Beginning of Israel’s History Essay

2006 The maestro said to Abraham, I give make you a slap-up nation, and I will order you, and make your name great and so you shall be a state of grace and I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse. And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed (Genesis 122-3). such(prenominal) promise was made when Abraham had no password hence it was made in reference to the Jewish nation. Willmington (1985) summarized the early history of Israel this wayIt is generally cognize that the nation Israel began with the call of Abraham in Genesis 12, that Moses led its pack caper up of Egyptian captivity, and that Joshua brought them into Canaan. After this the nation floundered under the Judges, fluorished under the father and son kings, David and Solomon, and fragmented again under wicked King Rehoboam. It finally suffered emigration at the bridge players of Assyria and Babylon, only to be returned and restored to the land by paragon during the d ays of Zerubbabel, Ezra, and Nehemiah. Israels Exiles.The northern kingdom (Israel) and the southern kingdom (Judah) were exiled to Assyria in 722 B. C. and to Babylon in 587 B. C. , respectively. These exiles definitely entailed great hardships to the people who were forcibly removed from their mother country to settle in a new territory. Lamentations and weeping were not uttermost from their midst, as the psalmist pictures weeping in Babylon, by the rivers of Babylon, we sat down and wept . How cannister we sing the Lords song in a unlike land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, may my right hand forget her skill (Psalm 1371-4).Going back to the question posted early if Israel is indeed the chosen nation of divinity fudge, how could such exiles on with the perils of insecurity and dubiousness happen to them? The answer is both political and theological as demonstrate in the Biblical accounts of the exile. Politically, the exile was the result of anti-Babylonian policy adapted by the later kings of Judah. Theologically, both Israel and Judah have the tendency to forsake the Lord and charter the customs of their heathen neighbors.Such Assyrian and Babylonian captivities that Israel experienced were in outline with the prophesy of Moses that if proven disobedient, the Lord will scatter Israel among the people , yet, if they would turn to God, He would be merciful to restore them, for the Lord their God is a compassionate God He will not fail them nor set aside them nor forget the covenant with their fathers which He swore to them (Deuteronomy 427-31). As fulfillment of the Lords promise, in 536 B. C. , Cyrus issued a decree that permitted the Babylonian exiles to rebuild the place of the Lord, the God of Israel (Ezra 11-4).This action of Cyrus was predicted by Isaiah about 150 years earlier, Thus says the Lord, your Redeemer, , it is I who says of Cyrus, He is My Shepherd And He will suffice all My desire. And he declares of Jesuralem, She will be built, and of the temple, Your foundation will be laid (Isaiah 4424-48). It is noteworthy from these Biblical accounts that only the true God can predict the future with total accuracy. Moreover the decree execute Jeremiahs prophesy, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the Lord (Jeremiah 2512). The Medes and Persians captured Babylon in 539 B. C.According to the NIV Compact Dictionary of the Bible (1989) The exile served to underline the accompaniment that God was in no sense confined to Palestine. He providentially cared for His people in Babylon (cf. Ezekiel 1116). The experience far forth from the land, city and house where the Lord had chosen to dwell, brought to the fore the monotheism of Israel. Their suffering, coupled with face to face contact with the realities of false religion, purged the people once and for all of idolatrous desire. many a(prenominal) exiles sideline the decree of Cyrus remained in the Persian Empire, with the result that in delinquent time Judaism became inter case in scope.The chastening of Israel is not only pellucid in the Old Testament accounts. Willmington (1985) cited that, in Jesus time properly Rome ruled over the Holy Land and, four decades subsequently His ascension, On September 8, A. D. 70, by Gods judgment, the Jewish temple in Israel was burned and destroyed by Titus, the Roman general. On October 6, A. D. 1973, by Gods grace, the Jewish state of Israel was saved from destruction from the Egyptians and Syrians. The following is but the briefest summary of those swift-moving, often sorrowful, and always eventful years in the midst of A. D. 70 and A. D. 1973.These nineteen centuries can be historically divided into ten main periods Roman flowing (A. D. 70-325) Byzantine period (325-614) Persian Period (614-634) Arab Period (634-1072) Seljuk Period (1072-1099) Crusaders Period (1099-1291) Mameluke Period (1291-1517) Turkish (Ottoman) Period (1517-1917) British Period (1917-1948) and Independent Period (1948-present day). Israel as a stated Nation A land, a law, a expression, and a Lord was granted to the nation of Israel when God chose them. But because of Israels disobedience to God, God allowed them to be dispersed among the nations as prophesied in Deuteronomy 28.But what God promised in Jeremiah 3110, He who scattered Israel will gather him and keep him as a shepherd keeps his flock, He fulfills. After wandering and being asleep(predicate) and dead for nearly nineteen long centuries, Israel was once again formal as a nation in her beloved land in 1948. And at that time, with a population of only 650,000, Israel defended itself against 40 million Arabs in six Arab states that vowed to destroy them. Outnumbered 1001 to 1 in military equipment, Israel win the war, and has won two thereafter.Some of the key paragraphs in the proclamation of Israels emancipation read as follows The land of Israel was the birthplace of the Jewish people. Here their spi ritual, unearthly and national identity was formed. Here they achieved independence and created a culture of national and universal significance. Here they wrote and gave the Bible to the world. Our call goes out to the Jewish people all over the world to rally to our side in the delegate of immigration and development and to stand by us in the great struggle for the fulfillment of the dream of generations the redemption of Israel (http//stateofisrael.com/declaration).Conclusion Today, though very much of the south of Israels land is desert, it has a fertile plain along the countrys Mediterranean coastline, which makes Israel as one of six nations that ca-ca enough food to feed themselves and others. The Law of the Sabbath is the law of the land for constantlyyone in Israel, though only 5% of the 6,276,883 population estimated in 2005 make-up the god-fearing Orthodox Jew. Furthermore, Hebrew is the official language, the only dead language that has ever been restored to life i n the history of mankind.With a land, a law, and a language revived after two millenia, Israel unflustered has one problem they still reject the Lord, the very God who has made them as His chosen nation. Perhaps, this fact points out to the primary cause of Israels exiles and constant struggle for quiet coexistence with neighbors dedicated to its destruction. Therefore, the next time someone asks what makes Israel the target of various terrorist organizations, and wherefore is it the most disputed strip of real estate on orbiter earth, the one who understand the nation of Israel can point the answers to both of Israels Biblical narratives and historical texts.Works Cited Declaration of Israels Independence1948. Tel Aviv. 14 may 1948 (5th of Iyar, 5708). 11 March 2006 <http//stateofisrael. com/declaration>. NIV Compact Dictionary of the Bible. J. D. Douglas and Merill C. Tenney, eds. Michigan Thje Zondervan Corporation. 1989. Ryrie correction Bible New American Standard. C harles Caldwell Ryrie, expanded ed. Chicago Moody Press. 1995. Willmington, H. L. Willmingtons Guide to the Bible. Illinois Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. , 1985.