Bible history
Bible history is simply history from the vantage point of the Bible. More specifically, it is history from the vantage point of God. "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth..." (Genesis 1:1).
Bible history can be segmented into three periods:
1) The Patriarch period. This would span the time of Adam until Moses (Genesis 1 - Exodus 19). The Patriarch period can be subdivided even further. a) Adam through Terah (Abraham's father). Genesis 1-11. This would cover a period of time equal to about 2,500 years. During the approximate time frame notable event of history occurred. To begin (no pun), there was creation. In six days, God created heaven and earth (Genesis 1). From a strictly biblical point of view, the general theory of evolution is not compatible. The biblical record is clear that God is the originator of life and kind comes after its own kind (Genesis 1:11-12, 21-25, 28). Shortly after creation, with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, sin entered the world with Adam and Eve's choice to partake of the fruit God expressly forbade them to take (Genesis 2:16-17; 3:1-7). Sin is the result of man's freedom of choice to disobey God (cf. 1 John 3:4). God cast out the couple from the Garden and from that time forth man lived off the ground (Genesis 3:14-24). After Adam, the next notable character is Noah. Noah was one who was righteous in the sight of the Lord (Genesis 6:9). God told Noah to build an ark (something similar to a barge, rectangular box) large enough to take animals upon it to preserve life. This Noah did and life was preserved (Genesis 9:1-17). It was also during this time that God brought about variety in human languages. In Shinar (generally thought to be the same as Babylon), man's arrogance resulted in the Lord bringing confusion to the people. They were unable to communicate since they were unable to speak the same language (Genesis 11:1-9). b) Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Joseph: Genesis 12 - 50. This would cover a period of time than 5oo years. Abraham was the great patriarch of the Israelite nation - though he himself was not an Israelite. Abraham was from the Mesopatamia region (the area of present day Iraq) when called called him to leave his homeland and go to a land God would tell him (Genesis 12:1). Abraham did and the Lord blessed him with much wealth. More than the wealth, it was Abraham's faith that is of great significance (Genesis 15:6). Abraham lived to be 175 years of age, exactly 100 years older than his son of promise, Isaac (Genesis 25:7). Isaac was the son of Abraham and Sarah. Not much is recorded about him in Scripture except that God considered him a faithful man who lived to be 180 years old (Genesis 35:28). From Isaac came two boy, Esau and Jacob. Esau was the first born (by mere moments). God, probably through Abraham, told Isaac that two sones would be born to him and Rebekah (Genesis 25:23). For the first sixty years of their life together the two sons struggled with one another. One one occasion, Jacob took by deceit from Esau his firstborn right (Genesis 27). However, as deceitful as this was, the Scripture do not look with sympathy upon Esau because he profaned (lightly regarded it) his birthright (Hebrews 12:16-17). Though Jacob did wrong to his brother, nevertheless, the Lord brought through the line of Jacob the Israelite people (Genesis 28:10-17). In fact, Jacob's name was changed to "Israel" (Genesis 32:22-32). To Jacob (Israel) was born twelve sons. One son rose to prominence through unfortunate circumstances, Joseph (Genesis 37-41). Because of famine in the land of Canaan, Joseph brought his father and his family down to Egypt and for the remainder of Jacob's and Joseph's life, the Israelites prospered and grew to a mighy number (Genesis 42-50). c) Israel in Egyptian slavery through two-thirds of Moses life: Exodus 1 - 19. This would cover a period of time equal to about 80 years. After Joseph's death (uncertain how long this would have been), a new king in Egypt arose who held no regard for Joseph and the Israelite people (Exodus 1:8-14). From this time until when Moses was born and nearly two-thirds of his life was over, the Israelites were in Egyptian bondage.
2) The Mosaic period. This would span the time of Moses until the death of Christ (Exodus 20 - John 21). The Mosaic period is the period of time in which the Law of Moses (Exodus 21 - Deuteronomy), as a codified law, was in force and directed a people of Israel. The law specifically applied to the Isrealite people. Non-Israelites were not amenable to the Law's instruction. This period of time coverd about 1,450 years. The Mosaic time period is rich with both God's blessings upon the people and His judgment against them. The historical narrative books of this time period would be Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Exra, Nehemiah, and Esther. About 1000 years are covered in these books. Joshua was Moses' servant. When Moses died, the Lord identified Joshua as his replacement.
After Moses death, Joshua became Israel's leader and prosecuted war against the inhabitants of Canaan. Those who dwelt in Canaan were idolators and some of that worship consisted of human sacrifices. In this prosecution, there was corruption. The Lord told them to drive out the inhabitants of Canaan, but they did not (cf. Joshua 17:13). This turned out to be a continual thorn in Israel's side. The period of the Judges was a period of time when Israel had no single leader, but judges who were also prophets. Some notable judges would be Gideon (Judges 6-8), Samson (Judges 13-16), Eli and Samuel (1 Samuel 1-9). The High Priest under the Law of Moses would be the closest single representative of God. Apart from him, Samuel might be the most well known and respected judge.
In the period of Samuel, Kings, and the Chronicles, kings reigned. Three noteworthy kings in Israel's history would be Saul, David, and Solomon. King Saul was Israel's first God ordained king. Saul, however, was not loyal to God (1 Samuel 15). Consequently, the Lord chose a man "after his own heart" (I Samuel 13), that man was David. David was a young man when the Lord gave him the throne (30 years of age) and he reigned 40 years (1 Kings 2:11). Solomon, David's son, reigned in his place and he, too, reigned 40 years (1 Kings 11:42). It was under the reign of Solomon that the Lord said the kingdom of Israel would be split into two unequal (in size) parts (1 Kings 11:11, 31). At this point in Israel's division there was Judah (also known as the southern kingdom) and Israel (also known as the northern kingdom). Israel did not have any loyalty to the Lord. Israel's first king (also known as Jeroboam I) was motivated by fear to establish a false religion of idolatry (1 Kings 12). Each king after him perpetuated this idolatry. Ultimately, the Lord had enough of this and sent them into Assyrian captivity (2 Kings 17). Some of the notable kings in Israel's history would be Jeroboam (1 Kings 12-14), Omri (1 Kings 16), Ahab (1 Kings 16-22), and Jehu (2 Kings 9-10). Judah, on the other hand, was a confused kingdom. There was loyatly to the Lord, but not by every king. Because of their confusion in who to serve, the Lord sent them into Babylonian captivity (2 Kings 24-25). This was for a period of 70 years (2 Chronicles 36:21). Some notable kings of Judah (from the Lord's perspective) would be: Asa (1 Kings 15), Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22), Hezekiah (2 Kings 18-20) and Josiah (2 Kings 22-23).
After the period of Babylonian captivity, the Lord's promise to Judah was realized. The books of Ezra records the Persian king's (Cyrus) decree for the people's of the land to repopulate their homelands. For the Jews, about 50,000 went back (Ezra 2).
3) The Christian period. This would span the time of the Lord's commission to the apostles (Mark 16:15) until He returns again (1 Corinthians 15:20-29).
