1. History of the Covenant People

Abraham 2100 BC

The story of the Jewish people begins with the Patriarch Abraham.  Abraham was 75 years old when he is called by God to leave the country of his father who had earlier moved from the city of Ur to Haran. The Lord tells Abraham to go to the land of  Moriah now known as Israel or Palestine..

¹Now the LORD had said to Abram: “Get out of your country, From your family
 And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you.

²       I will make you a great nation; I will bless you
And make your name great;
 And you shall be a blessing.

³       I will bless those who bless you,
And I will curse him who curses you;
And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
Genesis 12:1-3

When Abraham arrives in Moriah The Lord makes a promise to Abraham.

⁷Then the Lord appeared to Abram and said, “To your descendants I will give this land.” And there he built an altar to the LORD, who had appeared to him.
Genesis 12:7

Abraham would later have a son Ishmael through his Egyptian servant Hagar  when he was 86 years old.  Still later when Abraham was 100 he had a child by his  90 year old wife Sarah fulfilling a promise by the Lord to Abraham. God would bless Ishmael but the covenant that God established with Abraham would be through Sarah and not Hagar.

¹⁹Then God said: “No, Sarah your wife shall bear you a son, and you shall call his name Isaac; I will establish My covenant with him for an everlasting covenant, and with his descendants after him. ²⁰And as for Ishmael, I have heard you. Behold, I have blessed him, and will make him fruitful, and will multiply him exceedingly. He shall beget twelve princes, and I will make him a great nation. ²¹But My covenant I will establish with Isaac, whom Sarah shall bear to you at this set time next year.” ²²Then He finished talking with him, and God went up from Abraham.

Genesis 17:19-22

Ishmael would later be sent to away to protect the rights of Isaac’s inheritance.

In a test of  Abraham’s faith God asked Abraham to take Isaac to Mt. Moriah and sacrifice him to the Lord. As Abraham was about to slay the child  The Angel of the Lord prevented the sacrifice. The Angel of the Lord would declare to Abraham.

“By Myself I have sworn, says the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son—¹⁷blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. ¹⁸In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”

Genesis 22:16-18

Jacob 2000 BC

Isaac would later have two sons Jacob and Esau the covenant blessing would pass to Jacob Isaac's second born. 

²⁹          Let peoples serve you, And nations bow down to you
  Be master over your brethren, And let your mother’s sons bow down to you.
Cursed be everyone who curses you,  And blessed be those who bless you!”
Genesis 27:9

After Jacob is blessed he escapes his brother Esau’s anger by going to Haran.  Where his grandfather Abraham was from.  There Jacob marries  Leah and Rachel. Two sisters, and daughters of Labin his mother’s brother.  From Leah and Rachel and their handmaids Bilhah and Zilpah Jacob has 13 children, 12 sons and 1 daughter.

On the way back to the land of Moriah Jacob is renamed Israel after coming face to face with God.

²⁸And He said, “Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but ^£Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.”²⁹Then Jacob asked, saying, “Tell me Your name, I pray.” And He said, “Why is it that you ask about My name?” And He blessed him there.³⁰So Jacob called the name of the place ^£Peniel: “For I have seen God face to face, and my life is preserved.” Genesis 32:28-30

Joseph sold  1910 BC

Joseph the second youngest son is sold into Egypt as a slave at the age of 17 by his brothers. But in Egypt rises to role of prime minister by the age of 30.   Jacob’s remaining sons flee to Egypt because of famine in the land of  Moriah.  There Joseph is found by his brothers and family. Joseph offers them the security of Egypt.  And the descendents of Jacob settle in the land of Goshen. During the next 400 years they multiply from 70 to over 1 million souls.

But new Egyptian rulers see Israel’s growing descendents as a potential threat to Egypt. To deal with the threat the male children of Israel were ordered destroyed by Pharaoh.  But the baby Moses was placed in the water by his mother in a basket to escape the fate of death. Baby Moses is rescued from the water and is raised in the house of Pharaoh's daughter.

Later when Moses was about 40 he flees into the desert of Midian to escape Pharaoh after Moses kills an Egyptian who was mistreating a Hebrew slave. Moses spends the next 40 years in the desert taking care the sheep of Jethro his father-in-law.  At the age of 80 God sends him back into Egypt to rescue his people Israel and lead them back into the land of Moriah.

Exodus beings 1446 BC

 ⁹Now therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel has come to Me, and I have also seen the oppression with which the Egyptians oppress them. ¹⁰Come now, therefore, and I will send you to Pharaoh that you may bring My people, the children of Israel, out of Egypt.”

Exodus 3:9-10

Moses returns to Egypt and with 10 plagues from God on Egypt  Pharaoh lets Israel go with Moses into the wilderness of Sinai. This is known as the Exodus journey.

