Here is a interesting study....
'TIMELINES AND TIME SETTING
1. DEFINITION OF THE GIFT OF PROPHECY
‘’We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed; as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man : but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’’ 2 Peter 1 : 20, 21.
‘’For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.’’ Revelation 19: 10.
PROPHECY: H5012 G4394 To speak or sing by inspiration – in prediction or simple discourse, foretell.
2. ENOCH THE FIRST PROPHET AMONG MANKIND
‘’And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the LORD cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds…’’ Jude 1: 14, 15.
‘’Enoch was the first prophet among mankind. He foretold by prophecy the second coming of Christ to our world, and his work at that time. His life was a specimen of Christ’s consistency… His prophecy is not found in the writings of the Old Testament… but Jude, a prophet of God, mentions the work of Enoch.’’ MS 43, 1900.
3. KNOWLEDGE PASSED ON FROM ADAM
a. Before the Flood
Enoch, the 7th generation from Adam, knew Adam personally. According to Genesis 5, Adam died at 930 years old, 726 years before the flood. He was 687 years old when Enoch was born. In fact, Adam lived till Lamech, the father of Noah, was 56 years old. Lamech was the 9th generation, Noah the 10th generation and Shem his son, the 11th generation from Adam before the flood.
Enoch was translated at the age of 365 years old. Adam lived until Enoch was 243 years old. Much knowledge was passed on to the generations before the flood by Adam personally till the 9th generation of Lamech who instructed his son Noah who in turn, instructed Shem.
‘’For nearly a thousand years Adam lived among men, a witness to the results of sin. Faithfully, he sought to stem the tide of evil. He had been commanded to instruct his posterity in the way of the Lord; and he carefully treasured what God had revealed to him, and repeated it to succeeding generations. To his children and children’s children, to the ninth generations, he described man’s holy and happy estate in Paradise, and repeated the history of his fall…
Adam had learned from the Creator the history of creation; he himself witness the events of nine centuries; and he imparted that knowledge to his descendants. The antediluvians were without books, they had no written records; but with their great physical and mental vigor, they had strong memories, able to grasp and to retain that which was communicated to them, and in turn to transmit it unimpaired to their posterity… The advantages enjoyed by men of that age to gain a knowledge of God through His works, have never been equaled since. And so far from being an era of religious darkness, that was an age of great light.’’ PP. 82, 83.
b. After the Flood:
According to Genesis 9: 29 Noah lived 349 years (he came out of the ark at 601 years old) after the flood and died at 950 years old. He lived longer than Adam who died at 930 years old, 726 years before the flood. Noah lived till the 9th generation after the flood till Terah, the father of Abraham. Terah was 29 years old when Noah died.
In Genesis 11: 10, we are told that Shem was 100 years old and begat his first son, 2 years after the flood. Shem lived to see 11 generations after the flood. Abraham was 110 years old when Shem was 550 years old when Isaac was 60 years old and begat the twin brothers Esau and Jacob. Jacob was 50 years old when Shem died at 600 years old. Shem passed on his knowledge of the antediluvian era till Jacob’s, the 11th generation and maybe Reuben 12th generation since Esau was 40 years old when he married an Hittite woman (Gen. 26: 34), previous to the episode with Jacob and the birthright in Genesis 27.
There are reasons to believe that Melchisedeck, the king of Salem and priest of the Most High, was Shem to whom Abraham paid tithes in Genesis14:18. Abraham’s name was still Abram, thus he was younger than 100 years old, his sons Ismael (Gen.16) and Isaac (Gen. 20) were not born yet.
At the beginning, knowledge was passed on orally from father to son. Moses was the first inspired writer of the Bible who wrote the first 5 books of the Bible called the Pentateuch or Torah and related the story of Creation to the time of the generation who entered Canaan under Joshua. Moses died at 120 years old.
4. TIMELINES IN THE BIBLE
The timelines in the Bible are the measurable aspect of duration of events, genealogy, chronology, period in history, age, era, season, freedom, slavery, deportation, kings’ reign and the like.
