Judaism-The Hebrews were a minor player in history but were responsible for three great world religions – Judaism, Christianity, and Islam.

-Early Hebrews were pastoral nomads who inhabited lands between Mesopotamia and Egypt during the 2nd millennium BC.

-The only source for much of their history is the Old Testament. The final form of the OT was finally approved by a council of rabbis in 90 AD.

Father Abraham

-The Hebrew patriarch Abraham came from the Sumerian city of Ur.

-Due to the two women’s jealousy, Abraham banished his oldest son, Ishmael, who survived and became the father of the Arab people who claim the same Promised Land as Isaac’s Jewish people. The two peoples have been constant enemies throughout history and even today.

-Abraham (1900 BC) led his people out of Ur to Palestine.

-Abraham was promised by God that he would be the father of a great family.

-Abraham’s first born son was Ishmael born from his relationship with his wife’s servant, Hagar. His second son, Isaac, was wife Sarah’s born in her old age.

Jacob-Isaac had two twin boys, Esau and Jacob. Esau being the first born according to custom was supposed to inherit his father’s estate and family name, however, in Isaac’s feeble old age, Jacob pretended to be his brother and stole Esau’s inheritance.

-Jacob had to run away for fear Esau would kill him. He went to the home of his uncle Laban and worked as a shepherd for his uncle. While living with his uncle, he fell in love with his cousin Rachel and asked his uncle for her hand. However, not having any wealth to pay a brideprice he made a deal with his uncle to work for seven years for his bride.

-When the seven years were up, a marriage ceremony took place in which Uncle Laban tricked Jacob into marrying his cousin, Leah , instead. Although upset because he didn’t love Leah, he agreed to work another seven years for Rachel’s hand.

-Jacob, who after wrestling with a spiritual being, had his name changed by God to Israel, eventually had 12 sons. These sons were to be the heads of the twelve tribes of Israel.

Joseph-Since Joseph was Jacob’s first born of his beloved wife, Rachel; he was Jacob’s favorite and he made no secret of it. Joseph describing his dreams of dominance over his brothers made them all the more angry and jealous.

-His brothers threw him in a pit and sold him into slavery to Egypt where through a series of circumstances ended up in prison. However his ability to interpret dreams brought him before Pharaoh.

-He interpreted Pharaoh’s dream and was elevated to a position of great authority under Pharaoh. This position enabled him to save his family during a terrible drought and the Israelites were brought to Egypt to live.

Moses (1500 BC) -After 400 years, the Israelites were enslaved by Egypt. So God sent Moses who had lived in the house of Pharaoh as an Egyptian in his growing up years, to Egypt to free the Israelites.

-So Moses led the people to the Red Sea where Pharaoh changed his mind and went after them. Moses parted the sea and the people went across and the waters then closed upon the Egyptians who were chasing them.

-After Pharaoh rejected his request, God through Moses sent 10 terrible plagues ending with the death of the firstborn to convince Pharaoh to let the people go.

-Moses later gave the people the Ten Commandments to govern their behavior.

The Judges-Israel returned to the Promised Land and began to conquer the inhabitants living in the land. At this time of war Israel was ruled by Judges.

-She cut his hair and he was then captured by the Philistines, blinded, and tied to the pillars of their temple. Samson prayed to God to restore his strength and he destroyed the temple and the Philistines.

-Joshua was the first Judge and won the first battle at the Battle of Jericho.

-Another great Judge was Samson, the strongest man who ever lived. He believed the strength was in his hair for he had never cut it. But his relationship with a Philistine spy, Delilah, was his downfall.

United Kingdom of Israel (David)-The last Judge, Samuel, ruled a discontented people who asked for a king like all the other countries had.

-David finished the job of conquering the land and established the capital city of Jerusalem. Then after putting down rebellions by his sons trying to take over the kingdom, he gave his wife, Bathsheba’s oldest son, Solomon, the throne.

-So the people chose Saul for a king. But he disobeyed God and the kingdom was taken away and promised to a young boy named David.

-When just a boy, David saved the Israelite army from the giant, Goliath, by slaying him displaying his courage and strength.

(1050 BC)

Solomon -Solomon asked for wisdom and became the wisest, richest, most powerful king at the peak of the kingdom of Israel. Solomon built the great temple of God.-His wisdom is exhibited by his decision between two women who claimed the same baby.

-As was the custom of the day, a great king was offered many princesses and beautiful women as brides to seal alliances between kingdoms, so Solomon married many foreign women.

-These women brought their pagan religions with them and Solomon permitted them to build altars and temples to these foreign gods which was his downfall. The kingdom was to be taken away from his family after his death and divided into two kingdoms.

The Divided Kingdom (900 – 586 BC)-Ten tribes of Israel were part of the northern kingdom of Israel.

-Two tribes of Israel were part of the southern kingdom of Judah.

-Both kingdoms were ruled by many kings during this time – some good kings and some evil.

-There were many prophets who shared God’s word and challenged the kings to obey God during this time, such as Elijah and Elisha.

Under Captivity (586 – 538 BC)-The Babylonians under King Nebuchadnezzar destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BC and took the Israelites captive.

-Two great prophets who lived during the captivity were Daniel and Ezekiel. Daniel was most famous for refusing to worship the king and being thrown into the lion’s den and surviving.

-The Persians conquered the Babylonians in 538 BC and continued to hold the Israelites captive.

