Old Testament

1. God made everything and everything was good—light, day, night, sky, water, Earth, plants, sun, moon, animals, and people. Last of all, God made Man in His Image from the soil of the ground, man and woman. Then everything was very good. Genesis 1-2

2. The man and woman were good, Adam and Eve, but they disobeyed God, ate from the only forbidden fruit tree, and brought sin to Earth. (0 PE, 4114 BC) Genesis 3

3. Adam and Eve’s first two sons were Cain and Abel. Abel honored God, Cain was jealous. Cain killed Abel. God cursed Cain, then Cain built cities and his children also killed people. (2-14 PE?, 4112-4100 BC? ) Genesis 4

4. Adam and Eve had another son Seth. His son and son’s sons—Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, and Noah—loved God. But during Jared’s lifetime, bad angels came to Earth and made a big, evil mess. (130 PE, 3984 BC) Genesis 4:25-6:8

5. God flooded the earth to save it from great evil we never saw. He saved humanity and the animals in an ark He taught Noah to build. After, God promised with the rainbow that He would never again flood the whole earth. Noah’s grandchildren began many ancient nations, like Gomer, Magog, Egypt, Canaan, and Uz. (1656 PE, 2458 BC) Genesis 6-10

6. God told the people to fill the earth, but they started to build a tower for themselves. So, God changed their languages. They stopped building and filled the earth. (1756 PE?, 2358 BC?) Genesis 11

7. Job was a fair and honest man. God let the satan test him. Job suffered and sang. Job’s good and bad friends scolded him. God questioned Job from a whirlwind, rebuked his friends, and humbled everyone. In the end, Job truly saw God, praised Him, and prayed for his friends. (1764 PE?, 2350 BC? or 1800 BC?) Job

8. God blessed Abram and changed his name to Abraham, his wife’s name from Sarai to Sarah. God promised to make Abraham’s children a nation, countless as the stars, and to save all people on Earth through one of his children. (1924 PE, 2190 BC) Genesis 12; 15:6-16; 17:5-15; 26:1-5

9. Abraham’s nephew, Lot, lived in Sodom & Gomorrah. God said the cities were evil. Two angels visited and saw it was true. God burned those cities as a warning and Lot escaped, but his wife looked back and turned into a pillar of salt. (2047 PE, 2067 BC) Genesis 18-19

10. Abraham’s wife, Sarah, had the promised son, Isaac. She was ninety years old. (2048 PE, 2066 BC) Genesis 17:15-27; 21:1-7

11. Isaac fought with his older brother, Ishmael. Abraham banished Ishmael, but God helped Ishmael in the desert. Isaac prospered and married Rebekah. Ishmael had twelve sons and many people think they became the Arab nations today. Muslims teach that Ishmael was a prophet, but the Bible does not. Genesis 21:8-21; 24

12. God asked Abraham to sacrifice Isaac to test Abraham, to help him love God more than his family. Abraham trusted God and started to obey, but God stopped Abraham and provided a ram instead. Genesis 22

13. Isaac had twin sons, Esau and Jacob. Esau was firstborn and foolish, Jacob was shrewd and got the firstborn blessing. God promised their mother, Rebekah, that Esau would serve Jacob, then Isaac prophesied it. (2108 PE, 2006 BC) Genesis 25:19-28

14. Esau sold his inheritance to Jacob for a bowl of soup. Jacob was able to steal Esau’s blessing, so Isaac knew Esau was cursed. Esau married Ishmael’s daughter. Jacob ran to his relative, dreamed of God’s ladder on the way, and worked fourteen years to marry two sisters. Genesis 25:29-30:43

15. Jacob escaped from Esau, then made peace with him. During that time, Jacob wrestled with God and God changed his name to Israel, which is how Israel got its name. (Israel means ‘wrestles with God’.) Jacob had twelve sons. Esau’s children became the nation of Edom. Some people say Edom are the Philistines David would fight and also the Palestinians today, but Genesis 10 says the Philistines came from Casluhim from Egypt’s family. Genesis 31-33, 35:1-15; 36

16. Jacob’s eleventh son, Joseph, was born. Joseph dreamed and his father loved him most. His jealous older brothers sold him to Egypt at seventeen years old. (2199 PE, 1915 BC) Jacob had twelve sons. Benjamin was twelfth and Joseph remembered him. Genesis 37

17. Joseph became a manager in Potiphar’s house, then he went to prison. He interpreted dreams, then Pharaoh made him prince of Egypt at thirty years old in 1885 BC. (2222 PE, 1892 BC) Genesis 39-41

