Israel, Arabic Isrāʾīl, officially State of Israel or Hebrew Medinat Yisraʾel, country in the Middle East, located at the eastern end of the Mediterranean Sea. Abraham’s descendants were thought to be enslaved by the Egyptians for hundreds of years before settling in Canaan, which is approximately the region of modern-day Israel. The word Israel comes from Abraham’s grandson, Jacob, who was renamed “Israel” by the Hebrew God in the Bible.
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The Nation Of Israel In The Bible
We find the first mention of Israel in Genesis 32:28: “And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.’” God first uses the name “Israel” to identify Jacob, the progenitor of the twelve tribes of Israel.
From this point forward the Bible uses “Jacob” and “Israel” interchangeably, even in the same sentence. Notice Genesis 48:2: “And Jacob was told, ‘Look, your son Joseph is coming to you’; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed.”
Genesis 48 contains the account where Joseph comes to see his sick and dying father and brings along his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (verse 1). After recounting God’s promise to him, Israel summons the two boys so he can bless them (verse 9). As part of that blessing, Israel says in verse 16, “The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth” (emphasis ours). God through Jacob places the name Israel on the sons of Joseph, not Judah, giving us our first glimpse of God’s view.
The Story of Israel In The Bible
Writers on the subject of Bible prophecy commonly conclude that all verses that mention Israel actually refer to the modern, Middle Eastern nation of Israel. Does the Bible support that view? To answer that question let us review whom God calls Israel and how that compares with the more commonly held beliefs.
We find the first mention of Israel in Genesis 32:28: “And He said, ‘Your name shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel; for you have struggled with God and with men, and have prevailed.’” God first uses the name “Israel” to identify Jacob, the progenitor of the twelve tribes of Israel.
From this point forward the Bible uses “Jacob” and “Israel” interchangeably, even in the same sentence. Notice Genesis 48:2: “And Jacob was told, ‘Look, your son Joseph is coming to you’; and Israel strengthened himself and sat up on the bed.”
A Distinction Begins
Genesis 48 contains the account where Joseph comes to see his sick and dying father and brings along his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim (verse 1). After recounting God’s promise to him, Israel summons the two boys so he can bless them (verse 9). As part of that blessing, Israel says in verse 16, “The Angel who has redeemed me from all evil, bless the lads; let my name be named upon them, and the name of my fathers Abraham and Isaac; and let them grow into a multitude in the midst of the earth” (emphasis ours). God through Jacob places the name Israel on the sons of Joseph, not Judah, giving us our first glimpse of God’s view.
The term “house of Israel” is used in Exodus 16:31; 40:38, Leviticus 17:3, 8, 10; 22:18, Numbers 20:29, Joshua 21:45, and Ruth 4:11. In these instances, it refers to all the tribes of Israel. But, by the time of King Saul, God begins to distinguish “Israel” from “Judah.”
So he took a yoke of oxen and cut them in pieces, and sent them throughout all the territory of Israel by the hands of messengers, saying, “Whoever does not go out with Saul and Samuel to battle, so it shall be done to his oxen.” And the fear of the LORD fell on the people, and they came out with one consent. When he numbered them in Bezek, the children of Israel were three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah thirty thousand. (I Samuel 11:7-8)
According to the pattern God began in Genesis 48:16, He is establishing that there is a difference between Judah and the other tribes by attaching the name “Israel,” not to Judah, but to those other tribes.
Later, during the time of King David, the distinction continues:
» Ishbosheth, Saul’s son, was forty years old when he began to reign over Israel, and he reigned two years. Only the house of Judah followed David. (II Samuel 2:10)
» David was thirty years old when he began to reign, and he reigned forty years. In Hebron he reigned over Judah seven years and six months, and in Jerusalem he reigned thirty-three years over all Israel and Judah. (ll Samuel 5:4-5)
» I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your keeping, and gave you the house of Israel and Judah. And if that had been too little, I also would have given you much more! (II Samuel 12:8)
These two separate houses had their differences:
Now the king went on to Gilgal, and Chimham went on with him. And all the people of Judah escorted the king, and also half the people of Israel. Just then all the men of Israel came to the king, and said to the king, “Why have our brethren, the men of Judah, stolen you away and brought the king, his household, and all David’s men with him across the Jordan?” So all the men of Judah answered the men of Israel, “Because the king is a close relative of ours. Why then are you angry over this matter? Have we ever eaten at the king’s expense? Or has he given us any gift?” And the men of Israel answered the men of Judah, and said, “We have ten shares in the king; therefore we also have more right to David than you. Why then do you despise us—were we not the first to advise bringing back our king?” Yet the words of the men of Judah were fiercer than the words of the men of Israel. (II Samuel 19:40-43)
In verse 43, those representing Israel in the disagreement point out that they have “ten shares in the king.” The ten shares are the ten tribes that make up the house of Israel. Under the article, “Ten Lost Tribes,” Wikipedia states, “The ten lost tribes refers to the ten of the twelve tribes of ancient Israel that were said to have been deported from the Kingdom of Israel after its conquest by the Neo-Assyrian Empire circa 722 BCE.”
