From Malachi to Matthew – The Silent Years!
Part 1: The Political Climate in these years
The period between the end of Malachi until the gospel of Matthew was about four hundred years and is often referred to as God’s silent years as he sent no further prophets to speak to Israel. But although His audible voice through the prophets had stopped, there was still lots going on that He was orchestrating in and through many different nations and people and in many different ways.
God is never inactive, He is ever watchful over His creation – His Holy Spirit is always at work to bring glory to Jesus! God was shaping history and fulfilling prophecy to prepare the way for the coming of Jesus, the Messiah!
The prophet Malachi had ended his Holy Spirit inspired writings in about 397BC. Some 50,000 Jews had been restored to Israel under the decree of Cyrus the Persian-Mede emperor who had defeated the Babylonians and destroyed their empire. But many Jews did not return home and remained scattered across the Persian-Mede Empire.
The walls of Jerusalem had been rebuilt under Nehemiah and a smaller temple, somewhat less eye-catching than Solomon’s, had been built. Thereafter God fell silent as it were. No more recognised prophets were sent, and the voice of God was thus not heard. This was a time of dark, spiritual dryness for the Jewish nation. Within this period, we seem to find the sad fulfilment of the prophetic words found in Psalm 74:9 that were pronounced upon Israel:
The social state of the Jewish nation at the beginning of this four-hundred-year period needs to be kept in mind so that we will get a better sense of their spiritual condition under their oppressive circumstances and have an idea of the spiritual and political climate of Israel when Jesus was born and when he began his ministry.
Two hundred years before Malachi, Jerusalem had been defeated and overthrown, its walls broken down and the temple destroyed. The Israelites were carried off into exile in Babylon (606 B.C,). This was in punishment for turning away from God and after ignoring many warnings from the prophets to return to Him.
During the 70 year exile punishment period the Babylonian empire was overthrown by the Persian-Mede Empire (God at work through the Holy Spirit) under the leadership of Cyrus (536 B.C.). After the 70 year exile period, Cyrus issued a decree permitting the return of the Jews to Israel and under the leadership of Zerubbabel, some fifty thousand Jews returned to Israel and to Jerusalem in particular.
Some twenty years after their return to Jerusalem, and after many setbacks, the building of the Temple was completed, a much less impressive temple than Solomon’s which had been destroyed in the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar.
Then, some fifty eight years later, in 458 B.C., Ezra the scribe returned to Jerusalem with a small group of Israelites and restored the Law and the rituals that went along with it, to the nation. Another 13 years later, in 445 B.C., Nehemiah came to Jerusalem to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and become governor there. Now, once again, there was a Jewish state in Judea, though of course subservient to Persian-Mede rule.
This, then, was the picture of Israel and the Jewish people at the beginning of the four-hundred-year period between Malachi and Matthew:
- The Jewish Remnant back in Judea for about one hundred and forty years (536 B.C. - 397 B.C.)
- A small Jewish state subservient to Persia
- Jerusalem and the temple rebuilt
- The Law and the ritual restored
- But with the mass of the Jewish people remaining, dispersed throughout the Persian-Mede Empire.
Now, if we are to appreciate this Jewish community as it re-emerges in the pages of the New Testament, we need to look at their political development as well as their social and religious development. Viewed politically, the varying course of the Jewish nation in Palestine simply reflects the history of the different world-empires which ruled Palestine during this time. The one exception to this was the Maccabean revolt, which resulted for a short period of time in there being an independent Jewish government.
Jewish history during the four hundred years between the Old and the New Testaments runs in six periods of mainly subservient rule:
- the Persian rule
- the Greek rule
- the Egyptian rule
- the Syrian rule
- the Maccabean rule, and lastly
- the Roman rule
The Persian rule over Palestine, which commenced with the decree of Cyrus in 536 B.C. for the return of the Jewish Remnant, continued until 333 B.C., when Palestine fell under the power of Alexander the Great (the third of the Gentile world-empires foretold by Daniel). This means that at the end of Malachi the Jews were still under Persian rule and remained so for about the first sixty years of the inter-Testament period.
Persian rule seems to have been tolerant. The high priest form of Jewish government was respected with the high priest being given an increasing degree of civil power in addition to his religious offices, though of course he still was responsible to the Persian governor of Syria.
