Introduction to the Intertestamental Period

With Excerpts from the McArthur Study Bible, NKJV, and additional commentary by Chadwick Warner - in some places I may tone down or dial up decisive language in the text or simplify language if they are beating around the metaphorical bush.

Over 400 years separated the final events (Nehemiah 13:4-30) and the final prophecy (Malachi 1:1-4:6) recorded in the Old Testament (ca. 6 B.C.) Because there was no prophetic word from God during this time, this period is sometimes called “the four hundred silent years.” However, the history of these years followed the pattern predicted in Daniel (Daniel 2:24,45; 7:1-28; 8:1-27; 11:1-35) with exact precision.

[Note: Here in the text included in this Bible, the author assumes that the hand of God was actively directing the course of actions during this century. I do not agree that he could know this - it is a pious assumption.]

The Intertestamental Period

A Time Before the Church that the Church Should Know About

Jewish History

As predicted by Daniel, control of the land of Israel passed from the empire of Medo-Persia to Greece and then to Rome (Daniel 2:39, 40; 7:5-7). For about 200 years, the Persian Empire ruled the Jews (539 - 332 B.C.). The Persians allowed the Jews to return, rebuild, and worship at the temple in Jerusalem (2 Chronicles 36:22, 2; Ezra 1:1-4). For about 100 years after the close of the Old Testament canon, Judea continued to be a Persian territory under the governor of Syria with the High-Priest exercising a measure of civil authority. The Jews were allowed to observe their religious tenets without any official government interference.

Between 334 B.C. and 331 B.C., Alexander the Great defeated the Persian King, Darius III, in 3 decisive battles that gave him control of the lands of the Persian Empire. The land of Israel thus passed into Greek control in 332 B.C. (Daniel 8:5-7; 20, 21; 11:13). Alexander permitted the Jews in Judea to observe their laws and granted them an exemption from taxes during their sabbatical years. However, Alexander sought to Hellenize the lands. He wished to create a world that was essentially Greek. This policy was carried on by Alexander’s successors . . . dangerous to the religion of Israel . . . because the Greek way of life was attractive, sophisticated, humanly appealing, and utterly ungodly.

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By 198 B.C., Antiochus III the Great took control of Israel (Daniel 11:13-16). Judea was under Seleucid rule until 143 B.C (Daniel 11:17-35). Antiochus IV Epiphanes desecrated and plundered the temple of Jerusalem in 170 B.C. In 167 B.C., he ordered Hellenization in Palestine and forbade the Jews from keeping their laws, observing the Sabbath, keeping festivals, offering sacrifices, and circumcising their children. Copies of the Torah were ordered destroyed, idolatrous altars were set up, and the Jews were commanded to offer unclean sacrifices and to eat pig’s flesh. Antiochus is the first pagan monarch to persecute the Jews over their faith.

An aged priest, Mattathias, and his 5 sons led the Jewish resistance against Antiochus and his Seleucid successors. This was known as the Maccabean Revolt because Judas Maccabeus was the first leader among the 5 sons. After a 24-year war (166 - 132 B.C.), the Jews were able to gain their independence from Syria because of the growing Roman pressure on the Seleucids. The descendants of Matthaias founded the Hamonean dynasty, a name derived from Hashmon, an ancestor of the Macabees.

The Hasmoneans took over the office of High-Priest, although they did not belong to the line of Zadok (Numbers 25:10-13; Ezekiel 40:46; 48:11). Quickly,, the Hasmoneans began to follow Hellenistic ways - practices they had fought against, and the Hellenistic Culture continued to become pervasive in Israel from 134 - 63 B.C.

The Hasmonean dynasty ended in 63 B.C., when Pompey, the Roman General, intervened in a clash between two opposing claimants to the High Priesthood and installed Herod the Great, the King of Judah, who was the Governor there when Jesus was born.