What Is the Bible Timeline from Genesis to Revelation

Hello, and welcome to Through the Bible with Les Feldick, an Oklahoma rancher and farmer. Les Feldick has been teaching homestyle Bible classes for over 20 years in Iowa, Oklahoma, and Texas. Les Feldick's unique style of Bible teaching has made the books of the Bible come to life. When Les is teaching, it's so interesting that people say time just seems to fly by. And now, here is Les Feldick. We've been always reminded to review, review, review, and I apologize for it over and over. But I am going to do once again a review of our timeline, which of course is the one thing I guess that we get comments on more than anything else. Keep reviewing the timeline. So before we continue on in our verse -by-verse which will start in Ephesians chapter 1, we're going to do a quick review from Genesis all the way through Revelation as the history unfolds. Now I know a lot of people think history is a boring subject, and I guess maybe I thought the same thing when I was a kid in school. But when you begin to look at history in the light of Biblical teachings, it's the most exciting subject on earth. Because history is simply God's sovereign control of the events of humans in time. And even though as I've said so often on the program and in my classes here in Oklahoma, one of the things that is hard to comprehend is that God turned man loose with a free will. He is not just a puppet on a string, and yet in spite of that free will, here we are nearly six thousand years after it all began, and we are right on God's timetable. Not off a month. And so this is one of the miracles of course of Biblical history. So I'm going to go to the board and just bring us up through the timeline. So for those of you to whom this is old hat, if you'll just bear with me. For those of you who are new, we'll try to go slow enough that we don't lose you. But at about 4004 B.C., and again I always have to stop and explain some of these things, for ever so long chronologers assumed that Christ was born at what we call zero, and that 4,000 B.C. Adam was created. And then thanks to archeology some years ago, they put together the fact that because of King Herod's rule and reign and death, that Christ had to have been born 4 B .C. according to our now Gregorian calendar. Now if Adam was created 4,004 B .C. instead of 4,000, then Christ was born 4 B.C., and that of course puts His crucifixion at 29 B.C. instead of 33 B.C. I know a lot of people wonder, why do you put His crucifixion at 29 B.C.? I always thought He was crucified when He was 33. Well He was, but I'm going to the newer findings that Christ was born 4 B .C. instead of on zero. Which brings up another thing. I'm amazed how many people will call or write and ask, what does A.D. stand for? I had a lady call again the other day, and she said, I asked my pastor, and he didn�t know. She said, I asked everybody in my church, and nobody could tell me what A.D. stood for. Some said after death. Well that doesn�t figure, because A.D. goes back to zero according to our Gregorian calendar. So I�m going to put it on the board for the sake of so many. It comes from the two Latin words, Anno Domini. Now that�s Latin, it�s not Hebrew or Greek, and from Anno of course we get our word, Annual. Then Domini merely means Master or Lord. So A.D. stands for the year of our Lord, which on the Gregorian calendar is zero. So from the year zero, everything back this way we refer to as before Christ, and everything on this side we refer to as the year of our Lord, or A.D. Now thanks to the powers that be and archeology and so forth, they�ve got to get Christ out of the picture one way or another. So they�ve changed these nomenclatures from B.C. to B.C.E. Everything on this side, instead of referring to the year of our Lord, they now refer to the Common Era, or just C.E. Now where they get Common Era, I don�t know, but this is what they�re now doing. So now they have taken out any reference to Christ, and they refer to everything that we call B.C.E. as before the Common Era, which is here, or the Common Era which is everything from on here. So as I told one of our guys in Israel one time, isn�t it amazing what people will do to just push God out of the picture? That�s all they�re trying to do. So instead of recognizing that even our calendars are based on Christ�s birth, they push that out of men�s thinking, and change it to a word that means nothing. I can see, Common Era? What�s that got to do with it? But it was the best thing that they could come up with I guess, that still had a reference to the letter C. So be aware of these things, that our normal approach to this is before Christ back in the Old Testament times, and then A .D. stands for the Year of Our Lord. Now I�m emphasizing that because I can remember the time when I didn�t know. I could never figure out what A.D. stood for, but it�s the two Latin words that simply means the Year of Our Lord. Well I�ve covered that, and that saves one letter I guess I won�t have to write because