the story of the Bible
/Once upon timelessness, there was a mutiny.
A beautiful creature called Lucifer, right-hand to the King of the Universe who had created him, rose up with a third of the kingdom in a wild attempt to thrust their Sovereign off His throne and take the highest place for themselves. But they had grossly overestimated their own strength, and in response to their treason, the King justly expelled them from the kingdom.
The remaining two-thirds of the King’s angelic subjects watched anxiously to see what would happen next. Would the King end them all, His created beings, and choose to exist alone in His splendor? Would His beautiful character - the goodness and justice and mercy they all revered - shatter in the wake of this betrayal? Would He grieve and mourn and lament, or would He vengefully call up His armies to chase down Lucifer and destroy him utterly?
But He did none of those things. To His kingdom’s surprise, He instead selected a dark and unformed corner of His universe, and began to create again.
They watched while He divided the light from the darkness, the waters from the atmosphere, the land from the oceans, the day from the night. Then they saw Him place living creatures on the land, in the oceans, and in the air, painstakingly divided into hundreds of kinds and categories. Finally, hushed with anticipation, they watched Him plant a beautiful garden and create a magnificent being that was almost like them - but his name wasn’t Angel, it was Man.
Then they drew in a collective gasp: Instead of protecting this pristine new world at all costs, as the angels had expected, the King opened up His brand new creation to the access of His enemy, Lucifer.
In no time at all, Lucifer sowed death and destruction into all that was good and perfect in what the King had made. Man betrayed his Creator faster than even the Enemy had before him, and the whole new world was stolen by the darkness. The angels held their breaths once again, waiting to see what the King would do.
And again - He didn’t attack. He didn’t defend. He didn’t conquer. Instead, He chose from the multiplying nations of mankind one - named Israel - to be His bride. And He spoke to her something profound that puzzled them all: “Through you, all the nations of the earth will be blessed.”
The King loved Israel - how He loved her! The angels watched while He wrote love letters and spoke poetry over His wife, inviting her ever deeper into intimacy with Himself, inviting her to choose faithfulness to Him over every other temptation in the dark, stolen world.
But her heart was fickle, and the angels watched in horror while she dared to cheat on their King - and then cheat again - and again. She made a humiliation of herself with countless suitors, all of them mere pawns of Lucifer, who delighted in the King’s heartbreak.
The King wept. He pleaded. He sent messengers to call Israel back to her home, back to her place by His side. Defiant, she refused, and at last the King divorced her for her infidelity - released her into the harsh, dark world she seemed to long for, so that perhaps she might realize the truth out there, and come home.
The angels waited. Hope seemed lost; Lucifer had corrupted all of the King’s beautiful work, and had even stolen His beloved wife. Maybe it was over; maybe the Enemy had won.
But they didn’t know that the estranged bride of their King was with child.
Israel labored alone in the dark on a cold night. She had no idea that the King had sent a throng of His angels to guard her and her child from Lucifer’s grasp. That night, she gave birth to a Son - a Son of her own nation, but also of the King’s royal, heavenly blood. This Son grew up to love His mother and grieve over her separation from His Father. He knew that the price for her treason could justly be her life.
But the King had a plan.
He told the Prince to take a wife for Himself - not of a nation, as His Father had done, but of a people. This people, called the Church, would be defined solely by her love and devotion to Him, and not by her ethnicity. By their example, the King hoped that the heart of His own beloved Israel would sear with the reality of her loneliness, and she would desire to return to His arms.
The angels watched while the Son wooed His chosen bride and offered her the bread and the cup of engagement. Perhaps it really could end happily, somehow - at least for the Prince and His bride.
Israel’s heart grew cold and bitter toward her Son, in whom she saw only reminders of her own humiliation and disgrace, shame and despair. His obedience to the King’s work enraged her, and the Church’s wide-eyed wonder and innocence disgusted her. The angels exclaimed in horror: In a single stroke, Israel thrust the blade of all her hatred and shame into her own Son’s side, and slew Him.
The Church struggled to support the weight of His slumped body. His precious blood spilled out onto her garments and splattered Israel’s tainted robes. In the distance, Lucifer gloried in this, the ultimate victory. Surely, this couldn’t be part of the plan.
The King cried out in agony while He watched His Son die: “It is finished.”
Darkness fell like a curtain across the stage of a tragedy.
The angels didn’t dare to breathe.
Silence - deafening silence.
Until the King spoke again.
And in an instant, with the thundering of His voice, light like the dawn cut across the black, and against that brilliant and blinding light stood the silhouette of the Son Himself - alive.
Celebration erupted among the angels above, and between the Son and His Fiancee below. The Church exulted over her restored Beloved, and when that powerful resurrection light hit the scarlet bloodstains on her robes, her garments became white as snow - the regalia of a bride.
Israel backed away from the scene in shame.
Lucifer cowered away from the light.
At last the King’s plan was fulfilled, His victory sealed. His Son’s blood had purchased costly robes of purity for Israel so that when she finally returned to the Kingdom, it would be as one of the royal family, not as a traitor.
“I must go to my Father’s house and prepare a place for us,” the Prince murmured to The Church. “Wait for me - be ready for my return. I’ll leave you my own Guardian from the palace to guide you and encourage you until then. And go to my mother,” he added in a tone of urgency. “Be kind to her, tell her that my Father longs for her return, and that she has been acquitted of her treason. I paid the debt myself.”
He kissed her and turned away. “I’ll be back for you.”
As the angels watched the Son journey back toward His heavenly Kingdom, they couldn’t help but notice that the dead and broken world was not quite so dark anymore. In fact, small, flickering, resurrection lights seemed to multiply wherever The Church went.
Maybe Lucifer had not quite won after all.
•••
The angels still wait for the completion of the story, when all of the King’s family is reunited - including a forgiven and reborn Israel, and a newly-wed Church - and all of Creation is made new, untouchable by Lucifer’s treachery. But in watching this incredible drama unfold, the King’s loyal angels have learned one thing for certain: This is who He is.
Good. Patient. Faithful. Loving. Holy. Just. Selfless. Eternal. Victorious. Compassionate. Gracious.
King.
And one day, we will all live joyfully forever and ever after in His presence.
Note
This is the dramatized version of a story that my Bible professor told on the very first day of class, before we had even cracked open Genesis. It is, in a sweepingly general sense and with immense liberties taken, the story of the Bible. This is the narrative arc that undergirds and sews together all sixty-six books in the canon we call Scripture. At its core, the Word of God not a handbook on how to please Him; it’s a revelation of His love for His people, and the relationship He desires to have with us.
Below, I’ve included a list of Scripture references that informed this rendition of the story, although since every single verse of the Bible contributes its piece to the narrative, this list is by no means exhaustive. It simply contains some of the passages that most closely correlate. If you were to read just one, I would suggest the book of Hosea, which is really the original edition of this tragic and yet victorious romance.
Or, if you would like to join us in reading through the Bible in 180 days in 2020, you can get the full picture of God’s incredible story for yourself. To learn more, sign up, and get your own Bible180 Challenge Journal, click here.
For further reading, in approximate order:
Isaiah 14
Ezekiel 28
Genesis 1-3
Genesis 12:1-3
Deuteronomy 6
Song of Songs
Hosea
Ezekiel 16
Jeremiah 30-33
Revelation 12
John 13-21
Acts 1-2
Acts 10:34-48
Romans 11
Isaiah 61-62
Daniel 12
Revelation 19-22
