This post (or really my personal web site) is prompted by what has been happening lately in Israel. I have been bombarding FaceBook with news clips and articles but I feel like other people’s opinions isn’t enough. I’m wanting to post my thoughts about it.
It is amazing how little I understood about this place called Palestine. Ten years ago and I probably would have thought that it is a country, and a country that should be allowed to exist peacefully. That is truly not possible. I explained this to my little girls last night. The best way to begin to understand this is by watching this extremely well done video.
Take the time to watch this before you continue to read:
Lets roll back a few thousand years. There was a man named Abram. Abram was married to Sarai and they hadn’t any children.
Genesis 16:1 Now Sarai, Abram’s wife, had borne him no children. But she had an Egyptian slave named Hagar; 2 so she said to Abram, “The Lord has kept me from having children. Go, sleep with my slave; perhaps I can build a family through her.”
Abram agreed to what Sarai said. 3 So after Abram had been living in Canaan ten years, Sarai his wife took her Egyptian slave Hagar and gave her to her husband to be his wife. 4 He slept with Hagar, and she conceived.
So with this we have the beginnings of Hagar and her son Ishmael, which lead to a group of people called Arabs. But, an angel of the Lord said he won’t play nicely with others.
11 The angel of the Lord also said to her:
“You are now pregnant
and you will give birth to a son.
You shall name him Ishmael,
for the Lord has heard of your misery.
12 He will be a wild donkey of a man;
his hand will be against everyone
and everyone’s hand against him,
and he will live in hostility
toward all his brothers.”
“His brothers” is referring to the Jewish people. Abraham and Sarai had a child as G-d had promised and with that descendant they began to live in the promised land.
Genesis 17:3 Abram fell facedown, and G-d said to him, 4 “As for me, this is my covenant with you: You will be the father of many nations. 5 No longer will you be called Abram; your name will be Abraham, for I have made you a father of many nations. 6 I will make you very fruitful; I will make nations of you, and kings will come from you. 7 I will establish my covenant as an everlasting covenant between me and you and your descendants after you for the generations to come, to be your G-d and the G-d of your descendants after you. 8 The whole land of Canaan, where you now reside as a foreigner, I will give as an everlasting possession to you and your descendants after you; and I will be their G-d.”
That land named “Canaan” later was named Palestine by many. The root name of Palestine was first mentioned in 1150 BCE, but who was in that land at that point? The “History of the Jews and Judaism in the Land of Israel” says:
The archaeological record indicates that the Kingdoms of Israel and Judah emerged in the Early Iron Age (Iron Age I, 1200–1000 BCE)
There were people in the land before that time (that is not disputed), but they were not a country. The first state on record is a Jewish state, a thriving state. Then a Jewish kingdom (starting with Saul), then captivity of the Jews, then a Jewish kingdom, then captivity, then a Jewish kingdom, then the Jews were kicked out.
Yes, the land was taken from Israel by the Romans in the first century (70 ad or so). The Jews were kicked out of the Temple (prophesied by Yeshua), then Jerusalem, then out of Israel altogether.
This land, promised to Israel, is a blessed and wonderful land (I’ll cover that in another post probably called “The Seven Rs of Israel”), but it is surrounded by countries filled with “wild donkeys” who would love more than anything to wipe out Israel. Israel has no choice to defend themselves.
This problem, called Palestine, is the not following:
- A country, it is all within Israel’s borders
- An ancient people group, they are Arabs living in Israel
According to this article about the Palestinian people they “are the modern descendants of the peoples who have lived in Palestine over the centuries”, not people who lived in the land before the Kingdom of Israel.
Palestine is an excuse for Hamas (or whatever group comes next) to be close to Israel to destroy G-d’s chosen people. G-d is calling them back and there is nothing Palestine, nor any other “people group” can do about it. It is prophesied:
Thus says the Lord G-d: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land.
Outstanding!
I agree with Mr Cole
What a great explanation for those of us who are not as educated on the historical context.
(P.S. I also got to look up the reason for G-d vs God. Incredibly interesting… and ingenious.
Thanks Dave and Mitch.
Josh, I feel like a lot of the Biblical and historical aspect is lost when it comes to the Middle East. And yeah, the “-” is really close to the letter “o” but it isn’t a typo. 🙂 That is going to be a blog post in itself.
What a great and succinct explanation…and simple enough for even for young kids! And your writing is wonderful; it must be in your jeans…I mean, genes! 🙂 I can’t wait for whatever it is you write about next…why didn’t I think about doing this?!