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THE CALL OF ISRAEL http://vimeo.com/7965886
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JERUSALEM TO CHRISTIANS http://vimeo.com/25204244
THE MIDDLE EAST IN TURMOIL http://vimeo.com/21162066
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF JERUSALEM TO CHRISTIANS http://vimeo.com/25204244
THE MIDDLE EAST IN TURMOIL http://vimeo.com/21162066
History of Israel: The Descendants of Abraham
The history of Israel commences with God's covenant with Abraham in approximately 2000 B.C., "I will make you into a great nation" (Genesis 12:2). The name "Israel" (meaning either "one who fights victoriously with God" or "a prevailing prince with God") comes from the new name God gave Abraham's grandson Jacob, after Jacob withstood a spiritual struggle at Jabbok (Genesis 32:28). It is at this point that the descendants of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are often referred to as the "Children of Israel."
History of Israel: Its Selection as a Special Nation
The history of Israel goes back even further than 2000 BC. In fact, the selection of Israel as a special nation was part of God's plan from the beginning of time. God's choice of Israel as His "chosen people" did not lie in any special size, nature or attraction. Actually, the nation of Israel was the least in number among all the nations (Deuteronomy 7:6-8). Rather, God chose these people because of His love for them and His unconditional covenant with Abraham. This doesn't mean that God loved Israel more than other people, it was just that He intended to use Israel as His means to love and bless everyone. It was God's plan from the beginning to bring forth the Messiah through Israel to act as the savior for the entire world.
History of Israel: The Biblical Record
The history of Israel as detailed in the Bible encompasses around 1800 years. It proclaims a dynamic account of God's miracles, judgments, promises, and blessings. Israel begins as a unilateral promise to one man, Abraham. For more than 400 years, Abraham and his descendants rely on that promise, even during a significant period of slavery in Egypt. Then, by means of an amazing series of miraculous events, God delivers the Israelites of out Egypt in the Exodus (Hebrew: "a going out"). The Exodus is the occasion that most Jews look to as the foundation of the nation of Israel. The Exodus is the act of deliverance which Israelites dwell on as the demonstration of God's love and protection of Israel. Once the Exodus was completed, God established a conditional covenant with the Israelites at the Mountain of Sinai. It is there that God proclaimed His Law (the Ten Commandments). It is there that God promises blessings for adherence to His Law and curses for noncompliance. The rest of Israel's history as recorded in the Bible is a continuing cycle of blessing and punishment for Israel's obedience and disobedience to God's Law. Throughout times of victory and defeat, king and judges, priests and prophets, restoration and exile - the Israelites are blessed when they obey God and disciplined when they do not. As a nation, Israel was destroyed by the Romans in 70 A.D. At that time, the Jews scattered throughout the whole world, keeping the hope based on prophetic promises of an eventual regathering to the chosen land God gave to Israel. In 1948, after almost 1900 years had passed, Israel was again declared a sovereign nation and officially reestablished in the promised land. Through a series of miraculous events, including the Jews retaking of Jerusalem in 1967, this generation is witnessing the fulfillment of prophecy with respect to God's special nation.
History of Israel: God's Ultimate Purpose
Why is so much of the Bible focused on the history of Israel and the future of its people? Why was one nation called out as "God's chosen people"? These questions are answered when we examine God's ultimate purpose for Israel. When God made His unconditional promise to Abraham that He would make his descendants a great nation, God also promised to bless all people through that nation (Genesis 12:1-3). Therefore, Israel was never considered a sole recipient of God's blessings, but rather, a channel for God's blessings to all mankind. God's miracles for Israel, such as their dramatic deliverance from Egypt, were intended not only for the Israelites themselves, but as evidence of God's absolute power and uniqueness for a watching polytheistic world (Exodus 7:5; 14:18; Joshua 2:9-11). The Messiah that would come through the nation of Israel was always intended to be the Savior for all mankind (Isaiah 49:6). The Old Testament also contains many invitations to the entire world to come and worship the one living God in Israel (Psalm 2:10-12; 117:1).
WHAT IS JUDAISM? A religion for the Jewish people.
The current popluation as of the new millennium, there are thirteen to fourteen million Jews in the world. Five million live in Israel and another five million live in the United States. Two million reside in Europe including Russia, 400,000 in Latin America; 350,000 in Canada, 100,000 in Australia and New Zealand; 60,000 in South Africa; and 50,000 in Asia.
These are 'the chosen people' of God. Judiasm teaches that God made an eternal covenant with the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Israel), and that every Jew participates in this covenant. However, being chosen by God does not in any way impart a notion of superiority. Other nations were offered it first but turned it down.
THE CANNONS OF JUDAISM
God exists.
God is one and unique.
God is eternal.
Prayer is to be directed to God alone and to no other.
The words of the prophets are true.
Moses was the greatest of the prophets; his prophecies are true.
Moses received the Written Torah(first five books of the Bible) and the oral Torah (teachings contained in the Talmud and other writings.
There will be no other Torah.
God knows the thoughts and deeds of men.
God will reward the good and punish the wicked.
The Messiah will come.
The dead will be resurrected.
HISTORICAL MOVEMENTS WITHIN JUDAISM
Hellenized Jews- during the period leading up to the Maccabean rebellion, the Jews lived under Greek occupation. The Greeks were an enlightened people and tolerant of their subjects. As a result, secular life was good and a number of Jews were attracted to Greek culture, known as Hellenism. Hellenism with its pagan joy, freedom, and love of life, stood in stark contrast to the austere morality and monotheism of Judaism. Those Jews who allowed themselves to be influenced by Hellenism were known as Hellinsitic Jews.
Essenes, Sadducees, and Pharisees-at a later period in history, Rome conquered the land of ancient Israel, Judaism had split into three distinct sects.
The Essenes formed an ascetic and mystical order that consisted mostly of adult males who took an oath of celibacy. Ceremonial purity and peity toward God, justice to men, and adherence to the order and its doctrines. They accepted the authenticity of several men who claimed to be messiahs.
The Sadducees embraced some of the Hellenistic elements of Judaism. Their relatively small following was comprised of the priests and upper class of Jewish society. They did believe in the oral Torah. They worshipped at the Temple in Jerusalem, and when it was destroyed in 70 C.E. their sect disappeared.
The Pharisees were the most powerful group among the Jews. They believed in both the written and oral Torah and that they had come directly from God and therefore were valid and binding. They began to insist on its strict observance.
During the time of the Roman Empire a movement began called Zealots. It didn't really represent a division of Judaism. It was a nationlistic movement 'zealously' seeking independence.
Karaites and Rabbinical Judaism during the ninth century C.E., a movement in Persia again voiced skepticism of the validity of the oral Torah. The Karaites were "People of the Scripture".
Until recently a surviving community existed but after the Six-Day War between Egypt and Israel, most immigrated to Israel, Europe, or the United States.
