List Of Biblical Characters In Chronological Order

Adam and Eve were the first man and woman that God made. God made Adam from the dust of the ground. Then, God made Eve from one of Adam’s ribs. Isn’t that amazing? God put Adam and Eve in a beautiful garden called Eden. It was full of yummy fruits and pretty flowers.

God told Adam and Eve that they could eat fruit from any tree in the garden, except for one special tree. It was called the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. God said that if they ate fruit from that tree, they would die.

Adam and Eve were very happy in the garden. They got to spend time with God and take care of all the plants and animals. It was a wonderful place to live.

That’s the beginning of the story of Adam and Eve. It shows us that God made people and loves them very much. He wanted Adam and Eve to live in a perfect place and be close to Him.

Noah – The Man Who Built the Ark

Noah was a very good man who loved God. He lived a long time ago when the world was full of very bad people. God was sad that everyone was so wicked. He decided to send a big flood to cover the whole earth and get rid of all the evil. But God wanted to save Noah and his family because Noah always tried to do what was right.

God Tells Noah to Build an Ark

One day, God told Noah about the flood He planned to send. God gave Noah a very important job – to build a huge boat called an ark. The ark would keep Noah, his family, and many animals safe from the flood waters. Here are some things the Bible tells us about the ark:

God told Noah exactly how big to make the ark and what it should look like
The ark was to be made out of wood and covered with sticky stuff called pitch to keep the water out
It would have three levels inside and a door on the side
Noah obeyed God and started building the ark just like God said

Collecting the Animals

God also told Noah to bring animals into the ark so they would be safe from the flood too. The Bible says:

Noah was supposed to take two of every kind of animal – a male and a female
He also took seven pairs of some special animals that were good for sacrifices
Birds, reptiles, and bugs came to the ark too
The animals marched into the ark two by two, just like God planned

The Flood Covers the Earth

Noah worked hard and built the ark just like God told him to. When it was all ready, Noah and his wife, his three sons, and their wives all went inside the ark. Then God shut the door.

It rained for 40 days and 40 nights without stopping
Water came up from the ground too
Soon the whole earth was covered with water and even the mountains were under water
Every living thing on the earth died in the flood except for Noah and those who were with him on the ark

The End of the Flood

Noah and his family stayed safe on the ark for many days while the water covered the earth. Then God sent a wind to help dry up the water.

The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat
After a while, Noah sent out a dove to see if it could find dry land
The dove came back with an olive leaf in its beak, so Noah knew the water was going down
Finally, God told Noah it was time to come out of the ark

Noah built an altar and thanked God for keeping them safe. God put a rainbow in the sky and made a special promise to Noah. God said He would never again destroy the whole earth with a flood. The rainbow is a sign of God’s promise that we still see today.

The story of Noah shows us that God hates sin but loves people. God will always take care of those who trust Him, just like He took care of Noah and his family. We can have faith in God just like Noah did.

The story of Noah’s Ark is found in the book of Genesis in the Bible. It tells how God instructed Noah to build a large vessel called an ark in order to save his family and representatives of all the animals from a great flood that would destroy the earth.

The key points of the biblical story are:

Mankind had become very wicked and sinful, so God decided to send a flood to wipe out all living creatures except Noah, who was a righteous man.
God told Noah to build an ark and gave him specific instructions on its size and design. The ark was to be 450 feet long, 75 feet wide and 45 feet high, with three decks.
God commanded Noah to bring into the ark one pair (male and female) of every kind of unclean animal, and seven pairs of every kind of clean animal and bird. Noah also had to gather food for his family and all the animals.
After Noah finished building the ark and gathering the animals, God sent rain that lasted 40 days and 40 nights. The floodwaters covered even the highest mountains. Every living thing on earth perished except Noah, his family, and the animals on the ark.
The ark came to rest on the mountains of Ararat. Noah sent out a raven and a dove to see if the water had receded. The dove eventually returned with an olive leaf, indicating dry land had appeared.
God told Noah and his family to leave the ark. Noah built an altar and made sacrifices to God. God then made a covenant with Noah, promising never again to destroy the earth with a flood. The rainbow was given as a sign of this covenant.

