Sermon: The Intertestamental Period

#1679
Martin G. Collins
Given 05-Nov-22; 72 minutes

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The national and spiritual endeavors of the Jews during the Intertestamental Period took on a dramatic change from the Judah of Ezra and Nehemiah's day. We see this dramatic change begin to take place under Nehemiah's influence.

Please turn with me to Nehemiah 13. In 444 BC (and these are approximate dates), just before the period between the Testaments, Nehemiah went to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem and remained in Jerusalem for about 12 years, after which he returned to Persia. Several years later, he returned to Judah to find the Jews ignoring God's commandments and statutes. This account is recorded in Nehemiah 13, where we will read verses 6 and 7, 11 and 12, 15 to 18, and 22. These are about the reforms that Nehemiah brought about.

Nehemiah 13:6-7 But during all this, I was not in Jerusalem, for in the thirty-second year of Artaxerxes king of Babylon I had returned to the king. Then after certain days I obtained leave from the king, and I came to Jerusalem and discovered the evil of that Eliashib had done for Tobiah, in preparing a room for him in the court of the house of God.

So they were going to give this leader under Artaxerxes an office or a room in the Temple. And that stirred things up, especially in Nehemiah's mind.

Nehemiah 13:11-12 So I contended with the rulers, and said, "Why is the house of God forsaken?" And I gathered them together and I set them in their place. Then all Judah brought the tithe of the grain and new wine and oil to the storehouse.

Nehemiah 13:15-18 In those days I saw people in Judah treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves, and loading donkeys with wine, grapes, figs, and all kinds of burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I warned them about the day on which they were selling provisions. Men of Tyre dwelt there also, who brought in fish and all kinds of goods, and sold them on the Sabbath to the children of Judah, and in Jerusalem. Then I contended with the nobles of Judah, and said to them, "What evil is this that you do by which you profane the Sabbath day? Did not your fathers do thus, and did not our God bring all this disaster on us and on this city? Yet you bring added wrath on Israel by profaning the Sabbath."

Nehemiah 13:22 And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should go and guard the gates to sanctify the Sabbath day. Remember me, O my God, concerning this also, and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy!

Nehemiah was terrified at what God might bring upon Judah again for making the same old mistake that they had always made, and that was Sabbath breaking. They also continued to have the problem of idolatry. And this was the condition of Judah in the fifth century BC.

Now I am going to continue to say BC because it means before Christ. But the modern version of that now is BCE, which is Before Common Era. And that just tries to erase Christ out of the picture and I am not going to do that in this sermon. I am going to stick with the good old BC—before Christ—because Christ is the focus ultimately on this sermon.

But God began to turn the Jews around through Nehemiah. They were guilty of neglecting support of God's ministers, Sabbath breaking, and intermarrying with non-Israelite cultures, that is, pagan Gentiles.

Even allowing their language to be replaced by a foreign tongue is mentioned to show how far from their spiritual heritage they had strayed, losing their identity in the process.

That is happening in the United States today. We are losing our language. Kristy [Collins] was telling me that she learned in France that French is supposed to be a language that is going to outperform English. By 2050 it will be the most spoken language in the world because so many in Africa and Asia and other areas speak French. So we are seeing English dissipate. Also by the sheer fact that we have less children in this nation. Now we do not even have enough to replenish the original peoples of the United States. So that is coming and nothing can stop it because it is part of having children or not having children. It is all in the dynamics there.

Nehemiah began to reform Judah and the people began to realize how far they had separated themselves from God by sinning as a way of life.

Now, for most of us, Israel's history stops abruptly with the prophet Malachi (about 450 to 430 BC) to be resumed briefly 400-some years later in the New Testament period. But these 400-plus missing years, known as the Intertestamental Period, were alive with activity that shaped the world into which Jesus was born.

The Old Testament period ended under the imperial control of Persia. And in the New Testament, Rome is in command by that time, 400-some years later. What happened between the Testaments and how did the Intertestamental Period prepare Judah and the world for the coming of the Messiah and the preaching of the gospel?

But during the historical period in general, the Exile left its permanent stamp on Judaism as well as on the secular Jews. It affected them both spiritually and physically (and mentally). The Jews' return to the land of their fathers was marked by the last declining inspiration of prophecy. The Old Testament prophetic inspiration ended with Malachi.

So the interval between the Old Testament and the New Testament is the dark period, so to speak, in the history of Israel and Judah. It stretches itself out over about four centuries, during which there was neither prophet nor inspired writer in either Israel or Judah.

All we know of it, we owe to Josephus, to some of the apocryphal books, and to scattered references in Greek and to Latin historians. The seat of empire passed over from the East to the West, from Asia to Europe. And the Persian Empire collapsed under the fierce attacks of the Macedonians, and the Greek Empire in turn gave way to the Roman rule.

There was a lot of turmoil, a lot of war, a lot of empires rising and waning during that period of time. Rome strengthened herself by ceaseless wars for her goal of world conquest.

