By learning the story of Israel, you help yourself to better understand the New Testament. You may not find it fruitful to immerse yourself in a deep and detailed study of books like Leviticus and Ezekiel. However you do need a clear and comprehensive understanding of Israel’s history and its significance. This Bible study series is about the scriptural history of the twelve tribes of Israel with
"For whatever things were written before, were written for our learning, that we through the patience and comfort of the Scriptures might have hope"
To make the task easier, we divide the times of Israel into twelve periods. The first nine cover 2000 years and belong to the Old Testament. The last three span another 2000 years and belong to the New Testament. These twelve periods are listed below, with a line of doggerel added to help you learn them
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Promises to Abraham Bondage in Egypt Wandering in the Wilderness Conquest of Canaan Kingdom of David Kingdom Divided Exile and Scattering Return of the Remnant Prophecy Unfolding Coming of the Son of God Dawning of New Israel Kingdom in All the World |
The Times of Israel chart below, helps you to see at a glance where Bible books and characters fit into the twelve periods. The heading for each time is a link to the first lesson in the set dealing
The Figures line lists a few of the great people of the Bible in that time slot, but of course this list is
The Begins With line gives you a marker event that occurs at the beginning of each period. Of course there are many other important occasions in the Times of Israel, but the events in the chart are those which occur where one period ends
Time ~ 1. Promises to Abraham
Books ~ Genesis
Figures ~ Abraham Isaac Jacob
Begins with ~ God’s call to Abram
Time ~ 2. Bondage in Egypt
Books ~ Genesis
Figures ~ Joseph
Begins with ~ Jacob’s family settling in Egypt
Time ~ 3. Wandering in the Wilderness
Span ~ 40 years
Books ~ Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy
Figures ~ Moses
Begins with ~ Exodus from Egypt across Red Sea
Time ~ 4. Conquest of Canaan
Span ~ 170 years
Books ~ Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1Samuel
Figures ~ Joshua, Samuel
Begins with ~ Entry into promised Land across Jordan
Time ~ 5. Kingdom of David
Span ~ 120 years
Books ~ 2Samuel, 1Kings, 1Chronicles, Poetry
Figures ~ Saul, David, Solomon
Begins with ~ The people of Israel seek a king
Time ~ 6. Kingdom Divided
Span ~ 200 years
Books ~ 2Kings, 2Chronicles, Isaiah, Amos, Jonah, Hosea, Micah
Figures ~ Elijah, Elisha, Isaiah
Begins with ~ Rebellion of the ten tribes
Ascendant empire ~ Assyria
Time ~ 7. Exile and Scattering
Span ~ 200 years
Books ~ Jer, Lam, Eze, Dan, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Obadiah, [Joel]
Figures ~ Jeremiah, Daniel
Begins with ~ Wars upon Israel and Judah
Ascendant empire ~ Babylon
Time ~ 8. Return of the Remnant
Span ~ 140 years
Books ~ Ezr, Neh, Est, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Figures ~ Ezra Nehemiah
Begins with ~ The decree to rebuild Jerusalem
Ascendant empire ~ Medopersia
Time ~ 9. Prophecy Unfolding
Span ~ 400 years
Books ~ Secular history only, except some mention in prophetic books
Figures ~ None in Bible
Begins with ~ Completion of OT scriptures
Ascendant empire ~ Greece
Time ~ 10. Coming of the Son of God
Span ~ 30 years
Books ~ Matthew, Mark, Luke, John
Figures ~ John the Baptizer, Jesus
Begins with ~ Birth of Jesus
Ascendant empire ~ Rome
Time ~ 11. Dawning of New Israel
Span ~ 70 years
Books ~ Acts, the Epistles, Revelation
Figures ~ Peter Paul
Begins with ~ Death of Jesus
Time ~ 12. Kingdom in All the World
Span ~ 1900 years
Books ~ Secular history only
Figures ~ None in Bible
Begins with ~ Completion of NT scriptures