In a 2020 article, I wrote about the 10 most important dates in Christian History, and why they made the list. But there were five more that just missed the cut that I want to share with you today!
Why did these Important Dates in Christian History Miss the Cut? Principally because they came before the founding of the Christian church on the day of Pentecost in 28 AD, but also because their dates are not precise. We know a range, namely “about when,” but in ancient times when most people were illiterate few written records were created. Thank God for the Bible, our most important history book!
#1: 4004 BC: Adam and Eve and the Garden of Eden
We need to know that God made the first man and woman perfect! They were noble and sinless and knew God intimately, walking with Him daily in the Garden of Even. What happened? God’s enemy, the devil, disguised himself as a serpent and placed doubt in the couple’s mind.
What was the doubt? The same one the devil tries to place today, namely that God’s word is not true! When Adam and Eve sinned, they created a barrier between themselves and God, for God is holy, i.e. set apart, and can never allow sin to enter His realm. We call this event “the Fall,” and through it, every person is separated from God.
#2: 2348 BC: The Flood:
The sin of Adam and Evil seems “little” to us from afar. But it soon grew, into murder by their son, who left the presence of the LORD and fathered wicked children who soon corrupted the earth and filled it with violence.
Only one man and his family walked with God, and the Lord told him that He was going to destroy “all flesh” in a flood. This cataclysmic event swept away the old world, and God worked through Noah to build a people who would serve Him. Jesus used the Flood as an example of the Last Judgment that He promised would come at His second coming.
As Christians, we must warn those who are lost of this pending danger. More importantly, we must show them the path to everlasting life through Jesus who will usher in His kingdom.
#3: 1921 BC: The call of Abram to the Promised Land:
the man God used to build His kingdom was Abram whom he called at age 75 from Mesopotamia and promised the land of Canaan to his offspring. Abram believed God, and God counted his faith as righteousness and kept His promise to make him the father of many nations. We call Abraham the “father of faith,” and through him, God created a chosen people who would be His light to the world.
#4: 1491 BC: The Exodus and the Ten Commandments:
430 years after God’s promise to Abram, the Lord delivered his children from bondage in Egypt. Moses was the instrument of this deliverance and also the recipient of the Ten Commandments. He wrote the first five books of the Bible 1500 years before Jesus came to save the world.
#5: 467 BC: Ezra completes the canon of the Old Testament:
Moses was just the first one inspired to write down God’s word, the first of many. Books of history, wisdom, and prophecy would follow over the next thousand years. St. Peter tells us that these scriptures were written by “holy men of God,’ inspired by the Holy Spirit. Ezra the scribe was the one who took these 39 “books” and organized them into what we call the Old Testament. In it, we have over 300 prophecies of the Messiah which Jesus fulfilled. Jesus taught His disciples to preach the Gospel to all creatures using these scriptures, and they continue to be a witness to Him and a guide for living to this day.
BC Dates are Essential to Our Faith
These 5 events are foundational to Christianity and the understanding of the New Testament. Remember, the early church had only the Old Testament, and these were the “scriptures” the New Testament writers called to establish their case for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and the coming of His kingdom. We need to know these pillars of truth well.