and which started again their national existence. The seventy sevens ("weeks")
of years is the measure "determined" by God in advance (Daniel 9:24), of that
second period of Jewish history, which extended from the decree of Cyrus in the
first year of his reign, to and including the crucifixion and resurrection of
"the Messiah." In our last table (11) we gave the chronology to the end of the
reign of Zedekiah, in order to complete the history of the kings of Judah. So we
begin our next and final table at that point.

Events

An. Hom.

B.C.

Zedekiah carried into captivity

3539

507

Ezekiel’s vision of the new land, city, and temple (14th year after the city was
smitten) See Ezekiel 40:1

3552

494

Evil Merodach, king of Babylon (successor to Neuchadnezzar) brought Jehoiachin
out of prison, and set his throne above the thrones of the kings that were with
him in Babylon (2 Kings 25:27; Jeremiah 52:31)

3564

482

In the 1st year of Belshazzar (who succeeded Evil Merodach) Daniel’s vision of
the Four Beasts was given (Daniel 7:1).

3584

462

In the 3rd year of Belshazzar the vision of the Ram and He-Goat was given to
Daniel (Daniel 8:1).

3586

460

The kingdom was taken by Darius the Mede, and the city of Babylon was taken by
Cyrus (Daniel 5:26-31) as foretold by Isaiah (Isaiah 45:1-4). Darius and Cyrus
rule jointly. The vision of the seventy weeks given to Daniel (Daniel 9:1).

3587

459

Cyrus becomes sole king. Issues proclamation in his first year releasing the
captive Jews and giving permission to "go up and build the house" (Ezra 1:1-4).
This year marks the end of the 70 years’ captivity, and the beginning of the
seventy sevens of years "determined" upon Daniel’s people and his holy city, to
finish the transgression, etc… (Daniel 9:24)

3589

457

In the 7th month of the year last mentioned (the 1st of Cyrus, An. Hom. 3589)
the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem. But not until
the "second year of their coming to the house of God at Jerusalem, in the second
month," did they begin to "set forward the work of the Lord" (Ezra 3:1-8). (The
intervening seven months would doubtless have been needed for building
habitations for themselves). So we have the date of the beginning of the second
Temple.

3590

456

In the 3rd year of Cyrus (Daniel 10:1) Daniel had the vision recorded in
chapters 10-12 of his prophecy, in course of which he was informed that three
kings of Persia should yet stand up (after Cyrus) and that the fourth should be
far richer than they all (Daniel 11:2). This 4th king was the fabulously wealthy
monarch Xerxes, who "stirred up all against the realm of Grecia"; and the
"mighty king" who succeeded him, and whose kingdom was broken, and divided
toward the four winds of heaven, but not to his posterity, was Alexander the
Great, whose kingdom was divided between his four generals. This vision was in
the year…

3591

455

From the decree of Cyrus in his first year there were to be "seven weeks and
three-score and two weeks unto Messiah the Prince" (Daniel 9:25). The "seven
weeks" (49 years) are apparently the measure of "troublous times" during which
the street and wall of the city were to be built. This would bring us (the
reckoning being inclusive of the year the decree was issued) to the year…

3637

409

From the first year of Cyrus "unto Christ," that is (as will be shown below), to
His baptism, was 483 years, which would bring us to the year 4071 (An. Hom.);
and since the Lord was then beginning to be 30 years of age, we have for the
year of His birth…

4041

5

Add 30 years to get to the date of His baptism (the 15th year of Tiberius
Caesar).

4071

26 AD.

Add 3 ½ years to His Crucifixion, Resurection, and Ascension, and the coming of
the Holy Spiit, and we have, as the year of those, the greatest by far of all
events in the history of the heavens and the earth.

4075

30 AD

The determination of the Crucifixion as having occurred in the year 30 A. D. is
according to Clinton, and nearly all modern chronologers, who assign 3 1/2 years
to His ministry, on the basis of what appears in the Gospel of John. As to this
John Lightfoot says:

"Of all the four Evangelists John is most punctual. Nay, he only is punctual to
give account of the festivals that intercurred between Christ’s entrance into
His public ministry at His baptism, and the time of His death, that renowned and
signal space of time of half a week of years, as they be called in Daniel 9:27,
or three years and a half, in which Christ performed His ministry and wrought
Redemption." The End and Aim of the Chronology

Here ends the chronology of the Bible. The Messiah came in "the fullness of the
time." He came to His own, and His own received Him not. They rejected Him,
betrayed Him, and with wicked hands (the hands of Gentiles) crucified and slew
Him. "But God raised Him from the dead." WITH HIS RESURREC­TION BEGAN THE NEW
CREATION. The count of the years of the history of Adam, the man by whom sin
entered into the world, and death by sin, is ended. For the line of sacred
chronology has conducted us to the Man Who came, in the end of the age, to put
away sin by the sacrifice of Himself, Who has brought life and immortality to
light, and Whose Kingdom has no chronology, because it is "without end."

