The People of One God:The Hebrews 1500- 900 B.C.

A Jealous God

Yahweh’s “Chosen People”

A Vengeful God

A Jealous God

Unlike the Mesopotamians the Hebrews moved out of the fertile crescent with their flocks to Canaan

2000 B.C. Abraham a shepherd was told by Yahweh (God) to move to Canaan and worship him there

Around 1,500 B.C. Israel “he who prevails with God” came to prominence as a leader of the Hebrews

A Jealous God

Birth of Israelites begins with Israel (1500 B.C.)

Believed that several clans eventually wandered to Egypt and assisted with Egyptian construction projects

It is believed that Israelites started out as voluntary labor but forced to stay and build Ramese II projects

A Jealous God

Moses (1500-1200 B.C. ?) lead this group from Egypt during Exodus “journey out” which transformed Israelites into a nation with a religious calling

Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament) recorded Israelite laws, wisdom, literature and history

Stories in Bible have some historical proof because we have found ancient Hebrew cities, other people’s histories verify Biblical stories like Egyptian conquest of Israel in 1200 B.C.

Yahweh’s “Chosen People”

During the Exodus (1500-1200 B.C. ?) Moses entered into a covenant with Yahweh

This covenant, a special agreement, made the Israelites Yahweh’s “chosen people” on the condition of undivided worship to him and that they follow the Ten Commandments (moral laws)

Following the Ten Commandments, scripture, eating strict diet and exclusive worship of Yahweh separated Jews from others as well

Yahweh was a jealous and vengeful God who punished his followers

A Jealous God

Yahweh’s “Chosen People”

1200-1050 B.C. Israelites changed from tribal leaders to judges- charismatic leaders who united the Israelis against threats

Eventually the people felt that a king should lead the people

One of these famous kings would be King David (1000-961 B.C.) who makes Jerusalem the Israelite capital

Yahweh’s “Chosen People”

King Solomon (961-922 B.C.) embarked on several construction projects like The Great Temple

In order to build the Great Temple Solomon taxed the Israelite kingdom and angered the people

Judah splits from Israel and both will become enemies at times

The Prophets

Prophets common men who urged Jews to return to honoring the covenant and traditional Jewish law

They emerge as Israel’s conscience teaching Jews to follow their conscience to create a more ethical world

This belief of following a conscience to create a more ethical world is called Judaism

A Vengeful God

Numerous examples of God’s punishments

King Ahab built a temple to another God and later they were enslaved by the Babylonians, this was the “Babylonian Captivity”

Origin of Jezebel This lead to the Diaspora

were many Jews would now be living outside of their home country

A Vengeful God

538 B.C. the Persians conqueror the Babylonians and are tolerant towards Judaism

Jews build another temple to worship but Diaspora Jews do not return to Israel

This led to birth and focus of synagogues for Jews

A Vengeful God

Judaism ushered in a new religious belief that there was a single God of justice who interacted with humans in a personal and spiritual way

They believed that there was distance between them and Yahweh, and that individuals nonetheless still took more responsibility for the world around them