What's In Your Bible?

A companion article to Lesson 15

As mentioned in the lesson the Bible contains many different writings including actual history, genealogies, poetry, music, prophecy and letters to name a few. All of these things provide for a much larger historical context when put together. Now having a history of the world is incredibly nice but what's the importance of the specific periods and people the Holy Spirit chose to concentrate on in the Bible? The thing the Christian should keep in mind is anywhere you open your Bible to should be directly tied to Jesus.

The Old Testament uses a quick recap of creation which allows the believer to be in awe over God's great power but really it's a quick background so that we can understand the fall into sin and our need for a Savior. The Holy Spirit spends almost the same amount of time discussing what took place over 7 days to talk about what happened in the amount of time needed to take a bite. At that moment a Savior is promised to humanity and everything that is accounted directly ties into the movement of making that happen. We get a lineage out from Adam through Seth through to Noah, from there Noah to Abraham who was promised descendants as numerous as the stars in the sky. From Abraham you have Isaac to Jacob who became Israel from which his sons formed the tribes of Israel and Judah(11 sons). Out of these tribes comes the David who is promised to be a descendant of Jesus. Through the Old Testament and during the first chapter of Matthew you can follow the entire lineage.

This is called the "Red Line" of the Savior-Promise. This is used to emphasize that the Old Testament is above all a "salvation history" that points us toward Jesus. The redline appears below.

Now let's take a closer look at the history that is found in the Bible breaking it up by era. The first era is the early world history, anything from before about 2000 B.C., so around 4000 years. The notable events of this era include the Creation, man's fall into sin, the first promise of a Savior, the Flood and the origin of nations and languages due to the events at the Tower of Babel. This period can be accounted for in Genesis chapters 1-11.

The second era contains the beginning of God's chosen people. This era covers about 500 years from around 2000 B.C. to 1500 B.C. Notable events include the divine call of Abraham and his promise of descendants up through to the Savior, Abrahams son Isaac, whose son was Jacob(Israel), whose son was Joseph and his 11 brothers which formed the tribes of Israel. Joseph also was responsible for the migration to Egypt. This includes the Jewish Slavery in Egypt and the Exodus lead by Moses. The era ends during the period of wandering the dessert for 40 years. Notable events in this span include the Law formed in the ten commandments at Mount Sinai, along with Jewish customs in regards to further law, worship and sacrifice. This period is accounted for in Genesis 12-50, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy.

The third era starts shortly after the death of Moses. It covers another 500 years from approximately 1500 B.C. to 1000 B.C. Notable events include the invasion and conquest of the Promised Land in Canaan led by Joshua, the period of the Judges including figureheads as Ruth, Deborah, Gideon, Samson and Samuel. This period is accounted in Joshua, Judges, Ruth, and 1 Samuel chapters 1-7.

The fourth era happens during 1000 B.C. to 400 B.C. so about 600 years. The era change is due to the demanding of King over the tribes of Israel which results in an initial uniting of the Kingdoms but ultimately they split up into two, Judah and Israel. Notable accounts include David and Goliath, Daniel and the lion’s den, Jonah and the big fish. Also notable about this period is the Psalms and Proverbs are written. Most of New Testament Prophecy also occurs in this period. Notable figures include, David, Solomon, Job, Daniel, Jonah and Isaiah. The history of the Kingdom is as follows, Saul is appointed king but after losing favor with God, David is chosen and takes over after Saul and his sons are killed in battle. David is followed by Solomon who leads to the Kingdoms splitting following his reign.

Rehoboam takes over for Solomon but due to unhappiness among the Israelites Jeroboam takes over as their King. Jeroboam is king in the Northern Kingdom(Israel) and Rehoboam is king in the Southern Kingdom(Judah). The Northern Kingdom is followed by a succession of godless kings. The Southern Kingdom has string of kings in which some are godly and others godless. In 722 B.C. the Northern Kingdom is conquered by the Assyrians and they deport the Jews back to Assyria. In 586 B.C. the Babylonians conquer the Southern Kingdom and deport the Jews to Babylonia. During 536 B.C. through 400 B.C. the Jews return to Canaan. Also notable about the end of this era is the people lose favor with God in which God withholds Himself from the people and they have no more prophets. This period of silences goes all the way through to Jesus. This period is accounted for in 1& 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, all of the prophets, all of the poetry, Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther.

The next era follows the Earthly ministry of Jesus. The period takes place during 4 B.C. through 29 A.D. or about 30 years. Notable events include the Immaculate Conception and birth of Jesus, His ministry, death, resurrection and short period thereafter and it ends with His ascension into Heaven. The accounts for this period are found in the four Gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. This also marks the beginning of the New Testament.

The final era occurs immediately after the ascension over the next 70 years from 29 A.D. until 100 A.D. This era accounts for the history of the early Church. Notable events include the calling of the 12 Apostles, Pentecost, their martyrdom, the calling Saul who became Paul and the Revelation of Jesus' return. This section of New Testament is most notable for its instruction and guidance for all churches. The account for this era is found in Acts, the epistles(meaning letters) and Revelation.

That's the entirety of the Bible's history. Obviously this in no way contains what's important about the message but instead gives a little context in regards of why these eras were covered as we can see a clearly centered point on Jesus, at any time in the Bible we looking to, at, or back on Jesus.