In Sinai God establishes a covenant with the children of Israel.  A covenant of blessing and cursing. 

¹“Now it shall come to pass, if you diligently obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments which I command you today, that the LORD your God will set you high above all nations of the earth. ²And all these blessings shall come upon you and overtake you, because you obey the voice of the LORD your God:

Duet 28:1-2

¹⁵“But it shall come to pass, if you do not obey the voice of the LORD your God, to observe carefully all His commandments and His statutes which I command you today, that all these curses will come upon you and overtake you:

Deut 28:15

Israel rebels against God in the desert of Sinai and the nation spends the next 40 years wandering in the wilderness.  After the generation that rebelled dies Joshua is appointed the successor to Moses. Moses is also prevented from entering the land of promise because of his sin. 

Israel takes possession of the land  1406 BC

Joshua leads Israel into the land of  Canaan/Moriah by conquering the inhabitants of the land.   The land conquered and unconquered is divided between the tribes of Israel.  The descendents of Israel receive their land based on their descent from the 12 son’s of Jacob.

For the next 400 years Israel is ruled by Judges not by Kings.  As they people rebelled God would send judgment  but in their despair He would send Judges to give them direction and rescue them. Gideon would rescue them from the Midianites, Samson from the Philistines,  Jephthah from the Ammonites and Deborah from the Canaanites.  Samuel was the last judge of Israel the people would then want a king like the other nations.  

Israel wants a King 1050 BC

The Lord heard the people’s request for a King and tells Samuel to not feel bad because Israel was rejecting God and not Samuel.

⁷And the LORD said to Samuel, “Heed the voice of the people in all that they say to you; for they have not rejected you, but they have rejected Me, that I should not reign over them.
1 Samuel 8:7

God then appoints Saul from the tribe of Benjamin to become King over Israel in 1050 BC.  But Saul’s disobedience causes his kingship to be withdrawn and given to a Shepard boy David son Jesse of the tribe of Judah.

David becomes King in 1025 BC after Saul and his son Jonathan die in battle.  David later wants to build a House for God but God thru Nathan the prophet tells David he cannot but his son will build a House. David is also promised by God that through his line the Messiah would come and rule on David’s throne forever.

¹²“When your days are fulfilled and you rest with your fathers, I will set up your seed after you, who will come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. ¹³He shall build a house for My name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever. ¹⁴I will be his Father, and he shall be My son. If he commits iniquity, I will chasten him with the rod of men and with the blows of the sons of men.

2 Samuel 7:12-14

Solomon builds the Temple 970 BC

Solomon David’s son builds the Temple of God on the land his father purchased from Ornan. On the same location where Abraham was going to sacrifice his son Isaac.  On this location only would Israel be allowed to sacrifice and worship the Lord.

¹Now Solomon began to build the house of the LORD at Jerusalem on Mount Moriah, where ^£the LORD had appeared to his father David, at the place that David had prepared on the threshing floor of Ornan^£ the Jebusite

2 Chronicles 3:1

When the temple was complete and dedicated to God the “Glory of the Lord” filled the Temple.  God accepted the Temple as His place forever. 

 ³And the LORD said to him: “I have heard your prayer and your supplication that you have made before Me; I have consecrated this house which you have built to put My name there forever, and My eyes and My heart will be there perpetually
1 Kings 9:3

But if Israel disobeyed and turned away from God the Temple would be destroyed and become a proverb amongst the people.

 ⁸Andas for this house, which is exalted, everyone who passes by it will be astonished and will hiss, and say, ‘Why has the LORD done thus to this land and to this house?’

1 Kings 9:8

The Kingdom Divided  926 BC

After the death of Solomon his  son Rehoboam succeeded him as King.  During his reign the northern 10 tribes rebelled and became a separate kingdom.  Judah and Benjamin became known as Judah,  the southern kingdom.  

Northern Kingdom in captivity 722 BC

In 722 BC the Assyrian Kingdom attacked the northern kingdom of Israel and carried them into captivity.  The Lord was fulfilling the promises of the Covenant curses for disobedience. 

⁶In the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria took Samaria and carried Israel away to Assyria, and placed them in Halah and by the Habor, the River of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes.⁷For so it was that the children of Israel had sinned against the LORD their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt; and they had feared other gods, ⁸and had walked in the statutes of the nations whom the LORD had cast out from before the children of Israel, and of the kings of Israel, which they had made.
2 Kings 17:6,7

The Assyrian kingdom was defeated by the Babylon at the battle of Carcemesh 609 BC.  The Babylonians became the new masters of the land.

Babylonian  captivity 605 BC

The Southern Kingdom of Judah also sinned against God but they were spared an Assyrian victory. In the days of Hezekiah, Judah was supernaturally delivered from king  Sennacherib’s attack of Jerusalem  in 690 BC.  Judah continued to sin after they were  delivered from the Assyrian army.  God then  allowed the Babylonians to attack and defeat Judah.

