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One purpose of the Historical Overviews is to trace the "seed of the woman" which GOD speaks of in Genesis 3 - the miraculous deliverer who one day would come to crush the head of the serpent Satan. A second purpose is to observe that the GOD of all creation is not a God far off but is very near, acting in history. Here we review important dates that lead us to the time of the Temple in Jerusalem.

1. Dates

In order to place the events of this final session in the historical chronology of the entire Hebrew Scriptures, we offer the following chart listing important dates.

At this point, a note is in order. In all the dates mentioned in this session, we use the term "BC," which indicates a date numbering before the supposed year of the birth of Christ. Those who follow Rabbinic Judaism, however, prefer to give the same date as "BCE" or "Before the Common Era", in order to avoid any mention of the title "Christ," in whose name, so many Jews have been persecuted down through the centuries.

1) Using the narrative of the Hebrew Scriptures, the OT, as authority - the inspired Word of GOD - the Jewish people by tradition calculate that Creation occurred 5763 years ago. This is the year 5763 of the Jewish Calendar.

2) GOD’s call to Abraham occurred about 2100 BC

3) The Exodus out of Egypt occurred in 1440 BC

4) David became King in Jerusalem about 1011 BC

5) Following Solomon’s death, the breakup of the unified kingdom occurred in 931 BC

6) The end of the Northern Kingdom with the conquest by Assyria occurred in 722 BC

7) The Babylonian Exile of the Southern Kingdom occurred beginning in 605 BC

8) The first return from Babylon to Jerusalem occurred 70 years later in 535 BC.

2. Kings of Israel

Briefly, we trace the Kings of the twelve tribes of Israel -

* From foolish Saul;

* to the period when Saul and David were BOTH anointed by GOD, though Saul still reigned;

* through the reign of David, whom we choose to paint GREEN - a man after GOD’s own heart! (This is the present point in our narrative.)

* Following David’s death, David’s son Solomon reigned. We will discuss Solomon in a moment - a king who started off well enough, but later did things which would result in the Kingdom being broken in two. So we paint Solomon YELLOW turning to RED!

* The broken kingdom we display as a fractured and broken egg. We list the 10 tribes which gathered in the Northern Kingdom, "ISRAEL," and we show the one that GOD left with Judah in the Southern Kingdom, namely Benjamin.

(Remember that the Northern Kingdom would fail first, then the Southern Kingdom.

3. OT Jerusalem

Here are a few VIEWS of OT Jerusalem and the Temple Mount.

IN THIS Topographic Map of Jerusalem, note the Seven Hills which surround Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, reading counterclockwise -

click on graphic to enlarge

(1) Mount Zion;

(2) The Mount of Evil Counsel;

(3) The Mount of Offense (or Abomination);

(4) The Mount of Olives;

(5) Mount Scopus;

(6) French Hill; and somewhat NW off the map,

(7) Nabi Samwil, the traditional burial site of the Prophet Samuel.

IN THIS ARTIST’S VIEW of the City Of David, which slopes down to the Hinnom Valley to the left (not shown), note David’s Stronghold which sits high up and is surrounded by walls. The Temple Mount (later built by Solomon) appears in the distance at right.

click on graphic to enlarge

 

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This is a portion of a more extensive historical overview prepared by Mr. Charles Quigley. Select the more inclusive "sessions" for the TANAKH SURVEY (from the menu on the left) to view the overview in its entirety. This historical overview was originally created for oral presentations that cover Israel's history from its origin to a period leading to the 'Current Era' (CE). See note below on use of this presentation material.

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