Saint James the Greater was one of Jesus’ first disciples and one of the apostles who was killed because of his faith. (The life of Christ and his ministry with the twelve apostles is listed on the Bible Timeline after 1 AD). Jesus had first called Simon and his brother Andrew to follow him. He then found the other brothers, James, and John. They were in a boat with their father, Zebedee. Jesus found the fishermen repairing their nets and told them to follow him. They got up, and they left their father behind. (Matt. 4:21; Mark 1:19; Luke 5:10)
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James was the son of Zebedee and Salome (Matt. 27:56; Mark 15:40, 16:1). He was the elder brother of John the Beloved and probably called “the Greater” because he was older or taller than James the Less. As he was one of the first disciples of Jesus, the description (epithet) “the Greater” would also make sense.
“Saint James the Greater”
An introduction of all twelve apostles can be found in the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke (Matt. 10:2; Mark 3:17-18; Luke 6:14). The list included both James, son of Zebedee and James, son of Alphaeus. He and his brother John were called “sons of thunder” (Boanerges) because they were easily angered. Jesus rebuked them when the Samaritans refused to welcome Jesus as he passed through their village. The brothers had asked him if they should “call down fire from heaven to burn them up” (Luke 9:54).
Jesus was with James and John when he taught in the synagogue of Capernaum and cast out an evil spirit from a man. The brothers were also present when Jesus healed Simon’s mother-in-law and saw him heal the sick people of the town (Mark 1:21-34). James, along with Peter and John, were among the apostles who were close to Jesus as they witnessed his transfiguration (Matt. 17:1; Mark 9:2; Luke 9:28) as well as the healing of Jairus’ daughter (Luke 8:40, 51-56).
Jesus gave both James, John, their mother Salome, and the other apostles present a lesson in serving others in Matt. 20:20-24 and Mark 10:35-41. Their mother asked Jesus if her two sons could “sit in places of honor next to Jesus” and he rebuked them. Jesus would later bring James, John, and Peter with him in the garden of Gethsemane before his crucifixion (Matt. 26:37; Mark 14:33). He was also present during and after Jesus’ ascension (Acts 1:6-13).
According to the Historia Compostelana, which was published in the 12th century, James preached first in Judea and Samaria and sailed later to Spain. He came back to Judea but was sentenced to death by Herod Agrippa I (Acts 12:1-3). After his death, his body was transported by boat to the shores of Iberia (Spain) and was buried in Santiago de Compostela, a city which now bears his name. The city’s cathedral houses the relics of Saint James and has become the center of the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage. The relics were authenticated by Pope Leo XIII on November 1, 1884.
References:
Orr, James. The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Grand Rapids: W.B. Eerdmans Pub., 1939
Maddrell, Avril, Alan Terry, and Tim Gale. Sacred Mobilities: Journeys of Belief and Belonging
Picture By Guido Reni – bgH3Bqotg5nTTw at Google Cultural Institute maximum zoom level, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=21880518
The Passover Feast, or Pesach, celebrates the deliverance of the Israelites from slavery in Egypt, as recorded in the Book of Exodus. During Passover, Jews also commemorate the birth of the Jewish nation after being freed by God from captivity. Today, the Jewish people not only remember a historical event on the first Passover but also celebrate in a larger sense, their freedom as Jews. The first Passover, according to the Biblical Timeline, occurred on May 4, 1451 B.C.
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The Hebrew word Pesach means, “to pass over.” During the Passover celebration each year, Jews take part in a meal known as the Seder, which features the retelling of the story of Exodus and God’s liberation from their slavery in Egypt. Each partaker of the Passover Seder experiences in an individual way, a national celebration of freedom through God’s divine intervention and deliverance. Hag HaMatzah or the Feast of Unleavened Bread and Yom HaBikkurim or Firstfruits are both mentioned in Leviticus 23 as separate feasts. However, today Jews observe all three feasts as part of the eight-day Passover celebration.
Today, Passover begins on day 15 of the Hebrew month of Nissan, which falls in March or April and continues for 8 days. In Biblical times, Passover began at twilight on the fourteenth day of Nissan, and then the next day, day 15, the Feast of Unleavened Bread would begin and continue for seven days.
The Passover Story
“With the final plague, God promised to strike dead every first-born son in Egypt”
Joseph, the favored son of Jacob, after being sold into slavery in Egypt, was protected by God and greatly blessed. Ultimately he was put into a high position—second-in-command to Pharaoh. In time, Joseph moved his entire family to Egypt to be near him and help them. This happened in 1706 B.C. By the time of the Exodus, 215 years later, the Israelites had grown into a people numbering over 2 million. In fact, there were so many Jews in Egypt that the new Pharaoh, who had no memory of what the good Joseph had done for his land, was afraid of their power. To retain a feeling of control, he forced the Israelites into slavery, oppressing them with harsh labor and brutal treatment.
