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Book Review - Genesis 📚

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Edited by Gill Burrell, Sunday, 22 Oct 2023, 12:10

Book review - The Bible "Genesis 12:1-7 is the beginning of Abraham's story.
From Abraham-  to recent times.

What we are witnessing today with the war between the Jews and the Palestinians, can be traced a long way back !  through to Biblical times and Abraham.

Abraham had two sons named Ishmael and Isaac. Ishmael was born from the women Hagar and Isaac from the women Sarah.

Sarah had been barren for many years and was unable to conceive a child for Abraham, so being impatient, she persuaded her husband to sleep with Hagar her servant girl,  in order for them to have a child that they could bring up as their own child,  so that is how Ishmael was born.

Between Sarah and Hagar some rivalry broke out so she begged Abraham to drive Hagar out into the desert.

He did so but God soon saw Hagars distress and sent the angel Gabriel to protect her and help her.  God spoke to her through the angel, he said not to be afraid and that  he would also make Ishmael a great nation too one day with many descendants.

In the meantime God had finally allowed Sarah to bear Abraham a child, a son who they named Isaac.
Isaac was of Jewish descent (from Sarah) and Ishmael was Arabic descent (from Hagar) They became 2 seperate nations of peoples.

This then was how it all began, and from then thats when the sibling rivalry started between these two brothers(or tribes)

It was also about land and establishing a state of Israel for Jewish people and for Palestinian people.

In more recent times after World War 2 for example, the land
since 1948 has been divided into Israel, the West Bank, and the Gaza Strip.

The land of Israel is also the birth place of  the three great world religions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. It has been ruled over by many kingdoms and powers throighout history,including Ancient Egypt, Ancient Israel and Judah, the Persian Empire, Alexander the Great and his successors, the Hasmoneans, the Roman Empire, several Muslim caliphates, and the crusaders. 

"The area was ruled over by the Ottoman Empire, then the British Empire.
Going back even further the land was annexed and the area in 63 BCE. Roman Judea was troubled by large-scale Jewish revolts, which Rome answered by destroying Jerusalem and the Second Jewish Temple."
*
"In the 4th century, Palestine became a center of Christianity, attracting pilgrims, monks and scholars. Following the Muslim conquest of the Levant in 636–641, several Muslim ruling dynasties succeeded each other as they wrestled control of Palestine."


"In more recent history, relations between Israel and Palestinians have been marked by many conflicts, especially with the Islamist group Hamas, which also rejects the PA. In 2007, Hamas won control of Gaza from the PA, now limited to the West Bank.
In November 2012, the State of Palestine (the name used by the PA) became a non-member observer state in the UN."


These clashes of ideology has remained critical ever since and pose very difficult theological issues and unsurmountable debate. Pray for peace for all tne people of Israel and Palestine.🙏

References-
The Bible(Old Testament Genesis)
*Wikipedia*

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