The lion’s mouths were shut and did not kill Daniel.

Restoration (538 – 432 BC)-The Persians were gentler and kinder towards their captives than the Babylonians.

-When Nehemiah, the king’s cupbearer, asked to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the city walls and the temple, the king granted his request. Thus, some of the great kingdom of Israel was restored.

-During this time of captivity, Esther saved her people, the Israelites, from total annihilation at the hand of the Persian Haman.

-The time between the end of the Old Testament (Malachi) and the start of the New Testament (Matthew) was called the Apocryphal Period. A period of 400 years when there were no prophets and the Israelites won a great victory against the Greeks.

Israelite Religious Beliefs

The Hebrew letters yud, hey, vav, hey, often depicted in English as Yahweh. These letters spell the name of God.

-After the time of Moses, the religious beliefs of the Israelites became increasingly distinctive and important.

-Moses embraced monotheism – he believed there was only one god called Yahweh who was a supremely powerful deity and creator of the world.

-When the kings of the Israelites built their capital in Jerusalem, they build a majestic temple in honor of Yahweh.

The Ten Commandments

-Not only was Yahweh the omnipotent creator of the universe, he was also a very personal god, with high moral and ethical standards expected of his followers.

-In the Ten Commandments Moses warned his followers against antisocial behavior such as lying, theft, adultery, and murder as well as idolatry.

-After Moses death the Israelites wrote a detailed and elaborate law code that they believed guaranteed that they could follow the Ten Commandments.

The Torah-Between 1000 – 400 BC, the Israelite religious leaders compiled a set of holy scriptures (the Torah – “teachings”) which laid out Yahweh’s laws and the role of Yahweh’s role in the affairs of men. This was the only monotheistic religion at the time.

-The Torah is what we would call the Pentateuch or the first five books of the Old Testament.

-The Torah taught that Yahweh would punish individuals and the whole Hebrew nation collectively if they did not obey his laws.

Modern Judaism-The Jewish people believe in the supreme God Yahweh, whom the Christians call God the Father.

-They no longer have priests and they no longer practice blood sacrifices.

Their opinion of Jesus is that he was a great prophet and teacher but was not the promised Messiah, the Christ. They are still waiting for their Messiah. They do not believe in the resurrection.

-Their three holy books are the Torah, the rest of the Old Testament, and the Talmud, which is a commentary on the Torah.

Jewish Holidays-Rosh Hashanah is the Jewish New Year which takes place usually in late September. Jewish people are called to the New Year by the shofar (Ram’s Horn).

-Rosh Hashanah actually lasts for ten days ending with another holiday called Yom Kippur.Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement which in the OT was the one day a year in which the high priest entered the Holy of Holies to make a blood sacrifice for the whole nation. Today it is a solemn day of prayer and worship. The Shofar

PASSOVER

The Seder

-Ever since the days of Moses, Jews have celebrated Passover, commemorating the time when the death angel passed over the Israelites and smote the first-born of the Egyptians. This holiday occurs in the spring right before the Christian holiday of Easter.

-During this seven day holiday, Jews eat only matzoh (unleavened bread) until the seventh day when they partake in the Seder.The seder is the Passover feast where each item is a symbol reminding the people of their deliverance from slavery in Egypt.

-The Last Supper with Jesus and the disciples was actually a Passover Seder.

HANUKKAH -Hanukkah, or the festival of lights, is celebrated in winter, roughly a week before the Christian holiday of Christmas.

-Hanukkah celebrates a great victory the Israelites had over the Greeks in the Apocryphal Period.

-Hanukkah is an eight day holiday in which the Jewish people light one candle each day on the Menorah in memory of a great miracle of God in which the eternal lights in the Temple at Jerusalem continued to be lit long after the oil of the lamps should have run out.

-The people eat latkes (potato pancakes) and children play the dreidel game.

Jewish Practices-A Jewish place of worship is called a Synagogue. There is no longer a temple.

-Jewish people still observe the Sabbath, the seventh day of the week.

-A Jewish religious leader and teacher is a Rabbi.

-A Jewish male head-covering showing their humility before a holy God is called a Yarmulke.

More Jewish Practices-Jewish males sometimes wear a phylactery, a leather pouch containing Scripture they wear on their forearm and forehead.

-Jewish people have a mezuzah in their doorframe which contains a Scripture passage.

-The remains of the Jewish temple in Jerusalem is called the Western Wall or Wailing Wall. It is a holy shrine for the Jewish people.

Vocabulary

Rabbi

Promised Land

Plague

Ten Commandments

Judge

Jericho

Philistine

Jerusalem

Alliance

Judah

Prophet

Apocrypha

Monotheism

Yahweh

Deity

Idolatry

Torah

Pentateuch

Messiah

Talmud

Rosh Hashanah

Shofar

Yom Kippur

Atonement

Holy of Holies

Passover

Matzoh

Seder

Hanukkah

Menorah

Latke

Dreidel

Synagogua

Sabbath

Yarmulke

Phylactery

Mezuzah

Wailing Wall

PeopleAbraham

Ishmael

Hagar

Sarah

Isaac

Esau

Jacob

Israel

Laban

Rachel

Abraham

Ishmael

Hagar

Sarah

Isaac

Esau

Jacob

Israel

Laban

Rachel

Bathsheba

Solomon

Elijah

Elisha

Nebuchadnezzar

Daniel

Ezekiel

Nehemiah

Esther

Haman