John Lightfoot makes this luminous comment upon the chronology of the Bible,
showing why it goes so far (and with such painstaking care) and no farther:

"The Holy Ghost draws up a chronicle of times from the Creation to the
Redemption; from the beginning of time to the fullness of it, namely from the
beginning of the world to the death and resurrection of Christ, and to that
which resulted from it, Pentecost, fifty days after. The reason whereof is
because, by links and links of time, God would draw men on to observe how He was
numbering and counting out the years towards that great time of promise and
expectation, and to observe also (when that great matter was accomplished) how
faithful God had been through all changes and vicissitudes of times to carry on
that great promise. Accordingly it pleased God, in the era before that great
work of Redemption, to certify His people oft when they fell into misery, nay
oft even before they fell into it, how long the time of their affliction and
oppression should be, in order that still they might be carried on to look for
deliverance, and that by the deliverance they might still have an eye to the
promise, and be confirmed in the promise concerning deliverance by Christ." But
now that the great work of Redemption is accomplished, and there is salvation
full and free for all men, there is no occasion for the counting of the years to
a great coming event. The Redeemer has entered into His rest and His glory,
having by Himself purged our sins; and what His people now have to sustain them
while on earth is, not a promise of deliverance at a specified time, but grace
to sustain them during all trials, with the command to be always watching for
His coming again, since they know not in what hour their Lord may come (Matthew
24:42). Now that eternal redemption has been accomplished, there is no need for
counting the years and giving measures and links of time. The dispensation of
grace has no ’’ "times and seasons." The Christian Era The Christian Era should
properly begin with the year Christ was born; and in devising it, the intention
was to have it begin with that year. By the "Christian Era" is meant the system
upon which calendars are constructed, and by which historical events are now
dated in practically all the civilized world. But the originator of the system
made a miscalculation as to the year (in the calendar then in use) in which
Christ was born, as the result of which the year A. D. 1 was fixed four years
too late. In other words, the Lord Jesus was four years old in the year A. D. 1.
The mistake came about in this way: The Christian Era (i.e. the scheme of dates
beginning A. D. 1) was not devised until A. D. 532. Its inventor, or contriver,
was a monk named Dionysius Exiguus. At that time the system of dates in common
use began from the era of the emperor Diocletian, A. D. 284. Exiguus was not
willing to connect his system of dates with the name of that infamous tyrant and
persecutor. So he conceived the idea of connecting his system with, and dating
all its events from, the Incarnation of Jesus Christ. His reason for wishing to
do this was, as he wrote to Bishop Petronius, " to the end that the commencement
of our hope might be better known to us, and that the cause of man’s
restoration, namely, our Redeemer’s passion, might appear with clearer
evidence." For the carrying out of this excellent plan, it was necessary to fix
the date of the Incarnation in the terms of the chronological systems then in
vogue. The Romans dated the beginning of their history from the supposed date of
the founding of the city (ab urbe condita or A. U. C as usually abbreviated).
Dionysius Exiguus calculated that the year of our Lord’s birth was A. U. C. 753.
He made his equivalence of dates from Luke 3:1, "Now in the fifteenth year of
the reign of Tiberius Caesar" etc., at which time Christ was 30 years of age
according to Luke 3:23. But it was ascertained later that a mistake of four
years had been made; for it clearly appears by Matthew 2 that Christ was born
before the death of Herod, who died in 749 A. U. C. Tiberius succeeded Augustus,
Aug. 19, A. U. C. 767. Hence his 15th year would be A. U. C. 779; and from those
facts Dionysius was right in his calculation. But it was discovered in later
years that Tiberius began to reign as colleague with Augustus four years before
the latter died. Hence the 15th year mentioned by Luke was four years earlier
than was supposed by Dionysius, and consequently the birth of Christ was that
many years earlier than the date selected by Exiguus, which date has been
followed ever since. This must be allowed for in any computation of dates which
involves events happening before Christ.

We have now found, according to our reckoning, that Christ was born An. Hom.
4041. Therefore, His crucifixion, when He was in His 34th year, would be
4041+34=4075. This is equivalent to 30 A. D.; and to get the true measure of
years of any event in our era from the Incarnation it is necessary to add four
years to its accepted date. To get the corresponding date in terms of B. C. for
any event of Old Testament history, it is only necessary to deduct the years An.
Hom. from 4046. For the birth of Christ being 4041 An. Hom. and the Christian
era four years later, then B. C. 1 would be equivalent to 4045 which is 4046 -
1.

We have given the B. C. dates in our tables, in a parallel column alongside of
the corresponding An. Hom. dates.


========================================================================
  CHAPTER 15: WBC-14-THE SEVENTY WEEKS OF DANIEL
========================================================================

The Seventy Weeks of Daniel THE "SEVENTY WEEKS" OF DANIEL – WHEN DO THEY BEGIN
AND END?

