he six hundred year period of Jewish history before the birth of Jesus is extremely important in terms of preparation for His coming. About 587BC Israel was conquered by the Babylonians, the temple in Jerusalem was destroyed, and the people were taken into captivity. Israel’s prophets had warned them that this would happen because of their worship of false gods, but they refused to turn back to God. This event saw the Diaspora of Jews into many countries. They took their beliefs in the one true God with them and synagogues were established. This was to prepare the way for when Christian missionaries would later enter these areas.
The Persians conquered the Babylonians and ruled Israel from 400-330BC. Many Jews returned home and the temple was rebuilt. This period also marks the beginning of what is called the silent years. There are about 430 years from the last recognised prophet speaking, and the coming of the Saviour. This is the same length of time that the Jews were in captivity in Egypt.
Then onto the scene comes Alexander the Great,the Greek ruler. For the first time in human history a kind of world culture was created, although it should be recognised that there were other existing dynasties such as that in China. Through Alexander, the Greek language was spread throughout the known world. The Greeks also brought many deep philosophical
concepts to this world culture that still influence human cultures globally. This language and philosophy would be used to help people to communicate and understand the meanings of deep philosophical questions about life and death.
After the death of Alexander his kingdom was divided between the Egyptians and Syrians, who both ruled over Israel during this time. The Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes was an evil man who tried to establish idolatry in Jerusalem and who defiled the temple. This led to the Maccabean revolt in 166BC, which secured the independence of the province of Judea. During this period the religious parties of the Pharisees, Sadducees, and Essenes were established. The first two would form part of the resistance towards Jesus teachings, and especially against His claims to be equal to God.
Another extremely important development was the translation of the Old Testament Scriptures into Greek by Hebrew/Greek speaking scholars. This very accurate version became the main version used by the Early Church, and today remains the version by which other translations can be tested.
The Roman period began around 63 BC with Pompey’s assault on Jerusalem. From this time on and for centuries the Jews would be ruled by Roman governors or Roman puppet rulers. The Jews were never able to accommodate Roman rule as they had with others. This led to all out war with Rome between 66-70 AD, and the final destruction of the temple which had been rebuilt and added to by Herod the Great. Jesus predicted this event.
Both the temple and the Torah, the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament, played an important role in the identity and lives of all Jewish people. The temple in Jerusalem, at the time of Jesus, covered about 25% of the city of Jerusalem. It was incredibly big and was considered to be the main focus of Jewish life. It is estimated that 10 football stadiums would have fitted inside the temple site, so it is easy to see that it was an impressive structure. There was a court of Gentiles, a place where non-Jews could come, and further in a court of women. Further still was the Court of Israelites, where only Jewish men who were correctly purified could enter. Further in the priests performed their tasks of preparing and offering sacrifices, and in the very center was the Holy of Holies, separated by a curtain 10 centimeters (4 inches) thick. Within this sanctuary was the Ark of the Covenant and only the High Priest could enter once a year to make atonement for the sins of Israel.
In the first century the Essenes, a religious community, lived in Qumran and it is from this group that we have the Dead Sea Scrolls. These scrolls were most likely buried to protect them from the invading Romans. The Essenes were a selective group who lived life similar to that lived in a medieval monastery. They were a very religious group who were separate from everyday Jewish life, and were especially looking for the coming of the Messiah. There were many pretenders who claimed to be the long awaited Messiah. The Jews knew that the Messiah would come around this time according to the Prophet Daniel’s time frame. They also knew that He would be from the line of David, and they expected a human king who would unite Israel and defeat the Romans in physical battle, eventually setting up a holy kingdom of Israel. It was partly due to this assumption that the Jewish leaders rejected Jesus as the Messiah. They could not understand the idea of their ‘Saviour’ being killed. They wanted a Saviour like Moses, a conqueror, a King like David who would re-establish the empire. God had different plans.
By the time of Jesus the Roman Empire was well established. Roman policy was to incorporate the religions of those Rome conquered. The Romans considered themselves the most religious people alive, and they worshipped many gods. Mystery religions flourished as people were seeking for real meaning in their lives. Rome also gave the world a single currency, and it was possible to travel almost everywhere without a passport. This fact would mean that later on, missionaries like the apostle Paul would be able to take the gospel message almost anywhere without border restrictions. There was a powerful sense of universalism under the Roman Empire.
