Have you tried reading the Bible but get overwhelmed with the sheer volume of text and extensive periods of time it covers? Is it hard to see the cohesive storyline because you get bogged down with who’s who and what happened when? Do you struggle knowing what is most important to read to get a general understanding of the Bible?
This guide will give you an overview, and help you see the bigger story of God’s love for all people. It will show you how the Bible fits together, and how it can bring more meaning to your life.
Since becoming a Christian more than 30 years ago, I have spent thousands of hours studying the Bible, as well as periodically leading discussion groups.
But I first became acquainted with this holy book when I was an atheist.
Actually, I examined the Bible - looking for ways to stump Christians; because, as twisted as it may sound, I found entertainment in provoking them by dishing out impish challenges and laughing at believers. Thankfully, I didn’t get the last laugh…Jesus made His way into my heart and my life has been forever enhanced.
So it is with great pleasure that I lay out for you, in just a handful of pages, a synopsis of the Bible from start to finish.
In this article, we will briefly cover…
By the end of this article, you’ll have a clear picture of the story as a whole.
Envisioning the plot will strengthen Scripture’s impact in your life each time you read passages. Tucked into your Bible, this is an easy-to-use reference resource both for personal use and for
equipping you to help others understand God’s epic love story for all of humanity.
And, if you are undecided about or opposed to the Bible’s narrative, this article will give you an opportunity to dig a little deeper in your journey of self-discovery.
At the dawn of time, the God who is above and before time created the heavens and the earth, and all that is in it.
The first man (Adam) and the first woman (Eve) lived in harmony and pleasure in the garden of Eden. God invited them to partake of and enjoy all that He made…all, that is, but the fruit from just one tree: the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.
Tempted by God’s enemy (Satan) who said the fruit would make them be like Him, Adam and Eve took a bite. And the world has never been the same.
Satan’s promise of equality with God was a lie. What they got instead was what the tree’s name entailed: the knowledge of good and evil.
Before that one bite, all they saw and experienced was good. After the bite, evil entered humanity.
Evil multiplied over the course of 1,000+ years, destroying the lives of all who walked the earth.
Except Noah. He was the last of his generation to acknowledge the Lord.
God determined to begin anew so that all future generations would understand that evil destroys, but the Lord’s ways bring enjoyment and soul satisfaction.
Through Noah, God conveyed His plan to undercut evil - first by having Noah spend years in the presence of onlookers building a huge boat that stretched beyond a football field and stood several stories high. And then by sending rain to cover the earth and all who continued to choose evil over the Lord - who was offering a path out of their destructive ways.
Only Noah, his wife, their three sons, and three daughters-in-law entered into the barge of refuge - beginning a new covenant between them and God whereby God vowed never to destroy the earth by flood again; and He signed the promise with the creation of a rainbow.
And yet, in the new land evil continued to spread.
Eight generations later came the birth of Abram (later to be called Abraham). When Abram was 75 years old, God told him to leave his home country and follow Him to a new land. In this place (Canaan), God would make the descendants of Abram, the Hebrew, into a great nation who would be an example to the world of how their lives can change if they turn to God.
When Abraham was 100 years old and his wife Sarah was ninety, their promised son, Isaac, was born - beginning the formation of a nation of God’s chosen people.
Isaac went on to have twins with his wife Rebekah - Esau, the firstborn, and Jacob. Tricking his father, Jacob stole the inheritance meant for his older brother; and later, when he was about to be confronted by Esau, Jacob contended with God until he received a blessing: to have his life spared in the confrontation with his brother and for Esau to forgive him.
Because Jacob persisted in pursuing his desired blessing, God gave him the name “Israel,” meaning “wrestle with God” - leading to the established national name: “Israelites.”
Jacob had twelve sons (with four wives - yeah, that’s a topic for another day!) and each of these sons became a patriarch of the twelve tribes of Israel made up of their offspring and every generation to follow.
Ten of Jacob’s sons (all but Benjamin, the youngest) who were intensely jealous of and resentful toward Joseph - the son Jacob glaringly favored - conspired to get rid of Joseph. They sold him to dealers; and went home, telling their father that he was killed by a wild animal. The traders took Joseph to Egypt where he was purchased by one of Pharaoh’s top officials (Potiphar).
Joseph earned a reputation for being an honorable and reliable worker even when treated unfairly. He was also known as a trustworthy dream interpreter.
