A concise Biblical History

The writings of most religions have a contemplative character. They deal with questions of good and evil in a way that has no relationship with time. The Bible is completely different from the writings of other religions in the sense that it is not contemplative but has concrete historical facts and developments as its theme.

	Some general remarks on Biblical History The Bible is first of all a history book that tells us how in the past God dealt with people and what He intends to do with mankind in the future. The religious teachings of the Bible are always the product of events and developments that actually took place in the course of human history.
	The story of the Creation Science does not tell us who made the universe. The Bible does. The Bible teaches us that the universe was made by a living being who has always existed and to whom everything and everybody owe their existence: our creator-God whose Hebrew name is spelled JHWH.
	The Story of the Creation and the Theory of Evolution The Bible presents Adam and Eve as the first people. Who were created directly by JHWH and His Son. The Bible leaves no room for the idea that there were already people on earth before the creation of Adam and Eve. The Bible also rejects the idea that one kind of animal can evolve into another kind.
	After the year 4026 B.C. - The Fall People must be aware of the fact that if angels and humans had not had the capacity to turn against God, to fail to appreciate Him, and to disobey Him they would not have been perfect. God did not want an automatic, robot-like, forced kind of love and obedience from angels and people.
	About 4000 B.C. The life of Adam and Eve outside Paradise After Adam and Eve had demomstrated that they were not willing to support God in realizing the ends for which He had made the earth God drove them out of His paradise. They had to live in a world which was a lot less beautiful and less pleasant than what they had known in the first part of their lives.
	From about 4000 B.C. to the birth of Noah in 2970 B.C. After the murder described in the previous article, committed in the second generation of our human history, the number of people on earth became larger and larger. In the 1000 years between 4000 and 3000 B.C. 10 generations followed each other.
	2370 B.C. The Flood After the birth of Noah in 2970 B.C. six centuries passed about which the Bible does not give us much information. The living conditions for the people on earth became more and more unbearable. Things like godlessness and violence took on ever worsening proportions.
	From the Flood in 2370 B.C. to the birth of Abraham in 2018 B.C. In 2018 B.C. something happened that gave the Bible story an extremely imoprtant turn. In a town situated on the Euphrates not so far away from the Persian Gulf which is so well-known these days, a man was born who was determined to do God's will and nothing but God's will: Abraham.
	Babel, Babylon, Babylon the Great and Babylonia as a Biblical theme The Bible constantly contrasts the religion of Babylon and the religion of Israel and presents the two religious systems as each other's opposites and each other's enemies. When doing this the Bible uses very harsh words.
	The Biblical notion of the seven successive world-powers, opposed to JHWH Besides the fact that the Bible mentions a system of false religion which does not serve JHWH but fights Him, the Bible also writes about a political and military system which completely ignores God's intentions with the earth and man or even tries to thwart them
	From 2018 B.C. to 1843 B.C. Abraham In 2018 B.C. a man was born in the southern part of Babylonia who, in contrast with the people around him, had absolute faith in JHWH and devoted his entire life to serving his creator: Abraham. He was born in the town of Ur, situated on the spot where the Euphrates and the Tigris come together.
	From 1918 B.C. to 1738 B.C. Isaac Isaac was born when his father, Abraham, was 100 years old and his mother, Sarah, 90 years old. At the age of 25 he was almost "slaughtered" as a sacrifice for God by his father. Only when his father was about to kill him did God intervene and let him live on.
	From 1858 B.C. to 1711 B.C. Jacob. The start of God's people: Israel Jacob got 12 sons from 4 women. These sons became the ancestors of the twelve tribes of Israel. It is very clear: the Bible is not a dissertation on ethics, for instance, marital ethics, but a history book which tells us frankly how things really happened and why they happened.
	From 1728 B.C. to 1513 B.C. The people of Israel in Egypt, the birth of Moses When Moses was 80 years old, around 1514 B.C., JHWH approached him and told him that He wanted to use him for carrying out great plans that He had made for the people of Israel. One day Moses saw a thorn-bush which was on fire but kept burning without being consumed.
	1513 BC The Exodus of the people of Israel out of Egypt In the spring of the year 1513 B.C. JHWH commanded the people of Israel to prepare for their liberation and their departure. He ordered them to see to it that on the tenth day of the first month of the spring they would have a lamb or a goat in their homes and to slaughter it on the fourteenth day.
	1513 B.C. Events near Mount Sinai. The Law Covenant When the people of Israel had arrived at Mount Sinai God kept them there for a long period of time. He approached Moses and the people and told them that He would make a unique covenant with them. He wanted to be their God in a very special way.
	From 1513 to 1473 B.C. Forty years in the desert The people put more confidence in the ten men who did not take into account God's endless capacity to achieve His ends than in the two men who were sure that with God's help they could conquer Canaan. The people were really scared and refused to enter the Promised Land.
	1474 B.C. Moses' last four speeches to the people of Israel Moses was 120 years old when he obeyed God's last order. God had commanded him to climb Mount Nebo, which was situated opposite Jericho, and to die there. He would not be allowed to enter the Promised Land. But God did allow him to see the Promised Land from a distance before he died.
	Moses is the greatest figure mentioned in the Hebrew Scriptures For people who live in the twenty-first century, who read the Hebrew Scriptures with at the back of their minds their knowledge of the Greek Scriptures, it is obvious that Moses was a prefiguration of Jesus Christ. As regards their attitude to life and their life-history Moses and Jesus Christ have a lot in common.
