by John Holbrook Jr.
A Biblical View, Blog #031 posted February 6, 2017, edited March 9, 2021.
My chronological studies start with Bible chronology. What follows is the division of the chronology of the Bible into ages.[1]
The Bible story begins with CREATION WEEK – It lasted seven 24-hour days in 0 AM[2] – during the last day of which God rested. It was followed by
AGE 1 – THE EDENIC AGE (0-0 AM) = The Ancients’ Primordial Age – It began with the end of Creation, lasted probably less than a year, and ended with God’s Judgment on Eve, Satan, and Adam, and God’s Curse on Universe. It was followed by
AGE 2 – THE ANTEDILUVIAN AGE (0-1656 AM) = The Ancients’ Golden Age – It began with God’s Judgment and God’s Curse, lasted almost 1656 years, and ended with Noah’s Flood, when Noah was 600 years old. It was followed by
AGE 3 – THE POSTDILUVIAN AGE (1656-2513 AM) – It began with Noah’s Flood, lasted 857 years, and ended with the Exodus. It was divided into two major phases:
Phase 3A – The Postdiluvian Age’s Part 1 (1656-2107 AM) = The Ancients’ Silver Age – It began with Noah’s Flood, lasted 451 years, and ended with the Covenant and the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah. It was divided into three minor periods, the first of which was
Period 3A(1) – The Initial Settlement & Migrations (1656-1756 AM) – It began with Noah’s Flood, lasted 100 years, and ended with the Division of the Land, when Peleg was in his mother’s womb. It was followed by
Period 3A(2) – The Rise of Babylon (1756–unknown date AM) – It began with the Division of the Land, lasted an unknown number of years, and ended with the Destruction of the Tower of Babel. It was followed by
Period 3A(3) – The Rise of Civilizations (Unknown date–2107 AM) – It began with the Destruction of the Tower of Babel, lasted an unknown number of years, and ended with the Destruction of Sodom & Gomorrah. It was divided into two sub-periods, the first of which was
Sub-period 3A(3)(a) – The Pre-Sojourn Period (Unknown date-2083 AM – It began with the Destruction of the Tower of Babel, lasted an unknown length of time, and ended with the Departure of Abraham from Haran. It was followed by
Sub-period 3A(3)(b) – The Sojourn in Canaan’s Part 1 (2083-2107 AM) – It began with the Departure of Abraham from Haran, lasted 24 years, and ended with the Covenant and the Destruction Sodom & Gomorrah It was followed by
Phase 3B – The Postdiluvian Age’s Part 2 (2107-2513 AM) = The Ancients’ Bronze Age – It began with the Covenant and the Destruction Sodom & Gomorrah, lasted 406 years, and ended with the Exodus. It can be divided into two periods, the first of which was
Period 3B(1) – The Sojourn in Canaan’s Part 2 (2107-2298 AM) – It began with the Covenant and the Destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, lasted 191 years, and ended with the Descent into Egypt. It was followed by
Period 3B(2) – The Sojourn in Egypt (2298-2513 AM) – It began with the Descent into Egypt, lasted 215 years, and ended with the Exodus of the Jews from Egypt. It was followed by
AGE 4 – THE TABERNACLE AGE (2513-2993 AM) – It lasted 480 years. It can be divided into five phases, the first of which was
Phase 4A – The Wandering in the Wilderness (2513-2553 AM) – It began with the Exodus, lasted 40 years, and ended with the death of Moses and the Crossing of Jordan. It was followed by
Phase 4B – The Conquest & Settlement (2553-2578 AM) – It began with the Crossing of the Jordan, lasted 25 years, [3] and ended with the Death of Joshua. It was followed by
Phase 4C – The Rule of Elders & Israel’s Evil-doing (2578-2587 AM) – It began with the Death of Joshua, lasted 9 years, and ended with the start of the Cushanite and Mesopotamian Oppression. It was followed by
Phase 4D – The Rule of the Judges (2587-2947 AM) – It began with the start of the Cushanite and Mesapotamian Oppression, lasted 360 years, and ended with the Death of Samuel. It was followed by
Phase 4E – The United Kingdom – Part 1 (2947-2993 AM) – It began with the Death of Samuel, lasted 46 years, and ended with the start of the construction of the First Temple in Solomon 4. It was followed by
AGE 5 – THE FIRST TEMPLE AGE (2993-3422 AM) – It began with the start of the construction of the First Temple, lasted 429 years, and ended with the Destruction of Jerusalem. It can be divided into three phases, the first one of which was
Phase 5A – The United Kingdom – Part 2 (2993-3029 AM) – It began with the start of the construction of the First Temple, lasted 36 years, and ended with the Death of Solomon. It was followed by
Phase 5B – The Divided Kingdom (3029-3289 AM) – It began with the Death of Solomon, lasted 260 years, and ended with the Destruction of Samaria and the deportation of Israel to the central Asian steppes by the King of Assyria.[4] It was followed by
Phase 5C – The Single Kingdom (3289-3422 AM) – It began with the Destruction of Samaria, lasted 133 years, and ended with the Destruction of Jerusalem and the deportation of Judah to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar. It was followed by
AGE 6 – THE EXILIC AGE (3422-3492 AM) – It began with the Destruction of Jerusalem, lasted 70 years, and ended with the Proclamation by Cyrus. It was followed by
AGE 7 – THE POSTEXILIC AGE (3492-3975 AM) – It began with the Proclamation of Cyrus, lasted 483 years, and ended with the Birth of Messiah. It was followed by
AGE 8 – MESSIANIC AGE (3975–Unknown date AM) – It began with the Messiah’s Birth, will last an unknown length of time, and will end with the Messiah’s Second Coming (the Parousia).