During the Intertestamental Period, the other ten tribes of Israel were scattered by hundreds of years of captivity and war, and then migrated over hundreds of years to various parts of Europe, the British Isles, and Ireland. But our focus today is on the area where Jesus Christ was born in Judah, the area that the Jews occupied for most of that 400 years and into Jesus's time.

I am going to give you a lot of names and dates, but ignore them in one sense. Unless you are a history buff, then you can take note of them. But I do not want you to be clouded by names and dates, just to get a feel for the changes that went on among the Jews as history progressed through these 400 years.

So let us look briefly at the historical developments regarding the Jews during the time between the Testaments. Regarding Jewish history, this dark era can be divided into six major historical periods and I will list them for you very quickly so you have some more of an outline.

First, the Persian period.

Second, the Alexandrian period.

Third, the Egyptian period.

Fourth, the Syrian period.

Fifth, the Maccabean period, which is also known as the Hasmonean period.

Sixth, the Roman period.

Those are the main, maybe we could call them, empires that rose up and waned during that time and had an effect on the Jews.

Now, the Jews had a couple of returns to Jerusalem before the Old Testament stopped recording Jewish history. The Jews returned under Zerubbabel in 539 to 538 BC, as recorded in Ezra chapters 2 through 6. The Jews also returned later under Ezra in 457 BC, as recorded in Ezra chapters 7 through 10. Nehemiah came to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem in about, as I said, 444 BC and remained in Jerusalem until about 433 to 432 BC, a little over 10 years when he returned to Persia. He returned to Judah as recorded in Nehemiah 13, sometime before the death of Artaxerxes the First in 423 BC.

It was in the latter part of the Persian period of strength, which was 539 to 423 BC that we come to the end of Old Testament history, roughly around 423 or so BC. Now the first period, the complete Persian period, extended from the cessation of prophecy, that is, foretold future events, in about 539 BC to the Alexandrian period in 334 BC. So we are only looking at under a hundred years for many of these empires. In one case, I think it is just a little over 12 years.

Please turn with me to II Chronicles 36. In 539 BC, Cyrus king of Persia defeated the Babylonians and allowed the dispersed nations, including the Jews, to return to their homeland by a formal proclamation. This proclamation of Cyrus is first mentioned in the Bible about 100 years later in about 439 BC. In Ezra 1 and Ezra 6:3-5, we find this proclamation written. And this proclamation is also mentioned in II Chronicles, which was composed around 400 BC.

II Chronicles 36:22-23 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the Lord by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the Lord stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, so that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and also put in writing, saying, Thus says Cyrus king of Persia: All the kingdoms of the earth the Lord God of heaven has given me. And He has commanded me to build Him a house at Jerusalem which is in Judea in Judah. Who is among you of all of His people? May the Lord his God be with him, and let him go up!

That was a proclamation for the Jews to go back there or those who were already in Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple.

The land of Palestine was a portion of the Syrian satrapy, while the true government of the Jewish people was semi-theocratic under the rule of the Jewish high priests who were responsible to the satrap. And that satrap is mainly a governor or somebody that heads a division.

Now turn over to what Daniel 8. Again, we are not going to get into detail on these scriptures. Just an overview to show you how some of these times are mentioned here or prophesized.

As a matter of course, the high priestly office became the object of all Jewish ambition and it aroused the darkest desires in human nature. Thus, John, the son of Judas, son of Eliashib, through the lust of power, killed his brother Jesus (not Jesus Christ, Jesus, or in another language, Joshua), who was a favorite of Bagoses, a general of Artaxerxes in command of the district.

Now the guilt of the fratricide, meaning brother killing brother, was enhanced because the crime was committed in the Temple in Jerusalem itself, and before the altar. As a result, a storm of rage swept over Judea. And so the peace that they found under Xerxes, this incident caused everything to blow up. So this ended the pseudo-peace in in the nation.

Let us shift gears here and notice what was prophesized by Daniel to be the rise of the Persian Empire. It is very brief. In fact, Richard Ritenbaugh, in his Forerunner Prophecy Watch article titled, "Nebuchadnezzar's Image, Part Two: Chest and Arms of Silver," writes this comment:

History records that the Persians considered a ram with sharp, pointed horns to be their guardian spirit, and the king bore the head of a ram instead of a crown when he led his armies into battle.

Notice this depiction in Daniel's prophecy about the great empires to come after this time.

Daniel 8:3-4 Then I lifted my eyes and saw, and there, standing beside the river, was a ram which had two horns, and the two horns were high; but one was higher than the other, and the higher one came up last. I saw the ram pushing westward, northward, and southward, so that no animal could withstand him; nor was there any that could deliver him from his hand, but he did according to his will and became great.

So, that Persian ram pushed and conquered everything in every direction except eastward where its military campaigns were very minor. To the west they occupied Jerusalem, the Temple was defiled, the city laid waste in part, a heavy fine was imposed on the people, and a general persecution followed, which lasted for many years. So there was a lot of suffering and death at that time among the Jews because of this characteristic of this empire, this Persian empire and the Persians represented by the ram.

