Ep. 11 - In-Between the Old and New Testaments: Identity, Kingdom, Hope
Episode Transcript
Ep. 11 - In-Between the Old and New Testaments: Identity, Kingdom, Hope
[00:00:00] JC Schroeder: Welcome to Bite Size Seminary. In this podcast, we discuss issues in biblical studies, theology, ministry engagement, and following Jesus. I'm JC Schroeder. If you want to be challenged by new ideas and encouraged by old ones, then keep listening. Today, we're going to talk about what is going on in between the Old and New Testaments, and how that helps us better understand the message of the Bible.
[00:00:35] Don't forget too, you can also sign up to receive episodes emailed directly to you. As well as read a transcript of today's episode, all at my website, bitesizeseminary.com. All right, let's dive in.
[00:00:55] The Need for Knowing the History and Culture of the New Testament
[00:00:55] JC Schroeder: [00:01:00] Imagine trying to understand, or describe, the 21st century, but had no knowledge of any of the previous developments from the beginning of the 17th century. You would be pretty lost on some basic things. Things like secularism. Why don't people identify with religion anymore? Or maybe like democracy. How is this the dominant political system now? Now maybe we can't describe all of these changes, or what secularism is. But we certainly do swim in these ideas and the results of them. So if someone really wanted to understand our current culture, they would have to understand where we have come from.
[00:01:40] Now it's interesting that this separation, from the beginning of the 17th to the 21st centuries, is roughly the same amount of time from when the Old Testament ends and the New Testament story begins. And yet many Christians have little to no awareness of the events that have [00:02:00] occurred or the changes that have happened and the factors that influence them. So what I want to do in this episode and in a few future episodes is give a broad overview of that time in-between the Old Testament and the New Testament. Sometimes Christians will use the term, the Intertestamental period, the in-between time. Another common term for this period is Second Temple Judaism. And we'll see where that name comes from. So what we'll do, in this episode, is we'll look at some of the beginning historical events that shaped this period and some of the emerging ideas.
[00:02:38] Now, maybe you're thinking, "Slow down, JC. Can't we just understand the New Testament without the historical or cultural information? Isn't Scripture sufficient? And you're just adding additional burdens to understanding the gospel? No, I don't want to do that, obviously! And yes Scripture is sufficient. [00:03:00] And yes, we can understand the New Testament. We can understand the basic message of the gospel, and of what God is telling us in his Word, of his sovereignty, our sin, his redemption through Jesus by dying and being raised. All of this can be understood quite well with just a simple reading of Scripture. But there are important facets and nuances of the story that we miss out on without the historical and cultural knowledge. Without those, we can even have less than ideal interpretations of Scripture because of our being unaware of these factors. So I think this information of the historical developments and the cultural world that the New Testament inherited and lived in, is tremendously helpful.
[00:03:49] Now we're not just giving history for history's sake because we like history. Now I do like history! But this has an end game. All of this information is there [00:04:00] to help us better understand God's message, which he has spoken in his Word, as revealed 2,000 years ago in a certain context, in a certain environment in the ancient world. So for us to understand his Word, to understand how that Word redefines the world that it enters, we have to understand that world it did enter.
[00:04:25] A Shift in Identity
[00:04:25] JC Schroeder: Now, beginning this journey, we need to take a step back into the Old Testament. One of the most tragic and paradigm shifting events for Jewish history is when the Babylonians come and they destroy Jerusalem and the Temple, in 586 BC. We read of this in both second Kings and second Chronicles because of Judea's unfaithfulness to the Lord. After this destruction of the temple by the Babylonians, they take many Jews back to Babylon. [00:05:00] And Israel and Judea undergoes a 70-year exile. During this timeframe, the Persians take over the Babylonian empire. The Persians exhibit a much more hands-off approach to the Judeans and they allow them to go back to Judea and to rebuild the temple. And so this period, from roughly around 516 BC all the way to 70 AD, is called the Second Temple period, where the Second Temple has been built. See how it works?
[00:05:34] And during this Persian period, as a result of the destruction of the Temple and the exile of Judah, these Jewish people have now been scattered throughout the ancient world. They are no longer centralized within the nation of Judah or Israel. Prior to this time, ancient Israelites were centered in either the northern kingdom of Israel [00:06:00] or the southern kingdom of Judea. But now in this period of time, they are spread throughout the ancient Mediterranean and the ancient near east. They were no longer centralized. This became a radical transformation of the way that Jews thought of themselves and thought of their religious practice as Jews.
[00:06:21] So this period, where the Persians are in control, leads to questions of ethnicity. Who are we as a people? It led to questions of what sort of practice do we have? If I live too far away from the temple, if I live in Babylon, how can I worship God when I have no access to the temple? If Israel and Judah are no longer a kingdom, what of God's promises about the land and the kingdom?
