Can Biblical Chronology Be Trusted?
by E. Ray Clendenen
The Bible is not a book of philosophical or ethical principles, although it contains them. It is a book about how God has made Himself known in history. Its message is timeless in that the nature of God and man has not changed. But the framework of that message, which holds it together and cannot be extracted from it, is the story of what God has said and done in history.
Chronology is the foundation of history; without it, history is a swarm of events with no relationship to each other or to us. Relative chronology places events before or after (or simultaneous with) each other. Absolute chronology relates events to us by fixing them on our conventional time line in terms of b.c. or a.d.
The Bible is full of relative chronology. For example, we are told that Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born (Gn 21:5), that the Israelites lived in Egypt for 430 years (Ex 12:40), that Israel wandered in the wilderness for 40 years (Nm 32:13), and that Judah's exile lasted for 70 years (Jr 25:11-12). But no absolute dates are given for any of these or other biblical events. Does this situation leave us unable to confirm or deny biblical chronology? This is not the case for two reasons.
First, the Bible's relative chronology can be shown to be internally consistent. Israel's time in Egypt, the wilderness, and the exile, for example, is consistently given in many different places. Chronological differences between Kings and Chronicles have been closely examined and have yielded to reasonable methods of harmonization.
Second, the historical accounts in both OT and NT intersect at various points the histories of surrounding nations such as Egypt, Assyria, Babylon, Persia, and Rome, whose chronologies have been established to a high degree of accuracy. Assyrian chronology, for example, is set according to an eclipse known to have occurred on June 15, 763 b.c.
Problems still remain. Differences between ancient and modern calendars, for example, often require the giving of alternate dates in the form 931/0 b.c. Furthermore, different methods of harmonizing the dates of biblical kings yield slightly different results.
Even conservative scholars do not always agree on how a particular chronological reference should be interpreted. For example, some scholars argue that many numbers in the Bible are figurative, especially 40 and its multiples. These scholars prefer in some cases to give priority to archaeological clues in establishing biblical chronology. Thus the patriarchal period is often dated to the Middle Bronze Age between about 1800–1600 b.c. It is also supposed that the Hebrews migrated to Egypt during the Hyksos period (about 1700–1500 b.c.), when Semitic people ruled Egypt. The exodus is then associated with the reign of Rameses II shortly after 1290 b.c. Following the wilderness period, the conquest of Canaan would have begun about 1250 b.c. Pharaoh Merneptah (1224–1214 b.c.) mounted a campaign against Canaan in the fifth year of his reign (about 1220). In his record of that campaign, he mentioned that, among others, Israel was utterly destroyed. Thus, by that date, the people Israel were a recognized group in Canaan.
Assuming a literal interpretation of 1 Kings 6:1, however, the exodus occurred in 1446 b.c. and the conquest period lasted about seven years around 1400 b.c. Continuing backward, based on Exodus 12:40, Jacob's migration to Egypt would have been in 1876 b.c. Data regarding the ages of the patriarchs would place their births at 2006 b.c. for Jacob (Gn 47:9), 2066 b.c. for Isaac (Gn 25:26), and 2166 b.c. for Abraham (Gn 21:5). Because the genealogical lists in Genesis are believed by most to be intentionally incomplete or "open," attempts are usually not made to establish historical dates prior to Abraham (see "Are the Genealogies Reliable?" in the notes on Genesis).
The NT is not much concerned with when events took place, with Luke being somewhat the exception. Luke tells us, for example, that Jesus was 12 when His parents lost Him in Jerusalem (Lk 2:42) and was about 30 at the beginning of His ministry (Lk 3:23). Both references are altogether reasonable. Luke 3:1 gives what appears to set the date for John the Baptist's ministry—"In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, while Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod was tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of the region of Iturea and Trachonitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene." There is nothing problematic about this date except the interpretation of Tiberius's fifteenth year, the determination of which depends on the beginning point and which calendar Luke had in mind.