The Greek rule (333 – 323 BC)
Alexander the Great was something of a phenomenon in history. He rose into sudden leadership of the Greek Empire through the assassination of his father, Philip II of Macedon in 336BC, when he was only twenty years old. He transformed the face of the known world at the time, both politically and geographically, in little more than ten years. It is widely believed by many Biblical scholars, that Alexander the Great is the "notable horn" in the "he-goat" vision of Daniel (Daniel 8:5-7).
In Alexander the Great’s campaign in Judea and his march on Jerusalem, he not only spared the city, but he also offered a sacrifice to Jehovah and had the prophecies of Daniel read to him concerning the overthrow of the Persian empire by a king of Grecia, (Daniel 8:21). Thereafter he treated the Jews with great respect and gave them full rights of citizenship with the Greeks in his new city, Alexandria, and in other cities in his Empire.
This in return, created decidedly pro-Greek sympathies among the Jews, and, along with Alexander's spreading of the Greek language, philosophies and civilization, a Hellenistic spirit developed among the Jews in Palestine which greatly affected their mental outlook thereafter and ushered in a more promiscuous and atheistic view of life filled with man’s rules instead of God’s
The Egyptian Rule (323 - 204 B.C.)
This is the longest of the six periods of the inter-Testament hiatus. The death of Alexander the Great resulted in a period of confusion and bitter infighting between Alexander’s four campaign generals which was resolved by a four-fold break-up of Alexander's empire. The empire was spilt between: Ptolemy, Lysimachus, Cassander and Selenus. These are purported to be the four "kingdoms that come out" which take the place of the "great horn," as predicted in Daniel 8:21, 22
After severe fighting, Judea, along with the rest of Syria fell to Ptolemy Soter, the first of the Greek kings to rule over Egypt. This was the beginning of the Ptolemaic dynasty.
For a time, Ptolemy Soter dealt harshly with the Jews, but afterwards he became just as friendly as Alexander was. His successor, Ptolemy Philadelphus, continued this favourable attitude towards the Jews.
His reign is notable in that the famous Septuagint translation of the Old Testament Scriptures was made from the Hebrew into the Greek language during this time. We see the importance of this when we realize that the Greek language had now become the language of the civilized world. The Jews were so numerous in Egypt and North Africa that such a translation became a necessity. The Septuagint came into general use well before the birth of Jesus and was still in use during the time Jesus was on earth and was quoted by Jesus.
The Syrian Rule (204 - 165 B.C.)
When Ptolemy Philopater (the fourth Ptolemy) died, his successor, Ptolemy Epiphanes, was only five years old. Antiochus the Great the Seleucid ruler of the Hellenistic Syrian Empire seized his opportunity and in 204 B.C. invaded Egypt, and Judea, along with some other territories soon after, Israel became annexed to Syria and so came under the rule of the Seleucidae.
There are two points of special note about this period. First, it was at this time that Palestine was divided into the five sections which we find in the New Testament. (Sometimes the first three of these collectively are called Judea.) These different provinces are:
- Judea,
- Samaria,
- Galilee,
- Perea,
- Trachonitis.
- the wall was torn down
- the temple desecrated
- temple sacrifices were abolished
- the Holy of Holies was stripped of its costly furniture
- the Jewish religion was banned
- a pig was sacrificed on the altar
- the Temple at Jerusalem was rededicated to Jupiter Olympius with a statue of Jupiter Olympius erected on the altar
- the Jewish people were subjected to inhumane cruelties.
This excessive cruelty to the people and the subsequent desecration of the temple by Antiochus provoked the Jews to revolt against and resist his rule.
Judah Maccabeus, known as Judas (Hebrew word for hammer), gathered around him a large army of guerrilla fighters and after several victories assumed an offensive stance against Antiochus. Jerusalem was attacked and liberated, and the temple was refurnished, and on 25th December, the anniversary of its being polluted three years earlier, the orthodox sacrifices were reinstituted (which date the Jews still observed as the Feast of the Dedication: see John 10:22). Judas Maccabeus also captured the chief Syrian military outposts up and down the land.
Antiochus contemplated revenge against Judas, but a defeat in Persia to the East against King Mithridates I of Parthia, in addition to the successive defeats in Judea seemed to have brought upon him a superstitious dread which developed into a fatal sickness. He is said to have died in a state of raving madness. That’ll teach him to mess with God’s people!
