Ancient Bible Timeline Makes History Relevant

Posted by Lorren on September 22, 2009

A couple weeks ago, I was extremely happy to find a package sitting outside my door: the Amazing Bible Timeline. As soon as I saw the package outside my door, I had a good suspicion of what it was. You see, I used to own a similar timeline before our house caught on fire a year and a half ago. In the fire, my old timeline was singed and I had to throw it out. I was so sad to throw it out. I never managed to replace the timeline after the fire. So when I found out that I got to review this one, I was happy as a clam!

The Bible timeline traces the major events in history from creation to the year 2000, assuming a young earth creationist worldview where the world is approximately 6000 years old. To me, the 6000 year time frame makes the most sense, especially considering the seven day theory, which hypothesizes that since God created the world in six days and rested on the seventh, and 1000 years is like a day to the Lord, the tribulation period, and afterwards the Millennial kingdom, is near. The timeline integrates the secular history that you learned in school with Bible history. It also allows you to see at a glance what was going on in one part of the world while you are studying another. Oftentimes, we tend to study one civilization at a time, and fail to realize what is outside of the one kingdom we are studying. This remedies that.

Whether you are a homeschooler or a Bible student, this timeline can come in handy. In the couple of weeks since this product arrived, I’ve used it to find out where Isaiah fits into world history, where Roman and Greek history overlap, and to show my daughter what was going on for the 400 years before Jesus was born. I have been using Grapevine Studies as our Bible curriculum this year, and this timeline really helps us put Bible history in perspective.

What seems to set this Bible timeline apart from the others on the market (yes, there are others) is that there is an index printed right on the map. I didn’t know where to find Isaiah, so I looked it up on the index. It will tell you what century to look in to find the person or the event.

This map is HUGE! It needs to be this big to fit everything in. It’s about 3 feet by 4 feet. I covered mine in Contac paper and stuck it up on my wall. That way it can be accessed quickly. Other people have placed it on large tables. You could probably put it in one of those roller map holders that classrooms have, especially if you have other maps that you use in your classroom. The map is made of a sturdy, glossy cardstock, so you probably don’t need to cover it in Contac paper (one of the reasons I did was to hold it to the wall).

While using this timeline with my daughter, her interest perked up. I was explaining the 400 year period between the Old and New Testaments, and she was asking me about when Adam was, where we were, where Jesus died, etc. This is a seven year old with an attention span that sometimes leaves something to be desired.

Although this is not a curriculum, you can use it with a variety of curricula. You’ll probably find yourself referring to it often. I highly recommend the Amazing Bible Timeline to any young earth creationist who’s ever wondered how the puzzle of world history fits together.