Jim George - 10 Minutes to Knowing the Men and Women of the Bible

Jim George

HARVEST HOUSE PUBLISHERS

EUGENE, OREGON

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are taken from the New King James Version. Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Verses marked NASB are taken from the New American Standard Bible , 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. ( www.Lockman.org )

Cover by Dugan Design Group, Bloomington, Minnesota

Cover illustration Dugan Design Group; Bocos Benedict / Fotolia

Due to the intentionally brief treatment of each Bible character as presented in this handbook, disputed dates, themes, or authorships are not discussed. For such information, please consult more comprehensive resource works that are designed to take such various views and details into consideration.

10 MINUTES TO KNOWING THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE BIBLE
Copyright 2008 by Jim George
Published by Harvest House Publishers
Eugene, Oregon 97402
www.harvesthousepublishers.com

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

George, Jim, 1943

[Bare Bones Bible bios]

10 minutes to knowing the men and women of the Bible / Jim George.

p. cm.

Originally published: The Bare Bones Bible bios. 2008.

978-0-7369-3041-3

1. BibleBiography. 2. Christian lifeBiblical teaching. I. Title.

BS571.G45 2010

220.92dc22

2010028945

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, digital, photocopy, recording, or any otherexcept for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Printed in the United States of America

10 11 12 13 14 15 16 / BP-NI / 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

It is my desire that 10 Minutes to Knowing the Men and Women of the Bible become a favorite resource tool to acquaint you with the major personalities of the Bible or remind you afresh of the men and women whom God used through the centuries to fulfill His sovereign plan. The biographies in this book are arranged in the order they appear in the Bible, with one exceptionJesus Christ is presented last because He is the central focus and ultimate consummation of Gods plan of salvation. I pray that these biographical sketches will stimulate you toward a lifetime of reading and studying the lives of those who were strategic in Gods working in history.

The goal of these selected biographies is to give brief overviews about the lives of the key people in Bible history. Due to these intentionally short treatments, disputed dates and events are not discussed. For an in-depth study of any of these biblical personalities, please refer to more comprehensive works on their lives.

Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it.

GENESIS 2:15

Most notable quality: Innocence

Most notable accomplishment: First human

Date lived: 930 years from the beginning of recorded history (lived 930 years)

Name:Adam, meaning mankind

Major text: Genesis 2:15:5

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth (Genesis 1:1). These renowned words open the Bible and point to the beginning of all creation and to Adam, our head, the beginning of all mankind. In him all of humanitys future dwelt. In him all possess the uniqueness of being created in the image of God. From him we learn what might have beensinless existence. And in Adam we also come face to face with the effect of his sin.

Adam, first human and the first to experience Gods perfection, provides a glimpse of what God originally intended for mankinda perfect relationship with Him in a perfect environment of perfect health and perfect peace. Unfortunately, Adam, and his wife, Eve, make a decision that takes the human race down the path to sin, misery, and death.

But God does not leave Adam and Eve and mankind without hope. God promises that a descendant of the woman will someday defeat evil and especially the evil one, as represented by the serpent in the Garden of Eden. Speaking to Satan, who had used the serpent, God explains that one who is to come (Jesus Christ) shall bruise your head, meaning a fatal blow will eventually be given to Satan (3:15).

Adam is created in Gods own imageGenesis 1:2627

Let us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness, is Gods statement about what would be His crowning act of creation. Adam would be created to enjoy a unique, personal relationship with his Creator. This relationship would clearly differentiate Adam from the rest of creation. In his rational life, Adam would be like God in the sense of possessing reason, will, intellect, and emotions. In a moral sense, Adam would resemble God in goodness and sinlessnessa perfect man. However, as a created being, Adam would also find himself susceptible to temptation.

Adam is given dominionGenesis 1:2728

With Adams creation comes responsibility and a job assignment: He is to subdue the Earth and have dominion over every living thing. The Earth is a perfect leadership laboratory for Adam. He has a perfect mind for making right decisions, a perfect environment to tend and keep (2:15), and best of all, a perfect boss who gives him plenty of room to exercise his leadership.

Adam is given a helperGenesis 2:2124

Adam is incomplete without someone to complement him. Therefore God graciously gives Adam a companiona woman, Evewho is like him in that she comes from his flesh, from one of his ribs. They are to fulfill each other. The two of them together are to be a greater sum than their separate lives. They are to be the perfect team.

Adam is susceptible to temptationGenesis 3:17

Adam is created a sinless being, but his sinlessness is yet untested. Eve, Adams counterpart, is the first to be approached and tempted by Satan, who speaks to her through a serpent. Eve is deceived by the snake and disobeys God by eating fruit He had expressly prohibited. Next Eve asks Adam to join her in eating the same forbidden fruit. Adam does not resist Eves offer; he eats with full knowledge his action is wrong (1 Timothy 2:14). The couples sin is more than that of merely eating the fruit: They disobey the revealed word of God. Adam and Eve believe the lies of Satan, and put their own wills above Gods will.

God communicated clearly to Adam: Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat (Genesis 2:1617). When Adam and Eve chose to eat the forbidden fruit anyway, sin entered the human race with all of its terrible consequences (Romans 5:12), including