Scattered | the time between the testaments
The word “scattered” describes the nation of the Jews throughout their history. The word occurs in the Old Testament to describe God’s involvement in the moving of people. (Interestingly, it is a word that Jesus uses in His parables, especially that of the sower.) Some of the relevant OT Scriptures include Genesis 11:4, Deuteronomy 4:27, Leviticus 26:33, Psalm 59:11, and Jeremiah 50:17.
[su_pullquote align=”right”]Points to Ponder
1) How much do you know about the time between the close of the OT and the beginning of the NT?
2) What is Moses telling the people of faith in the Deuteronomy Scripture in the panel to the left? [/su_pullquote]
The NT authors understood the importance of the term “scattered” and used if often in their writings (this is especially true of the apostles, see James 1:1 and 1 Peter 1:1). Luke describes the Christians in the early days of the church has scattered (Acts 8:1) with this caveat, the scattered preached the gospel (Acts 8:4).
the faith of the scattered
Our study focuses on a handful of Scriptures, but the foundation comes from the book of Deuteronomy. Notice the powerful words of Scripture from the prophet and Lawgiver Moses. Moses looked to the day when the people of Israel, scattered by sin and physical distance, returned to God’s favor and presence.
[su_pullquote]When you and your children return to the Lord your God and obey him with all your heart and with all your soul according to everything I command you today, 3 then the Lord your God will restore your fortunes and have compassion on you and gather you again from all the nations where he scattered you (Deuteronomy 30:2-3). [/su_pullquote]
Israel was at the height of its influence and power. King Solomon had created the wealthiest and most powerful government the Hebrews would ever see. When Solomon died between 926 and 922BC the ten northern tribes refused to submit to his son, Rehoboam, and they rebelled. The northern tribes chose Jereboam as their king.
the division of the kingdoms
From this point on, there would be two kingdoms of the Hebrews. The northern kingdom, also known as the Kingdom of Samaria or the Kingdom of Israel, formed their capital in the city of Samaria. The southern kingdom, known as the Kingdom of Judah, kept its capital in Jerusalem. The kingdoms remained separate for two hundred years.
The history of both kingdoms could fill an encyclopedia of ineffective, disobedient and corrupt kings. Time and time again, the kings and their people wandered away from God and were called to repentance by a prophet. Their history is portrayed in the Hebrew book called Kings.
the fall of Israel
In 722BC the Northern Kingdom fell to the Assyrians. The Assyrians were an aggressive conqueror with tremendously effective methods of dominance. In order to assure that their conquered lands would remain peacefully submissive, the Assyrians would force many of the natives to relocate to other parts of their empire. They would choose the upper and more powerful classes to relocate, assuming there was nothing to fear from the more uneducated peoples. They would then allow native Assyrians to relocate into the conquered territory.
When Assyria conquered Israel, for all practical purposes these Israelites permanently disappeared from history. This was often the case under Assyrian conquest. Israel was not taken to settle in one place, but were scattered in small colonies throughout the Middle East.
the consequences of scattered
One other consequence of the Assyrian invasion involved the settling of the northern kingdom by Assyrians. This group scattered throughout the area, but concentrated in and around the capital of Samaria. The group took with them their Assyrian gods and cultic practices. Within a short time, the Assyrians in Samaria would intermarry with the Jews who remained. Worship of the Lord became the dominant religion, but they believed they could sacrifice to God outside of the temple in Jerusalem. This angered the faithful Jews in Galilee and in Judah at the time of Jesus. The rift was so bad, a good Jew would not walk through Samaria.
The conquest of Israel scared the people and kings of Judah who had barely escaped the Assyrians. About a century later, the Chaldeans or Babylonians would conquer the southern kingdom, the last remnants of the powerful nation of Israel. In 701, the Assyrian ruler Sennacherib would gain a small portion of the territory of Judah.
As Assyrian power began to wane and Babylonian force grew, Judah under the good king Josiah tried to gain strength during the power vacuum that spun between the Assyrians, Babylonians and Egyptians. When Josiah died, Egyptian king Necho rushed into Judah and overthrew Josiah’s son Jehoahaz. Judah became a tribute state of Egypt. The Babylonians defeated the Egyptians in 605BC pushing Judah into a tribute state status with Babylon. When Babylon suffered a defeat four years later, king Jehoiakim of Judah defected back to the Egyptians, a move which angered the Babylonians.
the fall of Judah
Nebuchadnezzar raised an army whose sole purpose was to punish Judah in 597BC. Judah’s new king, Jehoiachin, literally handed the city of Jerusalem over to Nebuchadnezzar without a sword being drawn. Nebuchadnezzar appointed a new king, Zedekiah, to rule. In keeping with their practice, the Babylonian king deported over 10,000 professional, wealthy and craftsmen from the Jewish people to the city of Babylon. Only uneducated and ordinary people were allowed to stay in the country. This deportation began what is known as the Babylonian Exile.
