THE FOUR HUNDRED SILENT YEARS
A chronological survey of Israel from Malachi to Matthew
PART ONE
THE PROPHETIC CHRONOLOGY OF THE 400 SILENT YEARS
There are no inspired Scriptures between the last Old Testament book of Malachi and the first New Testament book of Matthew. We do, however, have two sources of information that give us a rather complete history of that period. The first source is the book of Daniel with its inspired prophecies. The second source is the collection of non-Biblical histories such as the Books of Maccabees, the first century historian, Josephus and others. We will begin our chronology with a prophetic study of Daniel.
Daniel begins his prophecy by naming all of the world powers that would be dominant from his time to the time of the end when Christ would return and establish his everlasting Kingdom. Those kingdoms and the dates of their interrelations with Israel are listed in Daniel chapter 2:37-45:
1. Babylon 602 BC – 539 BC
2. Media-Persia 539 BC – 336 BC
3. Greece 336 BC – 63 BC
4. Roman 63 BC – 638 AD
5. Islamic 638 AD – Present
Future
6. Antichrist Tribulation (7 years)
7. Christ Everlasting Kingdom
In 538 BC Daniel predicted the coming of Christ the Messiah and the date of His crucifixion (Daniel 9:24-26). In his
insightful book, The Coming Prince, Sir Robert Anderson demonstrated the fulfillment of Daniel’s prophecy to the very day. In the following verse (27) Daniel predicted what would happen in the last days before Christ returns to rule the earth:
Daniel 9:
27 And he shall confirm the covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease, and for the overspreading of abominations he shall make it desolate, even until the consummation, and that determined shall be poured upon the desolate.
This prophecy is in three parts:
1. A seven year covenant (peace treaty) will be signed between the Antichrist and Israel.
2. Half way through the seven years, the Antichrist will break the covenant and desecrate the Temple.
3. At the end of the seven years the Antichrist will be destroyed.
This prophecy will be fulfilled during the Tribulation as taught by Christ in Matthew chapter 24. A type of Antichrist, however, has already arisen in the person of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, as we shall see below.
The book of Malachi closed in 397 BC and the book of Matthew opened in 4 BC with the record of the birth of Jesus. As seen above, that span of time covers roughly the period of the Greek Empire of Alexander the Great and the four divisions of his domain to the beginning days of the Roman Empire.
The specific prophecy of Alexander’s defeat of Darius the Mede and Cyrus the Persian is given in:
Daniel 8:
5 And as I was considering, behold, an he goat came from the west on the face of the whole earth, and touched not the ground: and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes.
6 And he came to the ram that had two horns, which I had seen standing before the river, and ran unto him in the fury of his power.
7 And I saw him come close unto the ram, and he was moved with choler against him, and smote the ram, and brake his two horns: and there was no power in the ram to stand before him, but he cast him down to the ground, and stamped upon him: and there was none that could deliver the ram out of his hand.
20 The ram which thou sawest having two horns are the kings of Media (Darius) and Persia (Cyrus).
21 And the rough goat is the king of Grecia (Alexander) and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first.
After conquering the then-known world, Alexander died in 323 BC and his kingdom was divided among his four Generals: Cassander (Macedonia, Greece), Lysimachus (Turkey), Ptolemy (Egypt), Seleucus (Syria, Babylon):
Daniel 8:
8 Therefore the he goat waxed very great: and when he was strong, the great horn was broken; and for it came up four notable ones toward the four winds of heaven.
22 Now that being broken, whereas four stood up for it, four kingdoms shall stand up out of the nation, but not in his power.
About the year 171 BC, Israel made a covenant (peace treaty) with Antiochus IV Epiphanes of the Seleucid Empire:
I Maccabees I.
11 In those days went there out of Israel wicked men, who persuaded many, saying, Let us go and make a covenant with the heathen that are round about us.