First in 605  BC when Daniel was carried into the land of Babylon. Again in 597 BC when Ezekiel was taken as captive. And finally in 587 when the city  and temple and temple were destroyed in 587 BC.

In 597 BC God laments about the sin taking place in the Temple itself when Ezekiel is allowed to witness.

¹⁷And He said to me, “Have you seen this, O son of man? Is it a trivial thing to the house of Judah to commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence; then they have returned to provoke Me to anger. Indeed they put the branch to their nose.
Ezekiel 8:17

Ten years later the Temple is destroyed by the Babylonian armies as punishment for the sins in the land.

Cyrus the Great 539 BC

Cyrus the great the head of the Persian- Median Empire defeats  the kingdom of Babylon.  Daniel is given a high position in the Persian kingdom. Cyrus has a policy of restoration, he allows the captives of Israel to return to their land. He also allows the rebuilding of the Jewish temple.

Temple work begins 536 BC

Under the leadership of Ezra the Temple is rebuilt but the Temple is not as glorious as Solomon’s Temple.  The Temple is completed in 516 BC.

 Nehemiah  and Jerusalem 444 BC.

The Persian ruler Artaxerexes allows Nehemiah his cupbearer to oversee the reconstruction of the city of Jerusalem.

Alexander the Great 333 BC

The armies of  Alexander the great conquer the Persian kingdom.

After the death of Alexander in 323 BC his kingdom is divided between his 4 generals.

 Ptolemy  I  took control of Egypt and the Seleucus I ruled over Syria. These  generals would be the founders of the succeeding kingdoms that would fight for the  control of Palestine for the next 156 years.

The Old Testament is translated into the Greek language during the reign of Phtolemy of Philadelphus (285-247 BC) in a version known as the Septuagint.

Antiochus Epiphanies 175 BC

Greek Seleucid ruler Antiochus Epiphanies rules Syria from about 175 BC to about 164 BC. He reigns over Judah and tries to destroy the Jewish religion. He has large quantities of the Torah destroyed (the first five books of the modern Bible). He also defiles the Temple by placing an image of Jupiter in the Temple and offering a pig as sacrifice.
 

Maccabean Kingdom 166-63 BC

 The Maccabean revolt opens a way for Jewish independence in Jerusalem and the surrounding area. The revolt is led by Mattathias and his five sons, Judas (Maccabeus), Jonathan, Simon, John and Eleazar. The era of independence runs from about 166-63 BC.

 Romans conquer Israel  63 BC

Rome is asked to solve the conflict between two rivals to the Maccabean Kingdom.  Roman General Pompey invades and  Judaea became a part of the province of Syria in 63 BC (Josephus, BJ, vii, 7).
 Hyrcanus, brother of the last king, remaines high priest   invested with judicial as well as  sacerdotal functions.

But  later Antony and Octavius give Palestine (40 BC) as a kingdom to Herod, surnamed the Great, although his rule did not become  effective until 3 years later. His sovereignty was upheld by a Roman legion
stationed at Jerusalem.

Jesus 0-33 AD

Jesus is born claims to be Messiah,  Son of God and is crucified by Roman solders after he is rejected by the High Priest for his claims of Messiahship.

Titus destroys Jerusalem 70 AD

The Roman general Titus destroys the city of Jerusalem and his legion burn the Temple.  The gold from the Temple melts and each stone is thrown down as the solders search for melted gold.  Jews are exiled  throughout the Roman empire. 

Bar Kochva rebellion 135 AD

In 135 AD, the Romans, under Hadrian, kill an estimated 580,000 Jews to suppress the Bar Kochva uprising. The Romans ran a plow over Jerusalem to completely destroy the Holy City. The Romans ban the Jews from living in Jerusalem.

Rome becomes Byzantium

Christianity spreads within the Roman empire and the Empire coverts to Christianity as the State religion under Constantine.  An Eastern capital is established in Byzantium and the Capital city is Constantinople after the emperor.  The descendents of Israel are dispersed throughout the world.  To escape persecution many flee to Arabia and Persia.

Rise of Islam 632-1918

In the deserts of Arabia Mohammed Ibn Abdallah claims  to be prophet a God.  Living in Mecca he proclaimed his identity to the inhabitants who rejected at first and latter tried to kill him.

He fled to Yathrub latter known as Medina where he was welcomed by the Arab tribes as a prophet.  The city founded by 3 Jewish tribes who rejected him as a prophet.  From 622 to 630 the Jewish tribes of Medina were eliminated. 

After Mohammed’s  death in 638 AD his followers conquer the land of Palestine from the Byzantine rulers.  

