—Bible Chronology Part 2!—Classtime with Grandpa!DO 269110/90

1. Lord, do bless this class. Make it a blessing. Help the children to really learn, & teach us all something. Thank You for this time together of fellowship in Thy Word, in Jesus' name. Help their minds to be quick & really soak it up well & permanently! Amen!

Oral Review!

2. All right‚ we were on the Chronology* of the Bible. Shall I give you an oral review real quick? The Earth was created about how many thousand years before Christ? (David: 4,000.) Yes‚ four thousand. And the next great event was what? (Techi: The Flood!) The Flood, which was about... (Techi: 2,500.) Yes, about 2,500 years before Christ. (*Chronology = Order of events from earliest to latest.)

3. And the Tower of Babel was about... (Techi: 2,200.) That's right. Frankly, I like you to give me how many hundred years it was after the Flood. The Tower of Babel was about 300 years after the Flood.

4. OK! The time of Abraham was about how many thousand years before Christ? (David: 2,000.) Right! The time of Abraham was about 2,000 years before Christ.

5. Did I give you the time of Moses yet? (Kids: No.) Well, in round numbers to the nearest 500‚ it was about 1,500 years before Christ. (Techi: So what would the date be then?) About 1,500 B.C.—Before Christ. That was the time of Moses. The actual time of the Exodus, a date which I won't ask you to remember, was about 1‚400 B.C. We're going in mostly 500s now. So maybe we should just skip the date of the Tower of Babel, because that mixes us up.—Because I say that something major happened about every 500 years.

6. What's next? Do you know when the time of the Kings began? (Techi: No.) It was around 1,000 B.C. See, that's around the next 500 years. This is the easiest way to remember this chronology‚ if you go in 500-year leaps. I'll probably ask you on your test, "What period of Israel's History began around 1,000 B.C.?"—And what should you say? (Techi: Kings!)—Right, the time of the Kings. And all you'd have to write for your answer is "Kings."

7. Any idea what happened in 500 B.C.? Well, that was the time of the Prophets. (David: Oh, the Prophets.)—Yes, & the Fall of Jerusalem was in 586 B.C.

The Maccabees!

8. Now here's an important date. It's not exact, but it's at least in round numbers & hundreds. About what time did the Old Testament end?—It was about 300 B.C. (Techi: Interesting!) And this period now between 300 B.C & Christ's Birth is known mostly as the time of what brothers? (Techi: The Maccabees.) And what did they do most of that time? (David: Fought wars.) Against whom? (Techi: The Syrians.) Right! The Syrians were trying to take over; in fact, they had taken over, so that's what was going on. (Techi: So they started about 200 B.C.?) Well, they were between 300 & zero. (Techi: Oh, so they started about 300 B.C.) Yes. Well, I'm not going to ask you what time they started, but I'm going to ask you approximately what date did the Old Testament era end.

9. Then I will ask you, "What is this period usually called from 300 B.C. to zero?" It's simply called the time of what? I think there were four or five brothers. (Techi: The Maccabees!) Yes, the Maccabees. Or it's called the Maccabean Period, however you want to call it. Do you know how to spell it? You've probably got a "Helps" in your Bible & you can look it up!

10. (Techi: M-A-C-C-A-B-E-A-N.) Yes, that's right. Not Macca–burgers but Macca–beans‚ maybe that'll help you remember it! Ha! Something funny like that sometimes helps me to remember by association. (Techi: Where would "Maccabeans" be?) Do you have a glossary in your Bible, or a dictionary? (Techi: Oh yes, I do!) Look up Maccabeans then.

11. (David: Grandpa, what did we call the test we just had?—The Books of the Bible?) Yes. Just call it "The Books of the Bible." (Techi: This isn't exactly a test on the Books of the Bible, is it? Won't we have our test on the Books of the Bible later?) Yes, we will, you're right, you're a good teacher, Honey! (Techi: Oh, no, Grandpa, I was just mentioning the subject.) No, you're right. You've got a very analytical mind. Let's just say our first test was on the Divisions of the Books of the Bible. (Techi: Good! Right!) (David: Oh‚ yes!)

