Unit 1: Intertestamental Period
- Introduction and Background
- Intertestamentary Period
- The 400 years between the Old and New Testaments
- Old Testament ends with the return of the exiles from captivity and the Jewish people living in their homeland under Persian rule, about 430 B.C
- The New Testament opens with the Jewish people living under Roman rule, about 5 B.C.
- "silent years"
- the Bible does not speak about this period
- Apocryphal books written during this period
- gives us a good idea of the history and beliefs of the Israelite people during this time.
- Years of turmoil and significant political changes
- Empires grew in strength, became world powers for a period of time, were defeated and replaced by other world powers.
- Political Changes between Testaments
- Jewish people live in Palestine under the rule of successive foreign Powers
- Persia
- Greece
- Rome
- Only 70 years of Jewish independence.
- Pax Romana (Roman Peace)
- Rome’s Golden Age
- The world is at peace at the birth of Christ (circa 5 B.C.)
- Religious Changes between Testaments
- Jews still worship at the Temple as in the Old Testament
- Jews study Torah and the oral traditions at the local synagogue
- As long as the Jews kept peace with Rome, they were allowed their own religion, language and customs.
- The chief priests and rabbis enjoyed the respect of the people
- Languages
- The language of Palestine was Aramaic
- the official language of Assyrian diplomacy
- The language of trade was Greek
- Religious Jews also spoke Hebrew
- Culture
- Family is the basic unit in society
- Most people live in small villages
- Farming is the most important industry
- Many religious feasts and festivals tied into farming
- Passover
- Feast of Weeks
- Rosh Hashanah
- Tensions
- Between the Romans and the Jews over the Roman occupation
- Between the Jewish religious groups about what should be done
- Sadducees, Pharisees, Zealots, Essenes
- Majority of population did not belong to a religious party
- Many Gentiles also disillusioned with the permissiveness of pagan culture and religion
- Time was ripe for the coming of the Savior
- Religious state of the people
- People waiting for the Messiah
- Removes burdens of the common people placed by the religious leaders
- Alternative to Greek and Roman gods and philosophies
- Historical conditions
- conducive to the birth and spread of Christianity
- peace and safety of Roman Empire
- good system of roads and bridges for travel
- common language (Greek)
1. Setting the stage (session 1)
- Read Daniel 2 together. Draw a picture of the statue of Nebuchadnezzar's dream on the board, and discuss what each part represents. Have students share as much as possible about each empire or era. What is so special about "the rock cut out of a mountain, but not by human hands" (vs. 45)?
- Compare maps of the four empires to the vision of the four beasts in Daniel 7.
- Label and colour the map of the Roman world at the time of Christ.
- The Persian Empire - 536-331 B. C.
- King Cyrus of the Persians defeated the Babylonian Empire in 536 B.C
- Persian custom was to let conquered nations stay in their native lands.
- Unlike other conquering nations
- Jewish exiles were allowed to return home
- Recorded in the books of Ezra and Nehemiah.
- Not all Jewish exiles chose to return to their native land, as we can see in the story of Esther
- only a small percentage returned, those who had a strong commitment to the Lord and the Torah
- Hostility between Jews and Samaritans starts during the Persian time period
- Ezra 4:1-2
- John 4 - Jesus and the woman at the well; Luke 10 - the parable of the good Samaritan
- Money Changers in Temple starts here
- The devout Jews of the Diaspora who came to Jerusalem to celebrate important religious festivals needed to exchange their currency for the Tyrian currency used in the temple
- hence, the presence of the money changers in the outer court
- The Greek Empire - 331·166 B.C.
- Persians were eventually defeated by the Greeks.
- Alexander the Great of Greece conquered the known world
- in ten years
- Spread Greek Culture wherever he went
- built cities and roads
- Cities were built in the Greek style with Greek temples and sports arenas (gymnasia).
- insisted that the people learn Greek as their second language
- Greek customs, religion and philosophy were adopted throughout his domains (forced)
- Two common philosophies were
- Stoicism and
- Epicureanism (form of hedonism with emphasis on simple life)
- Hellenistic religion questioned traditional beliefs, even the reality of the gods;
- as a result, the majority of people found themselves in a moral and spiritual vacuum.
- Gnostic thinking began.