Hasidim and Mitnagdim the Hasidim branch of Judaism is really a spiritual movement which represented a deep schism within Judiaism during the eithteenth and ninteenth centuries.
Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews today most Jews idenitify themselves as one or the other. Those who eventually ended up in Central and Eastern Europe, beginning at the time of the Babylonian exile, are known as Ashkenazim (derived from the Hebrew word for Germany 'Ashkenaz')., and those who resided in southern France, Spain, Portugal, North Africa, and the Middle East have come be known as Sephardim, (derived from the Hebrew word for Spain 'Sepharad.')
The Orthodox- during the last millennium and up until the nineteenth century, the Orthodox branch was by far the most prevelant. The essential principle governing them is Torah min Hashamayim. This means that both the written Law and the oral Law is conclusive. Toay there are several different groups within the Orthodox that share common fundamental beliefs. The best known is the ultra-orthodox.
Reform Judaism is sometimes known as Liberal or Progressive. It had its beginning in Germany. German Jews referred to themselves as "German in the streets". They instituted mixed gender seating, a shortened service, use of the vernacular in the liturgy, single-day observance of holidays, and inclusion of musical instruments and a choir. Whem some moved to the United States they grew to be the largest body. When waves of immigrants came for Eastern Europe, there were more Orthodox groups. Today they are the largest movement; however they became almost indistinguishable from their neighboring Protestant churches. By the 1930's the movement gradually turned back to a more traditional approach to Judaism.
Conservative Judaism felt that the Reformers had really gone to far. Today the movement is nearly as large as the Reformers.
Reconstructionism is another branch distinct from Reform and Conservative. It is based on the teachings of just one man, its philosoper and founder, Mordecai M. Kaplan. (1881-1983) They called for more modern thought and urging more vocal presence in urging economic justice and more critical of orthodoxy. Kaplan had no desire to start a new branch, but given its unique philosophy it was inevitable. It remains the smallest movement at about 100 congregations worldwide.
The Messianic movement - when Messiah came into the world, indeed He did not come to circumvent the Law, but to fultill it. The condemantion of the Law, falling on Him, our substitute, satisfied its accusing nature. (Matt 5:17-18)
Now the rejoicing in God's self-revelation, the beholding of God's salvation, through the coming Messiah has opened the eyes of some Jewish people.
Jews who believe that Jesus is the Messiah are now a part of the whole body of Messiah. Gentiles who believe that Jesus is the Messiah are a part of the same body of Christ, HaMasiach. The natural man is offended at the truth about Jesus. He rages within and lashes out with murdereous fury at those who witness the truth to them. God strengthened Stephen at the point of his martyrdom by giving him a vision of heaven. Jesus' disciples were the first Jewish believers. The early church had many martyrs. Stephen's bold witness of God's message was what caused his death. He bravely told the crowd what the problem was; they had resisted the Holy Spirit, who points sinners to Jesus the Messiah. (John 16:7-14) He was willing to die rather than deny the love and saving grace of the Lord. We continue to see this horrible bondage today. Jesus, (Yeshua in Hebrew) died for Jew and Gentile, slave and free, male and female; He died for everyone. The Jewish people have a veil over their eyes. Jesus said their would be a hardening of their heart until the times of the Gentiles is over. There will be a time when the eyes of the Jews will recognize their Messiah and bow to Him. There will always be a remant from Israel, the chosen people of God, who open to heart and allow the truth to be seen. The Holy Spirit convicts our hearts and then shows us the truth. Jews can be believers in the Christ, the Savior of all mankind.
In 1947 an amazing turn of events marked a great day for the Jewish people. In a moment, a signature on a piece of paper declared that a nation was born again. Israel had become a nation once again.
God is able to bring salvation to anyone in just a moment. It has to do with the attitude of the heart. Those Jews whose eyes have been opened to who Jesus is, have been given eternal life with God in a brief moment in time. It is open to anyone, anywhere. Consider what that implies in the Jewish culture. Those who become believers in Messiah are no longer able to continue life as they knew before. They will most likely be rejected by their family and friends. The Messainic congregations have solved the issue as far as the place of worship is concerned. These congregations teach the risen Lord while maintaining their Jewish heritage, keeping the feasts and festivals, observing worship on the Sabbath, and using a Jewish form of worship. There is hope that a Jewish person will be comfortable in the setting, and be able to hear the news about the Messiah, the long promised one.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations... (Deuteronomy 32:7)
The birthplace of the Jewish people is the Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael). There, a significant part of the nation's long history was enacted, of which the first thousand years are recorded in the Bible; there, its cultural, religious, and national identity was formed; and there, its physical presence has been maintained through the centuries, even after the majority was forced into exile. During the many years of dispersion, the Jewish people never severed nor forgot its bond with the Land. With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Jewish independence, lost 2,000 years earlier, was renewed.
Archeology in Israel involves the systematic investigation of all the remains of the country's past - from prehistory to the end of Ottoman rule. The profusion of material remains is evidence of the many cultures that have left their imprint on the Land.
Above all archeological research clearly reveals the historical link between the Jewish people, the Bible and the Land of Israel, uncovering the remains of the cultural heritage of the Jewish people in its homeland. These visible remains, buried in the soil, constitute the physical link between the past, the present and the future of the Jewish people in its country.
This unbroken chain of history can be observed at sites all over the country. Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, has been the focus of extensive archeological activity and remains of 5,000 years of history have been revealed.
TIMELINE OF HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts%20About%20Israel/History/Facts%20About%20Israel-%20History
17th-6th C. BCE BIBLICAL TIMES
(BCE - Before the Common Era)
c.17th century
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - patriarchs of the Jewish people and bearers of a belief in one God - settle in the Land of Israel.
Famine forces Israelites to migrate to Egypt. c.13th century Exodus from Egypt: Moses leads Israelites from Egypt, followed by 40 years of wandering in the desert.
Torah, including the Ten Commandments, received at Mount Sinai.13th-12th
centuries Israelites settle in the Land of Israel c.1020 Jewish monarchy established; Saul, first king. c.1000 Jerusalem made capital of David's kingdom. c.960 First Temple, the national and spiritual center of the Jewish people, built in Jerusalem by King Solomon. c. 930 Divided kingdom: Judah and Israel 722-720 Israel crushed by Assyrians; 10 tribes exiled (Ten Lost Tribes). 586 Judah conquered by Babylonia; Jerusalem and First Temple destroyed; most Jews exiled.
THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD
538-142 Persian and Hellenistic periods 538-515 Many Jews return from Babylonia; Temple rebuilt. 332 Land conquered by Alexander the Great; Hellenistic rule. 166-160
Maccabean (Hasmonean) revolt against restrictions on practice of Judaism and desecration of the Temple 142-129 Jewish autonomy under Hasmoneans. 129-63 Jewish independence under Hasmonean monarchy. 63 Jerusalem captured by Roman general, Pompey. 63 BCE-313 BCE
Roman rule 63-4 BCE
Herod, Roman vassal king, rules the Land of Israel;
Temple in Jerusalem refurbished
(CE - The Common Era)
c. 20-33 Ministry of Jesus of Nazareth 66 Jewish revolt against the Romans 70 Destruction of Jerusalem and Second Temple. 73 Last stand of Jews at Masada. 132-135 Bar Kokhba uprising against Rome. c. 210 Codification of Jewish oral law (Mishna) completed. FOREIGN DOMINATION
313-636 Byzantine rulec.
390 Commentary on the Mishna (Jerusalem Talmud) completed. 614 Persian invasion
636-1099 Arab rule
691 On site of First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, Dome of the Rock built by Caliph Abd el-Malik.
1099-1291 Crusader domination
(Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem)
1291-1516 Mamluk rule 1
517-1917 Ottoman rule
1564 Code of Jewish law (Shulhan Arukh) published. 1860 First neighborhood built outside walls of Jerusalem's Old City.
1882-1903 First Aliya (large-scale immigration), mainly from Russia.
1897 First Zionist Congress convened by Theodor Herzl in Basel, Switzerland; Zionist Organization founded.
1904-14 Second Aliya, mainly from Russia and Poland.
1909 First kibbutz, Degania, and first modern all-Jewish city, Tel Aviv, founded.
1917 400 years of Ottoman rule ended by British conquest;
British Foreign Minister Balfour pledges support for establishment of a "Jewish national home in Palestine"
1918-48 British rule
1919-23 Third Aliya, mainly from Russia
1920 Histadrut (General Federation of Labor) and Haganah (Jewish defense organization) founded.
Vaad Leumi (National Council) set up by Jewish community (Yishuv) to conduct its affairs.
1921 First moshav (cooperative village), Nahalal, founded.
1922 Britain granted Mandate for Palestine (Land of Israel) by League of Nations; Transjordan set up on three-fourths of the area, leaving one fourth for the Jewish national home.
Jewish Agency representing Jewish community vis-a-vis Mandate authorities set up.1924 Technion, first institute of technology, founded in Haifa.
1924-32 Fourth Aliya, mainly from Poland.
1925 Hebrew University of Jerusalem opened on Mount Scopus.
1929 Hebron Jews massacred by Arab terrorists.
1931 Etzel, Jewish underground organization, founded.
1933-39 Fifth Aliya, mainly from Germany.
1936-39 Anti-Jewish riots instigated by Arab terrorists.
1939 Jewish immigration severely limited by British White Paper.
1939-45 World War II; Holocaust in Europe.
1941 Lehi underground movement formed; Palmach, strike force of Haganah, set up.
1944 Jewish Brigade formed as part of British forces.
1947 UN proposes the establishment of Arab and Jewish states in the Land. STATE OF ISRAEL
1948 End of British Mandate (14 May)
State of Israel proclaimed (14 May).
Israel invaded by five Arab states (15 May).
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) established.
War of Independence (May 1948-July 1949).
1949 Armistice agreements signed with Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon.
Jerusalem divided under Israeli and Jordanian rule.
First Knesset (parliament) elected.
Israel admitted to United Nations as 59th member.
1948-52 Mass immigration from Europe and Arab countries. 1956 Sinai Campaign 1962 Adolf Eichmann tried and executed in Israel for his part in the Holocaust.
1964 National Water Carrier completed, bringing water from Lake Kinneret in the north to the semi-arid south.
1967 Six-Day War; Jerusalem reunited.
1968-70 Egypt's War of Attrition against Israel
1973 Yom Kippur War
1975 Israel becomes an associate member of the European Common Market.
1977 Likud forms government after Knesset elections, end of 30 years of Labor rule.
Visit of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem.
1978 Camp David Accords include framework for comprehensive peace in the Middle East and proposal for Palestinian self-government.
1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty signed.
Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
1981 Israel Air Force destroys Iraqi nuclear reactor just before it is to become operative.
1982 Israel's three-stage withdrawal from Sinai Peninsula completed.
Operation Peace for Galilee removes Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorists from Lebanon.
1984 National unity government (Likud and Labor) formed after elections.
Operation Moses, immigration of Jews from Ethiopia. 1
985 Free Trade Agreement signed with United States.
1987 Widespread violence (Intifada) starts in Israeli-administered areas. 1
988 Likud government wins elections.
1989 Four-point peace initiative proposed by Israel.
Start of mass immigration of Jews from former Soviet Union.
1991 Israel attacked by Iraqi Scud missiles during Gulf war.
Middle East peace conference convened in Madrid;
Operation Solomon, airlift of Jews from Ethiopia.
1992 Diplomatic relations established with China and India.
New government headed by Yitzhak Rabin of Labor Party.
1993 Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements for the Palestinians signed by Israel and PLO, as representative of the Palestinian people (Oslo Accords).
1994 Implementation of Palestinian self-government in Gaza Strip and Jericho area.
Full diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
Morocco and Tunisia interest offices set up.
Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty signed.
Rabin, Peres, Arafat awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
1995 Broadened Palestinian self-government implemented in West Bank and Gaza Strip; Palestinian Council elected.
Prime Minister Rabin assassinated at peace rally.
Shimon Peres becomes prime minister.
1996 Fundamentalist Arab terrorism against Israel escalates.
Operation Grapes of Wrath, retaliation for Hizbullah terrorists' attacks on northern Israel.
Trade representation offices set up in Oman and Qatar.
Likud forms government after Knesset elections.
Binyamin Netanyahu elected prime minister.
Omani trade representation office opened in Tel Aviv.
1997 Hebron Protocol signed by Israel and the PA.
1998 Israel celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Israel and the PLO sign the Wye River Memorandum to facilitate implementation of the Interim Agreement.
1999 Ehud Barak (left-wing One Israel party) elected prime minister; forms coalition government.
Israel and the PLO sign the Sharm-el-Sheikh Memorandum.
2000 Visit of Pope Paul II.
Israel withdraws from the Security Zone in southern Lebanon.
Israel admitted to UN Western European and Others Group.
Renewed violence (Second Intifada). Prime Minister Barak resigns.
2001 Ariel Sharon (Likud) elected Prime Minister; forms broad-based unity government.
The Sharm-el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee report (Mitchell Report) issued.
Palestinian-Israeli Security Implementation Work Plan (Tenet ceasefire plan) proposed.
Rechavam Ze'evy, Minister of Tourism, assassinated by Palestinian terrorists.
2002 Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield in response to massive Palestinian terrorist attacks.Israel begins building the anti-terrorist fence to stop West Bank terrorists from killing Israeli citizens.Prime Minister Sharon disperses the Knesset, calling for new elections to be held on 28 January 2003.
