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Chronology and the Bible's Arrangement
Since the Bible begins at the Creation with Genesis—the book of
beginnings—and ends with the book of Revelation (which many scholars
believe was the last recorded book of the Bible), students of the
Scriptures often assume that the Bible was compiled chronologically.
Many students approach their reading of the Bible with the mindset that
everything in Scripture is arranged “from A to Z.” Since Genesis records
what took place at the beginning of time, and it is the first book of
the Bible, then the rest of the Bible follows suit, right? Actually,
what the diligent student eventually finds is that the Bible is
not a book of strict chronology.
All sixty-six books of the Bible are not arranged in the order in which they were written. Furthermore,
all of the events contained within each book also are not recorded chronologically.
Consider the following
arrangement of books in the Bible:
Although the books of Haggai and Zechariah have been placed near the
end of the Old Testament, these men prophesied while the events in the
book of Ezra were taking place (cf. Ezra 5:1; 6:14). Twenty books
separate Haggai and Zechariah from the book of Ezra, yet the events
recorded in each book were occurring at the same time. Obviously, these
books are not arranged in chronological order.
Even though 2 Chronicles appears before the book of Job, the events
recorded in Job took place long before those that are recorded in 2
Chronicles. In fact, if the Bible were a book of strict chronology, the
events recorded in Job likely would be placed somewhere within the book
of Genesis, after Genesis 6 (since Job 22:15-16 is more than likely a
reference to the Flood).
In the New Testament, one might assume that since 1 Thessalonians
comes after the book of Acts, that Luke penned Acts earlier than Paul
penned his first letter to the church at Thessalonica. The truth is,
however, 1 Thessalonians was written years before the book of Acts was
completed.
In addition to the books of the Bible not being arranged
chronologically, inspired writers did not always record information in a
strictly chronological sequence. Making the assumption that the entire
Bible was written chronologically hinders a proper understanding of the
text. For example, Genesis 2:5-25 does not pick up where Genesis one
left off; rather, it provides more detailed information about some of
the events mentioned in the first chapter of the Bible. (Whereas Genesis
1 is arranged chronologically, Genesis 2 is organized topically.) The
differences in the arrangement of the temptations of Jesus recorded by
Matthew (4:1-11) and Luke (4:1-13) are resolved when we realize that at
least one of them is not reporting the facts in sequential order. Some
also question whether Jesus cursed the tree
before or
after
He cleansed the temple. Since Matthew records this event before the
cursing of the fig tree (21:12-19), and since Mark places the cleansing
of the temple after Jesus cursed the tree (11:15-19), it is supposed
that one of the two writers was mistaken. The truth is, however,
Matthew’s account is more of a summary, whereas Mark’s narrative is more
detailed and orderly. Mark’s more specific account reveals that Jesus
actually made two trips to the temple. Thus, as Albert Barnes noted:
“Mark has stated the order more particularly, and has ‘divided’ what
Matthew mentions together” (1997). Obviously, the gospel accounts were
not arranged to be a strict chronology of Jesus’ life.
When studying with those who know very little about the Bible, it is
helpful for them to understand the arrangement of Scriptures. By
recognizing that many books of the Bible (as well as the events
contained therein) are not in a sequential order, one will have fewer
problems digesting Scripture.
REFERENCE
Barnes, Albert (1997),
Barnes’ Notes (Electronic Database: Biblesoft).
