Begin Here

The Bible Timeline

The whole story, in order

The Bible is one story, and it is much easier to read once you can see its shape. Here it is from the first verse to the last: seventeen eras, each with the events that matter most, when they happened, where to read them, and what they mean. Dates before the kings of Israel are traditional and approximate.

17 eras · 118 events · every quotation from the King James Version

Era 1 · c. 4000 BC

The Beginning

God makes everything, and makes it good. Then sin enters the world — and with it, the first promise of a Saviour.

See this era on the timeline

  1. c. 4000 BC

    Creation

    In six days God speaks the universe into being — light, sky, land, sea, stars and every living thing — and rests on the seventh. The Bible's first sentence answers the biggest question there is: where did it all come from?

    “In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.” Genesis 1:1

    Read it: Genesis 1–2

  2. c. 4000 BC

    Adam and Eve

    God forms the first man from the dust and the first woman from his side, and places them in the garden of Eden. People are not an accident. Every person carries the image of God.

    “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” Genesis 1:27

    Read it: Genesis 2

  3. c. 4000 BC

    The Fall

    The serpent tempts, Adam and Eve disobey, and sin and death enter the world. But in the same breath God promises that a child of the woman will one day crush the serpent — the first prophecy of Jesus.

    “it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” Genesis 3:15

    Read it: Genesis 3

  4. c. 3900 BC

    Cain and Abel

    The first two brothers bring offerings to God. Abel's is accepted; Cain's is not, and in jealousy Cain kills him. Sin has moved from the garden into the family in a single generation.

    “Am I my brother's keeper?” Genesis 4:9

    Read it: Genesis 4

  5. c. 3000 BC

    Enoch Walks with God

    In a long list of men who lived and died, one stands out: Enoch walked so closely with God that he never died — God simply took him. Many see in him a picture of the Rapture still to come.

    “And Enoch walked with God: and he was not; for God took him.” Genesis 5:24

    Read it: Genesis 5

Era 2 · c. 2350 – 2200 BC

The Flood & the Nations

The world is judged by water, one family is saved in an ark, and the nations are scattered from Babel.

See this era on the timeline

  1. c. 2450 BC

    Noah Builds the Ark

    The earth fills with violence, and God resolves to judge it. One man still walks with Him. Noah spends decades building a vast ship on dry land, exactly as God instructs — an act of pure faith.

    “But Noah found grace in the eyes of the LORD.” Genesis 6:8

    Read it: Genesis 6

  2. c. 2350 BC

    The Flood

    Rain falls for forty days and the waters cover the earth for most of a year. Eight people and the animals are kept safe inside the ark. The ark is a picture of Christ: one door, and safety for all who enter.

    “and the LORD shut him in.” Genesis 7:16

    Read it: Genesis 7–8

  3. c. 2349 BC

    The Rainbow Covenant

    Noah steps out into a washed world and worships. God promises never again to destroy the earth by flood, and hangs His bow in the sky as the sign.

    “I do set my bow in the cloud, and it shall be for a token of a covenant between me and the earth.” Genesis 9:13

    Read it: Genesis 9

  4. c. 2250 BC

    The Tower of Babel

    Mankind unites to build a city and a tower to make a name for itself. God confuses their language and scatters them across the earth. This is where the nations — and their many tongues — begin.

    “let us make us a name, lest we be scattered abroad upon the face of the whole earth.” Genesis 11:4

    Read it: Genesis 11

  5. c. 2000 BC

    Job

    Probably the oldest book in the Bible. A righteous man loses everything and wrestles with why. He never gets the explanation — he gets God Himself, and that turns out to be enough.

    “For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:” Job 19:25

    Read it: Job 1–42

Era 3 · c. 2100 – 1900 BC

The Patriarchs

God chooses one man, Abraham, and promises him a land, a nation and a blessing for the whole world. The promise passes to Isaac, then to Jacob.

See this era on the timeline

  1. c. 2091 BC

    The Call of Abraham

    God tells a seventy-five-year-old man in Mesopotamia to leave everything and go to a land He will show him. Abraham goes. From here on the Bible follows one family — the family through whom the Saviour will come.

    “and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.” Genesis 12:3

    Read it: Genesis 12

  2. c. 2085 BC

    Melchizedek Blesses Abraham

    A mysterious priest-king of Salem — the future Jerusalem — meets Abraham with bread and wine. The book of Hebrews later points to him as a preview of Jesus, our eternal priest and king.

    “And Melchizedek king of Salem brought forth bread and wine: and he was the priest of the most high God.” Genesis 14:18

    Read it: Genesis 14

  3. c. 2081 BC

    The Covenant of the Stars

    Abraham and Sarah are old and childless, yet God takes him outside and says: count the stars — so shall your descendants be. Abraham believes, and God counts that faith as righteousness. That is still how anyone is made right with God.

    “And he believed in the LORD; and he counted it to him for righteousness.” Genesis 15:6

    Read it: Genesis 15

  4. c. 2067 BC

    Sodom and Gomorrah

    Two cities given over to wickedness are destroyed by fire from heaven, but not before God brings Abraham's nephew Lot out. Judgment falls only after the righteous are removed.