In the year 167 BC, Antiochus broke the covenant and offered a pig on the altar in Jerusalem and ordered all the Jewish people to sacrifice to his god as predicted by Daniel in:
Daniel 8:
23 And in the latter time of their kingdom, when the transgressors are come to the full, a king of fierce countenance, and understanding dark sentences, shall stand up.
24 And his power shall be mighty, but not by his own power: and he shall destroy wonderfully, and shall prosper, and practise, and shall destroy the mighty and the holy people.
Daniel 11:
30 …he shall be grieved, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant.
31 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
I Maccabees I.
44 For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Juda, that they should…
47 sacrifice swine’s flesh…
54 Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar…
59 Now the five and twentieth day of the month they did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of God.
Exactly three years later on the selfsame day as Antiochus offered swine upon the altar, the 25th of Casleu, Judas Maccabeus and his friends were able to cleanse the Temple.
II Maccabees X.
1 Now Maccabeus and his company, the Lord guiding them, recovered the temple and the city.
3 And having cleansed the temple they made another altar…
5 Now upon the same day that the strangers profaned the temple, on the very same day it was cleansed again, even the five and twentieth day of the same month, which is Casleu.
About six months later, in 163 BC, Antiochus IV Epiphanes died, thus fulfilling the type of Daniel’s prediction of the seven years of trouble. The closing words of Antiochus IV were:
I Maccabees VI.
10 The sleep is gone from mine eyes, and my heart faileth for very care.
11 And I thought with myself, Into what tribulation am I come, and how great a flood of misery is it wherein now I am! For I was bountiful and beloved in my power.
12 But now I remember the evils that I did at Jerusalem, and that I took all the vessels of gold and silver that were therein, and sent to destroy the inhabitants of Judea without a cause.
13 I perceive therefore that for this cause these troubles are come upon me, and, behold, I perish through great grief in a strange land.
II Maccabees IX.
28 Thus the murderer and blasphemer having suffered most grievously, as he entreated other men, so died he a miserable death in a strange country in the mountains.
With the death of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the type of the appearing of the Antichrist of the coming seven-year-long Tribulation is fulfilled. We shall now proceed with the last part of our chronology:
PART TWO THE HISTORIC CHRONOLOGY OF THE 400 SILENT YEARS
The best source of chronological information for the first half of the 400 silent years is found in Daniel chapter 11. Daniel’s prophecy proved to be so accurate that many have denied he could have authored it in the 6th century BC and have assigned it a much later date, after the events described took place. Such people have no concept of our Creator God who declares I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done…(Isaiah 46:9,10). It was no problem, then, for the all-knowing God to reveal to Daniel the people and events that were to come upon the yet future scene. We begin with the disastrous attack on Greece by king Xerxes I of Persia (Ahasuerus, husband of Esther):