- based on the belief that there were two worlds:
- the world of spirit, where God is, which is pure and holy;
- and the world of matter, where we are, which is evil and corrupted
- Even after the Greeks no longer ruled the world, the Greek language and culture, known as Hellenism, influenced many nations
- The fact that the New Testament was originally written in Greek is evidence of this
Homework
2. Read 1 Maccabees chapters 1 and 2
- The Era of the Ptolemies and Seleucids - 320·166 B.C.
- After the death of Alexander the Great, the Greek empire was divided into four parts.
- Palestine, the New Testament name of Israel, came under the rule of the Ptolemies
- an Egyptian royal family (of which Cleopatra probably is the most famous member)
- These rulers treated the Jews well, and the people lived in peace.
- During this time, the Old Testament writings were translated into Greek; this translation is known as the Septuagint
- Syria, directly to the north of Palestine, had been given to the Seleucids to rule
- In 198 B. c., the Syrian king captured Palestine
- Soon persecution of the Jews began
- Antiochus Epiphanes (175-163 B.C.)
- hated anything and everything Jewish
- He was determined that all his subjects would
- worship Greek gods,
- speak the Greek language and
- follow Greek customs.
- forbade the practice of circumcision
- tried to wipe out the worship of God by building an altar to Zeus in the temple and sacrificing a pig on it.
- Hasidim or Hasideans, "pious people,"
- Those Jews who opposed this hellenization and paganization
- a name still used for orthodox Jews today
- Many Hasidim were slaughtered without mercy.
- Mattathias (168 B.C)
- a village priest who refused to offer sacrifices to Zeus
- killed the representative of the king, and fled into the Judean wilderness with his five sons.
- Mattathias died soon afterwards
- his son Judas Maccabeus carried on the revolt.
- Maccabeus was the nickname given to Judas; it meant "the Hammer."
- The Hasidim joined the revolt, and by 165 B.C., they had recaptured Jerusalem
- In December of that year, the temple was purified and rededicated to the worship of the LORD
- an event commemorated by the Jews in the Feast of Lights, or Hanukkah.
- The Hasmonean Era - 142-63 B.C.
- Won independence from the Seleucids
- Simon, a brother of Judas Maccabeus became "the great high priest and commander and leader of the Jews."
- Simon established the Hasmonean dynasty, named after Hasmon, great grandfather of Mattathias which lasted until 37 B.C
- details in 1 Maccabees
- Palestine remained an independent Jewish nation (70 years)
- under the leadership of the Hasmonean dynasty
- Time of "internal strife caused by ambition for power.
- The political aims and intrigues of the Hasmoneans alienated many of the religiously minded Hasidim, who developed into the Pharisees and the Essenes
- The aristocratic and politically minded supporters of the Hasmonean priesthood became the Sadducees
- The Roman Empire - 63 B.C.-A.D. 472
- 63 B.C., Jewish rule in Palestine came to an end
- Roman general Pompey captured Jerusalem and conquered Palestine.
- Herod Antipater became governor of Palestine
- Herod the Great
- Antipater’s son becomes king of Judea through cunning and manipulative ways
- Herod’s relationship with the Jews
- He was an Edomite (also related by marriage to the Maccabees).
- Because of this, no matter how hard he tried to win the favor of the Jews, he did not get it. They hated him, and he hated them.
- Had the temple rebuilt to impress the Jews
- He was despised because he was a cruel, selfish king
- he killed two of his wives and at least three of his own sons
- He was the Herod who was king at the time of the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem and ordered the massacre of all the male children under the age of two.
- His son, Herod Antipas, was the one who had John the Baptizer beheaded, and to whom Jesus was sent by Pontius Pilate
- The Roman Empire at the time of the birth of Christ
- Pax Romana which lasted from 30 B.C. to approximately A.D. 180
- Golden Age under Caesar Augustus (nephew of Julius Caesar)
- Peace, prosperity, and law and order prevailed throughout the empire
- Everyone spoke one language, Greek
- Each province had its own system of self-government, together with a Roman force, in case of uprisings and rebellions.
- The people were allowed to keep their own language, customs and religion, as long as they kept peace with Rome.
- Here we see God working in and through history, directing it toward the coming of Jesus