The story emphasizes Noah’s righteousness and obedience to God in the face of an evil world. It also portrays God’s judgment against sin, his mercy in sparing the righteous, and his covenant faithfulness to his creation. Jewish and Christian traditions view the story as historical, while acknowledging potential symbolic and legendary elements woven into the narrative.

Joseph – The Dreamer

Joseph was one of the twelve sons of Jacob, who was also called Israel. Joseph was very special to his father because he was born when Jacob was old. Jacob loved Joseph more than his other sons and even gave him a beautiful coat of many colors.

Joseph’s Dreams

When Joseph was a young boy, God gave him some very strange dreams. In one dream, Joseph and his brothers were tying up bundles of grain in a field. Suddenly, Joseph’s bundle stood up straight, and his brothers’ bundles gathered around and bowed down to it.

In another dream, Joseph saw the sun, moon, and eleven stars bowing down to him. When Joseph told his family about these dreams, his brothers became very jealous and angry. They thought Joseph was trying to say he would rule over them someday.

Joseph Goes to Egypt

One day, Joseph’s brothers were taking care of their father’s sheep in a place called Dothan. Jacob sent Joseph to check on them. When the brothers saw Joseph coming, they made a terrible plan to get rid of him.

The brothers threw Joseph into a deep hole and then sold him to some traders going to Egypt
The brothers dipped Joseph’s special coat in animal blood and told their father that a wild animal had killed him
Joseph was taken to Egypt and sold as a slave to a man named Potiphar

Joseph’s Life in Egypt

In Egypt, Joseph worked hard and was very successful. Potiphar trusted Joseph and put him in charge of his whole household. But then, Potiphar’s wife lied about Joseph, and he was thrown into prison.

Even in prison, God was with Joseph. The prison warden liked Joseph and put him in charge of all the other prisoners. While in prison, Joseph met two of Pharaoh’s servants and helped them understand their dreams. One of these servants remembered Joseph when Pharaoh had a dream no one could explain.

Pharaoh’s dream was about seven fat cows being eaten by seven skinny cows and seven full heads of grain being swallowed by seven thin heads
God helped Joseph understand that the dream was a warning about seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine (when no food would grow)
Pharaoh was so impressed with Joseph’s wisdom that he made him second in command over all of Egypt

Joseph Helps His Family

When the famine came, Joseph had already stored up lots of food in Egypt. People from all over the world came to Egypt to buy grain, including Joseph’s brothers.

Joseph recognized his brothers, but they didn’t recognize him
After testing them to see if they had changed, Joseph finally told them who he was
Joseph forgave his brothers and invited his whole family to come live in Egypt where there was plenty of food

Moses – The Leader of Israel

Moses was a very important person in the Bible. He was born during a time when the Israelites (the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob) were slaves in Egypt. The Pharaoh (the king of Egypt) was worried that there were too many Israelites, so he ordered that all the baby boys be killed.

Baby Moses is Saved

When Moses was born, his mother hid him for three months to keep him safe. When she couldn’t hide him any longer, she made a special basket and put Moses in it. Then she placed the basket in the reeds by the river.

Pharaoh’s daughter found the basket while she was bathing in the river
She felt sorry for the baby and decided to adopt him
Moses’ sister, Miriam, was watching nearby and offered to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby
Miriam brought Moses’ own mother to care for him until he was older

So Moses grew up in Pharaoh’s palace, but he never forgot that he was an Israelite.

God Calls Moses

When Moses was grown up, he saw an Egyptian beating an Israelite slave. Moses got angry and killed the Egyptian. When Pharaoh found out, Moses had to run away to a place called Midian.

One day, while Moses was taking care of sheep in Midian, God appeared to him in a burning bush. The bush was on fire, but it didn’t burn up. God told Moses that He had seen how much the Israelites were suffering in Egypt, and He wanted Moses to go back and lead them out of slavery.