12. (Techi: Look, I found it in my Bible glossary. It's the first thing under "M"—"Maccabees"! Should I read it now?) Yes, go ahead! (Techi: "The family of priestly descent that freed the Jewish people from the Syrian yoke. The name Makkaba, 'hammer,’ belongs properly to Judas, the third of the five sons of Mattathias.") There were five boys! (Techi: Is that Judas, Jesus' Disciple‚ or a different Judas? I guess it must be a different Judas.)

13. Yes, it's a different Judas. (Techi continues reading: "Who from his father's death in 166 B.C. to his own death at the Battle of Elasa [or Adasa] in 161‚ led the defenders of their country & Jewish faith in one of the most heroic struggles in history. His work was completed by his brothers who founded the Hasmonaean Dynasty*."

(*Dynasty: A succession of rulers who are members of the same family.)

14. I will probably ask you, "What is the name of the brothers who made themselves famous during this period between the Testaments?" & the answer is‚ the Maccabees! (Techi: Boy, this glossary is really nice!) They fought the Syrians in the early days, but then were fighting the Romans as it got on toward the time of Jesus. And all they did was cause a lot of trouble & a get a lot of their people killed by fighting the Romans. (Techi: Yes, that was a real blood bath, wasn't it?) Yes!

Destruction of Temple & Captivity!

15. Oh, there's one date that we mentioned that you should memorise exactly. You probably already know it from your Bible Prophecy. And that was 586 B.C. And do you know what happened then? (Techi: The captivity?) Yes, & that was also the destruction of Solomon's Temple. There were two or three captivities‚ but 586 B.C. was the destruction of Solomon's Temple, which was followed by the capture & captivity of Judah & Benjamin, the last two tribes of Jews.

16. Northern Israel, all the other 10 tribes‚ had divorced themselves from Judah & Benjamin, little Benjamin. Judah was the location of the Temple‚ Jerusalem, & little Benjamin was beside it. There was a previous captivity of Israel when their capital city of Samaria fell in 722 B.C., but you don't have to remember that date.

17. But the time of the destruction of the Temple by Nebuchadnezzar's army of Babylonians, that's a pretty important date, 586 B.C., because it has a specific reference to things in Bible Prophecy. (Techi: I thought the Romans destroyed it!) They destroyed a later Temple. (Techi: Oh!) The first one was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar's Babylonians & then it was rebuilt later when the Jews returned. First they rebuilt the Temple under Ezra, & then later they rebuilt the wall under Nehemiah. (See Ezra‚ Nehemiah.)

18. (David: And what date was that?) Well, if you want to know about when the Jews started returning, as Jeremiah had prophesied‚ it was exactly how many years after Solomon's Temple was destroyed? It was prophesied that the Jews would be in captivity for so many years exactly. Do you remember what that was? (David: 70.) 70 years, good boy! (See Jer.25:11; 29:10.) So then when do you think the captivity ended? (Techi: Around 400?) No, you have to subtract 70 years from 586. Very easy! (David: 516.) Yes, exactly. So the decree freeing the Jews to return to Israel was issued in 516 B.C. (Techi: Should we write that down, the return?) Well‚ you could. 70 years later is 516 B.C.

19. Solomon's Temple was destroyed in 586, the return began in 516 & then you'll divide it into different periods. (Techi: I thought the 586 was the Captivity of Judah.) Yes. See, the Babylonians destroyed Solomon's Temple & captured Judah at the same time. (David: That was 586 B.C., right?) Yes, 586 B.C., Before Christ. Then the Romans came later after the birth of Christ & destroyed the next Temple, in what year? (David: 44 A.D.?) No, it was 70 A.D. Maybe you got that confused with the Temple being destroyed about 40 years after Jesus was crucified.

20. (Techi: OK! So the Jews were captured in 586 B.C.) Yes, the Temple was destroyed & they were captured. The city of Jerusalem was destroyed too. (Techi: And the Jews returned in 516?) That's right. (Techi: That doesn't make sense!) Why doesn't it? Remember, you go backward in B.C. dates. (Techi: You do? Oh, right! You do, don't you!) Yes‚ you count backward in B.C. dates, don't forget that! (Techi: All right.)