    “Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right?” Genesis 18:25

    Read it: Genesis 18–19

  5. c. 2066 BC

    Isaac, the Promised Son

    Twenty-five years after the promise, Sarah gives birth at ninety. They name him Isaac — "laughter." God's promises are never late; they arrive when only He can get the credit.

    “Is any thing too hard for the LORD?” Genesis 18:14

    Read it: Genesis 21

  6. c. 2050 BC

    The Offering on Mount Moriah

    God tests Abraham by asking for Isaac, then stops his hand and provides a ram instead. On that same mountain range, two thousand years later, God would not spare His own Son.

    “My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering:” Genesis 22:8

    Read it: Genesis 22

  7. c. 2006 BC

    Jacob and Esau

    Isaac and Rebekah have twins. Esau, the elder, trades away his birthright for a bowl of stew; Jacob, the schemer, ends up with the blessing. God's choice doesn't follow human custom.

    “and the elder shall serve the younger.” Genesis 25:23

    Read it: Genesis 25–27

  8. c. 1906 BC

    Jacob Becomes Israel

    Jacob wrestles all night with God and walks away limping, with a new name: Israel. His twelve sons become the twelve tribes — the nation takes its name from this night.

    “Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel:” Genesis 32:28

    Read it: Genesis 32

Era 4 · c. 1900 – 1450 BC

Joseph & Into Egypt

A betrayed brother becomes the ruler who saves his family. Seventy people go down into Egypt; a nation will come out.

See this era on the timeline

  1. c. 1898 BC

    Joseph Sold by His Brothers

    Jacob's favourite son, with his coat of many colours and his dreams, is thrown in a pit by his jealous brothers and sold to slave traders for twenty pieces of silver.

    “Behold, this dreamer cometh.” Genesis 37:19

    Read it: Genesis 37

  2. c. 1885 BC

    From the Prison to the Palace

    Falsely accused and forgotten in prison, Joseph interprets Pharaoh's dreams of seven fat years and seven lean. In one day he goes from prisoner to second-in-command of Egypt.

    “But the LORD was with Joseph, and shewed him mercy,” Genesis 39:21

    Read it: Genesis 39–41

  3. c. 1876 BC

    The Family Moves to Egypt

    Famine drives the brothers to Egypt for grain — and to the brother they sold. Joseph forgives them, and Jacob's whole family, seventy in all, settles in Goshen. Joseph's life is one of the clearest pictures of Christ in the Old Testament.

    “But as for you, ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good,” Genesis 50:20

    Read it: Genesis 45–47

  4. c. 1600 – 1446 BC

    Slavery in Egypt

    The family grows into a multitude. A new Pharaoh, threatened by their numbers, makes them slaves and orders their baby boys drowned in the Nile. Israel cries out — and God hears.

    “Now there arose up a new king over Egypt, which knew not Joseph.” Exodus 1:8

    Read it: Exodus 1

Era 5 · c. 1526 – 1445 BC

The Exodus

God raises up Moses, breaks the power of Egypt, and brings His people out through the sea to meet Him at Mount Sinai.

See this era on the timeline

  1. c. 1526 BC

    Moses in the Basket

    A Hebrew mother hides her baby in a basket on the Nile while his sister Miriam watches. Pharaoh's own daughter finds him and raises him in the palace — the deliverer grows up in the house of the oppressor.

    “Because I drew him out of the water.” Exodus 2:10

    Read it: Exodus 2

  2. c. 1446 BC

    The Burning Bush

    After forty years as a shepherd in the desert, eighty-year-old Moses sees a bush on fire that does not burn up. God speaks from it, reveals His name, and sends Moses back to Egypt.

    “And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM:” Exodus 3:14

    Read it: Exodus 3

  3. c. 1446 BC

    The Ten Plagues

    Pharaoh refuses, and God answers with ten plagues — blood, frogs, darkness and more — each one a judgment on a god of Egypt. The question being settled is: who is the LORD?

    “Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Let my people go,” Exodus 5:1

    Read it: Exodus 7–11

  4. c. 1446 BC

    The Passover

    On the last night each family kills a spotless lamb and paints its blood on the doorposts. Death passes over every house under the blood. Fourteen centuries later Jesus, the Lamb of God, dies at Passover.

    “and when I see the blood, I will pass over you,” Exodus 12:13

    Read it: Exodus 12

  5. c. 1446 BC

    Crossing the Red Sea

    Trapped between Pharaoh's chariots and the sea, Israel watches God split the waters. They walk through on dry ground; the army that follows is swept away. A nation of slaves is free.

    “Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD,” Exodus 14:13

    Read it: Exodus 14

  6. c. 1446 BC

    The Ten Commandments

    At Mount Sinai, in fire and thunder, God makes a covenant with Israel and gives His law. The law shows what holiness looks like — and shows every one of us that we need a Saviour.

    “Thou shalt have no other gods before me.” Exodus 20:3

    Read it: Exodus 19–20

  7. c. 1445 BC

    The Tabernacle

    God gives the pattern for a tent where He will live among His people. Every detail — the altar, the lamp, the veil, the mercy seat — points ahead to Jesus.

