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a brief look at Israel’s disobedience towards God and her present condition at spiritual bankruptcy. If we still go back in history to 3500 B.C. when the Israelites were wandering in the wilderness, God promised them that He would bless their nation if they remain obedient.
“And I will give peace in the land and ye shall lie down and none shall make you afraid and I will rid evil beasts out of the land, neither shall the sword go through your land, and ye shall chase your enemies and they shall fall before you by the sword” (Leviticus 26:6-7). As clearly said in this passage, Israel’s only responsibility is to remain obedient to the Almighty God, but they miserably failed in it. In this context, prophet Isaiah also said “Hear O heavens and give ear O Earth for the Lord hath spoken, I have nourished, and brought up children and they have rebelled against me. The ox knoweth his owner and the ass his master’s crib, but Israel doth not know, my people doth not consider, Ah sinful nation, a people laden with inequity, a seed of evil- doers, children that are corruptors, they have forsaken the Lord, they have provoked the Holy One of Israel unto anger, they are gone away backward” (Isaiah 1:2-4). It is no surprise that Israel’s disobedience led to her banishment from the land. What we can understand through this passage is that if obedience would have given them proper security, then disobedience must take them to exile.
So, the final result of their disobedience forced the Lord of their fore- fathers to bring upon them the king of Chaldies called Nebuchadnezzar, who slew young and old indiscriminately in the house of their sanctuary. The king had no compassion for young men, maidens, and old men that stooped for age; but God gave them all into his hand. All the vessels of the house of God, big and small, the treasures of the house of the Lord, the treasures of the king, and his princes- he brought them to Babylon.
That was the brief historical background of Israel and what they learned from that background. Let us have a glance of that. As prophet Isaiah pointed out in his passage, Israelites had forgotten their God, not even knowing Him
Israel Becomes an unwalled Nation
as the ox and donkey know their masters. To say the fact, ancient Israel was a people who had completely forsaken God. Unfortunately, the same temperment is going on among Israelites even today. As far as religion is concerned, Israel keeps tight grasp on Judaism but largely in the cultural sense. To say more clearly Israel practices her religion, but she does so far the most part faithlessly. If we question the majority of Israel Jews why they keep fasting on the “Day of Atonement”, they simply say “Because it is the custom of our people”. Therefore, today’s brand of Judaism in Israel is with some exceptions without God.
Recent statistics of Israelites’ faith gave the following assessment. According to that, 42% of Israelites identify themselves as secular. Then, 25% considered themselves non-religious not strictly following Jewish law, 13% of them identified themselves with true religious bent of mind and observed everything according to the law of Moses. 12% of Israelites called themselves religious. They used to light the candles on the Sabbath day and attend the service at Synagogues regularly. And 8% of Israelites call themselves “Haredim” (which means the most conservative form of orthodox) Judaism. They are the embodiment of God’s consciousness. Basing on these figures, we can come to a conclusion that only 33% of the people are with religious bent of mind, and the rest 67% have no religious inclination and this is the pathetic religious condition of the people that are living in the Holy Land. Regarding the true religious faith adherents, only the Haredim possessed the historical as well as biblical background. They are the only people completely devoted to God Almighty with their energy and zeal; but it is a zeal of their own making. Therefore, their faith is also in error because it is misdirected. So, apostle Paul also speaks about such skewel faith as- “Brothern, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for Israel is that they might be saved, For I bear them record that they have a zeal of God but not according to knowledge. For they being ignorant of God’s righteousness and going about to establish their own righteousness have not submitted themselves unto the righteousness of God” (Romans 10:1-
3). Here, this passage speaks about the best Israel’s modern brand of Judaism
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has to offer, not its worst. There is zeal alright, but they are applying it in all wrong places. Judaism in Israel is a system of works, but not faith, idealism, not truth, non-centered, not God-centered.
In addition to ancient Israel’s blatant disrespect to God, she also exhibited blatant immorality, a taste of which is given by prophet Amos. “Thus, said the Lord, for three transgressions of Israel and for four, I will not turn away the punishment, thereof because they sold the righteous for sliver and the poor for a pair of shoes….. and a man and his faith will go in unto the same maid to profane my Holy name” (Amos 2:6-7). This particular passage of Amos paints the true picture of Israel nation’s moral degradation. The image of both father and son engaging the same woman for sexual intercourse is unpardonable and noteworthy, and this is really a heartbreaking situation that the same woman is used by both father and son as a prostitute. We have another notable prophet who openly condemned the immoral activities and the whoredom of Israel was prophet Hosea. He says, “I will not punish your daughters when they commit whoredom noryour spouses when they commit adultery for themselves are separated with whores and they sacrifice with harlots, therefore the people that doth not understand shall fall” (Hosea 4:14).