21. OK! Solomon's Temple was destroyed in 586 B.C. What's the next date? Well, in 516 the Jews started coming back to Israel, & they rebuilt the Temple. Then what's the next date I said you need to know? About what date did the Old Testament era end? (Techi: 300 B.C.) Right, 300 B.C.!—And that would be your next date.

22. And who was leading Israel between the Testaments? (David: The Maccabean brothers.) The Maccabees is all you have to say.—Or if you want to say two words, it's not going to count any more. (Techi: There were fathers & brothers &...) Yes, yes, there was a whole family, the Maccabees. You can just say the Maccabees—a "packa bees"! (Techi: A packa bees, ha!)

Jesus' Birth!

23. All right! So the next date you should remember is what? (Techi: Jesus' birth.) Right‚ Jesus' birth! (Techi: Zero!) Actually, that date should be zero, but there was a changeover from the Julian calendar—the Roman calendar set up by Julius Caesar—to the Gregorian calendar (introduced by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582), which is the one we go by today.

24. The Gregorian calendar literally changed the date of Jesus' birth from zero to 4 B.C.! According to the calendar we now go by, He was born 4 B.C. (Techi: He was born before Himself?) Well‚ that's just according to the calendar. I don't even understand the whole thing, but it was zero according to the old Roman calendar‚ & it was 4 B.C. according to the Gregorian calendar. Anyhow, according to our present calendar, when was Jesus born? (Techi: 4 B.C.) Right! OK!

25. So then what year was it that Jesus was crucified? First of all, how many years did He live? (Kids: 33 years!) Right! If Jesus was born in the second half of 4 B.C.‚ or as late as December, when most people celebrate His birth at Christmas, then that's only about 3 years before year zero. And He was crucified on Passover, or just before Easter, which falls in the first quarter of the year, when he was 33 years old, so that would mean the year of His crucifixion was 30 A.D. See? You add the estimated 3 years before zero to the 30 or so years He lived after that, & you get Jesus' age‚ 33.

26. Anyhow, that's what the students & the historians say. So He might have been born at the end of the year 4 B.C. Therefore you count three years on the B.C. side, right? (David: Yes!) And 30 years on the A.D. side. (Techi: So 3 plus 30 is 33!) Right!

27. All right, I'll ask you all those questions again. When was Jesus born, according to our present calendar? (Techi: 4 B.C.) Yes, & what date do we celebrate His birth? (Techi: The 25th of December.) Right! That's like asking you‚ "What was George Washington's first name?" Or "Where was Joan of Arc from?" (Techi: When I was little & somebody asked me where Joan of Arc was from, as a joke, I said, "I don't know!" because I thought that was her name, Joan of Arc. I didn't realise!) It meant Joan was from Arc, in France.

28. All right! Jesus died in what year? (Kids: 30 A.D.) (Techi: Why isn't it 33 A.D.? Oh, because you go back...) You've got three years on the under side of B.C., get it? (Techi: Yes.) Then you add 30 on the other side. 30 A.D. OK!

70 A.D.—Temple Destroyed Again!

29. What was the next major event in Bible History? What colossal, tremendous, gigantic‚ awful, tragic but vengeful event occurred which Jesus prophesied would come! (See Matthew 24:3.) (Techi: The Temple was destroyed.)—Right! The Temple that Herod built was then destroyed. Now how many destructions does this make, anyway? (Techi: Two?) Yes! It was first destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar.—Solomon's Temple.

30. All right, then who came in, what happened in 70 A.D.? (David: The Romans came in.) Right! (David: And they picked apart the Temple.) They destroyed the Temple, burned it down! Why did they tear it apart stone by stone? (David: To get the gold that was in between the stones.) What was gold doing between the blocks? (David: Well, I think it had melted there.) Right, exactly‚ during the fire it melted down between the blocks of the Temple. Actually, it was mostly the foundation stones that were torn apart.

