that the power of the holy people was to be scattered. xxi. 1-" Manasseh was 12 years old when he began to reign, and reigned 55 years in Jerusalem. 2 Kings xxi. 18. 19-And Manasseh slept with his father's," "And Amon his son reigned in his stead." "And he reigned two years in Jerusalem." 2 Kings xxi. 23, 26" And the servants of Amor conspired against him, and slew the king in his own house." "And Josiah his son reigned in his stead," xxii. 1-" And he reigned 31 years in Jerusalem." 2 Kings xxiii. 30, 31, 34, 36— "And the people of the land took Je hoahaz the son of Josiah, and anointed him, and made him king in his father's stead." "And he reigned 3 months in Jerusalem." "And Pharaoh-nechoh made Eliakim the son of Josiah, king in the room of Josiah his father, and turned his name to Jehoiakim." "And he reigned 11 years in Jerusalem 2 Kings xxiv. 6, 8—" So Jehoiakim slept with his fathers: and Jehoiachin his son reigned in his stead," "and he reigned in Jerusalem 3 months." 10-12, 14, "And at that time the servants of Nebuchadnezzar king of A. M. 55 3510 2 3512 31 3543 A. M. 11 3554 Babylon, came up against Jerusalem, and the city was besieged. And Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came against the city, and his servants did besiege it. And Jehoiachin the king of Judah went out to the king of Babylon, he and his mother, and his servants, and his princes, and his officers and the king of Babylon took him in the eighth year of his reign." And he carried away all Jerusalem, and all the mighty men of valor, even 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and smiths; none remained save the poorer people of the land." NOTE. Here then began the 70 years captivity predicted in Jeremiah xxv. 9-11," Behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebudchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and against all these nations round about, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. And this whole land shall be A. M. a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 70 years." This is a period covered by the sure word of prophecy, which thus marks its com mencement. The close of this period is also marked in the prophecy, Jer. xxv. 12, "And it shall come to pass, when 70 years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation saith the Lord, for their ini quity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations." This is shown by Daniel to have been literally fulfilled. Dan. v. 1, 4, 5, 30, 31, “Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour came forth fingers of a man's hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king's palace and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain. And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old." These 70 years must therefore have ended with the death of Bel A. M: shazzar, and the subversion of the Chaldean empire, in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia. It is supposed that in the attack upon Babylon, when Darius, the uncle and father-in-law of Cyrus, took the kingdom, that Cyrus commanded and acted for his uncle; and that Darius was associated with Cyrus in the government at Babylon during 2 years to his death. This is also the view of Dr. Jarvis. Conse. quently, the first of Cyrus began with the death of Belshazzar, which harmonizes Ptolemy with Daniel; and also Dan. v. 31, with 2 Chron. xxxvi. 22, 23, "Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord spoken by the mouth of Jeremiah might be accom. plished, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying, thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, All the kingdoms of the earth hath the Lord God of heaven given me; and he hath charged me to build him a house in Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all his people? The Lord his God be with him, and let him go up." We have thus brought down the chronology of the world to the end of A. M. 70 3624 the 70 years captivity, which is as far as the chronology of the Bible gives us any clue to the time. But what is remarkable, where the chronology of the Bible fails us, we have no less than three distinct and independent chronologies, of as many different nations, all agreeing. The end of the 70 years captivity, according to Dr. Jarvis, was in the year B. C. 537— the first year of the sole reign of Cy. rus or 536 years before the Christian era. From the Christian era to the end of the current year, is A. M. 536 4160 1843 6003 It Thus far we have followed the chronology of the Hebrew text; and for every period where that has failed us, we have taken the chronology as given by Dr. Jarvis; and such is the result. Our object has not been to prove this earth just 6000 years old, but only to show from the the best evidence, that it cannot vary far from it: and that we may live continually in expectation of the consummation of that period. will be seen that we have made no allowance for the odd days, or months, that some of the periods may have varied from even years, when they are given in round numbers. The sum of these might reduce the 6003 to 6000. We feel more satisfied with this result, than we should if it gave no time with which to make up such a deficiency. We have before us the Chronology of an |