{"id":97,"date":"2018-03-01T12:49:48","date_gmt":"2018-03-01T12:49:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rabbi-mercy.com\/home\/?p=97"},"modified":"2023-12-28T16:08:56","modified_gmt":"2023-12-29T00:08:56","slug":"brief-history-of-israel-and-the-jewish-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rabbi-mercy.com\/home\/index.php\/2018\/03\/01\/brief-history-of-israel-and-the-jewish-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Brief History of Israel and the Jewish People"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Jews are one of the most ancient peoples in the world. Jewish history is recorded in the Bible, by historians outside of the Bible, and through archeology. We have more facts about Jewish history than that of any other nation \u2013 which we will use to build a timeline to summarize the history of the Jews.<\/p>

Abraham: The Jewish Family Tree Begins<\/h5>

The timeline starts with Abraham, the founder of the Jewish people, who lived about 2000 BC.\u00a0 He is even named outside the Bible in ancient clay tablets, dated around 1950 BC in contracts between him and kings in Babylonia.<\/p>

\u201cThe name of Abram \u2013 Abu-ramu \u2018the exalted father\u2019 \u2013 is found in early Babylonian contracts\u201d\u00a0\u00a0AH Sayce. The \u2018Higher Criticism\u2019 and the Verdict of the Monuments. 1894 SSPCK\u00a0 p. 159<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>

Abraham and Patriarchs in Historical Timeline<\/figcaption><\/figure>

Abraham was a real historical figure, as well as the man\u00a0who believed promises from G-d, blessed be He, of a land and a people.\u00a0\u00a0The timeline continues with the green bar when Abraham\u2019s descendants were slaves in Egypt. This period of time started when Joseph, great-grandson of Abraham, led the Israelites to Egypt, where later on they became slaves.<\/p>

Moses: The Israelites become a Nation under G-d<\/h5>

Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt with the Passover Plague, which destroyed Egypt and allowed the Israelite Exodus from Egypt to the land of Israel.\u00a0 Moses wrote the Torah, and at its end, Moses prophesied\u00a0Blessings and Curses\u00a0on the Israelites.\u00a0 They would be Blessed if they obeyed G-d, blessed be He, but experience a Curse if they did not.\u00a0 These Blessings & Curses were to follow the Jewish people ever after.<\/p>

From Moses to David the Israelites lived in the land of Israel, but without Jerusalem and with no king<\/figcaption><\/figure>

For several hundred years the Israelites lived in their land but they did not have a King, nor did they have the capital city of Jerusalem \u2013 it belonged to other people in this time. However, with King David around 1000 BC this changed.<\/p>

\"Living
Living In land of Israel with Davidic Kings ruling from Jerusalem<\/figcaption><\/figure>
David establishes a Royal Dynasty in Jerusalem<\/h5>

David conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital city. He received the promise of a coming \u2018Messiah\u2019 and from that time Jews have awaited Messiah\u2019s coming.\u00a0 David\u2019s son Solomon succeeded him and Solomon built the First Jewish Temple in Jerusalem. The descendants of King David continued to rule for about 400 years and this period is shown in aqua-blue (1000 \u2013 586 BC).\u00a0 This was the period of Israelite glory \u2013 they had the promised Blessings.\u00a0 They were a powerful nation, had an advanced society, culture, and their Temple. But the Tanakh also describes their growing corruption and idol worship during this time.\u00a0 The Israelites split into two different countries.\u00a0 Many prophets in this period warned the Israelites that the Curses of Moses would come on them if they did not change. But these warnings were ignored.<\/p>

The First Jewish Exile to Babylon<\/h5>

Finally around 600 BC the Curses happened. Nebuchadnezzar, a powerful Babylonian King came \u2013 just like Moses had predicted 900 years before when in Torah\u00a0he wrote:<\/p>

The Lord wll bring a nation against you from far away \u2026 a fierce-looking nation without respect for the old or pity for the young. \u2026 They will besiege all the cities throughout the land. (Deuteronomy 28: 49-52)<\/p><\/blockquote>

Nebuchadnezzar conquered Jerusalem, burned it, and destroyed the Temple that Solomon had built. He then exiled the Israelites to Babylon. This fulfilled the predictions of Moses that<\/p>

You will be uprooted from the land you are entering to possess. Then the Lord will scatter you among all nations, from one end of the earth to the other. (Deuteronomy 28:63-64)<\/p><\/blockquote>

\"Conquered
Conquered and exiled to Babylon<\/figcaption><\/figure>

So for 70 years, the period shown in red, the Israelites lived as exiles outside the land\u00a0promised to Abraham and his descendants.<\/p>

Return from Exile under the Persians<\/h5>

After that, the Persian Emperor Cyrus conquered Babylon and Cyrus became the power of the world. He permitted the Jews to return to their land.<\/p>

\"Living
Living in the Land as a part of the Persian Empire, 2nd Temple period begins<\/figcaption><\/figure>

However they were no longer an independent country, they were now a province in the Persian Empire.\u00a0 This continued for 200 years and is in pink in the timeline. During this time the Jewish Temple\u00a0(known as the 2nd Temple) and the city of Jerusalem were rebuilt.\u00a0 Esther (from which Purim is celebrated) and Ezra & Nehemiah lived in this time period.<\/p>

The period of the Greeks<\/h5>

Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire and Jews had a province in the Greek Empires for another 200 years. This is shown in dark blue.\u00a0 Later Greek rulers tried to force Greek worship upon the Jews, resulting in the Maccabean revolt, and semi-independence until the Romans came.\u00a0 Hanukkah is celebrated from this time period.<\/p>

\"Living
Living in the Land as part of Greek Empires<\/figcaption><\/figure>
The Roman Period<\/h5>