18. Joseph helped his family come to Egypt, but tested his brothers first. After Joseph died, Israel became Egypt’s slaves for four hundred years. (2238 PE, 1876 BC) Genesis 42-48

19. Jacob died at one hundred forty-seven years old in 1859 BC; Joseph was fifty-six. Joseph died at one hundred ten years old in 1805 BC. It had been 2,309 years since God made Adam and Eve. Genesis 49-50

20. Pharaoh drowned all Israel’s baby boys in the Nile River, but Moses’ mother put him in a basket. Moses was saved, became a prince, fled into the desert, met God, and rescued Israel. (1393 BC) Exodus 1-4:17

21. Moses told Pharaoh, “God says, ‘Let My people go!'” But, Pharaoh refused. God punished Egypt with ten plagues. Israel left through the Red Sea and Pharaoh’s army drowned. (1313 BC) Exodus 4:18-14:30

22. God gave His Ten Commandments and the rest of the Law to Moses, including designs for the Ark of the Covenant that went inside the Tabernacle and eventually inside the Temple when it could finally be built. Israel was too scared to enter the Promised Land. So, God fed them in the desert forty years. (1313 BC) Exodus 15-Numbers 14

23. Everyone twenty years and older had died in the desert. Moses gave Joshua the first five books of the Bible. Then Moses died and Joshua led Israel over the Jordan, into the Promised Land. (1273 BC) Numbers 15 – Joshua

24. God raised up judges to help Israel with their problems and save them from enemies. Some Judges were Othniel, Ehud, Deborah, Gideon, Eli, Samson, and lastly the prophet Samuel. (1350 BC) Judges

25. During the time of judges, Ruth’s husband died, so did his father. God helped her and her late husband’s mother. Ruth was King David’s great grandmother. (1160 BC) Ruth

26. Samson’s mother dedicated him as a Nazarite, promising his life to serve God. He had supernatural strength. He sinned and God punished him, but he died to save Israel in the end. (1118 BC) Judges 13-16

27. God called Samuel to judge Israel. Samuel was a good judge, but Israel wanted a king “like other nations”. So, God chose Saul, the first and bad king—just like “other nations”. (1094 BC) 1 Samuel 1-15

28. God chose David to be king after Saul. He killed Goliath, but Saul was jealous. David hid from Saul many years, until the Philistines killed Saul’s sons, and Saul killed himself. Then, David became a small king at Hebron. (1025 BC) 1 Samuel 16-31, 1 Chronicles 10

29. David became king of all Israel when he was thirty. David was a warrior and musician who loved God, wrote many psalms, but made big mistakes. Jerusalem was a city on a hill; David and his loyal soldiers took it from the enemy and made it Israel’s capital. David brought the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem and got everything ready for his son Solomon to build the Temple. David abdicated and made Solomon king before he died. (1003 BC) 2 Samuel, 2 Chronicles 11-29

30. Solomon was wise. Under his rule, Israel became a wealthy, vast, regional superpower. Even the Queen of Sheba came for Solomon’s counsel. Most of all, Solomon built the Temple David always wanted. Fire came down from the sky to burn the dedication sacrifice and God’s glory literally filled the Temple. (971 BC) 1 Kings 1-11, 2 Chronicles 1-9

31. Solomon’s sons were foolish. They split Israel: Jeroboam ruled Israel in the north from the city of Samaria and set up false altars at Bethel and Dan. Rehoboam ruled Judah in the south from Jerusalem and wouldn’t lower taxes. (931-913 BC) 1 Kings 12-14, 2 Chronicles 10-12

32. Rehoboam’s evil son Abijah ruled Judah after him for only two years. He warred with Jeroboam in Israel. Asa became Judah’s next king and destroyed his father’s idols. Jeroboam’s son, also named Abijah, died from prophesied sickness. His other son Nadab would be Israel’s next king. (913-911 BC) 2 Chronicles 13-16

33. Within one year of becoming king of Israel, Nadab’s servant Baasha killed him and made himself king. Baasha’s son Elah was the next king. His servant Zimri killed him and tried to be king, but Omri and Israel’s army captured him. Zimri burned himself in his home, then Omri became king. Then Omri’s son Ahab became Israel’s king, the worst of all. Asa’s good son Jehoshaphat was Judah’s next king, who allied with Abab. (910-874 BC) 1 Kings 15-16, 2 Chronicles 17-20