The main point in this passage is about prostitution. In the Bible, the word prostitution is used in two-fold purposes. They are physical and spiritual. Just as prostitution is one type of a husband’s unfaithfulness toward his wife, likewise religious prostitution- idolatry is another form of a man’s spiritual unfaithfulness to the Lord. Such moral and spiritual degradation of Israelites made God to cast them out of the land. Another startling news of August 2, 2012 is really heartbreaking. It is said that about 4,000 people marched in Jerusalem’s 10th (not first) annual “Gay Pride Parade”, and finally the city became a prime international vacation spot for the gay community. This growing acceptance of homosexuality is just in one area which Israel transgressed. The walk of Israel takes place to protest against the male dominated society that becomes sexual harassment, or rape on a woman’s appearance. The prime aim
Israel Becomes an unwalled Nation
of this march is to enlighten women to wear certain types of dresses, so that nobody will criticize them and show disrespect in the society. The leaders of the march have said they prefer the Hebrew term “Shamuta” which means a woman whores sexually open to get rid of the negative connotation of the world. Shamuta is to present feminine sexual openness in a positive way.
So, the main problem here is the pattern of dress used by women to attract men for sexual intercourse in order to earn money also. In such conditions, it is advisable to call the attention of the people to the horror of sexual harassment or rape. Women are also advised to behave properly in the society and always wear a neat dress which brings honor to them. And this is appreciated well even by Israel media. But the most cursed and pathetic issue is concerning the prostitution which is made legal in the Holy Land. This is unfortunately not new to Israel. This is in the form of brothels. Regarding this practice, we have some examples in the Bible also; in the first book of Genesis 38, the case of Judah and Tamar. That is to say prostitution was in practice from the time of the book of Genesis. Anyway, the problem of prostitution in the society of Israel and now with us is considered to be a sinful act. It is really pathetic that the rate of prostitution has grown in Israel more alarmingly, and the tragic numbers of her growth are mentioned below.
The 2011 trafficking report released by the U.S. State Department is no doubt stunning in Israel. That department treated Israel as a “tier two”, counting for human trafficking. There are some other tier two countries like Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, India, China, Russia, etc. It is estimated by the authorities that between 500 and 600 women a year are brought to Israel illegally for the immoral activities. Israel’s prostitution and sex abuse brings about 500-700 million dollars a year. Then the average age of a woman who is forced into this profession in Israel is in between 12 and 13 years. This is really lamentable. Since 1990, it is estimated that about 25,000 women have been brought to Israel for this sinful act. Before we continue this topic, let us look into some more information regarding the surprising numbers that are mentioned above.
21Jewish History
According to the statistics, these numbers would have been no doubt abnormal about 30 years ago in Israel. When we consider the population of Israelites in 1948 as they got independence in that year, they lived a clean and moral life.
The population was roughly estimated at 8 lakhs (646,000 Jews) to 7.9 million today, with almost 6 million Jews. As per the information, Israel’s moral degradation started with the incoming Jews to their mother land from countries like Russia. This thing happened during and following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. From 1989 to 2003, approximately 9,50,000 Russian Jews migrated to Israel. Even though many of them were upstanding citizens and contributed to the fabric of life in Israel, many others made their livelihood by means of prostitution and drugs. They also contributed much for the immoral activities in Israel. The same way of life was found among the immigrants that came from Europe and Africa.
In ancient Israel also, when the iniquities or immorality went very deep, God simply banished the nation. The northern kingdom of Israel was deported to Assyria in 722 B.C., and the southern kingdom of Judah was exiled three times at different dates like 606 B.C., 598 B.C., and 586 B.C. One major difference between ancient Israel and the modern one was that the ancient Israel had taken centuries “to drink God’s cup of fury” (Isaiah 51:17), whereas the modern day Israelites could have that experience in a little more than a generation, after once again it became a nation. Inspite of the fact that God wanted to shower His abundant blessings upon ancient Israelites, their faithlessness prompted Him to reject them and give punishment. Prophet Jeremiah had also something to say in this context. “Neither say they in their heart, let us now fear the Lord our God that giveth rain, both the farmer and the latter in his season, he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest; your iniquities have turned away these things and your sins have with-holden good things from you” (Jeremiah 5:24-25). We have seen so far how the modern day Israelites have seemingly done everything to displease God in
Israel Becomes an unwalled Nation
order to separate themselves from Him. Actually, God has preserved and protected them for centuries.