One morning, after Pharaoh dreamt about seven skinny cows eating seven plump cows and seven blighted ears of grain swallowing up seven healthy ears of grain, Pharaoh asked all the magicians and wise men in Egypt the meaning of his dreams.
When none could translate them, Pharaoh was advised that there was a young Hebrew with dream-interpretation powers in an Egyptian prison.
This Hebrew - Joseph - was immediately brought to Pharaoh to explain the dreams: Egypt would have seven bumper crop years followed by seven years of famine.
Joseph then advised Pharaoh to appoint land overseers who would take one-fifth of the crops grown during the seven productive years and store it for use during the famine.
Pharaoh agreed with Joseph’s advice and put him in charge of carrying out the wise plan.
When the famine hit, people came from near and far to buy grain from Egypt. Lo and behold, Jacob sent all but his youngest sons to buy grain - not knowing it would lead to a reunion with Joseph, the son he thought was dead.
After the family reconciled with one another, Joseph helped them move to Egypt so he could ensure their needs were being met throughout the famine.
The Hebrew families multiplied and fear arose among the Egyptian leaders as they imagined a war being waged against their country and being conquered by the Israelites. Rather than making the Hebrews leave, they were forcefully used as free labor (remaining slaves for the next four hundred thirty years).
Regardless of the Egyptians' ruthlessness, the Israelites still multiplied. In response, the Pharaoh mandated that all newborn Hebrew boys must be drowned in the Nile river.
Then came a couple from the tribe of Levi who hid their newborn - Moses - from the Egyptians.
After three months, he could no longer be hidden; so Moses’ mother tucked him into a sea-worthy basket and put it on the banks of the Nile. While bathing in the river, Pharaoh’s daughter saw the basket and sent a servant to bring it to her. Upon opening it and seeing the Hebrew baby, she had compassion and decided to raise him as her own.
At the age of forty, Moses felt drawn to go see his native people, where he witnessed an Egyptian beating a Hebrew. Seeing no onlookers, Moses killed the oppressor. The next day, he learned that the murder was known - even by Pharaoh, who set out to kill him for his traitorous act.
So Moses fled to a new land (Midian) where he married, started a family, and worked as a shepherd for forty years.
And he surely would have lived out his remaining years there had God not appeared to him in a burning bush giving him the monumental mission of convincing Pharaoh to free the Israelites, and then to lead his people out of Egypt.
Due to Pharaoh’s ongoing refusal to let the people go, God sent plagues, bringing great suffering to the Egyptians.
After the plagues did not cause Pharaoh to free the Israelites from slavery, the Lord instructed the Hebrews to take an unblemished lamb - each according to what their family would eat - and while preparing to cook the meat, to put some of the lamb’s blood on their door frame to mark their home as one in which God’s chosen people reside.
On the night the battle would be won by the Lord for His people, every household with the lamb’s blood on their doorpost would be saved because the Lord would pass over those homes. (This time in history is memorialized annually during the Jewish Passover Feast.)
In God’s mercy, He also gave Egyptians the opportunity to be saved by the lamb’s blood. They were given a choice to either stand with Pharaoh and continue beating and enslaving a whole nation of people or they could stand with God and the Hebrews who would be set free whatever the cost.
Before the sun rose on the morning after the firstborn were killed, with his country filled with ear-piercing guttural cries of grief, Pharaoh told Moses that he and the Israelites must leave Egypt.
God led His people into the wilderness away from the threat of war. He made His presence known to them in the form of a pillar: of cloud by day and of fire by night. He performed many miracles like splitting the sea so the Israelites could walk across dry land between two towering walls of water, bringing water from a rock to quench their thirst, and showering them with bread and meat from the sky to fill their stomachs.
In this protected place, God taught them how to live a long and fruitful life. He established rules for living. Beyond the most commonly known rules - the ten commandments - other laws were established in areas like diet, how to treat people and resolve conflict, sin offerings, circumcision, the role of priests, and the importance of rest and celebration through national holidays.
When it came time for the Israelites to enter the Promised Land (Canaan - which was now inhabited by non-Jews), the Lord directed them to begin by conquering the most fortified city (Jericho) - thereby showing the Canaanites that they were unstoppable.
Miraculously, the walls of Jericho, which were viewed as indestructible, crumbled when the Israelites followed God’s dubious battle plan: march around the city once for six consecutive days and then on the seventh day, march around seven times with seven priests each blowing a trumpet.
