Important dates

BC/BCE

• 1450) Exodus

• 1400) Joshua

• 1000) David

• 800) Jonah

• 760) Joel, Amos, Obadiah

• 750) Isaiah, Hosea

• 730) Micah, Nahum

• 722) Ten tribes captive

• 710) Hezekiah reveals riches

• 630) Jeremiah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah

• 600) Daniel, Ezekiel

• 586) Jerusalem destroyed

• 539) Babylon captured; Ezra

• 520) Haggai, Zechariah

• 480) Esther

• 457) Decree to restore Israel

Of the three recorded decrees by Persian kings, only the one by Artaxerxes I gave permission to rebuild and govern Jerusalem in addition to rebuilding the temple. Correlations between the Persian and Jewish calendars clearly date the decree in 457.

• 450) Nehemiah

• 430) Malachi

• 330) Alexander the Great

• 170) Antiochus Epiphanes

• 27) Roman empire starts

• 4) Jesus born

There is not enough historical evidence to pinpoint the birthdate of Jesus. However, it can be shown He was born in 4 or 5bc. That would then put Christ’s baptism at 27ad in harmony with the beginning of the 70th week of Daniel 9. It would also be in harmony with a crucifixion date of 31ad, which also cannot be proven from history alone with more precision than about one year. Therefore, while there is not historical proof on the dates, they are reasonably supported.

AD/CE

• 27) Jesus baptized

• 31) Jesus crucified

• 34) 70 week prophecy ends

• 70) Jerusalem destroyed

• 100) Revelation written

• 303) Diocletian Persecution

The Diocletianic or Great Persecution was the last and most severe persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. It ended with the Edict of Milan which gave Christianity legal status.

• 313) Edict of Milan

• 476) Arians end Roman Empire

Odoacer, an Arian (heretic) Christian, led Germanic soldiers from northern Europe against Rome and deposed Romulus Augustulus on September 4, 476. The Roman empire to the east, also called Byzantine, survived. Until 538, Arian tribes would rule in Rome.

• 508) Franks end Arians

The Franks (predecessors to France) converted to Roman Catholicism about 500ad. Under the leadership of Clovis, they destroyed the Visigoth (Arian heretics) kingdom in Aquitaine, by 508. A church-state amalgamation was then formed which lasted until the French Revolution in the 1790’s.

• 538) Justinian code effective

Shortly before 538, Justinian, the Roman emperor in the east, had made a set of laws called the Justinian Code. This code gave power over the western empire to the leader of the Roman Catholic church, the pope. However, Pope John II could not rule from Rome until Justinian’s general, Belisarius, took the city from the Arian tribes in 538. The pope now had a political seat.

• 1299) Battle of Bapheus

Ottomans defeat Byzantines on July 27 at battle of Bapheus, which was the beginning of the end for the Byzantines.

• 1449) Last Byzantine emperor

The last Byzantine emperor was crowned January 6 after requesting authorization from the Ottoman sultan.

• 1517) Reformation starts

• 1755) Lisbon earthquake

• 1776) American independence

• 1780) Dark Day

• 1793) Nov; French church end

• 1797) June; French cults free

• 1798) Justinian code ends

Napolean’s general, Berthier, marched his army into Rome with the support of most of its population. He deposed, then imprisoned or banished, all of the church leadership, including Pope Pius VI. Furthermore, the French Civil Code replaced the Justinian Code and the power of the church over the state was completely broken.

• 1840) Ottomans submit to Europe

The submission of the Ottoman sultan on August 11 to the powers of Europe.

• 1844) 2300 day prophecy ends

Of all the great religious movements since the days of the apostles, none have been more free from human imperfection and the wiles of Satan than was that of the autumn of 1844. Even now, after the lapse of many years, all who shared in that movement and who have stood firm upon the platform of truth still feel the holy influence of that blessed work and bear witness that it was of God. (Great Controversy, 401)

References

Nichol, Francis D. SDA Bible Commentary, vol. 5. Basis for New Testament Chronology. Review and Herald, 1978.

Smith, Uriah. Daniel and The Revelation. The Seven Trumpets Continued. Southern Publishing Assoc.