2003 Right-of-center coalition government formed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Israel accepts the Roadmap.
2005 Israel carries out the Disengagement Plan, ending Israel's presence in the Gaza Strip.
2006 After Prime Minister Sharon suffers a stroke, Ehud Olmert becomes acting prime minister.
Following elections on 28 March, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert forms new government led by the Kadima Party.
Israel carried out military operations against Palestinian terrorists in Gaza after kidnapping of Israeli soldier.
The Second War in Lebanon, during which Israel carried out military operations against Hizbullah terrorism from southern Lebanon, following missile attacks and kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers.
2007 Shimon Peres elected President by the Knesset.
Israel declares Gaza "hostile territory" following Hamas violent takeover of Gaza Strip.
Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations... (Deuteronomy 32:7)
The birthplace of the Jewish people is the Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael). There, a significant part of the nation's long history was enacted, of which the first thousand years are recorded in the Bible; there, its cultural, religious, and national identity was formed; and there, its physical presence has been maintained through the centuries, even after the majority was forced into exile. During the many years of dispersion, the Jewish people never severed nor forgot its bond with the Land. With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Jewish independence, lost 2,000 years earlier, was renewed.
Archeology in Israel involves the systematic investigation of all the remains of the country's past - from prehistory to the end of Ottoman rule. The profusion of material remains is evidence of the many cultures that have left their imprint on the Land.
Above all archeological research clearly reveals the historical link between the Jewish people, the Bible and the Land of Israel, uncovering the remains of the cultural heritage of the Jewish people in its homeland. These visible remains, buried in the soil, constitute the physical link between the past, the present and the future of the Jewish people in its country.
This unbroken chain of history can be observed at sites all over the country. Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, has been the focus of extensive archeological activity and remains of 5,000 years of history have been revealed.
TIMELINE OF HISTORICAL HIGHLIGHTS
http://www.mfa.gov.il/MFA/Facts%20About%20Israel/History/Facts%20About%20Israel-%20History
17th-6th C. BCE BIBLICAL TIMES
(BCE - Before the Common Era)
c.17th century
Abraham, Isaac, Jacob - patriarchs of the Jewish people and bearers of a belief in one God - settle in the Land of Israel.
Famine forces Israelites to migrate to Egypt. c.13th century Exodus from Egypt: Moses leads Israelites from Egypt, followed by 40 years of wandering in the desert.
Torah, including the Ten Commandments, received at Mount Sinai.13th-12th
centuries Israelites settle in the Land of Israel c.1020 Jewish monarchy established; Saul, first king. c.1000 Jerusalem made capital of David's kingdom. c.960 First Temple, the national and spiritual center of the Jewish people, built in Jerusalem by King Solomon. c. 930 Divided kingdom: Judah and Israel 722-720 Israel crushed by Assyrians; 10 tribes exiled (Ten Lost Tribes). 586 Judah conquered by Babylonia; Jerusalem and First Temple destroyed; most Jews exiled.
THE SECOND TEMPLE PERIOD
538-142 Persian and Hellenistic periods 538-515 Many Jews return from Babylonia; Temple rebuilt. 332 Land conquered by Alexander the Great; Hellenistic rule. 166-160
Maccabean (Hasmonean) revolt against restrictions on practice of Judaism and desecration of the Temple 142-129 Jewish autonomy under Hasmoneans. 129-63 Jewish independence under Hasmonean monarchy. 63 Jerusalem captured by Roman general, Pompey. 63 BCE-313 BCE
Roman rule 63-4 BCE
Herod, Roman vassal king, rules the Land of Israel;
Temple in Jerusalem refurbished
(CE - The Common Era)
c. 20-33 Ministry of Jesus of Nazareth 66 Jewish revolt against the Romans 70 Destruction of Jerusalem and Second Temple. 73 Last stand of Jews at Masada. 132-135 Bar Kokhba uprising against Rome. c. 210 Codification of Jewish oral law (Mishna) completed. FOREIGN DOMINATION
313-636 Byzantine rulec.
390 Commentary on the Mishna (Jerusalem Talmud) completed. 614 Persian invasion
636-1099 Arab rule
691 On site of First and Second Temples in Jerusalem, Dome of the Rock built by Caliph Abd el-Malik.
1099-1291 Crusader domination
(Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem)
1291-1516 Mamluk rule 1
517-1917 Ottoman rule
1564 Code of Jewish law (Shulhan Arukh) published. 1860 First neighborhood built outside walls of Jerusalem's Old City.
1882-1903 First Aliya (large-scale immigration), mainly from Russia.
1897 First Zionist Congress convened by Theodor Herzl in Basel, Switzerland; Zionist Organization founded.
1904-14 Second Aliya, mainly from Russia and Poland.
1909 First kibbutz, Degania, and first modern all-Jewish city, Tel Aviv, founded.
1917 400 years of Ottoman rule ended by British conquest;
British Foreign Minister Balfour pledges support for establishment of a "Jewish national home in Palestine"
1918-48 British rule
1919-23 Third Aliya, mainly from Russia
1920 Histadrut (General Federation of Labor) and Haganah (Jewish defense organization) founded.
Vaad Leumi (National Council) set up by Jewish community (Yishuv) to conduct its affairs.
1921 First moshav (cooperative village), Nahalal, founded.
1922 Britain granted Mandate for Palestine (Land of Israel) by League of Nations; Transjordan set up on three-fourths of the area, leaving one fourth for the Jewish national home.
Jewish Agency representing Jewish community vis-a-vis Mandate authorities set up.1924 Technion, first institute of technology, founded in Haifa.
1924-32 Fourth Aliya, mainly from Poland.
1925 Hebrew University of Jerusalem opened on Mount Scopus.
1929 Hebron Jews massacred by Arab terrorists.
1931 Etzel, Jewish underground organization, founded.
1933-39 Fifth Aliya, mainly from Germany.
1936-39 Anti-Jewish riots instigated by Arab terrorists.
1939 Jewish immigration severely limited by British White Paper.
1939-45 World War II; Holocaust in Europe.
1941 Lehi underground movement formed; Palmach, strike force of Haganah, set up.
1944 Jewish Brigade formed as part of British forces.
1947 UN proposes the establishment of Arab and Jewish states in the Land. STATE OF ISRAEL
1948 End of British Mandate (14 May)
State of Israel proclaimed (14 May).
Israel invaded by five Arab states (15 May).
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) established.
War of Independence (May 1948-July 1949).
1949 Armistice agreements signed with Egypt, Jordan, Syria, Lebanon.
Jerusalem divided under Israeli and Jordanian rule.
First Knesset (parliament) elected.
Israel admitted to United Nations as 59th member.
