|
A Survey of Important Bible Events
Follow the flow of biblical history by memorizing symbols
of major events and eras.
|
|
1.
Creation, Gen. 1–2. God created the heavens and the earth;
everything was good; Adam and Eve, the first people, enjoyed happy
fellowship with God.
|
|
|
2.
Original sin, Gen. 3. Satan, in a snake’s body, tempted Adam and Eve;
they sinned and brought God’s curse on creation.
|
|
|
3.
Flood, Gen. 6–9. Men grew so evil that God drowned them, but
saved Noah and his family in a huge boat.
|
|
|
4.
Babel’s High Tower, Gen. 11. Men multiplied and proudly tried to build a
tower to heaven; God confused their languages and many nations were
born.
|
|
|
5.
God’s agreement with Abraham, Gen.12 & 15. Abraham believed God’s promise
that He would bless all nations through a descendant.
|
|
|
6.
Slaves in Egypt, Exo. 1–18. Abraham’s descendants went to the land of
pyramid tombs; they multiplied and had to do painful slave labour.
|
|
|
7.
Passover lamb’s blood, Exo. 12–15. Plagues from God forced Egypt’s king to free
the slaves. An angel slew all the firstborn, unless blood marked the
door; God divided the Red Sea; the slaves escaped from Egypt’s army.
|
|
|
8.
Israel's Law, Exo. 18–20. God gave to Moses Ten Commandments on stone
tablets at Mt. Sinai. These commands were the first words of Israel's
ancient Law and its foundation. Israel disobeyed these commands, and
God let the Israelites wander in a desert for 40 years.
|
|
|
9.
Conquest of Israel’s Land, Book of Joshua. Joshua led Israel’s army to conquer the
land of Canaan that God had promised to give to Abraham’s descendants,
Israel.
|
|
|
10.
Rule by Judges, Judges. When Israel disobeyed the Law, God let pagans oppress
them. When they repented and obeyed God, He sent judges (warriors who
obeyed His Law) to free them.
|
|
|
11.
Rule by Kings, 1 & 2 Samuel. The first kings were Saul,
David and Solomon; they defeated Israel’s enemies and brought
prosperity. God promised David that an heir would rule forever.
|
|
|
12.
King Solomon's Temple, 1 Kings. God blessed the new temple with the glory of
His presence. Priests slew animals there as blood sacrifices to cover
people's sins.
|
|
|
13.
Divided kingdom, 1 Kings 12. Israel's tribes rebelled against high taxes,
and the northern tribes formed their own kingdom (called Israel),
separate from the southern kingdom (called Judah). Both worshipped
idols and grew weak.
|
|
|
14.
Captivity, 2 Kings 25. God sent prophets to warn the people of
punishment for their sins. But the people rebelled, and God let
foreigners take them captive to Babylonia.
|
|
|
15.
Reconstruction, Ezra..God’s people repented and He brought them back;
they rebuilt Jerusalem’s walls; Malachi wrote the last Old Testament
book in this era.
|
|
|
16.
Control by foreign powers. For centuries, the empires of Persia, Greece, Syria and
Rome forced Israel to submit to their rule and pay heavy taxes. This
era produced no Bible books.
|
|
|
17.
Jesus’ birth and life, Luke. Jesus overpowered demons, sin and illness; He told
His followers to fish for men; He began a spiritual kingdom and let
Rome control politically.
|
|
|
18.
Jesus’ Crucifixion, Luke 23. Religious leaders accused Jesus of blasphemy,
because He had affirmed that He was the Son of God. Although Roman
soldiers killed Him as a criminal, He willingly died for our sins and
was laid in a tomb.
|
|
|
19.
Jesus’ Resurrection, Luke 24. Jesus rose from death the third day; He
promised to raise all who repent and trust Him, starting the New
Testament age.
|
|
|
20.
Jesus’ Ascension and coming of the Holy Spirit, Acts 2. Jesus ascended back to God the Father, who sent
His Holy Spirit to live in believers as Jesus' representative.
Believers who received the Holy Spirit on the feast of Pentecost saw
tiny flames over their heads, and they proclaimed the Good News with
power. 3,000 people repented. The apostles baptized them and added them
to the first church that day.
|
|
|
21.
Spreading the Faith, Book of Acts. Filled with the Holy Spirit, believers
spread the Good News; it multiplied like grain as Jesus said it would.
All the rest of the books of the Bible were written during this era.
Many believers died as martyrs.
|
Historical Events after all Bible Books Were Written
|
|
|
22.
Church and State Unite, (311 AD). Roman Emperor Constantine legalized
Christianity; pagans came into the church without true faith.
|
|
|
23.
Christian Creeds. Facing false teaching, believers wrote beliefs that they
agreed on. The Apostles’ Creed defined the basic gospel; the Nicene
Creed affirmed the Trinity (Father, Son and Spirit).
|
|
|
24.
Decline of the Roman Empire, (6th and 7th centuries). Corruption, disunity and bad
government caused the empire to crumble from within; it lost its power
and ended.
|
|
|
25.
Rise of Rome’s Bishop. The Church of Rome claimed authority over all church
officials and formed the Roman Catholic Church; Eastern Orthodox
churches opposed this control.
|
|
|
26.
The Dark Ages (AD 600–1000). Education declined; people no longer read
God’s Word and their leaders taught salvation by works; Christianity
grew cold in Europe, except in monasteries, but it spread in Asia.
|
|
|
27.
Crusades against Islam. European armies tried to recapture the Holy Land
(Israel) and other lands from Muslim invaders.
|
|
|
28.
Protestant Reformation (1500’s). Martin Luther and others translated the Bible
into common languages, taught salvation by faith, and resisted the
Roman Catholic Pope.
|
|
|
29.
Evangelical Awakening (1600-1900). Evangelicals urged people to be born again,
putting their trust in Jesus and letting the Holy Spirit transform them.
|
|
|
30.
Rapid global expansion of the Faith (1900 to the present). Missionaries and others take
the Christian Faith to almost every part of the earth.
|
|
|
31.
Jesus’ return foretold, Luke 21; Revelation. Heaven’s trumpet will sound; Jesus
will send woes on earth to punish rebels, destroy Satan and raise the
dead, some to eternal life and others to judgment.
|
Practice repeating these events.
Practice recalling the symbols and the flow of history,
how one event leads to the next, until you can recite the list from
memory. You will see the entire Bible as one story. Help those that you
teach to learn this summary of history, too.
Tick off an item in the list below, when you can recall
the event that it signifies:
|
1 sun, moon
2 serpent
3 big boat
4 high tower
5 handshake
6 pyramids
7 blood, door
8 stone tablet
9 sword
10 scroll, sword
11 crown
12 big blocks
14 shackles
13 split crown
15 ruined city
16 whip
|
17 fish
18 cross
19 empty tomb
20 flames
21 sowing seed
22 sword, Bible
23 scroll & pen
24 broken sword
25 bishop’s hat
26 unlit candle
27 horse warrior
28 open Bible
29 Jesus, heart
30 globe
31 trumpet
|
|