[su_pullquote align=”right”]Words to Wrangle
The psuedepigrapha are works that have been attributed to biblical persons but scholars labeled spurious. Included in these works are the apocryphal books, writing of the period between the testaments that the Roman Catholic Church and others have added to their Bibles. The link also includes historically sacred writings, like the works of Josephus, a Jewish historian.[/su_pullquote]
It should have been the end of the story. But Zedekiah, who had been appointed by the king, defected one final time. Nebuchadnezzar responded with another trip to Judah in 588 and pillage the area for just over two years. Nebuchadnezzar finally caught Zedekiah in 586 and forced him to watch the murder of his own sons, before blinding him by gauging his eyes out. He then led him and any other prominent citizens back to Babylon, probably a number around 1500.
The story of the area remains in unrest and upheaval until the pax Romana, “the peace of Rome,” would eventually sweep through the newly formed Empire. In October of 539, the Persian king Cyrus took over the Babylonian capital city. The Achaemenid Empire lasted another two centuries until division led to devastation by the armies and successors of Alexander the Great. Two important concepts surround the reign of Cyrus.
the rise of the Persians
Two hundred years earlier, the prophet Isaiah predicts the role of one named Cyrus, calling him the Lord’s shepherd. The passage predicts that the foundation and city of Jerusalem will be built. At the time of his defeat of Babylon, Cyrus allowed Nehemiah, Ezra and the Jewish people to return to their homeland if they so desired. By the year 516BC the Jews finished rebuilding their Temple, exactly 70 years from the time Babylon destroyed it, a number mentioned by Daniel.
About a hundred years after the Temple restoration, Malachi shares the last prophetic message of the Old Testament era. Roughly 400 years pass until the appearance of John the Baptist. Many scholars refer to this period as the silent 400 years. Though quiet, several significant events occur during these days.
the significance of the intertestamental period
Around the middle of the 300s BC scholars translated the Hebrew Scriptures into the Koine Greek, a work known as the Septuagint. The Greek was the language provided a common thread for communication at the time of Christ. The Hebrew language, after years of Exile, devolved into a very watered-down language known as Aramaic. The Septuagint allowed Jews who were not Levites or rabbis to know the Scripture.
Because the Jewish people had become so scattered throughout the world, Jewish houses of education and worship began to spring up in cities where there were at least ten Jewish men lived and would assemble. Synagogues were buildings with a large assembly room with smaller rooms for study, prayer and meetings. A room was used for the reading of the Tanakh (the entire Hebrew Bible). A synagogue was not necessary for worship. The word appears 56 times in the New Testament.
the Hasmonean dynasty
This period of Jewish history became known as the Hasmonean dynasty (140BC – 116BC). Jewish leader Simon Thassi established the independent reign two decades after his brother Judas Maccabeus defeated the Seleucid army. The pages of apocryphal books 1 and 2 Maccabees describe the stories of Maccabean Revolt. The Jewish people continued to rule their land until 63BC when Pompey invaded the area representing the Roman Republic. The deaths of Pompey (48BC) and Julius Caesar (44BC) left a relaxed void of leadership and allowed the Jews to experience another brief period of autonomy through the backing of the Parthian (Persian) Empire.
[su_pullquote align=”right”]Conclusions to Consider
1) How is not being able to go to our houses of worship similar to the Jewish people living in exile in Babylon?
2) God is working behind the scenes in the intertestament period to prepare for the “fullness of time” – the birth of Jesus. How might God be using this period of time today? What might He be preparing for? [/su_pullquote]
Antipater aligns with Rome
During the time of the Hasmonean leadership, Judea conquered Edom (Idumea) and forced the Edomites to convert to Judaism. The Edomites integrated themselves into the Jewish nation, and some of them became high-ranking officials. Roman officials appointed Edomite Antipas governor of Edom. His son, Antipater, the chief advisor to some of the Hasmonean leadership, managed to establish a good relationship with the leadership in the Roman Republic.
Julius Caesar appointed Antipater to be the procurator of all of Judea (which included Idumea) in 47BC. Antipater appointed his sons to be the governors of the Jewish region, placing Phasael in Jerusalem and Herod (yes, THAT Herod) in Galilee. Murdered in 43, Antipater’s rise ended abruptly. His sons somehow managed to maintain control, though. Egypt elevated them to the rank of tetrarchs in 41BC by Mark Antony.
the rise of Herod
In 40 the Parthians invaded the eastern Roman provinces, driving out most of the Romans from the area. Herod managed to escape to Rome and somehow was able to convince the Roman Senate that he was sincere in his intentions to support Rome. Until a face-to-face meeting, Octavius determined that Herod needed to be executed. Instead Herod walked away with a new title, “King of the Jews.” Ironically, the proclamation resounded 33 years before the birth of the One who would be put to death for claiming to be “King of the Jews.”
Herod’s insecurity and eccentric behavior made him hated by many of the Jews. But his kingdom initiated huge harbor and building projects, including the plaza areas surrounding the Temple. Herod was responsible for many fortresses and public work facilities. His greatest accomplishment was a complete make-over of the Temple in Jerusalem.
An understanding of the time between the testaments provides a context for the birth of the New Testament. Context provided “the fullness of time” to the era.
