The Whole Bible Story

I. The Beginning

II. The Bible story begins at the beginning of time. God created the Earth and the universe out of nothing. Almost immediately we wonder why He did it. God created the plants and animals to populate the earth. In the middle of a special place, the Garden of Eden, he made man and woman.

III. Adam and Eve were special creations. Unlike the animals, plants, mountains, seas, stars, and planets, man was created to be an eternal being. Man was created in God’s image. Man was given a spirit, a consciousness, in which it could perceive itself, think, and know the God who created it. This, among other things separated man from all other created things. In this, we find a reason for God creating man; He wanted to create beings similar to Himself. We share in this desire of creation when we desire to have children.

IV. First Law

V. Man was given a simple law to obey. He was to tend the Garden of Eden and to abstain from eating from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil. Adam and Eve had the freedom to obey God and continue in harmony with Him, or disobey—rebel—and die. A second great thing we see in man’s creation is that God wanted beings that could choose to have a relationship to Him, to worship, or, though foolish and dangerous, reject Him. This is one of the problems that I have with a common theory of salvation in Calvinism. Calvin said that one could not seek God unless God acted on the man’s heart and, when He acted on that man’s heart, the man could not refuse or ever reject God. Calvin takes away man’s ability to seek God of his own free will, and the ability to reject God of his own free will. His teaching contrasts with a fundamental aspect of man, the free will to choose to serve or reject God. God neither forced Adam and Eve to obey nor took away the possibility of rebellion. They were in the Garden under His care and would abide in that condition as long as they obeyed Him.

VI. Opportunity for Righteousness

VII. Some might ask why God would create beings that could sin and be eternally separated from Him and eternally punished. First, God has given man every chance to be faithful to Him. He did not, at the beginning of time, select a few people, to be His children and reject others without any opportunity to serve Him as Calvin taught. Instead, He gave each person the freedom to choose or reject Him. Yet God has richly blessed man, given him a wonderful world in which to live, a message to teach him how to be righteous and to live the best quality life that one could imagine, and gave His own Son to make it possible for man to again unite with Him. Things are only messed up when man rejects the good will, loving embrace, and the benevolent father God to pursue his own selfish interests. Each of us who were parents made the same decision as God when we decided to bring an eternal being into the world. Like God, we should give our children every opportunity to know Him and live a life that finds fulfillment in Him and eternal life with Him everlasting. Yet that child may become selfish, refuse true life itself, and be lost. Just as parents cannot make decisions for their children, so God will not decide for us. But it is totally against nature to reject Him and become self-serving. It is that person who, by his own self will, makes himself unfit for God’s heaven, and would be unhappy living in a place where God is the center of praise and devotion.

VIII. Temptation of Man

IX. Then Satan entered the picture. The scriptures indicate that Satan was a created being and apparently rebelled against God, other created beings following him. The nature of this rebellion and the reasons are purely speculation but, as is apparent from the book of Job, Satan still operates under God’s overall limitations. Satan has the ability to tempt man and do other diabolical things, but God is able to limit what Satan does. He does not prevent the work of Satan from being done, but limits its sphere of influence. Men who worship God constantly frustrate the plans of Satan while those who rebel against God in essence, serve Satan and his purposes. Satan is not an infinite being like God but he is powerful.

X. Satan tempted Eve to eat of the tree forbidden by God. She then tempted Adam to eat of the fruit. God knew of their sin and they were banished from the Garden and separated from His presence. They were separated from the Tree of Life so their bodies began a decaying process that would result in their physical deaths. This story of separation sets the stage for the story of redemption. As with Adam and Eve, we are made in God’s image and begin life in harmony with Him. We are not born in sin as some religions teach but begin life in a harmonious relationship as did Adam and Eve. When we sin, rebel against His commands, we also are spiritually separated from Him (” For your sins have separated you from God”). We cannot have harmony with God again unless we submit to a means of redemption that God provides. Even in the Garden, God gave the hope of peace between God and man (” You will bruise”).

