Given the current events of Israel and the Middle East and the polarizing effects of the struggle between good and evil, it is good to remind ourselves that the true enemy is Satan (a real being and not a people group) whose one goal is to destroy all that is good in our world. We must remember that sin exists, evil is real and what we are currently witnessing before our very eyes are the result of mankind’s rebellion against a Holy God. This rebellion against God will have an end because Jesus Christ provided a way of escape (by His death on the cross and His resurrection from death) for those who believe and trust in Him by faith. When He returns (as He promised He would) all things will be brought under submission to Him and He will destroy all that is evil. While we await the return of Jesus Christ our Messiah mankind will at times suffer the worst of atrocities because evil is real, and it can blind even the best intended people. We must understand that evil is the enemy of good and that God is good, and Satan is evil.

The current war that Israel is facing are the result of this evil and those who are bent on their destruction. It is possible that this war will expand beyond the borders of modern-day Israel and may well lead to a far more serious set of worldwide events that will lead to what the Bible refers to as Armageddon! That is a lesson for another day.

This study is designed to help us understand the history of Israel both from a Biblical perspective but also a historical perspective. Many (if not all) of these current conflicts can be traced back as far as Abraham and his offspring, the period of the Kings of Israel, and the times of occupation by the empires of Babylon, Persia, Greece, and Rome. Then came the Crusades, the dominance of the Ottoman Empire and the mismanagement of the Middle East ever since WWI and beyond. It is a wonder that mankind has not destroyed itself fighting these senseless battles when the answer is submission to God by simple faith in Jesus Christ. One day mankind will submit as Paul tells us in his writings to the Philippians; “For this reason also, God highly exalted Him, and bestowed on Him the name which is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father” (Philippians 2:9-11)