The history of the Hebrew people begins with one man named Abraham. God told Abraham He would create a nation of people through him and his descendants for a specific purpose. He told Abraham He would reveal Himself to mankind through them. The bottom line is that God did what He said He would do and that is the reason these people continue to exist to this day.
To have a feel for the miracle these people represent it might help to construct a comparative situation: Let’s say I get up one morning and decide to pack up my belongings and move to Mexico. Mexico is already occupied by Mexicans and I will be just one more new face in the population. What is the possibility of my starting a family there and my descendants becoming a distinct, cohesive nation of people over a long period of time? I think the odds against such an occurrence are astronomical.
Within twenty years, my family would be speaking Spanish and all my children would be married to Mexicans. Within fifty years, the fact that I had moved there from America would be a vague recollection among my great-grand-children. Within one-hundred years, my name and identity would no longer be a part of family discussions, and few would even suspect there was a time when they were not Mexicans. My descendants and heirs would become part of the Mexican culture and they would continue to be Mexicans until one or more of them decided to leave Mexico and go somewhere else.
In the history of the world, nations of people are established politically and geographically. When the politics and governments change, or the geographical homes of nations are altered, the identity of the people eventually takes on whatever the political and cultural order creates. There is one exception in history to this fact: The Hebrews. Their writings indicate they are the personal property of the supernatural owner of eternity and every human attempt to eliminate them as a people has failed. The Hebrew scriptures constitute the original revelation of a transcendent, personal, eternal God, and from these ancient writings Christianity was spawned.
It is the continued existence of these people and the fulfillment of prophecy they respresent that substantiates the truth of the scriptures and the trustworthiness of the Bible.
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