Stephen Jones — Creation
b2 — Secrets of Time
Creation Chronology: The 6,000 Years from Adam
“Since Adam was unfamiliar with our Gregorian calendar, he did not date things ‘B.C.’ (Before Christ). All things were simply dated according to the creation of Adam. Thus, we say that Seth was born in the year 130, or 130 years from Adam.”
— Jones, Secrets of Time, chapter 2 (Basic Bible Chronology)
Interpretation: Jones anchors biblical chronology at Adam’s creation as its zero point. All biblical history thereby receives a creation-theological orientation — the creation of Adam is the beginning of measurable time.
“Many who have done chronologies have assumed that we are now close to the 6,000-year mark in history from Adam… the year 2000 A.D. is only 5894 years from Adam. This is 106 years short of 6,000… In 120 Jubilees, God crams 6,000 years into just 5,880 years. Thus, while 1986 A.D. is 120 years short of 6,000, it is actually a full 6,000 years of legal time. In this way God can do things ‘early.’ Or, as Jesus put it, God shortens the time for the sake of the elect (Matt. 24:22).”
— Jones, Secrets of Time, chapter 2 (Chronological Time and Legal Time)
Interpretation: Jones distinguishes chronological and legal time. The 6,000-year pattern of creation runs through 120 jubilee cycles, each overlapping by one year, so God fits 6,000 years into 5,880 chronological years — a built-in compression for the sake of the elect.
Biblical Calendar Rooted in Creation
“Keep in mind that Years from Adam begin in the fall (Sept. or Oct.) on the Feast of Trumpets. Years from Adam up through the fall of 3895 are also BC years. 1 BC = 3894 Years from Adam / 1 AD = 3895 Years from Adam.”
— Jones, Secrets of Time, appendix D (Chronology of History from Creation to the Present)
Interpretation: The biblical calendar is founded directly on Adam’s creation. Adam’s fall (Year 0) is the zero point of the time reckoning, and the autumn feasts mark the beginning of each new year in this creation chronicle.
The Fall and the Curse on Creation
“3895 B.C. / Year 0 / Adam sins; the ground is cursed (Gen. 3:17) / Adam expelled from Eden (Gen. 3:24)”
— Jones, Secrets of Time, appendix D
Interpretation: The chronological table in appendix D begins precisely at Year 0 with Adam’s sin and the curse on the ground (Gen. 3:17). The Fall is the historical zero point of fallen creation history.
“Adam was made of the dust of the ground, and yet his ‘land’ was glorified with the light of God’s presence prior to his sin. When he sinned, he lost that inheritance, and he became a debtor to the law. He was then ‘sold’ into bondage to sin… If Israel had chosen to inherit the land at Tabernacles of 2450, they would literally have returned to the inheritance that they had lost in Adam — the redemption of the body (Rom. 8:23).”
— Jones, Secrets of Time, chapter 2
Interpretation: Adam’s fall is a creation-theological turning point: the original glorified state of creation (‘land glorified with God’s presence’) was lost through sin. Redemption is restoration of that original creation state, concretely as the redemption of the body (Rom. 8:23).
God’s Sovereignty over Creation History
“The overall purpose of this book is to portray the Sovereignty of God in history. If that goal is reached, you should conclude the reading of this book by saying, ‘What a great God we have!’ Or, as Paul would say, ‘O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments, and His ways past finding out!’ (Romans 11:33)”
— Jones, Secrets of Time, Preface
Interpretation: Jones’s central thesis: creation history is a display of God’s sovereignty. Knowledge of creation chronology serves as a means to make God’s glory visible.
“Men do not determine history; God does. Nations rise and fall according to His decrees, as Nebuchadnezzar discovered the hard way in the 4th chapter of Daniel. No monarch stands above the Law of God.”
— Jones, Secrets of Time, Preface
Interpretation: Historical understanding and creation theology are unified in Jones: God is Creator and therefore absolute sovereign. Human kings are derivative and temporary; God’s decrees are irreversible.
“The chronological problems, however, are only in the specific history of the various kings. The overall chronology, by divine providence, is quite easily established.”
— Jones, Secrets of Time, chapter 2
Interpretation: Jones explicitly uses ‘divine providence’ for the preservation of biblical chronology. God’s sustaining action (providence) guarantees the reliability of creation history.
New Creation: The Sabbath Millennium as Telos
“We stand today at the threshold of the Tabernacles Age. The Passover Age began with Israel’s Exodus from Egypt on the day of Passover and ended at the Cross. The Pentecost Age began in the 2nd chapter of Acts and ended 40 Jubilees later on the day of Pentecost, May 30, 1993. We are now in the transition into the great Tabernacles Age, which will last a thousand years. It is the great Rest Year, the Sabbath Millennium, during which time there will be an overcoming Remnant who exercise great authority in the earth.”
— Jones, Secrets of Time, Preface
Interpretation: The Sabbath Millennium is the creation pattern of Gen. 2:1-3 writ large: six ages of human labor, followed by the great Rest Year. Jones reads the sabbath pattern as the structural law governing all creation history.