Chronological reading...into the New Testament

The Intertestamental Period

Part II -The Political Divisions and Histories

Daniel was right! After the rule of Babylon (the head of Gold, Dan. 2:32), the kingdom broke into three other kingdoms. Even though these years, from the last days of Nehemiah, about 430 BC, to the birth of Christ, about 5 BC, were called “the years of silence”, they were anything but silent. The events that occurred politically, religiously, and in literature, would shape the world of the New Testament Period.

The Kingdoms of the Intertestamental Period:

I. The Medo-Persian Rule (the arms and chest of silver, Dan. 2:32) - The Persian rule continued about one hundred years after the close of the Old Testament writings (the Books of the Old Testament period). Events and religious freedoms were considered as mild and tolerant during this period. With the Babylonian Captivity, Israel ceased to be an independent nation but its religious services and to some degree control over its own civil powers were allowed by Babylon.

2. The Greek Rule (the belly and thighs of bronze, Dan. 2:32) - When Alexander the Great conquered all the known world of that day, about 334 BC, Syria fell under the control and power of the third world empire that Daniel spoke about. This became known as “The Greco-Macedonian Empire of Alexander”. The Greek Empire also ushered in a cultural change called Hellenization which had a dramatic impact upon the Jews, including the introduction of the Greek language, something I will speak about a little later. Alexander treated the Jews favorably but upon his death, his kingdom was divided among his four generals. Two of them founded dynasties, the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria and Mesopotamia (Dan. 7:6, 8:5-8). These two dynasties contended for control of the Holy Land for over a century. During this period, a great number of Jews found home in Egypt, and the Septuagint (LXX), the Greek translation of the Old Testament, was begun, around 285 BC.

Under the Ptolemies (pronounced, “p-tol-a-mies”) of Egypt, whose capital was Alexandria, the Jews were treated well, along with their religious services. But under the Seleucids (pronounced, “se-lu-cids”) things took a turn for the worse. All was still relatively well under Antiochus III, the Great, as the Jews still had relative freedom, but when Antiochus IV, known as Epiphanes (the “small horn of Daniel 8:9) took control, who ruled from 175 BC - 164 BC, he plundered and profaned the Temple, sacrificing a pig upon the altar, erecting a statue of Zeus and attempting to destroy the Torah, such atrocities, as spoken of in Daniel 8:9-14, brought about the Maccabean Revolt and the defeat of Greek rule in the land of Judea.

3. The Maccabean Revolt - The sacrifice of a pig upon the altar and the erecting of a statue of Zeus was “the straw that broke the camel’s back” and ushered in the Maccabean Revolt that led to Jewish Independence from 167 BC - 63 BC. This revolt was led by an elderly priest by the name of Mattathias. He and his five sons, led by Judas Maccabees, pledged to free the Jews from Syrian (Greek) control and to restore their ancient religious practices. His family was called, “the Hasmoneans” after his great-grandfather, Hasmon. The Syrians were ultimately defeated and expelled from Jerusalem thus regaining religious freedom, the rededication of the Temple practices, and the conquering of Palestine. This victory is celebrated in the Jewish Feast of Dedication. Judas, who was slain in battle, was succeeded by his brothers, Jonathan, and then Simon, and under Simon and his nephew, John Hyrcannus I, the Hasmonean line of priests-rulers were established by a treaty with Rome.

4. The Roman Rule (the legs of iron and feet of iron and clay, Dan. 2:33) - After some years, there was a civil war in Judea, which ended in 63 BC by the Roman conquest of Judea and Jerusalem by Pompey. Pompey took Jerusalem after a three month siege of the temple area, massacring priests in the performance of their duties and entering the Most Holy Place. This sacrilege began Roman rule in a way that Jews could not forgive nor forget. In 47 BC, Antipater was made procurator of Judea by Julius Caesar and Antipater appointed his son, Herod, governor of Galilee. Following Caesar’s assassination, disorder broke out in Judea and Herod fled to Rome. There, in 40 BC, he was appointed king of the Jews, and when he returned, he conciliated the Jews by his marriage with Mariamne (38 BC) the granddaughter of Hyrcanus II, the last of the Hasomneans, and appointed her brother, Maccabean Aristobulus III, as the High Priest, something he had no right nor Jewish authority to do, nor was this Maccabean even in the Jewish Priestly lineage. When Jesus was born, Herod was king.

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