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A J E N A M S Z C]

#2. To assist in the study# of a general survey of Bible history, we
give as a memory outline above a chart of the centuries between Adam
and Christ. We use in this the chronology in our Bibles, not because
it is correct, but because scholars have not yet agreed on a better,
especially for the ages before Abraham.

All the names are well-known but that of Jared, and his is put in
merely to mark the close of the first half-millennium. Memorize these
names so that you can reproduce the chart without looking at the book.
This exercise of memory will enable you to locate the chief events of
Bible history roughly in their appropriate chronological environment.
Are you reading about any event in the wanderings of Israel? Of course
you are between the letters M. and S. Is it a story of Elijah that you
are studying? Then the event must lie between the letters S. and Z. Or
is it the biography of Nehemiah that forms your lesson? Then it must
lie to the right of the letter Z.

#3. One peculiarity of the Bible narrative# is that at times it is
quite diffuse, and covers much space on the sacred page, while at
other times it is most highly condensed. For example, the first twelve
chapters of Genesis cover over 2000 years at the lowest computation.
All the rest of Genesis (thirty-eight chapters) covers the lives of
four men, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph. The first chapter of
Exodus covers centuries while all the rest of Exodus, all of
Leviticus, all of Numbers and all of Deuteronomy cover only forty
years. Surely there must be some good reason for this. Again, two
chapters in Matthew and two in Luke cover thirty years of our Lord's
life, while all the rest of the four Gospels cover only three and a
half years.

#4. Another peculiarity# of the Word is that the miraculous element is
very unevenly distributed. At times miracles abound, and at other
times they are but few in number. In the first eleven chapters of
Genesis, covering more than 2000 years, there are few miracles,
outside of those of the creation. But in the period after that,
covered by the four great Patriarchs, we find more miracles than
before.

During the Mosaic period, beginning with Exodus 2, we find that
miracles begin to multiply