God created the universe and fashioned it for mankind. God caused a garden paradise to grow in Eden and made the first man, Adam. Adam was charged to keep the garden. When God created Eve to be Adam's wife and helper, He told them to multiply, fill the earth, and cultivate it. Adam and Eve were created in God's image, as His ambassadors on the earth. But they sinned and were expelled from the garden, cast out into a harsh world. All their offspring would inherit the curse of sin.
As humans grew more populous, they grew more and more evil. Eventually God destroyed the entire inhabited world in a great Flood, but He preserved Noah and his family. All the people groups of the earth today are descended from Noah. Although Noah feared God, the majority of his descendants rejected Him. God finally scattered the people across the earth by disrupting their common language.
In 2091 B.C., God called a man named Abram to leave Ur (in modern-day Iraq) and travel to the land of the Canaanites (modern-day Israel). Although Abram was from a pagan family, God promised to bless him, and to bless all nations through Abram's offspring. Abram obeyed God, and God made an unconditional covenant with Abram. Abram's descendants would possess the land of Canaan forever. (God also changed Abram's name to Abraham.) In his old age, Abram had two sons, Ishmael and Isaac. God re-affirmed the covenant with Isaac and with Isaac's son Jacob, whom God renamed Israel. Israel had twelve sons whose descendants we call the twelve "tribes" of Israel. Though most of these men were neither righteous nor likeable, God chose them as His people. One of Israel's sons, Joseph, was sold into slavery by his own brothers. Joseph was taken to Egypt, but through God's providence, he ended up in charge of Egypt and was able to prepare them for a long famine. Joseph reconciled with his brothers and invited Israel and his family to move to Egypt. This move took place around 1876 B.C. The Israelites were given land in Egypt and prospered there. Meanwhile, the descendants of Abraham's nephew Lot, Isaac's brother Ishmael, and Jacob's brother Esau became nations that usually would be enemies to Israel.
When the historic Egyptians retook their country from the Hyksos around 1570 B.C., the new Pharaoh made the Israelites slaves. Later Pharaohs were increasingly cruel to the Israelites, and by 1526 B.C., Israelite boys were to be killed as soon as they were born. It was at this time that Moses was born. He was hidden and adopted by a Pharaoh's daughter. Raised among royalty, Moses nevertheless stood up for his fellow Israelites and was forced to flee when he killed an Egyptian. Moses spent forty years as a shepherd in Midian (east of the Sinai Peninsula). Around 1447 B.C., shortly after the older Pharaoh died, God called the eighty-year-old Moses back to Egypt. God said He would bring the Israelites out of Egypt and into the promised land of Caanan. The new Pharaoh (probably the young Amenhotep II) refused to let the Israelites leave the country. God sent ten plagues before the Pharaoh finally consented to let the Israelites leave, and even then, he pursued them to the sea. God parted the sea so that the Israelites could cross on dry land.
God led the Israelites through the Sinai Peninsula with a pillar of fire and smoke. They arrived at Mount Sinai, where God gave Moses the Torah, which formed the basis for the Israelites' worship, morality, and social justice. God had chosen the Israelites as His people, and they were to live for His glory. But the Israelites were afraid to enter the promised land because of the Cannanites who lived there. Because of their rebellion, God left them to wander in the wilderness until all the adults of that generation had died (with the exceptions of Joshua and Caleb). The Israelites finally arrived at the eastern edge of Canaan in 1406 B.C., about forty years after they had left Egypt. God allowed Moses to see the promised land from a mountaintop before he died.
Joshua now led the Isralites into the promised land, and God helped them take the major Canaanite cities in a miraculous series of victories. By 1399 B.C., the Israelites had divided the land among the tribes. Unfortunately, Israel did not try to drive out all the Canaanites as God had commanded, and so much of the land remained in pagan hands.
Israel's early history was a cycle of servitude and deliverance, largely because they adopted the pagan religions of their neighbors. When the Israelites fell into widespread sin, God gave them over to one of the enemies that surrounded them. After several years of harrassment, the Israelites would repent, and God would raise up a leader to deliver them (usually militarily). During the time of peace that followed, the leader would rule part or all of Israel as a judge. Famous judges include Deborah, Gideon, and Jephthah. Around 1100 B.C., God sent two men who would deliver Israel from their final servitude to the Philistines who lived in what is now the Gaza Strip. One of these men was Samson, who had poor judgment but did acts of incredible strength when empowered by God's Spirit. The other man was Samuel, who was raised by a priest and served as a prophet. Samson died defeating the Philistines, but Samuel ruled as the last judge.