A. Genealogy and Flood Timelines:
The Bible has a number of timelines, the first one being the genealogy of Genesis 5, before the flood and 11, after the flood, related with the age of the lifespan and death of every male firstborn for each generation.
The Biblical timelines are spoken of in days, months and years as the story of the flood for example: ‘’And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.’’ Genesis 6:3.
‘’God determined to purify the world by a flood; but in mercy and love, He gave the antediluvians a probation of 120 years. During this time, while the ark was building, the voices of Noah, Methuselah, and many others were heard in warning and entreaty, and every blow struck on the ark was a warning message.’’ RH. Sept. 19, 1907.
As related in Genesis 7 and 8, Noah was 600 years old when he entered the ark, on the 10th of the 2nd month of the civil calendar year (starting Tishri or 7th month – Lev. 25: 9), and remained in the ark till the 27th of the 2nd month of his 601 year. Exactly one year and 17 days from his entry in the ark and 1 year and 10 days from the rain that caused the flood.
B. Chronology from Abraham to Israel’s Deliverance from Egypt – a 430 years Prophecy:
‘’In Genesis 15:13 we read that the Lord said 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.’ This text raises the questions whether the 400 years refer to the time of affliction or sojourning, or both, and what the relation of the 400 years is to the 430 years of Exodus 12:40, 41, and Galatians 3: 16, 17.
The statement in Exodus 12:40, that ‘the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years’ gives the impression that the Israelites, actually spent 430 years in the country of the Nile. That this impression cannot be correct is obvious from Paul’s inspired interpretation presented in Galatians 3: 16, 17, where the 430 years are said to cover the period beginning when God made His covenant with Abraham until the law was promulgated at Sinai.
Paul seems to refer to the first promise made by God to Abraham when he was called to leave Haran. Genesis 12: 1-3. At that time the 430 years began, when Abraham was 75 years old (Gen. 12: 4), while the 400 years of the prophecy of Genesis 15:13 began 30 years later, when Abraham was 105 years old and his son Isaac, 5 years old (Gen. 21:5).’’
Until his death at 175 years old (Gen. 25:7), Abraham and his following generations encountered many troubles though Ishmael persecuting Isaac, Jacob fleeing from Esau, Jacob fleeing from Laban, had to face his brother Esau again, Joseph being sold by his brethren and the children of Israel being oppressed by the Egyptians for many decades.
‘’The time from Abraham’s to Jacob’s entry into Egypt was 215 years, being a total of:
1. 25 years lying between Abraham’s years and the birth of Isaac (Gen. 12:4; 21:5).
2. 60 years lying between Isaac’s birth and Jacob’s birth (Gen. 25: 26).
3. The age of Jacob (130 years old) at the time of his migration into Egypt (Gen. 47:9).
4. For a total of 215 years which leaves 215 years of the 430 as the actual time the Hebrews spend in Egypt. Hence the 430 years of Exodus 12: 40 includes the sojourn of the patriarchs in Canaan as well as their stay in Egypt. Since in the times of Moses, Palestine (Canaan) was part of the Egyptian Empire, it is not strange to find an author of that period including Canaan in term of ‘Egypt.’
5. An additional corroboration of the interpretation of the 430 years given above is found in the prophecy that the 4th generation of those who entered Egypt would leave it (Gen. 15: 16) and its recorded fulfillment in Exodus 6: 16 – 20.’’ PP. 759, 760, Appendix.
C. Appointed Times of Leviticus 23 used in 1844
1. The appointed times of Passover and Unleavened Bread mark the exodus from Egypt as the Israelites came out of Egypt at the Spring feasts.
2. Messiah came centuries later in the fullness of time and died at the appointed times of Passover, rested at Unleavened Bread and resurrected at Firstfruits. He send the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to mark His inauguration in heaven and his work in the Holy Place, in fulfillment of the Spring Feasts at His first coming in AD 31.
3. In October 22, 1844, Christ entered at the Fall appointed time of the Day of Atonement.
4. He is coming again the second time, at the Feast of Tabernacles which was also celebrate in the 7th month, 5 days following the Day of Atonement, the Day of Judgment.
D. Timeline of Jeremiah’s Prophecy of Israel’s Deportation
‘’And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the King of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the King of Babylon… and I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.’’ Jeremiah 24: 11 – 13.