Date BC Event Source: (Daniel 11:2-21)
486-465 King Xerxes I attacks Greece: is defeated
470-399 Socrates said: “Never do wrong”
464-424 Artaxerxes I Longimanus, king of Persia (Nehemiah is his cupbearer)
445 Beginning of Daniel’s seventy prophetic weeks
428-348 Plato: “Nations decline from an aristocracy, to a timocracy, to an oligarchy, to a democracy, to tyranny”
384-322 Aristotle, student of Plato, teacher of Alexander the Great, Ptolemy I Soter and Cassander
359-336 Philip of Macedonia rules Greek Empire
356 Philip’s son, Alexander the Great born
336 Alexander becomes king of Greek Empire
333 Alexander defeats Persians (Darius III) at Issus
323 Alexander, after conquering the world, dies
323 Alexander’s kingdom divided among 4 generals
323-285 Ptolemy I Soter (king of the south, Egypt)
321-280 Seleucus I Nicator (king of the north, Syria)
285-246 Ptolemy II Philadelphus (daughter Bernice)
280 Seleucus I murdered by Ptolemy II
280-261 Antiochus I Soter new king of Syria
261 Antiochus I killed in battle with Gauls
261 Antiochus II Theos reploaces Antiochus I
261 Antiochus II divorced his half sister, Laodice, to marry Bernice Saya, daughter of Ptolemy II Philadelphus
250 (?) Ptolemy II Philadelphus makes Septuagint translation
246 Ptolemy II Philadelphus dies, new king Ptolemy III Euergetes Antiochus II removes Bernice and remarries Laodice
246 Laodice poisons Antiochus II, Bernice Syra and her son
246 Ptolemy III Euergetes, Bernice’s brother, attacks
247 Syria in revenge of Bernice’s murder
246-225 Seleucus II Callincus counterattacks Egypt but is defeated in 241
225-223 Seleucus III Soter rules Syria
223-187 Antiochus III the Great subjugates Palestine
222 Ptolemy III Euergetes dies
221-205 Ptolemy IV Philopater defeats Antiochus III Dan. 11:11
221 Ptolemy IV poisons his mother and brother
221-205 Ptolemy IV tries to enter the Holy of Holies but is struck with a seizure (III Maccabees)
205 Antiochus III attacks Ptolemy V Epiphanes, wins
(Judaea now under the Selucids until 63 BC when the Romans took control)
197 Antiochus III gives Cleopatra I to Ptolemy V
196 Rosetta Stone carved in reign of Ptolemy V
187 Antiochus III the Great killed
187-175 Seleucus IV Philopater plunders Temple
180-145 Ptolemy VI Philometer rules Egypt
175 Seleucus IV Philopater poisoned by his chief minister, Heliodorus
175-163 ANTIOCHUS IV EPIPHANES rules Syria
174 Greek gymnasium built in Jerusalem
171 Covenant between Antiochus IV and usurping High Priest Menelaus. (Beginning of the type of Daniel’s seven years)
170 Antiochus IV defeats Ptolemy VI in Egypt
169 Antiochus IV spoils Jerusalem
168 “ “ returned to Egypt but was rebuffed by Rome
167 (Dec.) Antiochus IV commits the Abomination of Desolation (Typical of the middle of Daniel’s seven years)