By 1051 B.C., Samuel was old, and the people wanted a powerful king like those of other nations. Over Samuel's objections, a man named Saul became king. Saul was a great military leader, but he strayed from God and eventually became paranoid for his power. God rejected Saul in favor of a young shepherd named David. Saul sought for many years to kill David, but God protected the young man. Saul died in battle against the Philistines in 1011 B.C., and David succeeded him as king.
David was very devoted to God and wrote many prayers and songs of praise to Him. (These poems are contained in the Book of Psalms.) God established a covenant with David, promising that David's descendants would rule forever in Judah. It was David who captured Jerusalem and made it Israel's capital, and who made preparations to build a temple in Jerusalem. On the other hand, David's adulterous affair with a woman named Bathsheba led to violence and rebellion in his own family.
David was succeeded by his son Solomon, who completed the temple in 959 B.C. God gave Solomon great wisdom, and this was the height of Israel's political power. Solomon gained allies by marrying the daughters of foreign leaders. But the influence of all these pagan women led Solomon to serve other gods, and God promised to take most of the kingdom away from Solomon's family.
Solomon died in 931 B.C., and soon thereafter, the northern tribes seceded from the kingdom. The tribes of Judah and Benjamin remained loyal and generally followed the laws given to Moses, but the northern kingdom (called Israel or Ephraim) set up its own religion. For several hundred years, both kingdoms suffered under evil kings, although the southern kingdom (called Judah) had occasional reforms. God sent prophets to call His people and other nations to repent or face judgment, but most prophets were persecuted. Some of these prophets, such as Elijah and Elisha, performed miracles throughout their ministries. Others primarily wrote and preached, such as Isaiah and Micah.
In 722 B.C., God allowed the northern kingdom to fall to the Assyrian Empire, and many Israelites of the ten northern tribes were taken into captivity. Most who stayed intermarried and were later known as the despised Samaritans. The southern kingdom continued, but despite the reforms of the good kings Hezekiah and Josiah, the people remained evil. God prophesied captivity through the prophets Jeremiah and Ezekiel, but the people refused to repent. In 586 B.C., the Babylonian Empire under Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah and destroyed the temple.
Many Israelites (now called Jews) were taken away to Babylon. Many prospered there, but faithful Jews longed to return to their land. Among these were prophets such as Ezekiel and Daniel. Daniel served as a high-ranking official under the Babylonian kings, and God gave him visions of world kingdoms in the centuries to come. In 539 B.C., in an event prophesied by Isaiah and Jeremiah, the Medes and Persians conquered Babylon. The new king, Cyrus, allowed the Jews to return to their land. Unfortunately, Israel's old enemies conspired to have the rebuilding of their temple halted. Work resumed in 520 B.C. when the prophets Haggai and Zechariah called on the Jewish leaders to restore the temple anyway. This became known as the temple of Zerubbabel, the Jewish governor in those days.
Many Jews remained in the east and never returned, and even those who had returned to Jerusalem felt like they were still in exile from God. The Jews had lost their independence and had no king. In the 450s and 440s, leaders such as Ezra and Nehemiah encouraged the Jews to remain committed to God. Prophets ceased after that time. When Alexander the Great conquered the Persians, the Jews fell under control of the Greeks. They revolted in 168 B.C., and had about a century of independence before Pompey claimed the land for the Roman Empire. The Jews' hope lay in prophecies of a Davidic king to come, the Messiah.
During the reign of Augustus Caesar, a prophet named John the Baptist appeared and pointed to a man named Jesus as the Messiah. Jesus had a three-year ministry of teaching and miracles that drew many followers and rattled the religious leaders. (See this page for a more detailed summary of Jesus' ministry.) Jesus was put to death but rose from the dead the following Sunday, proving His claims to be the Messiah, the Son of God. Before returning to heaven, Jesus sent his followers to teach all nations that whoever believes in Him will have eternal life. God sent His Holy Spirit to dwell with those who believed, and they formed the first church. From there the good news about Jesus spread throughout the Roman Empire, largely through the efforts of the apostle Paul.
| Before Abraham | The Patriarchs | Exodus and Conquest | The Judges | United Monarchy |
| Divided Kingdom I | Divided Kingdom II | The Kingdom of Judah | The Exile and Return | The New Testament |
See also my article on Debated Dates for explanations of the dates I've chosen, particularly where others disagree.
For a concise statement of my beliefs about history, see my Declaration of Faith.
