Simplified Bible Timeline

In our last time-line study, we pinpointed the life of Abraham, who lived in general around the period of 2000 BC, that is, 2,000 years before the time of Jesus. The stories in the Bible of him and his descendants for the next 500 years are covered in chapters 11 through 50 of the book of Genesis and chapter one of Exodus.

Although Abraham's life story starts with him living in a place called "Ur of the Chaldees" (which was located in what is now modern Iraq), he moves early in chapter 12 to the land called "Canaan" which is now modern Israel. And most of the "action" in chapters 12 through 38 of Genesis occur in that land.

In a quick synopsis of key events in these chapters: Abraham becomes the father of Isaac, Isaac the father of Jacob. Jacob's name is changed to "Israel". Israel becomes the father of twelve sons. One of those sons, Joseph, becomes an irritant to his brothers, and they schemed to get rid of him, selling him as a slave to merchants who take him to Egypt.

At that point, in Genesis 39, the scene shifts to Egypt, and we learn of Joseph's adventures there. You may read these famous Bible stories in Genesis 39-50. Joseph eventually wins favor with the Pharaoh of the land, and becomes a powerful ruler in his own right. By the end of the book of Genesis, the whole "extended family" of Israel is reunited in Egypt.

The book of Exodus opens with a continuation of the story of that family's sojourn there. But unlike the many details of Genesis 39-50, which covered a time span of only a few years, the first chapter of Exodus covers a period of 430 years. For the point of the story is to get quickly from the fact that Israel's family moved to Egypt when Joseph was in high favor with the government there--to the fact that, after his death, the numerous descendants of the sons of Israel eventually become a "nation" of slaves to the native Egyptians.

All of this brings us, in Exodus chapter 2, to the birth of the next person on our timeline--Moses.

Once again we note that there are no "exact" dates which may be historically determined for either the birth or death of Moses. But most conservative Bible scholars conclude that he lived around the period of 1500 BC.

If you have, as suggested in our previous timeline studies, committed to memory the date of 2000 BC for Abraham, you will find it very helpful now to add the date of 1500 BC for Moses. From now on, when you come across any Bible story which clearly takes place before the time of Moses, but after the birth of Abraham, you will be able to clarify the relative position in Bible history for such a story.

Such stories will include anything having to do with the sons of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob/Israel. Even if you have not thought about this time connection before, you have likely heard a number of these stories, perhaps in childhood "Sunday School" classes. One example would be the famous scene where Abraham is stopped at the last moment by God as he prepares to sacrifice his son Isaac. Another would be the story of "Joseph and the Coat of Many Colors". And still another is the famous story of the destruction of the evil cities of Sodom and Gomorrah, where Abraham's nephew Lot lived.

All of those events happened between the two points on our time-line above labeled "Abraham" and "Moses". In our next installment we will start with one of the most well-known Bible stories, that of the Exodus of the time of Moses, and work our way forward on the time-line to our next key Bible time-line figure, David.