Some questions of deep interest arise in connection with the period covered by
our last chronological table; but they are questions of interpretation of
Scripture, rather than questions of chronology. All expositors are agreed (so
far as we are aware) that the message brought by Gabriel to Daniel gives the
measure of years, from the going forth of the commandment to restore and to
build Jerusalem, unto the Messiah, the Prince, as sixty-nine sevens of years,
that is, 483 years. But there is much difference of opinion as to, first, what
decree it was from which the time began to run, and second, what event it was in
the lifetime of our Lord to which the 483 years brings us. It is manifest that,
unless those two points (the beginning and the ending of the 483 years) can be
established with certainty, we cannot continue our chronology down to the Cross
and Resurrection of Christ, and the consequences would be that the dated line,
so carefully preserved for 3500 years, would fail to reach its objective. But,
after much study of the entire subject, we are convinced that the Scriptures do
not leave us in uncertainty as to those essential matters of fact. Indeed, it
will be seen by what follows that, on the contrary, both events are marked and
dated with unusual exactitude. Furthermore, it has become quite clear to us that
the differences of opinion, to which we have referred, have arisen altogether
from the fact that some of our able and painstaking chronologers and expositors
have adopted the mistaken estimates of Ptolemy as the foundation of their
systems of dates, instead of grounding themselves upon the chronology of the
Bible itself. Having committed themselves to a chronological scheme which makes
the era of the Persian Empire about 80 years too long, they have been compelled
to construe the statements of Scripture in such wise as to force them into
agreement with that scheme; and inasmuch as the measure of 483 years from the
first year of Cyrus would, if Ptolemy’s table be accepted, come short, by many
years, of any event in the lifetime of Christ, one must either abandon that
table, or else must search for a decree of a Persian King, many years nearer to
Christ, to serve as the starting point of the Seventy Weeks of Daniel. The
trouble, therefore, is not that there is any uncertainty in the Scriptures, but
that expositors have turned aside from the Scriptures, and have accepted, for
the 500 years immediately preceding the coming of Christ, a defective chronology
based upon heathen traditions. In another place we have discussed at
considerable length* the many interesting questions that have arisen concerning
the prophecy of the Seventy Weeks, so we shall not go extensively into that
subject here. It is appropriate, however, that the main reasons for the
conclusions we have reached should be set forth with sufficient fu]ness to
enable the readers of this book to examine them in the light of Scripture. Our
main conclusions are:

First, that the canon of Ptolemy is untrustworthy as a basis for a system of
chronology, its statements being not authenticated in any way; and that,
Therefore, it should be rejected as unworthy of our confidence, even if it did
not come into conflict with the statements of Scripture;

Second, that "the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem," from which the
prophetic period of Seventy Weeks began to run (Daniel 9:25), was the decree of
Cyrus the Great, referred to in Ezra 1:1-4;

Third, that the 483-year period of Daniel 9:25, reaching "unto the Messiah, the
Prince," ended at the baptism of our Lord, in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar,
when He was thirty years of age.

[See The Seventy Weeks and the Great Tribulation S. F. Roberts Publishers).] I.
The Canon of Ptolemy In chapter II of this book we have pointed out that Ptolemy
was not a contemporary historian of the events of the Persian Empire, whose
chronology he attempts to set forth, but flourished more than six centuries
after that Empire began. Therefore he cannot be accepted as an authority for the
events of that period. Nor does he claim that he had access to any records
contemporary with those events. We have also pointed out that, not only are the
chrono­logical statements of Ptolemy entirely uncorroborated, but they are
contradicted by authorities which are more entitled to confidence than he. Thus,
whereas Ptolemy estimates that there were ten Persian kings in all, Josephus, an
earlier writer and one who has a stronger claim upon our confidence, gives only
six. Moreover, this agrees much better with the statement of the angel to
Daniel, in the 3rd year of Cyrus, that there were yet four kings of Persia to
stand up, the fourth being plainly identified as the great and wealthy Xerxes,
whose expedition against "the realm of Grecia" ended, as is known from secular
history, so disastrously. Those who accept the canon of Ptolemy must believe
there were eight kings between Cyrus and Xerxes, the last of the Persian kings,
and must accept the length of years which Ptolemy assigns to their respective
reigns, and which he figures out to be a total of 205 years. In contrast with
Ptolemy’s estimates, the Jewish and Persian tradi­tions make the period of the
Persian Empire a period of 52 years (Anstey p. 232). We do not accept the
estimates of Josephus any more than those of Ptolemy, and have no need of
either; but the statements of the former do serve to show that those of the
latter are not to be relied upon.

Further Anstey says:

"There are no contemporary chronological records whatever to fix the dates of
any of the Persian monarchs after Darius Hystaspes. The clay tablets of Babylon
fix the chronology, for the reigns of Cyrus, Cambyses, Pseudo-Smerdis, and
Darius Hystaspes; but they do not determine the date of any subsequent Persian
king. The dates which have reached us, and which are now generally received as
historical, are a late compilation made in the 2nd century A. D. and found in
Ptolemy’s canon. They rest upon the calculations or guesses made by
Eratosthenes, and certain vague, floating traditions, in accordance with which
the period of the Persian empire was mapped out as a period of 205 years." The
Futility of Eclipses and Other Astronomical Phenomena as Aids to Chronology The
attempt to supply missing links in the chain of chronology by means of eclipses,
and astronomical calculations, is utterly futile. It is a simple matter, indeed,
for astronomers to make a perfect chart of all solar and lunar eclipses, and to
fix the time of their several occurrences with great exactitude. But that does
not help matters in the least; for the trouble is that, when a historical
fragment is found which contains a reference to an eclipse, it is impossible to
tell which of the charted eclipses, within say a century, is the one referred
to. And even could that be done it would serve only to fix the date of one
event.

