The Jews: God’s Chosen People
By: C.D.NORMAN
About Judaism
JUDAISM is one of the oldest major religions and the first religion to teach the belief in one God. It is also the religion of one people – the Jews, ‘the chosen people of God’, they believed. The basic laws and teachings of Judaism come from Torah, the first five books of the Hebrew Bible.
Judaism teaches that all people are created in the image of God and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect. The moral and ethical teachings play more important role in Judaism. God gave the children of Israel the Ten Commandments through their leader Moses. They call themselves the chosen people of God because God had told them so in their scriptures.
The Jews traditionally believe that God would send them a messiah to save them, but they would not recognise Christ as their saviour because Jesus claimed that he was the son of God, which, according to Jewish belief was blasphemy. Many Jews still believe that the promised messiah is yet to come.
They have no one person on top as their religious head. Each local congregation of Jews chooses its own rabbi and manages its own affairs as independent unit. The rabbi serves as spiritual guide and teacher and interprets the Jewish laws. The Jewish house of worship, the centre of Jewish education and community activity is the synagogue. The Sabbath is the seventh day of the week, Saturday, which is the day of rest. The Sabbath begins at sundown on Friday and ends at night fall on Saturday when three stars could be seen in the sky.
The Jews follow the dietary laws handed down to them in their Bible. They do not eat pork or shell fish like prawns and oysters. Milk and meat are not served in the same meal. Only meat from healthy animals slaughtered after saying special blessing could be eaten by the Jews. Food prepared in accordance with Jewish dietary laws is called Kosher.
When a Jewish baby boy is eight days old he is circumcised as a mark of the covenant God made with Abraham, their forefather. At thirteen he becomes a full member of the community.
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Early History of the Jews
From the earliest time of known history there had been many nomadic tribes wandering with their sheep, cattle and camels in the area now known as “Middle-East”, including the present states of Israel, Syria, Jordan and Iraq. They were of primitive culture but well adapted to the harsh life of the terrain where they lived and the extremes of climatic conditions. Wars between the clans might have taken place frequently over claims to pasture lands and water for their livestock. Each clan must have had their own concept of god or gods and religion.
The Jews among them were a small tribe, partly nomadic and partly in small settlements. Their needs were small and they lived under tents made of animal skins. There was one thing that separated them from the surrounding tribes: they were monotheists. They believed in one God, a supreme spiritual being unlike the polytheistic gods of the neighbouring clans. Apart from this they were a sturdy race as all nomads have to be for survival and were proud of their culture. They were also emotional, volatile and easily provoked to anger. And deeply religious.
Captivity in Egypt
If we unroll the scroll of history through several centuries or a couple of millennia we come to the beginning of Biblical times. Approximately between 1700 B.C. and 1290 B.C. they had been in captivity for 430 years in Egypt. During the reign of Rameses II, the Pharaoh of Egypt, about the year 1290 B.C. a leader among them, Moses, appeared who demonstrated before the Pharaoh the power of the God of his people, God of the Hebrews, who brought ten plagues on Egypt and the Egyptians, to reveal His power, and succeeded in redeeming the tribe from captivity.
Before they left Egypt they “asked from the Egyptians articles if silver, articles of gold, and clothing. And the Lord had given the people favour in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they granted them what they requested. Thus they plundered the Egyptians” -- Exodus 12: 35, 36.
Exodus 12:37 says: ” Then the children of Israel journeyed from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand men on foot, besides children.” The Bible does not mention the number of women and children. Assuming an equal number of them as men, it can be assumed that the total population that left Egypt had been 1,800,000.
.“ For you are a holy people to the Lord your God; the Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for Himself, a special treasure above all peoples on the face of the earth. The Lord did not set His love on you nor choose you because you were more in number than any other people, for you were the least of all peoples: but because the Lord loves you, and because He would keep the oath which He swore to your fathers, the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand, and redeemed you from the house of bondage, from the hand of Pharaoh of Egypt.” Deuteronomy 7: 6 – 8
Thus said God to Moses at the end of the forty years of sojourn of the Israelites through the deserts after their deliverance from captivity in Egypt and just before they were about to be lead into the promised land that flowed with milk and honey. It was approximately 1250 B.C. and from that moment the struggle started for the chosen people in occupying the promised land. They had to fight their way into the promised land, fully supported by God, displacing and practically annihilating those already in occupation of the land.