167 Mattathias begins Maccabean revolt
166 Mattathias dies
166 Judas Maccabeus rules Judea
165 Lysias from Syria attacks Judas
164 Judas cleanses the Temple, Hanukkah begun
163 Antiochus IV dies. (End of type of Daniel’s seven years)
163 Antiochus V made king
162 Judas Maccabeus attacks Akra
162 Brother of Judas, Eleazar Savaran, kills and is killed by a warring elephant
162 Antiochus V killed. Demetrius I, son of Seleucus, becomes king of Seleucid Empire
161 Demetrius I sends General Bacchides to install Alcimus as High Priest in Jerusalem
161 Evil Prince Nicanor killed
160 Judas Maccabeus killed by General Bacchides.
160 Jonathan made king and High Priest
152 Jonathan makes league with Alexander Balas, son of Antiochus IV Epiphanes
151 King Demetrius I is slain
150 Alexander Balas made king of Syria, marries Cleopatra Thea, daughter of Ptolemy VI of Egypt
147 Ptolemy VI Philometer attacks Alexander Balas, and gives his daughter, Cleopatra Thea, to Demetrius II Nicator
145 Alexander Balas beheaded by Demetrius II Nicator, Ptolemy VI Philometer dies
145-139 Demetrius II Nicator reigns over Syria
144 Jonathan sends 3,000 soldiers to rescue Demetrius II
143 Alexander Balas’ General Diodotus Trypho, brings Alexander’s young son Antiochus VI to Syria to rule
143 General Trypho kills Jonathan the High Priest
142 Trypho kills Alexander’s son, Antiochus VI, to rule Syria
142 Simon made High Priest and governor of Judea
141 Simon conquers Syrian Akra in Jerusalem
140 Simon confirms peace with Rome
139 Demetrius II Nicator captured by Parthians
139 Antiochus VII Sidetes, brother of Demetrius II, made king of Syria
138 Antiochus VII Sidetes drives Trypho from Syria
135 Simon and sons, Mattathias and Judas, killed by Simon’s son-in-law, Ptolemy, son of Abubus
135 John Hyrcanus, son of Simon, made High Priest, robbed the sepulchre of David in the City of David
135 Pharisees and Sadducees appear for first time
128 Antiochus VII Sidetes killed
128 Demetrius II Nicator becomes king of Syria again
125 Demetrius II Nicator killed by Alexander Zebina
125 Alexander Zebina killed by Antiochus VIII Grypus
124 Antiochus VIII Grypus becomes king of Syria
113 Antiochus VIII Grypus defeated by half brother, Antiochus IX Cyzicenus
113 Antiochus IX Cyzicenus made king of Syria
111 Antiochus VIII Grypus regains throne of Syria from Antiochus IX Cyzicenus
104 John Hyrcanus dies after 31 years as High Priest
104 Aristobulus I son of John Hyrcanus made High Priest and king of Judea
103 Aristobulus I dies after one year
103 Alexander Janneus, son of John Hyrcanus, made High Priest and king of Judea
95 Antiochus VIII Grypus dies
95 Seleucus VI takes throne of Syria
94 “ “ is killed
94 Antiochus X Eusebius made king of Syria
83 Antiochus X Eusebius dies
83 Tigranes of Armenia becomes king of Syria
76 Alexander Janneus dies at age 49
76 Salome Alexandra, wife of Alexander Janneus, made Queen of Judea
76 Hyrcanus II, son of Salome Alexandra, made High Priest
69 Tigranes of Armenia, king of Syria, dies
69 Antiochus XIII Asiaticus made king of Syria
69 Cleopatra VII Philopator, daughter of Ptolemy XII Auletes, born in Alexandra, Egypt
67 Salome Alexandra dies
67 Aristobulus II defeats Hyrcanus II to become High Priest and king of Judea
65 Roman Empire ends Seleucid Empire
63 Hyrcanus II persuades Roman General Pompey to remove Aristobulus II
63 Hyrcanus II regains High Priesthood in Judea
55 Antipater, father of Herod the Great, made Roman Governor over Judea
49 Aristobulus II poisoned by Pompey
49 Alexander II, father of Mariamme, executed by Pompey
46 Cleopatra VII and Julius Caesar have a child named Ptolemy Caesarion
44 Cleopaatra VII believed to have poisoned her brother, Ptolemy XIV
41 Cleopatra VII has Mark Anthony put three of her rivals to death
40 Antigonus II, son of Aristobulus II, made High Priest
37 Antigonus II poisoned by Herod and Mark Anthony
37 Herod the Great made king of Judea
37 “ “ “ marries Mariamme
36 Mark Anthony and Cleopatra VII have third child
36 Jonathan (Aristobulus III), brother of Mariamme, made High Priest at age 17 by Herod
35 Jonathan the High Priest drowned by Herod
34 Mark Anthony puts the former Seleucid empire under Cleopatra’s rule
31 Mark Anthony and Cleopatra VII lose Battle of Actium to Octavian
30 After final defeat, Mark Anthony stabs himself and Cleopatra VII commits suicide by snake bite thus ending the line of the Ptolemaic Kingdom and the Egyptian Pharaohs
30 Octavian (Caesar Augustus) rules the Roman Empire in preparation for the New Testament events (Luke 2:1)
30 Hyrcanus II, the former High Priest, executed by Herod
29 Mariamme, Herod’s wife, executed by Herod
28 Alexandra II, daughter of Alexander Jannaeus, executed by Herod
20 Herod begins rebuilding Temple
10 Herod completes building of Caesarea
7 Alexander and Aristobulus, sons of Herod and Mariamme, executed by Herod
5 Caesar Augustus decrees the tax that sent Joseph and Mary to Bethlehem
6-4 Jesus born
4 Herod dies