It must be remembered that chronology is not merely or chiefly a matter of
intervals of time. It is primarily a matter of historical events, their
sequence, and the number of years from one known event to another. Astronomers
can indeed give us the precise order and dates of all eclipses which occurred
between the days of Cyrus and those of Alexander the Great, or of any other
period. But eclipses are events which occur in the heavens, whereas chronology
has to do with happenings on earth. Astronomers cannot tell us the succession of
the Persian kings, or the length of their several- reigns. That information is
what is needed to make a chronology, and without it, a perfect chart of all the
eclipses is of no more value for the purpose than a map of the moon.

Therefore, as regards the events of sacred history prior to the conquest of Asia
by Alexander the Great, there are no sources of information, apart from the
Bible itself, whereby the chronology thereof can be established. But none are
needed, because the chronology of the Bible is complete in itself. Manifestly,
it was no more a part of God’s plan of revelation that we should be dependent
upon human sources for the completion of sacred chronology, than that we should
be dependent upon such sources for the completion of any part of essential truth
or doctrine.

II. The Commandment to Restore and to Build Jerusalem.

Daniel 9:25 The going forth of the commandment (lit. word) to restore and to
build Jerusalem is one of the most important of the chronological landmarks of
Scripture; for from it stretches the measuring line of 483 years "unto the
Messiah, the Prince." This is a matter that Daniel was specially charged by the
angel to "know" and to "understand." Unless the time of the going forth of that
word be known, and unless its relation with the entire chronological scheme of
the Bible be understood, the divinely-given measuring line will be of no avail
for the very purpose for which it was given. We believe, however, and will seek
now to show, that the Scriptures give, and with a clearness which leaves nothing
to be desired, both the decree referred to, and also the date of its "going
forth." Indeed it is not likely there would ever have been a question about it,
were it not that some able and learned men have gone to the Bible with a
ready-made chronology, based on the miscalculations of Ptolemy, and have sought
to make the statements of Scripture agree thereto, instead of pursuing the true
method, namely, finding in the Bible, the monumental events which mark
respectively the beginning and the end of the prophetic period, and then
permitting the Scripture itself tell them the number of years (483) between
those terminal events.

Let it be noted that the time specified by the angel was to begin, not at the
restoring and building of the city, but at the going forth of the "word," or
decree, to restore and to build. That "word" went forthC~ in the first year of
Cyrus, king of Persia," and, moreover, its going forth was for the express
purpose "that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled"
(Ezra 1:1). To that end the Lord Himself " stirred up the spirit~ of Cyrus, king
of Persia, that he made a proclamation (lit, caused a voice to pass, see marg.)
throughout all his kingdom." Here certainly was a royal "word" or proclamation
going forth. And the express object of it was to release the captives of Judah
that they might "go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of
the Lord God of Israel (He is the God) which is in Jerusalem" (Ezra 1:2-3). The
immediate effect of the going forth of this word was that a large number of
Israelites (42,370 besides 7,337 servants and maids) "went up out of the
captivity ...and came again unto Jerusalem and Judah" (Ezra 2:1; Ezra 2:64-65);
and other companies came later. This was precisely what Daniel was praying for
and looking for. It was the ending of the captivity of his people, and the
beginning of a new term of existence for the nation and the city. He had prayed:
"0 my God, incline Thine ear, and hear; open Thine eyes and behold our
desolations, and the city which is called by Thy Name;...defer not for Thine own
sake, 0 my God; for Thy city and Thy people are called by Thy Name" (Daniel
9:19). To "restore" means, in all occurrences of the Old Testament word, to
"turn back," and hence to replace what had been taken away. In this case it
plainly meant to restore the people to the city, and thus re-constitute the
latter. That such was the purport, and also the immediate effect, of the decree
of Cyrus is left in no doubt whatever; for it is written that the captives
released by the decree of Cyrus "came again unto Jerusalem and Judah, every one
unto his city" (Ezra 2:1); and again that they "dwelt in their cities, and all
Israel in their cities" (2:70). This includes, of course, and pre-eminently, the
chief city, Jerusalem.

