Deacon Lee Hunt
One must know an outline of
Hebrew history to better understand the Old Testament. The Hebrews were very
much influenced by the territories surrounding them. Canaan (Palestine) was the
corridor through which invaders passed. Egyptians came from the south, Greeks
and Romans from the northwest, and Assyrians, Babylonians, and Persians from
the northeast.
The patriarchs (Abraham,
Isaac, Jacob, etc.) migrated from present-day Iraq to Canaan around 1850 BC.
Some of the Hebrews were in Egypt from about 1700 to 1250. After their exodus,
they wandered in the desert for 40 years before re-entering Canaan, the land of
Òmilk and honey.Ó
After about 200 years of
fighting in Canaan, there came a united monarchy under David and Solomon
beginning around 1020. This was the high point of IsraelÕs power and prestige
as a nation.
In 922, the empire split
into the northern kingdom (Israel) and the southern kingdom (Judah). Later in
722, Israel was totally defeated by Assyria and a large portion of the people
were deported and exchanged with a group taken from another part of the
Assyrian empire.
Judah survived under the
Assyrians until the Babylonians conquered them in 586. A significant percentage
of Judeans were exiled to Babylon for 47 years until the Persians defeated the
Babylonians. Some of the exiled Hebrews returned to Canaan while others
remained in Babylon. Persians ruled from 538 to 332.
Next, Alexander the Great
conquered the Near East and the Greeks ruled Canaan from 332 to 175. The
Maccabees won a short independence until the year 64 when the next wave of
conquerors rolled in from Rome. The Romans ruled into New Testament times.
This short Hebrew history
makes the books of the Old Testament easier to understand.