Using the Bible Timeline with
World History: Five Tips to Power Up Your Bible Study or Teaching
Your
study and teaching have more meaning when you see how it all
fits
into God's plan for man on earth. That's
where teaching principles along with a Bible timeline adds
power and excitement to your teaching. A Biblical
timeline chart with World history is even more useful. You
see
His hand directing all of the world events and the Bible set against
that background. Let's start with first things
first.
Here are the five tips. Study or teach
1. The Biblical Principles
2.
The Order
3.
The Overlap
4.
The World
5. The Why
The Principles:
Most of us
know the stories included in the Bible are there to teach us
principles. Unfortunately we often just
grab a story when we need to teach or learn a principle and just go for
it. But that leaves a lot of
questions. When did Ruth live compared to Esther?
Or how about Daniel and Solomon? Who was first? Some of us
don't know, even after years of Bible study classes. When we
know the
order of events in God's overarching plan the principles gain greater
meaning.
The Order. The order and the timing of people
and events.
Most people have no idea how much time passed between Adam and Noah or
between Noah and Abraham. Using a timeline makes it
visual. You can literally see
the passage of time; long, short or in
between. The long, slow building of a strong foundation for 2500 years
from Adam to Moses, a short 500 years from Moses to Solomon as the
Israelites are prepared and taught and then 1000 years of ripening
before Christ at last comes. Now the 2000 years of the
Christian
doctrine being spread through out the world from that small center in
Israel is seen in a much larger
context of God's overall plan and timing.
The overlap.
What can we get from that? When we see mapped out in front of
us
that Enos, Adam's grandson lived until Noah was in his 90's and that
Noah lived until after Abraham was born (and Noah's son Shem was still
alive in Isaac's youth) - that's a wow moment. Do you suppose
that Abraham and Isaac heard about the flood from people who actually
lived through it? And about the garden from a person who knew
a
person who knew Adam? Talk about your six degrees of
separation!
Other world events.
Most of us have bits of history floating around in some kind of hazy
mess; like looking at an out of focus picture. Some parts are
less
blurry
but the picture as a whole doesn't make sense.
Using a Bible timeline
with World history on it as well brings it all into sharp focus.
We see
the whole not just random bits.
When we
discover that Daniel and Confucius lived at the same time, or that the
Greek poet Homer and Solomon lived in the same century, we begin to
connect all those bits of history into a solid map in our
minds. These aren't isolated events happening "somewhere in
time." History is a series of connected events all under
God's direction.
Why. We see God's
hand dealing with
all of His children, the descendants of Noah, scattered
across the globe to bring
about the saving of the
human family through Jesus Christ.
That's your why. We see His hand
orchestrating major events
to bring about prophetic promises of blessing or
cursing. Especially now during the
wrapping
up years as the entire
world is in contact and relationship with each other. Now we
see His hand played out on a world stage, all of that history coming
together into one grand finale. A Bible World History
Timeline gives us that whole world view of God's plan.
There are
your five steps.
1. Teach or study your principle.
2. Orient the story in time. Place it in order on
the timeline.
3. View the overlap and what that tells us.
4. Consider other events going on in the world at the same
time.
5. Why. See it all as part of the God's great plan
for man.
Now that's powerful study and teaching.
Order
the Timeline with
free interactive maps of the Holy Land
Learn more about the Amazing Bible
World History Timeline.
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