LET'S GO BACK ~2000 YEARS
What did Jesus call the area some say is "occupied" by Jews?
ACTS 1:8—But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
In this scripture verse scene, Jesus was addressing His disciples, the core group of followers present after His resurrection, commissioning them to be His witnesses.
That core group of Jesus's disciples, the Apostles, were all Jewish, as was Jesus himself; they worshipped in synagogues, observed Jewish feasts. They were essentially a Jewish sect who called themselves "followers of the Way."
Prior to Jesus,
Jesus walked in a land occupied by Jews.
Eretz Israel, the Land of Jacob (Israel) has always been occupied by "Tribes." In addition to the Tribes of Israel, "the land" was occupied by the following tribes:
- Canaanites
- Amorites
- Hittites
- Jebusites
- Perizzites
- Hivites
- Girgashites
- Rephaim
- Anakim
- Philistines
- Kenites
- Kenizzites
- Kadmonites
- Amalekites
- Midianites
- Moabites
- Edomites
- Arameans
Notice there was no tribe called "Palestinians."
Genesis 12.1—Now the Lord said to Abram, “Go from your country and your kindred and your father's house to the land that I will show you.
Remember, Abraham lived in the land God showed him before the Nation of Israel returned some 400 years later. So did his son Isaac, "his only son" (Gen. 22 2), Isaac never left the land. Isaac's son Jacob also lived in the land before his mother told him to get away. Jacob sent Joseph to check on his brothers who were grazing their sheep around the Valley of Hebron. Hebron is in the Judaean Mountains approximately 19 miles from Jerusalem.
The Emergence of Isreal
Before the Land of Israel there was Canaan and the Canaanites. Canaan is the Son of Ham, Grandson of Noah, who appears after the Flood. His descendants populate the land later called Canaan. This is explicitly stated in Genesis 10, the “Table of Nations.” (These were NOT descendants of Cain from the bible story of Cain and Able.) They were descendants of Ham which includes the Egyptians. In the bible, Canaan is cursed:
“Cursed be Canaan; a servant of servants shall he be to his brothers.” (Genesis 9:25)
The Universal Pattern
For 95% of human history the entire earth was occupied by tribes at one time or another. There are still places such as in the Amazon that are "occupied by tribes." But that doesn't make the Amazon a nation!
Nations forming from tribes follows a universal historical pattern:
Chiefdoms →
City-states →
Kingdoms / Empires →
Nation-states
Every civilization passed through tribal stages including Europe, China, and the Middle East.
On a relevant tangent, I am looking forward to starting a book today that was released in April 2025. It is called "Israel and Civilization—The fate Jewish Nation and the Destiny of the West" by the brilliant Josh Hammer, who was a close friend and personal advisor to Charlie Kirk.
What Makes Israel Unique Among All Nations in the World
The ONLY difference between Israel and ALL the other nations and tribes is that the Lands of Israel were promised to Jacob's children by God in the bible.
Israel is is the ONLY nation given it's name by God!
The nation of Israel is the only nation born as a result of sacrafice commanded by God—The command to sacrifice the Passover Lamb.
Israel is the only nation of people who were lead out of another nation, Egypt, by the almighty outstretched arm and hand of God and shown the way to the land by God’s gloriful Light, his Shekhinah.
Contrasting Israel with America
As a point of reference, the Land of America was "occupied" by Native American tribes until 1492—and in fact beyond—European colonization, but the point at which they lost political control and territorial sovereignty differs by region.
By contrast, the term “America” comes from the name of a European explorer, and it entered use in the early 16th century. The term "America" came into use after it originated from the name Amerigo Vespucci (1454–1512). He was an Italian navigator sailing for Spain and Portugal who explored the coasts of South America.
First Use of the Name “America” was in 1507, whrn a German cartographer named Martin Waldseemüller published a world map with a the new continent “America” on it. That was the feminine Latin form of Americus = Amerigo.
CONCLUSION
Should every nation be divided up and given back to the tribes that once occupied it? Good luck with that!
Very few modern countries have maintained the identities of their original tribal peoples intact, because most nations evolved through conquest, assimilation, migration, or state-building. However, there are some notable exceptions where tribal identities remain strong, socially and politically, even if the nation itself has modern borders. Israel and America are two examples. Israel is still bringing home it's tribes! Israel is arguably the clearest historical example where a tribal identity survived millennia.
As for the Hittites, Jebusites, Perizzites, Hivites, Girgashites, Rephaim, Anakim, etc., forget about those nations. There is a greater chance of the Kingdom of Babylon reemerging. (Pun intended.)Israel is held to a double standard. It is the only nation that isn't allowed to follow the same universal pattern as every other nation. By the same token, it is the only nation whose pattern of establishment is of God.
Epilogue:
People often see the Hebrew letter lamed (ל) in the outline of Israel, but that perception is symbolic and subjective.
The letter lamed is a tall vertical stroke with a curved or angled top, like a shepherd's staff. Lamed is the only Hebrew letter that rises above the line.
The silhouette of Israel does not objectively or intentionally resemble the Hebrew letter lamed, but some people perceive a symbolic similarity and use it devotionally or poetically — not historically or geographically. It is similar to how Italy, a nation famous for footwear looks like a boot.
It also must be a coincidence that Lamed is the 12th letter in the Hebrew Alphabet. 😉
