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The texts I use to arrive at Abraham's year of birth are as follows:

IF Abraham had been born in year A.M. 1948 (Terah's 70th year) he would have been 135 years at his father's death in 2083 (2083 - 1948 = 135). But the Bible plainly states that Abraham was 75 years old when he left Haran after his father's death. Therefore I conclude that Abraham was not Terah's firstborn. Terah's firstborn was probably Haran (Lot's father) who died in the land of the Chaldees before his father Terah (Genesis 11:28). We are also told that Abram's brother Nahor (who is mentioned second) married his brother Haran's daughter, Milcah (Genesis 11:29). So Haran was a lot older than both his brothers Nahor and Abraham.

What do I conclude from the above? I conclude that Abraham was born in year 2008 and that he was not Terah's firstborn. Abraham is mentioned first in Genesis 11:26 because he was in the Messianic line, not because he was the firstborn. Another example of where the firstborn is not mentioned first is in Genesis 10:21: "Unto Shem also, the father of all the children of Eber, the brother of Japheth the elder, even to him were children born ..." As in the case of Abraham, Shem is mentioned first in Genesis 10:1 simply because he is in the Messianic line: but it also clearly states that Japheth was the elder.

My answer to the question is: I used Abraham's call date because most Bible chronologists start the 430 year count from Abraham's call when the patriarch was 75 years old. The objective of the article Time is Short was to highlight the fact that we are approaching the 6000 year mark. Mentioning an alternative date in that article would not have helped reach that objective: it may well have provoked an unnecessary argument. But now that the question has been asked, I'll answer it in some detail.

There is another starting date, which specifically mentions an everlasting covenant YaHuWaH made with Abraham. This covenant was made when Abram was 99 years old, that is in year 2008 + 99 = year 2107. In that year YaHuWaH made an everlasting covenant with Abraham. I quote the entire passage concerning this everlasting covenant.

We can see from this passage that YaHuWaH made an everlasting covenant with Abraham and his seed when the patriarch was ninety nine years old: which was in year 2008 + 99 = 2107. This was 24 years after Abraham, when 75 years old, was called out of Ur of the Chaldees. It means that were we add 430 years to the covenant year 2107 we would arrive at an Exodus/Torah year of 2107 + 430 = AM 2537.

Our amended chronological chart would then read as follows:

I will use the everlasting covenant date of 2107 when answering questions 3 to 6: even though it is not the popular choice of Christian chronologists who - perhaps - have misgivings about its eternal reference to circumcision, the physical sign of the covenant.

It plainly states in 1 Kings 6:1 that building operations of the Temple began 480 years after the children of Israel came out of Egypt; which was a just a few weeks before the Torah was given at Sinai. To prove this fact - if indeed further proof were needed - I give the following breakdown, taken from J.B. Dimbleby's book All Past Time.

Solomon began building the Temple in Jerusalem in the 4th of his 40 year reign. To answer this question, therefore, we will need to take a close look at the reigns (not the life-spans) of all the Kings of Yahudah. The following details are obtained from the Bible alone.

In short, Yahudah's 70 year captivity began 429 years after the Temple building operations began.

5. How Many Years Elapsed Between The End Of Yahudah's Captivity And The Arrival Of The Messiah? Please Give Bible Proof.

Chronologists generally refer to secular sources to provide an answer to this question. But a growing number of believers are requesting proof from the Bible alone; simply because secular sources are neither reliable nor readily available to millions of Christians. Besides, secular sources mostly disagree with each other.

I certainly agree with your observation: 'Why, indeed, should a Bible student have to rely on a secular source to prove any Bible teaching?' In order to answer your question - with Bible proof - I will need to refer to a prophecy in the book of Daniel which spells out the time - in years - when the Messiah would come. Towards the end of Yahudah's 70 year captivity we are told that the prophet Daniel set his face towards Elohim "to seek by prayer and supplication, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes" for understanding of the Almighty's plan for His people. I quote the passage in which the angel of YaHuWaH opens up Daniel's understanding.

You will see from the above that the Messiah's arrival was to be "seven weeks, and three score and two weeks (of years, that is 483 years) from the going forth of the commandment to restore and rebuild Jerusalem." Therefore to arrive at the year the Messiah would come we simply add 483 years to the end date of Yahudah's 70 year captivity. The commandment to restore and rebuild the Temple of YaHuWaH in Jerusalem is found in the book of Ezra. It was given when Judah's 70 year captivity ended. I quote:

Bear in mind that this decree by Cyrus was passed at the end of Yahudah's 70 year captivity. It was issued in direct fulfillment of Jeremiah's prophecy. (Jeremiah 25:11, 29:10 and Daniel 9:2) As I am unable - from Bible data alone - to date any other decree concerning the restoration of Jerusalem and the Temple, I will use the captivity end-date, when Cyrus issued his decree, to begin the 483 count. See the answer to question 6 for the full count.

You will see from the answers to Questions 1-5 how I arrived at the dates of Abraham's birth, the giving of the Torah, Solomon's Temple and also the total number of years the Kings of Yahudah reigned. It now remains to prove - from the Bible alone - when Messiah the Prince YAHUSHUA would come. To do this I will use the Temple starting date of AM 3017, even though it is not the popular choice of most Bible chronologists. I do this because:

• Abraham's Call - though dated (for Abraham was 75 at the time) - is not a covenant.
• The covenant mentioned in Genesis 15 is undated, so we cannot calculate from it.
• The only DATED COVENANT I am able to find between YaHuWaH and Abraham is the one recorded in Genesis 17. It provides full details of an everlasting covenant between YaHuWaH and the patriarch and his Seed. It also provides the date (AM 2107), when Abraham was 99 years old. This date is not used by most Christian chronologists, perhaps because circumcision, the physical sign of the covenant is seen as a stumbling block. But as far as proving the date of Messiah's arrival - from the Bible alone - this date (AM 2107) is invaluable. So I will use it to answer the question.

Now let us begin our count to the arrival of YAHUSHUA THE MESSIAH. I shall use A.M. (anno mundi) years throughout as B.C. years may confuse the reader.

Bible chronologists differ by a few years as to the creation date. In the early 18th century Archbishop Ussher of Amagh, Ireland, calculated that creation occurred in B.C. 4004. In his book ALL PAST TIME, J.B.Dimbleby, astronomer and historian calculated that the Savior was born in A.M.3996, a difference of 8 years. The Christian mathematician Ivan Panin arrived at the year A.M. 3999. In other words, give or take a few years - allowing for a slight miscalculation when dealing with the reigns of the Kings of Yahudah, or a difference in prophetic interpretation, all these believers are saying that THE MESSIAH, (YAHUSHUA) was born about 4000 years after the creation. This means that IF our assumption is correct, that YaHuWaH the Almighty Elohim of Israel is working to His Shabbat Principle, in which every sixth period of time is followed by a seventh period of rest, a Shabbat! then the coming millennium (the Shabbat Rest of YaHuWaH), could well begin within the next eight years! In view of these facts we do well to hearken to the warning words of the Apostle Peter.