This deportation took place over 250 years after David’s reign. So more than 250 years before they eventually became known as the “Ten Lost Tribes,” God reveals to us that this division was already in place and that the name “Israel” did not include Judah. As further evidence of the depth of the division, the disagreement in II Samuel 19 led to a rebellion and a brief civil war between these two houses as recorded in the following chapter.
God is applying the name “Israel” to the ten tribes and not to Judah. This distinction begins well before the famous split after Solomon’s reign. The only time God includes Judah under the name “Israel” is when He is talking about all the children of Israel. Throughout the Bible, God is confirming for us that Judah is not the Israel of the Bible.
After Solomon’s reign, a final separation indeed occurs. Most of the two books of Kings details the activities of the now-separate nations. At this point, the lines are clearly and finally drawn. “Israel” includes the ten tribes, and “Judah” includes Judah, Benjamin, and the Levites.
Also in every city he [Rehoboam, king of Judah] put shields and spears, and made them very strong, having Judah and Benjamin on his side. And from all their territories the priests and the Levites who were in all Israel took their stand with him. For the Levites left their common-lands and their possessions and came to Judah and Jerusalem, for Jeroboam and his sons had rejected them from serving as priests to the Lord. (II Chronicles 11:12-14)
Two Paths
After their deportation, the history of these two peoples takes two very different paths. One takes the path of historical oblivion, and the other, the path of perpetual prominence. In David Limbaugh’s recent book, The Emmaus Code, he writes:
It is utterly remarkable that a nation dispersed for two millennia would retain its identity and regather in the very land it left, and to which God said it would eventually return. Highlighting the astounding nature of these events, Josh McDowell observes that throughout history, every other nation that left its homeland lost its national identity within about five generations. Pastor Tony Evans further notes that no other nation in history vanquished from its land for fifty years or more has ever returned speaking the same language. (p.107)
This quote highlights the different paths of these now two separate nations and peoples. It is the house of Judah, not the house of Israel, which has retained its identity. The house of Israel has disappeared from the scene. As in the quote above, “it is utterly remarkable” that the house of Judah has retained its identity for millennia. But then the God of Judah is an utterly remarkable God who says what He means and means what He says, and most importantly, can make happen what He says in Isaiah 56:4-5:
For thus says the Lord: “To the eunuchs who keep My Sabbaths, and choose what pleases Me, and hold fast My covenant, even to them I will give in My house and within My walls a place and a name better than that of sons and daughters; I will give them an everlasting name that shall not be cut off.”
If God gives eunuchs “an everlasting name that shall not be cut off” for keeping His Sabbaths, then it follows that such a promise would apply even more so to His beloved people. His people are both the house of Israel and the house of Judah.
Who Owned The Land First Israel or Palestine
The question of who owned the land first between Israel and Palestine is a contentious one. The history of the region dates back thousands of years, and there are competing claims to the land by both Israelis and Palestinians.
According to the Bible, the land of Israel was given to the Israelites by God. However, the region has been inhabited by various peoples throughout history, including the Philistines, Canaanites, and Romans. In AD 135, following a failed Jewish revolt, Roman Emperor Hadrian expelled the Jews from Jerusalem and decreed that the city and surrounding territory be part of a larger entity called “Syria-Palestina”. The name “Palestine” was derived from the coastal territory of the ancient Philistines, who were enemies of the Israelites.
In modern times, the area was ruled by the Ottoman Empire until World War I ended in 1918 with an Allied victory. Great Britain took control over what became known as Palestine (modern-day Israel, Palestine, and Jordan). In 1947, the United Nations voted to partition Palestine into separate Jewish and Arab states. The Jews accepted this plan, but the Arabs rejected it. This led to a war between Israel and its Arab neighbors in 1948 that resulted in Israel’s independence and the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.
In conclusion, both Israelis and Palestinians have historical claims to the land. The region has been inhabited by various peoples throughout history, and there is no clear answer to who owned the land first. The conflict between Israelis and Palestinians is complex and deeply rooted in history. It is important to understand both sides’ perspectives to find a peaceful resolution to this ongoing conflict.
