- HOME
- MESSIAH
- THE BODY OF MESSIAH
- ONE NEW MAN
- THE OLIVE TREE
- THE BRANCHES
- LAW AND GRACE
- UNITY
- OBEDIENCE
- KINGDOM LIVING
- UNIVERSAL CHURCH
- BIBLICAL HOLIDAYS
- MESSIANIC
-
SCRIPTURE INSIGHTS
- WISDOM
- WORSHIP
- TRUTH
- PRAYER
- THE TRINITY
- THE ANNOINTED ONE
- WHAT IS SIN?
- FORGIVENESS
- ANTICHRIST
- FAITH BUILDERS
- BRIDGE OF UNDERSTANDING
- TABERNACLE
- THINGS TO PONDER
- DISTORTIONS OF CHRISTIANITY
- ISRAEL
-
RELIGIOUS HISTORY
- FAITH THROUGH THE CENTURIES
- THE END TIMES
- RAPTURE
- OUR COMMISSION
- HEAVEN
- GLOBAL VISION
- BIBLICAL WORLD VIEW
- DEVOTIONALS
- SALVATION
- ENCOURAGEMENT
- GIVING
- BIBLE TOOLS
- RESOURCES
- ABOUT THIS SITE
- MISSION STATEMENT
- DEDICATION
- ABOUT THE AUTHOR
- GUEST BOOK
- BLOG
1526 BC MOSES IS BORN
Just prior to the birth of Moses in 1526 BC, the Egyptian Pharaoh had decreed that every Hebrew male child was to be thrown into the Nile River to drown. Moses' mother "threw him into the Nile" by placing him in a floating basket. Pharaoh's daughter saw the infant in the river, felt sorry for him, and decided to save him. Moses' sister, who was standing watch over the baby, approached the princess and offered to find someone to nurse the baby for her. When the princess agreed, Moses' sister brought her own mother, and Pharaoh's daughter offered to pay her to care for him. When Moses grew older, his mother returned him to Pharaoh's daughter and she adopted him (Exodus 1:22-2:10). God thus equipped Moses for leading his people by enabling him to be raised as a member of the royal Egyptian family, where he would receive the best education available at that time.
1486 BC MOSES FLEES TO MIDIAN
In 1486 BC, when Moses was forty, he witnessed an Egyptian overseer beating a Hebrew. Moses came to the man's defense and killed the Egyptian. Thinking no one had seen him, he buried the body in the sand. But there had been witnesses, and when word of the murder reached the Pharaoh, he ordered that Moses be arrested and killed. Moses escaped by fleeing to Midian, on the eastern side of the Red Sea. There he married Zipporah, the daughter of the priest of Midian, and had a son, Gershom (Exodus 2:11-3:1; Acts 7:23-29). Moses worked as a shepherd in Midian for forty years, thus preparing him to shepherd God's people for another forty years.
1446 BC PLAGUES STRIKE EGYP
From the midst of a burning bush, God called Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt (Exodus 3:1-4:17). The bush was on Mount Horeb, another name for Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:20; Deuteronomy 5:2). Moses, accompanied by his brother Aaron, who served as his spokesman, asked the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go into the wilderness to worship. When Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he refused to let the people go, God sent ten plagues on Egypt: water turned to blood, frogs, gnats, insects, death of cattle, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of every firstborn male. The plagues demonstrated the power of the God of Israel and the impotence of the gods of Egypt (Exodus 7:8-12:30).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
Just prior to the birth of Moses in 1526 BC, the Egyptian Pharaoh had decreed that every Hebrew male child was to be thrown into the Nile River to drown. Moses' mother "threw him into the Nile" by placing him in a floating basket. Pharaoh's daughter saw the infant in the river, felt sorry for him, and decided to save him. Moses' sister, who was standing watch over the baby, approached the princess and offered to find someone to nurse the baby for her. When the princess agreed, Moses' sister brought her own mother, and Pharaoh's daughter offered to pay her to care for him. When Moses grew older, his mother returned him to Pharaoh's daughter and she adopted him (Exodus 1:22-2:10). God thus equipped Moses for leading his people by enabling him to be raised as a member of the royal Egyptian family, where he would receive the best education available at that time.