hopefully the lady will be listening when the program comes on. Now way back in 4000 B.C., going back from the time of Christ�s birth at Bethlehem to the creation of Adam in 4004 B.C., then Adam�s race and that whole generation up to the Flood covered a period of 1600 years. Now I always tell people that this is in round figures, it may not be to the exact year, but nevertheless in round year terms it�s easier to remember that the Flood took place at 2400 B.C., 2400 years before Christ, or 1600 years after Adam we had Noah�s Flood. Now I think it�s worthy of mention that this whole 2000 years of human history is recorded Biblically in the first 11 chapters, that�s all. Just the first 11 chapters of Genesis cover that whole 1600 year period of time from the creation of Adam until that whole generation was destroyed with Noah�s Flood. Then from the time of Noah�s Flood until the next event in Biblical history, which was the Tower of Babel, and that is only 200 years. We�ve got 200 years between the Flood and the Tower of Babel, another 200 year segment of time, or now we are at 2200 B.C. The Tower of Babel, as you all know the story, the nations made their appearance, and God separated them by virtue of the confusion of languages, and so forth. Then another 200 years of time goes by, and as a result of the false religions, the pagan religions and idolatry that came in at the Tower of Babel, God now has to do something totally different, and He lets this human race coming from Adam just flow like a river, and out of that river of humanity with the call of one man that we call Abraham, we have the appearance of the nation of Israel, the Jew. And that covers everything then from Genesis chapter 12 until we go clear into the Book of Acts where God is dealing with Jew only, with some exceptions, but very, very few. And so everything from Genesis chapter 12 and the Abrahamic Covenant is dealing with the nation of Israel, giving them the Law, the Temple, with the idea that one day God would funnel them back into that filthy, ungodly river of humanity, and bring them a knowledge of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. That was the noble plan of God in His sovereignty, and of course we know that it didn�t work because Israel didn�t believe it. But anyway time wise now we go from 2000 years to the next big event in Old Testament history at 1000 B.C., and that of course is the appearance of King David, and then Solomon his son, and Solomon of course builds the first Temple. That all is within a few years of 1000 B.C. 500 years before that of course we had Moses, and Moses of course gave Israel the Law. So now 1500 years B.C., and that of course goes to 29 A.D. So from the time of Christ�s first advent back to King David and Solomon and the building of the Temple is again about 1000 years. Now then, the glorious Temple of Solomon was only on the scene about 350-400 years. Now in our reckoning of time that�s a long time, but over a time span of 2000 years it�s not very long. When you realize that the Solomon Temple as we normally think of it, or the first Temple, it was glorious, it was beautiful, it was 40 years in the making for building it, and it was one of the wonders of the ancient world, and yet it only stood about 350-400 years. And then in 606 B.C., and this is the reason I bring it out because this is another important time in history, shortly after the Temple was built a matter of 400 years, Nebuchadnezzar comes in in 606 B .C., and the Babylonian Empire destroys the Temple, and Jerusalem and Israel goes into captivity, and you all know about the Babylonian captivity. Now the reason I like to bring out the Babylonian captivity is because again it points up a fact of history that I think most people totally overlook. That is that common to the activities of those conquering empires, they literally emptied the land of Israel of most of the Jews, and took them out to the east to Babylon. And then 70 years later the next empire, the Medes and Persians, the King Cyrus, gave them a decree that the Jews were now free to go back to their homeland, back to Jerusalem, and they also of course had the permission to rebuild their Temple. But here�s where history comes in that you�re going to pick up when we get into the New Testament. Most of the Jews that were out there in Babylon did not go back to Palestine or to Jerusalem or to the land of Israel, only 44,000 out of several million. What happened to the rest of them? Well they got comfortable out there in the Gentile world, and they became astute at banking and business, and so the Jews who had been now out in Babylon began to migrate to every corner of the then known world. Now why am I making the point? Because if you don�t know history, then this doesn�t make much sense. But if you realize that the Jews from 606 B.C. had now been migrating all over the then known world, and wherever there was a city of any population of note, Jews established businesses and synagogues, and what have you, everywhere throughout the whole Roman Empire. Now you