    “And let them make me a sanctuary; that I may dwell among them.” Exodus 25:8

    Read it: Exodus 25–40

Era 6 · c. 1445 – 1406 BC

The Wilderness

An eleven-day journey takes forty years. A generation that would not trust God dies in the desert; their children learn to follow Him.

See this era on the timeline

  1. c. 1445 BC

    The Twelve Spies

    Twelve spies scout the promised land. Ten see only giants; Caleb and Joshua see God. The people side with the ten, and that generation is turned back to wander until it has passed away.

    “Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.” Numbers 13:30

    Read it: Numbers 13–14

  2. c. 1445 – 1406 BC

    Forty Years of Wandering

    For forty years God feeds Israel with manna every morning, brings water from the rock, and leads them by a pillar of cloud and fire. Their clothes do not even wear out.

    “man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.” Deuteronomy 8:3

    Read it: Numbers 14–36

  3. c. 1407 BC

    The Bronze Serpent

    When venomous snakes strike the camp, God tells Moses to lift a bronze serpent on a pole; anyone who looks at it lives. Jesus used this very story to explain His cross to Nicodemus.

    “when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.” Numbers 21:9

    Read it: Numbers 21

  4. c. 1406 BC

    Moses Sees the Land

    Moses preaches his farewell — the book of Deuteronomy — climbs Mount Nebo, looks across the Jordan at the land, and dies there at 120. God Himself buries him.

    “And there arose not a prophet since in Israel like unto Moses, whom the LORD knew face to face,” Deuteronomy 34:10

    Read it: Deuteronomy 34

Era 7 · c. 1406 – 1375 BC

The Promised Land

Under Joshua, Israel crosses the Jordan, the walls of Jericho fall, giants are driven out, and the land promised to Abraham is finally home.

See this era on the timeline

  1. c. 1406 BC

    Crossing the Jordan

    Joshua takes over from Moses. The Jordan is in flood, but the moment the priests carrying the ark step in, the river stops — and a new generation walks into the land on dry ground.

    “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” Joshua 1:9

    Read it: Joshua 1–4

  2. c. 1406 BC

    Rahab and the Spies

    A Canaanite woman with a ruined reputation hides Israel's spies and hangs a scarlet cord in her window. She is spared, joins God's people — and becomes an ancestor of Jesus.

    “for the LORD your God, he is God in heaven above, and in earth beneath.” Joshua 2:11

    Read it: Joshua 2

  3. c. 1406 BC

    The Walls of Jericho

    No siege, no battering rams. Israel marches around the city for seven days, the priests blow their trumpets, the people shout — and the walls fall down flat.

    “Shout; for the LORD hath given you the city.” Joshua 6:16

    Read it: Joshua 6

  4. c. 1405 BC

    The Sun Stands Still

    Fighting to defend an ally, Joshua asks God for more daylight, and gets it. There was no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man.

    “And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed,” Joshua 10:13

    Read it: Joshua 10

  5. c. 1400 BC

    Caleb Takes On the Giants

    At eighty-five, Caleb asks for the hardest assignment in the land: Hebron, the stronghold of the giant Anakim — the very giants that terrified the ten spies. He drives them out.

    “Now therefore give me this mountain,” Joshua 14:12

    Read it: Joshua 14

  6. c. 1380 BC

    Choose You This Day

    The land is divided among the twelve tribes. An aged Joshua gathers the nation one last time and calls for a decision that every generation since has had to make.

    “but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.” Joshua 24:15

    Read it: Joshua 24

Era 8 · c. 1375 – 1050 BC

The Judges

A three-hundred-year cycle: Israel forgets God, falls to its enemies, cries out — and God sends a rescuer. Again and again.

See this era on the timeline

  1. c. 1375 BC

    The Cycle Begins

    A generation grows up that does not know the LORD. Israel slides into idolatry, is oppressed, repents, and is delivered by a judge God raises up — then does it all over again.

    “In those days there was no king in Israel: every man did that which was right in his own eyes.” Judges 21:25

    Read it: Judges 2

  2. c. 1200 BC

    Deborah and Barak

    A prophetess who holds court under a palm tree summons the general Barak to face nine hundred iron chariots. God sends a storm, the chariots bog down, and Israel wins.

    “Up; for this is the day in which the LORD hath delivered Sisera into thine hand:” Judges 4:14

    Read it: Judges 4–5

  3. c. 1160 BC

    Gideon's Three Hundred

    God finds Gideon hiding in a winepress and calls him a mighty man of valour. Then He shrinks Gideon's army from 32,000 to 300, armed with torches and trumpets, so nobody can mistake who won.

    “The sword of the LORD, and of Gideon.” Judges 7:20

    Read it: Judges 6–7

  4. c. 1120 BC

    Ruth and Boaz

    In the dark days of the judges, a love story. Ruth, a widow from Moab, follows her mother-in-law to Bethlehem and is redeemed by Boaz. Their great-grandson will be King David.

