Israel & the Jewish People: a brief history

Around 1250 BC, the descendents of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (now referred to as the Jewish people) entered the land that is now referred to as Israel. They had been miraculously delivered from Egyptian slave labor by their God and through His instrument Moses. 40 years later, Moses' successor Joshua led them out of the desert into "the promised land". The Jewish people conquered the peoples living there and took possession of the land. Here they lived for roughly 700 years.

In 587 BC, the Babylonian army under King Nebuchadnezzar overtook the Jewish armies, killing most and banishing the rest. The exiles lived in Babylon for roughly 50 years until the Persian king Cyrus (the conqueror over the Babylonians) gave permission for the Jewish people to resettle in the land of Israel.

The Jewish people once again occuppied the land of Israel for a considerable amount of time until 70 AD. At this time, the Roman armies marched into Jerusalem, conquering the Jewish occupants. Then, in 132AD, the Jewish people revolted against their Roman rulers, were soundly defeated, and were banished from the land of Israel indefinitely.

This banishment, with the exception of a small number of Jewish occupants in the last 150 years, lasted unbelievably until 1948AD! That's 1816 years!!!