Now, the Samaritans in the area were always pliable and willing to obey the tyrant of the day and went practically free of blame as they did in many persecutions that followed. In this, we see part of the reason the Samaritans were so hated by the rest of the Jews. By the time Jesus Christ arrived on the scene, no record remains of the relations between the Persians and the Jews after this period.

The Persian Empire quickly collapsed and was ultimately wiped out by the young Greek empire and civilization. And when the Persian Empire came under the power of Alexander, the Jews simply transferred their allegiance from one monarch to another. And then the next period was the Alexandrian period. This is the second period and this was very brief. It was from 334 to 323 BC (remember in BC were going in reverse order in the numbers), and simply covered the period of the Asiatic rule of Alexander the Great.

Nevertheless, he had an impact on the Jews at that time. In Greece, things had been moving swiftly. The Thebans destroyed the Israelite-Spartan hegemony which had been unbroken since the fall of Athens. But Philip of Macedon, who was chosen general leader by the unwilling Greeks, soon crushed the Spartan power.

Persia was the object of Philip's ambition and vengeance, but he was killed before he could execute his plans. His 20-year-old son Alexander succeeded him, and thus the great male goat of which Daniel had spoken appeared on the scene. So Daniel had prophesized these leaders, these umpires rising up.

Daniel 8:5-8 And as I was considering, suddenly a male goat came from the west, across the surface of the whole earth, without touching the ground; and the goat had a notable horn between his eyes. Then he came to the ram that had two horns [Of course, the ram remember being Persia], which I had seen standing beside the river, and ran at him with furious power. And I saw him confronting the ram; he was moved with rage against him, attacked the ram, and broke his two horns. There was no power in the ram to withstand him, but he cast him down to the ground and trampled him; and there was no one that could deliver the ram from his hand. Therefore the male goat grew very great; but when he became strong, the large horn was broken, and in place of it four notable ones came up toward the four winds of heaven.

Daniel 10:20 Then he said, "Do you know why I have come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia; and when I have gone forth, indeed the prince of Greece will come."

So in the 12 years of Alexander's reign, he revolutionized the world. His tactics were so swift, all Greece was laid at his feet. Then he moved to Asia where he defeated Darius king of Persia at that time. Darius being the last one.

Passing southward, he conquered the Mediterranean coast and Egypt; and then he moved eastward again for the complete conquest of Asia when, at age 33, Alexander was struck down in the height of his power at Babylon.

Now in the Syrian campaign Alexander had come in contact with the Jews. He was unwilling to leave any stronghold at his back, so he destroyed Tyre after a siege of several months. Then he advanced southward and demanded the surrender of Jerusalem. But the Jews, remembering their bitter experience, wanted to remain loyal to Persia. However, here was Alexander the Great ready to destroy them. So as Alexander approached the city, Jaddua the high priest, with a train of priests in their official dress, went out to meet him to supplicate mercy. The Jews read the prophecies of Daniel concerning Alexander to him. And so he spared the city and sacrificed to Yahweh.

From that day on the Jews became his favorites and he employed them in his army and gave them equal rights with the Greeks, as first citizens of Alexandria, and other cities that he founded. So the strong Hellenistic spirit of the Jews was created which distinguished this large portion of the nation in the latter periods of their history.

During the Greek period, the more conservative and zealous of the Jews were constantly confronted with the tendency of many of the people, especially the younger and wealthier set, to adopt the manners of life and thought and speech of their masters, the Greeks. Thus, the Hellenistic party was born, which was bitterly hated by all true-blooded Jews, but which left its mark on their history until the date of the final dispersion in 70 AD. To this day, many of the Greek scientists, philosophers, and statesmen of the Intertestamental Period are revered for their intellect by the world in this dark period for Israel.

Greek thought dominated the world, and its influence is still felt to this day, including such men as Hippocrates, Democritus, Plato, Aristotle, and Archimedes. Many of you recognize all of those names. They are so heavily quoted today, as well as their influence is just everywhere.

Even though Israel's accomplishments were far greater in every arena than the Greeks, especially under the wisdom of King Solomon, the worldly historians have chosen to ignore Israelite God-given inventions and accomplishments, and admire and respect, self-indulgent Gentile men using human reasoning. So you can certainly see Satan behind the writing of history, at least what the world has as the history.

The third period, the Egyptian period from 323 to 324 BC, began with the death of Alexander, temporarily turning everything into chaos. The Alexandrian Empire welded together by Alexander's leadership, fell apart under four of his generals and you will most likely recognize these individuals as wel: Ptolemy, Lysimachus, Cassander, and Selenus.

Daniel 8:21-22 And the male goat is the kingdom of Greece. The large horn that is between its eyes is the first king [that is, Alexander the Great]. As for the broken horn and the four that stood up in its place, four kingdoms shall rise out of that nation, but not with its power.