31. Well‚ then how come the Jews worship at the Wailing Wall? And they always say this to belie* the Words of Christ: "The only remaining wall of the Temple." Now, the Wailing Wall is not a wall of the Temple at all! What is the Wailing Wall? (David: It's a retaining wall.) A retaining wall around the top of the mountain on which the Temple was built. But the Jews always stick that in, you know, "Jesus said not one stone will be left standing on another‚ but we still have the Wailing Wall! See, it didn't happen."

(*Belie: To show to be false or mistaken; disprove)

32. The Temple only occupied a small part of the 35-acre mountain top, & way out here was the retaining wall. See‚ what they did was in order to have their Temple built on a nice flat top, they literally cut off the top of the mountain & filled the mountain in on its four sides with what they cut off.

33. And they didn't do it with bulldozers either‚ they didn't have any, they did it by hand! They built this retaining wall around it like this & they put this fill in there. (Draws diagram.) See, here are the slopes of the mountain like this, & here is the retaining wall straight up & down like this, over here, way out here. (Techi: Which they built with the top of the mountain they cut off?) No, they built it with huge blocks, gigantic blocks of stone. (David: That was a lot of work!) Yes, they dug them out of a stone quarry.—And then they scraped off the top of the mountain & filled in between the mountain & the wall so they'd have a bigger mountain top. See? (David: Yes.) But you don't have to remember all those things. (Techi: That's interesting!)

34. But you do have to remember the date of the destruction of what was known then as Herod's Temple. Who destroyed Solomon's Temple? (David: Nebuchadnezzar did.) Nebuchadnezzar, yes. Solomon lived a long time before that.

35. Oh, did I talk about the time of the Kings? (Techi: Yes.) When was that? (Techi: 1,000.) About 1,000 B.C., yes. Almost 500 years later was when they were all taken away captive, 586 B.C. Don't forget that. That was the time when Solomon's Temple was destroyed. And the Jews came back later & they built a second Temple in 516 B.C., but it was not very fancy like Solomon's Temple & they wept because it wasn't as beautiful as Solomon's Temple. (Techi: Because they couldn't make it as nice as his Temple.) Yes. (Ezra 3:12)

36. But then King Herod, who was a...King Herod was a what? Do you remember what he was? Was he a Jew? (David: An Arab!) He was an Arab! Good for you! But since he had been put over the Jews as their king, he wanted to do something to please them, so he helped build them this beautiful alabaster* Temple, which the Romans later destroyed in 70 A.D. (David: That was probably the last time in history that the Arabs were ruling over the Jews, ha!) Yes! (Techi: Were the Jews happy about that? Did they like him?) The Jews didn't like having an Arab rule them, but they were very proud of their new Temple.

(*Alabaster = A whitish type of gypsum, used for statues, vases, etc.)

37. The disciples even wanted to take Jesus on a tour and show off the Temple. (See Mat.24:1-3.) It was a very beautiful temple which they said looked like a mountain of snow‚ because it was largely built of alabaster. But it was then destroyed by the Romans.—In what year? (David: 70 A.D.)—What you would call about a generation, 40 years after Jesus. He wanted to make sure that the Jews suffered for their sins of crucifying Him & persecuting Christians.

38. All right! 70 A.D. was when they burned the Temple & tore the rocks apart one by one so that there was none standing upon another—to get the gold that had melted down between the rocks. (Techi: So they did build that one with a lot of gold too?) Yes. (Techi: Did Nebuchadnezzar get all of the gold out of the first Temple?) No, I don't think they bothered at that time. (Techi: Boy, there was more gold than they probably ever had in that Temple!) Well, Nebuchadnezzar had plenty of gold already so I guess that's why he didn't worry. (Techi: So there's just a whole bunch of gold laying around somewhere?) Well, no, they rebuilt it, see? (Techi: They used that gold?)

39. I don't know all of the details & you don't need to know all of the details, Honey. I know you've got a very enquiring little mind of a lawyer‚ but I'm just trying to teach you the main things that you need to remember to kind of get this thing organised in your mind in time. And if we don't press on, we won't get this lesson done in time! OK? I'm glad you ask, I'm just sorry I can't answer! I forget some of these details.

