Why I am teaching a course in the Theological History of Modern Israel?

Perhaps my interest in Israel began as a child in Sunday School with stories about the heroes from the Bible. The chronology of those events were clarified somewhat when I read through the Bible at 13 years old. As a public high school student, I used opportunities to reveal scripture through such things as a dramatic reading from Lamentations or designing a map project which taught history related to Israel. Shortly after high school, I was able to make my first visit to Israel where I helped out at a Christian school the first month, toured Israel the second month, and worked on a farm the third month.

I was so inspired that I decided to become a history teacher (rather than a banana farmer). I acquired my masters degree and spent couple decades teaching history in various public and private institutions, always keeping an eye on Israel. In 2007, my wife and I decided to spend a school year in Israel and home school our three teenagers. It has been nice to take our time at the historical places (non-historical are non-existent) rather than being herded through as part of a tour group. For example, in the hours we spent on Masada we made a music video and saw a Bar Mitzvah ceremony.

The Dead Sea was also a great place for my family to hang out in.

Since moving to Israel, I have encountered not only more eschatological viewpoints than I had previously known, but also more positions on the theological function of today's Jews and the State of Israel. These range from some Orthodox Jews who don't believe the state of Israel should exist, to Christian Zionists who don't think the state of Israel controls enough territory. There are also Gentile Christians who think only Jews should keep the Torah Laws and Jewish believers in Yeshua (they don't call themselves Christians) who would like Gentile Christians to follow Old Testament practices - some more, some less. It is an interesting mix of religion and politics to say the least. Israel doesn't recognize Jewish immigrants for Israeli citizenship if they are messianic believers in Yeshua. Then there are the Temple issues, divided Jerusalem, atheistic Jews, and Palestinian Arab Christians who favor replacement theology, but a few Arabs see Israel as God's chosen.

Two historical events that have been particularly confounding to me was the dramatic Jewish expulsion of Jews from Spain in 1492, and the Nazi Holocaust. I lived in Spain for two years and I have visited Germany numerous times to ponder these events in museums and memorials.

Given the limited amount of time to cover 4000 years of history, we will focus on the historical events of the most recent 2000 years in light of how the Bible reveals God's dealing with Israel. This course expounds on some fairly heavy theology that reveals God's love, patience, justice, and sovereignty throughout a history of his severe mercies. How exciting!

Come enjoy the adventure!
course syllabus