Ancient Israel in History and the Bible

In our attempt to understand prophecy, we must first understand history. 

Editor’s Note: We are pleased to welcome Bro. Jason Hensley to the editorial staff with this issue. Jason is the newly-appointed Associate Editor for the Tidings. He will begin a series of articles this year, Lord Willing, on Biblical Prophecy. I am sure we will all enjoy this new column.

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Prophecy finds its basis in Scripture and history. It is through history that we understand prophecy fulfilled and see the patterns through which God works. Therefore, in our attempt to understand prophecy, we must first understand history. 

Far and above, Scripture tells Israel’s history. From Abraham and the patriarchal family to the spiritual descendants of Abraham in the New Testament, the Biblical record presents historical events related to a particular family. Prophecy continually describes what would happen to Israel—prophecies God fulfilled in the days of the prophets themselves and prophecies yet to come. Because Scripture’s prophecy and history center on Israel, our column will do the same. 

Sometimes, we may feel turned off by history (and also prophecy). Perhaps these feelings develop because of dogmatism that isn’t really warranted by Scripture. While Jesus did expect his contemporaries to understand prophecy (Matthew 16:3; 24:15), our focus on understanding must also be tempered by a humility that recognizes that our interpretation may be wrong. Prophecy shines as a light in a dark place (2 Peter 1:19). Scripture is infallible and inerrant. Yet, our interpretations and understandings are not. Thus, we must try to understand prophecy and approach this understanding with a recognition that we have more to learn.

History works similarly; our grasp on history also changes with new discoveries and findings. We need to be willing to adjust our understanding; this column will attempt to take that more flexible approach to both history and prophecy. We’ll do our best to understand and recognize that we can make mistakes. 

Finally, prophecy and history both witness to God’s greatness. He declares the end when it’s only the beginning, and He has done so specifically with Israel. Israel serves as God’s witnesses (Isaiah 43:10–13). Therefore, we can not only use prophecy and its fulfillment in history to encourage our own faith, but we can discuss these things with others. We can share how God has worked in the past, following the instructions echoed by many of the Psalms: “Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.” (Psalm 66:5).1 Our awe of God and His doings compels us to share our understanding. In tracing the prophecy and history of Israel, may you be inspired. 

For this article, we’re going to start at the beginning. We want to understand ancient Israel in its historical context. This context and recognition of Israel’s historical existence are imperative when discussing prophecy and the Bible in general with others. At this point, many argue that Jews never had any existence in the land of Israel. Thus, for the following few pages, we’ll examine the Ancient Near East, uncover the Exodus, and consider the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. 

The Ancient Near East 

The “Ancient Near East” refers to the ancient area encompassing Mesopotamia, Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Israel, Jordan, and Iran. Over 5,000 years ago, Sumer and Akkad were two major players in Mesopotamia, and Abraham’s story begins in the latter empire. As Scripture explains, Abraham came from Ur (Genesis 11:31), one of the major cities in the Akkadian empire. Being an Akkadian, Abraham likely spoke Akkadian, the earliest documented Semitic language, and if he wrote, he wrote Akkadian in cuneiform. Based on the timeline presented by Scriptural genealogies, Abraham lived around the year 2,000 BC. 

Though Abraham traveled from Ur to Canaan, the road between the two was not direct. Ur sits almost directly east of Canaan, yet going directly east takes one straight through a desert with very little water. Abraham and his family thus traveled northwest, stopping in Haran, an area in the region of Aram (from which Aramaic derives). In this new area, now Abraham’s family likely began to speak Aramaic, which explains why both Abraham’s servant (Genesis 24) and Jacob (Genesis 29) could easily converse when they traveled north from Canaan to Aram. Eventually, through the story of Joseph, Jacob’s family ended up in Egypt. 