The Romans became the dominant world power. The Israelites again became a province in this Empire and it is shown in light yellow. This is the time when Yeshua (Jesus) lived, from whom the Messianic hope spread mostly to Gentiles in what is known today as Christianity.\u00a0 This explains why Romans and the Roman government is so prominent in the New Testament \u2013 because Rome ruled supreme at that time.<\/p>

\"
Living in the Land as part of the Roman Empire<\/figcaption><\/figure>
Second Jewish exile under the Romans<\/h5>

From the time of the Babylonians (600 BC) the Israelites (or Jews as they were called now) had not been independent as they had been under the Kings of David. They were ruled by other Empires.\u00a0 Resentment of this finally boiled over and the Jews revolted against Roman rule.\u00a0 The Romans came and destroyed Jerusalem (70 AD), burned down the 2nd Temple (only the Kotel remains to this day), and deported the Jews as slaves across the Roman Empire. This was the\u00a0second<\/em>\u00a0<\/strong>Jewish exile. Since the Roman Empire was so large the Jews were scattered across the whole world.\u00a0 The tragedy of Masada occurred in this revolt.\u00a0 A further revolt in 135 AD led by Simon bar Kokhba again resulted in defeat and Jews were not permitted to remain in the land.\u00a0 Rome renamed Judea as\u00a0Syria Palaestina<\/i>\u00a0(where we get the modern word Palestine) and Jerusalem (still in ruins from 70 AD) to\u00a0Aelia Capitolina.
<\/em><\/p>

\"
Jerusalem and Temple destroyed by Romans in 70 AD. Jews sent into world-wide exile<\/figcaption><\/figure>

And this is how the Jewish people lived for almost 2000 years: dispersed in foreign lands and never accepted in these lands. In these different nations, they regularly suffered anti-semitic persecutions.\u00a0 Persecution of the Jews was particularly true in Christian Europe.\u00a0 From Spain (all Jews expelled from Spain in 1492), across Western Europe, to Russia (intense pogroms by the Tsars in 1880\u2019s) the Jews lived often in a dangerous situations in these kingdoms and also in the Islamic caliphates. The Curses of Moses from 1500 BC were accurate descriptions of how they lived.<\/p>

\u2026 Among those nations you will find no repose, no resting place for the sole of your foot. There the Lord will give you an anxious mind, eyes weary with longing, and a despairing heart. (Deuteronomy 28:65)<\/p><\/blockquote>

The\u00a0Curses\u00a0against the Israelites were given to make peoples ask:<\/p>

All the nations will ask: \u201cWhy has the Lord done this to this land? Why this fierce, burning anger?\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>

And the answer was:<\/p>

\u201c \u2026 the Lord uprooted them from their land and thrust them into another land\u2026\u201d (Deuteronomy 29:24-25)<\/p><\/blockquote>

The timeline below shows this 1900 year period. This period is shown in a long red bar in a timeline extending to the modern-day.<\/p>

\"Historical
Historical Timeline of the Jews\/Israelites \u2013 featuring their two periods of exile<\/figcaption><\/figure>

You can see that the Jewish people went through two periods of exile but the second exile was much longer than the first exile.<\/p>

The 20th Century Holocaust<\/h5>

Anti-Semitism reached its peak when Hitler, through Nazi Germany, tried to exterminate all the Jews living in Europe with the Shoah. He almost succeeded but he was defeated and a remnant of Jews survived.<\/p>

Modern Re-birth of Israel<\/h5>

The fact that there were people who identified themselves as \u2018Jews\u2019 after many hundreds of years with anti-semitic persecutions and without a homeland and language was remarkable. But this allowed the final words of Moses in the Torah, written down 3500 years ago, to come true.\u00a0 In 1948 the Jews, through the United Nations, saw the remarkable re-birth of the modern state of Israel, as Moses had written centuries before:<\/p>

\u2026then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you. Even if you have been banished to the most distant land under the heavens, from there the Lord your God will gather you and bring you back. (Deuteronomy 30:3-4)<\/p><\/blockquote>

It was also remarkable since this state of Israel was birthed in spite of great opposition. Most of the surrounding nations waged war against Israel in 1948 \u2026 in 1956 \u2026 in 1967 and again in 1973. Israel often was at war with five nations at the same time. Yet not only did Israel survive, but the territories increased. In the war of 1967, Israel regained Jerusalem, their historic capital city David had founded 3000 years ago.\u00a0 The ongoing conflicts with surrounding peoples have created one of the most difficult security problems in the world today.\u00a0 Though Abraham\u2019s descendants now have an independent state, the blessing promised so long ago to Abraham seems elusive still.<\/p>

Timeline material provide from Jewish Timeline – a Brief History of the Jewish People in One Page (odyeda.com)<\/a><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jews are one of the most ancient peoples in the world. Jewish history is recorded in the Bible, by historians outside of the Bible, and through archeology. We have more facts about Jewish history than that of any other nation \u2013 which we will use to build a timeline to summarize the history of the Jews. Abraham: The Jewish Family…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3930,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[57,58],"tags":[13,37,15,43],"class_list":["post-97","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-education","category-history","tag-community","tag-history","tag-jewish","tag-time-line"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/rabbi-mercy.com\/home\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/20160311_Jewish_Timeline_Odyeda.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pcJuXT-1z","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":85,"url":"https:\/\/rabbi-mercy.com\/home\/index.php\/2018\/03\/09\/the-story-of-hamantaschen\/","url_meta":{"origin":97,"position":0},"title":"The Story of Hamantaschen","author":"admin","date":"09\/03\/2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Every 14th day of Adar on the Hebrew calendar Jewish people celebrate Purim. 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