BIBLE TIMELINE NOTES
Robin Jones (Hurstville, Australia)
see the timeline: Cover || Adam to Abraham || Abraham to Christ
For PDF version of the Bible Timeline notes, click here
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The purpose of this timeline is to give a visual understanding of the
order of key events in Bible history. For more detailed explanations
it is recommended to view Rob Hyndman's book concerning Bible Times
which is
online at www.robhyndman.info/bible/times
To order Bible Timelines email info@carelinks.net. Cost for those who can afford them... $1.50 Australian, O.60 GBP, or $1.15 US each + postage. 20% discount when ordering more than 10. This payment helps to subsidise the ones given away in poorer countries.
Creation
The aim of the Bible is to introduce us to God's plan of salvation, not to explain how he created the universe.
God exists outside of time and space, as we know it.
So, while God created the physical universe, He could see all of human history.
While he made the galaxies, he saw His infant son crying in Mary's arms, and
while he created the universal radiation, He saw His saints collectively praising
His name in the finality of the
Gen 1:14 states that the reasons for the lights in the sky are for light, and for time measurement. Days are marked by the earth's rotation, months by the moons revolution, and years by the earth's revolution about the sun. Rev 21:22-23 talks of. the Kingdom without sun and moon - perhaps it is the measurement of time, or time itself, which is ended.
God set the sun, moon and stars in their positions
in heavens, relative to earth. In Genesis they have the role of giving light
to the world, and of marking the passage of time. John’s gospel tells us that
Jesus was the true light that came into the world and was part of God’s plan
from the beginning.
Adam and Eve
God created man in His image to fill the earth with His glory, but not obeying God meant that sin entered the world. Death is the consequence of sin. God did not leave Adam and Eve without hope and made some promises to them which pointed forward to Jesus as their saviour and the one who would overcome sin and destroy it’s power. It was not long before jealousy also entered the world and Cain murdered his righteous brother Abel.
Seth seemed to take Abel’s place and there seems to be a line of righteous people known as the “Sons of God” and a line of unrighteous people who produced “the Daughters of men”. Before the flood people lived very long lives. It is recorded that Cain built a city : that Jabel dwelt in tents and had cattle, Jubal was the father of those who played the harp and flute & Tubal Cain forged tools from bronze and iron.
Noah
By the time Noah was born it seems that the righteous had mingled with the unrighteous – this time is called “the days of Noah” by Jesus. Out of all the people on the earth only Noah was righteous before God.
The Flood
The wickedness of man was so great that God decided to destroy man
from the earth except for Noah and his family.
The
It is amazing
that the first major event recorded after the flood was the building of the
ways.
It was at this point that God made people speak in different languages. People
spread out and formed groups with those they understood. Cities
were built and places to worship their false Gods.
Abraham
God saw that Abraham was a man of faith and told him to leave the city he was living in and to go to a new land. He made key promises to Abraham which effect how we understand much of what came after. Abraham was promised a blessing through Isaac – the promised son by Sarah- but the ultimate blessing through Jesus. Abraham also had other sons, Ishmael through Hagar and 6 others with Keturah.... they were the ancestors of some of the Arab nations, but Isaac was the ancestor of the Jewish nation .
Jacob and Esau
Jacob and Esau were twins, they were Abraham’s grandsons. It was not
Esau the firstborn who the promises would go through, but Jacob. God said
that the elder would be ruled by the younger. Esau became the father of some
more Arab nations, and Jacob had 12 sons who eventually
became the 12 tribes of
Moses
After the Israelites
had been in 
regarded disgrace FOR THE SAKE OF CHRIST as of greater
value than the treasures of
The Promised Land
Due to their lack of faith God made the Israelites wander in the desert for 40 years. It seems that during this time Moses wrote the first 5 books of the Bible which have become known as the “Torah” (meaning law, instruction, commandments) or the Pentateuch (5 volumed book). God gave Moses the 10 commandments and other laws for them to live by. God wanted people to serve him from their hearts, but in case they didn’t, they had the law to make them do the right thing. But keeping the law became an obstacle in itself as some saw that obedience to rules was what God wanted and would gain them righteousness, rather than being motivated by love. John 1 v 17 tell us that “the Law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came by Jesus Christ.”
Moses came to represent the law. It would not be someone who represented the law that lead the Israelites into the promised land, but Joshua who was a type of Jesus. The Israelites were faithful to God under the leadership of Joshua, but after he died and those of his company, most of the Israelites sank back into bad ways.
Judges
There was a period when Judges ruled
The
God’s plan had
been for the Israelites to be a light to the nations, to convert the rest
of the world, and for a short time the 
n
the
The Prophets
God sent prophets to the Israelites to deliver His messages and warnings.
Many of the books of the Old Testament bear the names of the prophets. They
were often persecuted by their fellow Israelites. Stephen said in Acts 7
v 52
”Which
of
the
prophets
was
not
cruelly
attacked
by
your
fathers?
and
they
put
to
death
those
who
gave
them
the
news
of
the
coming
of
the
Righteous
One;
whom
you
have
now
given
up
and
put
to
death”
The Cap
tivity
The peaceful
period under King Solomon did not last and after Solomon’s death, the Kingdom
was split and became known as
Daniel’s Visions
Daniel was captured
and taken to
As God had told Daniel in advance,
During the time of the rule of the Persian Kings,
there arose a plot to kill all the Jewish people. God arranged for a beautiful
young Jewish girl, Esther, to marry the king of
Return from Captivity
After 70 years in captivity, God allowed
his people to be returned to their homeland of
During their time back in their land, the Israelites again began to leave the true worship of God. They intermarried with unbelievers, they cheated God by offering sick animals as sacrifices, and cheated the poor of the land. God sent the prophets to again instruct them in righteousness, and to leave wonderful prophecies of the coming Messiah.
Some poorer Israelites were left behind
in the captivity, and intermarried locals, forming
the mixed races around Galilee, who were later to be called “Samaritans”,
despised by the “pure” Israelites around
After Alexander’s
death in 323BC, the empire was divided in 4 and his general Ptolemy took
over control of
The Maccabees
In 167 BC Antiochus Epiphanes desicrated the temple in
Some of the Jews did not like the Maccabean rulers who
were both priests and military leaders, and started their own community at
Qumram, where the the 'Dead Sea Scrolls' were found. The Maccabeans ruled for about 100 years. Different political groups
arose called the Pharisees and Saducees.
The Romans
In
63 BC The Roman general Pompey took
control of Jerusalem. The sacrificial practices were resumed under Roman rule.
It is important to understand this period in order to understand the political
scene in NT times.
Jesus Christ
“And
the word was made flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory
as of the only begotten Son of the Father, full of grace and truth.” Jesus
came as the light of the world... the one anticipated since the promise
to Adam and Eve... the seed promised to Abraham and the prophesied son of
David. God’s plan from the beginning- to be our only way
of salvation.
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