Introduction to the World Chronology
The conventional chronology of ancient Egypt places the beginning of the old kingdom in the 27th century BC. The early period of Egypt started from about 3000 BC. According to the traditional Chinese chronology, the first Chinese emperor, called Yellow Emperor (Huang-Di), began his reign in 2698 BC, which was around the same time as the starting date (about 2686 BC) of the old kingdom of ancient Egypt. The middle chronology of the ancient Near East places the beginning of Mesopotamia's early dynastic period at about 2500 BC. The chronologies of these regions with the oldest civilizations in the world consistently suggest that the earliest human kingdom began from the 27th century BC, which was about 4,700 years ago.
On the other hand, the previous Biblical chronologies established by several Biblical scholars indicate that Adam was created around 4,000 BC, which was about 1,000 years earlier than the early period of Egypt. These Biblical chronologies suggest that the creation of the earth and life should have taken place about 6,000 years ago, which appears to seriously contradict the modern cosmology that points to the earth's age being over 4 billion years. If one only believes in the modern cosmology, one will completely discredit the Biblical chronology and thus the Hebrew Scriptures. If one only believes in the Hebrew Scriptures, one will have to completely disbelieve in the modern cosmology. Is there a possibility that both the modern cosmology and the Hebrew Scriptures are still compatible? Yes, it is possible! We will demonstrate this possibility in Chapter 28.
The previous Biblical chronologies have large uncertainties (at least 300 years) due to their methods of construction as well as variations in the Biblical texts. Our current Biblical chronology, which is based on the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, has a very small uncertainty (less than 6 months). There are several ways to prove its accuracy. First, we have constructed the Chinese chronology back to 2716 BC with uncertainties of less than 6 months. The accuracy of this chronology is due to the concurrently recorded astronomical phenomena, which can be accurately determined from modern astronomy. It is incredible that the year of Noah's flood (2315 BC), deduced from the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, is the same as that of China's great flood (2315 BC) recorded in the Bamboo Annals. Moses' historical records, preserved in the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible, accurately trace back to the earliest time (3970 BC) without relying on any astronomical phenomenon. China's history thus proves that the Masoretic Text of the Hebrew Bible is truly inspired by the Almighty God. It is thanks to the Jewish people who have so faithfully preserved the Word of God that we can read and study it today.
Secondly, many important historical events in the world took place in sabbatical years (see Chapter 14). The number "seven" is God's holy number and has been coded in the history of the world. Within our current chronology, Yeshua in the New Testament was crucified in the year (30 AD) that was 3,999 years from the creation of Adam (at the end of the fourth millennium from the creation). He was also buried at the end of the fourth day and in the fourth year of a sabbatical cycle. This cannot be a mere coincidence.
It is convenient to use Julian day (JD) numbers to calculate the number of days for a period. The JD number of 15 April 3970 BC is JD 271485, which is obtained from the Stellarium Program. For the 7,000 lunisolar years from 1 Nisan (15 April) 3970 BC to 1 Nisan 3031 (March 17, JD 2828185), there are 2,556,700 days exactly. The average number of days per year within the 7,000 lunisolar years is: 2,556,700/7,000 = 365.242857 = (7×7×7) + (7+7+7) + 7×(1/7+1/49+1/70). The average numbers of days per Enoch's solar year is also equal to the "magic" number of (7×7×7) + (7+7+7) + 7×(1/7+1/49+1/70), as we discussed in Chapter 4.