However, God had a plan to rescue his people, through a man named Moses. At the time Moses was born, Pharaoh had ordered the death of all Hebrew males, but God spared Moses when his mother hid him in a basket along the banks of the Nile River. Pharaoh’s daughter found the baby and decided to adopt him. Later Moses fled to Midian after killing an Egyptian he had witnessed brutally beating a Hebrew slave.
There God appeared to Moses from within the flames of a burning bush and said:
“And the LORD said, I have surely seen the affliction of my people which are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters; for I know their sorrows;” Exodus 3:7-10 KJV
And I am come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians, and to bring them up out of that land unto a good land and a large, unto a land flowing with milk and honey; unto the place of the Canaanites, and the Hittites, and the Amorites, and the Perizzites, and the Hivites, and the Jebusites. Now, therefore, behold, the cry of the children of Israel is come unto me: and I have also seen the oppression wherewith the Egyptians oppress them. Come now therefore, and I will send thee unto Pharaoh, that thou mayest bring forth my people the children of Israel out of Egypt
After making some excuses, Moses finally obeyed God and confronted Pharaoh.
Moses and Aaron repeatedly appeared before Pharaoh to demand in the mighty name of God:
“Let my people go, that they may serve me in the wilderness”
However, Pharaoh continued to refuse. Moses sternly warned him that God would smite Egypt. Pharaoh remained unyielding. God begins to send a series of horrific plagues upon the Egyptians. In the midst of each plague, Pharaoh promises to let the Children of Israel go, always with some conditions, but he retracts the offer once the affliction has ended.
All the waters throughout Egypt turn to blood.
Swarms of frogs overrun the land.
Lice infest all the men and beasts.
Hordes of wild animals invade the cities.
An epidemic kills the domestic animals.
Painful boils afflict the Egyptians.
Fire and ice combine to descend from the skies to form a ravaging hailstorm.
A devastating swarm of locusts demolishes all the crops and greenery.
A thick, tangible darkness shrouds the land.
All the firstborn of Egypt are killed at the stroke of midnight of the 15th of the month of Nissan.
With the final plague, God promised to strike dead every first-born son in Egypt at midnight on the 15th day of the month of Nissan. However, to Moses, the Lord provided instructions so his people would be spared. Each Hebrew family was to take a Passover lamb, slaughter it and place some of the blood on the doorframes of their homes. When the destroyer passed over Egypt, he would not enter the homes covered by the blood of the Passover lamb:
“Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening.
In addition, they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side-posts and on the upper doorpost of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. In addition, they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs, they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD’s Passover.”
The first nine plagues only served to dishearten the Pharaoh briefly but were unable to make him completely submit to the will of God. Finally, God ordered the Hebrew slaves to make a sacrifice of a lamb and mark their doors with the blood of the lamb, as an indication to the God to ‘pass over’ their houses while slaying the first-born males of the Egyptians. The Hebrews followed the word of God and thus, their first-born males were saved from the tenth plague. ‘Pesach’ means ‘passing over’ or ‘protection’ in Hebrew. This final calamity was a final blow to the Pharaoh, and he ordered Israelites to be set free immediately and allow their passage put of Egypt.
In their hurry to finally be able to live free lives, Israelites did not even wait to let their dough rise and bake bread but took raw dough instead to bake in the hot desert sun as hard crackers called Matzos on their journey. Moses led them through the desert. The angry Pharaoh changed his mind and led his army to chase after and kill them all. However, through the divine grace of God, the Jews managed to reach the Red Sea, where they seemed trapped by the vast stretch of water. Moses called upon God for help, and all of a sudden, the Red Sea parted to give way to the Israelites, and thus, they safely passed over to the other side on dry land. They were protected forever as the waves closed over the shocked army of the Pharaoh and drowned the whole army at once.
Important World Leaders and Events During This Time
Egypt is the undisputed world power during this time.
Egyptian bondage and oppression increase, especially towards the Hebrew people.
This period saw the beginning of the Hurrian conquests.
Hittite King Mursilis I fought the Hurrians on the upper Euphrates River.
The Cretan palaces at Knossos and other centers flourish despite disasters.
The city of Mycenae, located in the northeast Peloponnesus, comes to dominate the rest of Achaea, giving its name to Mycenaean civilization.
Cecrops I builds or rebuilds Athens following the great flood of Deucalion and the end of the Golden age. He becomes the first of several Kings of Athens whose life account is considered part of Greek mythology.
Cecrops I, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 50 years. Having survived his own son, he is succeeded by Cranaus.
Egypt started to conquer Nubia and the Levant.
The element Mercury had been discovered in Egyptian tombs dating from this period.
Settlers from Crete, Greece move to Miletus, Turkey.
There is evidence of the Mayan civilization developing in Belize.
