OT Survey Timeline

Creation

1 CE

God created everything by speaking it into existence, and called it "good".

Adam and Eve

2

God created Adam and Eve in his own image, and gave them rule of the land.

The Fall

3

Adam and Eve disobeyed God, bringing sin into the world, and God punished them but offered future redemption in the form of someone who destroys sin.

Cain and Abel

4

Cain killed Abel, both of them Adam and Eve's son, showing that sin is present in the world.

Noah and the Ark

5

God punished all the sin in the world by flooding it, starting over with Noah (he saved Noah by telling him to build a big boat).

Tower of Babel

6

Everyone decided to make a tower, and God created confusion of language to spread the people out across the world.

Abraham promised 3 things

7

Abraham promised 3 tings by God:
1. Many descendants
2. Land
3. The world blessed through descendants

Isaac born to Abraham

8

Isaac was born to Abraham, despite his wife being too old to have children, through a miracle

Abraham almost kills his own son

9

God told Abraham to sacrifice his newly given son, and Abraham agrees. He took his son to the altar, but God told him to stop before Isaac died, and gave Abraham a lamb to sacrifice instead.

Joseph favored by his father, and sons sell him into slavery

10

Joseph is favored by his father, Jacob, who is the son of Isaac, the son of Abraham. But his 11 brothers hate that he is favored over them, so they sell him into slavery in Egypt. Joseph explains a dream given to the Pharoah, and then Joseph is made the pharaoh's right-hand man. Joseph eventually becomes the Pharoah himself and is visited by his brothers, who have come to get food because there is a famine. Joseph forgives his brothers, and they move to Egypt

Israel in Egypt

11

Israel eventually becomes enslaved in Egypt, having moved there because of Joseph becoming Pharoah but he eventually dies. The Israelites question God, asking if Abraham's promise will ever be fulfilled.

Moses: "Let my people go!"

12

Moses demands Pharaoh to release the Israelites from slavery, telling that 'Yahweh' (God) told him to do this.

10 Plagues

13

God sends the 10 plagues in response to the Pharoah's repeated 'no', each one is targeting a specific god of Egypt. Pharoah eventually caves after the last one and tells Moses to take the Israelites.

Israel crossing Red Sea

14

God parts the Red Sea through Moses, allowing Israel to escape from Egypt's army that decided to chase them and try to get them back into slavery.

10 Commandments

15

After escaping from Egypt, Moses meets God at Mt. Saini, and God gives Moses the 10 commandments, showing that Isreal is becoming a true nation with written laws.

Aaron makes golden calf

16

Isreal sees Moses is long in coming down the mountain and demands Aaron to make an idol, which he does (a golden calf [not the leg kind])

Tabernacle built

17

God tells Moses to build a temple to him, which is the tabernacle, showing shows that God wants to be near to his people. Moses builds it but is not allowed to go in because of his sin.

12 spies, 10 lies

18

12 spies sent to Canaan, and 10 come back, and exaggerate the stories, saying that the people there are buff and will never be defeated, showing that when we are confronted with fearful things, we forget about God

Israel wanders

19

God punishes Israel for doubting him, and they end up wandering in the wilderness for 40 years, trying to find the promised land.

Moses Dead

20

Moses dies just before Israel enters the promised land, and he warns them to never forget God because if they don't, they will be rewarded. If they do, however, they will be punished.

Joshua leading Israel

21

After Moses' death, Joshua becomes Israel's leader and leads them towards the promised land

Jordan River Parted

22

Joshua parts the Jordan river with God's help, showing he is the next Moses. Once Israel crosses the river, they build an altar to remember God parted the waters

Battle of Jericho

23

After crossing the Jordan river, Joshua was told by God to march around the promised land, Jericho for 7 days, but the seventh day, walk around it 7 times, and on the seventh time, give a shout and blow trumpets. The Israelites did this, and when they gave that shout and blew their trumpets, the huge walls around Jericho collapsed, and Israel took control of it.

Israel settles down

24

After the defeat of Jericho, Israel conquers the surrounding areas and settles down, fulfilling the promise God made to Abraham about his decedents having land.

God's covenant with Joshua is renewed and Josh dies

25

Joshua dies, and God's covenant about Israel having land is completely achieved.

Israel falls and worships other gods

26

Israel follows other gods, and God is angry, so he allows Israel to become enslaved and oppressed by other nations.

