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The Scriptures are verbally inspired of God, who gave the thoughts and the very words by which every shade of idea was to be expressed. Everything, therefore, in the Scriptures has a significance regardless of whether or not we discover its import.<\/p>\n
If one will only glance through the Old Testament, one will see that there is much chronological data presented. Especially is this true in the historical portions of the Word. Furthermore, the prophets often dated their predictions, telling us that a certain oracle was received and delivered in a specific year, in a certain month, and on a given day. God would never have put all of this chronological data in the Bible if there had not been a purpose for it.<\/p>\n
Why did He put so very much emphasis on this subject? A little thought will clarify the issue. All things in the world are related. Life is a series of sequences. One must understand when a statement was made, under what conditions, to whom, and for what purpose, if he is to evaluate the utterance correctly and accurately. Only when we have all the data in mind respecting any one statement or fact, can we see the subject in its proper perspective.<\/p>\n
The Old Testament, for instance, contains an overwhelming mass of material. Of course, Israel occupies the central position on the historic stage. All other nations are mentioned only in relation to this prepared and called people. The details concerning the national life of Israel are innumerable; although, as a rule, the current of events eddy around certain outstanding individuals. Nevertheless, there is an almost unbelievable wealth of material and information in the Old Testament Scriptures.<\/p>\n
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All these details are but a jumble of facts and incidents if they are not properly related, one to the other. The chronological data of the Scriptures serve the same purpose to the rest of the material that our skeletons do to our bodies. If, by some secret process, every bone in our bodies could be eliminated, we would fall down in one mass of flesh. But with our skeletons, each organ of the body can function as intended by the Almighty, and we can perform our duties. To one who knows the chronology of the Scriptures, they constitute a living organism, standing erect and functioning, as He intended, for our good and God’s glory.<\/p>\n
To be more specific, allow me to give one illustration. In I Corinthians 15:52, Paul, in speaking of the rapture of the church, says that it will occur at the last trump. This Corinthian letter was written either in 57 or 58 A.D. The Book of Revelation was written, according to the best scholars, in the days of Domitian, the Roman emperor, in 96 A.D. In Revelation 11:15 we read that the angel who had the seventh, the last, trumpet sounded it. This is done in the very middle of the Tribulation, as one who is familiar with that book realizes. Some earnest students connect Paul’s statement with reference to the rapture’s occurring at the last trumpet and conclude that his reference is to the seventh or last trumpet of Revelation. Upon this supposition, these excellent brethren conclude that the rapture takes place in the middle of the Tribulation. But this is not at all a necessary inference. When one realizes that the Corinthian letter was written no later than 58 A.D. and that Revelation was given in 96 A.D. \u2014 practically 40 years later \u2014 he can readily see that Paul did not have the trumpets of Revelation in mind. In fact, we may be absolutely certain in asserting that Paul knew nothing about the seven trumpets of Revelation, because the message of that book had not been given his day. It is therefore illogical for one to build a theory regarding the rapture upon the supposed connection between the Corinthian and Thessalonian letters and Revelation. A knowledge of the chronological development of the New Testament precludes such a supposition.<\/p>\n
In every department of life in our western civilization, all our thinking is in terms of what is known popularly as the Ussher system of chronology. This computation naturally divides into two sections: the time before the birth of Christ, which is spoken of as \u201cbefore Christ or B.C.,\u201d and the time since His birth, which is thought of in the term Anno Domini<\/em>, \u201cin the year of our Lord.\u201d<\/p>\n Many chronologers have done most excellent endeavoring to ascertain the exact time from the history to the present moment. At the same time many mistakes have been made. Anything which man does is marred by imperfections and errors. Mistakes therefore have been made by the different chronologers.<\/p>\n As is well known by most students, our present reckoning time is based upon the calculation of the heathen astronomer, Ptolemy. Christian chronologers, beginning with Africanus, who was followed by Eusebius, the father of church history, have accepted in most instances, without questioning, the system which was worked out by this heathen astronomer. This is a very unfortunate situation, which should be corrected if possible. It is utterly impossible to reconcile the scriptures and the chronology set forth in them with the system which was worked out by Ptolemy. Because of the great gulf between his system and the scriptural data, those chronologers who have accepted without question his calculation, have had to force in many instance strained meanings upon the Hebrew text of the Old Testament meanings which the words will not allow. Furthermore, many facts had to be warped and distorted in order to make biblical prophecy fit into this heathen system of chronology.