The Nation of Israel

In short

They go through a lot, including near extinction.

Why it is important

It’s important to really understand the story of Israel as a whole and not get lost in the details of this prophet or that king. It helps us make sense of the Old Testament, that it’s not just a lot of random stories, but it’s really one big story.

10,000-foot view

Israel:

Springs up out of nowhere, it seems
Gets its own land
Loses that land
Goes back to its land (but it’s not the same)

Now let’s put some details to those phases of history.

Phase 1: Israel springs up out of nowhere

You know the story of the exodus. The sea parts and an entire nation walks out of Egypt in the middle of the night.

Ever wonder where that nation came from?

It’s the family of Jacob (see last Tuesday’s lesson). Jacob had over a dozen children, but his descendants number 1-2 million in Moses’ day (I’ll do the math next Sunday).

Jacob’s other name is Israel and this family is also called Israel. At this point Israel is a nation (in the sense of “a people”) but they have no land of their own.

That’s the book of Genesis.

Phase 2: Israel gets its own land

This is the books of Exodus through 2 Samuel.

Moses leads them out of Egypt (Goshen) and Joshua delivers them into the land of Canaan
Canaan is then named “Israel”
Israel (the country) exists for a few hundred years, through the reigns of David and Solomon

Phase 3: Israel loses its land

This is the books of 1 & 2 Kings (and a lot of prophets).

After Solomon, two men want to be king, and they split the land up
One king takes 91% of the land and that country fails MISERABLY. Oddly, they broke away but get to keep the name “Israel.”
The other king (Solomon’s son) keeps the capital city of Jerusalem and the country is called Judah
Judah lasts longer but is eventually taken over by the Babylonian Empire and the citizens are deported across the desert

Phase 4: Israel goes back to its land

This is the book(s) of Ezra and Nehemiah.

Babylon falls to the Persian Empire
The king of Persia sets the Israelites free and gives them tons of money to rebuild the temple
Well, kind of free. They’re still part of Persia.

And then Greece takes over, then the Roman Empire, and that brings us to Jesus’ day. But all of that is not recorded in the Bible (but is prophesied in great detail in the book of Daniel).

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