The highlands of the Ancash region used to be the center of Chavin civilization. Its influence spread out from central Peru to the northern and southern coast. Their development of Lama Jerky, potatoes, quinoa, and maize is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History around 300 BC.
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Ancient Peru was a land of stark contrast and divided into three different regions: the coast, the highlands, and the eastern rainforests. The coastal and the western highland regions were affected by the Humboldt current which kept these areas foggy, but dry; while the eastern rainforests received the highest rainfall than any other regions in Peru.
“The Chavin people ate deer and llama, as well as guinea pigs for religious ceremonies.”
The Chavin lived in a dry mountainous region. They were able to adapt to their harsh environment over the years. The Chavin carved the mountainous areas where they lived into terraces and turned these lands into farms. These terraces also protected the soil from erosion.
The Chavin people survived on hunting and herding, but the main source of their food was agriculture. Their main sources of carbohydrates were from maize and potatoes while quinoa was cultivated for protein and dietary fiber. These hardy crops survived the harsh highland climate, so the Chavin people grew them for many years. Archeologists also found that the Chavin people ate deer and llama, as well as guinea pigs for religious ceremonies.
References:
Spivey, Diane M. The Peppers, Cracklings, and Knots of Wool Cookbook: The Global Migration of African Cuisine. New York: State University of New York Press, 1999
Salomon, Frank, and Stuart B. Schwartz. The Cambridge History of the Native Peoples of the Americas. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1999
The Mochica or Moche was a pre-Inca and pre-Hispanic civilization which flourished in the northern coast of Peru in 100-800 AD. The Mochica culture in North Peru is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History between 400 BC – 600 AD. They belonged to the Central Andean tradition which included Peru, Ecuador, Bolivia, as well as some parts of Argentina and Chile. This tradition started in 4000 BC and ended with the Spanish conquest of South America. Its influence spread from the Huarmey Valley to the Piura Valley with Mochica Valley at its center. The Cerro Blanco Complex in the Mochica Valley was one of the most important sites for this culture.
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The Peruvian coastal area where the Mochica people lived was affected by the Humboldt current which produces a foggy but dry weather. They were, however, able to carve irrigation canals to channel the water from the Andes. Because of this irrigation system, the Mochica people were able to cultivate corn, squash, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and beans. They also sailed the Pacific Ocean for fish and sea mammals for food.
The area where they lived was prone to earthquakes, droughts, and flooding. One of the greatest weather phenomena that affected the Mochica people was the El Niño, and they experienced it often with sometimes disastrous effects on their food and water supplies. The warm sea water brought by the El Niño killed off phytoplankton, a common food source for fish, birds, and sea mammals. Because of this, they needed to go somewhere colder to look for food. The fish the Mochica caught were also fewer than usual. The El Niño phenomenon also brought abnormally frequent floods which destroyed crops and houses, but it could also be a great event for farmers who needed water for their lands.
The coastal areas of Peru had the earliest Peruvian ceremonial sites built in this area. The Cupisnique and Chavin cultures were influential to the Mochica culture, especially in their pottery. The Mochica people lived alongside the Nazca and Recuay peoples. They were succeeded by the Wari and Chimu cultures.
Ceramics
One of the first people to study Mochica sites was German archeologist Max Uhle, who explored Cerro Blanco in the late 19th century, as well as made excavations in Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna. However, the person who made the greatest contribution in introducing the Mochica culture to the world was Rafael Larco Hoyle. Even though it was his father, Rafael Larco Herrera, who first acquired hundreds of Pre-Columbian ceramics, it was his son who created a museum that would safeguard the huge collection. He discovered and acquired thousands of different Peruvian culture ceramics including the Cupisnique, Lambayeque, Salinar, and others. His enduring legacy was his discovery of artifacts related to the Mochica culture. The collection can be seen in Larco Museum in Lima, Peru.
The finest Pre-Columbian ceramics with complicated patterns and colorful drawings of people, animals, mythological creatures, and gods can be found in the Larco collection. Important people such as priests and warriors were frequently drawn on these ceramics, often with realistic depictions. The shapes of the ceramics were sometimes simple (flared bowls, neck jars, dippers, cups), but other shapes were complicated (three-dimensional animals, stirrup bottles). Some ceramics were also shaped like Peruvian animals such as llamas, deer, foxes, felines, spiders, and reptiles. Mochica pottery was usually coated with red on cream or white but sometimes red on black.
