Bible Chronology Books By Eugene Faulstich
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History, Harmony, The Exile & Return
 

History, Harmony, The Exile & Return

Computers and Celestial Mechanics Makes a Difference.

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Chronology is the science of measuring time and of dating events in their proper order. Without chronology, it would be impossible to understand the sequence of historical events-- Biblical or non-Biblical. Chronology is the framework of history, i.e., the time structure of divine and human events.

In the Bible, time has significant value. The word ‘time’ occurs frequently in Scripture. The preacher of the book of Ecclesiastes indicates that there is time for every purpose and that time is the essence of history--

To everything there is a season,
and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

A time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

A time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;

A time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

A time to get, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

A time to rend, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

A time to love, and a time to hate;
a time of war, and a time of peace. Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

The preacher has recognized the importance and significance of time in relationship to the events of human life.

Time, of course, is the duration in which events happen in the past, present, and future. Time is the period between two events or during which something exists, happens, or acts. The events of history can only remain meaningful and accurate as long as they keep their proper rime sequence. Once the time sequence is distorted, the interpretation of those events tends to become distorted. An anachronism is the representation of something as existing or occurring at other than its proper time. Synchronism, on the other hand, is the proper chronological listing of personas or events in history. It is the goal of the chronologist to strive for synchronism in history and to remove the anachronisms that others have placed there.

The Bible as a history book is remarkably unique because it provides a system of ‘checks and balances’ which help to maintain accuracy in chronology, i.e., synchronism. It furnishes for the chronologist-- cross referencing, eclipses, cyclical phenomena, and time spans. Non-Biblical history provides references to solar and lunar eclipses, king lists, chronicles, dual dating, and ‘points of contact’, i.e., synchronism's of the non-Biblical history with the Biblical history. The chronologist is to strive to find harmony not only between time and events, but also between non-Biblical happenings and Biblical events, if possible, in any given period of time.

It is possible today, more than in past centuries, to achieve chronological accuracy for several reasons. First, archaeological discoveries have brought to light important ancient chronological documents: the Assyrian King List, the Assyrian Eponym Canon, the Babylonian Chronicles, the Behistun Inscription, and the Elephantine Papyri. These documents and inscriptions have helped the Biblical chronologist achieve greater chronological accuracy than was possible for the chronologist, using an astronomical program, to reconstruct the Biblical lunar calendar and to synchronize it with the other calendar schemes. For example, the Rosetta Stone represents synchronization between the Egyptian and the Macedonian calendars. The Elephantine Papyri provide numerous examples of dual dating between the Hebrew calendar and the Egyptian sliding calendar. Some Greek and Roman historians as well as Josephus, often use dual dating such as measuring time by both the Seleucid Era and the Olympiad Era. All of this available information helps the chronologist to be able to develop a computer calendar conversion program. Thus the use of archaeological data and computer programs are important viable tools in the hands of the chronologist as he works with the Biblical chronological data.

Certainly, the Lord regards chronology as important in history; that is why He has put so much chronological data into His Word. The Bible, as it relates historical events, contains a continuous outline of chronological facts from Genesis to Revelation. In order to properly understand the Bible, one must take its chronological statements as seriously as its historical statements. The Biblical chronologist seeks to establish and to arrange the dates of past events in their proper sequence. Therefore, chronology serves as a necessary framework upon which events of Biblical history must be fitted.

The chronological references in the Biblical records are numerous but not always easy to understand correctly. In fact, some chronological statements have not properly been understood in the past; this, in turn, has affected the interpretation of the historical events connected with the chronological data.

It is the purpose of this volume to examine the chronological statements dealing with the exile and the return. several chronological citations have been given a fresh interpretation. It is hoped that in such cases, the original meaning of Scripture has been completely restored. In order to verify an accurate time frame, astronomical data has been used, such as eclipses and Israelite cyclical phenomena, which include Sabbath days and years, priestly cycles, and Jubilees. These have been used to establish major dates of the temporal reconstruction. Synchronization or ‘points of contact’ have been demonstrated between the Biblical records and the historical accounts of Babylonian, Medo-Persain, and Greco-Roman history.

The reader will find both the Biblical chronology and history of the period of the exile and return to be among the most exciting times of Biblical history to study. Remember that the chronological notes help one to understand why God said what He said, and why He did what He did at each particular time.

Viewing history without chronology is as impossible as conceiving the historical events without characters. Chronology and its study are essential. The dates, in the reigns of Babylonian and Medo-Persian kings, mentioned in Biblical passages related to this time period can be determined accurately as the present volume will show. For more than a half century, opinions have been divided over the relative order of Ezra and Nehemiah at Jerusalem. The present study confirms the Biblical order of events.

As a reader, you are welcomed to join us in one of the most exciting chronological challenges in recent history-- to rediscover and to recover the comprehensive chronological system of the Biblical period of exile and return. Convincing evidence for harmonization will be provided by astronomical calculations and a number of synchronism's of Near Western with Biblical events.

- E.W. Faulstich

 
 

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