subject: The Nation of Israel? [print this page] Author: Author: . Garzillo" href="http://www.articlesbase.com/authors/marc-j.-garzillo/285498.htm">Marc J. Garzillo
The name Israel is taken from the Bible and to understand it's meaning, the Bible would be the authority to get our information on the nation. The first place where the name Israel is mentioned is in the book of Genesis. Gen. 32:24, And Jacob was left alone; And he said to him, " What is thy name"? And he said "Jacob". Verse 28, And he said," thy name shall be called no more Jacob but Israel, for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed". The name Jacob means heel catcher and pertains to the physical seedbecause he succeeded over his brother Esau and his father in law Laban. The name Israel means " he will rule as God" and represents spiritual seed as a contender with God. Scripture gives us the formula for this in Isaiah 43:1, " but now thus saith the Lord that created thee, O Jacob and He that formed thee, O Israel. To follow Jacob's and sometimes Israel's life journey, we read in Gen.29 and 30 that Jacob had two wives and the two wives had two concubinesand all together theybore him 12 sons and one daughter. The sons would eventually become known as the 12 tribes of Israel. Each tribe named after each of his sons and each tribe grew into a multitude of people, thus becoming when joined together, "the twelve tribes of Israel". The nation would enjoy peace and prosperity as long as they kept God's law. The nation was united under King David and his son Solomon but the generations that would follow would have it's problems because of straying away from God's law's. Eventually the nation would split in two and become the House of Judah and the House of Israel.The fourth son named Judah born to Jacob years earlily would carry the name " House of Judah". This house of Judah was sometimes called by the name Jew. The larger tribes in number would be known as the "House of Israel". Both houses, because of disobedience to God's law were scattered and taken captive by their enemies. The House of Israel comprising of ten tribes then become known as the " Lost House of Israel". The ten tribes would be identified by the name Ephraim who was the second sonofJoseph born in Egypt and would have the promise of the birthright. What became of these people can be found in history. The other house, " House of Judah" was made up of the tribe of Judah and the tribe of Benjamin and had the promise of the Scepter. Both houses were seperated at this time. The first time when the nickname Jew was used was in 2nd Kings 16:6, when King Resin was allied with King Pekah of Israel, and drove the Jews from Elath. In the year 1948, the United Nations and by divine providence allowed the scattered people of the " House of Judah" to return to the Middle East and adopted the name Israel. Today, most people don't realize that they are not complete as an entire nation, certainly not as in the day's of King David. The people occupying the Middle East today are the desendents of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin and any others that might have mingled with them. Some say that Abraham was a Jew but he was not. He was a grandfather to Judah. And like Abraham, Issac and Jacob, the house of Judah and the house of Israel were given the promise of posterity and blessings if they would have God as their King. About the Author:
We produce Gospel music and have the honor of being in Marquis 24th edition of " Who's Who in The East". We have spread biblical understanding through the use of sermonetts as well as other articles. We are members of ASCAP and BMI music associations and have web sites located at Mggmusic.com, Ambassador music services.biz and Marcello Records.com.