“Aiapaec in a wall in the Huaca de la Luna.”
Mochica Religion
The people worshiped a mysterious fanged god called Ai Apaec or El Decapitador. They would sacrifice human victims to it. The images of Ai Apaec holding a severed human head were painted on murals in Huaca del Sol and Huaca de la Luna, and carved in Mochica metal arts found in houses and burials.
Priests and warriors were important people in Mochica religion. Both took part in the human sacrifice of their captives during times of war. These were often painted in ceramics and found in skeletal remains recovered from the area.
Mummies
One of the most famous mummies recovered from Peru was the Lord of Sipán in Huaca Rajada. He was buried with a copper scepter and elaborate headdress, as well as various ceramics and metal jewelry. With him were other individuals including warriors, young women, and animals. A child and a priest were also included to be with him in the afterlife.
Another important archeological find was the Lady of Huaca Cao Viejo, who was heavily tattooed and buried with many funeral goods, including gold sewing needles and weapons. The unusual number of weapons buried with her led to speculations that she was a ruler or someone who held a high position in the Mochica society.
Collapse
The droughts, migration of fish supply, and floods caused the decline of the Mochica civilization. The Chimu culture would later dominate the area left by the Mochica around 1200 to 1470 BC.
The name of the Zhou period was taken from the Spring and Autumn Annals or the Chunqiu, the chronicles of the state of Lu. This can be found on the Bible Timeline with World History between 722 – 481 BC.
The Spring and Autumn period started after the Western Zhou king was forced to flee to Luoyang following the invasion of the Quanrong tribe from northwest China. The move east was to ensure the royal family’s safety from future invasions and for them to be nearer to their allied states. Now called Eastern Zhou, this dynasty would last at least two and a half centuries more. However, its power and influence would be severely diminished as the years pass.
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From the Western Zhou capital Haojing, power shifted to the city of Luoyang located in the central plains between the Luo and Yellow Rivers. The territory spanned from the Yellow River in the west to the Shandong peninsula in the east, and as much as 148 states occupied this vast territory. 15 major states rose during the Spring and Autumn Period while the smaller states were absorbed by, the more powerful ones.
“If there was something positive about the Spring and Autumn, it is the rise of China’s famous scholars including Confucius”
There was a constant struggle for power between states as well as internal strife. The king held the title of the Son of Heaven and retained the Mandate of Heaven, but his influence was diminished and became nothing more than just a figurehead. The real power, however, was held by the hegemons (leaders of the state) who had the strongest army. They were tasked to protect the States from the invasion of barbarian tribes.
Five of them would rise to prominence during the time of the Eastern Zhou dynasty including the:
* Duke Huan of Qi
* King Zhuang of Chu
* Duke Wen of Jin
* Duke Xiang of Song
* Duke Mu of Qin
King Helü of Wu, King Fuchai of Wu, and King Goujian of Yue were also included as some of the most important kings of that period. Helu and Goujian were sometimes incorporated into the list of five hegemons.
The Spring and Autumn Period was a time of conflicts between state leaders and rulers. One of the most well known was between Duke Zhuang of Zheng and King Hui of Zhou. It exploded into a war between two powers and ended with the Duke killing King Hui after defeating his army. This illustrates the breakdown of the king’s power and the dynasty was unable to secure the loyalty of the states.
The series of wars between the states of Wu, Chu, and Yue was a symptom of a fragmented kingdom. The state of Wu attacked the states of Chu and Yue but was overpowered and conquered by Yue later on.
If there was something positive about the Spring and Autumn, it is the rise of China’s famous scholars including Confucius, Lao-tse, Mo-tse, and Sun Tzu. They left behind some of China’s enduring contribution to literature including The Four Books and Five Classics, Tao Te Ching, Mozi, and The Art of War.
Sardanapalus was the legendary king of Assyria who lived around 621 BC according to the Bible Timeline with World History. Greek historians Ctesias and Diodorus of Sicily recorded that he was the last king of Neo-Assyrian empire. The details assigned by the historians to the legendary Sardanapalus do not match the reign of Ashur-ubalit II (Assyria’s last king). Therefore, the depiction of this Assyrian king is most likely a product of imagination. The general agreement among modern historians is Sardanapalus was based on three Assyrian kings including Ashurbanipal (668-627 BC), his brother Shamash-shum-ukin (667-648 BC), and grandson Sin-shar-ishkun (622-612 BC). He is also referred to in the Bible as Osnappar (Ezra 4:10).