see that makes sense then when you read Acts chapter 2, when you come down to verse 5, and unless you know this it wouldn�t make sense. Acts 2.5-5 And there were, now for this Feast of Pentecost, there were dwelling at Jerusalem Jews, and these Jews were devout men, and they were keepers of the Law, and temple worshipers, and where had they come from? Out of every nation under heaven. How did they get into every nation under heaven? Because when they were taken out to Babylon, instead of going back to Jerusalem, they scattered throughout the then known world. Now the other thing I�d like to point out on this same basis, is that a little later on in the Book of Acts we come to the Apostle Paul, who begins his missionary journeys throughout first Asia Minor, and then over to Greece, and finally to Rome, and every place the Apostle Paul goes, what does he find? Jews and synagogues. Now they�ve been out there for already several hundred years, because those Jews in the Babylonian captivity never chose to go back to the land of Israel, they migrated into all these other areas of the then known world. Now you see how history has to be understood, otherwise this verse would have made no sense. What does it mean that they were from every nation under heaven? I thought they came from Palestine, or what we call the land of Palestine, that neck of land between the Jordan Valley and the Mediterranean. Well they had been out there ever since Nebuchadnezzar took them captive in 606 B.C. Another reason I use 606 B.C. is because Jesus spoke of it as the beginning of the times of the Gentiles. What He meant by that was that from this point in time, 606 B.C. when the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, all the way up until we have the Second Coming of Christ, Jerusalem for the most part has been under the heavy boot of Gentile armies. All the way up since 606 B.C. the land of Israel has been under one Gentile power after another. Now of course lately we feel that they are more or less a sovereign state, but if you know anything about the land of Israel they are anything but. They are still under the heavy hand of the U.N. and the United States government, and they�re not as free as we�d like to think they are. When the Antichrist comes in and sets up his rule and reign from the temple, then of course they will surely be back under the boot of the Gentile armies. So always remember that beginning with 606 B .C. when Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem, besieged it, destroyed it, and destroyed the temple, took Israel captive, and only a few came back. Then by 400 B.C. we have the restored temple built by Ezra and Nehemiah, and that was the temple that was in Jerusalem when Jesus makes His appearance in His First Coming. It was a restored temple, and of course Ezra and Nehemiah with the limited resources that they had, they couldn�t make a beautiful temple like Solomon did. But then old King Herod, who wasn�t even a believer, but he loved to build. King Herod was just known as a tremendous builder in the Antiquity. So King Herod took it upon himself to make the temple on Mount Moriah once again a wonder of the ancient world. So he started with that little ramshackle temple of Ezra and Nehemiah, remodeled it, enlarged it, and of course made it the beautiful temple complex that was there when Christ began His earthly ministry. That beautiful temple was destroyed in 70 A .D. by the Roman General Titus, and once again the Jews were sent out into a complete dispersion. A few of course stayed in Jerusalem and the areas of Israel, but for the most part the Jews were once again sent out into every nation under heaven. That would be in 70 A.D. Now shortly before that, and after the original day of Pentecost when Israel was no longer going to believe that Jesus was the Christ, God sent them back into the mainstream of humanity, not now to be the evangelists, but simply to be that wandering Jew, that nation of people who were steeped in spiritual blindness and unbelief, and now God is going to begin to do something totally different, and I usually mark it with parenthesis, and that is the outcalling of the Body of Christ, which we call the Church Age. Now that is a Pauline revelation, and so that is going to prepare the world then for the next event on God's calendar, and that is the rapture or the outcalling of the Church, which is His Body. Now since this is all a Pauline revelation, it has nothing to do with Old Testament prophecy, it has nothing to do with the nation of Israel, and consequently I feel it has to be taken out of the way before God can pick up with the nation of Israel and bring out that final seven years, which of course Scripture always divides 3 1⁄2 and 3 1⁄2, and the appearance of the Antichrist. Now I know I've got a lot of scribbling on here, but hopefully it will make some sense if you can begin to just put it down on paper yourselves, and this is why I like to repeat it. I wish people could just get to the place where they can sit down with a sheet of paper, draw