A Potted Timeline of the Old Testament

A Potted Timeline of the Old Testament

a simple Timeline to give you some idea of the historical flow of the word from God in the Old Testament

The Bible

Let’s take the Bible as the Word of God

Let’s take the dates as literal

Let’s take the years as being approximately the same as ours

After all the earth, the sun and the heavens still remain

The Historical Record

Let’s take the historical record as given

When we look at the Old Testament as an historical record and Timeline we will arrive at:

God created the world

About 6000 years ago

There is plenty of evidence to believe in a young earth

We are looking at timelines

NOT DISPENSATIONAL DIVISIONS

There are two dispensations – the old and the new

Don’t let teachings of “dispensational truths” rob you of the promises that God makes to you

Creation to the time of the flood

The creation was about 4000 BC.

In this potted Timeline we will stay with generalities

The flood was 2350 BC 1650 years after Adam

Tower of Babel 2250 BC 600 years after the flood

The timeline of the Old Testament

Shows Methuselah died not long before the flood

Shows that Lamech, Noah’s father, was born about 80 years before Adam died

Shows that Noah died while Abraham’s father was still living

After the flood lifespan is reduced

Adam lived for 930 years

Methuselah lived for 1000 years

Noah lived for 950 years

Abraham lived for 175 years

The History of the Israelites

Down in Egypt for about 400 years

They were ruled by judges for about 400 years

Then they demanded the King

United under one King

They lasted about 165 years

The kingdom split into the Northern Kingdom and The Southern Kingdom – Israel & Judah

The Northern Kingdom

lasted 200 years before the Assyrians disbursed them throughout the world

The Southern Kingdom

Lasted 340 years before being led captive into Babylon

The Babylonian Captivity

From the fall of Judah to the first refugees returning to Jerusalem was about 70 years

They came back in dribs and drabs

Babylon was going to be overthrown and God wanted Jerusalem and the temple rebuilt for the coming of the Messiah.

Between the Old and the New Testament

About 400 years with the Scriptures being quite silent about this period.

The Roman Empire occupies the country from about 65 BC for about 140 years

Julius Caesar rules the Roman Empire about 46 BC for about 90 years

Herod is the king of the Jews about 37 BC unto 4 AD

The time of Jesus and early New Testament

Jerusalem and the Temple sacked by Rome 70 A.D.

Judah and the Jews disbursed throughout the world

The church (the people of God) now

are those who follow the Lord Jesus Christ both Jew and Gentile in one body

this is not a political or secular kingdom

this is not a kingdom of this world

Here we are just over 2000 AD

We are waiting for the Lord to come again

Prophecy in the New Testament is not the same as prophecy in the Old Testament because no man knows the day or the date of his appearing.