Timeline from Abraham to Modern Day Israel God's Dealings with Israel

Timeline from Abraham to modern day Israel God’s dealings with Israel started with the unconditional promises that He made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. The Bible details events that would happen in the history of Israel. Many of these prophecies have been fulfilled, and others are being fulfilled in our day.

2000 BC Covenant with Abraham - God made unconditional promises to Abraham. [Genesis 12:2-3,7]. - The promises included the giving of the land of Canaan to the offspring of Abraham [Genesis 13:15, Genesis 17:8]. - later restricted to the offspring of Isaac [Genesis 26:3]. - and subsequently restricted to the offspring of Jacob [Genesis 28:13, Genesis 35:12]. - who God renamed Israel. [Genesis 35:10].

1940 BC Abraham sent by God to sacrifice Isaac at Mount Moriah [Genesis 22:1-2]. - This was the place where King David would acquire the land for the building of the First Temple.

1460 BC The Exodus from Egypt. The Law was given to the Israelites through Moses at Mount Sinai. The Law was added to the promises because of the transgressions of the Israelites. [Galatians 3:19]. God warned Israel that if they did not obey the Law fully then He would scatter them out of the land.

1040 BC King David conquered Jerusalem. Jerusalem is also called Zion. [2 Samuel 5:4-7].

1010 BC King David bought the Temple site; King David purchased the site of the future Temple in Jerusalem from Araunah the Jebusite for 50 shekels of silver. [2 Samuel 24:18-25; 1 Chronicles 21:18; 1 Chronicles 22:1; 2 Chronicles 3:1; Genesis 22:2].

1000 BC End of King David’s reign. The start of King Solomon’s reign [1 Kings 2:10-12].

997-990 BC Building of First Temple; King Solomon built the Temple on the site that his father David had acquired. [2 Chronicles 3:1-2].

960 BC End of King Solomon’s reign [1 Kings 11:42-43]. Under King Solomon Israel occupied almost all the land that God promised to the offspring of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. Divided kingdom. Ten tribes of Israel established a separate kingdom in the north. Judah and Benjamin had a kingdom in the south with Jerusalem as its capital.

Timeline from Abraham to modern day Israel.docx

727 BC The Assyrians conquered Naphtali and the Israelite tribes east of the Jordan River [2 Kings 15:29; 1 Chronicles 5:26]. The start of the first exile. The scattering of the Jewish people began.

722 BC The Assyrians conquered the northern kingdom of Israel [2 Kings 17:3-7,13-15]. The survivors of the ten tribes of Israel were taken into exile.

680 BC The Assyrians attacked Judah [Isaiah 36:1]. Cities were destroyed, but not Jerusalem.

608 BC Egyptians took King Jehoahaz captive; King Jehoahaz taken captive to Egypt. [2 Kings 23:31- 34].

590 BC The promise of a new covenant was made through the prophet Jeremiah [Jeremiah 31:31-34].

586 BC Nebuchadnezzar conquered Judah; The First Temple in Jerusalem was destroyed and the Jews were taken into exile in Babylon. [Jeremiah 52:27-30]. (See also 2 Kings, chapters 24 & 25)

539 BC Cyrus the Persian conquered Babylon; King Cyrus made a proclamation to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem. [Ezra 1:1-4]. Only a few tens of thousands of Jews returned to Israel from the exile in Babylon. Most remained scattered out of the land.

520-515 BC Zerubbabel built the Second Temple in Jerusalem The Second Temple (see Ezra 1 to 6) was a shadow of its former glory but, hundreds of years later, King Herod would spend 46 years turning it into a magnificent building.

500 BC Canonization of the Torah; The Torah – Law of Moses – the first of the three major divisions of the Hebrew Bible – was accepted by the rabbis as authoritative.

450 BC Nehemiah rebuilt the wall around Jerusalem; See the book of Nehemiah. Israel was slowly recovering from its desolation and the first scattering. The re-gathering was partial and the Jews did not return from all the quarters of the world.

400-350 BC Canonization of the Nevi'im; The Nevi'im – the Prophets – the second of the three major divisions of the Hebrew Bible – were added to the canon.