34. God called Elijah when Ahab was king in Israel and Jehoshaphat was king in Judah. Elijah did miracles, prayed for the rain to stop, and called down fire from the sky many times. God told Elijah to find Elisha to succeed him. (866 BC) 1 Kings 17-22, 2 Chronicles 21-20

35. Elisha saw Elijah go up in the chariot. Elisha was prophet to both Israel and Syria. Elisha saw Ahab’s son Ahaziah and his son Joram do evil things. He anointed Jehu to be the new king. Jehu’s son  was Jehoahaz, who had Jehoash. Elisha did more miracles than Elijah and died of illness during the rule of the good king Jehoash. He lived to see Ahab’s line Meanwhile, Jehosophat’s  evil son Jehoram and his evil son Ahaziah ruled Judah, until Ahaziah’s mother “Bloody” Athaliah took over and killed the prophets. (860-790 BC) 2 Kings 1-13, 2 Chronicles 21-22

36. Athaliah’s nephew, Joash hid in the temple until he was of age. Then, the high priest Jehoiada made Joash king of Judah who had his aunt Athaliah killed. Joash started good, but started worshiping idols. His son Amaziah did the same. His son Uzziah started as a good king, but tried to offer a sacrifice in the Temple, so he died. His son Jotham was also good. His son Ahaz was evil. That was Judah; all Israel’s kings were bad. God sent many prophets to warn Israel, but Israel wouldn’t listen. Some of them were Amos, Hosea, Isaiah, and Micah. (763-716 BC) 2 Kings 14-25, 2 Chronicles 23-28, Isaiah, Hosea, Amos, Micah

37. In a great big fish, God made Jonah go to Nineveh, capital of Assyria. The people in Nineveh repented and God didn’t destroy them. Jonah was angry that they repented. (759 BC) Jonah

38. Isaiah was prophet to Judah in evil times. He saw the Lord God on His throne in Heaven’s Temple. He talked about the power of God Most High and a peaceful future. He also prophesied: Thus says the Lord, “For My House shall be called a House of Prayer for all people.” Assyria took Israel when Hoshea was king and the first Samaritans started living near the city of Samaria. (740-721 BC) 2 Kings 17, Isaiah

39. Ahaz’s son Hezekiah became king of Judah. It was in his heart to make a sacrifice to God, and he restored the Temple. Assyria’s king Sennacherib attacked Judah, but God helped. Isaiah prophesied against Sennacherib for that. Hezekiah became prideful, but humbled himself. (715-685 BC) 2 Kings 17-20, 2 Chronicles 29-32, Isaiah 36-38

40. Hezekiah’s son was “nasty Massy” Manasseh, who burned his own sons to worship idols. His son Amon did the same. Then, Josiah became Judah’s king, discovered the Law from Moses somewhere in the Temple. Assyria gradually took every walled city but Jerusalem. Josiah did many good things, but died in battle. Then, God sent the prophet Nahum to Nineveh. This time they didn’t listen and the Medes destroyed Nineveh and took Assyria about fifty years later. In those days, God sent the prophets Zephaniah, Habakkuk, and Joel to Judah because Israel was gone. (686-612BC) 2 Kings 21-23, 2 Chronicles 33-35, Joel, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah

41. Judah’s king was Jehoiachin (also called Jeconiah). Babylon captured Jerusalem, took him into captivity, and made Zedekiah king in his place. Edom cheered for Babylon, but Obadiah prophesied a rebuke against Edom for this. Many Israelites went to Babylon, they were called “Jews” for the first time. Ezekiel and Jeremiah were prophets. (597 BC) 2 Kings 24-25, 2 Chronicles 36, Obadiah

42. Five years after Babylon captured Jerusalem, Ezekiel had two visions of Cherubim angels; in the second vision, God’s glory left the Temple in Jerusalem. (592 BC) Ezekiel

43. About the same year that Ezekiel had his visions, Jeremiah prophesied: Jerusalem will be captured; good figs will go to Babylon and bad figs will stay in the Promised Land. He said how much God loves Israel, that’s why He can’t tolerate their sin. King Zedekiah was angry for what Jeremiah said and let his soldiers put him in a muddy pit. But, Ebed-Melek, a government official, helped Jeremiah out by tying rags together for a rope. Finally, Babylon led a massive deportation from Judah. (592-587) Jeremiah

44. God made Daniel a prophet in Babylon’s government under Nebuchadnezzar. His Jewish friends were Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. They had many enemies, but always obeyed God while honoring the king. Ezekiel was a prophet to the Jews in Babylonian captivity. Obadiah prophesied doom to Edom for supporting Babylon. (586 BC) Ezekiel, Daniel 1-4, Obadiah