<\/p>\n We praise God for all the efforts that have been made by scholars to unravel the tangles of the chronological question. Of all those who have labored in this field, in my judgment, the late Martin Anstey, building upon the ascertained facts of his predecessors, went back to the biblical basis and showed us the true system of chronology which is set forth therein. He did a monumental work when he produced his two volumes entitled The Romance of Biblical Chronology<\/em>.<\/p>\n Dr. G. Campbell Morgan, the well-known Bible teacher, wrote the preface to this work. Because of the importance of Mr. Anstey’s treatise, I wish to quote Dr. Morgan’s introduction:<\/p>\n It is with pleasure, and yet with reluctance, that I have consented to preface this book with any words of mine.<\/p>\n The reluctance is due to the fact that the work is so lucidly done, that any setting forth of the method or purpose by way of introduction would be a work of supererogation. The pleasure results from the fact that the book is the outcome of our survey of the Historic movement in the redeeming activity of God as seen in the Old Testament, in the Westminster Bible School. While I was giving lectures on that subject, it was my good fortune to have the cooperation of Mr. Martin Anstey, in a series of lectures on these dates. My work was that of sweeping over large areas, and largely ignoring dates. He gave his attention to these, and the result is the present volume which is invaluable to the Bible Teacher, on account of its completeness and detailed accuracy. Bible study is the study of the Bible. There are many methods and departments; none is without value; all of them, when done thoroughly rather than superficially, tend to the deepening of conviction as to the accuracy of the records.<\/p>\n In no case is this more marked than in departments which are incidental rather than essential. If, in such a matter as that of dates \u2014 which seems to be purely incidental, and is of such a general nature that few have taken the trouble to pay particular attention to it \u2014 the method of careful study shows that these apparently incidental references are nevertheless accurate and harmonious, then a testimony full of value is borne to the integrity of the writings.<\/p>\n To this work Mr. Anstey has given himself, with great care, and much scholarship. The results are full of fascination, and are almost startling in their revelation of the harmony of the Biblical scheme.<\/p>\n The method has been that of independent study of the writings themselves, with an open mind, and determination to hide nothing, and to explain nothing away. The careful and patient student is the only person who will be able to appreciate the value of this work; and all such will come to its study with, thankfulness to the Author; and having minds equally open and honest, will be able to verify or correct. In this-process, I venture to affirm that the corrections will be few, and the verification constant.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n The late Dr. James M. Gray, President of the Moody Bible Institute, in the Christian Worker’s Magazine (now Moody Monthly<\/em>) in the issue of February, 1914, wrote the following review of Mr. Anstey’s monumental work, The Romance of Bible Chronology<\/em>:<\/p>\n An Exposition of the Meaning and a Demonstration of the Truth, of every Chronological Statement Contained in the Hebrew Text of the Old Testament. By the Rev. Martin Anstey, B.D., M.A. (Lond.), London and Edinburgh: Marshall Brothers, Limited …<\/p>\n In a preface by the author he says that the studies in these two volumes exhibit the exact chronological location of every dated event in the Old Testament, his object being the production of a standard chronology from the statements contained in the text itself. No other dates are given, and all approximate or estimated dates are omitted as well as those which, while probable, are nevertheless not guaranteed by the text. Such dates as secular history and modern discovery make known appear in the chapters on comparative chronological tables of Vol. II, but are excluded from those on the chronology of the Old Testament itself. His position is the scientific one that there is no room for any date that is not demonstrably true.<\/p>\n Dr. G. Campbell Morgan writes a foreword for the book, in which he speaks of it as almost startling in its revelation of the harmony of the Biblical scheme. We have not had time to peruse it with the carefulness that we intend, but feel that we ought not to delay longer in calling attention to so remarkable a production which, so far as we know, stands without a rival, and which is the outcome of many years of the patient study and research of a scholar and a devout follower of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ.\u201d \u2014 J. M. G.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Pivotal Dates in Biblical History The Scriptures are verbally inspired of God, who gave the thoughts and the very words by which every shade of idea was to be expressed. Everything, therefore, in the Scriptures has a significance regardless of whether or not we discover its import. If one will only glance through the Old … <\/p>\n