[Faith-talk] Daily Thought for Thursday, June 20, 2013

[Paul]

Hello and greetings to you all in the blessed and wonderful name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.  I hope that you all are doing well or that your day is going well or went well today.

As stated toward the end of yesterday's message, we continue with the article by Herb Hirt entitled "Gentile Rule Over Judaea." As you may recall, the last thing we learned from yesterday's study was that, on Chislev 25 167 B.C., Antiochus set up a statue of Zeus in the Jerusalem Temple.  We continue this historical account as rendered as follows:

At the same time, all of the priests in Judaea were commanded to offer pagan sacrifices.  In the town of Modein, an old priest named Mattathias refused to offer the sacrifices, killed a Jew who was going to do so, along with Antiochus' agent, and tore down the altar.  Mattathias and his five sons were joined by the anti-Hellenist Hasidim, and thus began the Maccabean revolt.  After defeating the Syrians at Emmaus, one of Mattathias' sons, Judas Maccabee, restored the Temple worship on Chislev 25, 164 B.C.  The Feast of Dedication or Lights (Hanukkah) commemorates this event.  Following another 30 years of fighting, Judas' brother Simon was named leader and high priest of Judaea by the Syrians in 142 B.C.  Thus began 80 years of Jewish independence under the family name of Mattathias, the Hasmoneans.

While the early Hasmoneans ruled effectively, the later rulers caused much strife in Judaea.  Not only did the Hasmonean rulers become wealthy and power hungry, they became less zealous for Judaism and enemies of the Pharisees.  They also alienated the rightful priesthood because they were not of the Zadokite line.  The Zadokite priests formed a separate community in Qumran.  Conversely, the Sadducees came from those wealthy families that supported Hasmonean rule.  As a result, many segments of Jewish society were looking for the promised Son of David who would come and make all things right.  Ultimately, Rome conquered--piece by piece--the Greek Empire.  When General Pompey subjected Palestine in 63 B.C., Jewish independence effectively ended.

JUDAEA UNDER ROMAN RULE

Roman rule of Palestine was much like that of the previous empires.  A Roman governor or legate administered the province of Syria and Palestine from Antioch, while local kings ruled under Roman authority with the understanding that they would be loyal to Rome.  The Romans were not interested in promoting any philosophical or religious agenda.  Rather, their interest was simply in keeping the peace of the entire empire and receiving the nation's loyalty and tribute.

In 37 B.C., Herod was proclaimed King of Judaea, and he ruled for 33 years.  Herod the Great was hated by the Jews, and so he sought to please them by his great building projects, especially the enlargement of the Temple in Jerusalem.  Herod, however, was determined to eradicate any rival claim to his throne.  He eliminated any Hasmonean rival and named Ananel, a Babylonian priest, as high priest in Jerusalem in 37 B.C.  From that point, the high priests in Jerusalem were appointed by the ruler of Judaea, usually through bribery by one of the many wealthy families.  The house of Annas, whose son-in-law Caiaphas was high priest in Jesus' day, was one of those families.  They were not legitimate high priests according to the family of Zadok, but they sought to protect Judaea from Roman power, if only for their own self-interests.  This explains why in the New Testament the high priests were so intent on keeping the peace and not offending their Roman rulers.

Herod the Great's kingdom was divided among three of his sons who survived his paranoia.  Archelaus received Judaea and Samaria, Herod Antipas received Galilee and Perea, and Philip received the area of lower Syria north and east of the Sea of Galilee.  Archelaus was incompetent and was replaced by a Roman procurator in 6 A.D.  These Roman procurators lived in Caesarea by the Sea and were responsible to the legate to keep the peace and assure that the taxes were paid.  Pontius Pilate was procurator of Judaea from 26 to 36 A.D., and his name has been found on a plaque dedicating a temple to the Emperor Tiberius in Caesarea.

There was always opposition to Roman rule in Judaea, especially by the Zealots, who dreamed of an independent Jewish state.  The roman procurators were ruthless in their desire to maintain order.  When the Roman procurator Gessius Florus, after decades of unrest, caused riots in Caesarea and Jerusalem in 66 A.D., the sacrifices offered on behalf of the emperor in the Temple in Jerusalem were stopped.  This began the Jewish revolt that resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. and the Zealots' mass suicide at Masada two years later.  This effectively ended the rule of the Jewish high priest over Judaea, and Judaism had to learn to survive through the rabbis and the synagogues.

As prophesied by the Old Testament prophets, Israel lost its sovereignty to the Gentile nations because the people broke the Mosaic Covenant and were disloyal to the Lord.  These are the times of the Gentiles referred to by Jesus in Luke 21:24, which indicate that this period still is not completed.  However, these prophets also prophesied that ultimately the Lord would establish the rule of a Davidic king--His Messiah--over an independent Israel, who would judge the Gentiles and bless Israel when the nation finally repents of its sin and recognizes its Lord (Zech. 12:14).

And there you have this two-part article.  Now, I'm not asking you to remember names, dates and places, but the lesson in all this is clear:  Obey and follow the Lord's commandments and ordinances "with all your heart, soul, mind and strength," and all will go well.  Disobey and ignore the same and all will go badly.  That goes for our nations as well.  Psalm 33:12 states that "Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord." It was true in the past, and is equally true today.  Are our nations acknowledging that God is their Lord? I haven't found evidence of such.  Of course, individuals and perhaps even groups of people acknowledge Him, but officially nations in this day and age do not.

And now may the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob just keep us safe, individually and collectively, throughout these evil days in which we live.  Your Christian friend and brother, Paul