XI. Theme Established

XII. The rest of the Bible story traces this story of God’s plan for redeeming man being fulfilled through Jesus Christ, His Son.

XIII. Earth Populated/Flood

XIV. Some time after Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden, their descendants began to grow on the earth. Eventually, there was a substantial population on the earth. Yet, for the most part, the people had evil on their minds continually, were violent, and were ungodly. A man named Noah was favored by God and was spared when God brought a flood upon the earth. This flood destroyed every breathing animal and person except those on the ark that Noah was instructed to build.

XV. This flood established an important theme in relation to salvation and that was worldwide judgment. Just as God judged Adam and Eve when He drove them from the Garden, He judged mankind in Noah’s time and destroyed the ungodly. When the flood subsided and Noah and his family were told to repopulate the earth, God promised that He would not destroy the earth again with water but would destroy it with fire. To this, the apostle Peter testifies that when that time comes, all matter will be destroyed, and all men will be brought to judgment.

XVI. Repopulation of Earth/Promises to Abraham

XVII. Many years later, as the world repopulated, God began to put His plan for redemption into action. He chose a man named Abraham, a faithful man, to be the father of a nation that would ultimately bring forth His son into the world for the salvation of mankind. God promised Abraham that he would make his descendants a great nation that could not be numbered, He would give them a land to live in, and through that nation (fulfilled in Jesus) all nations would be blessed. Though old and his wife barren, God gave Abraham a son, Isaac. Isaac had a son, Jacob. Jacob had twelve sons which became the head of the families that would make up the great nation of Israel. The book of Genesis, which included all of these events, closed with the patriarchs, the sons of Jacob and their families, living in the land of Egypt under the care of the pharoah in thanks for Joseph, one of Jacob’s sons, who through God’s providence helped Egypt in a time of famine.

XVIII. Creating the Nation of Israel

XIX. The book of Exodus opens some 400 years later with the descendants of Abraham now slaves to a Pharaoh who did not remember how Joseph saved Egypt in the famine. God chose a Jew named Moses to deliver the Israelites, as the sons of Jacob would be called, from the bondage in Egypt. Though his efforts were initially rebuffed by the Pharaoh, through miraculous plagues on the Egyptians, Moses was able to lead the Israelites out of Egypt and into the wilderness that separated Egypt and Palestine. He took them to Mount Sinai, by the command of God, and there God made a covenant with the Israelites. If they agreed to the covenant, God would give them a law to follow and they would be God’s special people. In return, God would protect them and make them prosper in the land that He promised to Abraham. The people agreed to the covenant and so God’s special nation was born.

XX. The Covenant with Israel

XXI. Here we again come to a critical point in the plan of redemption and our understanding of God’s relationship to man. God did not force Israel to accept His offer. He delivered them from Egyptian bondage through mighty works, including an escape from the Egyptian army when Moses parted the Red Sea to allow Israel to pass but destroyed the pursuing army. He proved the type of care He could provide but He did not force on them the Law of Moses. He offered a covenant to be bound on them and their descendants and they were wise enough to accept it. The covenant had provisions for God’s care when they were obedient and punishments if they were disobedient. This covenant would bind the Jews and God until the death of Christ. Many times in their history, the Jews disregarded and violated the covenant. When they did, God punished them to bring them back into the terms of the agreement. In the time of Christ they continued to be disobedient to His law so He disregarded the covenant and established a new covenant with all who would believe in Him through Jesus. That was the new covenant.

XXII. The books of Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy provide details of the law of Moses. It also records the journey of Israel to the Promised Land which was prolonged by forty years when the people, fearful of the inhabitants of Palestine, refused to enter the land. God made Israel wander for forty years until the adults who rejected Him died. Only Joshua and Caleb lived and Joshua would be the new leader of Israel to conquer the Promised Land.