God also returned His people to their homeland after nearly 2 millennia away under these circumstances “What has to be done with the Israelites?” when they have become “unwalled and unarmed” people. Added to that, they were not in a position to defend themselves from the most powerful and deadly invasions. Israel, as a nation, totally separated herself from God, religiously as well as morally. To speak biblically, there are no God-fearing people in that nation. Probably very few must have been there to call themselves believers. So, it can be called a humanist nation, completely dependent upon diplomacy, military power, and precarious friendship of western powerful countries like North America.
But a situation might arise sooner or later that Israel will be attacked by any neighboring country, or an attack of lethal weapons. In such case, Israel will certainly launch a preventive attack first. Among all the surrounding nations, which one will tempt Israel and attack her first? We cannot judge immediately. But according to authentic information, Syria hates Israel more than any other country. So, she might take the initiative to attack first. It is said that Syria is storing a huge quantity of weapons for that purpose. Finally, the Jewish brilliant spy network- the Mossad, will uncover the undesirable event of the brutal attack. And Israel is backed by this expert intelligence that will strike first. When she strikes first, it means that will be a dangerous one.
This possible and expected nuclear attack by Israel’s powerful army on Syria would turn into the curtain raiser to Israel’s new role of an unrivaled country. Let us study here for a while, even though Damascus will become a ruinous heap; Israel will also suffer, like Damascus, as the gleaning grapes shall be left in it. The final result of that attack will be that Israel has to experience severe destruction through nuclear fallout from her own weapons. But one thing is clear- this nuclear attack will make the neighboring nations
23Jewish History
afraid of Israel. So, the surrounding countries with fear will certainly approach Israel for peace if the Holy Land agrees with the elimination of all modern weapons. In such circumstances, Israel will mock at those neighbors who are seeking peace because she has no belief in the words or promises of such people. If we look into the history after they got independence in 1948, which is called the Rebirth of Israel, we can understand how they have been struggling for everlasting peace from the neighboring countries as she has been exhausted with wars all the time. So, when such favorable time comes, this nation may stop nuclear attacks only after the other nations give full assurance for permanent peace. For centuries, the Muslim countries have been hating Israelites for no fault of theirs, even though they were the children of one father as we see in the Bible. They are like east and west directions in the society. In this critical position, for the purpose of achieving permanent peace, they require the third party to negotiate this issue.
Then, which is that suitable party to solve this problem amicably without favoring one party? “It will be none other than the one referred to as that man of sin and the son of perdition” (2 Thessalonians 2:3),or more commonly known as Anti-christ. He will give assurance to Israel because he can understand her unwillingness for peace and say to disarm herself (dear Muslims) and he will guarantee her peace. Israelites may have to say these words because they can never believe the mental setup of Arabs. In this context, we are reminded of the prophecy of prophet Daniel 9:27, which will be automatically fulfilled. According to his prophecy, the Anti-christ will confirm a covenant with many in Israel. He will give guarantee to Israel’s peace if she dismantles her nuclear stock-pile. And the result of negotiation by the Anti-christ is that Israel will be “unwalled and unarmed”. She cannot have any kind of weapons to defend herself.
Therefore, the whole history of Israel has been leading to this- Israel has said “no” to God again and again, and no doubt she will say the same thing at any time without repentance, until God’s fury forces to hand over the stiff-
Israel Becomes an unwalled Nation
necked Israelites to the enemy for good discipline and cleansing of their habits. It is said when the “gog led confederation” of nations attack Israel during the last 7 years of old history, she remains in helpless condition without any defense. At that time, the Anti-christ who has promised to preserve Israel would turn his back and indirectly suggest her to stand on her own legs and defend herself. The Anti-christ would betray Israel by refusing to defend her. Instead of that, he would emerge, encourage, and even lead the “gog” attack. Then God, having seen the desperate condition of His people plunge into action and save His chosen ones. “And I will call for a sword against him throughout all my mountains, saith the Lord God. Every man’s sword shall be against his brother. And I will plead against him with pestilence and with blood, and I will rain upon him and upon his bands and upon many people that are with him an overflowing rain and great hailstones, fire, and brimstone. Thus, I will magnify myself and sanctify myself will be known in the eyes of many nations and they shall know that I am the Lord” (Ezekiel 31:21-23).