1948-52 Mass immigration from Europe and Arab countries. 1956 Sinai Campaign 1962 Adolf Eichmann tried and executed in Israel for his part in the Holocaust.
1964 National Water Carrier completed, bringing water from Lake Kinneret in the north to the semi-arid south.
1967 Six-Day War; Jerusalem reunited.
1968-70 Egypt's War of Attrition against Israel
1973 Yom Kippur War
1975 Israel becomes an associate member of the European Common Market.
1977 Likud forms government after Knesset elections, end of 30 years of Labor rule.
Visit of Egyptian President Anwar Sadat to Jerusalem.
1978 Camp David Accords include framework for comprehensive peace in the Middle East and proposal for Palestinian self-government.
1979 Israel-Egypt Peace Treaty signed.
Prime Minister Menachem Begin and President Anwar Sadat awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
1981 Israel Air Force destroys Iraqi nuclear reactor just before it is to become operative.
1982 Israel's three-stage withdrawal from Sinai Peninsula completed.
Operation Peace for Galilee removes Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) terrorists from Lebanon.
1984 National unity government (Likud and Labor) formed after elections.
Operation Moses, immigration of Jews from Ethiopia. 1
985 Free Trade Agreement signed with United States.
1987 Widespread violence (Intifada) starts in Israeli-administered areas. 1
988 Likud government wins elections.
1989 Four-point peace initiative proposed by Israel.
Start of mass immigration of Jews from former Soviet Union.
1991 Israel attacked by Iraqi Scud missiles during Gulf war.
Middle East peace conference convened in Madrid;
Operation Solomon, airlift of Jews from Ethiopia.
1992 Diplomatic relations established with China and India.
New government headed by Yitzhak Rabin of Labor Party.
1993 Declaration of Principles on Interim Self-Government Arrangements for the Palestinians signed by Israel and PLO, as representative of the Palestinian people (Oslo Accords).
1994 Implementation of Palestinian self-government in Gaza Strip and Jericho area.
Full diplomatic relations with the Holy See.
Morocco and Tunisia interest offices set up.
Israel-Jordan Peace Treaty signed.
Rabin, Peres, Arafat awarded Nobel Peace Prize.
1995 Broadened Palestinian self-government implemented in West Bank and Gaza Strip; Palestinian Council elected.
Prime Minister Rabin assassinated at peace rally.
Shimon Peres becomes prime minister.
1996 Fundamentalist Arab terrorism against Israel escalates.
Operation Grapes of Wrath, retaliation for Hizbullah terrorists' attacks on northern Israel.
Trade representation offices set up in Oman and Qatar.
Likud forms government after Knesset elections.
Binyamin Netanyahu elected prime minister.
Omani trade representation office opened in Tel Aviv.
1997 Hebron Protocol signed by Israel and the PA.
1998 Israel celebrates its 50th anniversary.
Israel and the PLO sign the Wye River Memorandum to facilitate implementation of the Interim Agreement.
1999 Ehud Barak (left-wing One Israel party) elected prime minister; forms coalition government.
Israel and the PLO sign the Sharm-el-Sheikh Memorandum.
2000 Visit of Pope Paul II.
Israel withdraws from the Security Zone in southern Lebanon.
Israel admitted to UN Western European and Others Group.
Renewed violence (Second Intifada). Prime Minister Barak resigns.
2001 Ariel Sharon (Likud) elected Prime Minister; forms broad-based unity government.
The Sharm-el-Sheikh Fact-Finding Committee report (Mitchell Report) issued.
Palestinian-Israeli Security Implementation Work Plan (Tenet ceasefire plan) proposed.
Rechavam Ze'evy, Minister of Tourism, assassinated by Palestinian terrorists.
2002 Israel launches Operation Defensive Shield in response to massive Palestinian terrorist attacks.Israel begins building the anti-terrorist fence to stop West Bank terrorists from killing Israeli citizens.Prime Minister Sharon disperses the Knesset, calling for new elections to be held on 28 January 2003.
2003 Right-of-center coalition government formed by Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
Israel accepts the Roadmap.
2005 Israel carries out the Disengagement Plan, ending Israel's presence in the Gaza Strip.
2006 After Prime Minister Sharon suffers a stroke, Ehud Olmert becomes acting prime minister.
Following elections on 28 March, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert forms new government led by the Kadima Party.
Israel carried out military operations against Palestinian terrorists in Gaza after kidnapping of Israeli soldier.
The Second War in Lebanon, during which Israel carried out military operations against Hizbullah terrorism from southern Lebanon, following missile attacks and kidnapping of two Israeli soldiers.
2007 Shimon Peres elected President by the Knesset.
Israel declares Gaza "hostile territory" following Hamas violent takeover of Gaza Strip.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JEWISH BELIEVER
A Messianic Jew is defined as a person who was born Jewish or converted to Judaism. They call Jesus Yeshua, and acknowledge His Jewishness. The "Evangelic" wing of Messianic Judaism has religious beliefs similar to those of Evangelical Christianity. These beliefs include: G-d as a Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the virgin birth, resurrection, ascension, and salvation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
JEWISH BELIEVER
A Messianic Jew is defined as a person who was born Jewish or converted to Judaism. They call Jesus Yeshua, and acknowledge His Jewishness. The "Evangelic" wing of Messianic Judaism has religious beliefs similar to those of Evangelical Christianity. These beliefs include: G-d as a Trinity of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the virgin birth, resurrection, ascension, and salvation.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The Jewish World
Greece and Rome and the Orient all had their influence upon Christianity and its development, but it was the Jewish world from which the new faith directly sprang. Its founder was a Jew and spoke a Semitic tongue. His work was done within the narrow borders of the little Jewish province. The early leaders of the movement, Paul, Peter, and James, were all of the same race. Above all, it was the noble faith of Israel in which Christianity footed.
What was the place of the Jew in the Roman world? The Jew was, first of all, a part of a larger Semitic world. Rome's old enemies, the Carthaginians, belonged to this race, as did the Phoenicians along the east coast of the Mediterranean; and other Semitic peoples extended as far east as Babylonia. Most of these used a common tongue called Aramaic. The Jews at this time used a dialect of this tongue instead of the old Hebrew in which the Old Testament was written.
