8. The Times of the New Testament

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The Books of the New Testament
The Times of the New Testament
Because of the scarcity of references in the New Testament to contemporary events or rulers, it is impossible to determine an accurate chronology. Hence, the dates presented here (and in any New Testament chronology) are mostly approximate. However they are probably no more than a year or two out.

B.C. and A.D. dates

A complicating feature in time periods spanning from B.C. to A.D. dates is the absence of the year 0. Apparently a Scythian monk, Dionysius Exiguus, forgot to include the year 0 between 1 B.C. and A.D. 1, when he was instructed to develop a new calendar in the 6th century A.D.. This anomaly must be accounted for when calculating time periods that begin B.C. and finish A.D..

This hapless monk also overlooked some years of the Roman emperor, Augustus. Thus, the birth of Jesus is actually dated B.C.!

The 'Seventy Weeks' prophecy of Daniel

The Seventy Weeks prophecy (Dan 9:24-27) has had a variety of interpretations, some of ingenious complexity. However, while the details are debated, everyone agrees it concerns a period of 70 x 7 = 490 years and is a prophecy about the Messiah.

The beginning of the time was "from the issuing of the decree to restore and rebuild Jerusalem." (Dan 9:25) There are four decrees from Persia concerning Israel that are recorded in scripture:
538 B.C. Ezra 1:1-4 concerning the rebuilding of the temple.
520 B.C. Ezra 6:1-12 concerning the rebuilding of the temple.
458 B.C. Ezra 7:11-26 concerning the restoration of worship in the temple and the authority of Ezra.
445 B.C. Neh 2:1-9 concerning Nehemiah's safe travel and the rebuilding of the city.
The last of these is not really suitable as it was a letter rather than a formal 'decree'. It will be seen that the third of these is the one intended.

There were to be "seven 'sevens' and sixty-two 'sevens' " until "Messiah the Prince" (Dan 9:25 NIV/KJV). Taking the 'sevens' to be seven year periods, this gives 7x7 + 62x7 = 483 years from the decree to the coming of Messiah. Using the four 'decrees' above, this yields the dates 55 B.C., 37 B.C., A.D. 26 and A.D. 39 for the coming of Messiah (allowing for the absence of the year 0). Only the third of these dates can possibly fall within the life of Jesus and so the third decree is taken to be the one referred to in Daniel.

The fact that this decree does not mention the rebuilding of the city is interesting. The decree concerns the restoration of the temple with gold and silver and the purchase of sacrifices to restore worship. It seems that the restoration of Jerusalem means the restoration of worship in Jerusalem, in the same way that the destruction of Jerusalem meant the destruction of the temple in the seventy years prophecies (Chapter 5).

The first seven 'sevens' or 49 years seems to refer to the period of restoration of Jerusalem. "It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble." (Dan 9:25) So the seven 'sevens' are the years 458 to 409 B.C. when Ezra and Nehemiah faced great opposition to their building program.

The next sixty-two 'sevens' brings us to the coming of Messiah in A.D. 26. This probably refers to the beginning of his ministry.

"After the sixty-two 'sevens', the Anointed One [= Messiah] will be cut off . . . He will confirm a covenant with many for one 'seven'. In the middle of the 'seven' he will put an end to sacrifice and offering." (Dan 9:26-27) The most likely interpretation of these cryptic verses seems to be that the Messiah would be killed at the middle of the final 'seven'; that is he was "cut off" in A.D. 30, three and a half years after he began his ministry.

Since Jesus died in April (= Nisan, the time of Passover), it seems probable that he began his ministry in October (= Tishri) exactly three and a half years earlier.

Again, there is no approximation necessary with God's time periods. Nor is there need to recourse to such strange abstractions as the "lunar calendar". God does not reveal things to the "wise and learned" but to "little children".

What the second half of the seventieth week concerns is open to conjecture. It would appear that it is still future so that there is a large time gap between the crucifixion and this final three and a half year period. This is quite reasonable as many of the prophecies in Daniel contain a large gap in their fulfilment.

The date of Jesus' birth

There are a number of facts that help establish when Jesus was born:
  1. Herod the Great was still alive (Mt 2:1). Herod died in March 4 B.C., so that Jesus must have been born earlier than this. Furthermore, between the time of Jesus' birth and Herod's death, a number of events occurred: Joseph and Mary were in Bethlehem and Jerusalem for at least 41 days (Lk 2:22; Lev 12:3-4); the wise men visited them--probably in Bethlehem (Mt 2:9-12); they escaped to Egypt until Herod died (Mt 2:13-23). All of this must have taken several months at least. It may have taken up to two years (Mt 2:7,16). Therefore, at the latest, Jesus was born in 5 B.C..
  2. Jesus began his ministry in late A.D. 26 (see below). This was when he was "about 30 years old" (Lk 3:23). So he was born in about 6/5 B.C. (allowing for the absence of year 0).
  3. At the time of Jesus' birth there was "the first census that took place while Quirinius was governor of Syria." (Lk 2:2) Some have thought that this reference should establish the date of Jesus' birth. However, Quirinius is known to have held this office in A.D. 6 9. Luke's reference simply leads to the conclusion that he held it at an earlier date as well. A census is associated with each of his terms (see Acts 5:37); this is implied by the words "first census".
From these facts, it can be deduced that Jesus was born in 6/5 B.C.. From point 1, late 6 B.C. is more probable.

The date of Jesus' ministry

The Seventy Weeks prophecy of Daniel 9 indicates the beginning of Jesus ministry was October A.D. 26 (see earlier). A similar date can be deduced from Luke 3:1 which records that John began his ministry in the fifteenth year of Tiberius. Although Tiberius didn't begin to reign until A.D. 14, he had authority in the provinces in A.D. 11. Using the earlier date, John began to preach in A.D. 25 and Jesus shortly after this.

Further evidence for this comes in the comment of the Jews (concerning Herod's temple) at the beginning of Jesus' ministry: "It has taken forty six years to build this temple and you are going to raise it in three days" (Jn 2:20). Herod's temple was begun in 20 B.C., placing this event in A.D. 27. The temple was finally completed in A.D. 64, just six years before its destruction by the Romans. So all the evidence indicates that Jesus began his ministry in late A.D. 26.

Details of the chronology of Jesus' ministry are given in the following chapter.

The life of Paul

The chronology of Paul's life is given in more detail in Chapter 10. Notes on the time from A.D. 30 to 70 are also contained there.

Fall of Jerusalem

According to Josephus, James (the Lord's brother) was stoned in A.D. 62. Four years later in 66, bad government in Judea led to a Jewish revolt. The Christians of Jerusalem, remembering the Olivet prophecy, fled to Pella east of the Jordan. After four years of war, Jerusalem fell as prophesied in A.D. 70.

The date of the Revelation

John was in exile on the island of Patmos when he received the Revelation (Rev 1:9). Therefore, it must have been written during a time when Christians were persecuted. The two periods that are most likely are A.D. 67/68 under Nero or A.D. 95/96 under Domitian. The latter date is supported by the early church historians, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria and Eusebius.