The Jewish people have a long history spanning about 4,000 years, when Abraham, the first man to recognize the monotheistic nature of God, left his home in Haran and traveled to the land of Canaan according to the command of God. The first book of the Bible describes the life of Abraham and his descendants. One of the most dramatic and difficult to understand of Abraham’s trials is the incident known as the binding of Isaac, Abraham’s beloved son. In this monumental moment of faith, pain and endurance, Abraham is commanded by God to sacrifice his son whom he waited for until his birth when Abraham was already 99 years old. Abraham was about to commit this horrifying act when suddenly and angel of God appeared to Abraham and commanded him not to kill his son. Instead Abraham was told to raise his eyes and see the ram which was trapped in the thorn bushes, and sacrifice the ram instead of his son.
Later, in the second book of the Bible, known as Exodus in English, the sons of Israel, the descendants of Jacob, who was Isaac’s son, are enslaved in the land of Egypt under the cruel dictator, Pharaoh. Under the leadership of Moses, and at God’s command, the sons of Israel (they are not called Jews at this point in Jewish history) are freed from the tyranny of Pharaoh in Egypt through the miraculous but violent 10 plagues. The sons of Israel are forced to leave at a moment’s notice, and must take their bread with them before there was a chance to let it rise. Because of this historical event Jews today eat the flat cracker bread known as matzo when they celebrate the holiday of Passover, the holiday which remembers the exodus from Egypt.
After many trials and tribulations, the sons of Israel, who are now Jews because they have been given the Torah, must wander in the desert for 40 years as a punishment for believing the bad report of the spies who were sent to get information about the land. Finally, after the generation that left Egypt had been entirely wiped out, except for Joshua and Caleb who did not side with the spies, the Jews finally enter the land of Canaan, and must fight many battles to conquer the land which had been promised to Abraham by God so many years before. This ends the first five books of the Bible, and the beginning of the section of the Bible called Prophets begins. Joshua is the first of the Prophets, and his book describes the initial battles which took place when the Jews first entered the land.