350-250 BC Canonization of the Ketuvim; The Ketuvim – the Holy Writings – the third of the three major divisions of the Hebrew Bible – were added to the canon. By the time of Jesus the full canon of Hebrew Scripture – known as the Tanakh, an acronym of the Hebrew for the Law, the Prophets and the Holy Writings – had been accepted by the Jews for hundreds of years.

333 BC Alexander the Great conquered Persia; Alexander brought Greek culture and thinking, and the Greek language, to Israel and the Middle East of the time.

250-100 BC Septuagint; The Hebrew Bible was translated into Greek.

168-165 BC Revolt of the Maccabees; The Seleucid Empire had succeeded Alexander. Under the rule of Antiochus the Temple had been defiled. The Jews, led by the Maccabees, captured Jerusalem and rededicated the Temple. Jews celebrate the event with the non-biblical Feast of Dedication, also called Hanukkah.

150 BC The Essene sect of the Jews established a monastery at Qumran on the edge of the Dead Sea; Observant Jews were trying to live out the Law isolated from Greek influences and the corruption of the priesthood in Jerusalem.

63 BC The Romans occupied Israel; Rome became the dominant power in the world and established peace through ruthless suppression of all dissent.

37-4 BC Herod the Great; Herod, and his successors, owed allegiance to Rome. Herod the Great was famous for his many building projects. The Second Temple renovations were started in 18 BC and would take 46 years, being completed after his death. The disciples of Jesus would, like everyone else, be impressed with the huge stonework but Jesus would be dismissive [Matthew 24:1-2, Mark 13:1-2].

6 BC Jesus was born in Bethlehem

30 AD The death and resurrection of Jesus; Giving of the new covenant [Luke 22:17-20]. Start of the church, for many years comprising entirely Jewish believers in Jesus the Messiah.

40-90 AD The New Testament was written by Jewish believers in Jesus; Gentiles started to come to faith in Jesus in great numbers, largely, but not exclusively, through the missionary efforts of the apostle Paul.

60 AD Deaths of the apostles Paul and Peter

66-73 AD First Jewish Revolt against Roman rule; 70The Romans under Titus captured Jerusalem; The Romans destroyed the Second Temple. The Essenes fled the monastery at Qumran after hiding their library in caves around the Dead Sea. Rabbi Yochanan ben Zakkai established a model of Judaism that did not depend on the Temple building or sacrifices for atonement. In the absence of the Temple altar, this fell far short of the Torah requirements. Rabbinic Judaism, as practiced today, with its hoped-for salvation by works and good deeds, can be dated from ben Zakkai’s academy in Yavneh during this period.

90 AD Death of the apostle John

132-135 AD Second Jewish Revolt under Bar Kochba; The Romans put down the revolt with great ferocity. Hundreds of Jewish communities in Israel were destroyed. The Jews were scattered from the Promised Land for the second time.

135 AD The Romans conquered Israel; The Temple Mount was ploughed with salt and Jews were banished from Jerusalem on pain of death. Jerusalem was renamed Aelia Capitolina and the land was renamed Syria Palestina (or Palestine, as it was known until 1948). This was done in a deliberate attempt to humiliate Israel by favoring their ancient enemies, the Philistines. The Arabic word for Philistine is Falastin, from which comes the English word for the Palestinians.

303-311 AD Persecution of the church by Rome; Multitudes of Christians became martyrs for their faith.

312 AD Emperor Constantine of Rome converted to Christianity; The Edict of Milan decreed toleration of Christianity in the Roman Empire.

325 AD Church Council of Nicaea; There was a call for “seclusion and humiliation” of the Jews. By this time the vast majority of Christians were non-Jews. After the start of an all-Jewish church of believers in Jesus, Christianity had become a Gentile enterprise.

330 AD Christianity made a “state religion”; Constantine declared Christianity to be the official state religion of the Roman Empire

370 AD The New Testament canon was settled

406-455 AD Barbarians invaded the Roman Empire. This signaled the start of the Dark Ages.

