Practical Information
Gtcotr/ws111203
Key Scripture: 2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
(The notes below have been taken freely from many study references including commentaries of the bible, dictionaries, encyclopedias and notes of the bible from various authors. The result of this research is that direct quotes have been made without reference to their sources, being many and exhausting.)
Biblical Chronology is a branch of study that attempts to discover a sequence of events and the amount of time that elapsed between them.
Even though few events in the bible can be given exact dates, knowing the sequence of events can be valuable in determining how they may have influenced or overlapped each other.
It is quite interesting to note which prophets were contemporaries and what the historical background of their eras were. In order to place an event in a setting and time, we must somehow be able catalogue it chronologically.
Before time was divided up into BC, (before Christ), and AD, (anno Domini, “in the year of the Lord”), events were dated by their relationship to other important events, such as the founding of Rome or the beginning of a kings reign, etc.
In the 6th century a monk named Dionysius Exiguus invented our present method of dating with the birth of Christ dividing history. Strangely enough he made a miscalculation in his computations and the odd result is that Jesus Himself had to have been born earlier than 4 years “before Christ”.
Let me explain:
* According to Matthew 2:1, (Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem,),
> Jesus was born in the days of Herod the king.
* The 1st century AD historian Josephus recorded that Herod died in the spring of the year we identify s 4 BC.
> Herod died in the spring of 4 BC. Josephus
* Accordingly Luke 2:1-2, (1 ¶ And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed.
2 (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.), tells that Jesus’ birth occurred when Caesar Augustus, the Roman emperor, decreed that a census should be taken. This was the first enrollment, when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.
* Document discoveries along with other evidence suggests that these Censuses were taken every 14 years. By their calculations: > This census would have been roughly in 8 o 9 BC.
* Given the time it took to travel, most likely
> Mary and Joseph were in Bethlehem in 7 BC.
* 6 or 7 BC would also agree with Cyrenius, (Quirinius), serving a short period as governor of Syria, by some accounts.
* Given all of this data it is reasonable to most scholars that:
> Jesus was born about 7 BC.
Further: In considering The Beginning of Jesus’ Public Ministry
* Luke 3:23, ( And Jesus himself began to be about thirty years of age, being (as was supposed) the son of Joseph, which was the son of Heli,),
> Records that Jesus was about 30 years of age when He began His public ministry.
* If we add the number 30 to the suggested birth year of Jesus, He would have then began His public ministry in about 22/23 AD.
* However, we know Jesus’ ministry began after John the Baptist came on the scene. Luke 3:1-3 dates John’s public appearance precisely in “the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberias Caesar” while Pilate was procurator over Judea.
* Pilate governed Judea from 26 to 36 AD and
* The 15th year of Tiberias was most likely AD 27.
* Therefore Jesus did not begin His public ministry until at least 27 AD or thereafter. So it is reasonable to assume that:
> In 27 or 28 Jesus was baptized and began His ministry
> He would have been approximately 33 years old
* All of the data concerning earth quakes, solar eclipses, dates that correlate to which Passovers between 26 & 36 AD, when Pilate was procurator in Judea, did the 14th or 15th of Nissan fall on a Friday?, (The answer is AD 27, 29, 30 & 33. Of those 27 is too early and 33 is too late.), all go into making an informed guess as to the year Jesus died.
* According to John’s account, Jesus spent 3 Passovers with His disciples and died on the 14th of Nissan, at the third Passover, and rose again on a Sunday morning, (the 1st day of the week), commonly called thereafter, The Lord‘s Day.
> Jesus’ crucifixion then had to be in 29 or 30 AD
> Jesus was either 35 or 36 years old at His death
* No one can know exactly for sure … but it helps having some educated information to put events into perspective.
* All four of the gospels seem to indicate that Jesus ate the last supper with His disciples on a Thursday night, was crucified on a Friday and rose again on early Sunday morning.
Knowing the chronology can give us a much greater understanding and a better perspective than we could have without this knowledge.
* For example: Study of the scriptures would reveal that:
> Daniel was 82 years old when he was cast into the lion’s den.
> Methuselah was 969 years old when he died, the oldest man every recorded. Did you know that he died in the same year that God told Noah to go into the ark and the flood began? 1656 AC
^ Methuselah walked & talked with Adam 247 years
^ Methuselah walked & talked with Noah 500 years
^ Methuselah walked & talked with Shem 100 years
^ Abraham died at 175 years old
^ Shem outlived Abraham by 35 years
^ Jacob was already 50 years old when Shem died
This type of information, studiously found from earnest study, reveals that the story of creation was most likely passed by word of mouth from great grandparents to great grandchildren:
Adam to Methuselah
Methuselah to Shem
Shem to Abraham
2 Timothy 2:15 Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.
In order to create perspective and an appreciation for the history and chronology of the bible, I encourage you get an easy reading translation of the bible and begin reading in Genesis and read the story of God and His people. History, the bible and its characters will come alive like never before.