Historically, none of these events can be proven. While that may seem an affront to the Bible, it isn’t—one day, historians or archaeologists may find proof of these things, but at this moment, no extra-Biblical documents or artifacts exist to prove Abraham’s existence or the movement of his family from Canaan to Egypt. This fact matters because we should be upfront when we talk with our friends about history and prophecy. At this point, we rely solely on the Biblical text, believing in its inspiration. Though genetic research does support the Biblical narrative, indicating that European Jews have genetic links with Jews in the Middle East—indicating a common origin, it doesn’t point to anything definitive about Abraham.2

The story of Exodus is another historical challenge. Using the timing given at Solomon’s temple completion, the Israelites left Egypt around 1444 BC (1 Kings 6:1, 38). At this time, Egypt certainly had Semitic slaves. Papyrus Brooklyn 35.1446 lists a number of slaves whose names prefigure those that appear throughout the Bible. The tomb of Rekhmire includes a painting of slaves with Semitic origins (image below). Nevertheless, contemporary Egyptian history includes very little about Israel.

The Soleb inscription, written approximately 100 years after the Biblical date of the Exodus, refers to the “land of the shasu of Yahweh.” Most scholars believe that “shasu” refers to a group of nomads, and thus, this inscription is one of the first references to the Israelites. The Soleb inscription records peoples conquered by the Egyptians during that time period, and thus, indicates that the Israelites were no longer in Egypt then, meshing nicely with the Biblical record. The Merneptah Stele (image beside/below) records something similar, although it dates to approximately 1205 BC. In other words, the establishment of a people known as the Israelites in Canaan who followed Yahweh is certainly historically verifiable. 

The conquest of the land of Canaan by Joshua and the Judges presents another fascinating historical picture. Archaeologists have found Jericho, and though many scholars date the fall of Jericho to a period different than fits with the Biblical record, a movement exists that recognizes the evidence at Jericho points strongly toward harmony with the Biblical narrative.3

Other cities conquered by the Israelites, such as Hazor and Ai, match what Biblical scholars would expect.4 In essence, as we come closer to our time, we find more evidence supporting not only the Biblical record but the existence of the Israelites in the land of Canaan. 

Much more evidence surfaces during the time of the kings. The Tel Dan Stele dates to the 800s BCE and references “the house of David.” (image beside/below). Even older, the Large Stone Structure in Jerusalem appears to have been David’s palace, or if not David’s palace, certainly a palace of the kings of Judah. By this point, the evidence of a Jewish kingdom in Canaan, centered in Jerusalem, is overwhelming. 

All of this is history. We stand on solid footing both Biblically and historically when considering Israel in the past and the future. Our understanding of Israel and its past, shaped by the Bible, largely fits with what we know about Israel and Judah throughout history. 

Not only does this convergence of the Bible and history excite us, simply because it further verifies what we have read Scripturally, but it also gives us an informed opinion when discussing Israel and its future with others. The following quote demonstrates why this informed opinion is so important: 

Establishing the colonial nature of the conflict has proven exceedingly hard given the biblical dimension of Zionism, which casts the new arrivals as indigenous and as the historic proprietors of the land they colonized. In this light, the original population of Palestine appears extraneous to the post-Holocaust resurgence of a Jewish nation-state with its roots in the kingdom of David and Solomon: they are no more than undesirable interlopers in this uplifting scenario. Challenging this epic myth is especially difficult in the United States, which is steeped in an evangelical Protestantism that makes it particularly susceptible to such an evocative Bible-based appeal and which also prides itself on its colonial past.5 

This book, The Hundred Years’ War on Palestine, is considered an academic text that presents the Palestinian view of the Israel/Palestine conflict. Unfortunately, as evinced above, it also engages in historical revisionism, writing the Israelites into nonexistence. It’s also not the only popular source that does this. It, therefore, behooves us, as those who believe the Bible and want to share its message with our friends and coworkers, to know what errors some are saying about Biblical history and how to counter these falsehoods. 

With that said, this consideration also benefits us in another way. We can discuss the historical validity of the Biblical record and use this information as a historical basis for the next period of time in Israel’s history. During that period of history, when Israel was conquered by empire after empire, Israel was influenced by numerous extra-Biblical forces. Thus, its beliefs and ideas about God began to shift. In this period between the Old and New Testaments, Israel changed dramatically. We’ll consider that change in the next article.

Jason Hensley,
Associate Editor