45. When Daniel was old, God scolded Babylon’s new, foolish king with a hand that wrote on the king’s wall during a “we’ll die tomorrow” party while under Persian seige. Daniel knew the words. That night, Cyrus of Persia captured Babylon, set Darius the Mede as king of Babylon under Persia, then Cyrus sent some Jews back to rebuild Jerusalem’s Temple. (605-539 BC) Daniel 5, Ezra 1, 2 Chronicles 36

46. Daniel’s old enemies tricked newly appointed King Darius the Mede to put Daniel into the lion’s den. Darius prayed, God saved Daniel, and Darius killed Daniel’s enemies. Later, Daniel had dreams about the end times. (538-553 BC) Daniel 6-12

47. Late in the time of Darius the Mede, the Samaritans convinced short-term king King Pseudo Smedris “Artaxerxes” to stop the Jews from rebuilding the Temple. Haggai prophesied, “Hey guys! You finished building your own houses and didn’t worry about the Samaritans. What about God’s House!? Don’t worry. Just do it.” Zechariah prophesied, “‘Not by strength nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord: ‘I will finish this Temple!'” (521-520 BC)  Zechariah, Haggai

48. Less than one year after King Pseudo Artaxerxes came King Darius the Great. Israel listened to Haggai and Zechariah and resumed rebuilding the Temple without permission from Darius the Great. The Samaritan Governor Tatteni reported all this to Darius the Great and honestly asked what he should do. Darius the Great said, “Let them finish, pay for it with your own Samaritan taxes, and if anyone tries to stop them kill him with a stick from his own house.” (520 BC) Ezra 6

49. Esther, a Jew in Babylon, married Darius the Great to become queen of Persia. Haman tried to kill all the Jews and hang Esther’s uncle, Mordecai. Mordecai said she may have become queen, “for such a time as this.” Risking death to approach the king, she asker her friends to pray and she said, “If I die, I die.” Esther was respectful and friendly, so the king saved the Jews and hanged Haman on the same rope he made to hang Mordecai. (512 BC) Esther

50. Darius the Great sent his cup bearer, Nehemiah, to finish the walls in Jerusalem. He returned just before Darius died, then King “Khashayarshah/Ahasureus” Xerxes succeeded Darius and sent Nehemiah back. (500 BC) Nehemiah

51. God sent Malachi as the last prophet to foretell about John the Baptist. God said he would make the fathers and sons love each other again. Then, God stopped talking until John’s time, 400 years later. (400 BC) Malachi

New Testament

52. When Jesus came the first time, he started a ripple of Life and Hope that changed everything. (0-33 AD) He will return to finalize the change that has continued since he left. Other religions and non-religions wait for the “Christ” or “Messiah” or “Savior” to save the world. But, Jesus claimed that he was the Christ. Those who believe Jesus believe him because he was the Christ in their own personal lives already. They do not wait for the Christ to save the world; they wait for the Return of the Christ they already know as a friend—the Christ who already rescued them from their own broken lives—the Christ who will return to save the world from people who continue to wait for another Christ who cannot deliver—the Christ who did and will do what no one else ever has done or ever can do.

Jesus in 12

I. Jesus’s Birth and Childhood: Jesus and his cousin John were born after an angel appeared to their parents. Jesus’s first bed was in a barn, an angel told some shepherds to visit him. God promised Simeon he would live to see the Christ, so he blessed baby Jesus in the Temple. Some wise men followed a star to bring Jesus gifts. One time, Jesus’s family forgot him in the Temple because he loved his Father’s House so much. (The Year 0)

II. Fishing from the Desert to the Wedding to the Well: Jesus was thirty years old. His cousin John lived in the desert and Jesus asked him to baptize him. Then, Jesus went to the desert to pray forty days. He chose fishermen as his first disciples. Then, he changed water to wine at a wedding in Cana. At the well Jacob dug, a Samaritan women met Jesus. She and others believed he was the Christ, including a nobleman. (AD 30)

III. Expelled to Preach: Jesus told his local Synagogue at Nazareth of Galilee that he was the Christ, the promised Messiah. They got angry and tried to push him off a cliff, but that didn’t work. Leaving Galilee, he slept in a storm, then woke up and stopped the storm. He began preaching to all people in big crowds and healing on the Sabbath. He called Levi, a tax collector, also known as Matthew. A demon even recognized Jesus!