And so those are the four individuals that I just mentioned.

Egypt fell to the share of Ptolemy Soter and Judah was made part of it. At first Ptolemy was harsh in his treatment of the Jews, but later on he learned to respect them and became their patron as Alexandra had been. Soter was succeeded by Ptolemy Philadelphus, a developer ruler, meaning he built things, famous through the erection of the lighthouse of Pharos and especially through the founding of the celebrated Alexandrian library. And like his father, he was very friendly to the Jews. In his reign, the celebrated Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures, the Septuagint, was made, according to tradition.

However, the power of the Syrian princes, the Seleucid, grew. Palestine increasingly became the battleground between them and the Ptolemies. And in the decisive battle between Ptolemy Philopater and Antiochus the Great at Raphia near Gaza, Antiochus was crushed, and during Philopater's reign, Judah remained an Egyptian province.

And yet this battle formed the turning point of the history of the Jews in their relation to Egypt. When Ptolemy Philopater came to Jerusalem drunk with victory, he attempted to enter the Holy of Holies of the Temple, but he retreated in confusion from the holy place. Nevertheless, he wreaked his vengeance on the Jews for opposing his plan by a cruel persecution. He was succeeded by his son, Ptolemy Epiphanies, a five year old child. The long-planned vengeance of Antiochus now took form in an invasion of Egypt. Syria and Judah were occupied by the Syrians and passed over into the possession of the Seleucid.

The next period, the fourth period that we are looking at, is the Syrian period from 204 to 165 BC. For Judah, this was an almost uninterrupted martyrdom. Antiochus was succeeded by Seleucis Philopater. But as harsh as their attitude was toward the Jews, neither of these two was notorious for his cruelty to them. Their high priests, as in former periods, were still their supposed rulers. But the aspect of everything changed when Antiochus Epiphanies came to the throne from 175 to 164 BC.

Please turn over to just a few pages to chapter 11 of Daniel. Now, the nationalists among the Jews were at that time squabbling with the Hellenists for the control of Jewish affairs. Onias the III, a loyal high priest, was expelled from office through the scheming of his brother, Jason. Onias went to Egypt where at Heliopolis, he built a temple and officiated as high priest. Meanwhile, Jason in turn was turned out of the holy office by the bribes of still another brother Menelaus, worse by far than Jason. Menelaus was a Jew hater and an avowed defender of the Greek life and morals. So the quarrel between the brothers gave Antiochus Epiphanies the opportunity he craved to inflict his bitter hatred on the Jews and in the plundering of Jerusalem, in reckless and total defilement of the Temple, and in a very horrible persecution of the Jews.

Daniel 11:28-31 [This is about Antiochus Epiphanies] "While returning to his land with great riches, his heart shall be moved against the holy covenant; so he shall do damage and return to his own land. At the appointed time, he shall return and go toward the south; but it shall not be like the former or the latter. Ships from Cyprus shall come against him; therefore he shall be grieved, and return in rage against the holy covenant, and do damage. So he shall return and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. And forces shall be mustered by him, and they shall defy the sanctuary fortress; then they shall take away the daily sacrifices, and place there the abomination of desolation."

So that was the first fulfillment of that prophecy. Thousands were slain, women and children were sold into captivity, the city wall was torn down, all sacrifices ceased, and in the Temple on the altar of burnt offering a statue was erected to Jupiter Olympias, the abomination of desolation in 167 BC.

The fifth period that the Jews had to endure during this period of time was the Maccabean Period, also known as the Hasmonean Period. This went from 165 to 63 BC which was about 102 years. It began in revolt with the slaying of an idolatrous Jew at the altar in the Temple. And the land of Judea, especially adaptable to guerilla tactics, and Judas Maccabaeus, who succeeded his father as leader of the Jewish patriots, was a past master in this kind of guerilla warfare.

All efforts of Antiochus to quell the rebellion failed miserably in three Syrian campaigns. Antiochus Epiphanes died of a detestable disease and peace was at last accomplished with the Jews. Though still supposedly under Syrian rule, Judas Maccabaeus became governor of Palestine. His first act was the purification and rededication of the Temple, from which the Jews date their Feast of Purification.

When the Syrians renewed the war, Judas applied for aid from the Romans whose power had begun to be felt in Asia. But Judas Maccabaeus died in battle before the promised aid could reach him and his brother Jonathan succeeded him. So from that time, the Maccabean history became one of endless factions. Jonathan was acknowledged by the Syrians as meridarch (or governor) of Judea and he was assassinated soon afterward. Simon Maccabaeus succeeded him and by the help of the Romans was made hereditary ruler of Palestine. He in turn was followed by John Hyercanus.

The people were torn by bitter partisan controversies and a civil war was waged a generation later by two grandsons of John Hyercanus, Hyercanus and Aristobulus. In this mutually destructive struggle, the Roman General Pompey participated by siding with Hyercanus, while Aristobulus defied Rome and defended Jerusalem. Pompey took the city after a three month siege and entered the Holy of Holies, thereby forever estranging from Rome every loyal Jewish heart. That is when the Jews hated fiercely and fought them beginning with that incident.

