It was an amazing deal, the likes of which had never been offered to a group of people before and never would be offered again. These people had already been through a lot, both good and bad. They had spent their whole lives wandering and wondering. It had been far worse for their parents. They had grown up as slaves and had died in sadness, their potential unrealised, in the unforgiving desert. That whole generation, bar two, had now perished and here we find their children standing on the threshold of a new chapter in their lives.
They had trudged around the desert for up to forty years, yet things could have been far worse. They had a ready supply of food and water, their clothes had not worn out and not one of them had suffered so much as a blister in their feet! And they were bolstered by great tales of miracles, involving the parting of great waters, great deliverances from their enemies and everyday provisions. And they didn't travel alone, their God travelled with them. The God who had created them and the World in which they lived, had chosen to lead them personally, through a vanguard of smoke and fire. And this same God now offered them a new deal.
It was to be an end of their fruitless wanderings. A land was being offered to them. A land where they could settle, their lifelong travels finally at an end. A land with streams and refreshing valley springs. A land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey. A rich land, where copper and iron were easily mined. A land where they would lack nothing. And best of all, it would be handed to them on a plate. Vineyards and olive groves would already be established, wells already dug and large flourishing cities would be theirs, as vacant possession.
Their leader, one hundred and twenty years old, surveyed this promised land from a high pace with sadness in his heart. He knew that his days were numbered, that he was at the threshold of death, never to lead his people into this land of milk and honey. But his sadness was not for himself, but rather for the people he had led for forty years. He knew something they didn't. He knew that these blessings would never be fully realised by his people and he knew why.
You see, there were conditions attached, simple conditions. God had offered them a choice between life and prosperity on the one hand, and death and destruction on the other. To claim the former all they had to do was to love him, walk in his ways and keep his laws. This oughtn't have been difficult, partly because these laws were there for their protection, safety and well-being. They were to deserve the latter if they were to ignore these instructions and follow their own ways and turn towards the gods of the people already in the land.
They were offered life or death, blessings or curses. Choose life! pleaded the God who wanted to give them the world, but they didn't listen. True, they entered the promised land and began to conquer it and began to enjoyed the blessings offered. But they chose the dark side, seduced by the gods and the customs of the native people. As a consequence, they took around a thousand years to fully conquer the land offered to them, then proceeded to lose the lot, before being exiled from the land itself, condemned to wander the world right up to the modern era.
Such has been the lot for the Jews. Offered so much, but still going their own way. No wonder they were called a stiff-necked people. The story of Moses and the Children of Israel is not just a cautionary tale, a fable from an uncertain fantasy, conjured up by the mind of man. The story is from the pages of the world's best selling book, the Bible. It is from the fifth section, originally titled 'Words', but saddled with the title, 'Deuteronomy', a name taken from an alien culture hundreds of years after the events took place.
This is the point where we take a deep breath and discuss our frames of reference before we go any further. The Bible - that's my frame of reference. But I can't just leave it at that, as many have looked into that particular book and seen different things. So what do I see there? I see a book that speaks from God's mind to our mind and God's heart to our heart. Whether or not you believe in God is not the issue here, that's between you and Him. Whatever your background, all I ask you is to consider the possibility that there is a God, who chooses to communicate to us through the Bible.
For those of you who may view the Bible as a relic from history, with no more credibility in the real world as The Hobbit, I may be asking you to take a step in faith. But the fact remains that this is the best place to start to examine early Jewish history. Even if you consider it more fiction than fact, it is the Bible, usually in the hands of other people, that has done more to shape Jewish history than anything else.
In the view of many, the explanation from the Bible is the only one that makes sense of the history of the Jewish people to the present day. Political, historical and sociological analysis gets us nowhere on this issue. Jews are an anomaly, mere fossils according to the historian, Toynbee, as mentioned earlier. Most would say that it was the Bible that got them in the mess in the first place, but what the Bible also does is offer hope that everything that has happened to them has been for a purpose and that there is a very real possibility of a happy ending.
How is this for some facts on Jews? True of false?
Strange that you do not mention the happy ending by name - Jesus Christ.
That is Who the Old Testament is all about. That is why the Hebrews and the Jewish nation were chosen and why they were partially restored to their land after exile, in order that God's purposes would not fail.
The record of the Jewish people is a record of our own failure and misery and anomaly, mere fossils as you cite, without the purpose of our existence, God, through Jesus Christ, His Son, our Saviour.
