Timeline Chart of the History of Ancient Israel

Abram, whose name was later changed to Abraham, was called by God in the city of Ur of Chaldeed and promised the land of Canaan. Abraham would become the father of the Jewish nation and the chosen people of God. God told these words written in Genesis 12:1-3 Get out of your country, From your family. And from your father’s house, To a land that I will show you. 2 I will make you a great nation; I will bless you And make your name great;And you shall be a blessing. 3 I will bless those who bless you, And I will curse him who curses you; And in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.” Abraham would not listen to God completely, but instead brought with himself some of his family members including Lot his nephew, and Sarai his wife, and some others.

Joseph was the favorite son out of Jacob's children. He was known for his dedication to his family, and to God. When he was 17, he was sold by his brothers to Egypt, mainly for the cause of being favored by his father. While in Egypt, Joseph would become favored by the Potiphar and became an overseer of the Potiphar's house. The Potifar's wife wanted to sleep with Joseph but he stayed rightous and resisted enticements of Potiphar’s wife, and he would be thrown into prison for not sleeping with her, and she would say that he came to mock them and came to sleep with her. He was falsely accused and thrown into jail for it. Joseph would later be put into a very high position for interpreting the Pharaohs dream about the 7 cows that were sleek and fit, and the 7 that came out of the Nile later that were ugly and gaunt. This meant that there would be 7 great harvesting years, and that Pharaoh should save up crops during those years, and after that 7 years of famine and bad harvest. Because of this Egypt had become a powerful nation selling the grain that it had stored and not waited, and Joseph was innocent of his charges and given a new name Zaphenath-Paneah. While Egypt was sitting well, other countries such as Israel were not, and Joseph's brothers would take 3 400 mile trips to Egypt to trade for the grain. The brothers did not know that Zaphenath-Paneah was Joseph due to certain reasons. However, Joseph finally told them it was he when he broke down in tears. Joseph would forgive his brothers and later Pharaoh agreed that his family may move into the great and fertile lands of Goshen in Egypt. For the rest of Jacobs life he would live in happiness and ease.

The children of Israel had overstayed their welcome in the land of Goshen in Egypt, the land was prosperous and the land was filled with the children of Israel. The respect for Joseph and his family had faded away and the Israelites were seen as mightier than the Hyksos people. They made the decision to enslave the Israelites, and from fear of rebellion, all the male Israelite children were ordered to be killed. However, thanks to the midwives, the Hebrew nation thrived and the midwives saved the male children. Later a similar order was executed to throw the male children into the Nile river. However, a male child known as Moses was placed into a basket by his mother, and the basket with the child floated down the Nile river until he was found by the Pharaohs daughter. She kept the boy, and by the power of God, the mother of Moses would be hired to take care of her own child. Moses was being groomed into being the next Pharaoh, but instead aided his own people and killed an Egyptian master who was whipping a Hebrew slave. Moses would later flee Midian in fear of his life for committing murder. There he would marry Zipporah, Jethro's daughter, and tended sheep for employment. Later God would appear to Moses as a burning bush on Mount. Sinai and informed Moses that he was the man that would let the children of Israel out of slavery of Egypt. To do this he would show pharaoh three signs, and God knew that it would not convince Pharaoh. So because of this God would send 10 plagues down on the land of Egypt. Eventually at the tenth plague Pharaoh would be angry and let them go, but eventually change his mind and try to capture the Israelites back. But while crossing the parted Red sea, Pharaoh and his army would be swallowed up by the waters. The three signs God gave to show Pharaoh were: Moses’ staff turned into a snake, his hand became leprous, and the water turned into blood. The ten plagues were: Plague One: Water into blood, Plague Two: Frogs, Plague Three: Lice, Plague Four: Flies, Plague Five: Cattle disease, Plague Six: Boils, Plague Seven: Hail, Plague Eight: Locusts, Plague Nine: Darkness for three days, Plague Ten: Death of firstborn son. The Israilites were told to take the blood of the lamb and paint it outside of their door, if they did this the Ghost of Death would go past their house, thus coming with their holiday of the Passover, and freedom from bondage of Egypt. After they were freed they had some troubles obeying God, and the original Israilites that were alive during the time of bondage were not allowed to enter into Canaan because of their disobedience to God. One example being the building of the golden calf at the base of Mt. Sinai while Moses was receiving the 10 commandments from God. Also during this 40 years of wondering, they built a Tabernacle of which directions were given from God. And here they performed sacrifices to cover sins. They also followed a cloud in the dessert to see where to go. Once the cloud stopped they stopped with it also. After the 40 years were over it was time to enter into Canaan and take it back with the leadership of Joshua after Moses had passed.

