The Bible’s story, in time order

1. God creates the world and the first people.
2. Adam and Eve turn away from God.
3. Cain kills his brother Abel.
4. A great flood. God saves Noah and his family in the ark.
5. People build the tower of Babel.

• Adam and Eve. The first man and woman.
• Cain and Abel. Their sons.
• Noah. The man God saves from the flood, with his family.

• Eden. The garden where the first people lived. The Bible places it near the Tigris and Euphrates rivers.
• Ararat. The mountains where the ark comes to rest, in today’s Turkey.
• Babel. A city in Mesopotamia, in today’s Iraq.

Other ancient writings from Mesopotamia also tell stories of a great flood.

• Genesis 1–11

1. About 2000 BCGod calls Abraham to leave Ur.
2. Abraham and Sarah have a son, Isaac, in their old age.
3. God gives Isaac’s son Jacob a new name: Israel. His 12 sons’ families become the people of Israel.
4. Joseph is sold as a slave but becomes a leader in Egypt.
5. About 1880 BCJacob’s family moves to Egypt to survive a long time without food.

• Abraham. The man God chooses to begin a new family.
• Sarah. Abraham’s wife. She has a son when she is very old.
• Isaac. Their son.
• Jacob. Isaac’s son. God later names him Israel.
• Joseph. Jacob’s son, sold by his brothers, later a leader in Egypt.

• Ur. A city in today’s southern Iraq, where Abraham starts out.
• Canaan. The land along the eastern Mediterranean coast that God promises to Abraham.
• Egypt. The powerful kingdom along the Nile River, to the southwest.

The pyramids at Giza were already about 500 years old.

• Genesis 12–50
• Job (its time is unknown, and many place it here)

1. Joseph dies in Egypt.
2. A new king who did not know Joseph makes the Israelites slaves.
3. Moses is born and raised in the king’s palace.
4. Moses runs away to the desert of Midian.

• The Israelites. Jacob’s descendants, now a large people.
• Shiphrah and Puah. Two midwives who refuse the king’s order to kill baby boys.
• Moses. An Israelite baby raised by the king’s daughter.

• Goshen. A region in northern Egypt, near the Nile delta, where the Israelites live.
• Midian. A desert region east of Egypt, where Moses hides.

Egypt was the strongest kingdom in the region. Its kings were called pharaohs.

• Exodus 1–2

1. About 1450 BCTen plagues strike Egypt. God’s people eat the first Passover meal. Jesus later shares this meal on the night before he dies.
2. Israel crosses the Red Sea.
3. At Mount Sinai, God gives the Ten Commandments.
4. Israel wanders in the desert for 40 years.
5. About 1400 BCJoshua leads Israel into Canaan. The walls of Jericho fall.

• Moses. The leader God sends to free Israel.
• Aaron. Moses’s brother, Israel’s first priest.
• Miriam. Moses’s sister, who leads the people in song.
• Joshua. Moses’s helper, who leads Israel into Canaan.

• Red Sea. The sea Israel crosses as they leave Egypt.
• Mount Sinai. A mountain in the Sinai desert, between Egypt and Canaan.
• Jericho. An old walled city near the Jordan River.

Egypt’s empire was at its height. Pharaohs built huge temples and cities.

• Exodus 3–40
• Leviticus
• Numbers
• Deuteronomy
• Joshua

1. Deborah leads Israel to victory.
2. Gideon wins a battle with only 300 men.
3. Samson fights the Philistines.
4. Ruth, a foreigner, moves to Bethlehem and joins Israel.
5. About 1050 BCSamuel, the last judge, leads Israel.

• Deborah. A judge and prophet who leads Israel.
• Gideon. A fearful farmer God makes into a leader.
• Samson. A very strong judge with many weaknesses.
• Ruth. A woman from Moab, great-grandmother of King David.
• Samuel. The last judge, who later anoints Israel’s first kings.

• Canaan. The land where the tribes of Israel now live.
• Bethlehem. A small town south of Jerusalem, where Ruth settles.

Other peoples lived in the land too, including the Philistines along the coast.

• Judges
• Ruth
• 1 Samuel 1–7

1. About 1050 BCSaul becomes Israel’s first king.
2. David defeats the giant Goliath.
3. About 1010 BCDavid becomes king. Jerusalem becomes the capital.
4. God promises David that a king from his family will rule forever (2 Samuel 7).
5. About 960 BCSolomon builds the first temple in Jerusalem.

• Saul. Israel’s first king. A head taller than anyone in Israel.
• David. The youngest of Jesse’s eight sons, from Bethlehem. A shepherd God chose to be king. He also sinned badly, and God forgave him (Psalm 51).
• Goliath. A giant Philistine soldier.
• Solomon. David’s son, known for his wisdom.

• Valley of Elah. The valley west of Bethlehem where David fights Goliath.
• Jerusalem. A hill city that David makes the capital.

Egypt and Assyria were weak in this period, so small kingdoms like Israel could grow.

• 1 Samuel 8–31
• 2 Samuel
• 1 Kings 1–11
• 1 Chronicles
• 2 Chronicles 1–9
• Psalms
• Proverbs
• Ecclesiastes
• Song of Songs

1. 930 BCThe kingdom splits: Israel in the north, Judah in the south.
2. About 860 BCElijah challenges the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.
3. Jonah is sent to Nineveh.
4. 722 BCAssyria destroys Israel, the northern kingdom.
5. 701 BCAssyria attacks Jerusalem but fails to take it.
6. 586 BCBabylon destroys Jerusalem and the temple.

