Biblical Chronology and Eschatology

The apostle Paul’s states that “when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son” (Gal. 4:4). Time (chronos) is crucial to the Bible and the story of salvation. Talking about eschatology involves talking about time. Unlike God, the creation had a beginning and will one day come to a close, at least the world as we know it.

As Jesus himself has made clear, it is entirely impossible to know the timing of his return in glory (Matt. 24:36) and the end of this world. Any attempt to calculate the date of his coming or even pinpoint his return to a specific time period is misguided.

Yet the Bible is also replete with time markers, genealogies, and diverse other temporal expressions. Talking about eschatology requires some reflection on how such references are used in the Holy Scriptures and what God wants us to convey by having them put inside His Word.

Time references remind us that the Bible is not simply a philosophical book with instructive stories, but is talking about events that are rooted in history. A prime example of this is found in the Gospel according to Luke: “In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar—when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene—during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness” (Luke 3:1-2). There are specific names, titles and places that precisely locate the momentous event on the timeline of world history.

In other instances, time references are not as easily connected with world history. The prophet Daniel, for instance, prophesied about “seventy weeks” (Dan. 9:24-27) during which significant events would take place. When precisely did these “weeks” begin, and when did or will they end?

In the gospels Jesus speaks of a (i.e. this) “generation” that will not pass away until certain events occur (Matt. 24:34). What did he mean by this expression and how far in time could its duration be stressed? 

Do the described events entirely lay in our past or are some still future?

Any answer to these questions must be pondered in the light of the whole block of inspired writings.

How we read time references will influence how we view prophecy, which in turn will influence how we see the world around us, and, ultimately, how we will live our daily lives. Our outlook for the future will invariably influence how we live in the present.

Further aspects of biblical chronology concern our past. In the New Testament the gospel of Luke lists the genealogy from Christ back to Adam (Luke 3:23-38), while in the Old Testament the book of Genesis provides a time-referenced genealogy form Adam to Abraham (Gen. 5:1-32, 11:10-32). Do these texts yield the date of creation or allow us to calculate the date of a crucial event like the flood?

This page provides some (hopefully) helpful links about studies in Biblical chronology and the meaning of time texts that may be relevant to the study of eschatology and beyond.

Any answer to these questions must be pondered in the light of the whole block of inspired writings.

How we read time references will influence how we view prophecy, which in turn will influence how we see the world around us, and, ultimately, how we will live our daily lives. Our outlook for the future will invariably influence how we live in the present.

Further aspects of biblical chronology concern our past. In the New Testament the gospel of Luke lists the genealogy from Christ back to Adam (Luke 3:23-38), while in the Old Testament the book of Genesis provides a time-referenced genealogy form Adam to Abraham (Gen. 5:1-32, 11:10-32). Do these texts yield the date of creation or allow us to calculate the date of a crucial event like the flood?

This page provides some (hopefully) helpful links about studies in Biblical chronology and the meaning of time texts that may be relevant to the study of eschatology and beyond.