In some respects, the Maccabees set the pattern of Jewish nationalism for the New Testament period.

During the Roman period between the Testaments, Rome conquered Italy and North Africa, Greece and Asia Minor, and the northern barbarians.

Now, the sixth and final period during this time is the Roman period. It went from 63 BC to early first century AD. Now the Roman Empire lasted far beyond that into the four hundreds AD, I believe. But for the sake of how their influence affected the Jews during this Intertestamental Period, their strongest influence was from 63 BC to the birth of Christ. And it began when Hyercanus was stripped of his hereditary royal power, retaining only his high priestly office. So Judah became a Roman province. Rome enacted an annual tribute and Aristobulus was sent as a captive to the capital. Nevertheless, he escaped and renewed the unequal struggle in which he was succeeded by his sons, Alexander and and Antigonus.

Please turn with me to Matthew 2. That was the roughest part of the sermon to stay awake in—dates and people.

In the war between Pompey and Caesar, Judah was temporarily forgotten. After Caesar's death under the triumphant of Octavius, Antony, and Lepidus, Anthony, the eastern triumvir, favored Herod the Great, whose scheming ultimately secured him the crown of Judah and enabled him to completely extinguish the old Maccabean line of Judean princes.

Matthew 2:1-4 Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him." When Herod the king heard this, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he inquired of them where the Christ [that is, the Messiah] was to be born.

So Herod the king had reigned at the time of the birth of Jesus for about 34 years. Even though the Romans allowed Herod to be called king, he was in every way dependent on the Roman emperor. He was commonly called Herod the Great because he had distinguished himself in the wars with Antiochus and his other enemies, and because he had shown great talents in governing and defending his country, in repairing the Temple, and in building and ornamenting the cities of his kingdom. He was, however, as much distinguished for his cruelty and his crimes as he was for his greatness for governing accomplishments.

At this time, Augustus was emperor of Rome and the world was at relative peace. A large part of the known nations of the earth was united under the Roman emperor. At the close of the Intertestamental Period, Rome had become the mistress of the world and every road led to her capital.

Contact and communication between different nations was safe and easy, and similar laws prevailed everywhere. The use of the Greek language was generally used throughout the world, as you know. You could call it the business language of the world or commerce language of the world. And all these circumstances combined to make this a favorable time to introduce the gospel and to spread it through out the earth. That is what we have seen today, is it not, as English flourished worldwide. The gospel was able to flourish worldwide and go around the world. So there are some similarities to this period.

The divine intervention of God was extraordinary in preparing the nations in this way for the easy and rapid spread of God's truth. God has done a similar thing today, as I just mentioned, by making the English language spoken worldwide.

Now, these six periods show the historical developments which influenced and shaped the worldwide view of the Jews during the 400 years between the Testaments. Now, in every sense and in every direction, the Intertestamental Period was therefore one of political and intellectual ferment. It means there was so much change and so much friction and conflict during that time. There is a scripture, I cannot remember where it is right now, but it says beware of those given to change. Well, that was really the banner of this 400 years: change.

The internal developments within the heart of Judaism are self-evident in that the core of the Jewish people, which remained loyal to the national traditions and to the national faith, must have been radically affected by the terrible cataclysms that marked their history, during the four centuries before Jesus Christ's birth.

Because of the persecution that was suffered, there was a rise of the messianic expectation as seen in the increase of the Apocalyptic literature. The Jews believed that God would raise up a messianic leader or leaders to deliver them from the foreign oppressors and set up the promised messianic Kingdom. Messianic Jews today still look for the rebirth of Israel's glory and return of the Messiah in a physical way.

Regarding Jewish literary activity, the voice of prophecy was utterly hushed in the Intertestamental Period, but the old literary instinct of the nation asserted itself; it was part and parcel of the Jewish traditions and would not be denied.

In this period, many writings were produced that were very helpful for an accurate understanding of the life of Judah in the 400 years before Christ's arrival, but were in no way helpful with the true doctrine of God and the church. During the Intertestamental Period, literary activity within Judaism centered around the Apocrypha, the Psuedepigrapha, and the Septuagint.

The Apocrypha is a group of books written during a time of turmoil in the history of the Jewish people from about 150 BC to about AD 70. These books fall into two main divisions: Old Testament apocryphal books and New Testament apocryphal books.

The Old Testament apocryphal books were I and II Esdras, Tobit, Judith, II Esther, Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, Baruch, Song of the Three Holy Children, History of Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, Prayer of Manasses, I and II Macabees, and then after Christ's birth, III and IV Maccabees probably fall within that early Christian period.

Those books are thought of very highly by Jewish sects and that sect is primarily, I think, connected with the Kabbalah movement, which is a very a cultic movement. Now, these books were excluded from some early versions of the Old Testament, but included in others. This explains why Bibles used by Roman Catholics contain The Old Testament apocrypha, while they are not included in most Protestant editions of the Bible.