• Elijah. A prophet who stands up to wicked King Ahab.
• Elisha. Elijah’s student, who takes his place.
• Jonah. A prophet who runs from God, then warns Nineveh.
• Amos and Hosea. Prophets to the northern kingdom.
• Isaiah. A prophet in Jerusalem who speaks of a coming king.
• Jeremiah. A prophet who warns Jerusalem before it falls.

• Israel (north). The northern kingdom, with its capital at Samaria.
• Judah (south). The southern kingdom, with its capital at Jerusalem.
• Nineveh. The capital of Assyria, in today’s northern Iraq.

Assyria, based in today’s northern Iraq, became the strongest empire in the world. By tradition, Rome was founded in 753 BC.

• 1 Kings 12–22
• 2 Kings
• 2 Chronicles 10–36
• Isaiah
• Jeremiah
• Hosea
• Joel
• Amos
• Jonah
• Micah
• Nahum
• Habakkuk
• Zephaniah

1. 586 BCMany of Judah’s people are taken to Babylon.
2. Daniel serves God in Babylon.
3. 539 BCPersia conquers Babylon.
4. 538 BCKing Cyrus of Persia lets the people go home.
5. 516 BCThe second temple is finished in Jerusalem.
6. About 479 BCEsther becomes queen of Persia.
7. About 445 BCNehemiah rebuilds Jerusalem’s walls.

• Ezekiel. A prophet among the exiles in Babylon.
• Daniel. A young exile who stays faithful in Babylon.
• Esther. A Jewish queen of Persia who saves her people.
• Ezra. A teacher of God’s law who returns to Jerusalem.
• Nehemiah. A leader who rebuilds Jerusalem’s walls.

• Babylon. A great city in today’s Iraq.
• Persia. An empire based in today’s Iran.
• Jerusalem. The city the returning exiles rebuild.

Babylon, then Persia, ruled the region. In Greece, the Parthenon in Athens was finished in 432 BC.

• Lamentations
• Ezekiel
• Daniel
• Obadiah
• Ezra
• Nehemiah
• Esther
• Haggai
• Zechariah
• Malachi

1. 332 BCAlexander the Great conquers the region.
2. 167 BCThe Maccabees lead a revolt against a Greek king.
3. 164 BCThe temple is cleaned and rededicated. Jewish people remember this at Hanukkah.
4. 63 BCRome takes Jerusalem.
5. 37 BCHerod the Great becomes king under Rome.

• Alexander the Great. A Greek king who conquers a huge empire.
• Judas Maccabeus. A Jewish leader of the revolt.
• Herod the Great. A king under Rome who rebuilds the temple.

• Jerusalem. Still the center of Jewish life and worship.
• Rome. The city that comes to rule the whole region.

Greek language and culture spread across the region. That is why the New Testament was later written in Greek.

• No Old Testament books
• Apocrypha: 1 and 2 Maccabees and others (King James Version)

1. About 6 to 4 BCJesus is born in Bethlehem.
2. About AD 27John baptizes Jesus. Jesus begins to teach.
3. Jesus teaches in parables and heals many people.
4. About AD 30 (some say 33)Jesus is crucified in Jerusalem.
5. On the third day, God raises Jesus from the dead.

• Mary. Jesus’s mother.
• Joseph. Mary’s husband, who raises Jesus.
• John the Baptist. A prophet who prepares the way for Jesus.
• Jesus. The one the Gospels present as the promised Messiah and the Son of God.
• Peter. A fisherman who becomes a leading follower of Jesus.
• Mary Magdalene. A follower of Jesus and the first to see him risen.

• Bethlehem. David’s hometown, where Jesus is born.
• Nazareth. Jesus’s hometown, in Galilee.
• Galilee. A region in the north, around a large lake.
• Jerusalem. Where Jesus dies and rises.

Rome ruled the region. Roman governors like Pontius Pilate ruled Judea.

• Matthew
• Mark
• Luke
• John

1. About AD 30At Pentecost, a Jewish harvest festival, the Holy Spirit comes.
2. About 3,000 people are baptized. Believers gather to pray and break bread (Acts 2:41–42).
3. About AD 34Saul, later called Paul, meets Jesus on the road to Damascus.
4. About AD 46 to 57Paul travels and starts churches around the Mediterranean.
5. AD 70Rome destroys the temple in Jerusalem.
6. About AD 95Revelation is written, by early tradition.

• Peter. A leader of the first church in Jerusalem.
• Paul. Once an enemy of the church, then its greatest traveler and letter writer.
• Lydia. A businesswoman who hosts one of the first churches in Europe.
• Priscilla. A teacher who works with Paul.
• Timothy. Paul’s young helper.

• Jerusalem. Where the church begins.
• Antioch. A city in today’s Turkey, where followers were first called Christians.
• Rome. The capital of the Roman Empire.

Roman roads and a shared Greek language helped the message travel fast.

• Acts
• Romans
• 1 Corinthians
• 2 Corinthians
• Galatians
• Ephesians
• Philippians
• Colossians
• 1 Thessalonians
• 2 Thessalonians
• 1 Timothy
• 2 Timothy
• Titus
• Philemon
• Hebrews
• James
• 1 Peter
• 2 Peter
• 1 John
• 2 John
• 3 John
• Jude
• Revelation