THE

UNFOLDING

WORD

The Story of the Bible from Creation to New Creation

ZACH KEELE

The Unfolding Word: The Story of the Bible from Creation to New Creation

Copyright 2020 Zach Keele

Lexham Press, 1313 Commercial St., Bellingham, WA 98225

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All rights reserved. You may use brief quotations from this resource in presentations, articles, and books. For all other uses, please write Lexham Press for permission. Email us at permissions@lexhampress.com.

Unless otherwise noted, Bible quotations are from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked njps are from The TANAKH: The New JPS Translation according to the Traditional Hebrew Text. Copyright 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society.

All maps copyright 2016–2019 Faithlife / Logos Bible Software.

Print ISBN 9781683593805

Digital ISBN 9781683593812

Library of Congress Control Number 2020941694

Lexham Editorial: Elliot Ritzema, Danielle Thevenaz, Jessi Strong

Cover Design: Peter Park

To Tovauh

אַחַת הִיא יוֹנָתִי תַמָּתִ֔י

Song 6:9

CONTENTS

Introduction

1 Creational Foundation

Bible Reading: Genesis 1–3

2 Eden to Egypt

Bible Reading: Genesis 4–50

3 Exodus and Settlement

Bible Reading: Exodus, Joshua, Judges

4 The Mosaic Economy

Bible Reading: Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy

5 The King Who Brings Peace

Bible Reading: 1-2 Samuel

6 The Divided Kingdom

Bible Reading: 1-2 Kings

7 The Prophets

Bible Reading: Isaiah, Joel, Micah, Nahum, Obadiah, Habakkuk, Zephaniah

8 Exile and Return

Bible Reading: Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, Lamentations, Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther, Haggai, Zechariah

9 Psalms and Wisdom

Bible Reading: Job, Ecclesiastes, Proverbs, Song of Songs, Psalms

10 The Gospels

Bible Reading: Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

11 The Acts of the Apostles

Bible Reading: Acts

12 Paul and His Epistles

Bible Reading: Romans, 1-2 Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, 1-2 Thessalonians, 1-2 Timothy, Titus, Philemon

13 General Epistles and Revelation

Bible Reading: Hebrews, James, 1-2 Peter, 1-3 John, Jude, Revelation

Acknowledgments

Image Attributions

INTRODUCTION

The Bible is the best-selling book in history. For millennia, Jews, Christians, and Muslims have been drawn to the stories, prayers, hymns, and laws found within its pages. Even in twenty-first-century America, where general Bible knowledge is on the decline, references to Scripture are not uncommon in pop culture and politics. And it is more accessible than ever: while the printing press put a Bible in every house, Steve Jobs made it possible to have a Bible in every pocket, fully searchable by word or phrase.

Accessibility, though, does not necessarily correlate to understanding. The Bible, for all its popularity, is not an easy book to make sense of. It may be the greatest story ever told, but it is challenging to understand.

Without a doubt, parts of the Bible ...