The attack of God on Gog will be two-fold. The first one is, He will cause the people of Gog to turn against one another. The second plan is,He will besiege Gog and his forces with plagues as well as with torrential rain, hailstones, and burning sulfur. As a result, Gog will be destroyed and Israel saved. But the most memorable and remarkable thing in this incident is, God will reveal Himself as great, more powerful, and holy. And also He will make Himself known to all heathen nations, whether those heathens will turn towards Him in repentance or not. The heathens will at least know that He is the savior and God of Israel, the trustworthy God of the Holy Bible. He is undoubtedly the true, most powerful, mighty, and everlasting God who reigns forever.
Having studied the pros and cons of the historical background of Israel, her moral degradation and spiritual vacuum will lead the nation to remain as unwalled and unarmed, and she will be on the point of destruction. In this stage, we have the reference of prophet Zechariah. He mentioned about God’s
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plan; “And it shall come to pass that in all the land, saith the Lord, two parts therein shall be cut off and die and the third shall be left therein” (Zechariah 13:8). The master plan of God is revealed here. He will rescue the Israelites from the attack of Gog. Yet many of Jewish citizens will perish miserably in the hand of the Anti-christ. Even then, God will preserve the remaining of them who are redeemed of Israel and for those remaining people, God will fulfill the glorious promises He made to the ungrateful people. Regarding the remnant, God will….. bring the third part through fire and refine them as silver is refined, and then try them as gold to be tried. They shall call My name and I will hear them and finally I will say they are My people, and they shall say that the Lord is our God.
From that day onwards, Israel will never be forsaken, either physically or spiritually. Then, the Lord will proclaim- “Jerusalem shall be inhabited as towns without walls for the multitude of men and cattle therein, for I saith the Lord, will be unto her a wall of fire round about and will be the glory in the midst of her.” (Zechareah 2.4-5)
Israel Becomes an unwalled Nation
Jewish history
There are ten important events mentioned below which changed the entire Jewish history. They are-
సాక్ష్యం 1. Abraham and his family members, left Mesopotamia and traveled to
Canaan. They were led by the promise of God that Abraham would become
the father of a great nation.
2.Moses led Israelites out of bondage from Egypt and then received the Ten
Commandments at the “mount Sinai”. The Israelites after wandering for
forty years in the desert reached Canaan the promised land.
3.King David established his capital in Jerusalem after defeating Jebusites
and his son Solomon built Gods Temple on the mount Zion, one of the
mountain ranges of mount Moriah.
4.God cursed Solomon for his sins and as a result the Israel nation was
divided into two, the kingdom of Judah with two tribes and the kingdom of
Israel with ten tribes. Then the Israel kingdom was destroyed by the
Assyrians in 722 BC. The outcome of that attack was many Israelites
happened to be taken as prisoners and in course time they almost
disappeared.
5.The kingdom of Judah with the two tribes was also conquered by the
Babylonians, and they were taken as captives still they remained stronger
for their existence.
6.The Greek culture threatened to destroy Judaism. The Mecabeans staged
a revolt and claimed the temple.
7.The Romans vanquished Jerusalem and destroyed the second temple as
the Jews were in exile.
8.The Jews in Western Europe were emancipated and given full-fledged
citizenship after centuries of persecution.
9.The holocaust claimed the lives of 6 million Jewish people and threatened
to destroy their culture in European countries.
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10.And finally the creation of the new nation by the British government
encouraged all Jews around the world to return to their home land after
about two millennial.
The history of Jews was started with the life of Abraham the patriarch about four thousand years ago along with other nomadic Hebrew tribal leaders. They came from Mesopotamia and wandered through the land of canaan. They finally settled in Egypt. There is not much authentic record about their early life. But the only two sources are the bible and archeological findings to know about them to certain degree. No one can say exactly when the Jewish history began on the planet. But it is believed their civilization germinated in the Middle East. It is otherwise known as the Fertile Crescent geographically. This crescent was a fertile agriculture area surrounded by desert. That area was also covered by four great rivers like the Nile in Egypt to the east, and the land was nourished by Tigres Euphrates Rivers. According to the archeological survey the human beings settled down in the farm land around 5 thousand BC in the region between Tigres and the Euphrates rivers. It was also called Mesopotamia (parts of modern -day Iraq and Turkey). Finally there was a wonderful progress in agriculture that led and paved the way for the formation of new powerful city states. It is said in this region, the early Hebrews were traced. Abraham was born in one of such cities namely “Ur” and also known as “ur kas dem”, (ur of the chaldees) In the southern part of Mesopotamia probably, between 1850 -1800 BC. His father was Terah who gave him the name Abram when he was still young. His father moved from that UR and went to another city called Haran in north Mesopotamia with his family. And in this Haran city Abram grew to manhood.
