Tuesday, December 28, 2021

A short history of the middle east

So the Jewish people invaded the land of Canaan. They say God gave that land to them. That is their version of the story as told in the Bible. But they invaded the land and they pushed out the Canaanites and the Edomites and the Philistines.  Eventually King David comes along and he was the bomb! His son Solomon built a temple in Jerusalem. The kingdom was at its height under David and Solomon, but it did not last. Eventually the people were conquered by the Babylonians and taken to captivity, but after 70 years they came back, rebuilt the temple and re-inhabited the land.

When the Romans came in they took over in 63 BC and conquered the area.  They named the province Judea because it was the land of the Jews. This persisted until the Jews revolted in 70AD.  At that time the Romans expelled the Jews and renamed the province Palestine after the ancient enemy of the Jews - the Philistines.

Today there is a rivalry back-and-forth between the Jews and the Palestinians. Whatever side of this argument you are on, I just want people to be aware that it was called Judea before it was called Palestine.

We are so worked up about this. The world is so worked up about this. Should America give back Arizona and New Mexico to Mexico? Should Russia give back the Crimea to Ukraine?

Life is complicated and Nations take what they want from each other. It has always been this way. Just ask the Sioux, the Apache, the Iroquois, etc.

It's a beautiful day in God's world, be sure to see the good.

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I am leading a River Cruise to Belgium and the Netherlands March 19-27, 2022. If you are interested in reading about the trip or joining in, the link is below.

click here for the brochure

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