‘’In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seeds of the Medes which was king over the realm of the Chaldeans; in the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem.’’ Daniel 9: 1, 2.
After Jeremiah had written this prophecy of the 70 years, around 597 BC, Daniel already had been deported to Babylon in 605 BC. 70 years later, Daniel knew from the dramatic events of the take over of Babylon by Cyrus, defeating Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, that the 70 years had expired. An old man by then, Daniel did not participate in the return under Ezra, Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, Haggai.
Zechariah which dates may be reckoned as such:
a. Jeremiah: 597 BC – Prophet under king Zedekiah, son of Josiah (597 – 586 BC).
b. Daniel: Deportation around 605 BC under Jehoiakim (609-598 BC) second son of Josiah --- Babylon first captivity – and Babylon fall in 539 BC. (609 – 539 = 70 years).
c. Zerubbabel: Through Daniel, Cyrus became acquainted with Isaiah’s prophecies concerning him and his appointed role in behalf of His people (Isa. 44:21 to 45:13) and granted their restoration. PK. 557.
Under the of Zerubbabel, the Jews returned to Israel, reorganize the sacrificial service and the beginning of the rebuilding of the temple.
d. Haggai and Zechariah: finished the temple and dedicated it in 515 BC.
e. Ezra: In was during a serious rebellion in Egypt (463-454 BC) that Ezra received major concessions for the Jews under Artaxerxes, to restore the government of Israel and the law of God.
f. Nehemiah: Around the same time, Nehemiah was appointed governor of Judea, and completed the rebuilding of the city wall. He served as governor for two terms, and proved to be an able organizer and religious leader.'
'TIMELINES AND TIME SETTING
1. DEFINITION OF THE GIFT OF PROPHECY
‘’We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed; as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts. Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the Scripture is of any private interpretation. For the prophecy came not in old time by the will of man : but holy men of God spake as they were moved by the Holy Ghost.’’ 2 Peter 1 : 20, 21.
‘’For the testimony of Jesus is the Spirit of Prophecy.’’ Revelation 19: 10.
PROPHECY: H5012 G4394 To speak or sing by inspiration – in prediction or simple discourse, foretell.
2. ENOCH THE FIRST PROPHET AMONG MANKIND
‘’And Enoch also, the seventh from Adam, prophesied of these, saying, Behold, the LORD cometh with ten thousands of his saints, to execute judgment upon all, and to convince all that are ungodly among them of all their ungodly deeds…’’ Jude 1: 14, 15.
‘’Enoch was the first prophet among mankind. He foretold by prophecy the second coming of Christ to our world, and his work at that time. His life was a specimen of Christ’s consistency… His prophecy is not found in the writings of the Old Testament… but Jude, a prophet of God, mentions the work of Enoch.’’ MS 43, 1900.
3. KNOWLEDGE PASSED ON FROM ADAM
a. Before the Flood
Enoch, the 7th generation from Adam, knew Adam personally. According to Genesis 5, Adam died at 930 years old, 726 years before the flood. He was 687 years old when Enoch was born. In fact, Adam lived till Lamech, the father of Noah, was 56 years old. Lamech was the 9th generation, Noah the 10th generation and Shem his son, the 11th generation from Adam before the flood.
Enoch was translated at the age of 365 years old. Adam lived until Enoch was 243 years old. Much knowledge was passed on to the generations before the flood by Adam personally till the 9th generation of Lamech who instructed his son Noah who in turn, instructed Shem.
‘’For nearly a thousand years Adam lived among men, a witness to the results of sin. Faithfully, he sought to stem the tide of evil. He had been commanded to instruct his posterity in the way of the Lord; and he carefully treasured what God had revealed to him, and repeated it to succeeding generations. To his children and children’s children, to the ninth generations, he described man’s holy and happy estate in Paradise, and repeated the history of his fall…
Adam had learned from the Creator the history of creation; he himself witness the events of nine centuries; and he imparted that knowledge to his descendants. The antediluvians were without books, they had no written records; but with their great physical and mental vigor, they had strong memories, able to grasp and to retain that which was communicated to them, and in turn to transmit it unimpaired to their posterity… The advantages enjoyed by men of that age to gain a knowledge of God through His works, have never been equaled since. And so far from being an era of religious darkness, that was an age of great light.’’ PP. 82, 83.
b. After the Flood:
According to Genesis 9: 29 Noah lived 349 years (he came out of the ark at 601 years old) after the flood and died at 950 years old. He lived longer than Adam who died at 930 years old, 726 years before the flood. Noah lived till the 9th generation after the flood till Terah, the father of Abraham. Terah was 29 years old when Noah died.