God raises up a judge

27

Israel remembers the Lord and cries out to God for help. God raises up a judge to save them, which start out good, but eventually, get worse.

Judges get VERY much worse

28

The judges just keep getting worse and worse and end up being full of sin and eventually fail and Israel falls into a civil war.

Ruth and Boaz

29

Ruth, a Moabite, travels to Israel because her husband, an Israeli, died, and she was following her mother in law. She eventually marries a man named Boaz, and through Ruth's family line King David came, and eventually Jesus

SIN EVERYWHERE

30

Israel becomes devoured with sin and "everyone did what was right in their own eyes". Israel is in chaos and has no king.

Israel demands a king

31

Israel becomes sick of fighting amongst themselves and demands a king from the prophet Samuel.

Saul is anointed king

32

Samuel anoints Saul as king, and Saul looks like a promising king; he is tall and handsome and looks like a very leaderful man.

Saul is rejected by God

33

Saul does not do what God wants and so is rejected by God. Saul eventually dies in battle.

David becomes new king of Israel

34

David becomes the new king of Israel and is a very God-fearing man. Israel becomes very prosperous under his rule

David and Bathsheba

35

David commits adultery with Bathsheba and repents of his sin, and soon his son Solomon is born.

God promises David's descendants will always be on the throne

36

God makes a covenant with David after Solomon is born that David's family line will always be on the Israeli throne.

David dies

37

After the covenant is promised to David, he dies and Solomon, his son, becomes king.

Solomon and God

38

God comes to Solomon in a dream and tells him he can have whatever he wants. Solomon asks for wisdom to rule well, and God is pleased. God promises wisdom, but also wealth and long life.

Solomon builds the temple

39

Solomon builds the permanent temple to God in Jerusalem and Solomon also builds his own temple in Jerusalem.

Solomon dead

40

Solomon dies after a long life and Israel falls into civil war again.

Israel splits up

41

After Solomon's death, Israel eventually splits up into North and South, with the North being called Israel, and the South being called Judah. Judah has some kings that fall back and remember God, but most don't, while in Israel, all of the kings are evil and worship false gods

Prophet's Time

42

God sends prophets to accuse Israel and their now-evil kings of forgetting him. These prophets all have a radical encounter with God and are called by Him to tell Israel about how far they have gotten from Moses' teachings.

Israel's evil kings

43

All of Israel's kings are very evil and worship false gods, and so God allows Israel to be taken over by the Assyrian Empire.

Israel's New Ruler

44

God allows for Babylon to take over Israel again because of their terrible kings and Babylon destroys God's temple. Israel is taken into captivity and exiled from Jerusalem.

Temple Destroyed

45

During Babylon's conquest of Israel, Jerusalem is ravaged and the temple is burnt to the ground.

Israel in Exile

46

The Israelites are taken captive by Babylon and taken from their home. They are put into exile by the Babylonians and are forced to either adapt to their new rulers and merge with their culture, or they resist and fight back.

Daniel and Friends

47

During King Nebuchadnezzar's reign, Daniel and his friends become his advisors. They are filled with God's wisdom, and they show this new way of not resisting or adapting to their oppressors: They have a combination of both loyalty to God, but also subversion to the new king. They work for the king, but they refuse to bow down to idols and eat the king's impure food.

Israel under new ruler

48

Babylon is taken over by King Cyrus of Persia after the time of Daniel and his friends. God softens King Cyrus' heart and so Cyrus allows Israel to return back to Jerusalem

Jerusalem Rebuilt

49

When King Cyrus allows Israel to return home to Jerusalem, the Israelites return. They begin to rebuild the city and bring up new walls to protect themselves.

Temple Rebuilt!

50

After the Israelites rebuild the walls of Jerusalem, they rebuild God's temple. The Israelites fully return to Jerusalem under Persian rule.

Persia Conquered

53

Years after the temple is rebuilt, Persia is conquered by the Greeks, Ptolemies, and Seleucid Greeks

Maccabeans

56

During the Greek rule, a group of Jews led by the Maccabees revolt and rebel against the religious oppression by the greeks.

Roman rule

59

Many years after the Maccabean revolt, the Roman Empire eventually takes over Palestine, which was the current ruler of Israel.

Christmas!

