We are going to study the Bible in the order the events took place. This is called a Chronological Study.

The Creation Stage [The BEGINNINGS stage] [1] starts the story of the Bible with the beginning of the universe at the Creation, the beginning of sin at the Fall, the beginning of the new world at the Flood, and the beginning of the nations at the Tower of Babel. At the Tower of Babel, God divides the people into nations by languages.

At this point, the Bible story focuses on the nation of Israel and it's forefathers or four fathers. Another name for father is patriarch, so we call this The Patriarchal Stage [The FOUR FATHERS stage]  [2]. This stage begins when God calls Abraham to become the father of the Hebrew nation and promises him a son, Isaac, whose line will bring a Savior. Then we learn about Isaac's son, Jacob, whose name was changed to Israel. Jacob had twelve sons, one of whom was Joseph. Joseph's brothers sold him as a slave into Egypt.

Joseph eventually brought all of the Israelites into Egypt and the next stage explains how they are going to get out or exit. We call this stage, The Exodus Stage [The EXIT US stage]  [3]. God uses the Ten Plagues to get the Israelites out of Egypt and the Ten Commandments to get Egypt out of the Israelites. Moses is called by God to lead them to the Promised Land.

When Moses died, God called Joshua to help the Israelites defeat the people in the city of Jericho and enter the Promised Land. They were commanded to conquer the residents and take possession of the land. This is called The Conquest Stage  [4] .

After Joshua, no one led the nation of Israel and they sinned by doing what they considered right in their own eyes. [Dueteronomy 12:8][Judges 17:6]. The Israelites had not fully obeyed God when they went into the Promised Land because they left some of the evil nations in the land and later God allowed these sinful people to oppress them. But God also raised up judges to deliver the Israelites from these evil nations each time they repented. The Israelites continued this cycle of sin, oppression, repentance and deliverance throughout The Judges Stage  [5] .

Samuel, the last judge, was also a prophet and a priest. The people wanted a king to be responsible for them so God allowed Samuel to anoint a king. This man was tall and his name was Saul. He began to rule over all of Israel. But Saul disobeyed God's commandment so God chose a shepherd boy named David to take his place. David's wise son, Solomon, became the third and final king of The United Kingdom Stage  [6] .

Solomon's son was not as wise and because of him, the nation was divided by a civil war. During The Divided Kingdom Stage  [7] , the kings and the people fell deeper into sin. The Northern kingdom continued to be called Israel but the Southern kingdom was now called Judah. The prophets during this time continued to tell of the Messiah who would come and warned the people that they would be judged by being taken as prisoners into foreign lands. The people did not repent and they were taken as prisoners or captives into Assyria and Babylon.

During The Captivity Stage  [8] , God raised up many prophets, including Daniel who was thrown into a lion’s den, the Hebrew children (Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego) who were thrown into a fiery furnace and Ezekiel who told of visions of wheels and dry bones.

After seventy years in exile, the people returned to God and He allowed them to return to their homeland. They rebuilt their land, the walls of Jerusalem and the temple. During The Return Stage  [9] , they restored the people with revivals under men like Ezra, Zechariah and Malachi.

Following the years of restoration, there was a 400-year silence from Heaven. The Gospel Stage  [10] began when that silence was broken with good news of the coming of Christ, the Savior who would live a sinless life, suffer and die to pay the penalty for the sins of all men so that He could offer each believer eternal life. The word gospel means "good news."

Jesus came as Christ, the Annointed, and after he rose from the dead, he sent his disciples into the world to start the church. The Early Church Stage  [11] is described in Acts.

Jesus appointed the men who would become Apostles. These men, including Peter, James, John and Paul, spread the gospel of Christ to Jews and Gentiles. They were persecuted and imprisoned many times, forcing them to communicate with the new first century church through letters. Another word for letters is "epistles." During The Epistles Stage  [12] , these letters were widely circulated throughout the known world. Later they were gathered and published at the end of the Bible as New Testament books.

-Julia Lee Sharplin Ashley (written May 17, 2006)