Brief History of IsraelBrief History of Israel 11

Review of what we have learnt so Review of what we have learnt so far:far:

1. The OT canons: The Jewish, the Catholic / Orthodox

and the Protestant

2. Four parts of the Protestant Canon: Five Books of

Moses, Historical Books, Poetic Books, and Prophetic

Books

3. Basic contents of each part of the OT

4. Basic historical facts recorded in the OT about the

people of Israel

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A Brief History of Israel - contents to cover:A Brief History of Israel - contents to cover:

1. The patriarchal ( 族長 ) period2. Israel in Egypt3. The exodus4. The entry in to Canaan5. The period of the Judges6. The transition to the monarchical ( 君主 ) period7. The division of the kingdom8. The fall of Israel the northern kingdom9. The fall of Judah the southern kingdom10. The exilic period11. The return to Jerusalem12. The rebuilding of Jerusalem

Brief History of IsraelBrief History of Israel 33

The patriarchal period (The patriarchal period ( 族長時期族長時期 ):):

Stories about the four patriarchs:1. Abraham ( 亞伯拉罕 )

a. The calling (Gen. 12)b. The promise of progeny and land (15)c. The birth of Isaac (21)d. The test (22)

2. Isaac ( 以撒 ): the re-affirmation of Yahweh’ s promise (26.23-25)

3. Jacob / Israel ( 雅各 / 以色列 )a. Birth (25.19-26)b. Deceiver (25.27-34)c. Yahweh re-affirm his promise (28.10-17)d. Deceiver deceived (29)

Brief History of IsraelBrief History of Israel 44

The patriarchal period ...The patriarchal period ...

e. Wrestling with an angel (32.22-32)4. Joseph

a. Dreamer (37.5-11)b. A god-fearing man (39)c. Interpreter of dreams (40, 41)d. Helped save family from famine (42)

Conclusion: the history of the patriarch is the story of the fulfillment of Yahweh’ s promise to Abraham - the becoming of a great nation in the promised land.

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Israel in Egypt and the exodus:Israel in Egypt and the exodus:

1. The oppression of the Israelites in Egypt (Ex. 1)

2. The call of Moses (3.1-12)

3. The ten plagues (7.-12.)

4. The Passover (12.1-14)

5. The exodus (12.37-42)

6. The quails and manna from heaven (16.1-20)

7. The meeting with Yahweh at Mount Sinai (19.1-6)

8. The Ten Commandments (10.1-17)

Brief History of IsraelBrief History of Israel 66

The entry in to Canaan :The entry in to Canaan :

1. The scouting of the land of Canaan (Num. 13.1-14.10)

2. The dividing of the land for the tribes of Israel (34)

3. The last words of Moses (Deut. 4.1-9; 25-33)

4. Joshua the new leader (Jos. 1-11)

5. The battle against Jericho (6)

6. The battle against Ai (7, 8)

7. The kings killed (12.7-24)

8. The dividing of the land (13.-19.)

9. The remaining Canaanites (23.1-13)

10. The last words of Joshua (24.18)

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The Period of the Judges:The Period of the Judges:

1. The piecemeal conquest of Canaan (1:1-2:5)

2. The historian’ s remarks about this period (2:6-3:6)

3. Three Judges: Othniel ( 俄陀聶 ) => 米所波大米王 (v.8),

Ehud ( 以笏 ) => 摩押王 (v. 12),

Shamgar ( 珊迦 ) => 非利士儿 (3:7-31)

4. Two Judges: Deborah ( 底波拉 ) => 夏所王 (v.2)

and Barak ( 巴拉 ) => 巴巴拉將軍 (v.7) (4:1-5:31)

5. Gideon ( 基甸 ) of Manasseh => 米甸人 (v.1) (6:1-

8:35)

6. Abimelech ( 亞比米勒 ) => 米甸人、亞瑪力人、東方人 (6:33) (9:1-57)

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The Judges...The Judges...

7. Two Judges: Tolar ( 陀拉 ), Jair ( 睚珥 ) (10:1-5)

8. Jephthah ( 耶弗他 ) => 非利士人、亞捫人 (v.7)

(10:6-12:7)

9. Three Judges: Ibzan ( 以比讚 ), Elan ( 以倫 ), Abdon

( 押頓 ) (12:8-15)

10. Samson ( 參孫 ) of Dan => 非利士人 (13:1) (13:1-16:

31)

11. The migration of the tribe of Dan (18.1) (17:1-18:31)

12. The punishment of Benjamin (19:1-21:26)

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Transition to Monarchy: 1 SamuelTransition to Monarchy: 1 Samuel

1. The miraculous birth of Samuel (1.1-20)2. Oppression by the Philistines (4)3. Israel’ s request for a king like other nations (8)4. The appointment of Saul as the first king (10)5. Recapitulation of history (12)6. Saul ( 掃羅 ) sinned I (13)7. Saul sinned again (15)8. The rejection of Saul (15.10-11)9. The election of David as king (16)10. David and Goliath ( 歌利亞 )11. Saul’ jealousy (18.6-9)11. David escape from Saul and the death of Saul (19-31)

