Now we have come to the books of the Bible written during the time of the restoration of Jerusalem. The timeline of these books is confusing to me, which is one of the reasons I started this chronological study of the Bible in the first place. So I hope you will bear with me as I try to sort it all out in my mind. I also pray you will correct me if I am wrong and that you will post a comment if you discover something different in your own research. Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians in 586 B.C. This is where the story of Daniel begins. The book of Ezekiel was also written during the Babylonian exile. In 539 B.C. (remember year numbers get smaller until the time of Christ) Babylon fell to Persia under the rule of Cyrus. The book of Ezra begins this way, “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, in order to fulfill the word of the LORD spoken by Jeremiah, the LORD moved the heart of Cyrus king of Persia to make a proclamation throughout his realm and to put it in writing.” Cyrus proclaimed that the temple of the God of heaven would be rebuilt in Jerusalem and that any one of his people who wanted to go would be allowed to return to Jerusalem. This initiated the restoration of Israel.
Jewish tradition accredits Ezra as the author of the books of I Chronicles, II Chronicles, Ezra and Nehemiah. I have always wondered why we have the books of I & II Kings and I & II Chronicles. The notes in my NIV Study Bible state that the Chronicler utilized the writings of Samuel, Kings, the Pentateuch, Judges, Ruth, Psalms, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, and Zechariah to compile a history of Israel and Judah. Ezra was preserving the history of the Hebrew people even during the exile! Did you know that Ezra and Nehemiah were originally written as one book? Later it was broken into I Ezra and II Ezra.
Ezra 4:6 mentions the reign of Xerxes, the king who married Esther. Ezra 5:1 mentions the prophets Haggai and Zechariah.
So, if I understand correctly, the actual chronological order of these books would be as follows:
I & II Chronicles (these books were written later, but the events happened before the exile)
Daniel
Ezekiel
Ezra
Esther
Haggai
Zechariah
Nehemiah
These people were all alive at the same time! My confusion over the timing occurs because of the order in which these books appear in our modern day Bibles. The books of I & II Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther are listed with the books of Old Testament History. Ezekiel and Daniel are listed with the Major Prophets (the long books of prophecy), and Haggai and Zechariah are listed with the Minor Prophets (the short books of prophecy).
You may read this and wonder, “What was the point?” I am just trying to fit the puzzle pieces together in my brain. Thanks for being patient with me.
I was just given and am currently reading, "The Daily Bible- in chronological order 365 daily readings." That might be helpful to you, Dana, in trying to figure out all the dates, etc. I haven't gotten to the fall of Jerusalem. I just finished with Mose's life. I am really enjoying reading it. There are things that I don't remember reading in the Bible before. That's what's so awesome, it's like reading a new book for the first time every time, something new always speaks to you.
ReplyDeleteI agree! Hebrews 4:12 says,
ReplyDelete"For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart." God's Word truly speaks to us in fresh ways every time we open it.
Someone else in Yuma said they were reading through the chronological Bible. If I have the books and dates all out of order, please straighten me out!
I'm thankful you are spurring me on!