The Hebrew calendar structure was made on a complicated lunisolar way which was focused on the seasonal cycle of the year (the complete revolution of the earth around the sun) and the lunar cycle for the month (the complete revolution of the moon around the earth). It was based on the same calendar used in Babylon and adapted by the Jews after the Babylonian exile which explains why the month names of the Hebrew calendar resemble those of the Babylonians.
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This system was used from the time of the Second Temple Period, and it combined religion and astronomical facts. The calendar was under the authority of the priests, and two witnesses were required to report that they had seen the New Moon in order to start a new month. A system of intercalation was used to prevent it from falling behind the seasons, but it was fixed by Patriarch Hillel II in 70 AD, and the calendar system was made known to the public so that the Jews who lived in different parts of Europe and Asia could celebrate holidays and New Moons on the same days.
Hebrew and Mesopotamian Month Names
The Hebrew Calendar has 354 days called yom. The daylight hours are equally divided into 12 hours starting at sunrise and ending when the sun sets. This division of the day is important especially on the Sabbath (as one of the ten commandments) and on holidays. What makes the Hebrew day unique is that it starts at sunset and not at midnight.
The Hebrew term for a week is “shavu’a”, and each week begins on Sunday and ends on Sabbath. Knowing when a week starts and ends is important because weekly Torah readings called Parashioth and Haphtaroth (selection of passages from the Prophets) are still read every Sabbath and on festivals.
Months*
The Hebrew month is based on the lunar cycle of 29.5 days, and it is called Chodesh. Each month started with the appearance of the New Moon (Rosh Chodesh) and was sanctified and announced by the Sanhedrin in the ancient times. Each month alternates between 30 and 29 days (equals to 354 days/year) and Adar II is added by the Calendar Council every two to three years to correct the lag and synchronize the calendar with the solar cycle. This extra month is added every two to three years, so every nineteen years the Hebrew calendar will have seven leap years.
Years
The Hebrew term for a year is called “shanah” and the calendar council is in charge of balancing the years by calculating the beginning of the seasons. A Sabbatical Year (Shmitah) is celebrated every seven years to let the land rest and a Jubilee Year (Yovel) is celebrated 50 years after seven Sabbatical years.
Holidays
The change of seasons is marked with special festivals or moedim (Appointed Times) and the festival day begins the night before the actual day, so it takes two days in the Gregorian calendar. The Sabbath is considered so important that if a holiday falls on the same day, it will be moved to Thursday. A list of holidays is listed in the Months section.
The Biblical female name Miriam is of Hebrew origin and is considered to be an older version of the name Mary. It means “wished for child,” or perhaps even a quite different meaning, which is “bitter” or “rebellious.” There is also a very similar Egyptian name, based on the word myr, meaning “beloved” or mr meaning “love.”
By consulting our Biblical Timeline, we can determine that Miriam was born in 1576 B.C.
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Miriam was the daughter of Amram and Jochebed, and the older sister of Moses and Aaron, all of whom were Levites. We first learn of Miriam as she and her three-year-old brother, Aaron, are welcoming a new child into the family.Unfortunately for that time, the baby was a boy, and there is a decree that all Hebrew baby boys be killed. Miriam had godly parents who trusted the God of Israel, however, Egypt’s Pharoah hated her people. Miriam would have been only about 5 years old when this baby, Moses was born.
Her mother hid him for three months, but when she could no longer do so, she got a papyrus basket for him and coated it to make it waterproof. Then she placed Moses in it and hid it along the bank of the Nile river. Miriam then watched to see what would happen to him.
When the Pharaoh’s daughter went down to the river to bathe, she noticed the basket and sent a slave girl to get it. After she opened it and saw the baby, she fell in love with him. At that moment, Miriam bravely stepped forward and offered to find a Hebrew woman to nurse the baby for the princess, who had decided to keep the baby as her own. And so it was, that Moses’ own mother was paid to care for him until he could be weaned and then given over to the Princess to be raised as an Egyptian.
Just from this one incident, we can glean from Miriam’s life that she was already caring, competent, and certainly brave. It would have taken quite a bit of courage to be so forthright with the Pharaoh’s daughter. She must have also been very obedient, because although the Bible doesn’t tell us, it would seem as though her mother had left her to watch over Moses, and see what would become of him.
Then one day, perhaps Miriam received the news that Moses had killed an Egyptian, and had fled to the desert, in fear for his life. Our Bible timeline shows he would have been 40 years old by then, and it would be another 40 years until they would meet again.
During that long period of Moses’ absence, the Pharaoh, who wanted Moses killed, dies himself. The Hebrew children groaned in their slavery and cried out, and their cry for help went up to God, Who heard their afflictions and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Therefore, God looked on His towards children who were still in bondage in Egypt and was troubled over them.
