History Between the Testaments

Introduction
From the time of the last writer of the Old Testament until the birth of Jesus about four hundred years of history passed. Summing up four hundred years of history in just a few paragraphs obviously cannot do justice to everything in the time period. So, what follows is a brief overview of the major events from the time we call the "Intertestamental Era".

"Biblical Silence" ... Not really
The time between the testaments is often referred to as the "400 years of biblical silence". A better name, however, might be "the 400 years of biblical vagueness", since the scriptures actually give us a brief history of the time between the testaments, it just omits the proper names of the participants. In Daniel 2, 8 and 11 the prophet Daniel summarizes the events that take place from the end of the Medo-Persian empire until the coming of the Lord's Christ. Though Daniel 2 and 8 both center around prophetic images, God was gracious enough to grant the interpretation along with the prophetic imagery. In Daniel 11, however, we have a straight-forward and fairly detailed account of this history. Daniel 11 does not contain the names of the people it discusses, but its historical summary is still very clear and detailed, and the summary may actually be easier to understand without all the names.

The Great King --Daniel 8:5-8; 11:3
The historical accounts of the Old Testament end with the Medo-Persian empire in power. This is the empire that conquered the Babylonians and ruled during the lives of Ezra, Nehemiah, and Esther. It was the Medo-Persians who allowed the Jews to return from captivity to Jerusalem and rebuild the temple. Their empire lasted until a great king of the Greeks, Alexander the Great, began his conquest of the world.

Alexander was a student of Aristotle and a very strong proponent of the Greek culture. He began his campaign to build a world-wide empire when he was about 20 years old. He successfully defeated the Medo Persians, the Egyptians, and scores of other civilizations, not only placing them under his political control, but also pressing them to adopt the Greek way of life. Thus, by the time of his death at age 33, Alexander had managed to create a grand empire that was familiar with the Greek language, acknowledged the Greek gods, and in various other ways adopted the Greek way of life.

Kingdom Divides -- Daniel 8:8; 11:4
When Alexander the Great died he left no heir to the throne, or obvious successor. So, the Greek empire was divided among four rulers: Antigonus ruled from the Mediterranean Sea west toward Asia, Cassander ruled the Macedonian region, Lysimachus ruled the region of Thrace, and Ptolemy Lagi ruled the territories of Egypt and southern Syria with the help of his commander Seleucus.

The Commander Comes to Power -- Daniel 8:9; 11:5
A kingdom divided among four rulers is not the same as one with only one clear leader. The co-rulers vied for power, and Ptolemy Lagi, with the help of his commander Seleucus, attacked Antigonus in an effort to gain control of the Babylonian area. Although they did not defeat Antigonus completely, Seleucus managed to become the ruler over the Babylonian region, while Antigonus' region shrunk considerably.

Conflict Between King of South and King of North -- Daniel 11:6ff
With the Ptolemies controlling the southern regions of the Empire, and the Seleucids controlling the regions just north of them, there was a good deal of conflict between these rulers throughout their successive generations. Daniel 11:6 relates that there would be an attempt to ally these two nations through a political marriage, one which will end in murder. Indeed, a daughter of the Ptolemy line, Bernice, was given in marriage to a son from the Seleucus line, Antiochus. However, Bernice was murdered by a rival wife after giving birth to a son. So, for quite a few generations the Ptolemies were at odds against the offspring of Seleucus, most of whom were named "Antiochus".

The Abomination of Desolation -- Daniel 11:31-32
It was Antiochus IV who achieved notoriety in his actions against the Jews. Antiochus IV gained control over the Judean territory. By this time the Greek culture had become the norm throughout the empire, and many citizens had actually grown up in the culture. The Jews, however, continued to maintain their own cultural identity, rejecting the Greek Gods and adhering in various degrees to the commands of their one true God. Antiochus was not pleased with this. He felt that the Jews would be much easier to control if they would adopt the Greek culture as well, so he took drastic measures to Hellenize the Jews. (Hellenization is the term for making folks adopt the Greek way of life.)