[00:06:50] So during this time you have several emerging elements for Jews. You have the start of the use of synagogues as a gathering point for [00:07:00] Jews, that are scattered abroad, the ancient world. And since they can no longer worship the Lord by going to the temple because they live thousands or hundreds of miles away, how can they worship the Lord? By coming to synagogue and learning and being faithful to Torah. These ideas will continue throughout this intertestamental period, the Second Temple Judaism period, but they start in this Persian period.
[00:07:30] The Pressures of Hellenism
[00:07:30] JC Schroeder: Now the Persians remain in control from roughly around 537-332 BC. Really the way I think about history is not so much about the dates. It's about the story and the sequence of events and how we can understand the cause and effect of those events. So the Persians come in first. And they create this environment because of the Judeans' dispersion throughout the empire, throughout the ancient [00:08:00] world. It now causes them to rethink what truly is their identity, and how can they remain faithful to the Lord in new contexts. This continues when Alexander the Great comes and conquers much of the Persian empire or the entirety of the Persian empire and much of the ancient near eastern world. And with him and with his empire, he brings with him Greek culture. This is called Hellenism. When Alexander the Great dies at a very young age, his kingdom splits between several of his generals. And for our story, there are two Greek kingdoms that emerge from Alexander's empire. They vie for control over the land of Israel. You have the Ptolemies centered in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria.
[00:08:50] Moving forward all the way to 175 BC, a Greek Seleucid king takes the throne and begins to [00:09:00] rule over the region of Israel and his name is Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He was in a difficult situation. He was facing civil war. And he is facing a cash crunch. So he came up with this idea that he can raise funds for his kingdom by raiding different temples and gaining all the money from them. And he can solidify his control and unify his kingdom by uniting it under the banner of Greek culture, under Hellenism. So he comes to Jerusalem and he raids Yahweh's temple in Jerusalem. He sets up a statue to Zeus. He makes all the Jewish practices of circumcision, Sabbath, observance, all of these things that Jews thought of as identifying marks for themselves. He says, these are not allowed anymore. He institutes a dramatic and terrible purge in this area, [00:10:00] forcing people to eat pigs meat, that would be understood by Jews as being defiling. All of this is under the penalty of death. We have many texts in this period that describe people that resisted this and suffered and were tortured because of their faithfulness to the Lord and their faithfulness to Torah.
[00:10:22] And there are actually a variety of responses that happen to Antiochus' draconian measures in trying to snuff out Judaism. Some adopt Greek culture. They totally become Greek. Others have a partial acceptance, but in a resistance to some of it. And others have a full on rejection of Greek culture preferring to be faithful to Torah. What we've seen before is that when Israel is a kingdom, before they're destroyed, before they are exiled by Babylon, their identity was focused on[00:11:00] their kingdom. And their land that the Lord had given to them and the place that they can worship the Lord in the temple. But when all of those things are lost by the Babylonians, their sense of identity shifts to other elements. Their sense of identity shifts to ethnicity, not of where you live, but in what your family was. Now, obviously ethnicity played a part before. But it becomes a more prominent element of the identity for Jews in the Second Temple period. The idea of practice as becoming a worshipful element is heightened in this period as well. So there's a higher emphasis on Sabbath observance and circumcision. Those are the things that Antiochus Epiphanes goes after, because he knows that those are identifying features of Judaism. And he seeks to snuff those out.
[00:11:56] What you have in between this period [00:12:00] when the temple has been destroyed and now Antiochus is pressing the Jews on their identity. They're at the existential threat of the loss of their own identity. This results in many Jews revolting against the Greek Seleucid kingdom and Antiochus Epiphanes and the start of the Maccabean revolt. This starts in 167 to 164 BC. This is actually the first recorded war over religious freedom in history. The revolt is led by a very old priest, Mattathias, who resists and rejects the call to defile himself and to be unfaithful to Torah. And him and his sons runaway. They kill a Greek soldier. They run away to the hills, and they start these guerrilla raids against the Greek kingdom. And they gain a following. Mattathias dies [00:13:00] quickly after peacefully. And his sons take up the mantle of leading this revolution.
[00:13:05] His son Judas was given the name Maccabeus, which meant "hammer". So he was a real diplomat. And against all odds, they defeat Antiochus' Seleucid army. And they win liberty for Jerusalem. And through a series of other battles and over more time through the leadership of other brothers, the Jewish kingdom is renewed. For the first time in 400 years, since when Jerusalem had been destroyed by the Babylonians, the Jews were ruled by themselves under the leadership of the Maccabees or the Hasmonean dynasty.
