Biblical Timeline
Key events from Creation to the Early Church
Exodus & Conquest
~1446-1200 BCE (debated)
The Exodus from Egypt
God delivered the Israelites from slavery in Egypt through Moses, culminating in the tenth plague (death of the firstborn) and the crossing of the Red Sea. The date is debated: the early date of ~1446 BCE is based on 1 Kings 6:1 ("480 years before Solomon's Temple"); the late date of ~1250 BCE is based on archaeological evidence at sites like Jericho and the Merneptah Stele (1208 BCE).
Giving of the Law at Sinai
Three months after leaving Egypt, the Israelites arrived at Mount Sinai where God gave Moses the Ten Commandments and the Torah. This covenant between God and Israel established the legal and moral foundation of the nation.
Fall of Jericho
The first city conquered by the Israelites under Joshua's command. The walls collapsed after the Israelites marched around the city for seven days. Archaeological dating is debated: Garstang dated destruction to ~1400 BCE, Kenyon redated to ~1550 BCE, Wood argued for ~1400 BCE.
The Burning Bush — Moses Called by God
While tending his father-in-law's flock near Mount Horeb, Moses saw a bush that burned with fire but was not consumed. God spoke from the bush, revealing His name as 'I AM THAT I AM' and commissioning Moses to deliver Israel from Egypt. Moses objected five times, and God provided signs and appointed Aaron as his spokesman. The date depends on the early (1446 BCE) or late (1270 BCE) Exodus chronology.
The Ten Plagues of Egypt
God sent ten plagues upon Egypt to compel Pharaoh to release Israel: water to blood, frogs, gnats, flies, livestock disease, boils, hail, locusts, darkness, and the death of every firstborn. Each plague demonstrated God's power over specific Egyptian gods. The final plague — the death of the firstborn — was the event that broke Pharaoh's resistance and established the Passover.
The Golden Calf
While Moses was on Mount Sinai receiving the Law for forty days, the people grew impatient and asked Aaron to make them gods. Aaron collected gold earrings and fashioned a golden calf. Moses descended, saw the idolatry, broke the tablets of the Law in anger, ground the calf to powder, and scattered it on water which the people were forced to drink. About three thousand men died that day.
The Twelve Spies — 40 Years of Wandering Begins
Moses sent twelve spies into Canaan. Ten returned with a fearful report saying the inhabitants were giants and the land could not be conquered. Only Joshua and Caleb urged the people to trust God. The people rebelled and wanted to return to Egypt. God decreed that the entire generation over twenty years old — except Joshua and Caleb — would die in the wilderness over forty years.
Death of Moses on Mount Nebo
God told Moses to ascend Mount Nebo and view the Promised Land he would never enter — because Moses had struck the rock at Meribah instead of speaking to it as commanded. Moses saw the land from Dan to the Negev, from the western sea to the Jordan Valley. He died there at age 120 with his eyesight undiminished. God buried him in an unknown location. No prophet like Moses arose again in Israel until Jesus.
8 events · Sources: Genesis, Exodus, Joshua, Samuel, Kings, Chronicles, Ezra, Nehemiah, Daniel, Jeremiah, Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Acts