It was God’s perfect time to deliver the Israelites, and He knew who He was going to use to accomplish His will. It would be Moses, who had by now made a completely new life for himself in the land of Midian, with a wife, two sons, and a career of tending his father-in-law’s flocks.
Moses returns to Egypt, and with Aaron as his spokesman, they delivered God’s commands to Pharaoh. Miriam watched God confirm their message with the great miracles they performed.
At long last, the treasured night came when the Israelites were allowed to leave Egypt with the mourning cries of the Egyptians resounding in their ears. Every home with children was grieving the death of a firstborn.
Miriam was there when this immense number of people came to the seemingly impassable barrier of the Red Sea. Miriam was right there when they looked behind them and saw the chariots of the Pharaoh and all his armies chasing after them, since he had changed his mind about letting them leave, and was determined to take them back to Egypt or to kill them on the spot. She witnessed the miracle when God opened a path through the sea, allowing the children of Israel to walk across on dry land. Again, she was there on the other side when Pharaoh’s chariots and horses stepped in to follow along the same path, and the massive walls of water that had stood so secure for the Israelites dissolved and filled in that whole dry bed, and drowned the mightiest army of that time.
“Miriam the prophetess”
The Israelites were free from Egypt’s brutal captivity, and Miriam had seen it all! It was a time for rejoicing, and a time for singing. Exodus 15 records the first song in the Bible, which was from Moses, and that is not without significance. It is a song of praise from a redeemed people.
Here is Miriam’s response to what the LORD had accomplished:
And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them, Sing ye to the LORD, for he hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath he thrown into the sea.” Exodus 15: 20&21
Miriam was a leader among the Hebrew women, and she was gifted musically. She took the place of leadership that the LORD gave her, and used it to direct the woman to praise the Lord. She was a godly influence in their lives.
Notice that Miriam was one of God’s special gifts to the people of Israel. In fact, the Bible tells us that in Micah 6:4:
“For I brought thee up out of the land of Egypt, and redeemed thee out of the house of servants; and I sent before thee Moses, Aaron, and Miriam.”
She was a gift from God, and that is why she was so influential, however, at some point about 2 years into their journey, things begin to change in Miriam’s heart. The protective sister, the prophetess, the woman’s worship leader, the woman who supported Moses, became his rival and critic.
Moses had the final word on everything, and Aaron was the high priest. She was a prophetess. However, the people of Israel were not being governed by a committee of three. Miriam wanted more power, more authority, and began to speak even against Moses with Aaron because of his Cushite wife.
She was actually being driven by pride, jealousy, and envy at this point and even began to criticize Moses’ wife, and then question that he was not the only one God spoke to.
The Lord finally disciplines Miriam with leprosy for a week. Perhaps this brought her great shame and humiliation, even long after the week had passed. She lived thirty-eight more years under Moses’ authority, and never questioned it again. In fact, the Bible never mentions her after that, until she is about 130 years old, and the children of Israel are on the border of the Promised Land for the second time. It is now the first month of the fortieth year of their travels, and she dies, never having entered into the Promised Land.
Important World Leaders and Events During This Time
Egypt is the undisputed world power during this time.
Egyptian bondage and oppression increase, especially towards the Hebrew people.
This period saw the beginning of the Hurrian conquests.
Hittite King Mursilis I fought the Hurrians on the upper Euphrates River.
The Cretan palaces at Knossos and other centers flourish despite disasters.
The city of Mycenae, located in the northeast Peloponnesus, comes to dominate the rest of Achaea, giving its name to Mycenaean civilization.
Cecrops I builds or rebuilds Athens following the great flood of Deucalion and the end of the Golden age. He becomes the first of several Kings of Athens whose life account is considered part of Greek mythology.
Cecrops I, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 50 years. Having survived his own son, he is succeeded by Cranaus.
Egypt started to conquer Nubia and the Levant.
The element Mercury has been discovered in Egyptian tombs dating from this period.
Settlers from Crete, Greece move to Miletus, Turkey.
There is evidence of the Mayan civilization developing in Belize.
After 40 years of Moses living a rather quiet shepherd’s life in the desert, God hears the cries of His people under their Egyptian bondage. By consulting the Bible Timeline, we can ascertain that this would have been the year 1451 B.C., making Moses 80 years old, when God calls him to active duty. The Bible tells us that God responds to the Israelites cries and their sufferings under the Egyptian rule and decides to deliver them out of their captivity because of the covenant that He had previously made with their ancestors, – Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
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God initially makes contact with Moses through a burning bush:
And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.
The burning bush.
God then begins to speak directly to Moses. He tells Moses that He has heard the cries of His people in Egypt and that He is calling upon Moses to be the one who will go there and free the Israelites from their bondage under the God explains that Moses was to lead the Israelites out of slavery and into a land flowing with milk and honey.” Moses hesitated…he knew he was not up to the task. God tells Moses when they ask the name of their God, to answer that His name is:
“I AM THAT I AM”
God continues by telling Moses to explain to His people that He is the God of their ancestors – Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and that He is going to deliver His people and bring them into a Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey.