476 AD Last Roman emperor abdicated

622 AD Moslem religion of Islam established. Islam was established by Mohammed in Mecca.

632 AD Death of Mohammed

638 AD Caliph Omar conquered Jerusalem. Under Moslem rule Jews were permitted to return to the city.

691 AD Construction of the Dome of the Rock. Moslem presence established on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

694 AD Jewish religion outlawed in Spain

1050 AD Resurgence of wealth and civilization in Europe

1054 AD Schism arose between Catholics of Rome and Orthodox Christians of Constantinople.

1095-1099 AD The first Crusade. Jews were massacred across Europe as the Crusader armies marched toward the Holy Land.

1099 AD Jerusalem captured by Crusaders. The Jewish and Moslem inhabitants were slaughtered.

1140-1300 AD Period of building by the church. The great Gothic cathedrals in Europe were constructed. The church saw itself, not as a humble community of people saved by grace, but as a triumphant, dominant institute of state, even world, government.

1187 AD Moslems under Saladin reconquered Jerusalem.

1190 AD Massacre of Jews in York, England

1231 AD The Inquisition. Christianity was the state religion of Western Europe. The great missionary effort had succeeded but it was an imposed religion of works, rather than faith from the heart by individuals who had been born-again spiritually. The Inquisition attempted to root out unbelievers, meaning non-adherents of the Church of Rome.

1242 AD Burning of the Jewish Talmud in Paris

1252 AD The Pope sanctioned the use of torture. Torture was sanctioned during the Inquisition as a means of extracting the truth from suspects.

1290 AD Jews expelled from England

1306 AD First expulsion of Jews from France

1347-1350 AD Black Death. Bubonic plague killed one third of the population of Europe.

1394 AD Second expulsion of Jews from France

1453 AD Constantinople conquered by the Moslems. The Byzantine Empire came to an end although Eastern Orthodox Christianity, primarily the Greek and Russians strains, continues to this day. Orthodox Christians do not give allegiance to Rome. They remain influential in Israel and parts of the Middle East.

1456 AD Gutenberg Press. The Bible was printed in Latin. Prior to this the Scriptures had to be copied by hand and were not available to the common people.

1478 AD Start of the Spanish Inquisition

1492 AD Jews expelled from Spain

1517 AD Protestant Reformation. Start of 400-year occupation of Palestine and Jerusalem by the Ottoman Turks

1611 AD King James Bible. The Authorized Version of the Bible in English was published

1881 AD Pogroms in Russia. Jewish communities in Russia were attacked. It prompted migration of Jews from Eastern Europe to the Holy Land. The second and great re-gathering of Israel started as a trickle. [Isaiah 11:11-12].

1888 AD Start of the First Aliyah. (Aliyah = return of Jews to Israel) Continued persecutions prompted the first wave of Jews to migrate from Eastern Europe to what was then called Palestine.

1895 AD Dreyfus Affair in France. A scandal involving a Jewish officer in the French army brought out anti-Semitism in Europe. It prompted Theodor Herzl to promote the cause of a Jewish State.

1897 AD First Zionist Congress was held in Switzerland. Influential Jews agreed on the imperative of a homeland for their people.

1904 AD Start of the Second Aliyah. A second wave of Jews, mainly from Russia and Poland, migrated to Palestine. They were driven by persecutions.

1909 AD Establishment of Degania. The first kibbutz was established at Degania in the Galilee. Establishment of Tel Aviv. What was to become the largest city in Israel started as a few Jewish homes in the sand dunes north of Jaffa.

1914 Turkey allied with Germany. Turkey, the occupiers of Palestine, allied with Germany at the start of World War I.

1914-1918 World War I

1917 General Allenby took Jerusalem. The British defeated the Turkish rulers of Jerusalem, ending 400 years of Ottoman rule. Balfour Declaration. The British expressed their support, in writing, for a homeland for the Jews in Israel. Their actions, at the end of the Mandate period, did not match their promise.

1920 The British Mandate. Britain received a mandate from the League of Nations to administer Palestine. Start of the Third Aliyah. A third wave of Jews, mainly from Russia, migrated to Palestine. Hebrew language. Hebrew was recognized as the official language of the Jews in Palestine. This marked the first time since the loss of the Promised Land that Hebrew moved from being a liturgical language to that of the man in the street.