    “thy people shall be my people, and thy God my God:” Ruth 1:16

    Read it: Ruth 1–4

  5. c. 1075 BC

    Samson

    The strongest man in the Bible is also one of the weakest. Set apart from birth, Samson squanders his gift, is betrayed by Delilah and blinded — and in his final prayer brings down the Philistine temple.

    “O Lord GOD, remember me, I pray thee, and strengthen me, I pray thee, only this once,” Judges 16:28

    Read it: Judges 13–16

  6. c. 1100 BC

    Samuel Hears God's Voice

    Hannah's long-prayed-for son is given back to God and raised in the tabernacle. As a boy he hears God call his name in the night. Samuel becomes the last judge and the prophet who anoints Israel's first kings.

    “Speak; for thy servant heareth.” 1 Samuel 3:10

    Read it: 1 Samuel 1–3

Era 9 · c. 1050 – 931 BC

The United Kingdom

Israel asks for a king. Saul fails, David becomes the king after God's own heart, and Solomon builds the Temple.

See this era on the timeline

  1. c. 1050 BC

    Saul, the First King

    Israel demands a king "like all the nations," and gets one who looks the part: Saul, head and shoulders above everyone. But he will not obey, and God rejects him as king.

    “Behold, to obey is better than sacrifice,” 1 Samuel 15:22

    Read it: 1 Samuel 8–15

  2. c. 1025 BC

    David and Goliath

    A nine-foot Philistine champion taunts Israel for forty days. A shepherd boy with a sling and five stones runs toward him in the name of the LORD — and the giant falls.

    “for the battle is the LORD's, and he will give you into our hands.” 1 Samuel 17:47

    Read it: 1 Samuel 17

  3. c. 1010 BC

    David Becomes King

    After years on the run from Saul, David is crowned, captures Jerusalem and makes it his capital. Shepherd, warrior, poet — he writes about half the Psalms.

    “for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

    Read it: 2 Samuel 2–5

  4. c. 1000 BC

    God's Promise to David

    God promises David a descendant whose throne will last for ever. This is why the New Testament opens by calling Jesus "the son of David" — and why He will one day reign from Jerusalem.

    “thy throne shall be established for ever.” 2 Samuel 7:16

    Read it: 2 Samuel 7

  5. c. 970 BC

    Solomon's Wisdom

    Offered anything he wants, David's son asks for wisdom. God gives him that and everything else. Solomon writes Proverbs, Ecclesiastes and the Song of Solomon, and Israel reaches its golden age.

    “Give therefore thy servant an understanding heart to judge thy people,” 1 Kings 3:9

    Read it: 1 Kings 3

  6. c. 966 BC

    The Temple Is Built

    Seven years in the building, overlaid with gold. When the ark is carried in, the glory of God fills the house so thickly the priests cannot stand. God has a permanent address in Jerusalem.

    “so that the priests could not stand to minister by reason of the cloud: for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of God.” 2 Chronicles 5:14

    Read it: 1 Kings 6–8

Era 10 · 931 – 586 BC

Divided Kingdom & the Prophets

The kingdom splits in two. King after king turns from God, and God sends prophet after prophet to call His people home.

See this era on the timeline

  1. 931 BC

    The Kingdom Splits

    Solomon's son answers the people harshly, and ten tribes break away. From now on there are two nations: Israel in the north, with nineteen kings and not one good one, and Judah in the south, David's line.

    “So Israel rebelled against the house of David unto this day.” 1 Kings 12:19

    Read it: 1 Kings 12

  2. c. 860 BC

    Elijah on Mount Carmel

    One prophet against 450 prophets of Baal, and a simple test: the God who answers by fire is God. Baal is silent all day. Elijah prays once, and fire falls from heaven.

    “How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him:” 1 Kings 18:21

    Read it: 1 Kings 18

  3. c. 850 BC

    Elisha's Miracles

    Elijah is taken to heaven in a whirlwind, and Elisha picks up his mantle. A widow's oil multiplies, a dead boy lives, a Syrian general is healed of leprosy — mercy in a dark age.

    “Fear not: for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” 2 Kings 6:16

    Read it: 2 Kings 2–6

  4. c. 760 BC

    Jonah and Nineveh

    A prophet runs from God, spends three days inside a great fish, and then watches the wicked city of Nineveh repent. Jesus called it the sign of His own three days in the tomb.

    “Salvation is of the LORD.” Jonah 2:9

    Read it: Jonah 1–4

  5. c. 740 – 680 BC

    Isaiah Sees the Messiah

    Seven hundred years ahead of time, Isaiah describes a virgin-born child called "The mighty God" and a suffering servant pierced for our sins. It reads like an eyewitness account of the cross.

    “But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities:” Isaiah 53:5

    Read it: Isaiah 7, 9, 53

  6. 722 BC

    Israel Falls to Assyria

    After two centuries of idolatry and ignored warnings, the northern kingdom is conquered by Assyria and its people carried away. Only Judah is left.

    “Therefore the LORD was very angry with Israel, and removed them out of his sight: there was none left but the tribe of Judah only.” 2 Kings 17:18

    Read it: 2 Kings 17

  7. 701 BC

    Hezekiah's Prayer

    The Assyrian army surrounds Jerusalem and mocks God. King Hezekiah spreads the threatening letter before the LORD and prays. That night the angel of the LORD strikes down 185,000, and the siege is over.