After receiving all of the divine instructions from God, Moses still questions the Lord about all of this. He proceeds to explain to the Lord that he is slow of speech and slow of tongue. God then responds back saying to him:
“And the LORD said unto him, Who hath made man’s mouth? Or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? Have not I the LORD?”
After God makes this authoritative statement to Moses, Moses continues to question God on choosing him. By this point, the Bible says that the anger of the Lord was roused against Moses. However, realizing Moses’ lack of self-confidence in himself, God then determines to have Moses take his brother Aaron with him. God says that Aaron can speak well and for Moses to convey God’s message to Aaron and that God will be with the both of them and will teach them both what to say and what to do.
God tells Moses that Aaron will be the spokesman to the people, that he will act as Moses’ mouth and that Moses shall be to Aaron “as God.” Bible timelines show that Aaron would have been 83 years old at this time.
When Moses and Aaron first approach the Pharaoh, they tell him that he is to let their people go so they can go into the wilderness to hold a feast with their God. The Pharaoh completely refuses this first request, so God does His first miracle in front of the Pharaoh and his court.
Aaron takes the rod of Moses, throws it to the ground, and it becomes a serpent. However, Pharaoh’s magicians threw their rods down, and they also became serpents. God then goes on to prove whose power was greater. God caused the rod that Aaron had thrown down that had turned into a serpent to consume all of the other rods that had turned into serpents from the Pharaoh’s magicians.
After seeing this display of God’s power, the Pharaoh’s heart hardens, and he refuses to let the Israelites go. This begins the 10 powerful plagues that God sets in motion against the Pharaoh in order to break his spirit so he will let the Israelites go from their bondage.
Here are the 10 specific plagues that God used to strike Egypt with. Please notice that some of these plagues will be the same ones that God will release once again during the 7-year Tribulation – just before Jesus returns for His second coming.The Ten Plagues Of Egypt
Water Turned Into Blood
Frogs
Lice
Flies
Pestilence on the Livestock
Boils
Hail
Locusts
Darkness
Death of All the Firstborn
The tenth plague finally breaks the Pharaoh’s will, causing him, in his own mourning, to relent and allow the Israelites to leave. Through consulting the Bible and Biblical timeline, we can see the Israelites had been kept under Egyptian bondage for 430 years, or since 1881 B.C.
The Israelites prepared to leave rapidly, however, God had one more massive miracle for them to witness before their Exodus could really begin!
This next miracle by God is perhaps the most extraordinary and magnificent in all of the Scripture. The children of Israel have now left Egypt. The Pharaoh, after allowing them to leave, changes his mind and decides to chase them with all of his army to try to get them back, or at the very least, kill them. When the Israelites realize this, they start murmuring to Moses.
They come to the Red Sea, with seemingly nowhere else to go. If they attempt to cross it, they will surely drown. If they try to move backward, the Egyptian army that is quickly closing in on them will catch them. Only God Himself can save them now.
Moses then steps forward in this desperate situation and declares to the Israelites:
“And Moses said unto the people, Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew to you today: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen today, ye shall see them again no more forever. The LORD shall fight for you, and ye shall hold your peace.”
God then speaks to Moses:
“But lift thou up thy rod, and stretch out thine hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go on dry ground through the midst of the sea.”
God parts the Red Sea, allowing the Israelites to cross over on dry land, and even more than that, when they had all crossed over, God then tells Moses to “stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come back upon the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.”
Moses then proceeds to stretch out his hand over the sea and then the sea returns to its full depth while the Egyptians were fleeing into it. The Bible says that the Lord overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea! The waters returned and covered the chariots, the horsemen and all of the army of the Pharaoh, and not one of them was left standing!
After the Israelites had crossed over and seen this supernatural event occur right before their very eyes, they then believed in Moses and the Lord.
Before God decides to take the children of Israel into the Promised Land, He first tests them by keeping them out in the wilderness for about two and half years. Please remember, it was only about a 3-day journey to get to the Promised Land of Canaan.
However, God apparently took them on the longer route to test their patience, their resolve and whether or not they would stay faithful and loyal to Him through this journey. During the time of testing in this wilderness experience, the first thing God wanted to see was whether His people would keep His laws and commandments. Therefore, God then presents Moses with the laws that He wants the Israelites to abide by, during a private and dramatic meeting up on Mt. Sinai.
During the second meeting with God, Moses was given specific instructions on building a tabernacle where God’s manifest presence could dwell with the Israelites out in the wilderness for the 40 years they were going to have to stay out there. It was during this second meeting that God gives Moses the 10 commandments written on a stone tablet.
He was given two tablets and the tablets had writings on both sides. All of the writing on the tablets was the handwriting of God Himself – literally engraved right on these stone tablets.