Taking over of the Promised Land
The Israelites were to usurp and take away by force the land occupied by Hittites, Girgashites, Amorites, Canaanites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites; seven nations mightier than them.
“ and when the Lord your God delivers them to you, you shall conquer them and utterly destroy them. You shall make no covenant with them nor show mercy to them. ….. But thus you shall deal with them. You shall destroy their alters and break down their sacred pillars and cut down their wooden images and burn their carved images with fire.” Deuteronomy 7: 2, 5
A period of utter destruction of people and property, abduction and enslavement of women, lifting of cattle and livestock ofall kind, permitted by divine sanction, followed. God’s instruction to the Israelites as how to treat the enemies defeated in battle is given in Deuteronomy 20: 13, 14, 16 & 17 and 21: 10, 11 & 14
“……. You shall strike every male in it (the defeated city) with the edge of the sword.
But the women, the little ones, the livestock and all that is in the city, all its spoils, you shall plunder for yourself; and you shall plunder for yourselves which the Lord your God gives you .
….. of the cities of these people which the Lord your God gives you as inheritance, you shall let nothing that breaths remain alive,
…..but you shall utterly destroy them
“When you go out to war against your enemies, and the Lord your God delivers them into your hand, and you take them captive,
and you see among the captives a beautiful woman and desire her and would take her for your wife,
then you shall bring her home to your house
And……. If you have no delight in her, then you shall set her free, but you certainly shall not sell her for money; you shall not treat her brutally, because you have humbled her.”
Their conquests are described thus:-
CONQUEST OF SIHON Deuteronomy 2: 33, 34, 35
We utterly destroyed the men, women and little ones of every city; we left none remaining
We took only the livestock as plunder for ourselves, with the spoils of the cities which we took
CONQUEST OF OG, KING OF BASHAN. Deuteronomy 3: 6, 7
And we utterly destroyed them,……… utterly destroying their men , women and children of every city.
But all the livestock and the spoils of the cities we took as booty for ourselves.
CONQUEST OF JERICHO: Joshua 6: 21, 24
And they utterly destroyed all that was in the city, both men and women, young and old, ox and sheep and donkey, with the edge of the sword.
….. they burned the city and all that was in it with fire ……..
VICTORY AT AI: JOSHUA 8: 23, 24, 25, 28, 29
……..when Israel had made an end of slaying all the inhabitants of Ai in the field, in the wilderness where they pursued them and when they all had fallen by the edge of the sword until they were consumed, that all the Israelites returned to Ai and struck it with the edge of the sword.
……all who fell that day, both men and women, were twelve thousands – all the people of Ai.
Only the livestock and the spoil of the city Israel took as booty for themselves according to the word of God
So Joshua burned Ai and made it a heap for ever, a desolation to this day
And the king of Ai he hanged on a tree until evening…………
VICTORY OVER THE AMONITES: Joshua 10: 23, 26, 38, 39
……..they… brought out those five kings to him from the cave: The king of Jerusalem, the king of Hebron, the king of Jarmuth, the king of Lachish and the king of Eglon.
……….Joshua struck them and killed them and hanged them on five trees and they were hanging on the trees until the evening
Then he returned to Debair and they fought against it
And he took it and its king and all its cities; they struck them with the edge of the sword and utterly destroyed all the people who were in it.
Joshua Chapter 12:- The kings conquered by Joshua were thirty-one in number , their cities destroyed and their men and women put to the edge of the sword, their silver and gold confiscated and their cattle claimed asbooty
DESTRUCTION OF THE MEDIANITES Numbers 31: 7, 8, 9, 10, ( 15, 17, 18 ), 32 to 35
And they warred against the Medianites, ………….. and they killed all the males
They killed the kings of Median …………….. the five kings of the Median….
And the children of Israel took all the women of Medians captive, with their little ones, and took as spoil all their cattle, all their flocks, and all their goods
They also burned with fire all the cities where they dwelt, and all the forts.
……..killed every male among the little ones, and killed every woman who has known a man intimately.
And the booty which the men had taken was sheep – 675,000
Cattle -- 72,000
Donkeys -- 61,000
and women who had not known a man intimately -- 32,000
The Jews occupied the promised land and divided it between their different tribes after a period of violence, merciless massacre, burning down of entire cities, abducting of virgin women and taking away all domestic animals, sheep, donkeys as booty
These acts of plunder, brutal mass murders, enslaving of women and lifting of cattle could, perhaps, be justified in tribal warfare and in primitive cultures, but nevertheless, condemnable. The modern rules of warfare and treatment of prisoners of war according to Geneva convention is far more civilised and humane though not fully followed even in the present day.
