Go back in Genesis 48 and 49; that’s where you’re going to find the origins of “thy people.” Let’s go to the word “Jewish” first. That word was not used until the kingdom was divided after Solomon’s death. No one has a precise date, but the division of the kingdom occurred somewhere in the 920′s. Before then, the word “Jewish” was not used to describe the people. After the death of king Solomon, the kingdom splits into two parts: one to the north and one to the south. Rehoboam becomes the king of the house of Judah in the south; Jeroboam becomes the king of the house of Israel in the north. The northern kingdom was composed of 10 tribes. The southern kingdom encompassed the tribe of Judah, Benjamin and the Levites. And the citizens of that southern kingdom were known as the Yahudahe or Jahudahe, which became the words Judah and Jewish. That is the first time this name for the people came into use.
Pastor Melissa Scott tells us that and we make a mistake thinking that all Hebrews are Jewish. Throughout history, the Jewish people want to claim Abraham. If you read our Christian Bible, we also claim Abraham. And if you read the Muslim Koran, they claim Abraham, too. You must trace back where this all begins. You go back to the book of Genesis where God called a man out of Ur whose name is Abram. Read Genesis 48 and 49 and follow the flow of the birthright and the promises given through Abraham to Isaac, not Ishmael; Isaac was the child of promise, not the child of other things. Then it was passed on to Jacob, not Esau. Jacob, when he came out of his mother’s womb, was described as what he would become: a conniver and heel-catcher. Amongst other things, he lies to his brother, cheats his brother, lies to his dad, and cheats his uncle. Then came the time when he wrestled with the angel and he became broken, clinging and reduced to nothing, and God changed his name from Jacob to Israel.
You watch that whole progression of the promises being woven and handed down over time, and this is where people get into trouble: they come to the end of the road and they’ll say, “Well, the promises couldn’t have all been fulfilled. Because the promise says that the people would be as numerous as the sand of the sea and the stars of heaven. And if the promise was to the Jewish people, we know that didn’t happen. And the promise says that there would be simultaneous kings ruling kingdoms, and that didn’t happen, either. Initially, there was a small fulfillment of the promise, but it didn’t happen on a large scale. The promise also said that they would possess the gates of their enemies. But the Jewish people have been probably the most persecuted people throughout the Bible and throughout time.