The Old Testament apocryphal books have an historical and literary value but have been rejected as inspired for the following reasons. One, they abound in historical and geographical inaccuracies and anachronisms. Two, they teach false doctrines and foster practices that are contrary to inspired Scripture. Three, they resort to the literary types and display an artificiality of subject matter and styling out of keeping with inspired Scripture. And four, they lack the distinctive elements that give genuine Scripture its divine character, such as prophetic power and poetic and spiritual insight.

The Jewish historian Josephus rejects the Apocrypha. The Jewish philosopher and historian Philo of Alexandria never refers to it. And Jesus and His apostles, though quoting the Old Testament so frequently, never quote from the Apocrypha.

The New Testament links itself immediately with the end of the Old Testament, as if no inspired writing came between. The gospel begins at the outset with claiming to be the fulfillment of Malachi in Malachi 3:1 and also chapter 4, verses 5 and 6. And they are quoted and referred to in Mark 1 and Luke 1.

So please turn with me to Mark 1 and we can see that immediate continuation.

Mark 1:1-3 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God. As it is written in the prophets: "Behold, I send My messenger before Your face, who will prepare Your way before You. The voice of one crying in the wilderness: 'Prepare the way of the Lord; make His paths straight.'"

That is from Malachi chapter 3. Now also turn over just one book to Luke 1.

Luke 1:16-17 And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord of their God. He will also go before Him in the spirit and power of Elijah, 'to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children,' and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready a people prepared for the Lord."

There is a lack of inherent power and majesty in the Apocrypha as compared with canonical Scripture of these verses quoted from Malachi. I am talking about Mark 1 and Luke 1.

The Pseudepigrapha (the second book that is commonly used by people not in God's church) was named from the counterfeit character of the authors' names they bear. It is a collection of Jewish books containing various forms of literature using names of famous people in Israel's history for the titles of the books. The real authors are unknown, such names as Ezra, Baruch, Enoch, Solomon, Moses, and Adam are used to add authority to the writing, but they are false. They are deceptive.

(The book of Enoch seems to captivate people's attention, for whatever reason I do not know. But we have had several people call and bring up the book of Enoch to us, asking about its validity and that type of thing. And one guy, Joe Baity and I were talking with. And so we asked him (he was asking us about the book of Enoch and if we had read it and that type of thing), and we asked him a few questions and then it came out that he believed in a flat earth. And so then we thought, ok, well, that is why he is interested in the book of Enoch because he is just a nut. But sometimes you just shake your head as to why others are interested in the book of Enoch. But this is its source, it is a collection from Jewish books and literature.)

The Septuagint, the next one, is the common title of the earliest and most important translation of the Old Testament from Hebrew into Greek. It was done for the benefit of the Greek-speaking Jews of Alexandria, Egypt that Alexander the Great established there. They were the Hellenist Jews. That is where the Septuagint was supposedly translated. A Jewish community had existed in Alexandria almost from its foundation in 331 BC. In two or three generations, this community had forgotten its native Hebrew language and these Jews realized they needed the Hebrew Scriptures rendered into the only language they knew, and that was Greek.

So this translation of the Old Testament is commonly called the Septuagint from the septuaginta, the Latin word for 70. It is commonly abbreviated with the Roman numerals, LXX, Roman numerals for 70. Some historians believe that it was named after the Alexandrian Sanhedrin consisting of 70 members. No one is sure, there are other guesses, but they are worse than this one. So that is the only thing we have to go on as far as that name.

Its composition at Alexandria began under the early Ptolemies. The first section of the Hebrew Bible to be translated into Greek was the Pentateuch, some time before 200 BC. The Pentateuch is the best part of the version, being the first translated. The other books of the Septuagint were translated during the second century BC and betrayed the increasing degeneracy of the Hebrew manuscripts, along with decay of Hebrew learning. Different people translated different books and no general revision harmonized with the whole because nobody knew, or very few knew, the original Hebrew language. It was all bastardized, as the term goes. So names are differently rendered in different books, the poetical parts (except Psalms and Proverbs) are inferior to the historical, and in the greater prophets, important passages are misunderstood and therefore mistranslated. The Old Testament Scriptures were translated into Greek, the common language in the East after the conquest of Alexander the Great.

So there was a lot that happened over those that 100 years or so that ended up them not even being able to understand the original Hebrew.

Now, throughout this entire darkened period of Israel and Judah's history, God was preparing for Christ's life, death, and resurrection, the preaching of the gospel, and the establishment of His church, by working out His own divine plan for the firstfruits of His Family. So the world was prepared for the Word of God, even as the Word of God in turn prepared the world for the reception of the gift of God in the gospel of His Son.

