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Zachary Randall
Heritage Social Studies 10-12: World History
2 June 2011
The People and Land of Abraham, Isaac and Israel
The portion of land slightly smaller than the state of New Jersey that lies on the Eastern
shore of the Mediterranean Sea is filled with thousands of years of history. Today, the question of
who should have control of this land reaches international tensions. Though proprietorship has
passed through the hands of many countries, it is rightfully the Jews. Despite a turbulent Jewish
history, including ruling their own land, being taken captive from it, having to live in it while
being ruled by another country, and having been dispersed throughout the whole world, the Jews
have always return to the land that was given to them. The fact that the Jewish people return to
their land, no matter what happens, even though theyve been scattered abroad, is nothing less
than the hand of God upon the people.
Israel is the crossroad of the world; connecting Europe, Asia, and Africa, travelers in the
past had to have passed through the land and seen the Temple on every journey. It is a fruitful
land, unlike those around it; a land flowing with milk and honey. (New King James Version,
Exodus 3:8) Therein dwells a people who were the light to the gentiles, (Isaiah 49:6) meant to
lead the nations to the true and living God. Israel is also where King David lived and reigned and
where the Lamb of God was slain.
But whose land is it really? Well, the claim the Jews have on the land goes all the way
back to about 2083 (Wise 8) years after the creation of the earth when the LORD promised it to
Abram the Hebrew while he was in Shechem, saying, To your descendants I will give this land
(Genesis 12:7). Furthermore, the LORD gave Abram the boarders of the nation, which are from
the river of Egypt to the great river, the River Euphrates. (Genesis 15:18) A nation of this
magnitude is seen in the reign of King Solomon (1 Kings 1:21).
The dispute over the temple mount too ends when you look at the Bible. The Bible
clearly records in Second Samuel 24:24 that King David bought Araunahs threshing floor (and
oxen) for fifty shekels of silver and, in Second Chronicles 3:1, that Solomon his son built the
temple on that very same threshing floor. The Jews, however, are currently forbidden by the
Arabs to step foot on the temple mount. The Arabs are also occupying much of the Jews Godgiven inheritance (not just the West Bank).
To clarify: only the descendants of Isaac are under the promise aforementioned, not
Ishmael also or instead of Isaac. The Koran implies that Abraham took Ishmael his son to be
sacrificed on Mt. Moriah and not Isaac; hence the Jews have no ownership to the temple mount,
according to Muslims. But the fact that the Torah, the Bible, and many scrolls containing exact
copies of text therein all predate the birth of the Prophet Muhammed (who was born in either the
sixth or seventh century A.D.) by hundreds to thousands of years begs the question: should a

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falsification of a couple thousand-year-old, well established record be believed as truth? Truly, if

something like this were done today, it would not stand the scrutiny it deserves.
The oldest fragment of the Torah in existence is known as the silver scroll. According to
Ynet News, Gabriel Barkay, the archeologist who found the scrolls, said this: "I can at least say
that these verses existed in the 7th century [B.C.], the time of the Prophet Jeremiah. The Israeli
Ministry of Foreign affairs says that the silver scroll contains Numbers 6:24-26, also known as
the priestly benediction.
The Jewish people have been through a wild ride over the course of history: The land of
Israel was first united between 1028-1013 B.C. (Langer 30) under King Saul, and was later split
in two in 931 B.C. (McGee 4) with Rehoboam reigning in the Southern Kingdom of Judah and
Jeroboam reigning over the Northern Kingdom of Israel. The splitting of the Kingdom came
from God as spoken by His prophet Shemaiah in 1 Kings 12:24. Later, in 722 B.C., Israel was
taken captive by the Assyrians. Soon after, Judah was taken by the Babylonians in 586 B.C.
(Langer 31) and the Temple of the Lord was burned by Nebuzaradan ( 2 Kings 25:9).
The prophesied commandment to rebuild Jerusalem made by Cyrus, King of Persia, in
538 B.C. (Isaiah and Cyrus the Great, KHouse)(History: Second Temple...Israel MFA) led to
the departure of 42,360 Jews to Jerusalem (Ezra 2:64). The Temple (commonly referred to as the
second temple) built during the days of Ezra, however, was destroyed by the Romans in 70
A.D, again, after being prophesied (Langer 32).
This next point is critical and should not be taken lightly: the land is tied to a God.
Leviticus 18:28 states that the land vomited out the nations that were there before Israel. This
comes during a warning from the LORD to the children of Israel to keep His statutes and
judgments lest they become like the people before them. In Leviticus 20:22, God warns them
again, so that the land where I am bringing you to dwell may not vomit you out.
In 2 Kings 17 we are told that the people whom the King of Assyria had brought to
resettle Samaria after he carried away Israel complained to the king saying, The nations whom
you have...placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the rituals of the God of the land;
therefore He has sent lions among them, and indeed, they are killing them because they do not
know the rituals of the God of the land." Even the gentiles understood that the land has a God-and that He must be feared, for the land is the LORDs. (Leviticus 25:23)
There have been numerous attempts to destroy Gods chosen people and prophets but
have all come short. Despite the belief that Jezebel had slain all of the prophets, the LORD
reserved seven thousand (1 Kings 19:18). Haman the Agagite, (a.k.a. the enemy of the Jews)
had ordered, by the seal of the king, the annihilation of the Jews in the 127 provinces of King
Ahasuerus. The plot was revealed and Queen Esther saved her people; the feast of Purim
celebrates this event. (Esther 9:23-28) Herod the Great, in an attempt the kill the Messiah,
ordered the killing of all male children...two years old and under in Bethlehemthough Jesus