Finally, at the end of the seventh circle, when the priests blew a long blast, the Israelites were to shout.
After conquering Jericho, they went on to take over the remainder of Canaan. The Hebrews settled into their new home, and God continued to show them how to build a strong and healthy society.
But they never reached a full degree of success because pockets of Canaanites remained in the city limits, and the Israelites did not persist at driving them all out.
This was a threat to their way of life because the Canaanites had some significantly destructive practices including demonic idol worship, licentiousness, and child sacrifice.
Not all the Canannites were practicing such evils and so over time the Jews built relationships with some of those pagans - even intermarrying.
Subsequently, the Israelites took on some of the practices of their pagan neighbors - especially idolatry.
For the next 300+ years, the Israelites - despite ongoing warnings through God’s appointed judges and prophets - repeated a cycle of worshiping idols, living sinfully without remorse, lacking unity among the twelve tribes, falling victim to neighboring nations, and then crying out to God for help when they hit rock bottom.
God faithfully, mercifully, and lovingly rescued them every time - and then they’d start the destructive cycle again. [Watch this video for a pictorial explanation.]
Eventually, the Hebrews insisted on having a king like all the other neighboring countries, beginning with Saul - the strongest, best-looking man available. Due to Saul’s egocentricity, the country suffered under his rule. God chose David to replace Saul, and then David’s son Solomon succeeded David upon his death.
Under Solomon’s rule, the first temple was built. His reign started out magnificently as he asked God for wisdom; but over time, Solomon became oppressive toward the Israelites - taxing them heavily to fund his lavish lifestyle and using forced labor. When he died, his son Rehoboam succeeded him and demanded even more from the people.
In response, the people revolted resulting in the country splitting.
Rehoboam maintained control of the two most southern tribes (Judah and Benjamin); it was named the Kingdom of Judah.
Jeroboam (who started out as one of Solomon’s officials) became king of the ten northern tribes; it was named the Kingdom of Israel.
To help him maintain control over his region, Jeroboam set up a new place of worship since Jerusalem (the location of God’s temple) was in the southern kingdom; however, the altar was for idol worship rather than a place to worship the Lord.
Over the next 130 years, the Kingdom of Israel (north) had about a dozen kings, most of whom were evil, before they fell captive to the barbaric Assyrians.
The Kingdom of Judah (south), continued for an additional 136 years under more than a dozen kings, most of whom were also evil, until they fell to King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylonia who took everyone captive except the poorest people. Nebuchadnezzar also tore down the wall around Jerusalem and burned down the Lord’s temple after looting it.
Throughout these two centuries, many prophets proclaimed God’s message to repent and return to Him, and He would gather them back together and restore them as a nation.
About 50 years after King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed the temple of God, King Cyrus of Persia overtook Babylon; and within a year, he released 40,000+ Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple.
From the time construction began, pagans living nearby vigorously opposed the project. The adversaries convinced the reigning king to decree that the work cease. Thirteen years later, the Jews were permitted by a new king (Darius) to resume the work and it was eventually completed.
Several decades later, Ezra, a scribe and teacher of God’s Word, led a second group of exiles to Jerusalem to help take the next step of restoring Jerusalem: worshiping and following God rather than the customs of their neighboring idol worshipers.
Upon hearing - 13 years later - that Jerusalem was unprotected because the city walls were still in shambles, Nehemiah - a Jew who worked as the Persian king’s (Artaxerxes) most trusted servant (cupbearer) - led a third group of exiles to Jerusalem to get the walls firmly in place.
Amazingly, while the first two groups took more than 80 years to accomplish what they had by this point, Nehemiah was able to lead all the people in completing the city wall in just 52 days!
While Nehemiah worked on the external elements required to build a nation, Ezra continued to work on the foundation internally - the hearts and minds of the people.
The Jews lived as a nationally united people for about 400 years. By this time they were called Judeans, which is a name modified from the original tribal name: Judah. In 63 BC, Judea lost its independence to the Roman Empire, which largely allowed the Jews to rule themselves but heavily taxed them.
Throughout ancient history, prophets delivered the message to the Jews that God would send them a Messiah who would deliver them and rule righteously. The common understanding was that this Lord would be a political ruler who would work within the structure of a worldly society. After centuries of persecution, they ached for relief.