The promised land had now been conquered and the land had been allotted to the tribes. This marked a new era of the Jewish nation and the promise given to Abraham was now starting to take shape. The Judges were selected one by one to give leadership to the nation of Israel and consisted of military and administrative leadership. The Judges were raised by divine order and at least four were enabled by the Holy Spirit, these included Othniel, Gideon, Jephthah, and Samson. Some of the other Judges included Ehud, Shamgar, Deborah (who was female), Tola, Jair, Ibzon, Elon, and Abdon. This gives a total of 12 Judges that are mentioned. The "minor" Judges that not much is mentioned about are Shamgar, Tola, Jair, Ibzan, Elon, and Abdon. Othniel was the first Judge to be raised up and he delivered people from oppression of the Cushan. They rested for 40 years after. The next "important" Judge was Deborah. Deborah was the first female Judge and had a problem with the natives who were left in the land after the conquer. Jabin who was the ruler of rebuilt Hazor caused grief for Israel for 20 years. Deborah would help defeat the Canaanite resistance. The next Judge was Gideon. Gideon was responsible for the defeat of the Midianite army. The next Judge was Jephthah. With enemies getting stronger, Israel began to sin more and more, because of this God caused oppression from the Philistines and the Ammonites. Jephthah would lead the Gileadites against Ammon, thus leading to victory. He was also involved in a civil war with the Ephraimites, because they had not been called to the battle, and the spoils of the battle. He would distinguish the men by having them say a secret word, "Shibboleth" meaning flowing stream. 42,000 men could not pronounce the word due to dialect differences and were portrayed as the enemy and killed. One of the most well known judge was Samson. He was given great strength which would be later revealed to be from his long hair. The Philistines would cut of his hair in hopes to make him a prison laborer in Gaza, however; when his hair grew back he dislodged two central supporting columns of the temple of Dagon and killed himself with a host of his life-long enemies, the Philistines. The last Judge of Israel was considered to be the greatest of the Judges. He was the one who anointed a new king that the people of Israel requested. His name was Samuel.

Saul was the first of the kings of Israel. He was anointed by the judge Samuel of whom God revealed that Saul would be the first king to. Saul's kingship would at first start with good judgement, but would later come down and he would show a rebellious heart towards God towards the end of his reign. The beginning to the end of his kingdom would come after he was impatient and did not wait for Samuel to offer the sacrifice, instead of being patient he offered it himself and went to battle. The second act of disobedience would come when God ordered to kill everything in the battle with the Amalekites, however Saul would keep some of his livestock for sacrifice, and so Saul had failed in God's eyes. He started well, but was disobedient to God.

Saul was now rejected as king and it was now time to find a new king for Israel. Samuel would go to Bethlehem and anoint the son of a man named Jesse. Samuel would go through all his kids and David would be the last one left to be anointed by God. He would become anointed king at the age of 15. David would be brought forward as a skilled harp player for Saul. With God's blessing David would be made the royal armor bearer, which means he displayed military ability. David was a man of many talents, he was a trusted shepherd, a skilled harpist, an outstanding poet, an expert with the sling shot, a man of courage and strength, a military genius, and, in general, a man of faith in God. The next and biggest step in the coming change of leadership was a needed victory over the Philistines and their chief warrior, Goliath. David is known as the man who would kill Goliath with one rock, a sling, and behead him while he was knocked out. David would offer his daughter to whomever would slay Goliath. Saul tried to kill David twice from jealousy of David. Saul promised David that he would give his wife in marriage and , trying to kill David, asked David to bring back 100 foreskins of philistines, instead David brought 200. David would realize that Saul was trying to kill him and would run away. David would have 2 opportunities to kill Saul, but ended up not killing him. While on the run David would gather up 400 men, and would marry a women named Abigail, who was kind to him even though her husband would not allow her to. Nabal, her husband, would die 10 days later and David would marry her. Saul would go into battler against the Philistines and the Israelite would lose badly. Saul would kill himself after being severely injured. After Saul's death David would not be able to rule all 12 tribes for 7 years. He would rule the southern tribes, Judah and Benjamin. David would be a great leader and eventually the northern tribes would accept him as king. David would also treat Saul's grandson with great respect. Mephibosheth would live in the palace and was treated good. Now it comes time for the fall of David's reign, which started with his lusting desire to marry Bathsheba, of whom he saw bathing on the roof. He would murder her husband by sending him to war in a place David knew he would die, and would marry Bathsheba. David's end of his reign would be a tragic one of death of his own flesh and blood. People wanted the monarchical form to continue which would mean through David's sons. Absalom, David's son, would try and overtake the throne. David would be forced to flee and left Jerusalem with 600 faithful men. David would beat his own son in battle, and wept bitterly over his death. In contrast to the rule of Saul, David’s reign was one of the unification and the development of the kingdom. He brought the tribes together, established an efficient government, organized the priesthood, and maintained an army which scarcely lost a battle. He inherited a divided, war-torn land and, when he died, he left an empire. He was arguably the strongest king Israel ever had, as evidenced by the Jews’ devotion to his memory even today