Isaiah’s Prophecy Concerning Cyrus In the Book of Ezra the matter, concerning
which we are inquiring, is stated historically, and with all necessary
clearness. But, to put it beyond all doubt, and to show, moreover, how
surpassingly important was this official action of king Cyrus in the eyes and in
the purposes of God, we call attention to the remarkable fact that God had also
declared it prophetically by His prophet Isaiah, more than 150 years previously,
even calling by name the king who was to fulfill His pleasure. For Isaiah had
prophesied concerning Cyrus, saying, "Thus saith the Lord ...that confirmeth the
word of His servant, and performeth the counsel of His messengers; that saith to
Jerusalem, Thou shalt be inhabited; and to the cities of Judah, Ye shall be
built, and I will raise up the decayed places thereof, ...that saith of Cyrus,
He is My shepherd, and shall perform all My pleasure; even saying to Jerusalem,
Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid" (Isaiah
44:24-28).

Thus we have God’s own word for it that Cyrus, and none other, was to speak the
"word" to restore and to build Jerusalem, even "saying, Thou shalt be built."

Furthermore, Cyrus was made aware of this prophecy of Isaiah, doubtless by
Daniel; for in his decree he said, " The God of heaven hath charged me to build
Him an house at Jerusalem" (Ezra 1:2); and it will be observed that the same
"charge" included both the building of the temple, and the building of the city
(Isaiah 44:28).

Furthermore, in the next chapter (Isaiah 45:13) God speaks of Cyrus, saying, "He
shall build My city, and he shall let go My captives, not for price nor reward,
saith the Lord of hosts." Here the letting go, or restoring, of the captives is
coupled with the building of the city.

We are taking pains to point out fully the proof that it was from Cyrus that the
word to restore and to build the city went forth, because those who wish to make
the statements of Scripture conform to the mistaken chronology of Ptolemy point
to the fact that the building of the city is not expressly spoken of in Ezra
1:1-4. Ezra does not indeed quote the entire decree, and the city is not
specifically mentioned in the part quoted. But he does make perfectly clear that
this was the "word to restore and to build Jerusalem"; for Jerusalem was the
objective point of the decree; its former inhabitants were permitted, and even
commanded, to return to it, and they did return to it; and that command, coupled
with the command to "build the house of the Lord," would necessarily involve
building habitations for the inhabitants of the city. The Building of the City

Furthermore it is recorded that in the 7th month (of the 1st year of Cyrus),
"the people gathered themselves together as one man to Jerusalem" (Ezra 2:1). Of
course their first necessity would be to erect houses for themselves; and this
would explain why it was not until "the second year of their coming to the house
of God at Jerusalem, in the second month" that Zerubbabel and Jeshua, and "all
they that were come out of the captivity into Jerusalem" began "to set forward
the work of the house of the Lord" (Ezra 3:8). That interval of seven months
would be needed to build houses for the people, and defenses for the city. From
that time onward, in the historical books of Ezra and Nehemiah, and in the
prophecy of Zechariah, Jerusalem is spoken of as an existing city. The temple
was finished "in the sixth year of the reign of Darius the king" (Ezra 6:15);
and the children of Israel which were come again out of the captivity kept the
feast of unleavened bread seven days (Ezra 6:21-22). This implies that the city
was capable of accommodating great numbers of people. In chapters 7 and 8 of
Ezra, we read of the coming of Ezra himself, with a company of people, including
women and children, to Jerusalem (8:32). In chapter 9 Ezra prays to God, and
extols His goodness in giving them favour in the sight of the kings of Persia
"to set up the house of our God, and to repair the desolations thereof, and to
give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem" (Ezra 9:9). In chapter 10 it is
recorded that Ezra and the leaders "made proclamation throughout Judah and
Jerusalem unto all the children of the captivity, that they should gather
themselves together unto Jerusalem" (v. 7), which they did. Yet there be some
who would ask us to believe that not only was there no rebuilding of the city up
to that time, but that the word for the restoring and building thereof did not
go forth until the 20th year of Artaxerxes, referred to in the second chapter of
Nehemiah.

