INTRODUCTION

The Jewish people who inhabited Palestine in the time of Jesus had a long history which
they kept alive initially through an oral tradition and subsequently in written form. Their
history as found in the Old Testament is not history in the modern scientific meaning of the
word. It is popular history which likes to dwell upon personal anecdotes and family details
and makes no attempt to situate in a wider historical context. It is also, and above all,
history as written from a religious standpoint where the hand of Providence is seen in each
event. However, earlier suspicions that the narrative history of the Old Testament might
not ever have occurred, has been refuted by the data collected by historians and
archaeologists of the Near East.

The Jews were indeed proud of their long and eventful history. The history of the Jews prior
to Jesus is found in written form in the books of the Old Testament.

This module focuses on the five great events in the history of Israel as a background in
understanding the coming of Jesus as a promised universal savior in the New Testament.

HISTORY OF ISRAEL

The authors of Genesis tells us about Abraham who left Ur in Mesopotamia, went to Haran
and from there continued the journey to Canaan.
We call this first event the MIGRATION TO CANAAN. The group of Abraham traveled
quite a distance. It is important to note here at this point that he and his group willfully
separated themselves from their own people and evolved their own religious beliefs and
cultural concepts.
The author of Genesis story interprets this happening as: (1) Abraham was called by
Yahweh and (2) Abraham although a pagan, followed the voice of Yahweh and separated
from his own people to become the Father of the Israelites.
Abraham had a son Isaac, who took over the leadership of the clan – the tribe of
wandering Hebrews – after the death of Abraham. Isaac had two sons Ezau and Jacob.
Although Ezau being the elder brother, was entitled to receive the birthright of his father, it
was actually Jacob who, through the intrigues of his mother, received the blessings of his
father and therefore became the leader of the tribe – the wandering Arameans or the
Hebrews.
 Jacob had twelve sons who were shepherds. They went with their flock from one
place to another in order to find food and green pastures. The twelve sons were the
following: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Juda, Isaachar, Zebulon, Dan, Nepthali, Gad, Asher, Joseph
and Benjamin. As the story goes, Joseph was sold by his own brothers as a slave to a group
of Egyptian merchants. Yet, because of his attitude and faithfulness, he became a famous
man in Egypt and was appointed assistant to the Pharaoh, the ruler of Egypt, and was put in
charge of the agrarian sector of his government.
During that time, a great famine occurred in the Middle East. Due to the abundant
food supply in Egypt, many people went there to buy food, including the sons of Jacob. To
their surprise, they met and recognized their brother Joseph. Joseph favored his brothers
and invited them and his old father to live in Egypt in the area of Goshen.
Their stay in Egypt is the second event. It is called the SOJOURN IN EGYPT. Their stay
was temporary. It was in that way that the author of Exodus saw it. It was in their
interpretation again that Yahweh who brought his people to Egypt liberated them from
famine and gave them fertile land to use.
The Hebrew people multiplied fast and became a real power in Egypt, so much that
the Egyptians became afraid that the tribe might become too powerful. Thus they
persecuted the Hebrews: their lands were confiscated, the privileges recalled, baby boys
were killed upon birth, a cruel family planning program was enforced, etc. The long period
of great oppression begun.
About 12th c. Moses entered the history of Israel; first as a guerilla fighter against the
oppressive Egyptians. Forced to go into hiding because of the killing of the Egyptian
supervisor, he went to Median where he married the daughter of Jetro, Zipporah. But
Moses must have felt uneasy. His mind and heart were constantly with his oppressed
people in Egypt. He left Median and joined his people in Egypt. He felt he should organize
them and bring them out of Egypt. This internal struggle within Moses was beautifully told
in the story of the Burning Bush.
Thus Moses returned to Egypt – as a conscienticizer. He mingled with his people, he
identified himself with the oppressed and deprived Hebrew slaves. He experienced the
unbearable oppression and became the leader of the Hebrews who were gradually growing
in awareness. And after prolonged suffering and a deepening realization of their oppressive
situation, they organized themselves under the leadership of Moses and were able to
escape from slavery in Egypt.
This event with the whole process and happening is the third event and known as
THE ESCAPE FROM SLAVERY IN EGYPT. They escape in small groupings and his themselves
in the mountainous regions of the Sinai desert. Yet, Moses’ task is not yet complete. He
went around and was able to gather the people. He brought the different tribes together in
a people’s confederation near the Sinai based on two pillars: (1) belief in One God
(monotheism); and (2) subscription to One Religion.
This is the fourth event. We call this the PEOPLE’S CONFEDERATION or RELIGIOUS
CONFEDERATION. The story of the Ten Commandments is a part of that process of
confederation.
The desire however for greener pastures and the strong conviction of the people and
their leader to look for the promised land made the people move from one place to the
other. Till finally, after many adventures, sufferings and after many years, they arrived at the
boarders of Canaan, the promised land, known in their stories as the land of Abraham, Isaac
and Jacob.
This fifth event is the OCCUPATION OF THE PROMISED LAND. Under the leadership
of kings David and Solomon, Israel became one of the best organized and wealthiest
countries. It was at that time that Israel became a nation. Solomon however, was not able
to manage his power and wealth. He imposed higher taxes especially in the north. The
oppression was greatly felt by the people. After his death, the nation became divided: the
Northern Kingdom – Israel, and the Southern Kingdom – Judea. At that point, the glory of
the once united nation vanished.
Weakened because of the separation, the Northern Kingdom was captured by the
superpower in those days – Assyria – in about 700 B.C. The entire population was deported
to Assyria and never returned. The same happened to the Southern Kingdom. At about 550
B.C., the other superpower Babylon occupied Judea and also deported most of the people.
Still, some settled down in Babylon.