Solomon was crowned king while David was still alive. Solomon was the chosen child of David to become the next king, although all the conflicts with his other children. While David had been raised by tending to sheep and a not so luxurious lifestyle, Solomon was only raised up by the luxuries of the palace. David became a king of action, personally leading his armies into war. Solomon became a king of peace, content to stay at home and simply keep what his father had fought to win. Thus, David was a man of the people while Solomon was a man of the court. Solomon would also be the one to construct the Temple of God. After Davids death, Absalom and his "supporters" would try to overthrow him, however Solomon would put them to death. While dreaming, Solomon would receive an unusual token of God's favor. Solomon was invited to make a request for himself or his kingdom, and he humbly chose wisdom. God also promised riches and honor for him. He was the richest man to this day, and the wisest other than Jesus.Solomon’s rule can be summarized according to the following developments: Extensive forces: Solomon kept a large standing army, calling for enormous amounts of food and other provisions. A large family: His wives ultimately numbered seven hundred and his concubines three hundred (1 Kings 11:3). Heavy taxation: Solomon divided the country into twelve districts to facilitate the collection of these taxes.
Foreign tribute and trade: Many countries sent representatives with silver, gold, fine garments, valuable spices, and animals (1 Kings 10:24-25). Trade relationships extended farther and wider than ever before in the history of Israel. Splendid building projects: David wanted to build the temple, but he was forbidden by God. He passed along to Solomon written plans for the structure that had been revealed to him by God (1 Chronicles 28:11-19). Actual building began in the spring of Solomon’s fourth year (c. 966 BC; 1 Kings 6:1) and was completed seven years later in the fall (1 Kings 6:38), being twice the size of the tabernacle. The building was located on Mount Moriah (2 Chronicles 3:1), the likely spot of Abraham’s near-sacrifice of Isaac many years before (Genesis 22:2). Solomon’s personal palace must have been a magnificent structure as well, as it took 13 years to complete. Solomon would later bring disfavor of God upon himself. Solomon did not remain faithful to God, and married foreign women who had their hearts after other gods. And he would also have his heart go towards other gods. Before the end of his death, it seems that Solomon had realized what happened and turned his heart back towards God.

After Rehoboam had taken throne, the nations of Israel were starting to show signs of a split. Rehoboam was left with a handful after the reign of Solomon. Rehoboam went to the northern tribes to negotiate with them about what Solomon before them had recently established. They would accept him as king if Solomon’s heavy load of taxation and labor conscription should be reduced. Rehoboam would go to the young men who wanted to enjoy a continuing lavish court, counseled refusal, and Rehoboam listened. The ten tribes immediately seceded from Rehoboam’s kingdom and set about establishing their own kingdom, making Jeroboam their first king. The northern kingdom of Israel included the larger portion of Palestine proper, an area of 9,400 square miles. In addition to Shechem, Jeroboam established a capital at Peniel, east of the Jordan. The capital was moved from Shechem to neighboring Tirzah by King Baasha. Omri, the founder of the third Israelite dynasty, chose Samaria as the site of his permanent capital. It remained there until the kingdom was destroyed by the Assyrians in 722 BC.
b. The southern kingdom of Judah comprised the smaller portion of Palestine, an area of 3,400 square miles. This kingdom included the tribe of the same name, a portion of Benjamin, and Simeon which had been incorporated earlier into Judah. The Shephelah and the Coastal Plain were nominally a part of Judah, although they predictably seem to have been controlled by the Philistines during the existence of the southern kingdom. Kings of Davidic descent reigned over Judah until the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar in 587 BC.
The southern kingdom ran for a century and a half longer than north.

After the capture of Judah by king Nebuchadnezzar, the Southern kingdom was brought into captivity into Babylon for 70 years. The whole town of Jerusalem was destroyed and leveled. The captives were made eunuchs and were students in Babylon. This is where the story of Daniel takes place. Eventually Babylon would be captured by the Persians and were given some freedom. Eventually Ezra and Nehemiah would go back to rebuild Jerusalem and the temple. Watch this video of Daniel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cSC9uobtPM