XXIII. Conquest of the Land

XXIV. The book of Joshua records Israel’s invasion of Palestine, the conquest of the land, and the division of the land among the tribes of Israel. God gave Israel all the land that He promised Abraham but the people were not faithful in driving out their enemies in the land and controlling the full territory until reigns of David and Solomon.

XXV. Judges Cycle

XXVI. After Joshua died, the people were under God’s rule. Different parts of the nation would rebel against God and serve foreign gods and so God would bring enemies against them. The book of Judges records the rebellion of the people, the punishment of God, and the Israel’s deliverance from the oppressor through men and women God raised to deliver them. The period of the judges covers about 400 years of Jewish history.

XXVII. Toward the end of the period Israel wanted a king to be like the nations around them. God gave them Saul who started out as a good king but, because of disobedience, was told that his descendants would not sit on the throne. God then appointed David to be king of Israel. David was described as a man after God’s own heart. Though not perfect, David did desire to serve God and repented fully when he rebelled. God promised David that his descendants would continue to reign over Israel forever. His son Solomon was the last king to rule over a unified Israel. After Solomon’s death, the kingdom split. Ten of the northern tribes became kingdom generally known as Israel, whose capital would eventually be in Samaria. The southern kingdom, known as Judah, eventually would have its capital in Jerusalem. Judah consisted of Judah, Benjamin, and the faithful people of all the tribes who rejected the false Jehovah worship of the northern kingdom set up by its first king, Jeroboam.

XXVIII. Divided Kingdom

XXIX. The books of 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, and 1 & 2 Chronicles, records the history of these two kingdoms. The Northern Kingdom continued in the false Jehovah worship Jeroboam established and added worship of foreign gods. Judah continued to serve under the descendants of David and had some good kings who were faithful to God, and some bad kings that rejected him. The covenant established at Mount Sinai stated that if the people of God rejected Him, he would punish them and finally deliver them into captivity to other nations. As the nations of Israel and Judah became more wicked, God sent divine messengers, called prophets, to persuade the people to repent and, if they would not, warn them of the punishment from God. Most of the books of the major and minor prophets fit into the period of the divided kingdom.

XXX. God’s People Punished

XXXI. Because of their wickedness, the northern kingdom, Israel, was taken into captivity by the nation of Assyria in 721 B.C. They were scattered throughout the nations of the empire and effectively ceased to exist as a distinct people. The nation of Judah, populated by members of all the tribes (people of the northern tribes moved there during the periods of restoration of Jehovah worship), would continue as a nation for over hundred years. The prophets warned Judah that if they continued to rebel as Israel did, they too would be taken into captivity. For a while Judah heeded the warning, but eventually forsook God and worshipped idols. God allowed the Babylonian empire, which succeeded the Assyrian empire, to conquer Judah and take the people through a series of captivities.

XXXII. After seventy years of captivity, God began to bring the faithful people of Judah—called the remnant—back to the land of Judah. The Persian Empire, which conquered the Babylonian empire, allowed the Jews to return to their land. Under the leaders Zerubbabel, Nehemiah, and Ezra, the people rebuilt Jerusalem, its defensive wall, and the temple. The faithful people of God were again able to inhabit the Promised Land, though smaller in population and land controlled, and worship God at His temple. The captivity and return are recorded in the books of Ezekiel, Daniel, Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther.

XXXIII. Period of Silence

XXXIV. Israel rebuilt their nation in the 400 year period often called the period of silence, because God did not speak to His people through His prophets, dreams, visions, or any other way. They simply had the law to follow. It is also called the intertestamental period for it occurs between the events of the Old Testament and the New Testament history.

XXXV. During this period the Greek Empire, under Alexander the great rose and fell. The Roman Empire began to dominate the Mediterranean world and, at the beginning of the New Testament, was the dominant world power. The Jews were able to reclaim much territory under a priestly family known as the Maccabees and, though under foreign rule, were able to worship God according to the Law of Moses during the time of Jesus. It was during the period between the testaments that the synagogue was started as well as the Jewish spiritual/political parties such as the Pharisees and Saducees began.

