I Only Know What I Read
History brings answers ... and questions
This is what I’ve read about the ancient history of the Hebrews/Israelites/Jews; mostly, but not exclusively, from the Old Testament. If you guess why this has been on my mind of late, your guess would probably be accurate.
Also, I’d like to point out that everyone wants to be the Hebrews/Israelites/Jews for the perceived benefits accrued from God, but few are willing to partake of the drawbacks inherent in being singled out by Him. And there are a ton of the latter.
So, here we go. Chronological, mostly.
Abraham had two sons: Ishmael and Isaac. The Hebrews/Israelites/Jews are descended from Isaac and the Arabs are descended from Ishmael.
Isaac had two sons: Esau and Jacob. Jacob’s name was changed to Israel; he had twelve sons and their families are known as the Twelve (or Thirteen) Tribes of Israel. Esau’s descendants joined with those of Ishmael.
The sons of Jacob/Israel were: Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin.
The Twelve Tribes and their father fled famine in their land and went to Egypt. They were originally treated well, but then enslaved by the Egyptians. Moses - and, later, Joshua - led them out of Egypt and back to their land.
The tribes went to war several times against several other ethnic groups when attempting to re-take possession of the land. Each tribe got a portion of the land.
In the land, the tribes were ruled by judges for many centuries, with Joshua being the first. Then the Hebrews/Israelites asked God for a king.
There were three kings of the United Kingdom of Israel (UKI): Saul, David and Solomon. Solomon built the first Temple in Jerusalem.
Upon the death of Solomon, the UKI was split into two, creating the Kingdom of Judah and the House of Israel.
The Kingdom of Judah consisted of the tribes of Judah, Benjamin and Levi and the House of Israel consisted of all of the other tribes.
The Kingdom of Judah was dissolved by the Babylonians and its inhabitants were held in captivity there for 70 years; the Temple was destroyed. But after Babylon was conquered by Persia (among others), a remnant of Judah was allowed to return to their land where they seeded the second Temple.
Hebrews/Israelites were not called “Jews” until the Babylonian captivity - and it was only a reference to the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi.
The House of Israel was dissolved by the Assyrians (among others) and the various tribes were carried away or wandered into various nations - mostly into the countries surrounding the former UKI and into what is now known as Europe.
(Side note: I found out recently that many Christians do not know about the history between the death of Solomon and the destruction and carrying away of the two kingdoms. It helps to have good teachers.)
Judah (Judea) and the land formerly known as the House of Israel were conquered by the Roman Empire. Following that, the second Temple was refurbished by Herod.
Judea revolted against the Romans in 66 and Jerusalem was overrun by the latter in 70 which meant the destruction of the second Temple. Judea revolted again in 132 and the Jews were wiped out, enslaved, or expelled from the land.
After the Jews were vanquished and banished, Roman Emperor Hadrian changed the name of Judea to Syria Palestina.
My question: where do you think the other ten tribes went? I have a good handle on that, but I’d like to know what YOU think.
I left a lot of this history out, the most glaring omission being the existence of Jesus the Christ. This is intentional, so if you want to add something or correct something, feel free and if it's relevant, I’ll insert it. Most of this is off the top of my head.
(Thanks to Dr. Chuck Missler - 1934-2018 - and to Pastor Melissa Scott)
Good history and pretty accurate. Two quibbles. One major and one minor. The minor one is about the descendants of Esau. I am not sure we know exactly who they are but I don't think they joined with the Arab Muslims. Perhaps they are Persian Muslims? IDK. for sure.
Now the big one. Current day Israel and its people are NOT God's chosen people anymore. They rejected God and His Son. The chosen people of God today are those who have been adopted as sons into the family of God, i.e. Christians.
And I agree with your assessment of the typical Christian's biblical illiteracy between the time of Solomon and the coming of Jesus the first time. I grew up in a Southern Baptist family and went to SS every week and LOVED reading all the great stories in the Old Testament. And because God blessed me with a great memory, I can recite most of them. However, except for a few great stories about Elijah and Baal and Ahab and Jezebel and so forth, I couldn't tell you much about what happened and who did what after Solomon.
It is ok to have one cat. But it must be an indoor/outdoor cat and must be a mouser. Have a great day!!!
When you mentioned the Assyrians I immediately thought "came down like a wolf on the fold, and his cohorts were gleaming in purple and gold."
However, it is to P.G. Wodehouse and not Sunday School that I owe that recollection. Otherwise, the next association I have for Assyrians is the character Yossarion in the Joseph Heller novel <i>Catch 22.</i> Whenever anybody asked where his name came from he claimed that he was Assyrian. But Yossarion is a prototype of the Unreliable Narrator.
Interestingly, Heller, like Herman Wouk, was Jewish. Much could be made of their Judaism and how it influenced their literary work.