Creating a Chronological Narrative
If you have read much of the Bible, you are probably aware that it is not always presented in chronological order. Sometimes this is obvious, and other times it can be less clear. The goal of iBIBLE is to reveal the one true narrative of Scripture from Genesis to the final Revelation. Let’s explore how the narrative of Scripture comes together in iBIBLE.
When we read the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), we see that they each cover the life of Christ in their own way. Each writer, while telling the same story, included different events or details about the same events of Jesus's life. When creating iBIBLE based on the Biblical narrative, instead of presenting the narrative of each Gospel separately, the four Gospel accounts will be combined to reveal the events of Jesus’s life in chronological order.
However, sometimes passages of Scripture are less obviously out of chronological order. Take, for example, Chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis. In Chapter 1, God created mankind in His image. He created them male and female, and then instructed them to “be fruitful and multiply.” (Gen. 1:27–28, ESV)
Then, in Chapter 2 God created Adam out of the dust of the earth, placed him in the garden, and brought all of the animals to Adam so that he could give each animal a name. Toward the end of Chapter 2, God removed a rib from Adam and created Eve.
When assembling a comprehensive Biblical narrative, Chapters 1 and 2 of Genesis have to be intertwined because they are not in chronological order. Chapter 1 gives an outline of what happened in Creation, while Chapter 2 fills in the details.
The fact that the Bible is not always in chronological order can cause confusion and even debate among Christians and skeptics alike.
There are other times when additional details of an event may be revealed in a later chapter. For example, early in Job Chapter 2, we read that when Job was afflicted with boils, his wife challenged him with her famous quote, “Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die.” (Job 2:9)
We learn later in the book of Job that months went by between Job's affliction and meeting with his three friends. During this time, Job was rejected by everyone close to him. His sufferings had included many more difficulties than the boils alone. Perhaps this added to his wife's challenge to Job to "curse God and die."
He has put my brothers far from me, and those who knew me are wholly estranged from me. My relatives have failed me, my close friends have forgotten me. The guests in my house and my maidservants count me as a stranger; I have become a foreigner in their eyes. I call to my servant, but he gives me no answer…My breath is strange to my wife, and I am a stench to the children of my own mother...All my intimate friends abhor me, and those whom I loved have turned against me. —Job 19:13–19, excerpted
SIDENOTE: Jewish tradition teaches that Job was homeless and lived outside of a garbage dump after being afflicted with boils.
Placing the events of the Biblical narrative in chronological order has its challenges. However, it is an important goal because it helps the viewer understand events in Scripture much easier and gives greater depth to the story.
When we combine all the details revealed to us in Scripture, the events come to life like never before. Before there were printing presses and computers, the Word of God was often passed down from generation to generation through storytelling. Those telling the stories likely knew them in chronological order and with all the details revealed in Scripture.
What a beautiful picture. Imagine a father telling his children the stories of the Bible, complete with all of the details and full of adventure! Today, we recapture that same spirit by creating a visual and animated narrative of the entire Word of God and by using every possible detail to present the Bible as one cohesive story.
Thank you for praying and supporting us in our production of iBIBLE. It's time to bring the Word of God to the world through story. And, by using only the Bible for the script, the true Word of God will be made available to the ends of the earth through iBIBLE!
