Is the Bible a Reliable Timeline of the History of the World
August 08, 2008
It has been said that the Bible was not written to be a timeline and that is true, but the Bible was also not written to be a science textbook, a book on finance or a book on parenting.
The Bible was not written to give every known detail about any of the above subjects, but when it does speak about a given subject it is the authority on that matter because it comes with the authority of being God's Word. God's Word is authority, because God is the ultimate authority.
Since the Bible was not written to be a calendar do we dismiss the obvious and clear elements of time that are contained within it? We see clearly laid out genealogies, durations in years of kingly reigns, Jewish festivals tied tightly to a known calendar, short term events laid out over days and the sun, moon and stars to be “for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years” The Bible is laid out with the beginning starting in Genesis (which happens to mean “to come into being”) and ends with Revelation in which we see the final judgment and triumphant return of Jesus.
The Old Testament includes events occurring before Jesus birth and the New Testament includes events from His birth to the end. We see prophecies written (with known timeframes) before they are fulfilled, no surprise here. There are spans of time throughout the Old Testament in which events that occur before are written before and events that follow are written after.
Genealogies Are Key
Genealogies seem to be the backbone of the Old Testament. This backbone starts us with the first man, Adam and it moves ever diligently toward the last Adam, Jesus Christ. A promised kingly line is fulfilled in the birth of Jesus out of this chosen bloodline. In 1 Corinthians 15, Paul connects these two men by calling the man, Adam and the God-man, Jesus. Luke also connects these two men in his third chapter of Luke by listing the Jesus to Adam geneaology.
Is the Bible a timeline, no; is there a framework of time that runs from start to finish that can give us a very solid foundation upon which to stand? Yes. The purpose for understanding this chronological framework is simple; we need to see Jesus. In the beginning, Adam willfully disobeyed God and ushered in the execution of the promised penalty from God, death. We are born of this man, Adam (Romans 5:12) and thereby we too, are subject to this penalty. Only the promised coming of Jesus would pay the price of the penalty. Today we can accept the free gift of salvation and change family trees.
Is the Bible a reliable timeline of the history of the world? I say yes! Life is linear, we are born, we live and we die, but for those who are in Christ Jesus; we are born again and will live in eternity. Are you born again?