1924-1932 The Fourth Aliyah. A fourth wave of Jews, mainly from Poland, migrated to Palestine.

1933 Hitler came to power in Germany. Jews started leaving to settle in Palestine (Fifth Aliyah)

1935 Arrival of 62,000 Jews in Palestine

1939 Britain set limits on Jewish immigration. A limit was placed on Jewish immigration to Palestine and on the purchase of land by Jews.

1939-1945 World War II – Holocaust Six million Jews perished in the Nazi concentration camps. After the War thousands of survivors of the death camps made their way to the Promised Land.

1947 Concentration camp refugees turned away. British forces in Palestine continued turning away Jewish refugees who came from the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. Partition Plan for Palestine. A Partition Plan, calling for separate states within the land for Jews and for Arabs, was adopted on 29 November by the United Nations, supported by the USA and the USSR. Zionist leaders accepted the plan, but the Arabs rejected it.

1947-1956 Discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls

1948 Open fighting between Jews and Arabs in Palestine. Britain refused to co-operate with the Partition Plan, washed its hands of the Palestine problem, and announced its withdrawal. The State of Israel was declared. Israel was proclaimed a State by David Ben-Gurion on 14 May [Isaiah 66:8]. The new State was immediately recognized by the USA and Russia, but not by Britain. The next day, 15 May, the last British troops departed and Israel was invaded by five Arab armies – Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq. The first Arab-Israeli War began. Arrival of 120,000 Jewish immigrants, in spite of the war.

1949 Egyptian army defeated. In January, Israel defeated the Egyptian army – armistice agreement signed the next month. Eilat and the Negev were captured. War of Independence ended. In March, the War of Independence was over as Jordan, Syria and Lebanon signed armistice agreements. Jerusalem divided. Israel controlled the west, the new city. Jordan occupied the Old City and the east.

1948-1952 Mass migration of Jews. Hundreds of thousands of Jews migrated to Israel from Europe and Arab countries.

1963 Establishment of the PLO. (Palestine Liberation Organization)

1967 Six Day War. Israel captured the Old City of Jerusalem. Israel gained control of Jerusalem, the Sinai desert, the Golan Heights, the Gaza Strip and areas of Judea and Samaria which became known as the West Bank. Israel more than tripled the size of the area it controlled. In November, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 242 calling on Israel to withdraw from the territories occupied in the Six-Day War. The Resolution also called on the Arab states to make peace with Israel, and recognized that Israel was entitled to secure boundaries. The Resolution did not require that Palestinians be given political rights or territory.

1968 The PLO rejected Resolution 242. In October, in a statement to the UN General Assembly, the PLO rejected Resolution 242.

1970 Start of migration of Jews from the USSR to Israel.

1978 Camp David Accords. Israel, under the Likud Party and Prime Minister Begin, agreed to withdraw from territory in the Sinai Peninsula, and to give the Palestinians independence in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

1984 Operation Moses. 7,800 Black Jews were rescued from Ethiopia and brought to Israel.

1989 Communism collapsed in the USSR and Eastern Europe. Mass immigration of Russian Jews – one million moved to Israel over the next 10 years.

1991 Rescue of black Jews from Ethiopia. In a 36-hour airlift, code named Operation Solomon, Israel rescued 14,300 black Jews from Ethiopia. Gulf War. US-led coalition liberated Kuwait from Iraqi occupation. Israel was bombed by Iraqi scud missiles even though she stayed out of the war. Jewish migrants continued to arrive in Israel throughout that period.

1993 Israeli and Palestinian negotiations. Israeli and Palestinian negotiators conducted secret talks leading to the Oslo agreement. The handshake on White House lawn. President Clinton presided as Yitzhak Rabin, Prime Minister of Israel, signed the Declaration of Principles with Yasser Arafat of the PLO.

1993-2010 Israel staggers through an on-again off-again peace process with the Palestinians While the USA, the European Union and the United Nations press Israel to give up land for a Palestinian state, efforts to reach this peace accord are continuously derailed by hostilities, including suicide bombings. Throughout this time the economy of Israel grows, as does its military, and there is a steady stream of migrants to the land from all the nations of the world.

2011-2016 No agreed upon peace.