The Dome of the Rock was built over the site of the Jewish Temple as a sign of Islam being the final and true religion.   Also Mohammed claimed to ascend to Heaven from the top of Mt. Moriah.

Muslim armies conquer North Africa, and enter Europe from southern Spain.  The Muslim armies advance in Europe is stopped at the battle of Tours in 732 AD by Charles le Martin (The Hammer), the grand father of Charlemagne.  The last Muslim strongholds are defeated in Europe by 1492 AD.

As Europe is converted to Christianity there is a movement to rescue the Holy land from the Muslim invaders.

The crusaders of Europe conquer Jerusalem from their Arab Muslim rulers.  The Crusader rule over Jerusalem is short lived as the Muslim again conquer the land. 

As the Mongols expand in Asia the Turks are pushed westward toward the Middle East.    Eventually the Ottoman succeed Arab rule in the Middle East.  The Ottoman’s conquer Constantinople and rename the city Istanbul.

The declining Ottoman Empire allies itself with Kaiser Wilhelm of Germany and is defeated by the US and its allies. 

Zionism

A movement founded by Theodore Herzel with a desire of founding a Jewish state in Palestine, and the return of the Jewish people to the land.  The first Zionist congress was held in 1897 in Bezl Switzerland.   Growing anti-Semitism in Europe led many Jews to start emigrating to Palestine in the 1850’s.

At first Britain offered 6000 square miles of uninhabited land  in Uganda. But the Zionist held out for Palestine.

With nationalistic and territorial pressures rising in the 1900’s  Germany allied itself with the Ottoman empire. These pressures exploded into World War I.

Britain in the need of financial support turns to Sir Edmond Rothschild who helps support the British war effort.  In return the Balfour Declaration is made. (See below)

The Ottoman empire loses the war along with Germany.  The Turkish empire is broken up with the allies taking over control of Ottoman territory.  Britain takes over administration of Palestine via a UN Mandate in 1923.

Britain carves up the territories into Arab and Turkish nations. But the Palestine issue remains unresolved.

Britain does not follow thru on Balfour promise in 1917 to Sir Edmund Rothschild.

WWII 

  During the 1930s and 1940s, Jews are persecuted by Hitler. Many move to Palestine. The Holocaust - the Nazi's genocide of 6 million Jews - increases international sympathy for the Zionist quest to re-establish a Jewish homeland.

Partition of Palestine

The UN Mandated the partition of Palestine into a Jewish and Arab States.

The Arab nations resisted the creation of  any Jewish state in Palestine. They declared there would be war on the day of its creation.

Arab/Israel Wars

1948-1949

1948 (May 14) :  On May 14, 1948, the Jews declare independence for Israel. This is the first time in 2900 years that Israel is both independent and united. (Israel became a divided country about 2900 years ago, and lost its independence about 2600 years ago).

1948 (May 15) :  Within hours of Israel's declaration of independence, the surrounding Arab countries launch an invasion of Israel.

1949 :  Israel prevails in the Arab-Israeli war of 1948-9. Israeli forces recapture more of the ancient Jewish homeland, expanding the size of Israel by about 50 percent.

1956

After mounting tensions in the area, Gamel Abdel Nasser seized the Suez Canal from European ownership Israel then makes a preemptive strike.

In October of  1956 Israel invaded the Sinai Peninsula to destroy Arab military bases there. In 5 days the Israeli army captured Gaza, Rafah,  Al-Arish taking thousands of prisoners and occupying the area east of the Suez Canal.  In December  after a joint Anglo-French intervention, a United Nations Emergency Force was stationed in the area..

1967  Six day war

Arab and Israeli forces clashed for the third time June 5-10, 1967 in what is known as the 6 day war.

In early 1967 Syrian bombardments of Israeli villages had been intensified.  When the Israeli Air Force shot down six Syrian MiG planes in reprisal, Nasser mobilized his forces near  the Sinai border.  During this war  Israel eliminated the Egyptian air force and established air superiority. The war cost the Arabs the Old City of Jerusalem, the Sinai and the Gaza Strip, the Jordanian territory west of the Jordan River known as the West Bank and the Golan Heights, on the Israeli-Syrian border.

1973 Yom Kippur War

On October 6th, during the Jewish holy day of Yom Kippur Israel was attacked by the Egypt across the Suez Canal and by Syria on the Golan heights.

Israel pushed its way into Syrian territory and encircled the Egyptian Third Army by crossing the Suez Canal and establishing forces on the west bank.

Israel signed cease fire agreements with Egypt  on Jan. 18th, 1974 and with Syria on May 31st, 1974.

1982 Lebanon War

Less then six weeks after Israel’s withdrawal form the Sinai. Israel invaded Lebanon and encircled Beirut in effort to pursue PLO fighters operating out of the country.  Israel withdrew after a the PLO evacuated the city under a multinational force.