As the sacrificial part of the Jewish worship declined through their wide separation from the Temple, the eyes of Israel were more firmly fixed on their Scriptures, read every Sabbath in their synagogues. These Scriptures, through the rendering of the Septuagint, had become accessible to the entire world. So they had a translation of the Bible for the world in Greek, but it was not the best one. But God must have thought it was good enough to get that knowledge out there, because there were problems with it.

In fact, any translation of the original Hebrew is going to have translation problems. Either the individuals translating it have their biases, whether they are Catholic or Baptist or evangelical, or whatever it might be. It is going to influence how they look at and translate the Scripture. So the King James Version was a good version, but it was also antiquated in its wording because it was done in 1611 and authorized by King James. And there have been many, many translations since then, as you all know.

For a time, the synagogues everywhere imparted to the world Israel's exalted Messianic hopes. On the other hand, the Jews themselves, embittered by long-continued martyrdoms and suffering, entirely secularized this Messianic expectation increasingly as the yoke of the oppressor grew heavier and the hope of deliverance grew fainter.

Please turn to John 1. When the Messiah came, the Jews did not recognize Him, while many Gentiles, who by access to the Septuagint, had become familiar with the promise and humbly received Him. Of course, it was God calling them.

John 1:9-14 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelled among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.

The apostle Paul's theme in Romans 11, verses 25 to 32 is the future conversion of the great mass of Israel. In the final days, the eyes of Israel are blinded for a time until a full number of the Gentiles called by God has been achieved.

Romans 11:25 [Paul writes] For I do not desire, brethren, that you should be ignorant of this mystery, lest you should be wise in your own opinion, that blindness in part has happened to Israel until the fullness of the Gentiles has come in.

God is still in control of history and therefore all that has happened, both in the rejection of Israel and the conversion of the Gentiles, has been according to God's wise and carefully planned methods.

Something the non-biblical writings produced during the Intertestamental Period do not have was a continuation of the Old to the New. The Old and New Testaments are not separate trees of life, but one and the same. From Genesis to Revelation run the same great concepts: the sovereignty of God (God is the just God and a Savior), choose life over death, Satan, human nature, and sin versus faith, overcoming and righteousness, obedience, love, holiness, and judgment to come.

The New Testament is not a beginning of revelation, but a continuation rather than a repetition of the Old. And we find something very unique in the way of divine expression throughout the Scriptures. We find the same voice of Majesty, the same method of teaching by history and biography rather than by argumentation, the same calmness and unflinching faithfulness of narrative, the same declaration of mercy and of judgment, and the same fearless rebuke of all unrighteousness and goodness and godliness.

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

And that there is is a proof of the Old and New Testament as the inspired Scripture because it all agrees. Now, because of translation problems and because of misunderstandings, there are books called the Discrepancies in Scriptures, or the alleged discrepancies. But they can all be worked out when you know God's truth.

The religious leaders found it hard to keep the people from neglecting and resisting the true religion of God. So over time, they instituted humanly reasoned clarifications of doctrine. And eventually those erroneous clarifications become burdensome laws unto themselves for the Jews.

Since the more conservative Jews grew to distrust the liberality in disobedience and against God, a new religious leadership backlash developed out of the conservative middle class called the Pharisees. The Pharisees were opposed by the more secular-minded Sadducees. The Sadducees were similar to the Greek Epicureans, they were pleasure seekers.

But still the Pharisees kept in strict adherence to the Torah, the religious law. This increase in the number of laws developed out of a lack of self-government by each individual Jew. So not having God's Spirit to guide them, they tended to misapply the Scriptures. But Psalm 119:4 says, "You have commanded us to keep Your precepts diligently." And that is what the Pharisees went by. But they did not stick with the precepts of God. They added their own very diligently and made their whole religion a burden.

A precept is a command or principle intended as a general rule of action. God requires that we work hard to keep His righteous principles. It is more than human discretion. It is more than integrity. It is more than for our benefit. It is because God requires it and we must do it constantly and faithfully. That is something that the Pharisees had. They had diligence, but they had misguided diligence.

Since the people would not apply right principles in their daily lives, the leaders added more laws to legislate evils that were not spelled out in detail. Is not that what our government does today? In all the governments of the world people break laws or they do something else that is annoying. And so the governments legislate new laws. Also the legislatures need to justify their positions so they create laws. And there is law after law after law.

Many decades ago ago, I heard or read somewhere that there are so many laws in the United States that at any one time, no matter what you are doing, even if you are just sitting there, you are breaking a law. And then you see some of the old laws that are still in the books, you know like about pigs running the streets and other things like that.

This parallel between this increase in laws among the Jews in the society today is chilling! Since people today refuse to self-govern themselves, more laws are enacted to legislate what a person can and cannot do. We see this happening on a global scale.

Former U.S. Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes noted, "The United States is the greatest law factory the world has ever known." Sadly, that is true. The European Union has been passing laws at breakneck speed and on a global scale. The United Nations is trying to increase its power by pressuring nations to agree by treaties to abide by its global restrictions.

