NTChrono4

Chronology of the New Testament

Lesson #4

DATE

ROME

JUDEA

NEW TESTAMENT

39
40

41

42

Caligula is tall, huge, hairy, bald headed with hollow eyes and temples. He is sickly and strange, hiding under beds during thunder. He is a wastrel, very cruel, and quickly descends into insanity, insisting that others worship him as a god. He delights in psy- chological and physical torture, and many will die at his orders. He makes his favorite horse a priest in his own temple. He is so hated that in 41, a Tribune of the Guard kills him in a passageway of the palace, his wife is killed and his daughter's brains are dashed against a wall.

50 year old Tlberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus is proclaimed emperor by the Praetorian Guard. He is the uncle of Caligula and the grand- son of Mark Antony and Octavia, the sister of Augustus and niece of Julius Caesar. He is tall, stout and white haired. Polio and other diseases had weakened him; his legs are very thin; he has a shambling gait and his head wobbles when he walks. He was considered a feeble-minded fool for most of his life, which he explains as a ruse to protect his life. His first wife died on their wedding day, and the next is divorced. His third wife, 16 year old Messalina, whom he marries when he is 48 years old, is an evil and cruel woman. She is far from pretty: her head is flat, her face is florid and her chest is malformed. She has numerous people killed and her public debauchery is widely known. She is assisted in this by an ambitious freedman of Claudius', Narcissus

Claudius wants to put down the disturbances among the Jews in Judea in the most expedient way and so names Herod Agrippa I to be king over Judea and Samaria. Herod is generally well thought of by both Romans and Jews.

Herod Agrippa I kills the Apostle James, and, seeing it pleased the Jews, tries to do the same with Peter, Acts 12:1-19. This happens at the time of Passover and the Feast of Unleavened Bread, the first part of April. Herod returns to Caesarea where he soon dies, Acts 12:20-23. Claudius appoints Cuspius Fadus as Roman Procurator in the place of Herod. Fadus keeps tight control. In 45 a so-called prophet, Theudas, tries to part the Jordan miraculously and marches, with a group of followers, against the Romans. Fadus has him beheaded. (This is not the same Theudas of Acts 5:36).

Cornelius and his household converted, Acts 10. The Jews in Palestine are enraged against Caligula and all Romans during the winter of 39-40, and after. No Roman soldier would have been commended by the Jews, Acts 10:22, during that time. So, the conversion has to be after 37 and before 39-40.

Expansion of the work, Gentiles converted in many places, particularly at Antioch, Acts 11:1921.

Barnabas is sent to Antioch, Acts 11:22. This takes several months, seeing that Antioch is 300 miles from Jerusalem, and Barnabas goes other places. He spends some time there before going to Tarsus to find Paul, Acts 1 1 :23-26. They return to Antioch in 43 and "assemble a whole year" with the church, Acts 1 1 :26.

Barnabas and Paul are in Judea through this turmoil with the contribution from Antioch to the Judean churches, Acts 11:27-30. After the death of Herod, they return to Antioch, Acts 12:24-25.

Paul's first missionary journey, Acts 13:1 - 14:25. He and Barnabas go to Cyprus, Antioch in Pisidia, Iconium, Lystra, Derbe and the regions around them.

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