02.07. Context

Context

One of the most confusing things when I first started to study was trying to figure out where people and places fit, especially since the books of the Bible are not arranged in a chronological order. In this section, I will try and establish some of that and include charts and maps to help visualize things. The first timeline is a really high level one showing some key events from creation to present. The following timelines present more specific periods.

This timeline is better viewed as a separate image. It shows the dominant kingdoms for different areas from the flood to about 250 AD.

Historical Books The “Historical” books of the Bible are

Old Testament

• Genesis – covers from creation to 1805 BC. (The death of Joseph)

• Exodus – covers from about 1600 BC to about 1444-5 BC.

• Leviticus – during the Exodus period 1446 BC to 1406 BC. Primarily regulations.

• Numbers – covers from the end of Exodus to 1406 BC.

• Deuteronomy – recaps the events from Mount Sinai to the death of Moses in 1406 BC.

• Joshua – continues from 1406 BC to his death sometime in the early 1300 BC time frame.

• Judges – from the death of Joshua to the time just prior to Samuel around 1060 BC.

• Ruth – is a story that fits into the time of Judges and tells of the ancestor of King David.

• 1^st Samuel – records the history from Eli, the predecessor of Samuel to the death of Saul around 1010 BC or so.

• 2^nd Samuel - continues to a time before David’s death. Likely to about 970 BC.

• 1^st Kings – Starts with the end of David’s reign and to the reign of King Ahaziah. ~ 842 BC.

• 2^nd Kings – starts with the death of Ahaziah and continues to the fall of Jerusalem - 586 BC.

• 1^st Chronicles – starts with a number of genealogies and then proceeds from the death of Saul to the death of David. 1^st and 2^nd Chronicles are very much a parallel to Samuel and Kings.

• 2^nd Chronicles – starts with the reign of Solomon and proceeds to the fall of Jerusalem (586 BC) and the edict of Cyrus of Persia allowing the exiles to return. ~ 538 BC.

• Ezra – reports the return of the exiles about 458 BC and subsequent events.

• Nehemiah – records his journey to go to Jerusalem and rebuild it walls. 446 BC to about 430 BC.

• Esther – records the account of a plot against the Jews in the Persian time – about 470 BC – 480 BC.

New Testament

• Matthew – recounts the events of Jesus life.

• Mark - recounts the events of Jesus life.

• Luke - recounts the events of Jesus life.

• John - recounts the events of Jesus life.

• Acts – records the events from the ascension of Jesus to Paul in Prison about 65 BC.

Prophetic Books

Old Testament

• Isaiah – Lived in the 700 BCs – He prophesied during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah.

• Jeremiah – Lived in the late 600s BC and early 500s BC. He prophesied during the reigns of Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin and the last king – Zedekiah. He was taken to Egypt after the fall of Jerusalem.

• Lamentations – written by Jeremiah

• Ezekiel- was one of the exiles taken by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon. This places him in the early 500s BC.

• Daniel – was one of the exiles and would have been young when he was taken to Babylon around 600 BC. He served several Babylonian and Persian kings.

• Hosea – predated Isaiah and overlapped with him. He would have been active in the middle 700 BCs to the early 600s BC. He served during the reigns of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.

• Joel – was likely written around 800 BC.

• Amos – Dates to the reign of Uzziah around the early 700 BCs.

• Obadiah – difficult to date – likely early.

• Jonah – prophesied in the early to mid 700s during the reign of Jeroboam the 2^nd.

• Micah – prophesied in the late 700s BC to early 600s BC during the reigns of Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah.

• Nahum – likely prophesied around the middle 600s BC.

• Habakkuk – likely prophesied in the late 600s BC.

• Zephaniah – prophesied during the late 600s BC.

• Haggai – prophesied during the reign of Darius the Mede – late 500s BC.

• Zechariah - prophesied during the reign of Darius the Mede – late 500s BC.

• Malachi – wrote in the 400s BC.

New Testament

• Revelation – was written by the apostle John around 95 AD.

New Testament Writers The names of the books reflect either the identity of the recipient or the identity of the writer. These books were all written between about 48 AD and 90 AD. The books generally address issues and doctrines. Only the letters by John the apostle were written after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 AD.

• Romans

• 1^st Corinthians

• 2^nd Corinthians

• Galatians

• Ephesians

• Philippians

• Colossians

• 1^st Thessalonians

• 2^nd Thessalonians

• 1^st Timothy

• 2^nd Timothy

• Titus

• Philemon

• Hebrews

• James

• 1^st Peter

• 2^nd Peter

• 1^st John

• 2^nd John

• 3^rd John

• Jude