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Diodorus Siculus offers a controversial account of Sardanapalus in his book The Library of History. He is presented as a lazy hedonist who was preoccupied with parties and luxury. According to Diodorus, he was a vain man who made himself an epitaph before his death.
“The Dream of Sardanapalus”
Arbaces (a general of the Medes) and Belesys (priests of the Chaldeans) joined with the Arabs and Persians to rebel against Sardanapalus. They were defeated by the Assyrians in their first few battles, but they encouraged the Bactrians to rebel with them. They came back with the armies of Bactrians, Persians, Medes, Arabs, and Chaldeans to attack the Assyrian army camp while they were feasting after a victory. Galaemnes, Sardanapalus’ brother-in-law, and commander-in-chief was sent to destroy the enemies, but he was killed in battle.
They pressed on to Nineveh to besiege it but were unsuccessful for the first two years. In the third year of the siege, the Euphrates flooded, and the weakened walls of Nineveh were destroyed. After accepting his defeat, he built a pyre inside his palace and set himself on fire along with his eunuchs and concubines.
Ashurbanipal
The true Ashurbanipal was the son of King Esarhaddon and one of the greatest of the Neo-Assyrian kings. His name means “the god Ashur is the creator of an heir.” He reigned the vast empire from 668-627 BC. Ashurbanipal was well-prepared for the life of a king. He was tutored by Nabu-shar-usur, a general of the Assyrian army, then taught history and literature by Nabu-ahi-eriba.
Esarhaddon had appointed him as administrator of Nineveh while he was away on military campaigns. Ashurbanipal’s responsibilities included the appointment of new governors and the supervision of building projects. He was not in line to inherit his father’s throne, so he busied himself with learning the ancient Mesopotamian languages and literature. Much of what is known today about the Assyrian king is through the correspondence he had with his father Esarhaddon and his advisers.
Esarhaddon died in Haran en route to Egypt in 669 BC to stop another rebellion. As his original heir died in 672 BC, Esarhaddon negotiated a treaty with tribal chiefs years before that in the event of his death both Ashurbanipal and his half-brother would rule an assigned territory. Ashurbanipal received the kingship of Assyria while his half-brother Shamash-shum-ukin ruled over Babylon. Naqi’a-Zakutu, Ashurbanipal’s powerful grandmother, also played a large part in her grandson’s rise to kingship.
Ashurbanipal started his reign in 668 BC and wasted no time in stopping the rebellion in Egypt. He invaded Memphis, destroyed Thebes, and appointed rulers loyal only to him. The rebellion in Tyre was also put down during his reign and unrest caused by King Te-Umman of Elam cruelly crushed. An alabaster relief excavated from his North Palace shows Ashurbanipal and his queen feasting in a garden while the head of Te-Umann hung from a tree is proof of his victory.
Shamash-shum-ukin may have been a puppet king for Babylonia. In his discontent, he joined the rulers of Elam, Judah, Egypt, Lydia, and Phoenicia in a rebellion against his half-brother. This was also aided by the Arab and Chaldean tribes. Ashurbanipal did not immediately crush his brother but gave him a chance to prove his loyalty by asking him to pay a special tax. Shamash-shum-ukin refused, and the Assyrian king besieged Babylon for four years.
Shamash-shum-ukin’s Arab and Chaldean allies abandoned him after famine and starvation struck the land. His Elamite allies left him after civil war broke out in their own kingdom and then ran out of provisions. He committed suicide by burning his own palace after he was defeated. Which may have been the basis for Ctesias’ and Diodorus’ fictional Sardanapalus. Upon his death, Ashurbanipal appointed Kandalu as viceroy of Babylon, but he may have been Ashurbanipal himself. He now had the time to deal with the rebellious Elamite rulers, and crushed them completely in 645 BC.
He died in 627 BC and succeeded by his son Ashur-etel-ilani. Civil war broke out afterward, and the decline of the Neo-Assyrian empire started.
Legacy
Ashurbanipal is known as one of the most scholarly of the Neo-Assyrian kings. The great library of Nineveh is a testament to his scholarly pursuits. Starting in the1850s, archeologists unearthed over 30,000 cuneiform clay tablets in his palace in Koyunjik (Nineveh). These clay tablets were inscribed with medical, legal, literary, and divinatory texts. Letters and administrative records were also found in Ashurbanipal’s great library.