40. I'm trying to teach you what I remember & I've just got to go by memory. I don't even have any of my old notes or notebooks any more. So I'm just teaching you what I remember, what I think is important to remember. OK? (David & Techi: Yes, Sir!)

Death of Apostle Paul!

41. All right. Believe it or not, the next important date was about 20 years later in 90 A.D. Oh, I forgot 65 A.D. Will you forgive me? (Kids: Yes!) Insert this somehow. As far as we know, near as they can make their computations‚ historians think the Apostle Paul died somewhere around 65 A.D.

[Judgement]!

42. And about 5 years after Paul's beheading … the Romans came down in 70 A.D. & destroyed the Temple, … Israel & the Jews! They crucified at least a million Jews! (Techi: A million?) One million Jews all over Israel! (Techi: Wow!) Around the walls of Jerusalem alone stood approximately 100,000 crosses with Jews hanging on them! …

43. (Techi: Didn't some people get burned in the Temple, too‚ because the false prophets told them to stay in there?) Yes, as I recall, something like 3,000 Jews died inside the Temple because their false prophet told them if they'd go there they'd be safe. And the Temple burned! See‚ the Temple had stone foundations, but wooden walls & roof, so the Romans were able to burn it. And where it had all this gold was where they had these shields hanging around the walls inside & all kinds of golden decorations & candlesticks & all kinds of stuff. (For a full account of the destruction of the Temple, please see WNE, pg.674.)

1,012 B.C.—Dedication of Temple!

44. Solomon's Temple was dedicated in the year 1,012 B.C. Now that might be a good date to remember. Do you know why? (Kids: No.) In our chronology from Creation right on up to the present time, until the dedication of Solomon's Temple you can verify all the dates right out of the Bible. From then on we've got modern history & we know the dates. See?

45. (Techi: So how can you get it out of the Bible?) Well, it's a complicated process & I don't think we have to go into all this right now. But first of all, you get it from the Bible listings of genealogies, like a family tree: "So-&-so lived so many years & he begat So–&-so, & he lived so many years & he begat So-&-so." And then it goes up to the period of the Jews' captivity in Egypt which lasted 400–&–some years. And you can get it piece by piece out of the Bible until the dedication of Solomon's Temple, which according to modern history was the year 1,012 B.C. (See "Age of the Earth Chart," pg.7.)

John the Revelator!

46. All right! Praise the Lord! What was the year of Paul's death‚ approximately? (David: 60 A.D.) When did the Romans destroy the Temple? (David: 70 A.D.) And the next date, 90 A.D., guess whose death that was? (Techi: Peter?) No. (David: John.) Yes! John! Which John? (David: John the Beloved.) (Techi: Revelation John.) You're both right! John of the Book of Revelation! He died on the Isle of... (Techi: Patmos!) Yes!—Patmos, an island off the shore of Turkey, about 90 A.D.

47. (Techi: What do you call him?—John the Beloved or John the Revelator?) Well, I would call him John the Revelator in this case, because by this time he wasn't just John the Beloved, a young man, but he was a very old man. He was very young in the time of Jesus. He was only about 16‚ about David's age, when he laid his head on Jesus' breast at the Last Supper, remember? (John 13:23) He was a young boy, & can't you imagine Jesus was sort of protecting His youngest disciple with His arm around him, & John grieving for what Jesus said was going to happen?

48. All right. That's as far as I think we need to go tonight. We're up to the death of John of Revelation. The Bible publishers refer to Revelation in the Bible as what? (Techi: The Revelation of St. John the Divine!) Well, what the first line of Revelation 1 actually says is, "The Revelation of Jesus Christ." (Techi: Yes.) (David: Oh yes!) So the guys who wrote the titles weren't necessarily inspired, ha! (Techi: No! It didn't exactly look like they were reading the Bible either, ha!)