Nehemiah’s Work

Some who accept as correct the chronology of Ptolemy, based upon the guesses of
Eratosthenes, date "the going forth of the commandment to restore and to build
Jerusalem" from "the twentieth year of Artaxerxes the king," basing their
conclusion upon what is recorded in Nehemiah, chapter 2, and particularly upon
Nehemiah’s petition to the king, "that thou wouldest send me unto the city of my
fathers’ sepulchres, that I may build it" (Nehemiah 2:5). From this it is
assumed that there had been up to that time no rebuilding of the city, and no
previous word to rebuild it. This "Artaxerxes" is assumed, by those who require
a late date for the decree of Daniel 9:25, to be Longimanus, whose 20th year
would be nearly 80 years from the accession of Cyrus, during all of which time
it is supposed (in order to suit this theory) that there had been given no
permission to build the city, although permission to rebuild the temple had been
granted and acted upon, and although the inhabitants of Jerusalem had been
commanded to return to it. The first chapter of Nehemiah states that tidings
were brought to Nehemiah by Hanani and certain men of Judah concerning the Jews
which had returned out of captivity, and concerning Jerusalem (Nehemiah 1:2).
Those brethren had reported that the returned captives were in great reproach,
and that "the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are
burned with fire" (v. 3). This message was clearly occasioned by a fresh damage,
recently done by the "adversaries" of the Jews, to the walls and gates of the
rebuilt city. It was news to Nehemiah; for it caused him to weep, to mourn, to
fast, and to pray (v. 4). The wording of the record makes it impossible to
suppose that the damage reported by the messengers, who were just come from
Judah, was that which had been perpetrated by Nebuchadnezzar more than a hundred
years previously. Nehemiah had not beforetime been sad in the king’s presence,
but now his grief could not be controlled or concealed (2:1, 2), which makes it
certain that it was a new and unexpected calamity that had befallen the beloved
city. This, moreover, agrees perfectly with Nehemiah’s petition that he might
return and " build " the city; for that word is of broad signification, one of
its common meanings being to repair (see Strong’s Conc.). Such is its meaning
here, as is evident from the detailed account of the work in chapter 3, where
the only building spoken of is the repairing of the walls and gates, the very
parts reported by Hanani as having been injured. The word "repaired" is used
over thirty times in that chapter, being used interchangeable with "builded."
Moreover, the existence of houses is referred to incidentally in the chapter
(vv. 10, 16, 20 &c.). That the work was comparatively a small one is evident
from the fact that it was completed within the short space of 52 days (6:15).
But we have also to explain the statement of chapter 7:4, "Now the city was
large and great (broad in spaces, see marg.) and the houses not builded." This,
however, is easily explained. To begin with, the passage describes a state of
things which existed after Nehemiah’s work was completed, and hence it cannot,
in any view of the matter, be taken to mean that the city had not been rebuilt.
The meaning is evidently that there were yet wide unoccu­pied spaces wherein the
houses had not been erected.

We would at this point bring to mind again the fact that the Seventy Weeks were
to start "not from the building of the city (much less from its completion) but
"from the going forth of the word to restore and to build it." In Ezra 1:1-4 we
have the record of a word going forth, which word perfectly fulfilled the
prophecies both of Isaiah and Jeremiah, which also perfectly answered the prayer
of Daniel, and which perfectly corresponds with the words of Gabriel. Moreover,
the Scripture gives great prominence to this decree of Cyrus, and the date
thereof is stated in two passages (2 Chronicles 36:22, and Ezra 1:1). On the
other hand, in Nehemiah 2, there is nothing that answers at all to the words of
the angel, no commandment or decree going forth; but merely letters given to
Nehemiah granting him safe conduct as far as Jerusalem (v. 7); and to the keeper
of the king’s forest, that he give timber for the gates, and for the wall of the
city, and for the house which Nehemiah was to enter into.

Finally, the epoch-making decree of Cyrus is related to the entire scheme of
Bible chronology; for it was seventy years from the beginning of the captivity;
whereas the 20th year of Artaxerxes, mentioned in Nehemiah 2, is an uncertainty.
The word "Arta­xerxes " is a title (meaning chief-ruler) given to all the
Persian kings. Some think the ruler referred to in Nehemiah is Darius
(Hystaspes), and the same as the Ahasuerus of Esther. Others think he was
Longimanus, who followed Xerxes and Artabanus. In the present state of knowledge
this question cannot be settled. But, as to Cyrus, there is no uncertainty at
all.

There are other points of interest connected with the decree of Cyrus, but for a
discussion of these we must refer our readers to the book mentioned above, THE
SEVENTY WEEKS AND THE GREAT TRIBULATION.

III. " Unto the Messiah" The words "unto the Messiah the Prince" define the
goal toward which the long chronological line of the Bible had been steadily
extending itself. In the days of Daniel the voice of prophecy was about to
cease, and the inspired history of God’s ancient people was about to come to an
end. But, before the sacred record closed, the last stage of the chronology of
the Old Testament was made known to "Daniel the Prophet" and by him was recorded
in "the Scriptures of Truth." From the going forth of the decree of Cyrus, unto
the greater Deliverer, of whom Cyrus was a remarkable type, was to be a stretch
of sixty-nine "sevens" of years. The words "unto the Messiah" tell us with all
requisite clearness and certainty to just what point in the life-time of Jesus
Christ the measure of 69 sevens (483 years) reaches. The word Messiah
(equivalent to the Greek Christos) means "the Anointed." We ask, therefore,
where, in the earth-life of our Lord, was He anointed and presented to Israel?
The answer is clearly given in the Gospels and Acts. It was at His baptism in
Jordan; for then it was that the Holy Spirit descended upon Him in bodily shape
as a dove; and then it was that John the Baptist bore witness to Him as the Son
of God, and the Lamb of God. As the apostle Peter declared: "God anointed Jesus
of Nazareth with the Holy Ghost and with power" (Acts 10:38); and from that time
He gave Himself to His public Messianic ministry as a "minister of the
circumcision." To this important matter we have also the Lord’s own testi­mony.
For, after His return in the power of the Spirit to Galilee, where, according to
Isaiah 9:1-2, the "Great Light" was to arise (see also Matthew 3:12-16), He went
on the Sabbath day into the synagogue in Nazareth, and read from the prophet
Isaiah these memorable words:"The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He hath
anointed Me to preach the Gospel to the poor"; and then, having sat down, and
the eyes of all being fastened intently upon Him, he said, "This day is this
Scripture fulfilled in your ears" (Lu. 4:16-21). Thus the Lord declared Himself
to be at that time the "Anointed" One, that is, the Messiah.