At first, Moses didn’t think he could do it, but God promised to be with him
God told Moses to go to Pharaoh and tell him to let the Israelites go
God also gave Moses the power to do miracles to prove that God had sent him

The Ten Plagues and the Exodus

Moses and his brother Aaron went to Pharaoh and told him to let the Israelites go, but Pharaoh refused. So God sent ten terrible plagues on Egypt, one at a time. These included:

The Nile River turning to blood
Frogs covering the land
Swarms of flies and gnats
All the livestock getting sick and dying
Painful sores on the people and animals
Hail that destroyed the crops
Locusts that ate everything green
Darkness that covered the land for three days
The worst plague of all – the death of the firstborn son in every Egyptian family

After the tenth plague, Pharaoh finally let the Israelites go. Moses led them out of Egypt and across the Red Sea on dry ground. God parted the water so they could walk through, but when the Egyptian army tried to follow, the water came crashing down on them.

The Ten Commandments and the Promised Land

As Moses and the Israelites traveled through the wilderness, God gave them the Ten Commandments – special rules to help them live in a way that pleased God. God also promised to lead them to a wonderful new land, but the journey was long and hard.

The people often complained and disobeyed God, but Moses prayed for them
God provided food (manna and quail) and water for them in the desert
Moses sent twelve spies into the Promised Land, but only two (Joshua and Caleb) trusted God to help them conquer it
Because the people didn’t trust God, they had to wander in the wilderness for 40 years

Sadly, Moses died before the Israelites reached the Promised Land, but God allowed him to see it from a mountain top. Moses had led the people faithfully, and now Joshua would lead them into their new home.

Joshua – The New Leader

After Moses died, Joshua became the new leader of the Israelites. He had been Moses’ helper for many years and had shown himself to be brave and faithful to God. Now it was his job to lead the people into the Promised Land, the special place God had set aside for them.

God’s Encouragement to Joshua

As Joshua took on this big task, God spoke to him and gave him some important instructions and encouragement. God told Joshua:

To be strong and brave, because God would be with him wherever he went
To always remember and obey the teachings in God’s Book of the Law
That if he trusted and obeyed God, he would be successful in everything he did

With these words in his heart, Joshua was ready to lead the Israelites into their new home.

Crossing the Jordan River

The first big challenge Joshua and the Israelites faced was crossing the Jordan River. The river was deep and wide, and it was the time of year when it was flooding. But God had a plan.

The priests carried the Ark of the Covenant (a special gold box that held God’s laws) into the river
As soon as their feet touched the water, the river stopped flowing and piled up in a heap upstream
All the people crossed the river on dry ground, just like when they crossed the Red Sea with Moses
After everyone had crossed, the priests with the Ark came out of the riverbed, and the water started flowing again

This miracle showed the Israelites that God was with Joshua just as He had been with Moses.

The Battle of Jericho

The first city the Israelites came to in the Promised Land was Jericho. It had big, strong walls around it, and the people inside were afraid of the Israelites because they had heard about the powerful things God had done for them.

God gave Joshua a very unusual battle plan to conquer Jericho:

The armed men were to march around the city once a day for six days, with priests carrying the Ark and blowing trumpets
On the seventh day, they were to march around the city seven times
After the seventh time, the priests would blow a long blast on the trumpets, and all the people would shout as loud as they could
God promised that when they did this, the walls of Jericho would fall down flat

Joshua and the Israelites obeyed God’s instructions exactly. On the seventh day, after the seventh time around the city, the priests blew the trumpets, the people shouted, and the walls came tumbling down! The Israelites captured the city, and God gave them a great victory.

Conquering the Promised Land

After the battle of Jericho, Joshua led the Israelites in conquering many more cities and areas in the Promised Land. They had to fight against some strong enemies, but God helped them win as long as they trusted and obeyed Him.

When they fought against the city of Ai, they lost at first because someone had disobeyed God, but after they made things right, God helped them win
In a battle against five kings, God made the sun stand still in the sky so the Israelites could finish the fight in daylight
God gave the Israelites all the land He had promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob many years before

Before Joshua died, he reminded the people to always love and obey God, and to never worship the false gods of the people around them. He famously said, “As for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.”

Judges – The Time of Many Leaders

After Joshua died, the Israelites lived in the Promised Land for many years. During this time, they didn’t have one main leader like Moses or Joshua. Instead, God would choose special people called judges to lead them whenever they were in trouble.

The Cycle of Sin and Deliverance

The Book of Judges in the Bible tells us about this time in Israel’s history. It was a time when the people often forgot about God and started worshipping the false gods of the people around them. When they did this, God would let their enemies defeat them and rule over them.