What at first seemed to be deliverance for Judea and Samaria proved to be one of the deadliest crises to come. Antiochus' son, Antiochus V Eupator, was very young (purported to be between 9 – 12 years of age) when he succeeded his father as King and was completely inexperienced in matters of empire ruling. This is when Lysias, his Syrian guardian appointed himself as king-regent.
Lysias, together with the young king Eupator, now invaded Judea with an army of 120,000 men and defeated Judas Maccabeus and his army at Bethsura. Judas and his men retreated to Jerusalem which was then placed under siege. But just when things seemed to be hopeless for the Maccabean revolt a rival regent to Lysias appeared on the scene at the Syrian capital. Lysias suddenly persuaded the young King Antiochus V Eupator to make peace with Judea - promising the Jews the restoration of all their religious liberties. Thus, the Maccabean revolt was seemingly crowned with success.
Further troubles arose later, however, from a new successor on the Syrian throne, Demetrius I Soter. During this period Judas Maccabeus was killed in Nisan in about 160 B.C. In 143 B.C. Simeon, the brother of Judas assumed leadership of the Jewish army. He was able to capture all the other Syrian strongholds in Judea and forced the Syrian garrison in the citadel at Jerusalem to surrender.
Thus, Judea was freed of all alien troops; and from that time on (about 142 B.C.) was once again under independent Jewish government. Except for one short lapse, this continued until Judea became a Roman province, in 63 B.C.
The Roman rule (63 B.C. onward)
It is at this time that the notorious Herod family make an appearance on the political scene of a Judea under Roman rule. Antipater, the father of the Herod the Great who reigned at the time of our Lord's birth, managed to secure the support of the Roman general Pompey to gain control of Judea. The result was a siege of Jerusalem which lasted three months and ended with Pompey taking the city. Pompey with complete disregard for the Temple strolled into the Holy of Holies - an action which at once estranged all loyal Jewish hearts toward the Roman Empire. This was in 63 B.C.
Pompey's taking of Jerusalem ended the period of Judea's independence gained after the Maccabean revolt. Judea now became a province of the Roman Empire. A number of high profile political changes were orchestrated, one of the more significant of these political changes was that the high priest was completely deprived of any royal status, and retained priestly functions only.
The governing power of Judea was now completely placed into the hands of Antipater, who was appointed procurator of Judea by none other than Julius Cesar himself in 47 B.C. Antipater’s main concern was for feathering his own nest and appears to have had very little interest in making life better for his Jewish subjects. Another of Antipater’s political skills was that he was adept at changing allegiance to whatever Roman Emperor was in power and he managed to curry the favour of the different Roman Emperor’s with great success.
Antipater appointed Herod (his own son by marriage with Cypros, an Arabian woman) as governor of Galilee, when Herod was only fifteen years old. In about 40 B.C. after appealing to Rome, Herod was appointed king of the Jews. Herod, however, was never fully accepted by the Jewish people because of his mixed blood! Herod, seeking to ingratiate himself with the Jews, married Marianne, the granddaughter of a former high priest. He also added to this by making her brother Aristobulus high priest.
He also further ingratiated himself to the Jews by greatly increasing the splendour of Jerusalem and building the elaborate temple which was the centre of Jewish worship in the time of our Lord. Of course, the money required to make these enhancements came from additionally taxing the general population, this further distanced him from the general population.
However, Herod was even more self-serving and cruel than his father was. He was a very capable (in a sort of sneaky, malicious way) and ambitious politician, but had no true benevolent feelings for the Jewish people. In fact, his only acts towards the Jews were those of malicious persecution.
His hands were also stained with the blood of many murders and many of these murders were from his own flesh and blood. He killed all three of his wife's brothers - Antigonus, Aristobulus and Hyrcanus. And later he murdered his own wife. And again, later, he murdered his mother-in-law. And still later he murdered his own sons by Marianne. This is the 'Herod the Great" who was king when our Lord was born. Herod at the time of Jesus, was definitely not so great!
This, then, in brief, is the political history of the Jews in Palestine during the four-hundred-year period between Malachi and Matthew. This was the political arena that Jesus and John the Baptist were born into!
(Ref: The Complete Works of Flavius Josephus – Public Domain)
Next week in Part 2, we will review this 'silent period' period from a social, religious and spiritual point of view!
To Jesus belongs all glory, honour and praise!
Jesus, the Name above all names!
Love this.
ReplyDelete