John the Baptist was sent to "bear witness" of Christ, and "that He should be
made manifest to Israel" (John 1:6-7; John 1:31). This special ministry of John
was discharged by him at the time of Christ’s baptism. When, therefore, the Lord
Jesus had been "anointed" with the Holy Spirit, and had been "made manifest to
Israel" by the witness of John, then the words of the prophecy "unto the
Anointed One " were completely fulfilled. From that great and wonderful event,
down to the day of His death, He was constantly before the people of Israel in
His Messianic character, and was devoting Himself continuously to the fulfilling
of His Messianic service, in going about doing good, manifesting the Father’s
Name, doing the Father’s works, speaking the Father’s words, healing the sick,
giving sight to the blind, cleansing the lepers, raising the dead, and preaching
the glad-tidings of the Kingdom of God.

Indeed, even before He announced Himself in the synagogue in Nazareth as God’s
"Anointed One," He had plainly said to the woman of Samaria (when she spoke of
"Messiah, Who is called Christ")"I that speak unto thee am He" (John 4:25-26).
More­over, to the Samaritans who came out to see Him upon hearing the woman’s
report and her question " Is not this the Messiah?", He so fully revealed
Himself that they were constrained to confess Him, saying, "We have heard Him
ourselves, and know that this is indeed the Christ (the Anointed One), the
Saviour of the world" (v. 42).

Again, the purpose, as well as the effect, of the ministry of John the Baptist’s
public testimony to Christ is clearly revealed by the words of those who, upon
hearing that testimony, followed Him. We read that "One of the two who heard
John speak and followed Him (Jesus) was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. He first
findeth his own brother and saith unto him, We have found the Messias, which is,
being interpreted, the Christ" (John 1:40-41). In these Scriptures the Holy
Spirit has caused the important fact that Jesus was the Anointed One to be
stated both in Hebrew and in Greek, so that the significance of it should not be
lost. That "this Jesus is the Christ" is the great point of apostolic testimony
(Acts 17:3); and it is the substance of "our faith," for "Whosoever believeth
that Jesus is the Christ is born of God" (1 John 5:1; 1 John 5:4-5). It is also
the Rock-foundation upon which He builds His church (Matthew 16:18; 1
Corinthians 3:11).

Thus the Spirit of God has been pleased to give us proof upon proof that, from
our Lord’s baptism and manifestation to Israel, He was, in the fullest sense,
the Messiah or the Anointed of God. Manifestly there was no previous event in
the earthly lifetime of our Lord which could be taken as meeting in any way the
words of Gabriel. And it is equally clear that no subsequent event could be
taken as the fulfillment of those words. For there was, and could be, no
subsequent occasion when the Lord was any more the "Anointed One" than when the
Spirit descended upon Him at His baptism. Thus the Scriptures absolutely shut us
up to the Lord’s baptism, as the occasion when He was Anointed, and presented to
Israel in His Messianic office. His baptism then marked the termination of the
69 weeks of Daniel 9:25, and the beginning of the last of the seventy weeks.

Furthermore, in addition to the foregoing evidences, we have the culminating
proof found in the fact that this epoch (His Baptism), and this alone, is
formally dated in the Scriptures and that His age at the time is stated. For in
Luke 3:1-3 the era of the preaching and baptism of John is given with
extraordinary particularity, which certifies to us that that era has a place of
special importance in connection with the chronology of Scripture as a whole. It
is an impressive fact that both the decree of Cyrus, and the baptism of John
"that is to say, both the beginning and the ending of the sixty-nine weeks "are
set forth with the greatest particularity, and that they are given with
reference to the reigns of Gentile rulers. One is given as occurring "in the
first year of Cyrus, king of Persia," and the other "in the fifteenth year of
the reign of Tiberius Caesar." This is a clear indication that the things which
were to be consummated within the "determined" period of seventy weeks were
matters which concerned, not the Jews only, but all mankind, having to do with
the salvation of Gentiles as well as Jews. God’s dealings theretofore had been
matters of Jewish history; but now, beginning with the voice of one crying in
the wilderness, "Prepare ye the way of the Lord," a new era was beginning, one
in which God’s dealings were to be matters of world-history. It is appropriate,
therefore, that we should have at this precise point a change from terms of
Jewish to terms of Gentile chronology.


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  CHAPTER 16: WBC-15-THE "ONE WEEK"
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The "One Week"

CONCLUSION "THE ONE WEEK – THE FULLNESS OF TIME

We have seen that 69 of the 70 prophetic weeks were completed at the baptism of
our Lord and His manifestation to Israel through the testimony of John the
Baptist. This leaves but "one week" (Daniel 9:27) of the prophetic period. That
week is, in the prophecy, set apart from the other 69, and we may clearly see
the reason for this in the fact that in that "week" occurred the most stupendous
events of all time and of all creation. For that is the period wherein God was
manifested in the flesh, ministering to His sinful creatures, wherein He made
atonement for the sins of His people, and wherein the Holy Spirit came down from
heaven and the Kingdom of heaven was opened to all believers.