1486 BC MOSES FLEES TO MIDIAN
In 1486 BC, when Moses was forty, he witnessed an Egyptian overseer beating a Hebrew. Moses came to the man's defense and killed the Egyptian. Thinking no one had seen him, he buried the body in the sand. But there had been witnesses, and when word of the murder reached the Pharaoh, he ordered that Moses be arrested and killed. Moses escaped by fleeing to Midian, on the eastern side of the Red Sea. There he married Zipporah, the daughter of the priest of Midian, and had a son, Gershom (Exodus 2:11-3:1; Acts 7:23-29). Moses worked as a shepherd in Midian for forty years, thus preparing him to shepherd God's people for another forty years.
1446 BC PLAGUES STRIKE EGYP
From the midst of a burning bush, God called Moses to deliver the Israelites from Egypt (Exodus 3:1-4:17). The bush was on Mount Horeb, another name for Mount Sinai (Exodus 19:20; Deuteronomy 5:2). Moses, accompanied by his brother Aaron, who served as his spokesman, asked the Pharaoh to let the Israelites go into the wilderness to worship. When Pharaoh's heart was hardened and he refused to let the people go, God sent ten plagues on Egypt: water turned to blood, frogs, gnats, insects, death of cattle, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of every firstborn male. The plagues demonstrated the power of the God of Israel and the impotence of the gods of Egypt (Exodus 7:8-12:30).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The
THE PLAGUES ON EGYPT
|
|
1446 BC THE FIRST PASSOVER IS CELEBRATED
Before the tenth and final plague, God warned Pharaoh through Moses that unless Pharaoh would let the children of Israel leave Egypt, God would pass through Egypt and slay every firstborn male: both human and animal. The Jews were instructed to roast a lamb or goat without any defect and to eat it with bitter herbs and bread baked without yeast on the fourteenth day of the first month of 1446 BC. The blood of the lamb was to be put on the sides and tops of the doorframes of their houses. When Pharaoh refused to let the Jews leave, at midnight of the fourteenth day of the first month the Lord slew all the firstborn in Egypt but passed over the houses of the Jews and spared all those who were under the blood of the lamb (Exodus 11:1-12:30).
1446 BC THE ISRAELITES EXIT EGYPT
After all the firstborn males throughout Egypt were killed, in 1446 BC, Pharaoh gave Moses permission for the children of Israel to leave Egypt (Exodus 12:31-32). But once the people had departed, Pharaoh changed his mind and led his army in pursuit, catching up to the Hebrews at the Red Sea. The situation seemed hopeless to the Jews, but God instructed Moses to stretch out his hand over the sea. When Moses did this, God sent a strong east wind to divide the waters, creating a dry path on which the Jewish people crossed through the sea. When the pursuing army tried to follow, the waters flowed back at Moses' command, drowning the Egyptians (Exodus 14:5-31). God thus vindicated his people by bringing them safely through the ordeal.
1446 BC GOD CONFIRMS THE SINAITIC COVENANT
In the third month after the Israelites left Egypt in 1446 BC, they arrived at Mount Sinai. There, God made a covenant with them making them his vassal kingdom. The family that had gone down to Egypt had become a nation (Exodus 19:6). The people took an oath of allegiance to God (Exodus 19:8; 24:3, 7). God then gave them his laws to show them how their allegiance was to manifest itself (Exodus 20-23; 25-31). The covenant was confirmed at a meal on Mount Sinai where God—in the person of God the Son (cf. John 1:18)—ate and drank with the elders of Israel (Exodus 24:9-11) in similar fashion to how he instituted the New Covenant with the elders of the church at the Last Supper (Luke 22:20).
1446 BC THE ISRAELITES WORSHIP A GOLDEN CALF
Immediately after the covenantal meal instituting the Sinaitic covenant in 1446 BC, God invited Moses to the top of Mount Sinai to receive the tablets of stone on which the Ten Commandments were written (Exodus 24:12). During the forty days that Moses was out of sight on the mountaintop, the children of Israel asked Aaron to make them gods that would lead them to the Promised Land, because Moses had disappeared. In response to their request, Aaron made them a golden calf. The people then offered sacrifices to their new idol. When Moses descended from the mountain, he broke the tablets of the covenant in anger, signifying that Israel had broken their covenant with God (Exodus 32:1-35).
