Biblical History
From the Patriarchs to the Early
Church
2100
B.C. –
1800
B.C.
 This is a picture of
God
appearing
to
Abraham stating the
covenant.
In
the
picture, God points to
the stars indicating the
many
children
(as
many stars there are in
the sky) he will have.
Isaac was the only son of Abraham and
Sarah. God spoke to Isaac, and
reaffirmed that he would continue the
covenant he made with Abraham. Isaac
married Rebekah and had twins boys,
Esau and Jacob. Esau was born first but
Jacob was close behind. As a young
man, Esau traded his birthright (right to
the inheritance) to Jacob for some food.
At 137 years old, Issac became
completely blind, and blessed Jacob
instead of Esau through Jacob’s trickery.
Isaac dies not long after and was buried
with his father and mother.
God extends the Covenant he
made with Abraham and Issac to
Jacob. In this picture, Jacob is
dreaming of a stairway to heaven.
Here is a brief chart of the
relationship
between
Abraham,
Isaac, and Jacob. It is also a
generation chart of their family.
Jacob eventually fathered twelve
boys and two girls. The boys, in
turn, established tribes bearing their
own names.
Joseph
Joseph was Jacob’s favourite
son. His jealous brothers sold
him into slavery in Egypt. There
he prospered as a dream
interpreter and eventually
reunited with his family, who
joined him in Egypt. Over time,
the Hebrews grew in number.
Eventually, a pharoah who did
not know about Joseph made
the Hebrews into slaves. They
remained slaves for centuries.
Moses and the Exodus
1450 B.C.
God chose
Moses, a
Hebrew
fugitive, to free
the Hebrew
slaves from
Egypt.
Moses led them through the Sea of Reeds to the Promised Land.
On the way, God met
Moses on Mt. Sinai
and gave him 613
commandments.
God wrote ten of
them on two stone
tablets. The
commandments
are the core of the
Mosaic covenant.
Moses built an ark
(box) for the stone
tablets.
Ark of
Covenant
The Tabernacle of Moses
Jerusalem and the Temple
When they camped, the
Israelites put the ark in the
Tabernacle or tent. Priests
sacrificed
outside
Jerusalem is the center of Jewish culture
and religion
and it the
wastent.
the location of the only Temple in all of Israel. The first house that was
built for God was the Tabernacle of Moses which was a moveable tent.
1400-1000 B.C.
In this period, the twelve tribes lived without a
king but were united by their faith in God.
Sometimes they lacked faith so God would
punish them with invaders (usually
Philistines). Later on, they would repent and
then God would rescue them from the
invaders by raising up a judge (a warrior
judge) who would defeat the invaders.
Samson The Strong
Samson used his
God-given Strength to
saved the Israelites
and killed many
Philistines. By doing
so, he ended the
Philistine rule that had
lasted for 40 years.
Many Israelites
looked up to him
because he protect
them from enemies.
A Great Prophet
Samuel was chosen to
become a judge and
prophet of God at a
young age. He guided
the Israelites toward
God. Also, he resisted
the petition of the
people to have a king.
Samuel asked God if a
king was a good idea.
God said it would ruin
their way of life, but He
let them do it.
The United Kingdom
(1000-922 B.C.)
The first king was Saul, who started off
well but then was rejected by God. The
second king, David, was Israel’s greatest
King. The 12 tribes had become divided
by his time, but he reunited them.
Solomon was David’s son. He replaced
the tabernacle of Moses with a stone
Temple in the city of Jerusalem. The
Temple became the new home of the ark
of the covenant.
King David’s son King
King David’s son King Solomon thought that God deserved
a better
place
Solomon
thought
that God
to live in then in a tent. That said King Solomon decided
to build
a hugeplace for
deserved
a better
temple for God and the Ark of Covenant to live in. The
his temple
thronethat
thenhein a tent.
made was called the Temple of Solomon.
That said, King Solomon
decided to build a huge
temple for God and the
Ark of Covenant (his
throne) to live in. The
temple that he made was
called the Temple of
Solomon.
The Fall of the
Northern State
922 B.C. After the death of Solomon, the kingdom
divided into two states: Israel in the north and Judah in
the south. The northern king forced his people into
worshiping a golden calf in two nothern cities in order to
prevent his citizens from crossing border into Jerusalem
in Judah.God punished the notherners with Assyrian
invaders who exiled the survivors to Assyria. From this
point forward, the ten nothern tribes gradually ceased to
exist.
922-587 B.C.
Judah was also called
Southern Kingdom to
recognize it from the Northern
parts of Israel. First, “Judah
was not destroyed by the
Assyrians but it did become a
vassal state”. In other words
this means that it had the help
of Assyrians in the war and in
other services. In 640 BCE
Assyria slacked off and lost
the empire. The Babylonians
eventually took over.
Babylonian Exile
587/586 B.C.
The Judahites eventually broke all of God’s commandments. So God
allowed the Babylonians to destroy the city of Jerusalem and
Solomon’sTemple. The Babylonians also exiled the most valuable
members of Judahite society to Babylon. This was the worst tragedy
to come upon the Hebrews up until this time.
Introduction
•
•
•
•
•
Exile means that expulsion from ones native land
Also know as the Babylonian Captivity
Occurred 586 BC and 538 BC
Instigated by the Babylonians
The Babylonian Exile is the name of the deportation of
the Jews from the Ancient Kingdom of Judah
Israel is Restored!
CYRUS THE GREAT:
6th Century B.C.
King Cyrus of Persia
took over Jerusalem
after the fall of
Babylon. He looked
favourably on the
Jews and allowed
them to return to
Jerusalem from
Babylon so they
could rebuild the
Temple. Some stayed
in Babylon but many
went back to
Jerusalem. In this
image Cyrus
rededicates the
Temple in Jerusalem
The Bath House
Greek Rule 333 B.C.
Under Alexander the Great,
Israel is
conquered by the Greeks, and their Jewish culture is
threatened by Greek culture, called Hellenism
Hellenism
“Hellenism is the name for the
Greek Culture that came from
the word “Hellene” which
meant Greece.
• Hellenism started in the
Hellenistic Age. It is a spread
of ancient Greek culture and
civilization that was started in
the 4th century BC until the 1st
century BC. It had a huge
impact on Israel, Egypt, Persia
and Syria because Alexander
that Great went out on a
conquest to other parts like the
Mediterranean, Southwest
Asia and North Africa.
Hellenism also connects to
Macedonia because the first
Greeks appeared there.
Hellenism ended when the
Romans conquered Greece.
Maccabean Revolt 167 B.C.
• The Maccabean Revolt
happened when the Greeks
desecrated the Jewish Temple.
The new ruler decided to insult
the Jews and their God by
sacrificing a pig, an unclean
animal, on the altar of the
rebuilt Temple. The Jews, led
by Judas “Maccabeus” [The
Hammer], rebelled and
overthrew the Greeks. The
Maccabees controlled
Jerusalem for about one
century.
The Roman Period 63 B.C.
Palestine was then conquered (again) by
the Romans in 63 BCE, splitting Judaism
into several distinct groups.
Jesus was born
in 4-6 B.C. His
birth year was
miscalculated.
We know that
King Herod, who
tried to kill
Jesus, died in 4
B.C. If Jesus
was two years
old at that time
he would have
been born in 6
B.C. – two years
before Herod
tried to kill him.
A model of the Temple as it would have appeared in the time of
Jesus
Destruction of the
Temple in 70 A.D.
This was the final
destruction of the
temple. It has not
been rebuilt since
and many Jews
continue to await its
rebuilding.