The Story of the Bible

1 Kings 1-2:10; 1 Chronicles 28-29 King David passes the kingdom to his chosen son Solomon.

2 Samuel 21-24; 1 Chronicles 20:4-27:34 David deals with a famine in the land, fights Philistine giants, causes a plague because of a sinful census, and prepares the transition to his son Solomon.

2 Samuel 17:24-20 David gathers an army to face his son. Absalom's hair proves his undoing and David is restored to his capital. Yet another rebellion breaks out and is put down. Joab protects his position as commander.

Job The Story of the Bible sets some historical context for the book of Exodus and tells the story of a good man who had terrible things happen to him.

Genesis 45:16-50:26 Jacob joins his son Joseph in Egypt. Joseph centralizes the power and wealth of Egypt in the person of the Pharaoh. Israel settles in Egypt for a 400 year hiatus from their homeland.

Genesis 42-45:25 A famine devastates the land and Joseph's brothers come and bow before their dreamer of a brother. Joseph tests his brothers.

Genesis 41 The Pharaoh has a strange series of dreams and Joseph is pulled from the prison and placed at the pinnacle of power.

Genesis 39-40 Joseph rises up, first in Potiphar's household, then in the prison, but keeps facing suffering he does not deserve. The first truly moral of the patriarchs learns obedience through suffering.

Genesis 37-38 Joseph is sold into slavery, Judah behaves badly.

Genesis 32-36 Jacob gets into the world's strangest wrestling match, gets a blessing, a limp, and a new name. He meets his brother again, then ends up in Shechem. His family again faces tragedy and vengeance, and finally he returns to Bethel. Isaac, Rebekah's nurse, Rachel, and the entirety of Shechem all die.

Genesis 30:25-31:55 Jacob takes his family and his animals and flees toward home. Laban overtakes him, but he cannot make his wayward son-in-law return home.

Genesis 28-30:24 Jacob flees from his brother's wrath and ends up in his uncle's home. He has 20 years of work, earns two wives, has 11 sons and a daughter, and gets to feel what it's like to get cheated. The promise of God is affirmed to this grasper and cheater at the start of his journey in a place he will call the House of God.

Genesis 25:19-27 Isaac lives in the promised land. He has two sons, has some interactions with local kings, and sees the effect of favoritism on his family.

Genesis 23-25:18 The son of the promise needs a wife, so the first of two trips back to Haran takes place. Abraham and Sarah both die and God affirms the covenant with Isaac.

Genesis 19-22 Sodom and Gomorrah are judged in a cataclysm, only Lot and his daughters escape. Finally a son is born to Abraham at the age of 100. The supreme act of faith in Abraham's life serves as a foretelling of a future redemption.

Genesis 15-18 Abram wanders. Again and again God meets with him, clarifies and expands the Covenant, and gives both Abram and Sarai new names in keeping with their new purposes. A son is born, but not the right one.

Genesis 12-14 God reaches into history and chooses one man, a childless 75 year old descendant of Shem, and tells him to go to a new land. A son and a blessing are promised.

Genesis 10-11 Mankind multiplies and spreads throughout the earth. They build a tower to make a name for themselves, but God confuses their speech. Languages now divide humanity. The nations plant themselves.

Genesis 6-9 The most gruesome and horrifying story the grace the walls of a nursery, God decides to judge humanity by killing everything that walks on the earth. Only Noah and a selection of animals escape the deluge. Even then, sin escapes the flood with the eight people on the Ark.

Genesis 4-5 Early Man suffers the consequences of sin. Incredibly long lives are filled with suffering and sin, waiting and crying out for rest and redemption.

Genesis 3 Do Man and Woman keep the perfect garden they live in? Well, not for long. A talking serpent, a bit of fruit, and the world will never be the same.

Genesis 1-2 God creates everything with His Word. In His crowning achievement He creates man and woman, people with His own image who can be in relationship with Him. All is very good. For now.

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2 Samuel 15-17:23 David's own son plots a rebellion against the king and seizes the throne. David flees into the wilderness, cursed and mourned. The fleeing king is far from done and the seeds of the fall of Absalom are already planted.

2 Samuel 13-14 David's family fall apart. One son rapes his sister, another son murders the rapist, and David seems entirely unable to bring himself to punish anyone. The consequences of sin are severe.

2 Samuel 11-12; 1 Chronicles 20 David, at the height of his reign as king, falls into sin. He commits adultery and murder and has his sin exposed by the prophet Nathan.

2 Samuel 8-10; 1 Chronicles 18-19 King David destroys his enemies and fulfills his promise to Jonathon. The reign of David is at a high point as he extends his control over all the enemies that surround him.

2 Samuel 5-8, 1 Chronicles 11:4-9; 12-17 David finally rules from his throne, first in Hebron, then in Jerusalem. The City of David becomes the City of David, the ark comes to its home, and David is given a covenant that will bear his name and echo throughout history.