Near the beginning of the 40-year journey through the wilderness at about the two and half year mark, God brings the children of Israel up to the borders of the Promised Land – the land of Canaan. According to Biblical timelines, this would have been about 1449 B.C. Moses sent 12 spies into the land to investigate it out before decided to enter in.
Ten of the twelve spies come back with a negative report. They tell the rest of the Israelites that the people who dwell in this land are giants and that cities are high-walled and well protected.
Therefore, fears about larger men and strong walls kept the Israelites from having faith that God could give them victory. After hearing these negative reports, Caleb speaks out and says:
“And Caleb stilled the people before Moses, and said, Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.”
When God hears this lack of faith, He says that is enough. Here is the direct word from God Himself:
“Because all those men which have seen my glory, and my miracles, which I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and have tempted me now these ten times, and have not hearkened to my voice; Surely they shall not see the land which I sware unto their fathers, neither shall any of them that provoked me see it: But my servant Caleb, because he had another spirit with him, and hath followed me fully, him will I bring into the land whereinto he went; and his seed shall possess it.”
God goes on to declare:
“Surely none of the men that came up out of Egypt, from twenty years old and upward, shall see the land which I sware unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob; because they have not wholly followed me.”
Joshua and Caleb were the faithful two spies, and they would be the ones to lead the younger generation under 20 years old into the Promised Land, and they were successful in conquering and overcoming all of the giants and strongholds that the older generation initially saw. The rest of the Israelites 20 years and older all died out in the wilderness over the next 40 years due to their lack of faith in the one true God.
Even Moses was forbidden from entering the Promised Land because he took the focus off of God and allowed the people to believe that he was performing a miracle by striking a rock to get water to come out of it. God said:
“And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, ‘Because ye believed me not, to sanctify me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore ye shall not bring this congregation into the land which I have given them.’
Important World Leaders and Events During This Time
Egypt is the undisputed world power during this time.
Egyptian bondage and oppression increase, especially towards the Hebrew people.
This period saw the beginning of the Hurrian conquests.
Hittite King Mursilis I fought the Hurrians on the upper Euphrates River.
The Cretan palaces at Knossos and other centers flourish despite disasters.
The city of Mycenae, located in the northeast Peloponnesus, comes to dominate the rest of Achaea, giving its name to Mycenaean civilization.
Cecrops I builds or rebuilds Athens following the great flood of Deucalion and the end of the Golden age. He becomes the first of several Kings of Athens whose life account is considered part of Greek mythology.
Cecrops I, legendary King of Athens, dies after a reign of 50 years. Having survived his own son, he is succeeded by Cranaus.
Egypt started to conquer Nubia and the Levant.
The element Mercury had been discovered in Egyptian tombs dating from this period.
Settlers from Crete, Greece move to Miletus, Turkey.
There is evidence of the Mayan civilization developing in Belize.
Moses, the younger brother of Aaron, led the Israelite’s Exodus out of Egypt.
Aaron, the older brother of Moses, was the first high priest of Israel.
Joshua, son of Nun, was an attendant and helper to Moses during the Israelites’ 40-year trek through the Sinai wilderness. He was appointed by God to lead the Israelites after the death of Moses.
References:
Picture By Sébastien Bourdon – www.oceansbridge.com, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=10586813 Main Bible ReferencesExodus 1:1-14, 1:15-2:10, 2:11-25, 3:1-4:31, 5:1-10:29, 11-12, 13:1-16, 13:17-15:21, 15:22-18:27, 19:1-20:21, 20:22-32:35, 24:9-18; 32:1-35, 33:1-34:35Numbers 13:30; 14:22-24
After the death of Solomon, the kingdom was split into two. Jeroboam controlled the northern kingdom of Israel which included 10 tribes. The rest was ruled by Solomon’s son Rehoboam. He reigned over the tribes of Judah, Benjamin, and Levi (who served in the Lord’s temple in Jerusalem). This event is recorded on the Biblical Timeline Chart from 1004 BC to 579 BC.
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The kings of Israel and Judah were at war with each other during the first 60 years of the divided kingdoms. This went on until the time of Baasha of Israel and Asa of Judah (1 Kings 15:32). The wars only stopped when Jehoshaphat of Judah entered into an alliance with Ahab of Israel in taking back Ramoth-Gilead from the ruler of Aram.
Location of Judah
This was unsuccessful as Ahab was killed in battle and Jehoshaphat returned to Judah. The southern kingdom also experienced prosperity during the time of Jehoshaphat, as well as victories in the war against Moab and Ammon. While the trading ships he built in an alliance with Ahaziah of Israel were destroyed even before the ships could set sail.