Phase 8A – Messiah’s Life (3975–4009 AM) – It began with the Birth of Messiah, lasted 33.5 years, and ended with the Death, Resurrection, and Ascension of Messiah. It can be divided into two phases, the first of which was
Phase 8A(1) – Messiah’s early years (3975-4005 AM) – It began with the Birth of Messiah, lasted 30 years, ended with Messiah’s 30th It was followed by
Phase 8A(2) – Messiah’s Ministry (4005-4009 AM) – It began with Messiah’s 30th Birthday, lasted 3.5 years, and ended with Messiah’s Death, Resurrection, and Ascension. It was followed by
Phase 8B – The Bride’s Childhood[5] (4009-4045 AM) – It began with Messiah’s Death, Resurrection, and Ascension, lasted 37 years,[6] and ended with the Destruction of the Herodian Temple and the cessation of animal sacrifices as atonement for sin, which in my opinion occurred after the close of the Biblical Canon.[7] It was followed by
Phase 8C – The Bride’s Betrothal & The Diaspora (2045-Unknown date AM) – It began with the Destruction of the Herodian Temple, will last an unknown length of time, and will end with Messiah’s 2nd Coming. During it, the Bride is being prepared for her wedding, the Marriage of the Lamb (Messiah). It will be followed by a new heaven and a new earth.
© 2016 John Holbrook Jr.
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[1] With the exception of the Ancients’ world ages, I reserve the term “age” and its plural for Biblical time periods and the term “era” and its plural for historical time periods so that I avoid confusion between them.
[2] AM stands for Anno Mundi, Latin for “Year of the World.”
[3] Non-Biblical source: Josephus’s Antiquities, Book V, Chapter I, Paragraph 29. If 25 years for Joshua’s leading the Hebrews is not accepted, the gap between (a) counting the years forward from the Crossing of the Jordan and (b) counting the years up backward from year 300 of the Hebrews’ Occupancy of Heshbon expands to 34 years.
[4] In 691 BC, in Hezekiah’s regnal year 3 and Hoshea’s regnal year 6, the King of Assyria, whom the Bible identifies as Shalmanasser V (2 Kings 18:9), attacked Israel and besieged Samaria. Hoshea asked the pharaoh Shoshenk IV, who was known to the Hebrews as Pharaoh So, for help, but help was not forthcoming. Instead, Shoshenk IV sent tribute to the King of Assyria. In 688 BC, three years later in Hezekiah’s regnal year 6 and Hoshea’s regnal year 9, the King of Assyria invested and destroyed Samaria and removed the people of Israel to Assyria and points north. Thus the Divided Kingdom Period ended and the Single Kingdom Period commenced. In my opinion, the King of Assyria who finally invested and destroyed Samaria was Shalmnasser V’s younger brother, Sargon II. Shalmanasser V was a weak and vacillating king, whereas his brother Sargon was a strong and determined warrior. I believe Sargon led the Assyrian army during the three years 691-688 BC, during which he laid siege to Samaria in 688 BC, (b) replaced his brother as king in 690 or 689 BC, and then destroyed Samaria and removed its inhabitants to Assyria in 688 BC. The author of 2 Kings identified Shalmannasser V as initiating the siege because he was still the king of Assyria at the time, but thereafter dropped his name from the story.
[5] The Body of Messiah, which consists of all men, women, and children whose names were written in the Book of Life by God-the-Father before the foundations of Universe were laid.
[6] The 37 years is derived from subtracting 33 AD, the year of Messiah’s death, resurrection, and ascension according to my chronology, from 70 AD, the year that the Romans destroyed Jerusalem and its Temple. This information is extra-Biblical.
[7] According to my chronology, the entire New Testament was completed by 66 AD. This information is extra-Biblical.