49. All right! End of Chronology so far! Now it might be interesting if we would go on from there & give you major dates & history all the way up to the present, but I would have to look them up in some book. There are a few outstanding dates that are important for Christians, like the Roman persecutions & the conversion of Emperor Constantine who changed the Roman Empire into a Christian Empire just by his edict. But we'll go into that later, OK? All right, somebody pray a closing prayer of our lesson.

Closing Prayer!

50. (David: Thank You Jesus! Thank You Lord for using Grandpa to teach us so much about Bible Chronology. Please help us to understand it, Lord. Thank You how Grandpa made it so simple, Jesus, & easy for us to understand. We pray that we will take the time to study it & look over it again‚ Jesus, so we can really get it down in our minds. Please help us to remember these important dates, Lord, in Jesus' name! Thank You Lord!)

51. Amen! And help them to study & review & memorise this chronology so they can be able to answer questions on it in their test, which will be the first thing tomorrow night. Praise the Lord! (Techi: Tomorrow night?) What's the matter with tomorrow night? Don't we have a class tomorrow? (Techi: Yes.) Well, the quicker we have the test, the fresher it will be in your minds! OK? (Techi: Yes!)

52. —Or do you just want to have a review tomorrow? (David & Techi: No, a test is fine!) We could have a review & then we could have the test. (David: A test is fine because we'll review tomorrow.) Well, be sure & study! That's your assignment for homework‚ to study that chronology. From what date? (David: From 4,000 to 90!) Four thousand what? (David: 4,000 B.C. to 90 A.D.!) Right! Very good, Son! You're a good student.—You too, Techi! OK! Praise the Lord!

Charts‚ tables & picture captions:

Pg. 2:

(10 tribes), (2 tribes)

Pg. 4:

The Julian Calendar. By the time of Julius Caesar, accumulated errors caused by the incorrect length of the Roman year had made the calendar about three months ahead of the seasons. Winter occurred in September, and autumn came in the month now called July. In 46 B.C., Caesar asked the astronomer Sosigenes to review the calendar and suggest ways for improving it. He divided the year into 12 months of 31 and 30 days‚ except for February, which had only 28 days. Every fourth year‚ it would have 29 days. He also moved the beginning of the year from March 1 to January 1. To realign the calendar with the seasons, Caesar ruled that the year we know as 46 B.C. should have 445 days. The Romans called it the year of confusion. The Julian calendar was widely used for more than 1,500 years. It provided for a year that lasted 365 1/4 days. But it was actually about 11 minutes and 14 seconds longer than the solar year. This difference led to a gradual change in the dates on which the seasons began. By 1580, the spring equinox fell on March 11‚ or 10 days earlier than it should.

The Gregorian Calendar was designed to correct the errors of the Julian calendar. In 1582, on the advice of astronomers, Pope Gregory XIII corrected the difference between sun and calendar by ordering 10 days dropped from October. The day that would have been Oct. 5, 1582, became October 15. This procedure restored the next equinox to its proper date. To correct the Julian calendar's error regularly, the pope decreed that February would have an extra day (in addition to the regular leap years) in century years that could be divided by 400, such as 1600 and 2000, but not in others, such as 1700, 1800, and 1900. The Gregorian calendar is so accurate that the difference between the calendar and solar years is now only about 26 seconds. The Roman Catholic nations of Europe adopted the Gregorian calendar almost immediately. Various German states kept the Julian calendar until 1700. Great Britain and the American Colonies changed to the Gregorian calendar in 1752. Russia did not adopt it until 1918, and Turkey changed to it in 1927.

Pg. 5:

Retaining Wall, Fill‚ Temple, Mount Moriah

MODEL OF HEROD'S TEMPLE

The Temple of Herod, showing the different elevations of the various courts.

T.—The Temple proper, containing the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies.

C.A.—The Castle of Antonia, the barracks of the Roman soldiers.

S.P.—Solomon's Porch, a beautiful series of columns extending along the front of the Temple area.

Pg. 7: [Adjust margins & tabs as necessary]

AGE OF THE EARTH CHART

Bible ReferencesGenealogiesAgeEarth'sActual *Dates

Gen.5:1,2The Creation of Adam6 days4220 B.C.

Gen.5:3Creation of Adam to birth of Seth130 yrs.130 yrs.4090 B.C.

