I find it
fascinating that when Israel – by that I mean the northern kingdom whose
capital was Samaria - was destroyed the people were not killed off. Instead they were
resettled in what we would today call Syria...AND...Iran. I have written about
this in reference to Syria, but I wanted to save this bit for its own post. Many
of the Israelites were resettled in Iran.
That's right,
modern Iranians are in part descended from Israel. 2 Kings 17:6 notes, "In
the ninth year of Hoshea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, and he carried
the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah, and on the Habor, the
river of Gozan, and in the cities of the Medes." As I have noted
previously, many of the people we today called Syrian, or Arabic, would actually
be descended from ancient Israelites. To some degree this is true of Persians
as well.
It should be
noted that these Samaritan Israelites would need to be distinguished between
later migrations of Jews, people from Judah, into Persia during the Babylonian
exile. There are historical links to modern Persian Jews and this ancient exile,
as you would know the kingdom of Babylon was conquered by the Persians, and
many Jews remained in Persia, as is noted in the book of Ruth and other sources.
These Jews have formed very isolated groups in the region.[1] So, I am not talking about
these people. I am talking about the exiles from the northern kingdom who were
much more pagan in their beliefs and much more prone to integration.
The Medes
were closely related to the Persians. Iranians are mostly descended from Medes
and Persians. It is a bit like the Anglos and Saxons who conquered Britain,
closely related tribes that became one people. They are also one of the most
successful civilisations in history. "The Medes were an Iron Age Iranian
people who spoke the Median language and who inhabited an area known as Media
between western and northern Iran."[2] This means, in part, the
conflict between Modern Israel and Iran can trace its lineage back to the
conflict between Samaria and Jerusalem. There are descendants of both peoples
on both sides.
This also highlights
how those claiming the land is exclusively theirs have no biblical ground to
stand on. Judah has no right to Manasseh's land,
"23
The members of the half-tribe of Manasseh lived in the land. They were very
numerous from Bashan to Baal-hermon, Senir, and Mount Hermon...26 So the God of
Israel stirred up the spirit of Pul king of Assyria, the spirit of
Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, and he took them into exile, namely, the
Reubenites, the Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh, and brought them to
Halah, Habor, Hara, and the river Gozan, to this day" (1 Chron. 5:23,26).
It is generally
accepted that the book of 1 Chronicles was written after the Babylonian exile,
likely by Ezra. So, our author is noting that it is still known that these
Israelites are living among the Syrian and Persian peoples in his day, “to this
day.” These people did not disappear, they became part of the nations around
them, just as God prophesied would happen in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28.
This is why
we read prophecies like this one,
“7 Then the
remnant of Jacob shall be
in the midst of many peoples
like dew from the Lord,
like showers on the grass,
which delay not for a man
nor wait for the children of man.
8 And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations,
in the midst of many peoples,
like a lion among the beasts of the forest,
like a young lion among the flocks of sheep,
which, when it goes through, treads down
and tears in pieces, and there is none to deliver.
9 Your hand shall be lifted up over your adversaries,
and all your enemies shall be cut off” (Micah 5:7-9).
Jacob is
often used as a reference for the whole nation, but also for the northern kingdom.
They are like mist, mixed in with many peoples, but they are not gone.
The exile
ends, when both sides find Christ and enter into the kingdom of God.
List of
References
No comments:
Post a Comment