Hi Jim,
Thanks for your reply. I see where you get your numbers now. Though I believe
they are all mistaken. Some of them quite badly. If your understandings are
correct you should be able to answer the following questions.
You wrote: 931 Kingdom split (give or take a few years) right after
Solomon's death
(1Kin chapter 12). End of Solomon's 40 year reign (1Kin 11:42).
How do you explain the fact that Ezek.4:1-5 clearly indicates that "390"
years passed between the founding of "the house of Israel" and Babylon's
siege of Jerusalem, shortly before Jerusalem's fall in 587/6 BC? If "the
house of Israel" was not founded until Solomon's death less than 345 years
would have passed between these two events?
If Solomon ruled only 40 years (1 Kings 11:42 tells us that Solomon ruled
"over all Israel 40 years."), how do you explain the fact that the Bible
tells us that Solomon was only a "child" (1 Kings 3:7) when he became king,
but also says that his son Rehoboam "was 41 years old when he became king"
and that his mother "was an Ammonite"? (2 Chron.12:13) The Bible says that
Solomon did not disobey God's instructions to Israel against marrying
foreigners such as "Ammonites" until Solomon "grew old." Now unless Solomon
somehow fathered a child with an Ammonite woman when he was a young boy, two
years before he became king, he must have ruled for more than 40 years. We
also know God promised Solomon "a long life." (1 Kings 3:14) Becoming king as
a boy and ruling 40 years means Solomon would have died in his 50s, which
does not add up to "a long life." A long life in Solomon's day meant the same
thing as it does today, 70s, 80s, or even 90s. If Solomon ruled for only 40
years (Josephus tells us that that Solomon ruled for 80 years and died at age
94), how do you explain these things?
You wrote: 1447 Exodus (1Kin 6:1) 1877 sons of Israel arrive in Egypt (Ex
12:40).
You here show your belief that the Israelites were in Egypt for 430 years.
However, this is not how the ancient Jews (including the inspired Bible
writer the apostle Paul) understood the Chronological history of Israel and
Ex. 12:40. The actual word structure of the Masoretic Text tells us that,
"The time of the dwelling of the Israelites, who had dwelt in Egypt, was 430
years." This word structure is faithfully reproduced in the KJV. It allows
us to understand that the 430 years of the Israelites "dwelling" referred to
a sojourn which began when Abraham first entered Canaan, long before his
descendants entered Egypt. This is the way the writers of both the Samaritan
Pentatauch and the Greek Septuagint understood Ex. 12:40. For both there tell
us this 430 year period of time was the time the Jewish people spent "in
Egypt and Canaan." (see footnote in NIV) Now I am the first to admit that the
SP and the LXX contain many errors and misunderstandings. But this is not one
of them. For the apostle Paul himself clearly tells us that this "430 years"
began when God made a covenant with Abraham concerning his "seed."
(Gal.3:16,17) God made this covenant with Abraham when he first entered the
land of Canaan. (Gen. 12:1-7) If, as you believe, the 430 years spoken of in
Ex.12:40 did not begin until Abraham's descendants entered Egypt, how do you
explain Paul's words in Gal. 3:16,17?
These are only some of the problems that plague the understanding of Bible
chronology you have presented. Unless you can provide reasonable answers to
these questions your understanding of Bible chronology cannot be correct.
Mike
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