The library was cataloged in a systematic way and resembles the system of modern libraries with clay tablets divided by subject. A copy of the Epic of Gilgamesh and an incomplete list of Assyrian kings were found in Ashurbanipal’s library.
One of the most distinct aspects of native North American culture is the presence of mounds. Most of these earthworks were constructed by Native Americans of the Mississippian culture and have been around for over 5000 years. The Burial mounds are listed on the Bible Timeline with World History around 500 BC. These mounds are scattered around Illinois, Mississippi, Ohio, and Tennessee River Valleys; the oldest of which is the Watson Brake near the Ouachita River in Louisiana.
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These mounds were constructed to be used as simple platforms, landmarks, and bases of temples or houses. Others were used as bases for mortuary temples while others were constructed exclusively for burial. Some were shaped to resemble rings, domes, cones, ovals, and larger complex geometric forms.
The mounds in the Cahokia, Kincaid, and Dickson archeological sites in Illinois are some of the well-known burial mounds in North America. The Cahokia and Kincaid Mounds are located in the southern part of the state while the Dickson Mounds are found in central Illinois near Lewistown.
Cahokia Mounds
“One of the most distinct aspects of native North American culture is the presence of mounds.”
The Cahokia site was named after the Native American tribe that settled in the area much later than the original settlers and builders of the mounds. One of the most important finds in the area is Mound 72, a burial mound located in Collinsville, Illinois. It is south of the Monks Mound and rises to 2,789 feet. Up to 250 skeletons were found in the burial pits after excavations made between 1967 and 1971 by the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee crew.
This carefully planned mound revealed the “beaded burial” of an important member of the Cahokian community. It contained an adult male buried on top of a platform of marine shell beads and other individuals buried with grave goods. The male may have been the city’s ruler and buried with him were slaves who were to serve him in the afterlife.
Later burials within the area of Mound 72 included a quartet of skeletons with missing heads and hands. A rectangular pit that served as the burial ground for 53 females whose age ranged between 15 to 30 years old was also excavated.
Another burial pit was discovered along the southern part of the mound, and this contained the skeletons of 39 individuals who met a violent end. They were a mix of males and females, and their gruesome deaths were evident with their decapitated or fractured skulls and broken jawbones.
Kincaid Mounds
The Kincaid Mounds located near the Ohio River straddles the Illinois-Kentucky border and feature a burial mound excavated by the University of Chicago in 1936. The Pope County Mound 2 is located at the east end of the Kincaid Mound where two separate-leveled burials were found in a single mound. The upper-level burials have stone-lined crypts while the lower level burials were lined with logs.
Dickson Mounds
The Dickson Mounds were named after the chiropractor Don Dickson, who owned the family farm where the mounds were discovered. The excavation began in 1927, and they unearthed up to 3000 burials, including four decapitated individuals who were sacrificed at the site. The excavated skeletons were on display in the museum during the 1930s but are now sealed from public view at the request of the Native American people.
Shishak (Shoshenq I) of Egypt was one of the few foreign kings named in the Bible and was known for his raid in Jerusalem during the time of Rehoboam. He can be found on the Bible Timeline around 979 BC. 2 Chronicles 12 offers a detailed account of Shishak’s raid on Jerusalem, which happened in the fifth year of Rehoboam’s reign. Shishak took with him thousands of chariots, horses, and soldiers to strike the fortified towns of Judah. These towns fell under the onslaught of Shishak’s troops, and they continued to Jerusalem for another wave of attacks. Shishak then invaded Jerusalem and looted the treasures of the Lord’s Temple. He also stole the treasures of Solomon’s royal palace including the gold shields, which were replaced by Rehoboam with bronze shields.
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The Libyans who lived on the coast of Marmarica and Cyrenaica first appeared during the rule of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Akhenaten. They were included as military escorts of the king. High ranking Libyans also accompanied Egyptian nobility to temple ceremonies. Evidence of this can be seen on various stone reliefs in the Tomb of Ahmose and Meryra at Amarna.
The Meshwesh and Libu tribes raided Egyptians territories and clashes with the Egyptian troops were common at the time of the 19th and 20th Dynasties. Libyan immigrants also settled in the nome of Bubastis in the Nile Delta during periods of famine, but some of them were children of early Libyan garrison troops who grew up in Egypt. As centuries passed, the population of the immigrants increased and they successfully integrated into the Egyptian society. Their chieftains also gained enough wealth and power to marry into Egyptian noble families.