    “save thou us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD God, even thou only.” 2 Kings 19:19

    Read it: 2 Kings 18–19

  8. 622 BC

    Josiah Finds the Book

    During Temple repairs, workers find the long-lost book of the Law. The young king hears it read, tears his robes, and leads Judah's last great revival.

    “I have found the book of the law in the house of the LORD.” 2 Kings 22:8

    Read it: 2 Kings 22–23

  9. 627 – 586 BC

    Jeremiah, the Weeping Prophet

    For forty years Jeremiah warns Judah that Babylon is coming. He is mocked, beaten and thrown in a pit. Yet he also promises a return after seventy years — and a new covenant written on the heart.

    “For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the LORD, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end.” Jeremiah 29:11

    Read it: Jeremiah 1–52

Era 11 · 605 – 538 BC

The Exile: The Time of Daniel

Jerusalem burns and Judah is carried to Babylon. There, a young captive named Daniel is shown the whole sweep of world history — right to the end.

See this era on the timeline

  1. 605 BC

    Daniel Taken to Babylon

    Nebuchadnezzar takes the brightest young men of Judah to be retrained as Babylonians. A teenager named Daniel quietly decides he will serve the king — but he will not compromise his God.

    “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself” Daniel 1:8

    Read it: Daniel 1

  2. c. 603 BC

    The Statue Dream

    The king dreams of a statue: a head of gold, chest of silver, belly of bronze, legs of iron, feet of iron and clay. Daniel explains — Babylon, Persia, Greece, Rome, and a final kingdom — all shattered by a stone that fills the earth: the kingdom of Christ.

    “And in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed:” Daniel 2:44

    Read it: Daniel 2

  3. c. 600 BC

    The Fiery Furnace

    Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego refuse to bow to the king's golden image and are thrown into a furnace. The king looks in and sees four men walking in the fire, unharmed.

    “and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” Daniel 3:25

    Read it: Daniel 3

  4. 586 BC

    Jerusalem Falls

    After a long siege, Babylon breaks through. Solomon's Temple is burned, the walls are torn down, and the people are marched into exile. The book of Lamentations is Jeremiah's grief over the ruins.

    “And he burnt the house of the LORD, and the king's house,” 2 Kings 25:9

    Read it: 2 Kings 25

  5. c. 585 BC

    Ezekiel's Valley of Dry Bones

    Among the exiles, Ezekiel sees a valley of dry bones come together, take on flesh and stand up alive. God says: this is Israel. I will bring them back to their own land. Many see 1948 in this vision.

    “Son of man, can these bones live?” Ezekiel 37:3

    Read it: Ezekiel 37

  6. 539 BC

    The Writing on the Wall

    Babylon's last king throws a drunken feast using the Temple's holy cups. A hand appears and writes on the wall. Daniel reads the verdict — and that very night Babylon falls to the Medes and Persians.

    “Thou art weighed in the balances, and art found wanting.” Daniel 5:27

    Read it: Daniel 5

  7. c. 538 BC

    Daniel in the Lions' Den

    Now in his eighties, Daniel keeps praying three times a day even when it is made a crime. He is thrown to the lions and spends a peaceful night. New empire, same God.

    “My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths,” Daniel 6:22

    Read it: Daniel 6

  8. c. 538 BC

    The Seventy Weeks

    The angel Gabriel gives Daniel God's prophetic calendar for Israel: seventy "weeks" of seven years. After sixty-nine, Messiah would be "cut off" — fulfilled at the cross. One seven-year week remains: the coming Tribulation. The Church Age falls in the gap between.

    “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city,” Daniel 9:24

    Read it: Daniel 9

Era 12 · 538 – 430 BC

The Return

Exactly as Jeremiah said, the exile ends after seventy years. The Temple and the walls rise again, and the Old Testament closes.

See this era on the timeline

  1. 538 BC

    Cyrus Sends Them Home

    The Persian king Cyrus decrees that the Jews may go home and rebuild. Isaiah had named Cyrus in prophecy about 150 years before he was born.

    “The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem,” Ezra 1:2

    Read it: Ezra 1

  2. 516 BC

    The Temple Rebuilt

    Under Zerubbabel, and spurred on by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah, the second Temple is finished. It is plainer than Solomon's — but this is the Temple Jesus Himself will walk into.

    “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts.” Zechariah 4:6

    Read it: Ezra 3–6

  3. c. 479 – 473 BC

    Esther Saves Her People

    A Jewish orphan becomes queen of Persia just as a plot is hatched to wipe out her people. She risks her life before the king, and the plot is turned on its head. God's name never appears in the book; His hand is everywhere.

    “and who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?” Esther 4:14

    Read it: Esther 1–10

  4. 458 BC

    Ezra Teaches the Law

    A priest and scribe leads a second group home and gives the people back their Bible, reading it aloud from morning to midday while the whole crowd stands and listens.

