The history of the Jewish people also proves that the Bible is the Word of God. The Jewish people are a special people. They are the chosen people of God. Their forefather is Abraham, chosen and called by God to be the head of the chosen race. Nearly all of the Old Testament is their history (Gen. 12:1—Malachi).
Abraham’s grandchild, Israel, with his descendants, seventy in all, went down to Egypt in search of food and eventually grew into a nation. They were enslaved and persecuted in Egypt for hundreds of years. God sent Moses to deliver them from the tyranny of Pharaoh and to bring them out of Egypt. After escaping Pharaoh’s army by crossing the Red Sea, they wandered in the wilderness for forty years. Finally, under the leading of Joshua and the assistance of Caleb, they entered into the good land that God had promised Abraham. They divided up the land into portions for each tribe and family. Every one had a portion of the good land as their inheritance from God (Gen. 46:1—Joshua).
Not long after the children of Israel settled in the good land, they began to turn away from God. God allowed their enemies to attack them. They cried to God to save them, and He gave them a judge who delivered them from their enemies. This cycle continued for several hundred years (Judges).
God raised up Samuel to be His prophet, and Samuel anointed David the king. David conquered all their enemies and brought peace to the people of God. In addition, David secured the site and collected the wealth and material needed to build the house of God. Solomon, his son, built the house of God in Jerusalem. That was the height of the experience of the children of Israel—they had God dwelling among them; they had peace and prosperity in the good land that God had promised Abraham (1 Sam. 3—2 Chron. 9:28).
Degradation began after the temple was built. First, the children of Israel left God and worshipped idols. Second, they set up two other worshipping centers, Dan and Bethel, outside of God’s chosen place for worship, Jerusalem. These two actions were very evil in God’s eyes and offended Him, causing Him to temporarily give the people up (1 Kings 11:5—13:34).
The Lord prophesied in Jeremiah 24:9-10, “I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach, and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.” The army of Babylon came up against them and killed many, destroyed the temple and the city, and carried many of the remaining ones away to Babylon. The army even took away the vessels from the temple and placed them in their own idol-filled temple (Jer. 6—27).
After seventy years in captivity, as prophesied by Jeremiah (Jer. 29:10-14), the Lord stirred up Cyrus the king of Persia to allow the people to go back to rebuild the temple and the city of Jerusalem. The children of Israel returned and, after much struggle, finished the work (2 Chron. 36:23—Ezra 6; Neh. 2:9—7).
After a few hundred years, the Lord came to His people, fulfilling the prophecies in the Old Testament. He was born of a virgin (Matt. 1:23), lived a perfect, genuine human life (2 Cor. 5:21), was rejected by His own people (John 1:11), then was delivered up to the chief priest and the scribes and was put to death on the cross (Matt. 20:18-19), and was resurrected on the third day according to the Scripture (1 Cor. 15:4; Matt.—John).