Shoshenq I was one of the first Meshwesh chieftains who rose to power, and he became the second Pharaoh of Libyan origin after his uncle Osorkon, the Elder. Marriage with some of the members of the royal family also played an important role in easing Shoshenq’s rise to power. He arranged the marriage between his son Osorkon I and Maatkare, the daughter of Psusennes II who was the last Egyptian pharaoh of the 21st Dynasty.
Rule of Egypt
The 21st Dynasty was marked by a division of power between the pharaohs ruling from Tanis in Lower Egypt and the High Priests of Amun based in Thebes in Upper Egypt. Shoshenq unified political authority under his rule and ensured that the high priests would not hold as much power as the pharaoh held. Priests were consulted for oracles, but they did not influence political decisions and foreign policies.
He appointed his own son, Prince Iuput, as a High Priest of Thebes to strengthen his own rule and reduce the power of other priests. Iuput was also the commander-in-chief of the army and governor of Upper Egypt. The loyalty of family members and supporters was rewarded with their appointment to administrative posts, as well as marriages to royal daughters.
Shoshenq had planned on building a great court in the temple of Amun at Karnak, but this remained unfinished at the time of his death. Shoshenq’s military victories were inscribed at the Bubastite Portal, which is the entrance to the Precinct of Amun-Re temple complex.
Invasion of Palestine and Death
Egypt’s influence over Palestine decreased during the division of political power of the 21st Dynasty. Shoshenq reestablished Egypt’s power over Palestine by launching a series of raids into a number of towns, including Shunem, Gibeon, Megiddo, Beth Horon, and Ajalon among others.
Shoshenq reestablished trade with Phoenicia during the time of King Abibaal of Byblos. A statue of Shoshenq I that had an inscription of Abibaal, was found in a temple in Byblos. It symbolized the goodwill between two kingdoms during their reign.
Shoshenq died shortly after his invasion of Palestine, and he was succeeded by his son Osorkon I as pharaoh.
References: http://penn.museum/documents/publications/expedition/PDFs/29-3/Egyptians.pdf
Shaw, Ian, and John Taylor. The Oxford History of Ancient Egypt. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000
Ash, Paul S. David, Solomon and Egypt: A Reassessment. Sheffield, England: Sheffield Academic Press, 1999. Accessed March 18, 2016 CC BY-SA 1.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=58987
According to the Bible, the father of the Arabs was Ishmael, Abraham’s son by his wife’s Egyptian maidservant Hagar. The Arab Nation is recorded on the Bible Timeline with World History starting around 1004 BC. Ishmael and his mother were sent away at the request of Sarah after she caught the young Ishmael mocking his brother Isaac. Ishmael’s sons included Nebaioth, Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedema . Ishmael and his family settled in the area of “Havilah to Shur”. Havilah’s possible location is the Hijaz Mountains on the coast of the Red Sea, and Shur is on the northeastern border of Egypt.
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The 12 sons of Ishmael multiplied and formed their own tribes. Kedar, one of his sons, is said to be an ancestor of the prophet Muhammed. They were the famous Kedarites (Qedarites) mentioned in the stele of the Neo-Assyrian king Tiglath-Pileser III as one of the Arab nations/tribes that paid him tribute. Queen Zabibe, ruler of the Kedarites, was one of Tiglath-Pileser’s vassals during his reign. Queen Zabibe was succeeded by another queen, Samsi, who rebelled against Tiglath-Pileser. She was defeated by the Assyrian king and forced to pay tribute as a result of her rebellion.
“According to the Bible, the father of the Arabs was Ishmael”
The inscription of Tiglath-Pileser mentions the tribes who were descendants of the sons of Ishmael, such as Massa’, Tema’, and Adbeel tribes. The nomadic Sabaeans, as well as the tribe of Ephah (a son of Keturah), were also included. The inscription of Sargon II of Assyria mentions the conquest of Thamud people, who lived in central Arabia.
The Arab tribes were under the Assyrian rule until the empire’s decline. Sennacherib and Ashurbanipal were two of the last Assyrian kings who fought against the Arabs during the height of the Neo-Assyrian empire. Other tribes who lived in the Arabian peninsula during that time include the Dedanites (son of Jokshan), Minaeans, Gerrhans, and possibly Hadhramis (Hazarmaveth, son of Joktan; Genesis 10:26).
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
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
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
