The Story of the Bible in 1,000 Words
Taken from: "30 days to understanding the Bible in 15
minutes a day!" Max Anders
The Old Testament begins when God created Adam and Eve
in a perfect paradise. They later sinned and were
driven out of the Garden of Eden, forced to live "by
the sweat of their brow" in an imperfect world. As
their offspring multiplied, sin also multiplied.
Eventually, humanity became so sinful that, as
judgment, God destroyed the earth with a universal
flood, preserving only Noah and his immediate family
on the ark to repopulate the earth.
Sin kept its hold over humanity, however, and once
again people forgot God. As the years passed, God
revealed Himself to Abraham (two thousand years before
Christ), promising him a nation, many descendants, and
a blessing that would ultimately extend to everyone on
the earth. Abraham believed god and became the father
of the Hebrew people. Abraham had a son, Isaac, and
Isaac had a son, Jacob. The promises God made to
Abraham were passed down through Isaac and Jacob.
Jacob had twelve sons, and the promises were passed to
all twelve sons, who became the fathers of the twelve
tribes of Israel.
Jacob and his family of about seventy people were
living in the land of Canaan (1) when a famine hit.
They were forced to migrate to Egypt (2) to get food.
In time, they became so numerous that they were
perceived as a threat by the Egyptian people, and the
Egyptians enslaved the Hebrew people for nearly four
hundred years. Finally (approximately fifteen hundred
years before Christ), God raised up Moses to lead them
out of Egypt. with many astounding miracles, including
the crossing of the Red Sea, they escaped Egypt and
went to Mt. Sinai (3), where they received the Ten
Commandments. Then they rebelled against God again
and, as a judgment, wandered in the wilderness for
forty years. When their time of judgment was up, they
were allowed to enter the promised land (4). Moses
died, and Joshua led in the conquest of the land.
Israel lived in the promised land in a loose
governmental system, ruled by judges, for the next
four hundred years. Samson and Samuel were the most
famous judges. Then Israel insisted on establishing a
monarchy (approximately one thousand years before
Christ), and the Hebrews were ruled by kings for the
next four hundred years. Saul, David, and Solomon were
the first three kings, who ruled over a united
monarchy for 120 years (forty years each). when
Solomon died, the nation divided over the issue of
taxation. There was now a northern kingdom, which kept
the name Israel, because a majority (ten) of the
tribes were loyal to the north, and the southern
kingdom, which was called Judah, because Judah was by
far the larger of the two southern tribes.
Because of the accumulating sin of Israel, Assyria, a
nation to the northeast, came and conquered Israel (5)
and scattered many of the people throughout that part
of the world (6). About one hundred fifty years later,
because of the accumulating sin of Judah, Babylonia
came and conquered Judah (7), destroyed Jerusalem, and
took many of the people into captivity in Babylonia
(8).
About seventy years later, Persia defeated Babylonia,
who had previously defeated Assyria. Thus Persia now
ruled the entire part of the world from the eastern
shores of the Mediterranean Sea to the borders of
India. The king of Persia allowed the Israelites
living in captivity in Babylonia to return to
Jerusalem (9) to rebuild it. Fifty thousand people
returned (approximately five hundred years before
Christ), rebuilt the city, rebuilt the temple, and
restored ceremonial worship of God. They continued to
live that way for the next four hundred years. During
that time, Persia fell to Greece, and Greece in turn
fell to Rome. Rome was ruling that part of the world
when Jesus was born.
The ministry of Jesus was preceded by the ministry of
His cousin, John the Baptist, who warned the Jews to
get ready for the coming of the Messiah. Jesus was
born in Bethlehem, near Jerusalem, in fulfillment of
Old Testament prophecy. Then Jesus and His parents,
Mary and Joseph, moved back to their hometown in
Nazareth, in the northern part of the country, Just
west of the Sea of Galilee. There Jesus lived an
apparently normal childhood until the age of Thirty,
when all teachers, by Jewish custom, began their
ministry. Jesus began His ministry in Jerusalem and in
the surrounding area of Judea. His ministry was
highlighted by authoritative teaching and remarkable
miracles.
Because of mounting opposition to His ministry on the
part of the Jewish religious leaders, Jesus went north
to the area around the Sea of Galilee, making
Capernaum on the north shore His home base. Much of
His three year ministry was conducted in the area
around Capernaum, though many events did not actually
take place in Capernaum. Eventually, He returned to
Jerusalem and, because of the jealousy of the
religious leader, was soon crucified. Three days later
He rose from the dead, and He showed Himself to His
disciples several times over the next forty days.
Then, with His disciples gathered around HIm on the
Mount of Olives, just outside Jerusalem, He visibly
ascended into heaven.
He had commissioned His disciples to take the new
message of salvation through Christ to Jerusalem,
Judea, and Samaria (the surrounding regions), and to
the uttermost parts of the earth. The church was
established in Jerusalem, and the first Christians
were Jews. The church there was overseen by Jesus'
apostles. the spread of the gospel to the surrounding
area and uttermost parts of the earth focused
primarily on the apostle Paul, who conducted
missionary journeys into areas of Asia Minor and
Greece (10). Finally, Paul was arrested and taken to
Rome, where he was eventually executed for his faith.
There were enough disciples however, not only in
Jerusalem, but also in Asia Minor, Greece, and Rome,
that the message not only lived on, but it grew until
it became the dominant world religion.