[00:13:47] And now they were able to preserve that Jewish practice and that identity. All of those features that separated Jews from Gentiles, that separated faithful Jews from unfaithful [00:14:00] Jews, such as Sabbath and circumcision, were now able to continue. The existential threat against Jewish identity was abated. They were now able to protect themselves. This is a dramatic turn of events. But through this period, there is continued debate about what is the exact practice and what is the exact identity that Jews should have. Even in the midst of the Maccabees' rejection of Greek culture and Hellenism and wanting to be faithful to Torah. We see that especially later Hasmonean rulers are quite Greek, quite Hellenistic. They are swimming in these Greek ideas and Greek ways of ruling.
[00:14:47] Hope for a Messiah
[00:14:47] JC Schroeder: So the longed for kingdom that Israel had been hoping for, that the Jews had been hoping for, is finally restored under the Maccabees. And they are excited for this. They are delighted [00:15:00] in this. But over time, corruption sets in. And over time, there is the realization that this kingdom is not what it's supposed to be. Eventually, what happens is the Romans will come in and take power away from the Maccabees. And take away that kingdom, and oppression will return. They had oppression before for 400 years. And now oppression returns. And this leaves Israel, this leaves the Jews in this spot of, is there any hope. Will there be a kingdom? Will we have the land returned to us? Will there be a one, who will come and restore all of this to us? The ideas of Messiah, of that anointed one, are swirling. All of these different ideas about [00:16:00] who this Messiah is and what he will come to do are swirling in Judea at the time of Jesus's birth.
[00:16:07] So all of these factors are coming together, all of these historical events and cultural realizations are coming together to shape the identity of Judaism, to shape the identity of the Jews of the time of the Gospels and of the New Testament. All of their hopes, their ideals, what they think of as faithfulness, are influenced by this time period. Their very identity of how they see themselves as a Jew, is shaped by the events in this timeframe.
[00:16:46] Comparing with the New Testament
[00:16:46] JC Schroeder: And as we turn to the New Testament, we see that these ideas of longing for this kingdom affect how people see and understand Jesus. When they see Jesus and they recognize that he [00:17:00] has some messianic language, some messianic vision going on here. They are importing onto him this Maccabean vision. And so thus you even see this with some of his disciples where they're going, "Yes, Lord, let's go into Jerusalem and kick some butt." And Jesus he just goes, "No, I am going to Jerusalem to die." His mission is quite different from the expectation that his disciples and that many other Jews had of a restored Maccabean kingdom.
[00:17:34] So many of these factors with the history of this in-between time and the identity of the Jewish people are tremendously valuable for us as we approach the New Testament. We'll see how in future episodes, how these factors influence how people see Jesus, how they understand [00:18:00] him, and the response to God and light of them. As people living in Judea are wondering, is there a kingdom? Is there any hope? What does it mean to be faithful to the Lord? It is in that environment in which Jesus steps forward. He redefines these concepts of kingdom. He redefines these concepts of the Messiah. He redefines these concepts of faithfulness to Torah, faithfulness to God. And he builds them upon himself. So these events and these factors are quite valuable for us as we approach the New Testament. They should help illuminate our understanding of the New Testament.
[00:18:49] Resources
[00:18:49] JC Schroeder: That's all we have for today. In the next couple episodes, we'll look at other factors that influence and shape our reading of the New Testament from this time period. [00:19:00] Now, maybe you're thinking, where can I go to get more information about the historical and cultural environment of the New Testament. I'm glad you asked. There's some great resources, which I'll link in the show notes.
[00:19:11] The first one and probably the most helpful resource I have seen to help us get a better grasp of what's going on behind the New Testament is a small fictional book by Bruce Longenecker called The Lost Letters of Pergamum: A Story from the New Testament World. This is written by a well known New Testament scholar. And he presents the world of the New Testament in a fictional story. So it's highly engaging, very easy and entertaining to read, but has tremendous value to help us see what's going on behind the New Testament. I think that's just the best way and easiest entry point into learning more about the historical and cultural background information.
[00:19:57] I also really like the Cultural Background Study [00:20:00] Bible. You get snippets of information throughout your reading of Scripture, that's tied to what you're reading in the New Testament, as well as the Old Testament. It's a great resource.
[00:20:10] If you're really nerdy like me, there's some other great books as well, such as David deSilva's Honor, Patronage, Kinship and Purity. It's a really helpful book that situates the New Testament in its cultural environment. Another really helpful book, that has a variety of short articles on various topics of the cultural background of the New Testament. And that is The World of the New Testament: Cultural, Social, and Historical Context edited by Joel B. Green and Lee Martin MacDonald. All of those are great resources. And I've linked them for you in the show notes, if you want to check them out.
[00:20:52] Outro
[00:20:52] JC Schroeder: All right. That's enough. I hope this has been a blessing. If you made it this far in the episode, would you mind giving an honest review [00:21:00] either on Apple Podcasts or Spotify? Don't forget too, you can also find a transcript of today's episode at my website, bitesizeseminary.com. Where you can also connect with me, also on Twitter or Facebook. You can see all the links in the show notes below. Thanks for listening.