As I was lying in bed the other night, about to go to sleep, the last thought that went through my mind that I remember was what was the first reference in the Bible of a Jew, the Jewish nation or Judaism.
When I awoke the next morning, I opened up my laptop and searched online, looking for the answer to my question that I had asked the night before.
2 Kings 16:6 ‘…At that time Rezin king of Syria recovered Elath to Syria, and drave the Jews from Elath: and the Syrians came to Elath, and dwelt there unto this day…’ AKJV
So, the next question that arose was asking: around what year did the above event happen.
In 2 Kings 16:6, the King of Aram, Rezin, recaptured the city of Elath from Judah. This event is understood to have occurred during the reign of Ahaz, King of Judah.
Biblical scholars and historians use various methods to estimate the dates of events described in the Bible, including comparing with Assyrian records and other ancient Near Eastern texts.
According to Edwin R. Thiele’s chronology, Ahaz reigned from approximately 732 to 716 BCE. Other scholars suggest slightly different dates, such as William F. Albright who dates Ahaz’s reign to 744–728 BCE.
Based on these chronologies, the recapture of Elath by Rezin, as recorded in 2 Kings 16:6, is estimated to have occurred sometime during the reign of King Ahaz, likely in the 8th century BCE. More specifically, some sources relate this event to the period of the Syro-Ephraimite War, which occurred in the mid-730s BCE. [1]
With the use of the Word of God (the book of TRUTH), and by using my go-to for most of my daily questions (google.com), I answered the question that I was asking myself the night earlier as I was in bed, lying down, about to go to sleep.
Here is a more detailed description of what I had found on google.com, when I asked my original question, that morning about where was the first occurrence the word Jew, was referenced in the Bible.
The first instance of the word Jew or Jew’s in the Bible is found in 2 Kings 16:6, in the context of the Israelites’ conflict with the Arameans, where it is recorded that the Arameans drove the Jews from Eilat, according to the King James Bible Dictionary. The term Jew in this context refers to the inhabitants of the southern kingdom of Judah, which became the Kingdom of Judah after the division of the Israelite kingdom. The term Jew is later used more broadly to refer to the descendants of Jacob/Israel. [2]
I use a timeline for showing the history of this earth for nothing other than helping to see this worlds, past history.
God created this earth and began with Adam and Eve in 4004 BC.
Jesus died on the cross in 33 AD.
Halfway between these two (2) dates, Abram appeared in the Bible, Genesis 12:1, year 2000 BC.
The Old Testament (OT) is an amazing read … for anyone. But be wise, nothing that was written in the OT was written for us today in the 21st century, or are we to follow any of the earlier writings.
The OT is a history of the Jewish nation, and it shows their continuous failure to obey God.
Maybe one of the more important verses found in the entire Bible, is found in 2Timothy.
2Timothy 2:15 ‘…Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth…’ NKJV
We are told to be wise and RIGHTLY DIVIDE the Word of truth, which is the Word of God, our Holy Bibles.
God gave us His Word so we could FOLLOW in His footsteps.
OPEN your Bible and read the words that God wants for us to HEAR.
From what is written in the Word, God shows us He had plans to ONLY save His Chosen people, but after the many years in the Jewish nations failure to follow God’s demands and with their choice to crucify Jesus Christ, and their final act of stoning to death Stephen (Acts 7), God made a change in Biblical history.
The crucified, resurrected and ascended Jesus Christ, left heaven to confront Saul of Tarsus on his way to Damascus to capture more Jewish believers.
Acts 9:3 ‘…And as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven…’ AKJV
That ‘LIGHT’ talked about in verse 3, is Jesus Christ confronting Saul.
This next verse is Jesus speaking to Ananias, telling him that Saul of Tarsus was CHOSEN by Him.
Acts 9:15 ‘…But the Lord said unto him, Go thy way: for he is a chosen vessel unto me, to bear my name before the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel…’ AKJV
God knew His Chosen people were going to fail Him from when the earth was created. God knew that He was going to offer His GIFT of Salvation to ALL mankind.
But these were all kept secret by God until the time was right.
Before we go to far, we need to look at another important verse for us in Acts.
Acts 13:9 ‘…But [a]Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit and led by Him, looked steadily at Elymas…’ AMP (Amplified Bible)
FOOTNOTES
[a] Saul was the apostle Paul’s Jewish (Hebrew) name. As his ministry to Gentiles began he became known by his Roman (Latin) name, Paul.
I used the Amplified version in the above verse because of the FOOTNOTES that has been added regarding Paul.
God told His plans of change to the apostle Paul through His MYSTERY.
Ephesians 3
vs3 ‘…how that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words…’
vs4 ‘…whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ)…’
vs5 ‘…which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit…’
vs6 ‘…that the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel…’
vs7 ‘…whereof I was made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God given unto me by the effectual working of his power…’ AKJV
We know from reading His Word, that there was a change made by God that ALL of us, especially us today in the 21st century, need to pay attention to.
God CHOSE Paul to teach ALL of us the words that He wants us to know, all of us, the entire world …
‘…the Gentiles, and kings, and the children of Israel…’
There is no one left, the above part of the verse include ALL of mankind.
Paul wrote thirteen letters, from Romans to Philemon.
These are the writings we are to focus on. These are the writings that God has given us so we could be saved.
I would like to offer each one of you an invitation to join me in my weekly lessons to help us find and understand what God wants from us today.
Lately I have been writing on Monday’s and Friday’s also, as well as my weekly lesson on Wednesday’s.
Join me and let’s learn what God wants from us.
I love ALL of y’all.
I am InHIM. ><)))o>
I am known on Facebook as:
whosoeverinhim
whosoeverinhim Bible study
I also post my lessons on:
whosoeverinhim.blogspot.com
medium.com/@Whosoeverinhim
www.tumblr.com/whosoeversblog
inhim.webador.com
free-4140862.webador.com
whosoeverinhim.weebly.com
lrabbe2024.wixsite.com/my-site-2
lrabbe2024.wixsite.com/whosoeverinhim
inhim6.wordpress.com lrabbe.wordpress.com