So when a Hebrew named John the Baptist began preaching that the promised Messiah would be revealed shortly and that everyone should repent their sinful ways and turn their hearts fully to the Lord, the people got excited.
Could it really be true that deliverance was finally arriving?!
But things didn't go as they imagined.
When they discovered that the long-awaited Savior was Jesus of Nazareth (a small poor town), born to a woman (Mary) who said she was impregnated by the Holy Spirit instead of her husband, the people had doubts.
Their doubts grew as they watched Jesus take on just twelve men - some of whom were of questionable character or qualifications - to carry out His mission. And when they listened to his speeches and no military strategies were shared, their doubts grew even more.
Who was this man?!
This man performed many miracles, like turning water into wine, feeding thousands of people by multiplying a pittance of food, healing physical and mental conditions, and even bringing people back to life.
He claimed to have authority to forgive sins and He professed to be God!
With this, awe, curiosity, and turmoil arose. Some people believed and followed Jesus, some remained onlookers, and some (especially religious leaders and merchants selling pagan idols) sought to destroy Him because Jesus’ message threatened their way of life.
The Kingdom Jesus spoke of was not worldly; it was other-worldly…Heavenly…The Kingdom of God. He explained that He is in fact the Lord of all lords ever there was and ever will be.
Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God is open to all people who believe.
Seeing that Jesus’ following was quickly expanding, the religious leaders set out to stop Him, whatever the cost. Using the law, of which they knew every intricate detail, they persisted in trying to catch Jesus breaking the law.
He was accused of working on the Sabbath when - while walking through a field - he picked a handful of grain off a stalk and ate it. They also condemned Him for healing on the Sabbath.
Jesus fulfilled the law but also discredited the religious extensions to the law, many of which were used to control the people for the purposes of the religious leaders. He taught that righteousness is not about legalism, but about loving God and loving people.
Throughout Jesus’ three-year ministry, He spoke about what was to come: He would be betrayed, crucified, and risen from the dead. Many times, the twelve disciples felt like He was speaking as if in code. There was much they didn’t understand.
But what they did understand, and grew in understanding more fully, is that Jesus is the Son of God who rules with all authority, love, and wisdom.
As time went on, conflict between Jesus and the religious leaders heightened.
The religious leaders bribed one of Jesus’ disciples (Judas Iscariot) to betray Him, giving them what they needed to have Him prosecuted. At the appointed time, Judas was directed to lead them - along with some Roman soldiers - to forcefully hand Jesus over to the governor (Pilate) who had the authority to deliver a death sentence. And despite his reservations, Pilate relented to the angry crowd by crucifying a man he viewed as innocent.
Jesus was nailed to a cross between two criminals also being executed. At noon, the sky turned dark as night and remained that way for the next three hours as His life was waning.
Just before He died, Jesus cried out “It is finished”, marking His accomplishment of all that He came to do: to take on and pay the penalty (death) for the sins of all people; and then rise again in three days - thereby conquering sin and death for everyone who believes that through Jesus they can be forgiven, reunited with God, and live eternally in His presence.
After Jesus rose from the dead, He remained for 40 days, appearing to and interacting with 500+ people; and then He ascended to heaven - telling believers to make disciples throughout the world, and assuring them that He would send them a Helper (the Holy Spirit) for encouragement and to carry out the mission.
The original twelve disciples along with many other believers became a community and faithfully worked together to share the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ. The church grew very quickly, spreading throughout the region and beyond.
A few years later, Paul, who was a prominent Jewish religious leader teaching the people to abide by Jewish traditions and legalistic rules, converted to Christianity.
This was difficult for some to accept at first because many disciples and early church leaders were persecuted (and some were killed) under the direction of Paul.
But Paul showed himself faithful time and time again as we read in the many God-inspired letters he wrote to early churches throughout the region - teaching them how to love and live like Christ.
The Bible ends with prophecies for what is to come - ultimately that Jesus will return and restore the Kingdom of God on earth, separating believers and unbelievers.
It will be a time of reckoning for unbelievers as they are banished from God’s Kingdom and they will see what life looks like without the Lord. And believers will live eternally in God’s presence, praising Him and enjoying all the gifts He bestows on His people.
After reading this synopsis, having the plot laid out resolves some unanswered questions. You now have a clearer picture of the order of events and their significance.
Going forward, seeing the scope of the storyline will magnify the impact Scripture reading can have in your life, and equips you to share the message with unbelievers.
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