Edward Reese - KJV Reese Chronological Study Bible

1977 by Edward Reese, 2016 by Margaret Reese

Previously published as The Reese Chronological Bible

Published by Bethany House Publishers

11400 Hampshire Avenue South

Bloomington, Minnesota 55438

www.bethanyhouse.com

Bethany House Publishers is a division of

Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan

Ebook edition created 2016

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meansfor example, electronic, photocopy, recordingwithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-3020-1

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015957329

Cover design by Dan Pitts
Interior design by Brian Brunsting

Psalm 119:111 Thy testimonies have I taken as an heritage for ever: for they are the rejoicing of my heart .

In these last several years God allowed me the unique privilege to get to know Dr. Ed Reese through the work of this Bible project.

Dr. Reese had a love for the Christian heritage, and he loved to study the lives of the saints. Even in his eighties, Dr. Reese was still teachable. He loved to explore and learn, and he found great joy in discovering something new. Even his Bible reading was still fresh after all these decades of reading it.

Someone asked how Dr. Reese could still be so enthusiastic. Some have speculated that the principle in Philippians 4:69 applies. Dr. Reese prayed for people, and in his mind, he had no enemies. He had an innocence about him concerning everyone.

My personal opinion about why Dr. Reese lived a long, vibrant life is that he always had purpose. From the time he was a young man to his last days, he had another project, another goal, and more research to do. He lived to add more to the heritage God has left us through Christians who love and have loved Gods Word.

It is my pleasure to present to you Dr. Reeses life work found in this revised edition, the KJV Reese Chronological Study Bible . May the Lord bless you as you read it.

In Christ,
Pastor Scotty W. Backhaus
Romans 12:12

Contents

Acknowledgments

In the late 1940s as a student at Moody Bible Institute, I heard a chapel speaker talking about the return from exile, interweaving information from Ezra and Nehemiah with Haggai and Zechariah. I found this fascinating since these two sections were separated considerably in the Old Testament text. I remember thinking that perhaps someday I would put out a Bible in chronological order. It would simply be a reference work to aid peoples knowledge and love for the Scriptures.

It was in 1977 that I finished the chronological Bible. It was published by E. E. Gaddy & Associates of Nashville, Tennessee. Some 100,000 copies were soon sold. Shortly thereafter, Bethany House Publishers in Bloomington, Minnesota, took over the publishing. Over the next thirty years, more than 150,000 copies were sold. In the early 2000s, Bethany House asked if I would like to improve this Bible in any way and add notes to it. I agreed. I did not want to compete with the many study Bibles now available, majoring in doctrinal and theological notes, but rather focus on geography, history, archeology, and human interest items, as well as explain complex words and difficult passages.

I know very little about computers, so I needed an associate who could insert my notes correctly and switch copy locations, making it ready for a publisher. The Lord provided Scotty Backhaus, a student of mine at that time and a computer specialist. Not only that, but he is very knowledgeable in Bible matters. He pastors the Riverview Baptist Church near Green Bay, Wisconsin. He has worked sacrificially and always with a positive attitudea worthy associate.

Next, I needed help with some dates, not being entirely satisfied with those in my prior publication. While visiting the Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, I providentially discovered a copy of The Chronology of the Old Testament by Dr. Floyd Nolen Jones, the greatest Old Testament study on that subject that I had ever seen. Dr. Jones has kindly let me use much of his dating system. He also recommended The Annals of the World , which is the complete works of James Ussher, revised and updated by Larry and Marion Pierce. This is a compilation of Old Testament history, biblical and secular.

Still, a number of biblical events were not dated in the works of either Jones or Ussher. Then I found the Chronological Order of Bible Events, in the Strand Study Bible , edited by Pastor Brad Strand, which confirmed much of my research and assisted me in areas that I was unsure of. When he was a student of mine, Brad Strand and I often discussed Bible chronology. He currently pastors the Harvest Bible Church in Greenville, Texas.

Strands chronology along with the Jones/Ussher dating has helped me make this edition of my chronological Bible much more accurate than its earlier editions. Of course, in a few places, I differed a bit from all of these men. I believe you hold in your hands a detailed, truly chronological Bible, having used the very best sources available.

Let me acknowledge some other chronologists who have done remarkable studies, and although I do not use their dates, I have the utmost respect for their labors in this field.

• Robert KillianLiving in Monaco and published his Chronicle in 2012 (AuthorHouse). I made use of a few of his notes.
• David RohlOutstanding work in a very difficult category: Egyptian chronology.
• George TownsendIn the 1830s, he produced a chronological Bible.

I utilized an untold number of other books from my study, finding many unique, little-known facts to include in my notes. As I worked on this project for many years, my wife, Margaret, has employed her editing skills and my pastor, Clarence Sexton, has continued to support my efforts, eventually lightening my teaching schedule at The Crown College of the Bible. I thank them both.

Lastly, I want to thank Bethany House Publishers, a division of Baker Publishing Group, for suggesting and publishing this volume.

Edward Reese
2015

Introduction

The KJV Reese Chronological Study Bible arranges the Bible in consecutive order. It can be read as a history of events as they happened. The first edition of the Reese Chronological Bible has been a valuable and well-loved study aid since its publication in 1977. This study Bible edition, with historical, geographical, archeological, and human interest notes, adds many new insights.

Understanding of the Bible has been enhanced throughout the ages with new study aids. Chapter divisions were probably made by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury, England, who died in 1228. The invention of the printing press (Gutenberg) produced the first printed Bible in 1456. Individual verse numbering was not used until Robert Stephens, a Paris printer, devised it in 1551. The first edition of the King James Version was produced in 1611, but not finalized to what we now have until 1769. The scholarly chronology established by James Ussher (15811656) was first used in 1701. Many other helpful study Bibles have been produced since then, including the Scofield Reference Bible in 1909. We hope this chronological effort will be another stepping-stone toward enlarging our understanding of the Bible, and a help to future scholars.

Dating

No two Bible scholars would be likely to arrange the Bible in exactly the same chronological order. For example, there is not common agreement on the duration of the judges, the dating of the kings, where to place the different psalms, or the exact dates of the 483 years of Daniel 9:25. After consulting numerous works on Bible history and chronology, and careful analysis of every time frame in the Bible, placement decisionssome necessarily arbitrarywere made in the best judgment of the editor.