    “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the LORD, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments.” Ezra 7:10

    Read it: Ezra 7 · Nehemiah 8

  5. 445 BC

    Nehemiah Rebuilds the Walls

    The king's cupbearer gets permission to rebuild Jerusalem's walls, and the people finish in 52 days with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. This decree starts the clock on Daniel's seventy weeks.

    “So the wall was finished in the twenty and fifth day of the month Elul, in fifty and two days.” Nehemiah 6:15

    Read it: Nehemiah 1–6

  6. c. 430 BC

    Malachi: The Last Word

    The final Old Testament prophet rebukes a people going through the motions and promises that a messenger will come to prepare the way of the Lord. Then heaven goes quiet.

    “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:” Malachi 4:5

    Read it: Malachi 3–4

Era 13 · 430 – 5 BC

The Silent Years

Four hundred years without a prophet. But God is not idle — empires rise and fall exactly as Daniel foretold, and the stage is set for Christ.

See this era on the timeline

  1. 331 BC

    Alexander the Great

    Alexander conquers the known world in about a decade, and Greek becomes the language everyone shares — the language the New Testament will be written in. Daniel had seen it two centuries earlier.

    “And the rough goat is the king of Grecia: and the great horn that is between his eyes is the first king.” Daniel 8:21

    Foretold in Daniel 8

  2. c. 250 BC

    The Scriptures in Greek

    In Alexandria, Jewish scholars translate the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek — the Septuagint. For the first time the wider world can read the Old Testament. The apostles will quote from it often.

    History

  3. 167 – 164 BC

    The Maccabees

    A Greek king, Antiochus Epiphanes, outlaws Judaism and defiles the Temple with a pagan altar — a preview of the future Antichrist. A family of priests leads a revolt and rededicates the Temple: the first Hanukkah.

    “but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.” Daniel 11:32

    Foretold in Daniel 8 & 11 · John 10:22

  4. 63 BC

    Rome Takes Jerusalem

    The Roman general Pompey marches into Jerusalem, and Judea comes under the fourth empire of Daniel's statue. Roman roads and Roman peace will soon carry the gospel across the world.

    History · the iron legs of Daniel 2

  5. 37 – 4 BC

    Herod the Great

    Rome installs Herod as "king of the Jews." A brilliant and brutal builder, he expands the Temple into one of the wonders of the age. He is on the throne when wise men arrive asking about a newborn king.

    Read it: Matthew 2

Era 14 · c. 5 BC – AD 33

The Life of Jesus

The centre of the whole story. God becomes man, lives the life we could not live, dies the death we deserved, and walks out of the grave.

See this era on the timeline

  1. c. 6 BC

    Gabriel Visits Mary

    Four hundred years of silence end with an angel in Nazareth. A young virgin is told she will bear the Son of God, the heir to David's throne. Her answer: be it unto me according to thy word.

    “For with God nothing shall be impossible.” Luke 1:37

    Read it: Luke 1

  2. c. 5 BC

    The Birth of Jesus

    In Bethlehem, just as Micah foretold, the Creator is laid in a manger. Angels announce it to shepherds; wise men come from the east to worship. "The Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us."

    “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.” Luke 2:11

    Read it: Luke 2 · Matthew 1–2

  3. c. AD 29

    John the Baptist

    The messenger Malachi promised appears in the wilderness, calling Israel to repent. He baptizes Jesus in the Jordan; the Spirit descends like a dove, and the Father speaks from heaven.

    “Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.” John 1:29

    Read it: Matthew 3 · John 1

  4. c. AD 29

    Jesus Begins His Ministry

    After forty days of temptation in the wilderness, Jesus returns in the power of the Spirit, calls twelve ordinary men to follow Him, and begins to preach that the kingdom of heaven is at hand.

    “Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.” Matthew 4:19

    Read it: Matthew 4 · Luke 4

  5. c. AD 30

    The Sermon on the Mount

    On a hillside above Galilee Jesus gives the most famous sermon ever preached — the Beatitudes, the Lord's Prayer, the Golden Rule — and the crowds are astonished, because He teaches with authority.

    “But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” Matthew 6:33

    Read it: Matthew 5–7

  6. c. AD 30 – 32

    Miracles and Parables

    He calms storms, feeds five thousand, walks on water, opens blind eyes and forgives sins. He teaches in unforgettable stories. Every miracle is a sign pointing to who He is.

    “What manner of man is this, that even the winds and the sea obey him!” Matthew 8:27

    Read it: The Four Gospels

  7. c. AD 33

    Lazarus Raised

    Jesus arrives four days after His friend's burial, weeps at the tomb, and then calls Lazarus out alive. It is the miracle that makes the religious leaders decide He must die.

    “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:” John 11:25

    Read it: John 11

  8. AD 33

    The Triumphal Entry

    Jesus rides into Jerusalem on a donkey, exactly as Zechariah foretold, while crowds wave palm branches. Many Bible students count this as the very day Daniel's sixty-ninth week ran out.

    “Hosanna to the son of David: Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord;” Matthew 21:9

    Read it: Matthew 21 · Zechariah 9:9

  9. AD 33

    The Last Supper

    At Passover, Jesus washes His disciples' feet, breaks bread and shares the cup, and gives them a new covenant. Then He goes out to Gethsemane to pray — and to be betrayed.