Due to an error by a sixth-century Scythian monk who was responsible for our current Western calendar, Jesus' birth actually occurred in the b.c. era, perhaps in late 5 b.c. We know that Herod the Great, who was alive when Jesus was born, died between March 12/13 and April 11, 4 b.c.
Unfortunately the date of Jesus' crucifixion is uncertain. Although the majority opinion is that it occurred in a.d. 30, a good argument can be made for a.d. 33. Our knowledge of Roman history allows us to determine that Herod Agrippa and therefore the events of Acts 12 occurred in a.d. 44.
There is no credible reason, then, to question the Bible's historical chronology, even though at times we wish we had more information.
What Does the Bible Teach About Angels?
by Ron Rhodes
• The NT speaks of angels more than 165 times; the OT more than 100 times.
• The angels were created prior to God's creation of the earth (Jb 38:7; Ps
148:2-5).
• Humans do not become angels at the moment of death (1 Co 6:3; 13:1).
• All the angels were created by God as good angels (Gn 1:31).
• The angels were apparently subjected to a period of probation. Some angels
remained loyal to God; others did not.
• An angel rebellion, headed by the evil one, arose against God. Apparently the
evil one became so impressed with himself that he wanted to take God's place.
He came to be referred to as Satan, meaning "adversary." One-third of the
angels followed him in this rebellion (Ezk 28:11-19; 2 Pt 2:4; Rv 12:3-4,10), becoming what the Bible calls demons.
• The holy angels live in heaven (Is 6:1-6; Dn 7:10; Heb 12:22). When they are assigned a task by God, they leave heaven, complete their work on earth, and then return to heaven.
• Angels are personal beings, with minds (2 Sm 14:20), emotions (Heb 12:22), and wills (Rv 22:8-9).
• Angels are incorporeal (lacking material form) and invisible (Heb 1:14). We are thus generally unaware of their activities around us (2 Kg 6:17).
• Angels can nevertheless take on human appearance when their assigned task calls for it (Gn 18:1-8; Heb 13:2).
• Angels are localized beings. They are not "everywhere present" like God. They have to move from one place to another (Dn 9:21-23).
• Angels are extremely powerful; they are described as "mighty" (Ps 103:20).
• God's angels are holy ("set apart"). They are set apart from sin and set apart unto God to do His bidding (Jb 5:1; Ps 89:7).
• The holy angels are unreservedly obedient to God (Ps 103:20).
• Angels are immortal, though created. Once created (Ps 148:2-6), they never cease to exist (Lk 20:36).
• The angels are innumerable (Rv 5:11). Daniel 7:10 makes reference to "ten thousand times ten thousand" angels (100 million angels).
• Angels are called "ministering spirits" (Heb 1:14). The word "ministering" comes from a Greek word meaning "serve." Angels, then, are spirit servants who render aid to the heirs of salvation in the outworking of God's purposes on earth.
• This service takes many forms, including being used by God in answering believers' prayers (Ac 12:7), bringing announcements and warnings to God's people (Lk 1:13; Ac 10:3-33), giving encouragement (Ac 27:23-24), providing protection (Ps 91:11), giving guidance (Gn 19:17), providing deliverance
(Ac 12:7), and caring for believers at the moment of death (Lk 16:22).
• Many believe that every Christian has a specific guardian angel throughout life (Mt 18:10; Ac 12:15). Others believe that angels are charged with different assignments as God directs (Ps 91:11).
• Angels are organized by rank, including thrones, powers, rulers, authorities, and dominions (Eph 1:20-21; Col 1:16), but the details and nature of these ranks are not revealed to us.
• Among unbelievers, angels restrain wickedness (Gn 19:1-15), announce God's judgments (Rv 14:7-10), execute God's judgments (Ac 12:23; Rv 16:1-18), and in the end times cast them "into the blazing furnace" (Mt 13:37-43).
• In the afterlife Christians will judge angels (1 Co 6:3).