When Antiochus IV captured Judea, he passed laws that strictly forbade the Jewish religion. Circumcision and Sabbath observance were outlawed, the Hebrew scriptures were destroyed, and anyone caught following the Jewish laws was cruelly punished. In Jerusalem Antiochus tore down the city walls, set up an idol of Jupiter on the temple altar, and had heathen rituals performed in the temple of God.

The Jews were divided in how they responded to this forced Hellenization. Some tried to find a middle ground, retaining a form of Jewishness while at the same time adopting the Greek way of life. Others, however, considered this to be the prophesied "abomination of desolation", became militantly opposed to the Greek culture and decided to fight for the right to obey God's laws. These devout orthodox Jews joined under the leadership of a priest named Mattathias, who with his five sons led a band of dedicated Jews in an effort to recapture Jerusalem and throw the heathens out. Mattathias' army met with some success at first, but the enemies discovered a serious weakness of these Jews -- they would not fight on the Sabbath. After a couple very hard losses, Mattathias determined it would be acceptable for the Jews to fight their enemies on Sabbath, and so the group of rebels became a mighty army.

Mattathias died not long after beginning this revolt and his son Judas, called Judas Maccabbee, became the leader. Judas led the army in a decisive battle that drove the heathen armies out of Jerusalem and gave the orthodox Jews control of the city once again. (It is here that the story of Hanukkah comes in. The Jewish celebration commemorates the temple lights which, when the true worship was restored in the temple, had only enough oil for one night but burned miraculously for the eight days it took to make new oil.)

After the death of Judas Maccabbee his brothers and their descendants served as rulers in Jerusalem. However, despite the war fought to guarantee the people could obey God's law, there was division in the community over whether or not it was acceptable to maintain the Greek customs. One group of Jews felt that the Greek way of life was mostly acceptable, and that many of the laws and stories of the Bible could be interpreted to support the Greek way of life. This group of Hellenistic Jews was later known as the Sadducees. Since they largely supported the Greek empire, they were also the ones who often found themselves in positions of political power. The other group of Jews felt that it was important to follow the commands of God to the letter, rejecting all forms of Greek culture. This group was later known as the Pharisees, and their legalistic dedication is well known in the New Testament.

The Rise of Rome -- Daniel 2:40ff The descendants of the Maccabbees ruled Judea for a few generations, but eventually two brothers, Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II, fought with each other over who would be the leader. Hyrcanus II gained the support of an ambitious Idumean named Antipater, who helped place Hyrcanus II in power. However, during this time the Roman empire was coming to power throughout the world. When the Roman empire realized that there was a struggle for power in Judea, they decided to take advantage of the situation and simply take over the Judean territory. With the support of the wily Idumean, Antipater, the Romans were successful in making Judea a part of their territory. For the most part the Romans allowed the Jews to maintain their own way of life and customs. However, as a reward for his support, they named Antipater as ruler over Judea. Thus, Antipater became known as Herod Antipas.

Herod Antipas -- Matthew 2:16-18 Herod Antipas was known for his great building projects, and his great cruelty. As part of an effort to gain the support of the Jews, who resented being ruled by an Idumean, Herod began a project to refurbish and expand the temple in Jerusalem. This project would last almost six or seven decades, and the temple itself would be destroyed shortly after it was finished. Herod's cruelty is best remembered in scripture for his violence against children. When Herod Antipas heard the news of a baby king being born in Bethlehem, he had all the boys in the Bethlehem region under two years old killed. Before he had a chance to issue this edict, however, Joseph had taken his wife Mary and their newborn baby, Jesus, to live safely in Egypt until Herod's death.

And so we come to the time of the New Testament. The world is dominated by Greek culture, which explains why the New Testament was written in common Greek. The Roman empire is in power, the Jews are divided among the "Hellenistic" Sadduccees and the legalistic orthodox Pharisees, and the time has come for God to set up a kingdom which will last forever. Restricted access