ISRAEL GEOGRAPHY
Modern names and boundaries are shown in gray.
GoshenThis area was given to Jacob and his family when they moved to Egypt (Genesis 47:5-6). It became the Hebrews' homeland for 400 years and remained separate from the main Egyptian centers, because Egyptian culture looked down on shepherds and nomads. As the years passed, Jacob's family grew into a large nation Exodus 1:7).
Pithom and Rameses During the Israelites' stay in the land of Egypt, a pharaoh came to the throne who had no respect for these descendants of Joseph and feared their large numbers. He forced them into slavery in order to oppress and subdue them. Out of their slave labor, the supply of Pithom and Rameses were built (Exodus 1:11)
Midian Moses, an Egyptian prince who was born a Hebrew, killed an Egyptian and fled for his life to Midian. There he became a shepherd and married a woman named Zipporah. It was while Moses was in Midian that God commissioned him for the job of leading the Hebrew people out of Egypt(Exodus 2:15-4:31).
Baal-zephon Slavery was not to last, because God planned to deliver his people. After choosing Moses and Aaron to be his spokesmen to Pharaoh, God worked a series of dramatic miracles in the land of Egypt to convince Pharaoh to let the Hebrews go (Exodus 5:1-12:33). When finally freed, the entire nation set out with the riches of Egypt (12:34-36). One of their first stops was at Baal-zephon (14:2), where Pharaoh, who had changed his mind, chased the Hebrews and trapped them against the sea. But God parted the waters and led the people through the sea on dry land. When Pharaoh's army tried to pursue, the waters collapsed around them, and they were drowned (14:5-31).
Marah Moses now led the people southward. The long trek across the desert brought hot tempers and parched throats for this mass of people. At Marah, the water they found was bitter, but God sweetened it (Exodus 15:22-25).
Elim As they continued their journey, the Hebrews (now called Israelites) came to Ellim, an oasis with 12 springs (Exodus 15:27).
Sin Desert Leaving Elim, the people headed into the Sin Desert. Here the people became hungry, so God provided them with manna that came from heaven and covered the ground each morning (Exodus 16:1,13-15). The people ate this manna until they entered the Promised Land.
Rephidim Moses led the people to Rephidim, where they found no water. But God miraculously provided into a large nation (Exodus 1:7). water from a rock (Exodus 17:1, 5-6). Here the Israelites encountered their first test in battle: The Amalekites who had attacked and were defeated (17:9-13). Moses' father-in-law, Jethro, then arrived on the scene with some sound advice on delegating responsibilities (18:1-27).
Mount Sinai God had previously appeared to Moses on this mountain and commissioned him to lead Israel (Exodus 3:1-10). Now Moses returned with the people of God ask him to lead. For almost a year, the people camped at the foot of Mount Sinai. During this time, God gave them his Ten Commandments, as well as other laws for right living. He also provided the blueprint for building the Tabernacle (Exodus 19-40). God was forging a nation, prepared to live for and serve him alone.
1446-1406 BC MOSES WRITES GENESIS, EXODUS, AND LEVITICUS
Moses wrote the first five books of the Bible between God's giving of the covenant to Israel at Mount Sinai (1446 BC) and the end of the forty years of wandering in the wilderness (1406 BC). The first book, Genesis, details the history of the world from its creation to the call of Abraham (chapters 1-12), and then narrows its focus to Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and his sons, the twelve patriarchs. At the close of Genesis, the nation of Israel has descended to Egypt. Exodus recounts God's deliverance of Israel from Egypt and begins to introduce the Mosaic Law. Leviticus focuses exclusively on the Law and its priestly functions.
