Knowing the history of Israel - Part 1
Knowing the history of Israel
"And the LORD said to Abram, Get out of your land, from your relatives and from your father's house, into the land that I will show you, and I will make you a great nation, and I will bless you and make your name great; a blessing, and I will bless those who bless you, and curse those who curse you, and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed. "(Genesis 12: 1-3)
Israel is the only nation in the world whose history of formation is known from the beginning. God "built" this people step by step and his formation is the fulfillment of the promise made to Abraham: "I will make a great nation of you" (Gen. 12.1-3). God brought Abraham out of Ur of the Chaldees, the capital of one of the leading nations of the time, and of a corrupt and idolatrous people, in order to initiate through him the nation he had to choose as the bearer of his message to the world.
Let's get to know a little about the history of Israel and delight ourselves with the great events and miracles that God worked in the midst of his people and the nation that he created for himself.
The first step for the birth of Israel was the separation of Abraham and the order to leave his land and his family and went to an unknown land: Canaan. God took him to Canaan and promised him that this territory would belong to his descendants (Gen. 12.1-3, 13.14-18, Gen. 15.18-21).
But for the promise to become real, some obstacles needed to be overcome, all related to the life of Abraham. The biggest problem was Sara's sterility, aggravated by their advanced age. But everything was overcome by the fact that Abraham believed in God. Because of his faith, he conquered the title of Father of the Faith of all Christians and, because of his faith, it was possible to fulfill another word of God: "In you all the families of the earth will be blessed."
The land of Canaan was already occupied by other nations, identified in the biblical text as sunflowers, Amorites, Fereseos, Hittites, Hivites, Canaanites and others. Abraham, only with his family, did not have enough strength to conquer and hold the earth, even if we think of the 318 men who helped him rescue his nephew Lot. Another problem was that there was a lot of hunger and scarcity in that region (Gn 13, 26, 42, 43). If the people were to be large and numerous, according to the promise, then they would need to be in an environment that provided conditions for survival. Where to find a place that would provide security and food at the same time? The people needed to grow in number and strengthen themselves, for the taking of the promised land. Then we go to the second point:
Abraham and Sarah generated Isaac, who married Rebekah and the two fathered Esau and Jacob. Jacob fathered twelve sons, among them Joseph. José's brothers, driven by a deep feeling of envy, planned to get rid of him. They did not kill him, but they sold him to Ishmaelite merchants who took him to Egypt, where he was sold to Potiphar, Pharaoh's officer.
Later, José ended up being arrested for a false accusation by Potiphar's wife. From the prison, where he interpreted the dreams of two prisoners, he was called to interpret Pharaoh's dream and, by the wisdom shown, was placed as governor of Egypt. The dream spoke of two distinct periods in Egypt: abundance and hunger. Joseph instructed Pharaoh about the measures to be taken so that Egypt would not perish. The measures taken by Joseph were so effective that, in addition to Egypt not being hungry, he could still sell to neighboring towns.
In Canaan, however, there was much hunger, and Jacob, knowing that there was food in Egypt, sends his children there to buy food. José's brothers do not recognize him, but they are recognized by him. At the end of a series of interviews, José makes himself known to his brothers. It is an exciting story. As a result, Jacob and his family descend to Egypt. What happened then? Jacob's entire family went to Egypt, where he had food, security and a free environment to grow and multiply. And they stayed there for about 400 years.
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Thank you for sharing such a beautiful article. hope everbody will love it
let's hope, friend
you already have the second part there ...