The Romans respected anything that was ancient. New things were not trusted. The Roman gods were considered to be organized in the shape of a pyramid – a Greek idea – with the most powerful on top and the lesser ones beneath. The God on top of this pyramid was known as the ‘Logos’, the most powerful and pure creative intelligence. Christian writers borrowed these ideas to help explain God becoming human in the life of Jesus.
For the Romans, two of the most powerful forces were Necessity and Fate. It was thought that external forces beyond one’s control controlled all of life. Moreover, in this world, women and children had virtually no rights. The ‘fates’ decided what you would be born. Women and children were considered to be the property of the husband and father. There were a few exceptions to this rule amongst very wealthy aristocratic Roman families; however, in most cases women had no rights. Divorce was a tragic event for a woman as she would have no source of income, no home, and her children would be lost to her. Women were considered to be unreliable witnesses and generally speaking could not give testimony in a court of law.
Children were to be ‘seen and not heard’. Children had no rights at all and a father had the right to kill his children for various reasons. Roman women were often subject to crude forms of abortion to terminate an unwanted pregnancy. Roman fathers preferred sons to daughters, and it was a Roman practice to ‘expose’ an unwanted child, a practice of leaving a young infant out in the cold in order that it should die of exposure. Many baby girls met their ‘fate’ this way. The Romans predicted the gender of the fetus by dangling a piece of silver over the belly of the pregnant woman and watching which way it turned.
Galatians 4:4 says that when the time was ‘fully come’ God sent his Son. The word translated ‘fully come’ is the Greek ‘kairos’, the ‘most opportune time’. Throughout the East those who read the stars, read the prophecies and examined ancient texts, understood that a great event, unequalled since the foundation of the world, was about to happen. A king was about to be born, indeed, the King of kings, but he wasn’t coming to conquer the Romans – He wasn’t coming to conquer any human Empire – but rather coming to conquer death and sin, coming to establish a path back to God, and also to crush the serpent’s head.
The following chart gives a brief overview of Old and New Testament history as it relates to other cultures and empires.1
4000-2200
The Fall, the Flood and tower of Babel
2200-1700
The call of Abraham, history of Isaac, Jacob Joseph goes to Egypt First Pyramids built by Egyptians
1700-1250
Birth of Moses, The Exodus,
Joshua and the conquest of Canaan
Aryan Migrations Beginnings of Hindu Scriptures
1250-1050
Period of Judges, Othniel, Gideon, Eli, Samuel
Empire 1050-950
United Kingdom of Israel, Jerusalem made capital (David 1000) King Saul, David,
Solomon
Assyrian Empire 970 Syrian Empire founded
753 Rome founded 722 Israel captured
950-538
Divided Kingdom of Israel, Josiah’s reforms, Prophets Elijah, Elisha, Jonah, Amos, Hosea, Joel Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekial, Micah,
Daniel and other minor prophets.
Babylonian Empire (Chaldean)
625-538
Jerusalem conquered 586
538-400
Jews return from captivity, Nehemiah begins repairs to Jerusalem’s Walls, Prophets, Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi
Persian Empire
538-330
538 Babylon captured by Cyrus
Achaemenian Empire, Parthian Empire,
Zoroastrian Tradition
400-63
Persian, Greek and Egyptian Rule
Maccabean and
Herodian (166-AD 37), Greek Version of OT
Greek Empire
Alexander the Great’s conquests
Sasanian Era
63-2
Pompey (Roman)
captures Jerusalem (63)
Roman Empire Julius Caesar assassinated (44)
2BC -33AD
Birth of Jesus, John the Baptist, Jesus’ Ministry, Crucifixion
Resurrection, Pentecost.
33-70
Paul’s conversion, Missionary journeys, Epistles and Gospels Written, Gnosticism, Persecution
Roman Empire
Continues
Augustus, Tiberius
Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate
Caligula, Claudius,
Nero, Galba,
Otho, Vitellius,
Vespasian
Nero burns Rome
Christians persecuted Jerusalem captured, End of Jewish State
70-100
Last Epistles written, Death of Paul and other apostles
Persecution under
Domitian
Domitian
Major persecutions