Church address:
5350 Baillie Street
Vancouver, BC
(on 37th Ave between Cambie and Oak)
Church office address:
2325 Burrard Street
Vancouver, BC V6J 3J2
604.558.4400
St John's Vancouver Anglican Church is a community of Christians dedicated to the exposition and teaching of the Word of God, to the spreading of the good news of the Gospel at home and abroad, and to the application of God's purpose in our own lives and families.
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Bible Overview course: The Plot or Story Line of the Bible*
One of the main things we’ll do in the Bible Overview is to work out how all the various pieces of the Bible fit together to tell of God’s one great plan for all eternity. The basic story we’ll see is summarized here. At its most basic, the history of the world, as told in the Bible, can be divided into 8 phases:
1. The Creation and Fall (Genesis 1-11)
These events set up the rest of the Bible. The Creation reveals God’s power and authority. The Fall – in which humankind rebels against God – is the problem that God is dealing with in the rest of the Bible.
2. From Abraham to Egypt (Genesis 12-50)
God begins His plan to rescue humankind from the effects of the Fall by promising Abraham that his descendants will enjoy some restoration. This promise to Abraham is the fundamental promise that God is working to fulfill, and much of the rest of the Bible is devoted to showing how it develops.
3. The exodus and Mosaic covenant (Exodus 1 - Deuteronomy 34)
The time comes for God to begin to fulfill what He promised Abraham, so He rescues these descendants – now called Israel – from Egypt and brings them to Mt. Sinai. There He makes a covenant with them that sets the agenda for much of the rest of the OT.
4. From the entry into Canaan to Solomon (Joshua 1 - 1 Kings 11)
Israel eventually enters the promised land, and eventually God gives Israel a monarchy. Israel’s second king – David – is the greatest king she has in the OT, and under him Israel’s enemies are subdued, and the land fully conquered.
5. Decline of Israel and exile (1 Kings 12 - 2 Kings 25)
Israel’s persistent rebellion means that she cannot obtain what God promised Abraham. The decline from Solomon’s time takes the next 350 years and occurs primarily in three great disasters that end in exile. This is the saddest stage in Israel’s history. However, it is also one of the most important because it is the period when God reveals most about His plans as He warns Israel of impending judgment but reaffirms that He will, nevertheless, rescue her and fulfill what He promised Abraham.
6. Return from exile (Ezra & Nehemiah)
Though there is some rebuilding of Jerusalem there is no real fulfillment of what God has promised. The main reason for this is that the exile has not changed Israel’s propensity to rebel against God. The point of this period in the OT is to show us that God is not yet fulfilling what He has promised.
7. From Jesus’ first coming to his return (New Testament)
God’s promises first really begin to be fulfilled some 400 years later, in the NT, with Jesus’ birth, death and resurrection. In Jesus, God provides the King who is indispensable to the fulfillment of all His other promises. The NT is in large measure explaining who God’s people are and telling them how they must live as they wait Jesus’ return.
8. Jesus’ second coming and the new creation
The fulfillment of the rest of God’s promises – in particular, the actual reversal of all that went wrong at the Fall – will occur when Jesus returns and God brings about His new creation.
* The Bible Overview was written by St. Helen's Bishopsgate, London, UK