Palestine was the old home of the Jews. It is usually thought of as having been shut off from the rest of the world and from the great movements of history. As a matter of fact, it lay on the great highways that joined the nations of antiquity. It was a meeting place for three continents. Along these roads swept in turn the armies of the great conquering nations, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, Macedonia, Syria, Rome. Israel had felt the influence of all these and yet had preserved her individuality. At the time of Jesus' birth she was ruled by Herod the Great, a selfish and cruel but strong monarch. The land had been separated by Rome, however, into several divisions. The province of Judaea was the principal one. This included Idumæa to the south, Judæa proper (corresponding to the old southern kingdom), and Samaria (corresponding to the old kingdom of Israel). The chief Jewish population lay in the two latter, which formed a territory but little larger than half of the State of Iowa or Illinois. North of Samaria lay Galilee, where Jesus' home was. It had not long been settled by the Jews and was still half Gentile. Across the Jordan lay Peræa, which was joined with Galilee to form a tetrarchy. After Herod the Great the kingdom was divided. At the time of Jesus' ministry the province of Judæa was under the direct control of the emperor. The governor appointed by him was called procurator, and at this time was Pontius Pilate. The tetrarchy of Galilee and Peræa at the time of the Gospels was under Herod Antipas, whom Jesus called the fox. The Jews had a very large measure of self-government in Judæa under their high priest and Sanhedrin, or Senate. For the most part their religious customs and scruples were respected. But the crushing burden of taxation was never intermitted. There were poverty and distress in abundance. The hated publican was always present as a sign of their bondage, and constantly smoldering underneath all was the religious-patriotic passion which flamed forth at last in the hopeless revolt against Rome that ended in the destruction of Jerusalem.
But the Jew was not limited to Palestine then any more than he is now. in their earlier history the Jews had been carried off by force into captivity, while in the later years vastly greater numbers had gone into other lands of their own free will. The scattered Jews were called the Diaspora, or Dispersion. The Jew had once been a nomad with herds and flocks, as his Arab cousin is today. When he settled in Canaan he became an agriculturist. But before the time of Christ he had begun the career of tradesman, in which we know him so well. Then, as now, he was scattered throughout the world. Over a century before Christ the Grecian geographer Strabo wrote, "One cannot readily find any place in the world which has not received this tribe and. been taken possession of by it." There were from four to four and a half million Jews in the empire, probably not far from a twelfth of the whole population. Then, as now, they were looked down upon and often persecuted. And yet they enjoyed special privileges. They usually formed In each city a special community with some measure of self-government. The synagogue was the center of the community, and over a hundred and fifty of these are known to have been scattered throughout the empire.
This dispersion of the Jews was of the greatest significance for Christianity. Rome built roads for the gospel, Greece gave it a language, but the Jews had prepared the approach to men's hearts and minds. Every Jewish synagogue was a center of religious influence. About it there was usually a fringe of converts, or proselytes, or at least a number of interested inquirers and attendants who were spoken of as "devout" or "God-fearing" (Acts 10:22; 17:4). Despite the prejudice against the Jews, the pure faith, the simple worship, and the high moral ideals must have proven attractive to many noble souls in the Roman world. Thus the leaven of the Old Testament moral and spiritual ideals was spread throughout the empire, and Paul's first and best converts were among these Gentiles that had already been touched by Judaism.
The religion of Judaism is of supreme interest to the Christian. Jesus did not profess to bring a new faith. He came to the Jews with the faith of their fathers; his God was Jehovah, "the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob." The highest expression of the Hebrew religion was in the prophets and the psalms. It was not merely the thought of one God, such as Grecian philosophy had reached; it was the character of that God as a God of righteousness and mercy. From this conception of God came the pure and noble idea of religion; for such a God asks of men not sacrifice and ritual, but "to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God" (Mic 6:8). Upon this religion of the prophets Jesus built, and we cannot understand Christianity without it. Side by side with it in the Old Testament is a great system of ceremonial law, but with this priestly religion Jesus showed little sympathy.
There is a difference, however, between the Old Testament religion and the religion of Jesus' day, or Judaism. A living religion does not stand still. The last four centuries before Christ were of great importance for the Jewish religion, though we read little of this history in the Old Testament. The Jews had become a part of Alexander's empire. The Greeks, not contented with political rule, wished to change the eastern civilization and Hellenize it. At first they made some progress with the Jews. Grecian games and customs were introduced. There was a strong and growing liberal party. Then Antiochus, called Epiphanes, tried to force the process. He tried to compel the Jews to give up circumcision, the Sabbath, and the books of the law. As a result he merely strengthened the opposition and aroused the people. The party of the law triumphed. Everything that separated the Jews from the nations was emphasized. The passion of the Jews and the chief concern of religion became more and more the mere keeping of the many precepts of the law. All this bore its fruits in Jesus' day. Religion was not fellowship with God. God was far off. In his place were these laws which he had given. Religion was keeping these laws, and the endless traditions which had grown up about them. It was an almost impossible burden, and many made no attempt at all to carry it (Acts 15:10).
Side by side with the law was the hope. We might describe the Jewish religion as an ellipse with the law and the hope as the two foci about which it moved. This hope we first meet in the Old Testament. It is the hope of the Messianic kingdom, that at some time Israel's enemies are to be overthrown and she is to reign in triumph. Prophets like Isaiah give us a wonderful picture of the new earth that is to come, in which peace and righteousness shall prevail. Usually, though not always, the prophets spoke of a Messiah who was to bring in this new kingdom. Such a hope might be very broad and generous, as in Isa 19:24, 25: "In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth; for that Jehovah of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance." But it might be very narrow as it was in Jesus' day, when the Jews dreamed only of their own triumph and thought not so much of a reign of righteousness as of material blessings.
The Jews had resisted every attempt to break down their peculiar faith and to engulf them in the mixture of religions and races which made the Hellenistic-Roman world. They did not, however, remain uninfluenced. This is especially seen in the changes that took place in the Messianic hope. We see this in Jewish writings of this period. We hear about angels and demons. The world is divided into two opposing forces of light and darkness, and these are to meet at last in a great conflict which is to bring in the new age. There are to be resurrection and judgment, heaven and hell. These ideas, which are lacking in the Old Testament, show the influence of the East, and especially of Persia.
We have spoken so far as though there were no differences of religious thought among the Jews. The New Testament pages show us that there were different parties and classes. First among these are the Pharisees. They were the separatists, or Puritans, of their day. In the days of the struggle against Antiochus and the Greek customs they stood for the law and the separation of Israel from all the pagan life about them. They favored the strictest observance of the law and all the rules that had been built around it by tradition. There were not many of them—Josephus says six thousand—but their influence with the people was very great. With them are usually mentioned in the New Testament the scribes. They were the teachers of the law, the lawyers, and they usually belonged to the Pharisaic party. They studied not so much the law as the mass of teachings about the law which had been handed down from the older rabbis. Their teaching was simply a remembering and repeating of these traditions, a dreary and endless process that sank more and more to trifles and puerilities, while neglecting "the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith."
The Sadducees were the aristocrats, the party of the priestly nobility. They were conservatives in theology, disregarding the traditions of the scribes, holding only to the older written law, and refusing more modern doctrines like those of the resurrection and of spirits. In religion, however, they represented the more liberal and worldly wing. They were not so strict in observing the law and were quite ready to make alliance with the Romans if it would keep them in power. They had no influence with the people and their power depended upon their control of the temple. After the destruction of the temple and the city in the year 70 they disappear.
