UNRWA
Created in December 1949, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East is a relief and human development agency which supports more than 5 million registered …Wikipedia
Read More »43. The building of the ‘Second Holy Temple’
Though the Persian Emperor Cyrus II had permitted the Jews to return to the land of Judah, not all returned as neither was the journey back home going to be easy nor was the life after settling down, void of hardship. Also, it was only after battling tough conditions with perseverance and diligence to settle […]
Read More »42. The Destruction of the ‘Holy Temple’ : the return of the exiled Israelites to Judah
Having been made to bite the dust at the hands of the Babylonians, the ‘kingdom of Judah’ had now on, to lend itself to their sway. But that was in no way, the end of their misfortune…….. ……..which dealt a worse blow this time? The Babylonians did not stop at plundering ‘the Holy Temple’ unlike […]
Read More »40. The Ten Lost Tribes of Israel
Two hundred years of political instability had thrown the ‘Kingdom of Israel’ into complete disarray. The Israelite kingdom in the north saw as many as nineteen kings during a period of just two hundred years. A few of these kings were cruel while a few were weak and had succeeded to the throne based merely […]
Read More »39. The Division of the Kingdom of Israel
Rehoboam, who succeeded Solomon to the throne of Israel, was a very strict authoritarian ruler. Immediately on taking over the reins of the kingdom, he not only doubled the existing taxes but also imposed a few new ones on the people. In addition, he also enforced some new stringent laws. In fact, there was no […]
Read More »38. Solomon succeeds David as the king of Israel; construction of the ‘Holy Temple’ – the highest religious place of the Jews
After the Israelites captured Jerusalem, David ceremoniously moved the ‘Tabernacle’ and the ‘Ark of the Covenant’ to the city. Though David was not permitted to undertake the construction of the ‘Holy Temple’, he gradually set about collecting material viz. gold, silver, copper, precious items, rocks and stones of various types that would be required to […]
Read More »37. David, the new King of Israel; David’s capital – Jerusalem
After finding refuge in the town of Ziklag in the region of Gath, David took to war with the enemies of the Israelites including the Amalekites. In no time, David gained Achish’s confidence. But very soon the kings of all the Philistine provinces came together and attacked the Israelites once again. The massive Philistine aggression […]
Read More »36. David’s Exile
David thus killed the humongous, gigantic and well-armed Goliath with simple weapons like a sling and a few stones and more importantly, this he accomplished without letting his faith in God dwindle. But David did not have a sword to fulfill the oath of beheading Goliath and carrying his head back home that he had […]
Read More »35. David and Goliath
With God’s blessings though Saul had routed out the Philistines from the land of Canaan, they were certainly not going to sit back and resign to their defeat. They were searching for an opportunity to pick a fight with the Israelites and were also gathering forces for the purpose. Once they were done with assembling […]
Read More »34. The search for Israel’s new King
Saul had heard and also accepted Samuel’s prophecy with a composed mind and had decided to continue performing his duties faithfully till his ultimate day at office. Accordingly, Saul had now turned his focus at the Amalekite, Moabite, Edomite and other enemy tribes which had not only occupied the Canaanite territory but were also perpetually […]
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