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Post Occupation, Judges and Kings
The Jewish people got tired and restless about the supervision of the Judges who presided over their affairs for the past 250 years and clamoured for a king like the other tribes around them. Their voice reached God who warned them about the disadvantages of having a king over them but the people of Israel wanted a king. The heavenly choice was made known through prophet Samuel who picked a handsome and brave young man of the tribe of Benjamin, Saul. Saul was formally proclaimed king of the Israelites at Gilgal.
Saul took his residence at a small town, Gilbeah. Saul’s throne room was about fifteen by twenty-four feet and his garden enclosed a space less than forty by sixty yards. The life in Gibeah was primitive. The kingdom of Israel had a very humble beginning.
Saul gathered an army of some three thousand men and lost no time in furthering his own personal ambitions. And very soon he was found wanting in the eyes of God who chose as the next king, David, a shepherd boy and son of Jesse in Bethlehem.
David was a harpist and a musician and also a composer of songs. He stayed in Saul’s court for some time and later returned to his former life as a shepherd. Later he was reunited with Saul and Jonathan, son of Saul, after David defeated the Philistine giant Goliath, by a sling shot. David became very popular among the people and Saul became jealous of his popularity. He had by then become the son-in-law of Saul. The violent behaviour of Saul made him flee the court of Saul to save his life. Saul pursued David but he had to meet the Philistines in battle and was defeated. To save himself from captivity, he fell upon his own sword and committed suicide. Saul ruled from 1020 B.C. to 1000 B.C.
David was anointed king of Judah at Hebron. He was a gentle person and an able poet. He wrote seventy three of the 150 psalms in the Book of Psalms. In 993 B.C. the northern tribes came to Hebron and anointed him king over all Israel. One of the contributions of David to his kingdom was the orderly organization of his government. .David’s most important mission of his reign was to make Jerusalem the spiritual and cultural centre of Hebrew life.
David’s family included a wide variety of wives and concubines and a large number of children. As power and wealth accumulated, strife and contention in the family increased. As David grew older he realised that his son Absalom was in a position to seize his throne. He hurriedly fled Jerusalem to escape assassination and took refuge in the hill country east of Jordan. There was an encounter with Absalom in which Absalom got killed by the arrows shot by Joah, David’s commander-in-chief.
King David returned to Jerusalem triumphant and ordered a census of all Israelites who could fight. The Lord God did not approve of this act of David and He sent a pestilence, which took seventy thousand lives. David repented for the misery he had caused to his people. By now David had become old and semi-invalid. Before he died his son Solomon was anointed king. Solomon, in turn, killed his other half-brother Adonijah who aspired for the throne and all other leaders who opposed him. Solomon became king in 961 B.C. and ruled till 922 B.C.
King Solomon’s first interest was the building of the Temple which his farther had planned and for which materials had been gathered by him. God willed that the Temple should be built by Solomon and not by David. It took seven years to build the Temple with marble walls and roof of cedar wood from Lebanon, all overlaid with gold.
I Kings 5 :13 – 17 : 6:38 : 8: 6
Then King Solomon raised up a labour force out of all Israel; and the labour force was
Thirty thousand men
And he sent them to Lebanon, ten thousands a month in shifts; they were one month in
Lebanon and two months at home.
Solomon had seventy thousand who carried burdens, and eighty thousand who quarried
Stones from the mountains,
Besides, three thousand three hundred from the chiefs of Solomon’s deputies , who
supervised the people who laboured in the work.
And the king commanded them to quarry large stones, costly stones and hewn stones
to lay the foundation for the Temple.
…….. so he was seven years in building it.
And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace offering, which he offered to the Lord,
Twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep So the king
and all the children of Israel dedicated the House of the Lord.
Solomon was the richest and wisest monarch of his time:- I Kings 4: 7, 27, 22, 23, 26
9: 11, 14
10: 14, 16 – 18, 21
And Solomon had twelve governors over all Israel, who provided food for the king
and his household; each made provision for one month of the year.
And these governors, each one in the month, provided food for King Solomon and for all
who came to King Solomon’s table. There was no lack in their supply.
Now Solomon’s provision for one day was thirty kors ( 1 kor =6.52 bushels = 52 gallons )