Joram of Judah, Jehoshaphat’s son, formed an alliance with Israel by marrying Athaliah, a daughter of Ahab. She succeeded in killing the remaining family members of her own son Ahaziah after he was killed by Jehu in Israel. Athaliah was killed after Joash, son of Ahaziah and her own grandson, was proclaimed as king. He was followed by his son Amaziah and grandson Uzziah who was one of the longest reigning kings of Judah (52 years).
One of the most well-known kings of Judah was Hezekiah who reopened and rededicated the temple of the Lord, and made religious reforms. King Sennacherib of Assyria laid siege to Judah during Hezekiah’s time, but was unsuccessful.
Manasseh, the longest-ruling monarch of Judah, was also known for killing innocent people (2 Kings 21:16). He was also a captive in Babylon at one time (2 Chronicles 33:11).
Josiah, one of the youngest rulers of Judah, became king at the age of eight. He laid out religious reforms and the Passover was celebrated again during his reign (2 Chronicles 35). He tried to block Necho II of Egypt from going to Carchemish to fight against Babylon. He died during the Battle of Megiddo after he was hit by an arrow from the Egyptian side.
The last king of Judah was Zedekiah and he rebelled against the Babylonians who were powerful at that time. The Babylonians put down this rebellion and Zedekiah was taken as captive to Babylon after his eyes were gouged out.
King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon had Jerusalem destroyed after taking King Zedekiah captive and nothing was spared including the temple of the Lord, royal palace, and other important buildings (2 Kings 25:9). The people of Judah, except those who needed to tend the fields and vineyards, were sent to Babylon in exile.
The time of the divided kingdoms of Israel and Judah spanned 390 years (combined). Outlasting the northern Kingdom of Israel by some 150 years. Israel was first a unified nation during the time of David but split up into two kingdoms after Solomon’s death. The 10 northern tribes formed their own kingdom led by Jeroboam, and the Kingdom of Judah and Benjamin stayed under the leadership of the House of David. The Time of the Kings is recorded on the Bible Timeline between 974 BC – 604 BC.
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“Depiction of Jewish king and soldiers in ancient Judah”
The longest reigning king of the Kingdom of Israel was Jeroboam II, who ruled for 41 years. The shortest was Zimri, who ruled only 7 days. In the Kingdom of Judah, King Manasseh ruled the longest with 55 years. Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin ruled the shortest with 3 months both. Athaliah was the only woman who reigned the southern kingdom. She got her power by killing all of the members of the royal family, except for Joash, who was hidden by his aunt.
The Kingdom of Israel was not without its problems. Several kings of the North were murdered by their successors and dynasties often passed from one family to another. However, the House of David continued to rule in the southern kingdom until the destruction of Jerusalem.
His eyes were put out and he became a captive in Babylon
End of the Kingdom of Judah and the Fall of Jerusalem to the Babylonians.
References:
Picture By THE HISTORY OF COSTUME By Braun & Schneider – http://www.siue.edu/COSTUMES/history.html, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2449755
Chavin refers to an extinct culture that flourished in pre-Inca Peru circa 900 BC where it is listed on the Bible Timeline Chart with World History. It got its name from chavi, the Caribbean term for feline or tiger or the Quechua chawpin which means “in the center.” It may have also been a religious cult or political empire of which the center is Chavin de Huantar in what is today the Ancash region in Peru. At its height, the Chavin culture’s influence radiated from its center in the Cordillera Blanca mountain range to the northern and southern tips of modern day Peru facing the Pacific Ocean.
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One of the most distinct aspects of Chavin culture is the shared common art style throughout the region, and its influence can be found in sites far from the Chavin De Huantar religious center. These include the Kuntur Wasi in the northern mountain range of Peru, as well as the Kotosh and Huaricoto sites in the southeast.
“Model of the archaeological site of Chavín de Huántar.”
The Kotosh Period culture rose before the Chavin culture, but ceramics and gold artifacts belonging to the Chavin culture have been found in Kotosh elite burials. Chavinoid artifacts found in the Kotosh sites include stirrup spouts, cloud-shaped designs, rocker stampings, and black-polished incised pottery. Similar designs on reliefs and monoliths were also found in Kuntur Wasi site.
The Huaca de los Reyes building of the Caballo Muerto archeological complex features feline heads mounted on walls that are similar to Chavin art style. The Chavin culture influence is also evident in the Pacopampa culture pottery.
Inter-regional Trade
Its location between the Pacific Coast and the eastern jungle made Chavin de Huantar a center for trade. This is evident in the iconography of jungle plants and animals that can be found in Chavin stone sculptures and ceramics. In addition, the U-shaped layout of the temple and the sunken plazas in circular or rectangular shapes can be found in both Chavin and coastal cultures.
Profile feline heads, which were prominent features of coastal cultures, were integrated into Chavin stoneworks. Spondylus shells from Ecuador, as well as cinnabar and obsidian from south-central highlands of Peru that were recovered at Chavin de Huantar are strong indicators that far-reaching trade occurred at the site.
