Dr. William H. Marty - The Whole Bible Story: Everything That Happens in the Bible in Plain English

2011 by William H. Marty

Published by Bethany House Publishers
11400 Hampshire Avenue South
Bloomington, Minnesota 55438
www.bethanyhouse.com

Bethany House Publishers is a division of
Baker Publishing Group, Grand Rapids, Michigan.
www.bakerpublishinggroup.com

Ebook edition created 2011

Ebook corrections 11.13.2013, 01.23.2020

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwisewithout the prior written permission of the publisher. The only exception is brief quotations in printed reviews.

ISBN 978-1-4412-1468-3

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture is taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com

Scripture quotations identified NLT are from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996, 2004. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.

All unattributed Scripture in quotations is in paraphrase.

Cover design by Studio Gearbox

Cover scroll photograph by Steve Gardner, PixelWorks Studio

To my mother, a single mom, who sacrificed to give me what she never hadan educationand the students at MBI who challenged and motivated me to become a lifelong learner.

Acknowledgments

In a sense this book is not my own. The idea came from Andy McGuire at Bethany House. He also guided me in writing and organizing the content and started the process of transforming my academic content and style into a popular and contemporary story of the Bible. I would also like to give credit to Christopher Soderstrom, who used his editorial skills to put the manuscript into its final form. Having read the proofs, I have a new appreciation for editors. Without their revisions, this book would read like my lecture notes at Moody Bible Institute. Both men were positive and helpful encouragers when I am certain they could have been critical.

I owe a great debt, not so much for this book, but for my life as a follower of Christ and my career as a teacher to two of my former teachers. It was never my goal to go into ministry. After college, I was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army. After four years and a tour of duty in Vietnam, I resigned my commission and made a life-changing decision. I enrolled in Denver Theological Seminary. Because there wasnt an official diagnosis of post-traumatic stress syndrome, I didnt know why I was at risk emotionally. Two men, both of whom are now with the Lord, modeled for me what it meant to be a follower of Christ. Dr. Bruce Shelley, professor of Church History, and Dr. Vernon Grounds, president, and professor of Pastoral Ministry, not only taught what to believe but showed me how to live as an authentic Christian. Without their example and personal counsel, I would have never graduated from seminary and gone on to a career as a pastor and eventually a Bible teacher.

I am also grateful for my wife, who encouraged me in the challenging work of writing, and proposed using the book of Revelation as the Epilogue for the book. My wife is a wonderful gift from the Lord.

Contents

Creation (Genesis 12)

The Fall (Genesis 3)

The Sons of Adam and Eve (Genesis 46)

Noah (Genesis 69)

The Tower of Babel (Genesis 11)

Abraham (Genesis 1125)

Isaac (Genesis 25)

Jacob (Genesis 2536)

Joseph (Genesis 3750)

Moses (Exodus 16)

The Plagues and the Exodus (Exodus 715)

The Lords Provision (Exodus 1518)

Mount Sinai (Exodus 1931)

The Golden Idol (Exodus 32)

Moses and the Glory of the Lord (Exodus 3334)

The Tabernacle (Exodus 3540)

Preparations for the JourneyFrom Mount Sinai to Kadesh (Numbers 111)

On the Way to KadeshA Spirit of Complaining (Numbers 1112 )

At KadeshRebellion (Numbers 1314)

On the Way to MoabSpiritual Defeat and Military Victory (Numbers 1421)

BalaamA Prophet for Hire (Numbers 2225)

A Second Census (Numbers 2636)

Moses Final Messages to Israel (Deuteronomy 133)

Moses Death (Deuteronomy 34)

The Conquest (Joshua 122)

Rededication to the Lord (Joshua 2324)

Israels Failure and Gods Faithfulness (Judges 12)

Early Leaders (Judges 35)

Gideon (Judges 612)

Samson (Judges 1321)

Ruth (Ruth)

Samuel (1 Samuel 18)

Saul (1 Samuel 915)

Saul and David (1 Samuel 1631)

The Rule of David (2 Samuel; 1 Chronicles)

The Rule of Solomon (1 Kings 111; 2 Chronicles 19)

The Division of the Kingdom (1 Kings 1214)

The History of IsraelKings and Prophets of the Northern Kingdom (1 Kings 142 Kings 17; Jonah)

The Division of the Kingdom (1 Kings 14; 2 Chronicles 1012)

The History of JudahKings and Prophets of the Southern Kingdom (1 Kings 152 Kings 25; 2 Chronicles 1336)

Daniel and His Friends (Daniel)

Rebuilding the Temple (Ezra)

Esther (Esther)

Nehemiah and the Walls of Jerusalem (Nehemiah)

Preparing for Jesus Birth (Matthew 1; Luke 1)

Jesus Birth (Luke 2)

Jesus Childhood (Matthew 2; Luke 2)

(The Four Gospels)

(The Four Gospels)

Teaching and Healing

Facing Opposition

Expanding the Ministry

Complaints and Miracles

Who Am I?

Jesus Again Predicts His Death and Resurrection

(The Four Gospels)

Confusion and Division

Ministering in Judea

Perean Ministry

On the Way to Jerusalem

(The Four Gospels)

Sunday: Triumphal Entry

Monday: Cleansing the Temple

Tuesday: A Day of Controversy

Wednesday (No recorded activity)

Thursday: Passover and Teaching in the Upper Room

The Arrest

Jewish Interrogation and Trial

Roman Interrogation and Trial

The Crucifixion

(The Four Gospels)

Burial

The Empty Tomb

Jesus Resurrection Appearances

The Gift of the Spirit (Acts 12)

Trouble on the Inside and Threats From the Outside (Acts 36)

Stephen (Acts 68)

Philip (Acts 8)

Saul/Paul (Acts 9)

Peter and the Gentiles (Acts 912)

First Missionary Journey (Acts 1314)

The Jerusalem Council (Acts 15)

Second Missionary JourneyTo Europe (Acts 1518)

Third Missionary JourneyFrom Antioch to Ephesus (Acts 1819)

Third Missionary JourneyFrom Ephesus to Jerusalem (Acts 2021)

Riot and Arrest in Jerusalem (Acts 2123)

A Roman Prisoner (Acts 2428)

(Revelation)

The Story Ends... or Is This Just the Beginning?

Introduction

A friend recently asked me for a Bible. Knowing that she didnt know anything about it, I gave her a study Bible.

She opened it and flipped through a few pages, then looked up with a bewildered expression and asked, How do I read this? Where do I start? Whats in it?

I gave her a brief explanation and wrote down some of the biblical books she should start with, but I realized she needed more help than just this.

Simply reading the Bible from cover to cover is a daunting task. The Bible is longsixty-six books from Genesis to Revelationand it can be difficult to follow the storyline because the books are not recorded in chronological order.

Another challenge is content. The Bible is written in a variety of literary forms. In addition to historical narrative, there is poetry, law, prophecy, and parable. Epistles (letters) make up almost half of the New Testament.

Many of the Old Testaments prophetical books, plus Revelation, are what we call apocalyptic literature. This type of writing describes catastrophic events associated with the end of time in vivid and bizarre imagery. For someone first attempting to read the Bible, this all can be very confusing.