by David Tavender
The Lord Jesus Christ walked the earth for about 33 years. The Gospel records each dedicate a relatively large percentage of their accounts describing the details of the Lord’s final few days before His crucifixion.
Berean Bible Fellowship of Australia
by David Tavender
The Lord Jesus Christ walked the earth for about 33 years. The Gospel records each dedicate a relatively large percentage of their accounts describing the details of the Lord’s final few days before His crucifixion.
by David Tavender
This PDF chart sets out some of the main events described in the book of Acts, and shows how the NT epistles fit into that timeline.
The Tanakh (The Order of the Hebrew Scriptures) – Chart
by David Tavender
The Tanakh is another name for the Hebrew Scriptures, often referred to by Christians as “The Old Testament”. Originally this set of books was not set out in the order that they now appear in most English Bibles. This chart shows the original order of these books and explains how the title “Tanakh” is derived.
Click on this image, or on the link below, to view this chart.
Ruth’s Family Tree – Chart
by David Tavender
This chart shows Ruth’s immediate family, and her greatest descendant, the Lord Jesus Christ.
Click on the image, or on the link below, to view this chart.
OT Prophets Main Messages – Chart
by David Tavender
Click on the image or the link to enlarge this chart. Additional explanatory notes are below.
Chart – OT Prophets Main Messages
About this chart:
In terms of chronology, the 17 prophecy books of the OT may be categorized into “Pre-exile”, “Exile” and “Post-exile”. The “exile” being referred to is that of Judah, around 586 B.C. (give or take 20 years), when most of that nation’s people were removed from their land by Nebuchadnezzar and taken to Babylon.
The messages contained within the OT Prophecy books themselves reflect the conditions in force at the time of writing, depending on which of these three periods is the setting for the prophet delivering his message. Before the exile, there were repeated warnings about a coming judgement. During the exile, there is contemplation about the disaster which had befallen the people, and the fact that the Jews no longer had a homeland. After the exile, Jews were allowed to return to their homeland, and matters such as the rebuilding of the temple and other issues are spoken of.
In the same way that your region’s newspaper today reflects the times, events and conditions in force where you live, the OT prophetic books do the same by reflecting the times, events and conditions in which they were written. All too often, Christians today either ignore or forget the broad context, and these prophecies are applied ad hoc to the church, resulting in all sorts of baseless predictions being published or proclaimed from the pulpit – none of which ever come to pass, because they generally weren’t meant to be directly about Christians today. This is not to say that we can’t learn great truths and see applications for our lives here and now, but we should be aware that, in most cases, there were specific situations in Judah’s history being addressed by the OT prophets.
It is well worth the effort to check the status of these prophecies before attempting to draw too many conclusions about their interpretation. A couple of starting suggestions are:
Interpreting the writings of these prophets is not always easy, but there is some rhyme and reason to it all. You will find that addressing those two questions alone settles many interpretation issues with the prophetic books of the OT.
OT Prophecy Books – Chart
by David Tavender
The 17 prophecy books of the Old Testament are often divided into “major” and “minor” categories. In this chart, the prophecy books are set out in the order they appear in most English Bibles, alongside a general chronological table.
OT History, Poetry & Prophecy Books – Chart
by David Tavender
One way of viewing the Old Testament books is to divide them into three sections:
This chart shows those three sections, the books belonging to each section, and some of the events covered by those books.
Click on this image, or on the link below, to view this chart.
Chart – OT History Poetry Prophecy
Land Promises to Abraham – Chart
by David Tavender
The promises which God gave to Abraham concerning a land were not all the same. This chart highlights those differences.
Click on the image, or on the link below, to view this chart.
Chart – Land Promises to Abraham
Ezra – Nehemiah – Esther – Timeline Chart
by David Tavender
The chronology of the post-exile period as described in the Old Testament books of Ezra, Nehemiah and Esther has often been debated. The chart we have presented here depicts just one possible scenario of many which have been proposed over the years. It is conceded that some chronologies depicting the post-exile events in a different order are also worthy of the Bible student’s consideration.
Click on this image, or the link below, to view the chart
Chart – Ezra Nehemiah Esther – Timeline
Click here to enlarge the Major Sections of the Bible Chart
The Bible is a collection of 66 books, all of which fit into one of the sections below. In essence, Both the Old and New Testaments contain several “history” books which tell the story of God’s unfolding plan. The other writings – poetry, prophecy, and the letters – fit into various stages of the history, and should be read bearing in mind at what stage in the history they were written.
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Old Testament
History: The historical books of the Old Testament describe many events. Some of these include: the creation, man’s original sin, the choosing of Abram from among the scattered human race, and the history of his descendants, Israel. 17 books – Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Joshua, Judges, Ruth, 1 & 2 Samuel, 1 & 2 Kings, 1 & 2 Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther.
Poetry: The poetic books of the Old Testament are comprised largely of speeches, songs or sayings, and were written during the times covered by the historical books. 5 books – Job, Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon.
Prophecy: The prophetic books of the Old Testament were written mainly during the time of the kings of Israel – covered by the historical books of 1 & 2 Kings and 2 Chronicles. 17 books – Isaiah, Jeremiah, Lamentations, Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi.
New Testament
History: The historical books of the New Testament cover the life, death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ; with the exception of Acts, which details the acts of the apostles after this time. 5 books – Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts.
Acts Period Letters: These letters were written during the period covered by the book of Acts. they were written to believers who were living during the time that Israel was still the dominant nation in God’s plans for mankind. 15 books – Romans, 1 & 2 Corinthians, Galatians, 1 & 2 Thessalonians, Hebrews, James, 1 & 2 Peter, 1, 2 & 3 John, Jude, Revelation.
Post Acts Period Letters: These letters were written after the period covered by the book of Acts. They were written to believers who were living after Israel ceased to be a dominant nation in God’s plans for mankind. 7 books – Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1 & 2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon.