Abel – He is the second son of Adam, He was the first martyr. He was killed by Cain. God showed respect for Abel's offering, but not for that of Cain, because Abel "by faith offered a more excellent sacrifice that Cain."
Abraham – God changed his name from “Abram." God established a covenant with Abraham and his descendants. Through Abraham’s line comes the entire nation of Israel, and Jesus, the Messiah. He had a son, Isaac when he was one hundred years old. He trusted God to the point of offering up his son, Isaac as a sacrifice. God stopped Abraham and gave him a lamb to sacrifice. This foreshadowed the coming “Lamb of God” (Jesus) who would be sacrificed for the world.
Adam – He is the first man. He was created by God in the Garden of Eden. He sinned together with Eve and brought the curse upon mankind. The ground was cursed for their sake. In the hardship of toil and labor, in the care and suffering of childbirth and parentage, they began to feel at once the awful consequences their transgression involved. All the burdens of life - sickness, disaster, trouble and death - come from the action of that fateful day. They are the terrible reminders of our fallen state. Our first parents involved all their posterity when they sinned. With the curse God gave a way out by proclaiming the coming Messiah - the woman's seed (the son of Mary), would crush the serpent's head (Genesis 3:15). This promise, which is called the "first gospel", was fulfilled in the Crucifixion. Jesus is the second Adam, as Paul shows in Romans 5:12 and 1 Corinthians 15:45. He undid the work of the first. He abolished the power of sin and death for believers and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. The redemption by Jesus is the glorious solution of the fall of Adam. Adam gives up his position as spiritual head of the house when he is questioned by God. God asks him what he has done and immediately he lays the blame on Eve. This is not God’s design.
Barabbas - Barabbas was a robber who had committed murder in an insurrection in Jerusalem, and was lying in prison at the time of the trial of Jesus before Pilate. It was the custom at the Jewish Passover to release a man from prison. The people asked the Barabbas be released rather than Jesus.
Cain – He is the first son of Adam and Eve. He was involved in agriculture. He killed his brother Abel in a fit of jealousy, roused by the rejection of his own sacrifice and the acceptance of Abel's, for which he was expelled from Eden, and led the life of an exile.
Daniel – He is a prophet to Israel. He wrote the book of Daniel. He was captured by the Babylonians. He was a slave in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon. His friends Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were cast into the fiery furnace for continuing to worship God, but they miraculously were unharmed. He lived a life of devotion to God, and interpreted many dreams and had many visions. He was later made the third in power in the kingdom under Darius of Cyrus in 534 BC. Daniel was a prophet who had visions including the coming of Christ and the end times.
David – He is the second king over Israel. He succeeds King Saul. He is noted in scripture as “a man after God’s own heart”, but yet like all men he was prone to sin as well. It is through David’s lineage that Jesus is born. He killed Goliath, the giant, when he was a youth. After killing Goliath, his popularity grew by leaps and bounds. He entertained King Saul by playing his harp. His popularity became so great that Saul was threatened by him and attempted to kill him. David ran from Saul and had opportunity to kill King Saul many times but would not because he had been anointed king by God. He wrote many of the Psalms. After becoming king he committed adultery with Bathsheba, with whom he later had Solomon. His son, Solomon, became the next king.
Elijah – He lived during the reign of King Ahab and Queen Jezebel. He confronted the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel and challenged them to see whose God would answer. Baal was the god of nature, fertility and rain. It is easy to imagine him with a slight grin on his face as he chided the prophets of Baal to call down fire from heaven, and then proceeded to pour water on his sacrifice before praying to God who consumed it with fire. God performed many miracles through Elijah. God caused it to stop raining for a period of several years because Elijah prayed so. His close walk with God eventually allowed him to be one of the very few who did not face death here on Earth as he was "taken up." He also reappeared with Jesus as He ascended into Heaven after being resurrected.
Elisha - Like Elijah, Elisha was a prophet of northern Israel. He was anointed prophet by Elijah and prophesied during the reigns of Jehoram, Jehu, Jehoahaz and Joash, a period of sixty years. When Elijah was taken up into Heaven, Elisha became his successor. Elisha performed many miracles. This included bringing a child back from the dead and healing a leper.
Esther - Esther was the Persian name of Hadassah. Esther was a beautiful Jewish maiden, whose ancestor Kish had been among the captives led away from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar when Jehoiachin was taken captive. The means taken by Esther to avert great calamity from her people and her kindred are fully related in the book of Esther.
Eve – She is the wife of Adam. She sinned together with Adam by disobeying the command of God not to eat of the fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. She was tempted by Satan, and she ate. She gave to her husband and he ate as well.
Isaac - Isaac was Abraham and Sarah's only son. Born when Abraham was 100 years old and Sarah was 90 he was a miracle come true. The Lord promised that the nation of Israel would come through Isaac. When Isaac was young God told Abraham to sacrifice his son on Mount Moriah. Abraham obeyed yet was deeply troubled. At the last minute the Lord provided a sacrificial lamb for Abraham to sacrifice in place of Isaac. Isaac married Rebekah, a relative from Mesopotamia when he was forty years old. They had twin sons: Jacob and Esau. Isaac died at age 180. Isaac is known as the father of the nation of Israel along with Abraham and Isaac's son Jacob.
Jacob - Jacob was the younger of two brothers (Jacob and Esau), twins, born to Isaac and Rebekah. His name was later changed to Israel from which the name Israelites came from. After tricking his brother and father Isaac into giving him the blessing as the first-born son, Jacob runs away and marries Rachel and works for Rachel's father for twenty years after being tricked by him to marry Rachel’s sister, Leah. Jacob leaves Laban, Rachel’s father and journey’s back to see Esau. He meets and wrestles with “an Angel of the Lord” who blesses him.
James and John (Sons of Zebedee) - James and John were brothers who were partners in a fishing business with two other brothers, Peter and Andrew. When Jesus called them into ministry with Him, they left not only their business but their father Zebedee as well. They had a boat as well as hired servants, so they were apparently from a wealthy family.
Jesus – Jesus is fully God. He was with God in the beginning. He is also fully man, born of a virgin in the 1st century. Hated by the Jewish religious leaders of His day He was beaten and crucified by the Romans. He is the Messiah, the Christ, prophesied of in the Old Testament. The Jesus of history was born in Palestine. He grew up in the Galilean village of Nazareth, and eventually attracted a group of followers or Disciples. His popularity grew in part because of the many miracles He performed. This combined with his announcements about a coming Kingdom, for claiming to be the Son of God and claiming equality with God made Him very unpopular with both Roman and Jewish leaders. Eventually He was arrested and crucified in Jerusalem. Three days later He rose from the dead and appeared to many people. His disciples who had deserted Him at His arrest now boldly proclaimed the good news, and Christianity rapidly spread throughout the world.
Jonah – He was a prophet of God. God instructed him to go to Nineveh (a pagan city) and to tell them to repent so that they may be saved. Jonah did not want to go and instead sailed for Tarshish (the other direction). He was cast overboard and swallowed by a fish, spit-up after three days and nights and finally yielded to God.
Joseph – Joseph was the 11th of twelve children of Israel (Jacob). He was sold into slavery by his brothers. He was taken to Egypt where he was thrown into prison after being falsely accused for a crime. He interpreted a dream for Pharaoh and was elevated to second-in-command of the entire kingdom. There was a famine in the land and his brothers came looking for food. He gave them food and they brought back their youngest brother Benjamin. Joseph and his brothers were reconciled and their family came to live in Egypt. They stayed there and multiplied and came under slavery, until finally delivered.
Joshua – He was born in Egypt during the Israelite captivity there. He was one of only
two (the other was Caleb) adult Israelites to go through both the Exodus and to survive the forty years in the wilderness and enter the Promised Land. Before his death, Moses commissioned Joshua to take over for him when he was no longer able. After the death of Moses, the Lord confirmed that Joshua was the one selected to lead the Israelites. It was part of God's plan that Joshua carry on where Moses left off. The Lord told Joshua, ``No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you or forsake you." This was a conditional promise, meaning that the Israelites had to follow God and put him first in their lives.
Lazarus – He is a friend of Jesus. He becomes sick and dies. Jesus waits two days before coming to see Lazarus. By the time He gets there, Lazarus has been in the tomb for four days. He tells His disciples that He is glad He was not there when Lazarus died so that they might believe. Martha meets Him and states that if Jesus had been there then Lazarus wouldn’t have died. Jesus does not deny this. Jesus weeps for Lazarus. He commands that the stone covering the tomb be opened and He calls Lazarus from the dead.
Luke - Luke was a physician and a well educated man. He was familiar with the Eastern Mediterranean area and appears to have traveled with Paul from Troas to Philippi before 52 A.D. and then later after 58 A.D. Tradition has it that he came from the city of Antioch. The book he wrote is in chronological order.
Mark – He wrote the Gospel of Mark and was a companion of Paul the apostle, and Barnabas in their missionary journeys, and later of Peter in Rome. Mark's family had a significant role in the life of the early church between his mother, Mary, and his cousin Barnabas. Mary owned a house in Jerusalem where the early church regularly met and it is the house Peter went to after being released form prison. Barnabas was the well-known companion of Paul on his first missionary journey that led to Mark accompanying Paul.
Mary and Joseph – They are the parents of Jesus. They were engaged whenever Mary was visited by an angel and told that she would give birth to a child even though she was a virgin. Joseph was visited by an angel and told that the child was of God. They both believed God and raised Jesus. There is not much about Joseph written in the Bible but we do know that Mary was with Jesus at the foot of the cross and had other children.
Mary Magdalene - Jesus cured Mary Magdalene of demon possession and she became one of a group of women who followed Jesus from Galilee and ministered to him. Mary witnessed the crucifixion and was among the first to visit the empty tomb on Easter and to see the risen Christ.
Matthew - Matthew, also called Levi, was a Jewish tax collector. Tax collectors were
despised by the Jews and counted among sinners because they worked for the Roman oppressors and extorted money from their own people. Matthew was sitting in the tax collector's booth when Jesus called him to follow Him. Matthew immediately left his booth to follow Jesus, and he arranged a feast for Him. Many collectors and sinners were present, and the Pharisees criticized Jesus for eating with such bad company. Jesus replied with His purpose: "It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners"
Methuselah – His name may mean "When he dies, judgment." Others say: "When he is dead it shall be sent" ("it" refers to the Deluge) (Cornwall and Smith, Exhaustive Dictionary of Bible Names). He was the son of Enoch, father of Lamech, and grandfather of Noah. He was the oldest man of whom we have any record. This very ancient man lived before the Flood, and died at the age of 969 years, in the year of the flood. This fact, plus the former possible meaning of his name, suggests that Methuselah's very godly father, Enoch, received a prophecy from God when his son was born, thus the name. Methuselah's great age may be further evidence of God's "long-suffering...in the days of Noah."
Moses - Moses' story begins with his preservation as a child in the reeds by the river Nile. Moses was brought up in Pharaoh's court in Egypt. As an adult Moses was angered by the oppression of the Hebrew people. Seeing an Egyptian task master beating a Hebrew, Moses killed the Egyptian and fled to Midian. While Moses was a shepherd in Midian, God spoke from a burning bush and called him. His task was to go back to Egypt to bring about the deliverance of God's people, Israel. God also disclosed that the divine name was "I Am." When Moses hesitated, God told him that his brother Aaron could be his spokesman. The plagues, the crossing of the Red Sea, the gifts of manna, quails, and water in the desert were signs that God was leading his people. Moses brought the law from Mt. Sinai. Moses was unique in that he spoke with God "face to face." While in the wilderness, Moses failed to honor God for providing water from a rock. Because of this God did not allow Moses to enter the Promised Land, but only to look at it from Mount Nebo in the land of Moab.
Noah – Noah and his family were the only righteous people left on the face of the earth. God had sorrow over creating the earth. He destroyed the earth by flood but saved Noah and his family in an ark made of wood. Noah took with him 2 of every kind of animal in the ark. Noah, his sons Shem, Ham and Japheth, and their wives were saved. Through this family the world was populated. Japheth and his descendants were in Europe. Shem stayed in the Middle East. Ham and his descendents were in Africa.
Paul - Paul was a missionary apostle mainly to Gentiles. His Hebrew name was Saul, but
he is better known to us as Paul or the Apostle Paul. He was a Pharisee, strictly trained in the law and Jewish traditions, and a Roman citizen. Paul's trade was tent-making. Paul approved of the stoning of Stephen and Paul himself persecuted the church. His conversion occurred on the road to Damascus when a light from heaven flashed about him and he heard a voice: "Saul, Saul, why do you persecute me?" This was Jesus speaking to Paul. Paul was temporarily blinded, but was healed by a Christian named Ananias. Thereafter Paul was zealous to proclaim publicly Jesus as the Christ. People were astonished because Paul had formerly persecuted the church. On his missionary journeys Paul helped establish Christian congregations in many cities around the eastern and northern Mediterranean.
Peter - Simon (renamed Peter by Jesus), lived in Galilee where he and his brother Andrew were fishing partners with James and John. Jesus called these four to join Him in His ministry of making disciples, and they immediately left their lives as fishermen to follow Him. Peter quickly stood out as the leader of the twelve apostles, and he is the most vividly described and the most often mentioned among them. He also seems the most human, as his story is one of repeated successes and failures. Peter was impulsive, impertinent and boastful, yet also enthusiastic, loving, and penitent.
Pontius Pilate - Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea from A.D. 26-36. Like other provincial governors, Pilate was appointed by the Roman emperor. The trial and execution of Jesus took place during the middle years of Pilate's governorship. The Jewish authorities apparently brought Jesus to Pilate because the Romans reserved the right to sentence someone to death by crucifixion. Although Jesus was charged with threatening Roman domination of Palestine, Pilate recognized that Jesus was innocent. Nevertheless, Pilate had Jesus beaten and later handed him over to be crucified.
Ruth – She was a Moabitess, the wife of Mahlon, whose father, Elimelech, had settled in the land of Moab. On the death of Elimelech and Mahlon, Naomi came with Ruth, her daughter-in-law, who refused to leave her, to Bethlehem, the old home from which Elimelech had migrated. There she had a rich relative, Boaz, to whom Ruth was eventually married. She became the mother of Obed, the grandfather of David. Thus Ruth, a Gentile, is among the maternal ancestors of our Lord.
Samson - He was a Nazirite set apart for God's service and therefore did not cut his hair or drink alcohol. His exploits included tearing a lion apart with his bare hands, killing a company of the men of Ashdod, setting fire to their fields and orchards, and slaughtering a thousand men with the jawbone of a donkey. After a Philistine woman named Delilah enticed Samson to reveal the secret of his great strength, she cut off his hair, and the Philistines gouged out his eyes, bound him, and set him to grind at the mill in the prison. But Samson's hair, the secret of his strength, began to grow again. The day came when the Philistine lords sent for the blind Samson to laugh at him. Samson felt for the pillars on which the house rested, asked for the God’s help, pulled them down, and died along with many Philistines.
Sarah - Sarah and Abraham left their home in Haran to travel in Canaan, because God promised to give them a land. Sarah lived ninety years of her life without bearing children and asked Abraham to father a son (Ishmael) through her servant Hagar. God promised that Sarah too would bear a son and she laughed at the idea. Later she laughed for joy when her baby was born, and she named the child Isaac which means "he laughed."
King Saul - Saul was anointed by Samuel to be the first king of Israel. David entered his service as a musician. Later, David gained fame as a warrior and Saul became jealous and tried to kill him. David fled and lived as an outlaw. Eventually Saul and his sons and the men of Israel fought a battle with the Philistines at Mount Gilboa. Before battle Saul had a medium call Samuel's ghost back from the dead. In the battle they were disastrously defeated, the sons of Saul were slain, and Saul fell upon his own sword.
Solomon - Solomon was the son of David and Bathsheba. He came to the throne aided by his mother, Nathan the prophet, and Zadok the priest. Solomon prayed for wisdom and became famous for his wise sayings. He built the first Temple in Jerusalem using forced labor and materials obtained from Hiram of Tyre. Solomon solidified his power by marriage alliances with other kingdoms. These marriages eventually led to the establishment of pagan shrines in Jerusalem.