For archeologists the existence of “ur kas dem” remained as a mystery for centuries but only in nineteenth century the archeologists began to excavate this ancient city. “Ur” which was one of the major cities of ancient Sumer, an empire that became noted in ancient southern Mesopotamia until it fell into the hands of Babylonians. Abram’s father Terah was a semitic merchant of
Jewish History
idols but Abram was no way concerned with idols or idol worship. It so happened one day he went to the shop of his father and smashed all the idols except the biggest one. His father came to know that and demanded an explanation for what he had done. He cleverly made a plan and said that the biggest one destroyed all of them. But the father replied they would never do such things as they were idols and had no life in them to move. Abram seized the opportunity and questioned his father. Why he should worship such lifeless idols when they had no power and could not move? This incident opened the eyes of Abram and an instant change was seen in him.
The Same legendary story made him to think seriously about the heavenly bodies and their functioning. He thought that there must be some power in heaven controlling all these heavenly bodies and other things. He created and finally concluded as that power must be the God. This thinking eventually took him close to God and in his later days God used to talk to him frequently. So Abram finally became a strong believer of God. And the God loved him most. And in his later years he was abruptly blessed by God. Basing on the faith of Abraham there were three religions that became monotheistic in the world today. They were Judaism, Christianity and Islam. And the believers of these three faiths must always be thankful to Abram.
We see in the bible how God asked Abraham to leave his home land and family members and go to canaan where He would make him father of a great nation. God also said He would bless him and his descendants. As mentioned in the book of Genesis God said “go forth from your native land and from your father’s house and I will make of you a great nation and curse him that curses you and all the families of the earth shall bless themselves by you. Abraham simply obeyed God and that is how the covenant between God and Abram (the Jewish people and established their kingdom. Gods promised to Abraham included the land of canaan also. So it was called the promised land to his descendants
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God was very clear in keeping boundaries of the land, that stretched from the river of Egypt to the river of Euphrates including the land of the kenites, the kenizzites the Hittites the Kodmonites, The Perizzites, The Rephiaims , The Amorites, The Canaanites, The Gergashites and The Jebusites. Abram left the city of Haran and went toward West, followed by his wife Sarai his brother’s son Lot, including all cattle and servants. Due to his wanderings Abram was called nomad and he touched Egypt also on his way to canaan. He was blessed abundantly as for as property was concerned but no children till that age.
One day three strangers (called angels) visited Abram. He invited them warmly into his tent and gave them good dinner also. They came to him on two purposes. The first one was to inform him about the distruction of two notorious cities, namely Sodom and Gomorah for their wickedness, but they would save his relative Lot and his family for his righteousness. They also said that Abram was going to have a son soon. While Lot was leaving the wicked city Sodom, his wife out of curiosity locked back and became a pillar of salt. Abram tried all means to save those two cities with orguement but in vain. As time went on both of them grew older and Abram had a doubt about the promise of God regarding the children. They waited almost 25 years by honouring the promise of God for children. Then Sarai got a clear idea. She wanted to make Hagar the wife of her husband for the purpose of a son, though she was a servant maid. Accordingly it was done and Hagar got a son through Abram. Hagar was the daughter of Pharaoh of Egypt. The king happened to give his daughter to Abram, when he visited Egypt on his way to Canaan. Anyway Abram got a son through Hager and he gave the name Ishmael to the boy.
And God remineded Abram that Ishmael was not part of his promise. The issue of the birth of Ishmael to a servant maid was not taken seriously because polygamy (having more than one wife) was common in those days. Later Hagar and Ishmael were sent out of Abram’s house and finally Ishmael
Jewish History
became the father of Arabnations. The Arabs traced their lineage from Ishmael, a descendant of Abram. As a matter of fact the legendery story of Hagar and Ishmael is quit conspicuous in the sacred book of Quran. As said Muslim legend Hagar and Ishmael took refuge in the desert at a particular site which has become now the holy city of Mecca.
