Category Archives for "Harmonies"

Kings of Israel and Judah

By Mark Morgan | Harmonies , Miscellaneous

Bible records of the kings of Israel and Judah

This page includes two tables:

• The first shows the order, age at accession and length of reign of the kings in three sections: the combined kingdom of Israel, the kings of Judah (two tribes), and those of Israel (10 tribes).
• A second shows time links (synchronisations) between the kings of Israel and Judah.

All of the Bible references displayed are links to the text of the passage in the ESV. On desktop computers, the text will show as a tooltip when you hover over it.
Continue reading

Harmony of Bible records of David’s life

By Mark Morgan | David , Harmonies

Bible records of David’s life

David, the son of Jesse, was born in Bethlehem into a poor family from the tribe of Judah. Working first as a shepherd, he soon became known for his faith and courage, as well as his musical and poetic ability. Chosen by God as a future king and anointed by the prophet Samuel, he became the target of King Saul’s hatred and jealousy. Yet God kept David safe until Saul was finally killed in battle.

King David initially ruled over Judah for seven years and six months before being made king over the 12 tribes that had entered “the Promised Land” – the land still called Israel today, although at that time it included extra areas promised to Abraham but now claimed by the Palestinians, Syria and Jordan.

Continue reading

Timing of Jesus’ crucifixion

By Mark Morgan | Harmonies , Jesus , Passover , Timelines

On which day of the week did the Passover occur? And how does that fit in with the timing of Jesus’ crucifixion?

You may think that these are silly questions, because we are all used to the idea of annual events that occur on a given date, and therefore take place on a different day of the week each year.  And this is exactly how it would have worked with the Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread which followed it.

Why does this matter?  Because the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ are intimately tied to the Passover Feast and the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Continue reading

Harmony of Bible records of Jesus’ Prophecy on the Mount of Olives

By Mark Morgan | Harmonies , Jesus

Jesus’ prophecy on the Mount of Olives

There were only two days left before Jesus was to be betrayed and crucified when his disciples commented on the glorious construction of the temple in Jerusalem.

Jesus surprised them by telling them that the temple they were admiring would be completely destroyed.

Naturally, the disciples wanted to know when this disaster would take place, and asked if it was linked to his return and the end of the age.

Jesus’ answer gave details of events that would take place in years that stretched far beyond their lifetimes – in fact we are still waiting today for some of this prophecy to come to pass. These prophecies give details of Jesus’ return from heaven to earth, so they are vitally important to all followers of Jesus.

The Bible passages which record the prophecies are as follows:

• Matthew 24:1-51 [and probably the parables of Matthew 25:1-46]
• Mark 13:1-37
• Luke 21:5-36

Continue reading

Harmony of Bible records of Paul’s conversion

By Mark Morgan | Harmonies , Paul

The conversion of Paul

Paul, the apostle of Jesus originally known as Saul, was converted from Judaism to Christianity by unexpectedly meeting Jesus. Luke describes the events in Acts 9 and also reports two occasions on which Paul himself described his conversion in Acts 22 and Acts 26. Paul also comments on the surrounding events in Galatians 1 & 2. The goal of this article is to put together these four records in chronological order. In this article, we present a harmony of Bible records of Paul’s conversion and the basis for the order chosen.

Continue reading

Harmony of Bible records of appearances of the resurrected Jesus

By Mark Morgan | Harmonies , Jesus

Several books and letters in the Bible report Jesus’ interaction with many different people after his resurrection. However, since no one record includes all of the information, we need a harmony of Bible records of appearances of the resurrected Jesus.

The Bible passages which record events surrounding the resurrection of Jesus, the subsequent 40 days during which he met with his disciples and his ascension are as follows:

• Matthew 28:1-20
• Mark 16:1-20
• Luke 24:1-53
• John 20:1-21:25
• Acts 1:1-12
• 1 Corinthians 15:4-7

Jesus’ appearances after his resurrection are discussed in another article (Jesus’ appearances after his resurrection), but the current article tries to put the records of the appearances before Jesus ascension in chronological order.

Continue reading

The times of Jehoshaphat

By Mark Morgan | Harmonies , Jehoshaphat

Bible records in the times of Jehoshaphat

Background

King David ruled over a united kingdom of Israel – the 12 tribes that had entered “the Promised Land”.  Today, this land is once again called Israel, although parts are now claimed by the Palestinians and Jordan.

After David’s death, his son Solomon became king and expanded the kingdom even further.  Sadly, in later life, love for his many foreign wives led him into idolatry. In response, God said that the kingdom would be split in two during the reign of his son, Rehoboam.  After Solomon died, Rehoboam became king, but could not hold the kingdom together. As predicted, the nation split in two: Israel, ten tribes ruled by a rebel called Jeroboam; and Judah, two tribes ruled by Rehoboam.

From then on, until Assyria destroyed Israel, the two nations swung pendulum-like between open war and a troubled co-existence. During some of this period, Jehoshaphat ruled Judah, following in the godly footsteps of his ancestor David (2 Chronicles 17:3).

Continue reading

Harmony of Bible records of the Roman trial and subsequent crucifixion of Jesus

By Admin | Harmonies , Jesus , Passover

The need for a harmony

In many of the events recorded in the Bible, details are written in more than one place.  For example, details of the reign of many kings are recorded in both Kings and Chronicles and sometimes in one or more prophets also.

When we are writing Bible-based fiction, we always want to make sure that our stories match the details given in the Bible and sometimes that requires the harmonisation of more than one record. Continue reading

Events around the birth of Jesus

By Mark Morgan | Harmonies , Jesus

Events around the birth of Jesus

We are given quite a bit of detail surrounding the birth of Jesus and his early life in the gospels of Matthew (Matthew 1:18-2:23) and Luke (Luke 2:1-52), but there is little overlap in the details given.  Putting the two together as a parallel record can help us understand when various events took place.Continue reading

Harmony of Bible records in Jeremiah’s time

By Mark Morgan | Harmonies , Jeremiah

Often the Bible reports events from the same time period in more than one book, and frequently the various books will concentrate on different details but still report overlapping information.  This article presents a harmony of Bible records in Jeremiah’s time.

(Last revised 9 January 2020)

The Bible passages which record events in the times around the life of Jeremiah are as follows:

• 2 Kings 22-25
• 2 Chronicles 33-36
• Jeremiah
• Lamentations
• Ezekiel
• Daniel
• Habakkuk
• Zephaniah

Parallel records from Kings and Chronicles

The records in Kings and Chronicles interleave very easily, so they are best shown in a table by themselves from the time of Manasseh through to the events immediately after the destruction of Jerusalem. Some small sections of Jeremiah and Ezra are also included in places where they provide detail missing in one of the records.

The kings of Judah referred to in this synchronisation are:

• Manasseh (son of Hezekiah)
• Amon (son of Manasseh)
• Josiah (son of Amon)
• Jehoahaz (also known as Shallum; son of Josiah)
• Jehoiakim (known as Eliakim before he became king; son of Josiah)
• Jehoiachin (also known as Coniah or Jeconiah; son of Jehoiakim)
• Zedekiah (known as Mattaniah before he became king; son of Josiah)

Continue reading