Gen.5:6Birth of Seth to birth of Enos105 yrs.235 yrs.3985 B.C.

Gen.5:9Birth of Enos to birth of Cainan90 yrs.325 yrs.3895 B.C.

Gen.5:12Birth of Cainan to birth of Mahalaleel70 yrs.395 yrs.3825 B.C.

Gen.5:15Birth of Mahalaleel to birth of Jared65 yrs.460 yrs.3760 B.C.

Gen.5:18Birth of Jared to birth of Enoch162 yrs.622 yrs.3598 B.C.

Gen.5:21Birth of Enoch to birth of Methuselah65 yrs.687 yrs.3533 B.C.

Gen.5:25Birth of Methuselah to birth of Lamech187 yrs.874 yrs.3346 B.C.

Gen.5:28‚29Birth of Lamech to birth of Noah182 yrs.1056 yrs.3164 B.C.

Gen.7:6Birth of Noah to the Flood600 yrs.1656 yrs.2564 B.C.

Gen.11:10The Flood to the birth of Arphaxad2 yrs.1658 yrs.2562 B.C.

Gen.11:12Birth of Arphaxad to birth of Salah35 yrs.1693 yrs.2527 B.C.

Gen.11:14Birth of Salah to birth of Eber30 yrs.1723 yrs.2497 B.C.

Gen.11:16Birth of Eber to birth of Peleg34 yrs.1757 yrs.2463 B.C.

Gen.11:18Birth of Peleg to birth of Reu30 yrs.1787 yrs.2433 B.C.

Gen.11:20Birth of Reu to birth of Serug32 yrs.1819 yrs.2401 B.C.

Gen.11:22Birth of Serug to birth of Nahor30 yrs.1849 yrs.2371 B.C.

Gen.11:24Birth of Nahor to birth of Terah29 yrs.1878 yrs.2342 B.C.

Gen.11:26**Birth of Terah to birth of Abram130 yrs.2008 yrs.2212 B.C.

Gen.21:5Birth of Abraham to birth of Isaac100 yrs.2108 yrs.2112 B.C.

Gen.25:26Birth of Isaac to birth of Jacob60 yrs.2168 yrs.2052 B.C.

Gen.47:5-12Birth of Jacob to entering Egypt130 yrs.2298 yrs.1922 B.C.

Ex.12:40,41Entering Egypt to Exodus430 yrs.2728 yrs.1492 B.C.

1Kg.6:1Exodus from Egypt to beginning of construction of Solomon's Temple480 yrs.3208 yrs.1012 B.C.

B.C./A.D.1012 B.C. to year 0 A.D.1012 yrs.4220 yrs.0 B.C. - A.D.

A.D. Year 0 to today1991 yrs.6211 yrs.1991 A.D.

Total years from Creation to 19916211 yrs.

* All references are from the King James Version of the Bible

** Compare with Acts 7:4; Gen.11:32; 12:4,5. (See LNFs 134.)

Our purpose for republishing this Age of the Earth Chart is to make it clear that the Bible very definitely tells us that the Earth is approximately 6,000 years old, & not 6 million or 6 billion years old as the anti-God evolutionists claim! But we are not publishing this to pinpoint the exact year of Creation or the Flood, the Exodus‚ etc. Many great Bible scholars have minor disagreements on the exact year that some of these events occurred, but all of their dates fall within a few years of each other. So in his classes Dad gives dates in round numbers, approximate dates. Trying to nail down specific dates is the kind of thing that the churches & their theologians have split doctrinal hairs over for centuries, & they still can't agree on all of these dates!

The Bible warns us to avoid "doubtful disputations" & to "neither give heed to fables and endless genealogies, which minister questions, rather than godly edifying which is in faith!"—Rom.14:1; 1Tim.1:4. So we hope you can take these references as ample proof that our Planet is indeed around 6,000 years old, without getting into exhaustive & time-consuming studying & hairsplitting of the "endless genealogies" of the Patriarchs! Amen? Thanks! God bless you!

Copyright (c) 1998 by The Family