With all their faults the Pharisees were the real representatives of the religious life of the people. But if they show the strength of Judaism, they show its weakness too. The religion of the law could not save men. With those who felt that they had kept the law, like the Pharisees, it gendered formalism and pride. With others it created either indifference or despair; the law was no help, but an impossible burden. Never did a people show more zeal for religion. "I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God," says Paul (Rom 10:2). But it could not give men peace of heart of moral victory. Judaism trained the conscience which she could not still. She stood far above the other religions of the day. She saw that salvation must mean righteousness. Jeremiah had spoken of the law that was to be written in men's hearts (31:31-34). Ezekiel had written of the new spirit that was to be given (36:26, 27). The psalmist had uttered his great petition, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (51:10). But the religion of law could not bring this about. That remained for a new faith.
—New Testament History
Greece and Rome and the Orient all had their influence upon Christianity and its development, but it was the Jewish world from which the new faith directly sprang. Its founder was a Jew and spoke a Semitic tongue. His work was done within the narrow borders of the little Jewish province. The early leaders of the movement, Paul, Peter, and James, were all of the same race. Above all, it was the noble faith of Israel in which Christianity footed.
What was the place of the Jew in the Roman world? The Jew was, first of all, a part of a larger Semitic world. Rome's old enemies, the Carthaginians, belonged to this race, as did the Phoenicians along the east coast of the Mediterranean; and other Semitic peoples extended as far east as Babylonia. Most of these used a common tongue called Aramaic. The Jews at this time used a dialect of this tongue instead of the old Hebrew in which the Old Testament was written.
Palestine was the old home of the Jews. It is usually thought of as having been shut off from the rest of the world and from the great movements of history. As a matter of fact, it lay on the great highways that joined the nations of antiquity. It was a meeting place for three continents. Along these roads swept in turn the armies of the great conquering nations, Babylonia, Assyria, Egypt, Macedonia, Syria, Rome. Israel had felt the influence of all these and yet had preserved her individuality. At the time of Jesus' birth she was ruled by Herod the Great, a selfish and cruel but strong monarch. The land had been separated by Rome, however, into several divisions. The province of Judaea was the principal one. This included Idumæa to the south, Judæa proper (corresponding to the old southern kingdom), and Samaria (corresponding to the old kingdom of Israel). The chief Jewish population lay in the two latter, which formed a territory but little larger than half of the State of Iowa or Illinois. North of Samaria lay Galilee, where Jesus' home was. It had not long been settled by the Jews and was still half Gentile. Across the Jordan lay Peræa, which was joined with Galilee to form a tetrarchy. After Herod the Great the kingdom was divided. At the time of Jesus' ministry the province of Judæa was under the direct control of the emperor. The governor appointed by him was called procurator, and at this time was Pontius Pilate. The tetrarchy of Galilee and Peræa at the time of the Gospels was under Herod Antipas, whom Jesus called the fox. The Jews had a very large measure of self-government in Judæa under their high priest and Sanhedrin, or Senate. For the most part their religious customs and scruples were respected. But the crushing burden of taxation was never intermitted. There were poverty and distress in abundance. The hated publican was always present as a sign of their bondage, and constantly smoldering underneath all was the religious-patriotic passion which flamed forth at last in the hopeless revolt against Rome that ended in the destruction of Jerusalem.
But the Jew was not limited to Palestine then any more than he is now. in their earlier history the Jews had been carried off by force into captivity, while in the later years vastly greater numbers had gone into other lands of their own free will. The scattered Jews were called the Diaspora, or Dispersion. The Jew had once been a nomad with herds and flocks, as his Arab cousin is today. When he settled in Canaan he became an agriculturist. But before the time of Christ he had begun the career of tradesman, in which we know him so well. Then, as now, he was scattered throughout the world. Over a century before Christ the Grecian geographer Strabo wrote, "One cannot readily find any place in the world which has not received this tribe and. been taken possession of by it." There were from four to four and a half million Jews in the empire, probably not far from a twelfth of the whole population. Then, as now, they were looked down upon and often persecuted. And yet they enjoyed special privileges. They usually formed In each city a special community with some measure of self-government. The synagogue was the center of the community, and over a hundred and fifty of these are known to have been scattered throughout the empire.
This dispersion of the Jews was of the greatest significance for Christianity. Rome built roads for the gospel, Greece gave it a language, but the Jews had prepared the approach to men's hearts and minds. Every Jewish synagogue was a center of religious influence. About it there was usually a fringe of converts, or proselytes, or at least a number of interested inquirers and attendants who were spoken of as "devout" or "God-fearing" (Acts 10:22; 17:4). Despite the prejudice against the Jews, the pure faith, the simple worship, and the high moral ideals must have proven attractive to many noble souls in the Roman world. Thus the leaven of the Old Testament moral and spiritual ideals was spread throughout the empire, and Paul's first and best converts were among these Gentiles that had already been touched by Judaism.
The religion of Judaism is of supreme interest to the Christian. Jesus did not profess to bring a new faith. He came to the Jews with the faith of their fathers; his God was Jehovah, "the God of Abraham and Isaac and Jacob." The highest expression of the Hebrew religion was in the prophets and the psalms. It was not merely the thought of one God, such as Grecian philosophy had reached; it was the character of that God as a God of righteousness and mercy. From this conception of God came the pure and noble idea of religion; for such a God asks of men not sacrifice and ritual, but "to do justly, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with God" (Mic 6:8). Upon this religion of the prophets Jesus built, and we cannot understand Christianity without it. Side by side with it in the Old Testament is a great system of ceremonial law, but with this priestly religion Jesus showed little sympathy.
There is a difference, however, between the Old Testament religion and the religion of Jesus' day, or Judaism. A living religion does not stand still. The last four centuries before Christ were of great importance for the Jewish religion, though we read little of this history in the Old Testament. The Jews had become a part of Alexander's empire. The Greeks, not contented with political rule, wished to change the eastern civilization and Hellenize it. At first they made some progress with the Jews. Grecian games and customs were introduced. There was a strong and growing liberal party. Then Antiochus, called Epiphanes, tried to force the process. He tried to compel the Jews to give up circumcision, the Sabbath, and the books of the law. As a result he merely strengthened the opposition and aroused the people. The party of the law triumphed. Everything that separated the Jews from the nations was emphasized. The passion of the Jews and the chief concern of religion became more and more the mere keeping of the many precepts of the law. All this bore its fruits in Jesus' day. Religion was not fellowship with God. God was far off. In his place were these laws which he had given. Religion was keeping these laws, and the endless traditions which had grown up about them. It was an almost impossible burden, and many made no attempt at all to carry it (Acts 15:10).