But whenever the Israelites cried out to God for help, He would send a judge to save them. The judge would help the people turn back to God and defeat their enemies. Then there would be peace in the land for a while.

Sadly, after each judge died, the people would forget God again, and the whole cycle would start over. This happened many times during the years of the judges.

Some Important Judges

The Bible tells us about several judges who God used to help Israel. Here are a few of them:

Deborah – She was a wise woman who led Israel and helped a man named Barak defeat a powerful enemy army.
Gideon – God chose Gideon to save Israel from the Midianites, even though Gideon was afraid and felt weak. God gave Gideon a great victory with only 300 men!
Samson – He was the strongest man who ever lived. God gave him special strength to fight against the Philistines, but Samson often used his strength foolishly and got into trouble.

These judges and others like them helped the Israelites when they were in danger, but the people kept falling back into sin and forgetting about God.

The Story of Ruth

One special story from the time of the judges is the story of Ruth. Ruth was a woman from the country of Moab who married an Israelite man. When her husband died, Ruth chose to stay with her Israelite mother-in-law, Naomi, and follow Naomi’s God.

Ruth and Naomi were very poor, but God took care of them. He led Ruth to gather grain in the field of a kind man named Boaz. Boaz liked Ruth and married her. They had a son named Obed, who became the grandfather of King David!

The story of Ruth shows us that God’s love is for all people, not just Israelites. It also shows how God can take sad situations and turn them into something good.

The Need for a King

As the time of the judges went on, the Israelites started wanting a king to lead them, like the other nations around them had. They thought a king could keep them safe and help them be strong.

God knew that what the people really needed was to trust and obey Him, not just have a human king. But God decided to give them a king anyway. He told a prophet named Samuel to anoint a man named Saul as the first king of Israel.

David – The King After God’s Heart

David was a very important king in the Bible. He wasn’t the first king of Israel (that was Saul), but he was the king God chose to lead His people in a special way. David loved God and tried to follow Him, even though he made some big mistakes sometimes.

David the Shepherd Boy

When David was young, he took care of his father’s sheep. He was a good shepherd who protected the sheep from wild animals like lions and bears. David also loved to play music and write songs. He would play his harp and sing to God while he watched the sheep.

One time, the prophet Samuel came to David’s town looking for the person God had chosen to be the next king. God told Samuel not to choose any of David’s older brothers, even though they looked big and strong. Instead, God chose David, the youngest brother, because God looks at what’s in a person’s heart, not just what they look like on the outside.

David and Goliath

One of the most famous stories about David happened when he was still a young man. The Israelites were fighting against the Philistines, and the Philistines had a giant soldier named Goliath. Goliath would come out every day and make fun of the Israelites and their God. He dared any Israelite to fight him one-on-one.

David’s older brothers were in the Israelite army, and one day, David came to bring them food. When he heard Goliath making fun of God, David said he would fight the giant himself!

David trusted that God would help him win, even though he was much smaller than Goliath
He refused to wear heavy armor and instead took his sling and five smooth stones
David ran toward Goliath and used his sling to throw a stone that hit Goliath right in the forehead
Goliath fell down, and David used the giant’s own sword to defeat him

This story shows us that God can use anyone, even young people, to do great things when they trust in Him.

David Becomes King

After David defeated Goliath, he became a great soldier in King Saul’s army. But Saul became jealous of David and tried to kill him many times. David had to hide from Saul, but he never tried to hurt Saul because he respected him as God’s chosen king.

When Saul died in battle, David finally became the king of Israel, just as God had promised. David was a good king who obeyed God and helped the people follow God too.

David made Jerusalem the capital city of Israel
He brought the Ark of the Covenant (the special gold box with God’s laws) to Jerusalem
David wanted to build a temple for God, but God said David’s son would build it instead

Even though David loved God, he still sinned sometimes. One time, he took another man’s wife and then had the man killed to cover up what he did. David felt very sorry for his sin and asked God to forgive him. God did forgive David, but He also punished him to help him learn from his mistake.

David the Psalm Writer

David wrote many of the songs in the Bible book of Psalms. These songs talk about God’s love, power, and forgiveness. They show us that David had a close relationship with God and trusted Him in good times and bad.