	From 1473 B.C. to 1117 B.C. The conquest of Canaan. The period of the Judges Every time when this idol-worship took on unacceptable proportions JHWH warned the people by allowing them to be cruelly oppressed by neighboring nations. In the course of the centuries Israel was oppressed by the Assyrians, the Moabites, the Midianites, the Ammonites and even by tribes which lived in their own territory.
	From 1117 B.C. to 1077 B.C. Israel under her first king: Saul About 1120 B.C. the people of Israel were cruelly oppressed by the Philistines. In those critical times the people began to urge Samuel, the prophet, to appoint a king for them who would be able to liberate them from the Philistines. At first Samuel refused to do this.
	From 1077 B.C. to 1037 B.C. Israel under her second king: David In 1107 B.C. the youngest son of Jesse was born. Jesse and his family lived in Bethlehem and belonged to the tribe of Judah. The youngest son mentioned was called David and when he was still young he was anointed Israel's second king by Samuel. He became the ancestor of a long dynasty of kings.
	The tremendous importance of King David for Israel and for mankind Throughout the Bible King David is considered the greatest man and most ideal king that Israel has ever had. As such he is often presented as a prefiguration of Jesus Christ. In particular as a prefiguration of Jesus Christ in His function as king. At first as king of the Jews and later on as king of all people.
	From 1037 B.C. to 997 B.C. Solomon, the last king to rule all the twelve tribes The properity and the wealth which Israel enjoyed under King Solomon were so great that people from all neigboring countries came to have a look at it and were amazed by the wonderful buildings, the great public facilities and the high standard of living which were to be seen everywhere.
	997 B.C. God's people fall apart into two separate nations: Israel and Judah In 997 B.C. God's people fell apart into two separate nations: a northern kingdom consisting of ten tribes which continued under the old name of Israel and a southern kingdom consisting of two tribes which continued under the name of Judah.
	The kings of Israel and Judah between 997 B.C. and about 910 B.C. While in the northern kingdom Jerobeam proceeded to worship golden calves and Canaanite idols, Rehobeam in the southern kingdom insulted JHWH by terrible forms of idol-worship. In 993 B.C. God gave him a serious warning through the Pharaoh of Egypt, who invaded the country with his army and even entered Jerusalem.
	From about 910 B.C. to 740 B.C. Very bad kings in Israel and Judah The Bible describes the religious and moral collapse of Israel and Judah with complete frankness. And it also emphasizes the fact that JHWH has never accepted the way in which His own two nations have broken their covenant with Him.
	From 740 B.C. to 607 B.C. Judah continues to exist for another 130 years. In 607 B.C. Jerusalem was completely destroyed, including the temple. The town walls were pulled down. Practically all the inhabitants of Jerusalem who had survived the one and a half years of siege were carried away to Babylonia as exiles.
	From about 780 B.C. to about 730 B.C. The great prophet Isaiah Isaiah was one of the first great prophets who received messages from JHWH which told him how eventually everything would be all right. JHWJH also told him how He intended to realize completely His intentions with the earth and with mankind.
	Wonderful images of mankind's great future in the first 44 chapters of Isaiah Isaiah presents the messages of future blessings, future salvation and the ultimate realization of all God's promises and ambitions in the form of wonderful visions. Great, colorful and impressive images given to him by JHWH
	Impressive images of mankind's great future in Isaiah, the chapters 45 to 66 The kind of earth that God had in mind when He created it, a paradise-like earth, will become a reality. And this kind of earth which will become a reality will also be inhabited: by the kind of people that God had in mind when He created man.
	From 647 to 580 B.C. Jeremiah: the catastrophe is part of God's plan of salvation About 150 years after Isaiah the great prophet Jeremiah did his work in Judah. From the way he describes the situation of Judah in the Bible-book that carries his name it becomes clear that in the course of the 150 years mentioned the people have deteriorated and decayed even more.
	From 613 to 591 B.C. Ezekiel: the catastrophe is part of God's plan of salvation The great theme of the messages which Ezekiel passed on to the people in the name of JHWH and which he wrote down in his Bible book is the sanctification of God's name JHWH. The name of God had been dishonored and stained by rebellious angels and rebellious humans.
	From 618 to 536 B.C. Daniel lives and works at the court of the kings of Babylon The Bible book that was written by Daniel does not so much deal with what will happen with God's people Israel but more with what will happen with the nations of the world in general, what their end will be and what will be the end of world history in general.
	Daniel tells mankind how its history will develop and reach its final destination Daniel prophecies how in the course of world history one pagan world-power will succeed the other until during the last days God will put an end to all power of dynasties which were not established by him and establish his own lasting Kingdom.
	From 539 to about 425 B.C. A number of Jewish exiles return to Israel In the spring of 537 B.C. Cyrus proclaimed his famous decree which allowed the Jews to return to their country from their exile. Cyrus acknowledged that the Jewish God JHWH was the true God and that JHWH had ordered him to release the Jewish exiles and to see to it that His temple in Jerusalem would be rebuit.
	Between about 425 B.C. and the birth of John the Baptist and Jesus During this period the most important event in Israel itself and in the whole region was no doubt the tour of conquest of the Greek king Alexander the Great. This tour of conquest is unparalleled in the history of mankind. The Bible does not mention Alexander by name.

In 63 B.C. Rome conquered Israel and Jerusalem. In the days of Jesus and the apostles Israel was not an independent state. It was a country occupied by the Romans. From the judicial point of view the Roman occupying forces were responsible for the condemning to death of Jesus and not the Jews.