Chronology (3): from Mozes to Joshua

We have determined that Noah died in the same year in which Abram was born: the 2000^th year since Adam.  It was subsequently followed by a period of exactly 500 years which ended in the exodus out of Egypt. So that took place in the year 2500. Concerning the desert wandering of Israel, the apostle Paul states in Acts 13:18

…and about a period of forty years He (God) did suffer their manners in the wilderness,

This “period of about forty years” may not be exactly accurate to the day, but it can be called accurate to the year (and even to the month!). Many times the scriptures testify of these forty years (Numbers 32:13; Joshua 5:6; Psalms 95:10; Acts 7:36). So the desert wandering ended in the year 2540. From that year the land was conquered, but this conquest did not take place “in one year”. Exodus 23 reads:

²⁹ I cast them not out from before thee in one year, lest the land be a desolation, and the beast of the field hath multiplied against thee; ³⁰ little by little I cast them out from before thee, till thou art fruitful, and hast inherited the land.

From Joshua 14:5-11 we can derive that Kaleb was 85 years old (40 +45 ) when the land at Hebron was assigned to him. As he was 40 years old when he was sent to scout the land which was followed by 38 years of wandering in the desert, he must have been 78 years old when he entered the promised land. So when he was 85 years old when he received  Hebron as an allotment, this must have been 7 years after entering the promised land. However, the northern areas which were intended for the seven remaining tribes, still had to be divided. Joshua 18 tells us:

² And there remained among the children of Israel seven tribes, which had not yet received their inheritance. ³ And Joshua said unto the children of Israel, How long [are] ye slack to go to possess the land, which the LORD God of your fathers hath given you?

About the time until the division of the land, Paul states in Acts 13:

¹⁹ And, pulling down seven nations in the land of Canaan, He distributes their land by lot ²⁰ (about four hundred and fifty years). And after this He gives judges till Samuel the prophet. (Concordant Literal New Testament)

The older translations (which are based on the Textus Receptus) wrongly read that the four hundred and fifty years are in relation with the time of the judges. This reading however is in contradiction with all old and complete manuscripts of the New Testament. Paul is arguing that the division of the land took place at the end of the “about four hundred and fifty years”. Now compare this “about four hundred and fifty years” with the “about forty years” mentioned two verses earlier (13:18), which indeed concerned forty years. Of this four hundred and fifty years we already know the four hundred years prophesied to Abram (Gen. 15:13) of which we saw before,  that they started at the birth of Isaac and ended at the exodus from Egypt. After this the famous forty years of wandering the desert followed. So ten years are left for the conquest and division of the land. If we rely on this time mentioned by Paul with respect to the division of the land, than this must have taken place in the year 2550. When the land could be cultivated in the subsequent year (2551) also the counting of the sabbatical years started (Lev. 25:2) i.e. six years of cultivating the land and the seventh year of rest after which a new cycle started, and so on. And then, after the seventh sabbatical year (7 x 7 = 49) the hallowed fiftieth year followed, also called the jubilee (Lev. 25:2-11) Noteworthy however is that the counting of the sabbatical years and jubilees is perfectly synchronised with the chronology from Adam. Because in the year 2500 the Exodus took place out of the slavery of Egypt (= the 50^th jubilee) and fifty years later (2550) the land was divided so that then the counting of the sabbatical years could start and the first jubilee could be celebrated in 2600. This synchronisation is an amazing confirmation of the consistency in Gods chronology. If we rely on this time mentioned by Paul with respect to the division of the land, than this must have taken place in the year 2550. When the land could be cultivated in the subsequent year (2551) also the counting of the sabbatical years started (Lev. 25:2) i.e. six years of cultivating the land and the seventh year of rest after which a new cycle started, and so on. And then, after the seventh sabbatical year (7 x 7 = 49) the hallowed fiftieth year followed, also called the jubilee (Lev. 25:2-11) Noteworthy however is that the counting of the sabbatical years and jubilees is perfectly synchronised with the chronology from Adam. Because in the year 2500 the Exodus took place out of the slavery of Egypt (= the 50^th jubilee) and fifty years later (2550) the land was divided so that then the counting of the sabbatical years could start and the first jubilee could be celebrated in 2600. This synchronisation is an amazing confirmation of the consistency in Gods chronology.    HB

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