Learn Basic Bible Timeline
The Life of Abraham

Simplified Bible Timeline

Because the first chapter of Genesis goes right back to "the beginning" of recorded history, people sometimes get the erroneous impression that the Bible attempts to offer "the history of the Earth". If that were so, it fails miserably! In the chapters of Genesis, whole periods of hundreds of years are passed over in a few sentences--and at times, totally ignored. And yet later in the same book, whole chapters are devoted to the events of just one day. Some Old Testament individuals are mentioned only once, and even then, only in passing. Yet others are named over and over again--not only in the Old Testament, but numerous times in the New Testament also.

This is because the Bible isn't intended to be a comprehensive history of the existence of Mankind on the earth. It is rather in particular a chronicle of the relationship of one man's family with the Creator of the Universe. And it is the record of that Creator's intention to bless all of Mankind through the descendants of that man. People are introduced in the early chapters of Genesis not primarily for the details of their own history, but as preludes to the history of the family of that one man--his ancestors, and the ancestors of those who would inter-react some day with his descendants.

That one man is Abraham. The early chapters in Genesis establish his lineage from Adam. After Abraham himself is introduced, the later chapters in Genesis follow his children, his grandchildren, and their descendants for a period of about 500 years, leading up to the time of Moses.

The nation of Israel, which is the main focus of the rest of the Old Testament, is made up of direct descendants of Abraham through his grandson Jacob (whose name was changed by God later in his life to the name "Israel"). Many blessings and promises were made to the people of that nation, not because of their own standing before God, but because they inherited a promise that God made to their forefather Abraham. Later, the "Jews" are introduced, who are the descendants of Judah, one of the sons of Israel. Jesus Himself was born a Jew, and thus was a descendant of Abraham.

But what of those who are not one of the physical descendants of Abraham? Why should they care about his story and the story of his family? In the New Testament, we are told

"If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham's seed [descendants], and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:29)

This applies to those who are not descended by blood from Abraham, but are rather "spiritual" descendants because they believe in Christ.

Thus the story of Abraham is relevant to Christians and Jews alike.

And thus we start the main section of our time-line of Biblical history with the life of Abraham, who lived in approximately 2000 B.C. That is, about 2,000 years before the time of Christ.

Before the time of Abraham, the scriptures are somewhat vague on when certain events happened. Although there is some dispute among scholars, Halley's Bible Handbook gives an approximate date for the creation of Adam of about 4,000 B.C. The Flood of Noah's time may have happened about 1,500 years later, in about 2500 B.C. Thus, the time of Abraham is approximately 500 years after the Flood.

Once you have committed to memory that Abraham's lifetime centers generally around the time period of 2000 B.C., you can pinpoint the general time-frame of a number of Biblical events and characters. Abraham's son by his wife Sarah was Isaac. Isaac's son by his wife Rebekah was Jacob. You can read about the lives of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in chapters 11 through 50 of Genesis. Thus any Bible stories which include these characters can be positioned shortly after 2000 B.C., long before Moses--who is the next person we will be discussing on our time-line, and who lived around the time of 1500 B.C.