    “This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you.” Luke 22:20

    Read it: Luke 22 · John 13–17

  10. AD 33

    The Cross

    Tried by night, condemned by Pilate, Jesus is crucified outside the city wall. He bears the sin of the world, and the Temple veil tears from top to bottom. The debt is paid in full. Messiah is "cut off, but not for himself."

    “It is finished:” John 19:30

    Read it: Matthew 27 · John 19

  11. AD 33

    The Resurrection

    On the third day the stone is rolled away and the tomb is empty. Jesus appears to Mary Magdalene, to the disciples, to more than five hundred people at once. Everything in Christianity stands on this morning.

    “He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.” Matthew 28:6

    Read it: Matthew 28 · John 20

  12. AD 33

    The Ascension

    Forty days later, from the Mount of Olives, Jesus commissions His followers to take the gospel to the ends of the earth and is taken up into heaven — with a promise that He is coming back the same way.

    “this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.” Acts 1:11

    Read it: Acts 1

Era 15 · AD 33 – 95

The Early Church

The Holy Spirit comes, the Church is born, and in a single generation the gospel travels from Jerusalem to Rome.

See this era on the timeline

  1. AD 33

    Pentecost: The Church Is Born

    Ten days after the Ascension the Holy Spirit falls on the believers in Jerusalem. Peter — who had denied Jesus weeks before — preaches, and three thousand are saved in a day. The Church Age begins.

    “And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost,” Acts 2:4

    Read it: Acts 2

  2. c. AD 35

    Stephen, the First Martyr

    Stephen is stoned for preaching Christ, praying for his killers as he dies. Persecution scatters the believers — and everywhere they go, they talk about Jesus.

    “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Acts 7:60

    Read it: Acts 6–7

  3. c. AD 35

    Saul Becomes Paul

    The Church's fiercest enemy is knocked to the ground by the risen Christ on the road to Damascus. The persecutor becomes the apostle to the Gentiles and writes thirteen books of the New Testament.

    “Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?” Acts 9:4

    Read it: Acts 9

  4. c. AD 40

    The Gospel Reaches the Gentiles

    God sends Peter to the house of a Roman centurion, and the Spirit falls on non-Jews just as at Pentecost. The door is open to every nation.

    “Of a truth I perceive that God is no respecter of persons:” Acts 10:34

    Read it: Acts 10

  5. AD 47 – 57

    Paul's Missionary Journeys

    Three great journeys plant churches across modern Turkey and Greece — Galatia, Philippi, Thessalonica, Corinth, Ephesus. Most of Paul's letters are written to these churches.

    “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Acts 16:31

    Read it: Acts 13–21

  6. AD 49

    The Jerusalem Council

    Must Gentiles keep the Law of Moses to be saved? The apostles meet and answer clearly: no. Salvation is by grace through faith, for Jew and Gentile alike.

    “But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they.” Acts 15:11

    Read it: Acts 15

  7. c. AD 60 – 67

    Paul in Rome

    Paul reaches the capital of the world in chains and keeps preaching. Tradition holds that both he and Peter were executed under Nero. His last letter is to Timothy, his son in the faith.

    “I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith:” 2 Timothy 4:7

    Read it: Acts 28 · 2 Timothy 4

  8. AD 70

    The Temple Destroyed

    Forty years after Jesus predicted it, Roman legions under Titus burn Jerusalem and tear down the Temple stone by stone. The Jewish people are scattered among the nations for nearly nineteen centuries.

    “There shall not be left here one stone upon another, that shall not be thrown down.” Matthew 24:2

    Foretold in Matthew 24:2 · Luke 21

  9. c. AD 95

    John Writes Revelation

    The last living apostle, exiled to the island of Patmos, sees the risen Christ and is shown how the story ends. With Revelation the Bible is complete.

    “Write the things which thou hast seen, and the things which are, and the things which shall be hereafter;” Revelation 1:19

    Read it: Revelation 1

Era 16 · AD 95 – Today

The Church Age

Two thousand years of the gospel going out to every nation — through persecution, reformation and revival — right up to you, today.

See this era on the timeline

  1. AD 64 – 313

    The Persecuted Church

    For 250 years Rome tries to stamp out Christianity with fire, sword and the arena. It spreads faster. By AD 300 there are believers in every corner of the empire.

    “upon this rock I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.” Matthew 16:18

    Read it: John 15:20

  2. AD 313 – 325

    Constantine and Nicaea

    The emperor Constantine legalises Christianity. In 325 church leaders gather at Nicaea and affirm what the apostles taught from the start: Jesus Christ is fully God.

    History

  3. AD 367 – 397

    The Bible Recognised

    The churches formally recognise the 27 books of the New Testament — the same ones believers had been reading and copying since the apostles. Soon after, Jerome translates the whole Bible into Latin.

    History

  4. 1455

    The Printing Press

    Johannes Gutenberg's first major printed book is the Bible. What once took a scribe years to copy can now be printed by the hundred. The Word is about to reach ordinary people.