In Genesis 11: 10, we are told that Shem was 100 years old and begat his first son, 2 years after the flood. Shem lived to see 11 generations after the flood. Abraham was 110 years old when Shem was 550 years old when Isaac was 60 years old and begat the twin brothers Esau and Jacob. Jacob was 50 years old when Shem died at 600 years old. Shem passed on his knowledge of the antediluvian era till Jacob’s, the 11th generation and maybe Reuben 12th generation since Esau was 40 years old when he married an Hittite woman (Gen. 26: 34), previous to the episode with Jacob and the birthright in Genesis 27.
There are reasons to believe that Melchisedeck, the king of Salem and priest of the Most High, was Shem to whom Abraham paid tithes in Genesis14:18. Abraham’s name was still Abram, thus he was younger than 100 years old, his sons Ismael (Gen.16) and Isaac (Gen. 20) were not born yet.
At the beginning, knowledge was passed on orally from father to son. Moses was the first inspired writer of the Bible who wrote the first 5 books of the Bible called the Pentateuch or Torah and related the story of Creation to the time of the generation who entered Canaan under Joshua. Moses died at 120 years old.
4. TIMELINES IN THE BIBLE
The timelines in the Bible are the measurable aspect of duration of events, genealogy, chronology, period in history, age, era, season, freedom, slavery, deportation, kings’ reign and the like.
A. Genealogy and Flood Timelines:
The Bible has a number of timelines, the first one being the genealogy of Genesis 5, before the flood and 11, after the flood, related with the age of the lifespan and death of every male firstborn for each generation.
The Biblical timelines are spoken of in days, months and years as the story of the flood for example: ‘’And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh; yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years.’’ Genesis 6:3.
‘’God determined to purify the world by a flood; but in mercy and love, He gave the antediluvians a probation of 120 years. During this time, while the ark was building, the voices of Noah, Methuselah, and many others were heard in warning and entreaty, and every blow struck on the ark was a warning message.’’ RH. Sept. 19, 1907.
As related in Genesis 7 and 8, Noah was 600 years old when he entered the ark, on the 10th of the 2nd month of the civil calendar year (starting Tishri or 7th month – Lev. 25: 9), and remained in the ark till the 27th of the 2nd month of his 601 year. Exactly one year and 17 days from his entry in the ark and 1 year and 10 days from the rain that caused the flood.
B. Chronology from Abraham to Israel’s Deliverance from Egypt – a 430 years Prophecy:
‘’In Genesis 15:13 we read that the Lord said 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.’ This text raises the questions whether the 400 years refer to the time of affliction or sojourning, or both, and what the relation of the 400 years is to the 430 years of Exodus 12:40, 41, and Galatians 3: 16, 17.
The statement in Exodus 12:40, that ‘the sojourning of the children of Israel, who dwelt in Egypt, was four hundred and thirty years’ gives the impression that the Israelites, actually spent 430 years in the country of the Nile. That this impression cannot be correct is obvious from Paul’s inspired interpretation presented in Galatians 3: 16, 17, where the 430 years are said to cover the period beginning when God made His covenant with Abraham until the law was promulgated at Sinai.
Paul seems to refer to the first promise made by God to Abraham when he was called to leave Haran. Genesis 12: 1-3. At that time the 430 years began, when Abraham was 75 years old (Gen. 12: 4), while the 400 years of the prophecy of Genesis 15:13 began 30 years later, when Abraham was 105 years old and his son Isaac, 5 years old (Gen. 21:5).’’
