It's
About Time--Biblical Chronology Made Easy!
Lesson 7: Daniel
SIMPLIFIED BIBLE TIME LINE
In our previous installment, we considered the approximate central date for
the life-time of David, 1000 BC. Knowing that date, we can pinpoint the relative
time for many incidents in the Bible, and the general lifetime of many Bible
characters. In the Biblical accounts, the first king of Israel, Saul, is soon
replaced by David, and then David's son Solomon. The period of their inclusive
reigns is the only time that all of the tribes of Israel are united under one
king. Almost immediately after Solomon's death, there is a struggle over who
will reign in his place, and the kingdom becomes divided.
The tribes of Judah and Benjamin, along with the Levites connected to the
Temple, comprise what becomes known as the "House of Judah," and the rest of the
tribes become known as the "House of Israel."
The land of Palestine is divided politically north from south. The "Southern
Kingdom" of the House of Judah has as its capital Jerusalem. The "Northern
Kingdom" of the House of Israel has as its capital Samaria.
A rivalry between the two kingdoms, sometimes violent, sometimes with an
uneasy peace, continues for the next few hundred years. Thus all of the stories
in the Bible that occur during the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon are
included in the general time period between 1,000 AD and our next time-line
reference point, 500 AD. Such stories would include David's exploits, trials, and
foibles ... David and Goliath, David and Bathsheba, David and the betrayal and
death of his son Absalom. The description of the building and dedication of the
magnificent temple in Jerusalem is included in this period, as well as the
famous visit between Solomon and the Queen of Sheba. And any stories about any
of the kings of either Judah or Israel would also be in this time period after
1000 BC and before 500 BC.
The book of Psalms (written in large part by David), and the book of
Proverbs (written in large part by Solomon) belong primarily to the
early part of this period.
The books of 1&2 Samuel, 1&2 Kings, and 1&2 Chronicles cover this
period. Biblical prophets active during this period include Isaiah, Elijah, and
Jonah, among many others.
Around the latter part of the 700s BC, the northern kingdom of Israel was
subjugated in war by the Assyrian empire, most of its population was taken
captive and dispersed from the land of Israel, and it ceased to exist as a
political entity from then on in history. Almost 100 years later, the southern
kingdom of Judah was likewise subjugated in war by the Babylonian empire. Many
of its citizens were taken captive to the land of Babylon, and it also ceased
for a time to exist as a viable "nation." The Jerusalem temple was destroyed,
much of the city itself left in ruins.
However, after several decades the Babylonians themselves were subjugated by
another world empire, the Persians. And at that point some of the captives were
allowed to return to the land of Israel and rebuild the city of Jerusalem and
the temple. Although never again allowed full autonomy and political power in
the way they had existed in the "Golden Age" of David and Solomon, they did once
again have a national identity.
It is during that period of captivity in Babylon that the next individual on
our time--line, the prophet Daniel, rises to prominence. Actually, Daniel
himself was taken captive as a young man from Jerusalem to Babylon in about the
year 600 BC (some historical sources pinpoint the year as 606 BC). Thus the
events of his life lead up to the year 500 on our time-line. As we noted in the
beginning of these lessons, we do not intend the time-line dates to be exact,
just general reference points which clarify the relative positions in time of
the people and events of scripture. Thus the lifetime of David spanned both
before and after 1000 BC, the lifetime of Daniel is just slightly before 500 BC.
Several very famous Bible stories are related to the life of Daniel. These
would include the stories in the book of Daniel such as "Daniel in the lions' den"; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego in the
fiery furnace; and the incident of the "Handwriting on the wall." Thus all those
events would be clustered near the current focal point on our timeline, 500 BC.
In our next lesson, we will summarize briefly those events we have previously
covered in Old Testament times, before moving on the our final reference figure
for our time-line... Jesus Christ.
Go to Lesson
8
Lesson 1
Lesson 2
Lesson 3
Lesson 4
Lesson 5
Lesson 6
Lesson 7
Lesson 8
Go to the Introduction to It's About Time