1 Chronicles 11, 2 Samuel 2-4 With the death of Saul, David makes a claim to the throne. Ishbosheth and Abner stand in the way for a while. For two years, Civil War rages between the houses of David and Saul. Way too many people get stabbed in the stomach. Way too many. Seriously.

1 Samuel 29-2 Samuel 1; 1 Chronicles 10 The saga of David and Saul comes to an end. David gets out of a fight he wants no part of, then has to rescue his family from raiders. Saul falls in battle, joining Samuel in death just as was promised. After 40 years, Israel's first king is dead.

1 Samuel 26-28 Once more David confronts Saul with a chance to kill him, but he doesn't take it. David flees to Gath, offering his services to a pagan king. Saul, facing a Philistine army, consults an old friend through the services of a medium. God's plan to place David on the throne follows a rather strange path, but the end is in sight for Saul.

1 Samuel 23-25- David takes his men and flees from place to place in the wilderness, narrowly avoiding the murderous intent of Saul. Along the way David takes two new wives, one as a result of an insult from a fool.

1 Samuel 21-22; 2 Samuel 23:8-17 David has had enough of spears and assassins and makes his break with King Saul. He makes his way to the priests at the Tabernacle, with terrible consequences, and then to Gath, then to a cave and a wood. He is a man on the run and Saul is deadly in pursuit.

1 Samuel 18:10-20:42 The victorious David goes from success to success in Israel, but a violently jealous king plots his downfall.

1 Samuel 16:14-18:9 The young shepherd, anointed in secret, becomes a court musician and then a champion. David makes his name in a combat that is a very emblem of a plucky underdog taking on a much bigger opponent and the most famous champion of the Philistines ever falls to a youth with a rock.

1 Samuel 15-16:13 King Saul fails in an important mission and the kingdom is not just taken from his line, but now from him in particular. Samuel goes out to anoint a new king, this one found herding sheep in the field. The greatest king in Israel's history makes his entrance onto the stage.

King Saul moves to the front, Samuel to the background. Saul wins a great victory against the Philistines, but displays some of the character flaws that will lead to his ultimate downfall. His son Jonathon shows incredible bravery and faith.

Israel finally gets a king, a tall and reluctant son of Kish from the tribe of Benjamin. Will this be the king they have wanted? Can he be a source of salvation for the people of Israel?

What happens next with the story of the Bible? Well, a summer break and change of frequency are in the future, along with updates to past episodes. That, along with a shameless plug for Mike Brakken's book, learn what's coming with the podcast!

1 Samuel 7:2-8 Samuel takes on the role of judge at Mizpah as all Israel repents. His time as a judge is briefly covered and, as his sons aren't up to the task of ruling, Israel asks for a king. The era of the judges in the promised land ends.

1 Samuel 3-7:1 The young man Samuel hears a voice in the night and hears a horrifying prophecy. Eli dies is ignominy, the ark is captured by the Philistines and then returned to Israel.

1 Samuel 1-2 The penultimate judge of Israel isn't doing a good job at keeping his own house in order and a childless wife of a Levite man is desperate for a son. One house is blessed, another cursed, and one of the men on whom the history of God's people hinge is born.

Ruth 1-4 A side story in the era of the judges. A young woman from Moab accompanies her bereft mother-in-law home to Bethlehem, catches the eye of a wealthy landowner, and enters the story of a coming King.

Judges 15:7-16:31 The Bible's strongest man rises to power, slaughters his enemies, performs feats of astounding strength, and falls prey to a nagging woman.

Judges 13:1-15:6 The most petulant of the judges, but he has great hair. Samson is born with the prophecy of an angel and tries to get a Philistine wife. The most famous riddle in the Bible and Samson starts a notorious career picking on Philistines. To be fair, they started it.

Judges 10-12 A few obscure judges lead Israel, but it doesn't seem to make any difference. Jephthah makes a foolish vow to get a chance at a victory over the Ammonites that he will regret and we find out where the term "Shibboleth" as a mark of belonging comes from.

Judges 8:30-9 Gideon lives forty years more as a judge, but sets Israel up for failure. His ephod will lead them into idolatry. The son of his concubine will take a bloody path to a throne, only to lead to his downfall and the downfall of a city. Yet another woman proves deadly in the stories of the Judges.

Judges 6-8:22 The most scared of the Judges, Gideon, takes a tiny force chosen by God and saves the people from the threat of Midian. Angels, a fleece as a test, whipping elders with thorns, and destroying pagan altars, life in the times of the Judges is never dull.

Judges 19-21: A Levite from Shiloh pursues his wayward concubine and is subject to one of the worst outrages in Israel's history. The story that most clearly explains why God continued to punish Israel with oppressors.

Judges 17-18 Micah installs a Levite with an impressive pedigree as his household priest, but the tribe of Dan wants their own priest. We found out a little of what it means when the people of Israel do evil in Yahweh's sight.