There is no point to it all without God and therefore Jesus Christ Who is our only means of reconciliation and restoration to Him.
Reply:A real possibility of a happy ending is one state for all Jews and Palestinian Christians and Palestinians Muslim.
Reply:I can respond with Psalm 8. read it,
Definitely the scriptures is God searching for man, and you can see this nowhere better than in the history of Israel, His chosen people. Where since their election they have been a people set apart from the world, and God does not go back in His word, His promise to Israel is eternal. When we see the Jewish people I really think that God has chosen them to be a whitness to the nations. i am a Christian, Catholic, and I do recognize that our Christian faith has jewish roots and we can't understand our religion apart from the Hebrew scriptures and the people of Israel, through whom we believe the Messiah comes to the whole world and all its nations to make known the one God , and his law, the one that is inscribed in the heart of all.
Blessed be Israel
Shema Israel Adonai elohenu Adonai ehad
Reply:Are you off your head, or just plain stupid?
Expecting people to read your forty pages of cr ap?
You're a right tube.
Reply:- The Earliest Mention Of Israel.
The Merneptah Stele (dated to the 11th century B.C.) mentions the existence of Israel in Canaan as a distinct people, if not as a city state or nation. Even if Israel was a small tribe, its origins would have to be centuries before Merneptah (1212-1202 B.C.). The fact that Israel was not completely destroyed means Israel was not just a small tribe.
Where was Israel during or before the 15th century B.C.? Egyptian tomb paintings and inscriptions in the time of Thutmose I (1495-1490 B.C.) and Thutmose III (1479-1425 B.C.) indicate Semite slaves were used in construction projects.
- Archaeological Coincidences Matching The Bible
Amenhotep I (1521-1495 B.C) had no son. He was succeeded by his “general” Thutmose I. (1495-1490 B.C.) Thutmose I married Amenhotep I’s daughter. This tells us Amenhotep I was not sterile. It is strange that in his 27 year reign he never had a son!
Thutmose I had three sons, but the eldest two died early. He was succeeded by his third son, Thutmose II, the son of his second wife, Mutnefret.
It can be claimed that there was a high rate of child mortality in the ancient world, but stretching this to cover over 20 years is a bit much. On the other hand it can also be said that this is direct evidence of the slaying of the first born of Egypt as recorded in the Bible (Exodus 12:29-32).
- A Change In Egyptian Religion
Two changes occurred in Egyptian religion during the time of Amenhotep I. First, the tomb of the pharaohs was no longer situated with their mortuary temple. Second, the god Amun became more prominent.
If the prestige of the gods of Egypt suffered a setback, it might explain the change. Curses and magic would no longer appear sufficient to deter grave robbers. It would also explain the rise of the god Amun. One idol fell, and another took its place.
The third change came from Hatsheput. She erected an entire temple to Baast (or Pakhet). Baast was an obscure Egyptian goddess. Why would Hatsheput choose to honour such a goddess? Did Hatsheput need another god or goddess to legitimize her rule since she was a woman? But if this was the case, why not Re, Amun, or even Isis? She certainly mentioned Re in the Speos Artemidos, and she claimed to be the daughter of the god Amun. Perhaps there was another reason. It would make sense if a disaster befell the chief gods of Egypt.
- The Conquest Of Canaan
If there was a conquest, there would have to be some evidence, either in Canaan or elsewhere. The Amarna Letters were written by Canaanite rulers and sent to Amenhotep III (1387-1350 B.C.) and Akhenaten (1350-1334 B.C.). These letters mention trouble between Canaanite rulers, and also trouble with the “Habiru”.
The Amarna period was one of increasing disorder in Canaan. Israel might not be the only group moving into the area. The “mixed multitude” that accompanied them from Egypt (Exodus 12:38) could have gone north. All these groups would simply be labelled Habiru.
Reply:Dude, really. What is your question?
Reply:ARE YOU A JEW BY ANY CHANCE OF IMAGINE NATION? WORSE CASE OF BIBLE BASHING IVE SEEN IN A LONG TIME!!
Reply:Interesting...
What your saying does make sense but I'd refer you to the Qur'an rather than the Bible because the Qur'an is flawless, and as all the Abrahamic religions are basically the same there would be no harm in jumping ship would there? Jews should do the same, and the Israeli's should really start behaving themselves.
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