We do not discuss in these pages the view, held and taught by some, that the
70th week of the prophecy of Daniel 9 is dis­connected from the other 69, and is
yet in the future, and that Daniel 9:27 has to do, not with Christ, but with
Antichrist; for we have discussed that view quite fully in the book already
mentioned, THE SEVENTY WEEKS AND THE GREAT TRIBULATION. It will suffice for the
purposes of this book to point out that the expression "seventy weeks," as a
measure of time, can only mean continuous, or consecutive, weeks. Moreover, if
the measure be broken off at the end of the 69th week, the great events with
which the prophecy is concerned "the "cutting off" of the Messiah (thus
finishing the transgression, making an end of sin, making reconciliation for
iniquity, etc.) "would be left outside the seventy weeks altogether. It is
enough, therefore, for our present purposes, to say that the view referred to
seems to us to be quite destitute of support in the Scriptures, and contrary to
the terms of the prophecy itself It should, however, be pointed out that the
words "for one week " in Daniel 9:27 A. V. do not give the sense of the
original, there being no "for" in the text, nor anything to imply it. The sense
of the passage, as given in the Septuagint version, which our Lord quoted in
Matthew 24:15, is that the "one week" (the last of the 70, of which 69 had been
previously accounted for) would witness the confirming of the new covenant with
many (see Matthew 26:28, noting the words "covenant" and "many "), whereby the
sacrifices and oblation of the old covenant were caused to cease (see Hebrews
10:9), and the things predicted in verse 24 were fulfilled.

It was "in the midst of the week," as stated in Daniel 9:27, that Christ was
crucified; for His ministry lasted between three and four years, as appears by
the Gospel of John, and as agreed by chronologers generally. The last verse is
certainly appropriate, indeed is necessary, to complete the prophecy concerning
Christ, whereas, to assign that verse to Antichrist is to intrude into the
prophecy an element utterly foreign to it, and which destroys its unity. It also
destroys the effect of the marvelous fulfillment, through the Cross and
Resurrection of the Lord Jesus, of this wonderful prophecy.

"THE TIME"Fulfilled

We believe the first proclamation of Christ, recorded most fully in Mark
1:14-15, had reference to this wonderful "time," the 70th week of the prophecy.
Indeed, we do not see how there can be any reasonable question about it; for it
was just at the beginning of that 70th week that He "came into Galilee,
preaching the gospel of the Kingdom of God, and saying, The time is fulfilled,
and the Kingdom of God is at hand; repent ye and believe the gospel." The 70th
week had now come, for the 69th had brought us only "unto the Messiah." That
week is the only "time" whose measure had been given in the unfulfilled
prophetic Scrip­tures. It was the Time of all times, the time of Immanuel,
wherein the incarnate Son of God came to preach, to heal, to bless, to die for
the sins of His creatures, to rise again, and to enter upon His high-priestly
ministry in heaven, the time wherein the Holy Spirit came down to abide with
men, and the Kingdom of heaven began with the preaching of the gospel of God.

We have seen that the birth of Christ was in the year An. Hom. 4041, or B. C. 5.
Hence the Lord’s 30th year, corresponding to the 15th of Tiberius Caesar, would
be A. D. 26, and His death, resurrection and ascension, and the coming of the
Holy Spirit would be A. D. 30. Christ prayed on the cross for His murderers, "
Father forgive them," and the answer is seen in the fact that God withheld the
judgment "the destruction of Jerusalem, foretold by Daniel and by the Lord
(Mart. 24; Lu. 21) "for just forty years, "for Jerusalem was destroyed by the
armies of Titus, "the people of the prince that shall come," in A. D. 70 "during
which period the gospel of God’s grace was diligently preached "to the Jew
first," and tens of thousands were saved.

Thus the history of the children of Israel began and ended with a probationary
period of 40 years. The first period of 40 years’ probation began with the
sacrifice of the paschal lamb in Egypt; the second began with the anti-type, the
Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the true Paschal Lamb. At the close of the first of
those periods God brought the people of Israel unto the land which He had
promised to their fathers. At the close of the second He drove them out of that
land, and scattered them among all the nations of the world. In conclusion we
would again direct attention to the remarkable fact, which to the author is the
outstanding Wonder of Bible Chronology, that there is one, and only one,
continuous line of dated events in the Bible; that it extends from the creation
of Adam to the resurrection of Christ; and that, as we follow that line through
successive Books and successive eras, it brings us into contact with all the
leading personages, the leading events, and the leading doctrines of Holy
Scripture. Clearly then, the Chronology of the Bible must be reckoned among its
greatest wonders.


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Source: https://sermonindex.net/books/mauro-philip-wonders-of-bible-chronology/
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