God made a covenant with Abram that he would have a son through his wife Sarai whose name would be Isaac. Then through his descentantes many nations had to be formed and as a result Abram would be called Abraham, the father of many nations. About his wife Sarai means “My princes” and in Hebrew language Sarah means “The princes”. As a sign of covenant which took place between God and Abraham, God proclaimed that in all ages the male child should be circumcised at the age of eight days. The act of circumcision also became a binding over Abraham after Isaac was born. There fore, Abraham too underwent this circumcision at the age of ninety – nine. So, this circumcision became the symbol of covenant between God and Abraham and all his descendants. Finally it became a regular practice among the Jews in all generations even to – day.
Circumcision or “brit milah” is one of the jewish oldest traditions. The ceremony would take place after eight days of the birth of a baby boy. It has became a regular special occasion among the jewish families because from that day on words the boy would be enrolled as a member in that covenant along with all others. At last the promise of God to Abraham and Sarah regarding the son also became fruitfuil. Sarah was conceived and begot a son. She delivered him at a place called “Beersheba”. The boy was named Isaac or “Yitzchak” (it is a Hebrew word for laughter) because Sarah laughed when she heard through the Angels that she would conceive and beget a son in that old- age, and also the name Isaac reflected the joy of Abraham as he became a father after a long time.
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Isaac appeared to be a weak person as we find in the Bible. One of the most astonishing stories in the Bible is the Torah the sacrifice of Isaac. God commanded Abraham to sacrifice his only son by taking him to a place that He would show. The fact is God wanted to test the faith and obedience of Abraham. He was actually the father of faithfulness. He took his son without telling anything against the command of God, on to the mount moriah. Then, when he was about to sacrifice Isaac, God again told him to stop and provided a ram for the sacrifice. Isaac reached manhood and Abraham sent his servant to his old place called Haran to find out a wife to his son. The servant brought Rebecca the sister of Laban. Isaac and Rebecca were married and Rebecca became pregnant with twins. It is said that they were fighting in the mothers womb itself and that became more intensified after they were born.
Abraham died at the age of 175 years and was buried in a tomb near to Sarah in a village which is now called the city of Hebron. After his death Isaac automatically became the next patriarch of the jewish people. Though Esau and Jacob were born as twins, there was no much difference in their attitude. Esau the elder son was hairy and a man of action. He liked hunting and he was adopted to that kind of life, whereas Jacob the younger son was a smooth skinned and more spiritual by nature. He would contemplate more before taking any action. There was a serious competition between Esau and Jacob, because Isaac loved the elder son Esau whereas Rebecca loved Jacob the younger son. The elder son had every right for all things including the blessings of his father. But according to some Biblicil commentators Esau was not much interested in such things.
Esau never thought seriously about the importance of birth right. Yet on one occasion he was forced to surrender his birth right to his brother when he was hungry. It was just for a bowl of red stew. He thought that possission of birth right was not at all important when a person was dying of hunger. On the virge of death, Isaac became blind and could not distinguish who was who. In such conditions Jacob received all the blessings from his father by playing a
Jewish History
trick. Then he anticipated some danger from Esau and went to Haran to the house of his mother’s brother Laban. Jacob deceived his brother twice so far. He snatched away the birth right of Esau by providing something to eat when he was in hunger and secondly he received all the blessings from his blind father with the garb of his brother.
Jacob spent about 21 years in the house of his uncle Laban. He married his two daughters and also slept with their maid servants. Through those four wives Jacob got twelve sons and one daughter. Finally he decided not to stay with his uncle but wished to go back to his native place and meet his brother. So he started the journey with his four wives and eleven sons, his cattle and other things. He wanted to meet his brother on the way with some gifts and at the same time he was afraid of him because Jacob deceived Easu him 21 years ago. As he wanted to spend that night on the way separately, he sent all ahead and remained at a particular place. During that night, while he was sleeping alone a stranger came and Jacob wrestled with him till dawn and overpowered the stranger. Then Jacob demanded blessings form that stranger who was no other than an angel. He blessed Jacob and bestowed upon him the new name Israel (Yesrael) in (Hebrew which means the one who wrestled with God). Since then the offspring’s of Jacob / Israel in Canaan were known as Israelites and even the Jewish people are called the children of Israel. Jacob after his return spent a very short time in Canaan. All his sons were born in Mesopotamia or Syria except Benjamin who was born on the way at Ephrata (Bethlehem) to Rachael. She died at that place after delivery. Jacob visited different places in his travel and finally reached Hebron the place of his father Isaac and grandfather Abraham. Isaac died at the age of 180 years and Esau and Jacob buried him at Mecphelah a place near Hebron which Abraham bought as a burial ground. The followers of Jacob somehow developed intimacy with Canaan and most of them remained there only, but Jacob happened to go to Egypt when there was famine.