IV. Following, Healing, and Parables: A Roman “Centurion” leader of one hundred soldiers believed in Jesus. Jesus crashed a young man’s funeral at Nain and brought him back to life. Jesus met Mary Magdalene at Simon the Pharisee’s house in Bethany. Then, he started teaching parables about farming.

V. Power over Demons, Death, Bread, and Water: Jesus started driving out demons, even killed a heard of pigs—which Jews shouldn’t own—in Decapolis. He “accidentally” healed a bleeding woman when she touched him, then brought a young girl back to life. His cousin John was beheaded by the queen. Jesus fed five thousand people, then walked on water, then said he was the true “Bread of Life” food.

VI. Who is Jesus? He is the Son of God!: People wondered who Jesus was. Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of God!” Jesus was transfigured up on the mountain with Peter, James, and John, shining in his glory, talking to Moses and Elijah. Jesus drove out a powerful demon, preached about humility and forgiveness, and said, “I am the Way the Truth and the Light.” The Jewish leaders got very angry.

VII. Good Mud, Good Samaritan, and Good Shepherd: Jesus healed a blind man with mud he made from his own spit. The Jewish leaders were enraged and made a big fuss about it. The “formerly blind man” told them, “I once was blind, but now I see.” Jesus said, “I am the Good Shepherd.” Then, he sent out the seventy associate disciples, giving them the story of the Good Samaritan to answer the question, “Who is my neighbor?”

VIII. Lazarus: Jesus went back to Bethany and brought Mary’s friend Lazarus back to life. This really made the Jewish leaders angry. They even talked about King Herod to scare Jesus. He wasn’t scared. Instead, he healed more people on the Sabbath and told many parables about love for sinners and even a parable about a man named Lazarus. That made them even more angry.

IX. Judge and King, Friend of Children and Tax Collectors: Jesus told parables about an unfair judge and about whether God was more pleased with an arrogant leader or a humble tax collector. He said, “Let the little children come to me because people in Heaven’s Kingdom are like them.” He healed “Blind Bartimaus”, who then followed Jesus. Then, he stayed at the home of Zacheus, the short tax collector, and he also believed.

X. Passion Week and Master-Bridegroom Parables: Jesus stayed at Bethany where a woman broke perfume on Jesus feet. Judas called it a “waste” because he had just betrayed Jesus for thirty pieces of silver. Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey, cleansed the Temple, cursed a fig tree, told parables about his Second Coming, cried for Jerusalem, and told about the End Times on the Mount of Olives.

XI. The Crucified Christ: Jesus had his Last Supper with his disciples, then prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane all night until Judas came with the Temple police to arrest Jesus. The high priest tried him, then asked the Roman, Pilate, to kill him. Jesus spoke powerfully, yet kindly, to Pilate, but he said nothing to Herod. He was beaten, crucified, and buried in a rich man’s new tomb Friday night. (AD 33)

XII. The Resurrected Christ: Mary went from Bethany to Jesus’s tomb Sunday morning. The stone was rolled away. Peter and John ran to see the empty tomb. Thomas wanted to believe and Jesus helped him. Jesus surprised his disciples on the road to Emmaus, helping them understand the prophecies about him. Many other people saw Jesus. He even had one Last Breakfast with his disciples.

After Jesus

XIII. Pentecost, Spirit & Power: When Jesus went up into the sky, he told his disciples to wait for the Holy Spirit. They waited several days, praying and fasting in an upper room. Suddenly, wind blew everywhere and “tongues of fire” set down on them. They began to prophesy, speak perfectly in different languages and heal the sick. They all worked with power, just like Jesus had and many, many people believed in Jesus that same day. (Acts 1-2)

XIV. Good News Ripples Onward: Many people believed in Jesus in Jerusalem, even Saul of Tarsus who killed Christians. Finally, the disciples, now called “apostles”, which means “sent ones”, started to send people to Samaria and to all people of the world to tell about Jesus. They healed the sick, people were filled with Joy, and people met each other at just the right moment again and again. This continued for many years. The apostles wrote letters to Christians in different places, which was how the New Testament was written, including the Gospels (Matthew–John) and Acts. (Acts 3–)

XV. Revelation of the Return: John was a prisoner on an island named Patmos. He had an “open vision” where he saw Jesus and Heaven with his eyes. Jesus was shining in his glory. He spoke letters to Christians in seven cities for John to write. Then, John saw the end of the world from Heaven’s view. In the end, it actually wasn’t the end of the world, it was only the beginning because God will make all things new and Heaven and Earth will come together. This is the last book of the Bible and it warns about anyone who tries to change what it says. (AD 90)