Side by side with the law was the hope. We might describe the Jewish religion as an ellipse with the law and the hope as the two foci about which it moved. This hope we first meet in the Old Testament. It is the hope of the Messianic kingdom, that at some time Israel's enemies are to be overthrown and she is to reign in triumph. Prophets like Isaiah give us a wonderful picture of the new earth that is to come, in which peace and righteousness shall prevail. Usually, though not always, the prophets spoke of a Messiah who was to bring in this new kingdom. Such a hope might be very broad and generous, as in Isa 19:24, 25: "In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth; for that Jehovah of hosts hath blessed them, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance." But it might be very narrow as it was in Jesus' day, when the Jews dreamed only of their own triumph and thought not so much of a reign of righteousness as of material blessings.
The Jews had resisted every attempt to break down their peculiar faith and to engulf them in the mixture of religions and races which made the Hellenistic-Roman world. They did not, however, remain uninfluenced. This is especially seen in the changes that took place in the Messianic hope. We see this in Jewish writings of this period. We hear about angels and demons. The world is divided into two opposing forces of light and darkness, and these are to meet at last in a great conflict which is to bring in the new age. There are to be resurrection and judgment, heaven and hell. These ideas, which are lacking in the Old Testament, show the influence of the East, and especially of Persia.
We have spoken so far as though there were no differences of religious thought among the Jews. The New Testament pages show us that there were different parties and classes. First among these are the Pharisees. They were the separatists, or Puritans, of their day. In the days of the struggle against Antiochus and the Greek customs they stood for the law and the separation of Israel from all the pagan life about them. They favored the strictest observance of the law and all the rules that had been built around it by tradition. There were not many of them—Josephus says six thousand—but their influence with the people was very great. With them are usually mentioned in the New Testament the scribes. They were the teachers of the law, the lawyers, and they usually belonged to the Pharisaic party. They studied not so much the law as the mass of teachings about the law which had been handed down from the older rabbis. Their teaching was simply a remembering and repeating of these traditions, a dreary and endless process that sank more and more to trifles and puerilities, while neglecting "the weightier matters of the law, justice, and mercy, and faith."
The Sadducees were the aristocrats, the party of the priestly nobility. They were conservatives in theology, disregarding the traditions of the scribes, holding only to the older written law, and refusing more modern doctrines like those of the resurrection and of spirits. In religion, however, they represented the more liberal and worldly wing. They were not so strict in observing the law and were quite ready to make alliance with the Romans if it would keep them in power. They had no influence with the people and their power depended upon their control of the temple. After the destruction of the temple and the city in the year 70 they disappear.
With all their faults the Pharisees were the real representatives of the religious life of the people. But if they show the strength of Judaism, they show its weakness too. The religion of the law could not save men. With those who felt that they had kept the law, like the Pharisees, it gendered formalism and pride. With others it created either indifference or despair; the law was no help, but an impossible burden. Never did a people show more zeal for religion. "I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God," says Paul (Rom 10:2). But it could not give men peace of heart of moral victory. Judaism trained the conscience which she could not still. She stood far above the other religions of the day. She saw that salvation must mean righteousness. Jeremiah had spoken of the law that was to be written in men's hearts (31:31-34). Ezekiel had written of the new spirit that was to be given (36:26, 27). The psalmist had uttered his great petition, "Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me" (51:10). But the religion of law could not bring this about. That remained for a new faith.
—New Testament History
HISTORY OF JERUSALEM
Jerusalem (Hebrew: ( Yerushaláyim (for the meaning, see below); Arabic: القُدس al-Quds, lit. "The Holy"; Yiddish: ירושלים Yərusholáyəm) is the capital of Israel and, if including the area and population of East Jerusalem, its largest city[2] in both population and area,[3] with a population of 763,800 residents over an area of 125.1 km2 (48.3 sq mi).[1][4][iv] Located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern edge of the Dead Sea, modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the boundaries of the Old City.
The city has a history that goes back to the 4th millennium BCE, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.[5] Jerusalem is the holiest city in Judaism and Christianity and has been the spiritual center of the Jewish people since c. 1000 BCE, when David the King of Israel first established it as the capital of the Jewish Nation, and his son Solomon commissioned the building of the First Temple in the city.[6] Jerusalem contains a number of significant Christian sites, and although it is never mentioned explicitly in the Qur'an, Islam regards Jerusalem as its third-holiest city.[7] Despite having an area of only 0.9 square kilometer (0.35 square mile),[8] the Old City is home to sites of key religious importance, among them the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque. The old walled city, a World Heritage site, has been traditionally divided into four quarters, although the names used today—the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters—were introduced in the early 19th century.[9] The Old City was nominated for inclusion on the List of World Heritage Sites in danger by Jordan in 1982.[10] In the course of its history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.[11]
Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem has been repeatedly criticized by the United Nations and related bodies,[12][13] and Palestinians demand East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.[14][15] In the wake of United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 (passed in 1980), most foreign embassies moved out of Jerusalem.[16]
Jerusalem (Hebrew: ( Yerushaláyim (for the meaning, see below); Arabic: القُدس al-Quds, lit. "The Holy"; Yiddish: ירושלים Yərusholáyəm) is the capital of Israel and, if including the area and population of East Jerusalem, its largest city[2] in both population and area,[3] with a population of 763,800 residents over an area of 125.1 km2 (48.3 sq mi).[1][4][iv] Located in the Judean Mountains, between the Mediterranean Sea and the northern edge of the Dead Sea, modern Jerusalem has grown far beyond the boundaries of the Old City.
The city has a history that goes back to the 4th millennium BCE, making it one of the oldest cities in the world.[5] Jerusalem is the holiest city in Judaism and Christianity and has been the spiritual center of the Jewish people since c. 1000 BCE, when David the King of Israel first established it as the capital of the Jewish Nation, and his son Solomon commissioned the building of the First Temple in the city.[6] Jerusalem contains a number of significant Christian sites, and although it is never mentioned explicitly in the Qur'an, Islam regards Jerusalem as its third-holiest city.[7] Despite having an area of only 0.9 square kilometer (0.35 square mile),[8] the Old City is home to sites of key religious importance, among them the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, the Dome of the Rock and al-Aqsa Mosque. The old walled city, a World Heritage site, has been traditionally divided into four quarters, although the names used today—the Armenian, Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Quarters—were introduced in the early 19th century.[9] The Old City was nominated for inclusion on the List of World Heritage Sites in danger by Jordan in 1982.[10] In the course of its history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.[11]
Today, the status of Jerusalem remains one of the core issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Israel's annexation of East Jerusalem has been repeatedly criticized by the United Nations and related bodies,[12][13] and Palestinians demand East Jerusalem as the capital of their future state.[14][15] In the wake of United Nations Security Council Resolution 478 (passed in 1980), most foreign embassies moved out of Jerusalem.[16]