60

In the middle of Roman rule, Mary becomes pregnant and travels to Bethlehem with Joseph and has Jesus.

Jesus baptized

61

Years after His birth, Jesus gets baptized by his cousin, John the Baptist, and when he comes out of the water the Holy Spirit comes on him like a dove and God speaks "This is my son, with whom I am well pleased".

Temptation for 40 days

62

After He is baptized, Jesus goes into the wilderness for 40 days and eats nothing, as well as being tempted by Satan. He 'recreates' the 40 years of wandering of the Israelites and comes out on top.

12 Disciples

63

After Jesus is tempted in the wilderness, He travels around and calls to completely ordinary, seemingly random people to follow Him. These 12 people come to be His 12 disciples, and they all become very important when Jesus leaves them

Sermon on the Mount

64

Jesus climbs onto a mountain and delivers a speech to a large crowd about His very strange 'kingdom of God'. It has very upside-down beliefs and ideas, where the rich are meant to serve the poor and the poor are made important.

3 years of ministry

65

After the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus travels all around for 3 years. He heals the sick and lame and tells parables that are meant to both inform his listeners what the kingdom of God is like and to confuse His enemies, which are the leaders of the temple.

More Ministry

66

Jesus told many parables in His 3-year ministry, but He also healed many people. These miracles were to affirm that He was from God Himself and had power over living things as well as dead things. He did miracles like heal sicknesses that could not be healed at the time. He also healed crippled limbs, made the blind see, and even brought people back from the dead!

Jesus last week

67

At the end of His 3-year ministry, Jesus arrives in Jerusalem on his last week on earth. He does this on a donkey, of all things, fulfilling yet another prophecy. The people all throw down their clothes and leaves in front of Him as He passes by, and they rejoice. Later, He has what is called 'The Last Supper' with His disciples, which is how we do communion nowadays.

A dark day

68

After the last supper, Jesus is taken captive by the religious leaders and tried in court. He is found not guilty by the Roman ruler of Jerusalem (Pilate), but the people demand Jesus crucified. Pilate finally agrees and Jesus dies on the cross, fulfilling yet another prophecy.

Empty Tomb

69

Three days after Jesus' death, the two Marys go to Jesus' tomb and find it empty with an angel inside. They tell the disciples and meet Jesus on the road. After they tell, Jesus appears to many of the disciples and tell them to not give up hope, and He also opens their eyes to the meanings of the word.

Ascension

70

After Jesus appears to the disciples, He takes them to a mountain and tells them to wait in Jerusalem until God has given them power. Then Jesus tells them to go and make disciples of all the nations before clouds cover Him and take Him up into heaven.

Power from God

71

After Jesus' ascension, the disciples all wait in Jerusalem until one day, when they were all together, a wind came through the window and tongues of fire came as well and settled on all of the disciples, and they were all able to speak in different languages that they didn't know before, but they all somehow understood each other. The tongues of fire were the representation of the Holy Spirit, which is God's spirit that can be inside us and a part of us.

Early Church

72

After the Holy Spirit comes to the disciples, they start a church in Jerusalem and they all worship together. They perform miracles, and more and more people come to the church in Jerusalem. But one day, Stephen is stoned by the religious leaders and becomes the first martyr. This causes all the disciples and church members to scatter throughout Asia and the Roman empire, but they never stop preaching Jesus' word, which starts to spread to other cities and countries.

The epistles

73

Much time after the initial scattering of the early church, the epistles were created (letters to early church members in other countries). Paul wrote these based on the different confusions and issues within the church in different places, such as confusion on the second coming of Christ and persecution, among others.

Epistle linkings

74

In 1 Peter, At many points, Peter essentially says 'you have become new people when you took God into your life'. This ties back to the Bible as a whole because it directly correlated to baptism and the symbolic rebirth with God. Also, Peter keeps talking about the different way of adopting new masters (persecutors). He says that God can give us the power to submit to those who persecute us, and this ties to the issues that Israel had to face in their many masters over the decades.

Revalation

75

The biggest way in which Revelation relates to the Bible is the false second coming of Christ that 2 Thessalonians spoke about. Another large way is that no one can open the scroll with 7 seals except for the saviour (Jesus). This is exactly as it is with Jesus' death. We could not be with God, so Jesus had to step in and die for us (just like He will open the seals for us).