a line across it, and then begin to just unfold all these historical events. The easiest way to witness that I can possibly think of, because folks have to understand all of these things led up to the crucifixion of Christ. And through the crucifixion of Christ, Israel continued to reject it, and God then raised up that Apostle of the Gentiles, the Apostle Paul, whom we're going to be looking at now in our next half hour as we go back into Ephesians. And so Paul becomes the Apostle of the Gentiles, he becomes the spokesman for God now during this period of time, and this is where so many people are missing it. Everything from Genesis 1 up until the conversion of Saul of Tarsus is predominantly God dealing with Israel, and that's obvious. See I guess nothing gets my hackles up more than when somebody will call or write and say, but wait a minute, I'm not going to go by what Paul says, I'm going to go by what Jesus says, because what Jesus says is in the Bible, and if the Bible says it, then I believe it. Well I've gotten to the place where when I get a response like that, I say, Oh OK, so you're going to do what the Bible says? Absolutely. OK, now turn with me and you'll see what I mean. I say, Alright let's go back to Leviticus chapter 5, and then you're still going to sit there and tell me you do what the Bible says? See this is where it gets ridiculous. And this is just one example, I could stand here all afternoon and give example after example. You can't do what the Bible says all the time, because not everything that the Bible says is for us. But most of it is really written for the nation of Israel. What the Bible says for us, you better confine yourself to Romans through Hebrews. In fact even Hebrews is written primarily to Jews, so Romans through Philemon. Now look what I say when somebody says, Oh I do what the Bible says. I say, OK. Look at Leviticus chapter 5, and it starts with verse 2. Leviticus 5. If a soul touch any unclean thing, whether it be a carcass of an unclean beast, or a carcass of unclean cattle, or the carcass of unclean creeping things, and if it be hidden from him, he also shall be unclean and guilty. Now you say, Oh well I'll never touch a dead cow, or I'll never touch a dead animal. This is anything that's dead. I mean you're out mowing your lawn, and you see a dead bird there. You're not going to grind it up with your lawn mower. What are you going to do? You're going to pick it up and put it in the trash can? You've touched something dead. You see that? Now let's read on. According to what the Bible says, if he's going to touch anything that he shall be defiled and he's guilty, then you come all the way down to verse 6. The only way he can overcome that situation is, he shall bring his trespass offering unto the Lord for his sin which he hath sinned. Now how many people are going to do that? Well if they've got a brain in their head, nobody. Because this isn't for us today. This was Israel under the Law. Now my goodness, if I had to go back to the Temple in Jerusalem every time I touched a dead animal, I'd be spending most of my time on overseas flights. But we don't. We're not under that kind of a Law, and this is just one example. Over and over the Old Testament gives instructions that don't apply to us. It would be ridiculous if you'd try to keep all this. But the Bible said it, and of course it did. It said it to Israel under the Law. And so here is where it becomes so appropriate then to recognize that the Apostle Paul is the Gentile Apostle. The Apostle Paul writes which pertains to us as Gentiles in the Church Age, and all we can do with our Old Testament is use it for building blocks of learning. Now let me show you another verse on that same line. Go back to Romans chapter 15, and I promise my listeners when they call, I'll wait until everybody in the studio finds it, then I know that you can. Romans 15, verse 4, "...for whatsoever things were written aforetime," that is in the Old Testament, "...were written for our learning." Not for our doctrine, but for our learning that we through patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope. Now I've only got a minute or so left, so after the Church Age is complete, and we feel we're getting very, very close, since it is completely insulated from everything written to the nation of Israel under prophecy, we feel that it has to be taken out. Then the next great event on human history will be the appearance of the Antichrist, the 7 years of tribulation, and don't forget that that's exactly according to God's timetable coming all the way from Daniel. Then at the end of the 7 years of tribulation, Christ will return at what we call the Second Coming, and then as soon as He sets up His Kingdom there with His capital in Jerusalem, we enter into that 1,000 year millennial reign of Christ, and when it ends we'll go into eternity. Now that is basically the whole scheme of everything from Genesis to Revelation, and you've got that understood, and you've got the battle three -fourths won. Turn up the music!