XXXVI. The New Testament gospels—Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—begins with an end to God’s silence. A priest named Zachariah is in the temple burning incense when an angel appears to him telling him that he and his barren wife would have a son, whose name would be John, who would prepare the way for the Messiah, the promised deliver of Israel.

XXXVII. New Testament: Coming of Jesus

XXXVIII. Shortly after this, an angel appeared to a young, unmarried, Jewish woman named Mary telling her that she had been favored by God to have His Son. She consented and soon became the mother of Jesus. John the Baptist began to teach the Jews to repent, to be baptized, and be ready for the Messiah, the deliver of Israel promised by the prophets. Many people followed him and the way was prepared for Jesus to begin. For much of His ministry, the people were expecting Jesus to be a physical deliver of the nation of Israel, to throw off the rule of Rome and reestablish a glorious kingdom like David or Solomon. But Jesus insisted that His kingdom was not of this world, that it was within them, and when the people tried to make Jesus king by force, He withdrew from them. He came to set up a spiritual kingdom that would never be destroyed, the kingdom described in the vision of Daniel 3.

XXXIX. Jesus’ Kingdom Message

XXXX. The gospels record the teaching and actions of Jesus as He taught about the kingdom. It also records his death on the cross, incited by the jealous Jewish leaders who were losing support as the people clamored to Jesus. His death, though planned by evil men, was the fulfillment of the plan of God to make a final sacrifice for sins, giving Himself in man’s place to take away the penalty of sin when men come in obedience to Him. The gospel stories end with the glorious account of His resurrection from the dead, conquering death for all mankind, and His ascension to heaven again 40 days after the resurrection. Before He ascended, He told His apostles to go into the whole world and to preach the gospel to every creature. He that would believe their words and be baptized would be saved, he that did not believe, would be condemned. Here the way for reconciliation was begun: those who would believe Jesus and obey Him would again be able to live in harmony with God. Those who rejected Jesus would have no hope of harmony with God or access to Him until they ceased their rebellion.

XXXXI. The Kingdom is Established and Grows

XXXXII. The book of Acts records the work of the apostles and believers—Primarily the apostles Peter and Paul, and the evangelist Philip—as the gospel spreads from Jerusalem, to Judea, into Samaria, then into the rest of the known world. The gospel spread through the work of the apostles and the believers, called Christians or disciples. The rest of the books of the New Testament are letters written to churches and individuals instructing them in the law of Christ. The letters, called epistles, contain commandments, exhortations, warnings, and instruction in the way of righteousness. The sum body of the word of God ” is able to make a man complete, thoroughly furnished for every good work.”

XXXXIII. Eternal Destinies of Man

XXXXIV. The last epistle, the book of Revelation, is a highly symbolic book describing the clash between God’s people and their enemies as experienced shortly after the church was established at the hands of the Jews and the Romans. As happened in history, Revelation pictures the enemies of God defeated and the children of God victorious. The book, and the Bible, concludes with the great picture of God on His throne judging all men and rewarding the righteous and punishing the wicked.

XXXXV. Revelation symbolically describes the eternal home promised to all believers. That place called heaven. In it lives the faithful of all ages who obeyed God despite opposition, sometimes giving their lives for God’s sake, and gained an eternal reward. These are the ones who, under the rule of Christ, (CHART) believed in Him, repented of their sins, confessed Him as Lord, and were baptized into Him. These overcame by the blood of the Lamb, they were faithful even unto death, and gained a crown of life. We can be part of that grand chorus of saints if we will obey Him.

XXXXVI. Yet the Bible also describes a place of eternal punishment, Hell, in which Satan, our enemy from Genesis throughout the whole Bible, his angels, and those who, like Satan, rebel against God, are punished eternally from the presence of the Lord. It is described as a place of eternal fire, like a lake of fire and brimstone. If these are the symbols used to describe such a place, imagine what a terrible place it must be. If you do not obey the gospel of Christ and submit to His will, this is where you will go after the day of Judgment. The choice is yours.