When under King Sirus, the Israelites were allowed to return to their country, only a few
went back. What they found was an empty, devastated and alien land. Yet, their deep faith
in Yahweh and their adherence to some religion was given renewed life. Apparently, this
gave them the courage they needed to rebuild their country. Today, they are often times
referred to as the ‘REST’ of Israel.

However, the country was captured again by the fast growing superpower from the west –
Greece and the Israelites experienced one of the cruelest occupation by a foreign nation.
The Greeks tried to replace the people’s strong belief in ONE GOD with their own museum
of gods and goddesses. . . They were strongly opposed by the people.

The Greek occupation started at about 120 B.C. Later, in 65 B.C., a new superpower from
the west was emerging – Rome. They (the Romans) succeeded in toppling the Greeks and
took over the Greek occupied territories. They occupied Israel and include it in the ROMAN
EMPIRE.

Many Israelite leaders were happy to be rid of the cruel Greeks. They invited the Romans to
come and tried to get as many privileges as possible by collaborating with the occupying
power. The Jewish people suffered much because of the high taxes imposed by the Romans
and their corrupt leaders.

It was during this time that CHRIST WAS BORN.

Conclusion:
Whatever historical events that happened in their lives were interpreted by the Israelites as
actions of liberation of Yahweh. Their faith tells them that their God is a saving and a
liberating God. This faith experiences that they had become an important part of their life as
a covenanted people of God, so that every time they gather for a fellowship or worship or
for the renewal of the covenant in a tribal confederacy, they would start by reciting the
Israelitic Creed.

“My father was a wandering Aramean, and he went down into Egypt with a few people and
lived there and became a great nation, powerful and numerous. But the Egyptians
mistreated us and made us suffer, subjecting us to harsh labor. Then we cried out to the
LORD, the God of our ancestors, and the LORD heard our voice and saw our misery, toil and
oppression. So the LORD brought us out of Egypt with a mighty hand and an outstretched
arm, with great terror and with signs and wonders. He brought us to this place and gave us
this land, a land flowing with milk and honey.” (Deuteronomy 26:5b ff)