Brief History of IsraelBrief History of Israel 1010

Israel under David: 2 SamuelIsrael under David: 2 Samuel

1. The death of the remaining Saulides (1-4)2. David’ s enthronement at Hebron ( 希伯倫 ) (5)3. Jerusalem - the city of David - as political and

religious capital (6)4. Yahweh’ s promise to David (7) (cf. His promise to Abraham)5. The sin of David and the punishment (11-1 Kings2)

a. adultery and murderb. death of his four sons (baby, Amnon ( 暗嫩 ), Absalom ( 押沙龍 ), and Adonijah ( 亞多尼雅 ))

6. The last words of David (2.1-9)7. Solomon ( 所羅門 ) (2.13-11.43)

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The division of the kingdomThe division of the kingdom

1. The rule of Solomon

a. Wisdom (1 Kgs 3.16-28)

b. Building Yahweh’ s temple - 7 years (6)

c. Building of palace - 13 years (7)

d. The sin of Solomon (11)

2. Jeroboam I ( 耶羅波安一世 ) and the split of the

kingdom

a. Prophecy 11.26-40

b. Rehoboam ( 羅波安 ) and Jeroboam (12)

c. The sin of Jeroboam (12.16-33)

3. Israel and Judah as two kingdoms

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The fall of the two kingdomsThe fall of the two kingdoms

1. The kingdoms of Israel and Judah were small compared with

the nations around them.

2. In the eight century BC, Israel became Assyria’s vassal.

3. Hoshea king of Israel rebelled against Assyria by seeking

protection from Egypt.

4. Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, besieged Israel’s capital Samaria

for three years and captured it and Israelites were exiled in

722/1 BC.

5. Babylon replaced Assyria as the dominating power in the 6th

cent. BC and Judah became its vassal.

6. Zedekiah rebelled against Babylon and was punished by king

Nebuchadnezzar: the people of Judah were exiled three times

and the temple destroyed and burned in 586 BC.

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Understanding the history of Israel and JudahUnderstanding the history of Israel and Judah

1. The Books of Samuel-Kings are not ordinary history.

2. They were written from a theological or religious point

of view.

3. The kings were not judged by their military or

economic achievement but solely by their obedience

towards Yahweh their God.

4. The negative criterion used to judge the kings is

whether they repeated Jeroboam’ s sin.

5. The sin of Jeroboam was

a. the making of the two molten images of a calf (1 Kgs

12.25-33, esp. v. 30)

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… … Israel and JudahIsrael and Judah

b. leading the people tow worship the two calves

c. employing non-Levites as priests

d. setting up altars to compete with the Jerusalem

temple.

6. The judgement formulae used by the historian:

a. “ the sin of Jeroboam” (1 Kgs 16.2, 19, 31, 2 Kgs 3.3;

10.29; 13.6 etc.

b. “ did what was evil in the eyes of the LORD” (1 Kgs.

11.6; 15.26; 16.25, 30; 22.52 etc.)

c. “ did what was right in the eyes of the LORD” (1

Kgs 15.5, 11; 22.43; 2 Kgs 12.2; 16.2; 18.3; 22.3 etc.)

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Exile and RestorationExile and Restoration

1. Material written for the exilic community in BabylonEzekiel 25-48Isaiah 40-66

2. Material written for the post-exilic community in Jerusalema. Story of restoration: Ezra, Nehemiahb. Prophetic books: Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi, Obadiahc. History of Judah written by the priests: 1 & 2 Chronicles

Brief History of IsraelBrief History of Israel 1616

The promise of return fulfilledThe promise of return fulfilled

新和合本拉 1: 1-41 波斯王塞魯士元年，耶和華為要應驗藉耶利米口所說

的話，就激動波斯王塞魯士的心，使他下詔通告全國說：

2 「波斯王塞魯士如此說：『耶和華天上的　神已將天下萬國賜給我，又囑咐我在猶大的耶路撒冷為他建造殿宇。

3 在你們中間凡作他子民的，可以上猶大的耶路撒冷，在耶路撒冷重建耶和華─以色列　神的殿（只有他是　神）。願　神與這人同在。

4 凡剩下的人，無論寄居何處，那地的人要用金銀、財物、牲畜幫助他，另外也要為耶路撒冷　神的殿甘心獻上禮物。』」

Brief History of IsraelBrief History of Israel 1717

Major Historical Events, a revision:Major Historical Events, a revision:

• the Exodus, political liberation from Egyptian oppression,

about 1290 BC

• the beginning of Monarchy, 1050 BC

• Solomon built the Jerusalem Temple, 966-959 BC

• the division of the united kingdom, 933 BC

• the fall of Israel, the northern kingdom, 722/1 BC

• Sennacherib's siege of Jerusalem, 701 BC

• Josiah's religious reformation, 621 BC

• the fall of Judah, the southern kingdom, 586/7 BC

• the exile of people of Judah, 605, 597, 586 BC

• the return of the Jewish exile, 538 BC

• building of the Second Temple, founded 536,

520-515 BC

}Assyrian period

}Babylonian period

}Persian period

}Egyptian period