PREFACE
We are here because…choose your own reason. I believe there is a power, presence, province – a god – that has created the universe and that we, humans on planet earth, are merely an infinitesimally small part thereof and we are here for only an equally tiny span of time.
The opinions and observations tendered in this treatise are based on my reading of the Bible’s Old Testament, The Torah, and as a 6th generation American Jew.
Chuck Klein, 2026
PEOPLE OF THE BIBLE
* Abram is the first Hebrew – first mentioned in Genesis. Also noted in Deuteronomy, and is renamed Abraham by G_d. Abram is the son of Terah; his siblings are: Nahor and Haran. All went to live in the land of Canaan.
* Haran is father of Lot. Lot goes to live in Sodom with his wife who is turned into a pillar of salt when she looks back at Sodom and Gomorrah – after an angel told them to leave and not look back.
* Abraham is married to Sarah (renamed by G_d from Sarai). Sarah is barren so she bade him to lay with her handmaid, an Egyptian named Hagar, who bore Abraham a son a, Ishmael (forefather of Muhammad). Abraham was 86 years old.
* G_d makes a covenant with Abraham when he is 90. The Covenant is that “Every male of your seed shall be circumcised on the 8th day of birth and I [G_d] shall be your G_d.” In return Abraham, and his seed, will get all the land of Canaan (modern-day Israel).
* At the insistence of Sarah, Abraham casts handmaid Hagar and her son, Ishmael, out. Sarah then bores Abraham a son, Isaac. Born when Abraham is 99 years old. Sarah dies. Abraham takes another wife, Keturah (they have six children).
* G_d commands Abraham to take his son, Isaac, and make a burnt offering. When no lamb is found, Abraham prepares to offer his son, but is stopped by the Lord who is impressed that Abraham is G_d-fearing.
* Abraham has a servant take Isaac to the city of Nahor to find a wife for him. He sees Rebekah, daughter of Milcah, wife of Nahor (sister of Abraham). Rebekah has a brother, Laban.
* Isaac and Rebekah have twin boys, Esau (the hunter), the first born, and Jacob. The Lord told her that the twins are two nations, separate people and the first born shall serve the younger.
* Isaac sends Jacob to Canaan for a wife. He arrives at the house of Laban, Rebekah’s brother. He falls in love with Rachel, but because she was younger than her sister, Leah. Laban says Jacob must labor 7 years before he can marry Rachel. At the end of 7 years, Laban gives him Leah. The son of Jacob and Leah, Levi, is the forefather of Moses. Laban also says if he labors 7 more years, he will then give him Rachel. He marries both, in addition to marrying handmaidens Bilhan and Zilpah.
* G_d renames Jacob: ISRAEL. Israel, as in “Hear O Israel” is not the nation or country of Israel, per se, but the seed of Jacob, i.e., all descendants (seed) of Jacob – all Jews.
* Joseph, son of Rachel/Jacob, is sold by his brothers to Egypt. G_d comes to him and gives him the power to interpret dreams. He is called to interpret Pharos’s (King of Egypt) dreams. He tells of 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine. He is put in charge of hording food for the coming famine. When it comes, he is able to not only save Egypt, but his family and those in Canaan (Jews). Joseph ignored the opportunity for revenge against the people who had forsaken him by including them in the distribution of the horded food. Was this not the first example of turn-the-other-cheek moral, ethical and charitable Jewish behavior? Now, however, all the Jews are in Egypt and become enslaved by the Pharos. Joseph marries an Egyptian and has two sons. The 12 tribes of Israel are the 12 sons of Jacob.
* Jesus: Jacob’s son Judah – forty plus generations later (over 1000 years) – is the forefather of Joseph, husband of Mary. In a dream, Joseph is visited by an angel who tells him that the Holy Ghost has conceived, in Mary, a son whose name will be Jesus. Jesus grows into manhood; he labors as a carpenter until the age of 30 when he is baptized by John the Baptist. His followers, now called Christians, abandoned the covenant (circumcision) for baptism. The Romans controlled Palestine and, fearing the power of a Messiah, killed Jesus. Ironically, it wasn’t until about 300 years after the death of Jesus that the very people who had murdered him, the Romans, became followers and through their Crusades encouraged/forced a significantly larger following of Christianity.
However, those who refused to follow Him, Hebrews/Jews, were blamed for His crucifixion thus, beginning almost 2000 years of persecution against Hebrews/Jews. Officially this persecution waned after the Pope (Second Vatican Council, 1962–1965 CE) confirmed that it was the Romans and not the Jews who killed Jesus. All Christians and Jews are descended from Isaac and Jacob to Abraham. Jesus most significant impact was dividing His own people – those who followed Him became Christians while those adhering to the Covenant remained Hebrews/Jews.
Chuck Klein, Columnist: American Free News Network
https://chuckklein.com
Next Week: Part IV, Christians & Jews
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Yes, the Romans were the ones who actually crucified Jesus, but what about all the evidence showing that the Jewish leadership were the ones who convinced the Romans and the crowds to crucify Him? One example is Matthew 27:20, “But the chief priests and elders persuaded the multitudes that they should ask for Barabbas and destroy Jesus.” Matthew 27:25, ” And all the people answered and said, “His blood be on us and on our children.” Were “all the people” mentioned here Romans instead of Jews? Even John 1:11 says, “He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him.”
I have always been under the impression that the persecution of the Jews came straight from Satan. Revelation 12:13, “Now when the dragon saw that he had been cast to the earth, he persecuted the woman who gave birth to the male Child.”
Can you please elaborate on the last two paragraphs or point me in the right direction?
Thanks!