Warfare and Conquest
The Casma/Sechin culture that came before the Chavin was a particularly violent one and they carved depictions of ax-wielding warriors with mutilated human remains on their city walls. In contrast, depictions of conquest and warfare are absent in Chavin de Huantar. This may be an indication that the Chavins did not spread their influence through invasion, but through trade and religion.
The Olmec people lived in the south central part of Mexico, the states of Vera Cruz and Tabasco. The Olmec heartland is considered to be where the land is fertile and surrounded by rivers. They were known to the Aztec people (in their Nahuatl language) as the ‘rubber people’ because they harvested rubber from rubber trees and used it in their ceremonial ball games. The Olmecs flourished in 1400 B.C. and disappeared around 400 B.C. Their uniting of Mesoamerica is recorded on the Biblical Timeline with World History between 829-804 BC.
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The Olmec culture is considered as the mother culture or sister culture of Mesoamerican civilizations including the Maya and the Aztec. They are known for their legacies which include the writing system in the form of glyphs (similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics), realistic stone carvings, and a pyramid at La Venta. The colossal heads discovered in the Olmec heartland of Veracruz and Tabasco are spectacular pieces of art that rise up to 10 feet and weigh as much as 20 tons. The heads feature helmets, wide noses, thick lips, square jaws, and wide faces.
“Olmec Head No.1, 1200-900 BCE”
The Olmecs were also master craftsmen. They carved jade face masks with almost the same features as the colossal heads, although the purpose of these masks is still unknown. Other stone statues discovered by archeologists include a life-like wrestler figure, identical statues of twins facing a Jaguar recovered at El Azuzul, giant carved stone altar thrones, chubby baby statuettes, and carvings of were-jaguar sacrifices. Their design of their plazas and their ceremonial ball games were retained later on by the Maya and the Aztec peoples.
The Olmec civilization gradually disappeared around 400 B.C. for reasons still unknown.
Absalom was the third son of David and Maacah, the daughter of King Talmai of Geshur (2 Samuel 3:3). He can be found on the Bible Timeline Chart around 1029 BC. Absalom had a sister named Tamar whose rape by their brother Amnon played a crucial role in Absalom’s rebellion.
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Absalom was one of the sons born to David in Hebron and described as a handsome man who had no rival in Israel when it comes to physical beauty (2 Samuel 14:25). Over the course of time, Absalom had three sons and one daughter also named Tamar. He was known to be a charming man who insinuated his way into the hearts of the people of Israel to gain power (2 Samuel 15:1-6).
The Rape of Absalom’s Sister Tamar and His Escape to Geshur (2 Samuel 13)
The Bible does not gloss over the mistakes and weaknesses of many of its central characters, especially the House of David. It is ironic that the meaning of Absalom’s name was “Father of Peace” when his violent deeds resulted in a struggle for the kingdom with his father David that ultimately led to Absalom’s death. The narrative started in 2 Samuel 13 when Amnon schemed with his cousin Jonadab to bring Tamar, his half-sister, and Absalom’s sister, into his quarters by pretending to be sick and have her cook for him because he lusted after her.
King David unwittingly agreed when Amnon made the request and sent his daughter to Amnon’s quarters to prepare the food. She was then raped and cast out by her half-brother. The news reached her brother Absalom and her father, David. While they both were angry with Amnon, the incident was hushed up. Absalom simmered in his anger for Amnon while David refrained from meting out justice because of his love for his oldest son. Absalom had Amnon murdered afterward. Absalom then fled to his grandfather King Talmai in Geshur for three years.
“David fleeing from Jerusalem”
Reinstatement and Rebellion (2 Samuel 14 and 17)
David longed to see his son Absalom in spite of his crime. Absalom returned to Jerusalem after a successful scheme by Joab involving a woman from Tekoa. She told the story of her two sons who killed each other. After his reinstatement, Absalom conspired to overthrow David and declared himself king over Israel in Hebron. David had to leave Jerusalem after most of the people sided with Absalom. Meanwhile, David sent his adviser Hushai back to serve and spy on his son. To add insult to injury, Absalom also slept with his father’s wives as advised by Ahithophel, David’s former counselor.
Ahithophel also promised Absalom to kill David himself so a civil war could be averted, but Hushai fooled Absalom and counseled against a direct assassination. Hushai suggested that they gather an army and go to an open war with David and his men. The news of the attack reached David, and they were able to escape. He assembled his men to prepare for a battle against his son but instructed his commanders and the soldiers not to harm Absalom.
Death (2 Samuel 18)
During the battle, Absalom got his hair caught in the branches of a tree. He was killed by Joab and was deeply mourned by David when news of his son’s death reached him. Absalom was buried in Ephraim’s Forest where Joab’s men threw his body into a deep pit and put piles of rock over it (2 Samuel 18:17).