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and His parents were safe in Egypt (Matthew 2). Hitlers Final Solution resulted in the murder of
6,000,000 Jewstwo-thirds of the Jews living in Europe before World War II, according to the
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. And today, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad wants Israel to
be wiped of the map. (Wipe Israel off the map Iranian says, New York Times)
Ahmadinejads threat is not new to the world. In fact, it has been tried many times by
multiple countries in combined efforts, but all have failed. Because Israel is surrounded all
around by her enemies, and her military is far outnumbered by them, defeating her is easier said
than done because Israel is kept by Him who neither sleeps nor slumbers. (Psalm 121:4)
During the War of Independence (1947-49), right after declaring themselves an
independent state, Israel fought off invading forces from Lebanon, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, and
Iraq. By the end of the war Israel had secured all the land given to them by the U.N. and then
some. As part of the Suez Crisis in 1956, Israel captured (and soon after relinquished) all of the
Sinai Peninsula, according to the Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in a mere 100 hours. There
was another war in 1967, called the Six-Day War. During this conflict, Israel captured the Sinai
Peninsula again, as well as the Golan Heights, Mt. Hermon and the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel
was faced with still yet another war in 1973, when, on October 6 (The Day of Atonement, or
Yom Kippur) Syrian forces invaded the Golan Heights and Egyptian forces the Sinai Peninsula.
With only hundreds of forces to the north and south, Israel sustained a few thousand casualties
and was able fight off tens of thousands of forces along its borders. (The Arab-Israeli Wars,
Israel MFA)(The Yom Kippur War, Jewish Virtual Library)
Had the LORD not chosen Abram; had He left mankind with no deliverer and no
connection to Himself; and had He not sent His Son to die on the cross for the sins of the entire
world, and had He chosen to be unfaithful to Israel, history wouldnt be His story. Indeed, the
world would be very different if it wasnt created by a God who chooses to make Himself
known.
The very fact that Israel still exists declares the work of Yahweh Machseh (The LORD is
my refuge). Surviving captivity, a breakup of a nation, the Holocaust, and these current,
perpetual wars are evidence that the Jews are under Gods wings of protectionit is inexcusable.
(Psalm 91:4) If a nation wants to be fruitful and to prosper as Israel has prospered, then should
take note to what the LORD said to Abram: I will bless those who bless you, and I will curse
those who curse you; and in you all the nations of the earth shall be blessed. (Genesis 12:3) A
nations domestic policy is affected by its foreign policy with Israel, a policy that America should
reconsider.

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Works Cited:
Ancient Torah texts on display ynetnews.com. Ynet, 3/24/05 Web. 31 May 2011
Fathi, Nazila. Wipe Israel off the map Iranian says New York Times 27 Oct 2005. Print.
Final Solution: Overview ushmm.org. United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 1/06/11
Web. 31 May 2011
Gaza Strip cia.gov. CIA World Factbook, 4/25/11. Web. 26 May. 2011
History: Biblical Times mfa.gov.il. Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 11/28/10 Web. 31 May
2011
History: Second Temple Period - Return to Zion mfa.gov.il. Israeli Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, 11/28/10 Web. 1 June 2010
Isaiah and Cyrus the Great khouse.org. Koinonia House, 3/02/10 Web. 26 May 2011
January 25 Revolution: 100 Days On sis.gov.eg. Egypt State Information, n.a. Web. 26 May.
2011.
Langer, William L. An Encyclopedia of World History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1948.
Print.
Notes & Outlines: 1 & 2 Kings thruthebible.org. J. Veron McGee, n.a. Web 2 June 2011
On Behalf of Israel khouse.org. Koinonia House, 5/17/03 Web. 26 May 2011
The Arab-Israeli Wars mfa.gov.il. Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 9/02/03 Web. 31 May
2011
The New King James Bible. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Inc., 1982. Print.
The Yom Kippur War jewishvirtuallibrary.org. Jewish Virtual Library, n.a. Web. 1 June 2011
Wise, Kurt. Genesis Part 1 The Creation. Chattanooga, Tennessee: Precept Ministries
International, 2007. Print.