History – 2 Samuel 20-24

We finally come to the end of the 2nd book of Samuel. In these few chapters, it mainly describes the insurgency and battles David fought and the heroes in David’s kingdom; the mighty men of war.

Bible Passage: 2 Samuel 20-24

We know that Israel is a country that has seen many wars. Much blood was spilled on this narrow strip of land that is so small. The land of Israel had changed hands many times over when Israel was a nation. After their exile, it changed hands many times again. It was only in 1948, that the nation of Israel who was in exile for thousands of years was brought back to the land promised by God. And we know it is a miracle from God.

Israel is in ‘blue’ colour.

Compared to Australia…

Compared to Vietnam

Current times in Israel, the security has been tight because of frequent clashes with the Palestinians.

Tight airport security and control over the Palestine territory. Many people get confused on this Palestinians. Are they Muslims? The answer is not all of them are Muslims. Palestinians, just like Singaporeans are the name of the people who stay in Palestine.

Where is Palestine? It is the land of Israel. Before Israel’s independence, Palestine was the name of the place and the people there are called Palestinians. There are Jews who were staying in Palestine then, and there are Christians too. So Palestinians do not equate to Muslims and neither is it a religion. It is a nationality. The name Palestine came about from the Romans who then hated the Jews…so they called the Jewish land as Palestine which actually means Philistine… you know it is a mockery to call their land the name of Philistine their enemy.

Current Israel is at conflict with these people because they have been pushed to areas called the ‘West Bank’ and Gaza Strip. This happened when Israel got their independence and a war occurred immediately between the Muslim nations and the Israel.

During the war, the Palestinians had to evacuate the land and now today they are living as refugees. There are constant fighting between the people of Palestine and Israel. Just like in the past, David’s time there was constant fighting with the Philistines and internal uprising in his kingdom. The people there were angry that their land was taken over by Israel and that they were driven out from what they feel is their land.

I took some pictures showing the border between Israel and West Bank. West Bank actually is the spot where what used to be Samaria (the Northern kingdom of Israel during the kings period). West Bank means the west of the Jordan River and it is an area where the Palestine refugees are. The people there do not have passports and are not allowed to travel.

Picture showing the border between West Bank and Israel

Looking at the centre portion there is a road and some ‘dust’ tracks. The road is a patrol road for the Israel army vehicles. The dust lane is actually for detection of intruders who managed to climb or break through the fence. Expert trackers (soldiers who can follow tracks… if you watch Lost, you know some characters in the drama who are trackers) will track these intruders when they see footsteps on these sand path.

Bullet holes at Zion Gate of Jerusalem

I took this picture of the Zion Gate before entering the Old City at Jerusalem. On the walls there are many holes which are from bullets. During the Six Day war, Israel managed to capture the remaining part of Jerusalem (Jerusalem was split in half during the War of Independence, 1948). The bullet holes are the reminder of the battle to recapture this very important religious location.

Statue of King David in Jerusalem

I took a picture of this statue at a Synagogue. Supposedly David was buried nearby and there is a coffin in the Synagogue.

Ok.. now instead of showing more current war places, I will show some other Ancient places in Israel that battles took place.

Roman Amphitheatre at Caesarea

This Amphitheatre is from the Romans during Jesus time. Men used to kill men as show to the Romans in this place. Seen Gladiator the movie before? You will get the picture..

Caesarea was also an important port in the past. Paul was sent to Caesarea before going to Rome.

Crusader fortress and Mot at Caesarea

We know that one period of time there were the Crusaders. These were Christian soldiers (literal ones… ) who were from Europe. They came to the Holy Land to conquer it and remove the Muslims and Jews. This is one of the fortresses that are found at Caesarea. See the large Mot.

High Fortress Wall at Acre

Acre was an important port and during the time of Napoleon, he attempted to capture this port but got defeated by the defenders in this city.

View of Palace structure at Masada Fortress

Masada Fortress was built on a very steep Plateau hill. During the time of Jesus, it was built by King Herod to be his ‘holiday’ home. It is actually a palace. Seen in the picture is a balcony of this palace that protrudes out of this Plateau hill.

Actually, going there I do not find it a holiday as it was so hot! During the time when the Romans wanted to crush the Jewish rebellion, the zealots went up to Masada to make their last stand against the might of the Roman empire. Amazingly, I could see many Roman encampments around Masada.

Look at the sqauare looking structure at the top left of the picture. That used to be a Roman camp. Masada was very difficult to take over because it was very high up and steep. The Roman engineers built a very long ramp made of sand and finally managed to reach the gates of this fortress. From there they defeated and killed all the Jews defenders. According to history the Jews also committed suicide.

Ok that is the end of this Picture Blog.

Hopefully these pictures will give a better understanding of the battles that taken place in Israel. We know from the Bible that there will be more wars in the future and that the great battle of Armageddon will take place in Israel.

The last big war will involve Israel. The Jewish people I talked to hope that there will be peace. Jerusalem, the city David made his capital has the meaning of Peace, but we see through history and till modern times there have been many battles and much blood shed in Jerusalem.

Will there be real peace?