Full Bible Timeline

A Scholarly–Devotional Exploration — 32,000 words — 3 hour read time — Download the entire white paper above.

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For centuries, Bible readers have noticed an apparent contradiction between Genesis 11–12 and Acts 7:4. Genesis says Terah lived 205 years, which means he was still alive when Abram left Haran at 75. But Stephen declares that Abraham left “after his father died.”

 

Did Stephen make a mistake?

Did Luke misquote him?

Or has the Church misunderstood the passage?

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This study shows that there is no contradiction at all. The answer lies in understanding something the ancient Jewish world knew clearly—but which modern readers often miss: the Bible describes more than one kind of death.

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The rabbis, Dead Sea Scrolls, and early Jewish commentators unanimously taught that Terah was spiritually dead, not physically dead, when Abraham left him. Terah’s idolatry (Joshua 24:2) made him “morally dead,” and Genesis places his “death notice” at the turning point of Abraham’s story for theological, not chronological, reasons. Stephen inherits and applies this interpretation directly.

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This means Abraham obeyed God’s call while his father was still alive. He did not wait 60 years for Terah’s physical death. Instead, Abraham responded to the God of Glory, stepping away from a spiritually lifeless household, choosing covenant obedience over family tradition, and walking into the land God promised him.

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This theme—leaving spiritual death to enter spiritual life—runs through the entire biblical timeline. Noah left a corrupt generation. Moses left Egypt. Israel left the wilderness rebels. The prophets called the nation away from idolatry and dead religion. And in the New Testament, Jesus echoes the same truth with His striking words: “Let the dead bury their dead” (Luke 9:60).

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Stephen brings all of this together. Standing before the Sanhedrin, he uses Terah as the first example in a long pattern of leaders who were spiritually dead while still physically alive. His message is not about genealogy; it is about heart condition. Israel’s past is filled with men who resisted God, and Stephen declares that the same spirit now confronts the Messiah Himself.

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Understanding Terah’s spiritual death removes the tension between Genesis and Acts, strengthens our confidence in Scripture’s accuracy, and reveals a powerful theological point: God calls His people to walk away from what is dead—even when doing so is costly.

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This is the thread that unites Abraham, Stephen, and every believer today. It is also the foundational conviction behind the Full Bible Timeline project: that Scripture is internally consistent, historically rooted, spiritually coherent, and divinely inspired.

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Explore the chronology, the covenants, and the divine purpose woven through Abraham’s remarkable life.