Some of the most famous psalms David wrote are:

Psalm 23: “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want…”
Psalm 51: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love…”
Psalm 103: “Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name…”

David’s psalms help us learn how to pray and worship God in every situation.

Jesus – The Savior of the World

Jesus is the most important person in the whole Bible. He is God’s Son, and He came to earth to save us from our sins. The Bible tells us that Jesus was born in a special way, lived a perfect life, died on a cross for our sins, and then came back to life again. This is called the gospel, which means “good news.”

Jesus’ Birth and Early Life

Jesus was born in a town called Bethlehem to a young woman named Mary. Mary was engaged to a man named Joseph, but before they were married, an angel told Mary that she would have a special baby by the power of the Holy Spirit. This baby would be the Son of God.

When Jesus was born, angels appeared to some shepherds and told them the good news. Wise men from far away also came to worship Jesus and bring Him gifts.

Jesus grew up in a town called Nazareth. He learned carpentry from Joseph and studied the Scriptures (the Bible). When Jesus was 12 years old, He went to the temple in Jerusalem and amazed the teachers there with His understanding.

Jesus’ Ministry and Teachings

When Jesus was about 30 years old, He started His public ministry. He traveled around Israel teaching people about God, healing the sick, and doing many miracles. Jesus taught that:

God loves everyone and wants them to love Him back
We should love other people like we love ourselves
God will forgive our sins if we ask Him to
Following Jesus is the only way to have eternal life with God

Jesus told many stories called parables to help people understand these things. He also chose 12 special friends called disciples to learn from Him and help Him.

Some of Jesus’ most famous teachings are:

The Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7)
The Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37)
The Parable of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)

Even though Jesus taught with love and did amazing miracles, some people still didn’t believe in Him. The religious leaders were jealous of Jesus and wanted to get rid of Him.

Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

Jesus knew that He had come to earth to die for our sins. He told His disciples that this would happen, but they didn’t understand.

One night, Jesus was praying in a garden when soldiers came and arrested Him. They took Him to the religious leaders who put Him on trial and said He should die. Even though Jesus had never done anything wrong, they handed Him over to the Roman governor to be crucified (killed on a cross).

Jesus was beaten, made fun of, and nailed to a cross. While He was hanging there, He prayed for the people who were hurting Him. Finally, Jesus died. It was the saddest day in history.

But the story doesn’t end there! Three days later, on the first Easter morning, Jesus came back to life! He appeared to His disciples and many other people, proving that He had power over death. Jesus’ resurrection shows us that:

Jesus really is the Son of God
God accepted Jesus’ death as the payment for our sins
We can have new life and hope because Jesus is alive

Before Jesus went back to heaven, He told His followers to go and tell everyone the good news about Him. Jesus promised that He would always be with us and that one day, He will come back to earth to make everything right.

Conclusion

In conclusion, the Bible is full of amazing stories about people who trusted and obeyed God, even when it was hard. From Adam and Eve to Jesus, we see how God loves His people and wants to have a close relationship with them.

We learned about Noah, who built an ark to save his family and the animals from the flood. We saw how God made special promises to Abraham and helped him become the father of many nations. We followed the exciting adventures of Joseph, who went from being a slave to a ruler in Egypt, and Moses, who led the Israelites out of slavery and gave them God’s laws.

We saw how Joshua bravely led the people into the Promised Land and how God used judges like Deborah, Gideon, and Samson to save Israel from their enemies. We learned about Ruth’s loyalty and faith, and how God used her in a special way.

We discovered that David, the shepherd boy who became king, was a man after God’s own heart, even though he made mistakes. And most importantly, we learned about Jesus, God’s own Son, who came to earth to save us from our sins and give us eternal life.

All these stories teach us important things about God and how we can live for Him. They show us that:

God always keeps His promises
God can use anyone, no matter how small or weak they feel
God forgives us when we sin and helps us start over
God has a good plan for our lives, even when things are hard
The most important thing is to love and trust God with all our heart

As we read these stories and learn from them, we can grow closer to God and become the people He wants us to be. We can face our challenges with courage, knowing that the same God who helped Noah, Abraham, Moses, and David is with us too.