    History

  5. 1517

    The Reformation

    A German monk named Martin Luther nails ninety-five theses to a church door, and the great truths are recovered: Scripture alone, by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone.

    “The just shall live by faith.” Romans 1:17

    Read it: Romans 1:17

  6. 1526 – 1611

    The Bible in English

    William Tyndale is strangled and burned for translating the Bible into English. Within a century the King James Version is published — the most widely read book in the English language.

    “Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.” Psalm 119:105

    History

  7. 1730s – 1900s

    Awakenings and Missions

    Revival sweeps Britain and America under Whitefield, Wesley and Edwards. Then William Carey sails for India, and the modern missionary movement carries the gospel to every continent.

    “Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,” Matthew 28:19

    Read it: Matthew 28:19

  8. 14 May 1948

    Israel Reborn

    After nearly 1,900 years scattered among the nations, the Jewish people declare a state in their ancient homeland — in a single day. For students of prophecy, the dry bones are standing up.

    “shall a nation be born at once?” Isaiah 66:8

    Read it: Isaiah 66:8 · Ezekiel 37

  9. June 1967

    Jerusalem Reunited

    In the Six-Day War, the Old City of Jerusalem comes under Jewish control for the first time since before the days of Jesus.

    “and Jerusalem shall be trodden down of the Gentiles, until the times of the Gentiles be fulfilled.” Luke 21:24

    Read it: Luke 21:24

  10. Today

    You Are Here

    This is your place in the story. The gospel has reached you. The same Jesus who died and rose still saves everyone who calls on Him — and the next event on God's calendar could happen at any moment.

    “behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” 2 Corinthians 6:2

    Read it: 2 Corinthians 6:2

Era 17 · The Future

Things to Come

The story isn't over. Here is what the Bible says happens next, as Ark Life understands it. Faithful Christians differ on some of the timing — none differ on the ending: Jesus wins.

See this era on the timeline

  1. At any moment

    The Rapture of the Church

    Jesus comes in the air for His Church. The dead in Christ rise first; living believers are changed in the twinkling of an eye and caught up to meet Him. No sign has to happen first — which is why believers are told to watch and be ready.

    “Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” 1 Thessalonians 4:17

    Read it: 1 Thessalonians 4:13–18 · 1 Corinthians 15

  2. In heaven

    The Judgment Seat & the Marriage of the Lamb

    In heaven, believers stand before Christ — not to be judged for sin, which the cross settled, but to be rewarded for faithful service. Then the Church, His bride, is joined to Him for ever.

    “Blessed are they which are called unto the marriage supper of the Lamb.” Revelation 19:9

    Read it: 2 Corinthians 5:10 · Revelation 19:7–9

  3. Seven years

    The Tribulation

    Daniel's seventieth week at last. A world ruler — the Antichrist — confirms a seven-year covenant with Israel. The seal, trumpet and bowl judgments fall on a Christ-rejecting world, while 144,000 Jewish witnesses and a multitude no one can number turn to Christ.

    “For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be.” Matthew 24:21

    Read it: Daniel 9:27 · Matthew 24 · Revelation 6–18

  4. The midpoint

    The Abomination of Desolation

    Halfway through, the Antichrist breaks his covenant, enters a rebuilt Temple in Jerusalem and demands to be worshipped as God. Jesus told those in Judea: when you see it, flee. The final three and a half years are the "great tribulation."

    “so that he as God sitteth in the temple of God, shewing himself that he is God.” 2 Thessalonians 2:4

    Read it: Daniel 9:27 · Matthew 24:15 · 2 Thessalonians 2

  5. The end of the seven years

    The Second Coming

    With the armies of the world gathered at Armageddon, heaven opens. Christ returns in glory with His saints, His feet stand on the Mount of Olives, and the rebellion ends with a word. Israel looks on the One they pierced, and is saved.

    “KING OF KINGS, AND LORD OF LORDS.” Revelation 19:16

    Read it: Revelation 19 · Zechariah 14

  6. 1,000 years

    The Millennial Kingdom

    Satan is bound and Jesus reigns from David's throne in Jerusalem for a thousand years. Every promise to Abraham and David is kept to the letter. The wolf lies down with the lamb, and the earth is full of the knowledge of the LORD.

    “and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.” Revelation 20:4

    Read it: Revelation 20 · Isaiah 11

  7. After the thousand years

    The Great White Throne

    Satan is released, leads one last revolt and is cast into the lake of fire for ever. Then the unbelieving dead of every age stand before God. It is the soberest scene in Scripture — and the reason the gospel is urgent.

    “And whosoever was not found written in the book of life was cast into the lake of fire.” Revelation 20:15

    Read it: Revelation 20:11–15

  8. For ever

    The New Heaven and New Earth

    God makes all things new. The New Jerusalem comes down, the river of life flows from the throne, the tree of life — last seen in Eden — is there, and God lives with His people. The story ends where it began, only better. And it never ends.

    “And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,” Revelation 21:4

    Read it: Revelation 21–22

A brass compass and pocket watch resting on aged paper

Stay informed. Stay encouraged.

Join the Ark Life Newsletter

Weekly studies, news, and encouragement—straight to your inbox.