The List
I love lists. I make lists all the time. I like it when magazines come out with their “greatest” lists; greatest books, greatest songs, greatest guitar players, greatest quarterbacks, etc. Of course they’re always debatable, but that’s part of the fun.
Here’s a list for you: The Twenty-Four Most Important People In The Bible.
Twelve from the Old Testament and twelve from the New Testament.
Make your own list and see if we agree…or not.
(I’m leaving Adam off the Old Testament list because…I want to. And I’m leaving Jesus off the New Testament list because He’s beyond compare.)
The Twelve Most Important People in the Old Testament
(In chronological order)
1. Noah — He saved the world.
2. Abraham — The father of faith; the friend of God.
3. Sarah — Abraham’s partner in the adventure of faith.
4. Isaac — The child of promise, the seed of Abraham.
5. Jacob — The patriarch of the twelve tribes, the man called Israel.
6. Joseph — He saved the seed of Abraham.
7. Moses — Led Israel out of Egypt and gave the Law.
8. Joshua — Led Israel into the promised land.
9. David — The great king and psalmist of Israel.
10. Elijah — The great representative prophet of Israel.
11. Isaiah — Wrote the greatest prophetic book of the Old Testament.
12. Daniel — Provided the foundation for all eschatological prophecy.
The Twelve Most Important People in the New Testament
(In chronological order…sort of.)
1. Mary — The mother of the Son of God.
2. Joseph — The man who raised the Son of God as His earthly father.
3. John the Baptist — The one who prepared the way for Messiah.
4. Peter — The foremost of the twelve disciples.
5. James — One of Jesus’ inner circle of three disciples.
6. John — The “beloved” disciple; wrote five books of the New Testament.
7. Matthew — One of the twelve and wrote the most thorough Gospel.
8. Mark — Wrote the first Gospel.
9. Luke — Traveling companion of Paul; wrote his Gospel and Acts.
10. James the Brother of Jesus — First pastor of the first church.
11. Barnabas — The apostle who opened the door for Paul’s ministry.
12. Paul — Greatest apostle; wrote 13 books of the New Testament.