Jewish History

King David

1000 BCE

The 2nd king of Israel, King David, was remembered as Israel's greatest king. He was chosen by the prophet Samuel and anointed as head with oil. David made allegiances with surrounding nations creating a stronger Israel. He made the captured city of Jerusalem the capital of Israel. He brought the Ark of the Covenant to Israel which is a structure containing the 10 commandments. He gave hope to the Jewish people of a stronger, more secure, and prosperous Israel.

King Solomon

900 BCE

David's son, Solomon, became King after David's death. He followed in his father's footsteps of bringing something new to Israel. King Solomon created a permanent home, a temple, for the Ark of the Covenant. This was an important event because Israelite's now had a central place to where God would be present with them. God is said to actually appeared in the the temple. Solomon angered god because he was accumulating personal wealth from the temple.

King Solomon Continued

900 BCE

After angering God the kingdom as split after Solomon died. Northern tribes revolted and established a new kingdom of Israel. While the Southern tribes still continued with their allegiance to the house of David and Jerusalem later naming it Judah.

Assyrians

722 BCE

After the split of the kingdom, God gave permission to the strong kingdom of Assyria to overtake what was left of the corrupt Israel. God had them exile non-Jewish people, gentiles, to control the population and to ensure there would be no revolt. Many Israelites, that lost ethnic identity, were dispersed throughout Assyria they were known as the Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.

Babylonians-King Nebuchadnezzar

605 BCE

King Nebuchadnezzar overtook Assyria in 605 BCE and then captured Jerusalem, Judah,in 586 BCE. All of Jerusalem's building were burnt down and emptied of sacred treasures. All of those left in Judah were sent to exile in Babylonia. The term Jews was then coined since they were from Judah. Some prophets believe these events were punishments by God and that God was ushering in a new era of peace and justice.

Persians Cyrus

515 BCE

50 years after Babylonian exile a group of devoted Jews were allowed by Persian King Cyrus to return to the holy city, Jerusalem. The Persian King also agreed to the rebuilding of a second temple which became sacred to Jewish people scattered around the nation. These people were living in Diaspora now which is the Greek word for disperse. The new second temple emphasized new rites and a hereditary priesthood.

Ezra

430 BCE

Ezra was a priest and a scribe that revised the stories of the people to reveal the hand of God. Scholars believes that it was these priest editors that wrote the creation of the universe in Genesis 1 and in Genesis 1 they exalt the greatness of God as being the creator. The Torah was then established as the spiritual and secular foundation of the scattered Jewish nation. Ezra spent hours reading the Torah in a public square.

Greeks-Hellenism

400 BCE

Judaism became open to ethnic inclusiveness because of the foreign rule they lived under, either Persian, Greek, Parthian, soon Roman. Greek lifestyle and thought was brought to the Middle East by Alexander the Great. Many wealthy and intellectual Jewish people and priests adopted the influences of Hellenism lifestyle and thought otherwise known as Greek culture. This led to tension between traditionalists/fundamentalists and those adopting to the Greek ways.

Antiochus IV

175 BCE

As tensions rose between traditionalists and Jewish people embracing Greek ways under the rule of Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who embraced Hellenism, Antiochus tried to achieve unity. To achieve political unity he did the exact opposite of that. Instead he forced Hellenistic culture on all of his subjects , abolished and burned copies of the Torah, murdered families that circumcised, and built an altar to Zues in the Temple of Jerusalem.

Maccabees

164 BCE

The Maccabean rebellion was a revolt led by the Hasmon family of priests that were Jewish. The Maccabees won independence for Judaea establishing a new and independent kingdom renaming it Israel. The nation was yet again centered around the holy city of Jerusalem and ruled by the Hasmonean family. The kingdom was short lived until it was conquered by the Roman general Pompey. This was the last independent Jewish nation until the twentieth century.

Hasmonean Family

100 BCE

Three sects of Jews formed in Judaea under the Hasmonean kings, the Suddducees, the Pharisees, and the Essenes. The Sudducees were wealthy conservative priests and businessman who liked to preserve the letter of the law. The Pharisees were liberal citizens from different social classes that wanted to apply their studies of the Torah to everyday life. The Essenes who pitied corrupt priesthood and taught the importance of obedience, communal living, and the preparation of the Day of Judgement.

Romans-Pompey

63 BCE

The three sects under the Hasmonean kings erupted in conflict and started a civil war. The roman general Pompey was called in from Syria to choose contenders to the Hasmonean throne. Instead he just overtook the country. He had oppressive Roman rule of Judaea for nearly four centuries. Due to the oppressive brutal ruling of Pompey a popular belief of a Messiah coming to save the people in suffering grew among Jews.

Messiah

1 CE

Due to the oppressive rule of Pompey a common belief grew amongst Jewish people that a Messiah that looked like a human being would come on a heavenly cloud to save the suffering people. Through the Messiah God would gather chosen people, free them from oppression, and reinstate Jewish political rule in the land of Israel. Not only would the chosen people get Israel back, but all nations would recognize Israel's God as God of all the world. (First Century CE)

1st Rebellion against the Romans-Zealots

66

Anti-Roman militias called Zealots were Jewish people who rose up in brave armed rebellion against oppressive Rome. The rebels were suppressed and slaughtered in the holy city of Jerusalem in 70 CE/AD. The Romans were furious and destroyed the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem leaving behind foundations stones. The Temple was never rebuilt, but the foundation stones are now a place of Jewish pilgrimage and prayer.

2nd Rebellion against the Romans

132

There was a second disastrous attempt at rebellion led to Jerusalem and other Judaeo towns being left to ruins. Jewish people were executed and forbidden to read the Torah, observe the Sabbath, or circumcise their sons. No Jewish people were allowed to enter Jerusalem after it was rebuilt into a Roman city. They were only allowed to pay to lean against the Western Wall on the day of the destruction. Judaea was renamed Palestine and Judaism had no physical heart or geographical center.