Until his death at 175 years old (Gen. 25:7), Abraham and his following generations encountered many troubles though Ishmael persecuting Isaac, Jacob fleeing from Esau, Jacob fleeing from Laban, had to face his brother Esau again, Joseph being sold by his brethren and the children of Israel being oppressed by the Egyptians for many decades.
‘’The time from Abraham’s to Jacob’s entry into Egypt was 215 years, being a total of:
1. 25 years lying between Abraham’s years and the birth of Isaac (Gen. 12:4; 21:5).
2. 60 years lying between Isaac’s birth and Jacob’s birth (Gen. 25: 26).
3. The age of Jacob (130 years old) at the time of his migration into Egypt (Gen. 47:9).
4. For a total of 215 years which leaves 215 years of the 430 as the actual time the Hebrews spend in Egypt. Hence the 430 years of Exodus 12: 40 includes the sojourn of the patriarchs in Canaan as well as their stay in Egypt. Since in the times of Moses, Palestine (Canaan) was part of the Egyptian Empire, it is not strange to find an author of that period including Canaan in term of ‘Egypt.’
5. An additional corroboration of the interpretation of the 430 years given above is found in the prophecy that the 4th generation of those who entered Egypt would leave it (Gen. 15: 16) and its recorded fulfillment in Exodus 6: 16 – 20.’’ PP. 759, 760, Appendix.
C. Appointed Times of Leviticus 23 used in 1844
1. The appointed times of Passover and Unleavened Bread mark the exodus from Egypt as the Israelites came out of Egypt at the Spring feasts.
2. Messiah came centuries later in the fullness of time and died at the appointed times of Passover, rested at Unleavened Bread and resurrected at Firstfruits. He send the Holy Spirit at Pentecost to mark His inauguration in heaven and his work in the Holy Place, in fulfillment of the Spring Feasts at His first coming in AD 31.
3. In October 22, 1844, Christ entered at the Fall appointed time of the Day of Atonement.
4. He is coming again the second time, at the Feast of Tabernacles which was also celebrate in the 7th month, 5 days following the Day of Atonement, the Day of Judgment.
D. Timeline of Jeremiah’s Prophecy of Israel’s Deportation
‘’And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the King of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the King of Babylon… and I will bring upon that land all my words which I have pronounced against it, even all that is written in this book which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all the nations.’’ Jeremiah 24: 11 – 13.
‘’In the first year of Darius, the son of Ahasuerus, of the seeds of the Medes which was king over the realm of the Chaldeans; in the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by books the number of the years, whereof the word of the LORD came to Jeremiah the prophet, that he would accomplish seventy years in the desolation of Jerusalem.’’ Daniel 9: 1, 2.
After Jeremiah had written this prophecy of the 70 years, around 597 BC, Daniel already had been deported to Babylon in 605 BC. 70 years later, Daniel knew from the dramatic events of the take over of Babylon by Cyrus, defeating Belshazzar, the Babylonian king, that the 70 years had expired. An old man by then, Daniel did not participate in the return under Ezra, Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, Haggai.
Zechariah which dates may be reckoned as such:
a. Jeremiah: 597 BC – Prophet under king Zedekiah, son of Josiah (597 – 586 BC).
b. Daniel: Deportation around 605 BC under Jehoiakim (609-598 BC) second son of Josiah --- Babylon first captivity – and Babylon fall in 539 BC. (609 – 539 = 70 years).
c. Zerubbabel: Through Daniel, Cyrus became acquainted with Isaiah’s prophecies concerning him and his appointed role in behalf of His people (Isa. 44:21 to 45:13) and granted their restoration. PK. 557.
Under the of Zerubbabel, the Jews returned to Israel, reorganize the sacrificial service and the beginning of the rebuilding of the temple.
d. Haggai and Zechariah: finished the temple and dedicated it in 515 BC.
e. Ezra: In was during a serious rebellion in Egypt (463-454 BC) that Ezra received major concessions for the Jews under Artaxerxes, to restore the government of Israel and the law of God.
f. Nehemiah: Around the same time, Nehemiah was appointed governor of Judea, and completed the rebuilding of the city wall. He served as governor for two terms, and proved to be an able organizer and religious leader.'