1444 BC TABERNACLE CONSTRUCTION IS COMPLETED
As part of the Sinaitic covenant, God instructed Israel to build a tabernacle in which he would dwell in the midst of his people. The Tabernacle was a portable sanctuary, fifteen feet wide, forty-five feet long, and fifteen feet high. It was divided into the Holy Place, which was thirty feet by fifteen feet, and the Most Holy Place, which was a fifteen-foot cube. The Tabernacle stood in the western half of a courtyard measuring seventy-five feet by one hundred feet and bordered by linen curtains. God's presence dwelt in the Most Holy Place over the Ark of the covenant (Exodus 25-27; 35-38; 39:32-40:38). The people completed construction of the Tabernacle in 1444 BC at the foot of Mount Sinai.
1444 BC SPIES SURVEY THE LAND OF CANAAN
After the Tabernacle was constructed in 1444 BC, Moses led the Israelites to Kadesh Barnea, the border of Canaan. There, God commanded Moses to send a leader from each of the twelve tribes to spy out the Promised Land. When the spies returned, ten of them said that Israel would be unable to conquer Canaan. Only two, Joshua and Caleb, believed God would enable Israel to conquer the land. The people accepted the majority report, saying, "We wish we had died in Egypt, or even here in the wilderness!" (Numbers 14:2). Because of their unbelief, God granted their request. They wandered in the wilderness for a total of forty years until all the unbelievers had died. Of all the men over twenty years of age at the time when they left Egypt, Joshua and Caleb alone entered the Promised Land (Numbers 13-14).
1407 BC MOSES COMPLETES THE BOOK OF NUMBERS
Moses completed the book of Numbers in about 1407 BC, following the close of the events described in the book. The name of the book is derived from the numberings of the sons of Israel in chapters 1 and 26. The book begins with the hope that the generation that came out of Egypt would enter into the Promised Land (chapters 1-10). After a series of tests and failures (chapters 11-26), however, it becomes clear that this generation will not enter the Promised Land. Even Moses failed to completely obey God. The last section of the book restores hope to the people, as the next generation begins to prepare to enter the Promised Land under the leadership of Joshua (chapters 27-36).
1407 BC MOSES WRITES THE BOOK OF DEUTERONOMY
Moses wrote the book of Deuteronomy in about 1407 BC. After he died, his death notice was appended to the book (chapter 34). Deuteronomy documents the renewal of the covenant prior to the death of Moses. Deuteronomy was the authoritative covenant document until Jesus instituted the new covenant in the upper room shortly before his death (Luke 22:20).
1406 BC MOSES DIES
When the Israelites returned to Kadesh Barnea the second time, Moses and Aaron sinned by putting themselves in the role of God: "Listen, you rebels!... Must we bring you water from this rock?" (Numbers 20:10, emphasis added). For this sin, neither Moses nor Aaron would enter the Promised Land. Before his death, Moses prepared Israel for its conquest of Canaan. Moses had a census of the people taken, and preparations began for the allotment of the land (Numbers 26; 32). Moses gave his farewell address (Deuteronomy 31:1-13); the people renewed their covenant with God; and Moses had the covenant renewal document—the book of Deuteronomy—placed beside the Ark of the covenant (Deuteronomy 31:24-26). Moses taught the people a song (Deuteronomy 32:1-43) and gave them his final blessing (Deuteronomy 33). Just before he died, Moses ascended Mount Nebo to view the Promised Land he would not enter (Deuteronomy 34:1-4).
1406 BC CONQUEST OF THE PROMISED LAND BEGINS
After grieving the death of Moses for thirty days, the Israelites crossed the Jordan River in 1406 BC on dry land under the leadership of Joshua, much as they had crossed the Red Sea under the leadership of Moses. They began the conquest of the Promised Land by destroying Jericho using an unorthodox military strategy (Joshua 1:1-6:27). After the sin of one Israelite caused their initial defeat at Ai, a second attack was successful (Joshua 7-8). This was followed by the conquest of southern Palestine and the northern reaches of the country (Joshua 10-11). Joshua then divided the Promised Land among the Twelve Tribes of Israel (Joshua 13-21). Just prior to his death, Joshua led the nation in renewing their covenant with God, as they once again gave him their allegiance (Joshua 23-24).
—Complete Book of When and Where, The