The third and fourth intervals in the table are clearly pointed out in Nehemiah ii. 1; v. 14; and xiii. 6; the date, indeed, recorded in the latter text, being the _last note of time_ to be found in the present Hebrew text. At this period, or very soon afterwards (according to Mr. Cuninghame, in A.M. 5055),[28] the Old Testament Canon was closed by the prophecy of Malachi, and a long night of darkness reigned, “until at length the Day-spring from on high” visited the world. Thus we have proved, from Scripture evidence alone, that at the date of Ezra’s commission, which was upwards of 5000 years from Creation, and even before that period, the Jews were in possession of a prophecy extending nearly 500 years into futurity, and pointing to the Advent of a mighty Saviour who should restore all things, and “bring in everlasting righteousness.” The date of the passion of Christ is fixed and determined as in the following table:— TABLE XV. The Date of Ezra’s Commission A.M. 5021 The period of seventy weeks, or 490 years 490 ———— THE DATE OF THE CRUCIFIXION, A.M. 5511 Hence, it is clearly demonstrated that the general belief among all nations, that the Messiah should appear in the middle of the _Sixth Millenary_ from Creation, had its real origin in a knowledge of the true chronology of the sacred Scriptures! In arriving at this conclusion, we have been obliged, in order to establish the exact lengths of the Critarchal and Hierarchal ages, to borrow _twelve_ years from the writings of the ancient chronographers, and _seventy-eight_ from the canon of Ptolemy, amounting only to _ninety_ years in all,—a period which may be considered as almost evanescent in the long range of 5500 years. Probably the Scriptures originally contained notices even of these intervals, and in the course of ages, they may have been either lost, through the negligence of transcribers, or omitted through the wilfulness of enemies to the truth. 2. Determination of the Epoch of the Birth of Christ—Labours of Mr. Cuninghame on this point—Coincidence of the extent of the period of Patriarchal pilgrimage with that of Hierarchal Bondage—Table XVI. Extent of the _Six Ages_ of the World—Difference between the true and vulgar dates of the Nativity—Mr. Cuninghame’s dates of the Nativity and Public Ministry of Christ, deduced from the chronology of the Septuagint.