And so at the end of the Intertestamental Period, just before the coming of the Lord, and now just before Christ's return, we find laws increasing on a religious and national level. There was and is an explosion in the legislation of new laws. Excessive human laws always equate to tyranny and oppression. Today, we are moving toward fascism and tyranny in this nation, and globally through programs such as social scoring and ESG, meaning environmental, social, and governance. Beware of that term. It is as evil as it comes. It is not only evil, but it is pagan and its core worship is of Satan and the Earth. Be aware of it because what they are doing, what the United Nations is doing and the people behind the scenes, is they are forcing corporations to agree to abide by this. And already most, if not all, the major corporations of the world abide by the ESG. It is a terrifying guideline, or whatever you want to call it, from the UN or the people behind the scenes.

In place of it came an almost intolerable spirit of exclusiveness, a striving after legal holiness. And these two in combination formed the very heart and core of the later Pharisaism. But the Pharisees lacked the faith to see the true spiritual intent of the law.

Romans 9:30-32 What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, have attained to righteousness, even the righteousness of faith; but Israel, pursuing the law of righteousness, has not attained to the law of righteousness. Why? Because they did not seek it by faith, but as it were, by the works of the law. For they stumbled at that stumbling stone.

For the Jews, the holy books, especially the law, became an object of almost idolatrous reverence; the spirit was completely lost in the form.

As their own tongue, the classic Hebrew, gradually gave way to the common Aramaic, the rabbis in their schools strove ever more earnestly to keep the ancient tongue pure. Worship and life each demanding a separate language. So the Jews became, in a sense, bilingual. The Hebrew tongue was used in their synagogues, the Aramaic in their daily life, and later on, in part at least, the Greek tongue of the conqueror.

Please turn over to Matthew 23. The spiritual aristocracy would very largely replace the former role of their princes and their nobles. As the core of their religion died, on the surface, it appeared to flourish. Nevertheless, tithes were zealously paid by the believer. The Sabbath became a positive burden of sacredness and the simple laws and principles of God were replaced by cumbersome human inventions. Over time, these burdensome human additions formed the bulk of the Talmud, which crushed all spiritual liberty by the time of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Matthew 23:1-5 Then Jesus spoke to the multitudes and to his disciples, saying: "The scribes and the Pharisees sit in Moses' seat. Therefore whatever they tell you to observe, that observe and do, but do not do according to their works; for they say, and do not do. For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men's shoulders; but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers. But all their works they do to be seen by men."

Matthew 23:23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cummin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faith. These you ought to have done, without leaving the others undone."

So the Jews, especially the Pharisees, focused on controlling the actions of the people, just as all human governments do. Jesus Christ focused on changing the heart, the mind, and attitude of the people.

Matthew 12:34-35 "Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things."

Please turn to Jeremiah 31. God made it clear through Jeremiah that Israel had failed to keep their covenant with Him and predicted that He would make a new one with His people. The New Covenant would not be a new law. The old law was still good, but it would produce a new heart. That is, it would confer a new power, motivation, and understanding to obey the law of God.

Jeremiah 31:31-33 "Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah—not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, though I was a husband to them, says the Lord. But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, says the Lord: I will put My law in their minds, and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people.

So the old law could be broken; to remedy this, God gives, not a new law, but a new power to the old law. It used to be a mere code of morals external to man and obeyed as a duty. But for the people being converted, it becomes an inner force, shaping our character from within and that is driven by the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ dwelling in us.

Mark 7:21 "From within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders. . ."

By trying to control the actions of individuals, the Pharisees were stealing the duty of every human being to self-govern himself. In order to properly self-govern, the Spirit of God must be written on our hearts, and where the Spirit of God is there is liberty.

Now, let us turn to II Corinthians 3. I am going to read quite a bit of this because it really has a lot to say about what we are talking about right now.

II Corinthians 3:1-18 Do we begin again to commend ourselves? Or do we need, as some others, epistles of commendation from you or letters of commendation to you? [This is Paul writing.] You are our epistle written in our hearts, known and read by all men; clearly you are an epistle of Christ [speaking to every member of God's church, all the firstfruits], ministered by us, written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart. And we have such trust through Christ toward God.

Not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think of anything as being from ourselves, but our sufficiency is from God, who also made us sufficient as ministers of the new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. But if the ministry of death, written and engraved on stones, was glorious, so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the face of Moses because of the glory of his countenance, which glory was passing away, how will the ministry of the Spirit not be more glorious? For if the ministry of condemnation had glory, the ministry of righteousness succeeds much more in glory. For even what was made glorious had no glory in this respect, because of the glory that excels. For if what is passing away was glorious, what remains is much more glorious.

Therefore, since we have such hope, we use great boldness of speech—unlike Moses, who put a veil over his face so that the children of Israel could not look steadily at the end of what was passing away. But their minds were blinded. For until this day the same veil remains unlifted in the reading of the Old Testament, because the veil is taken away in Christ. But even to this day, when Moses is read, a veil lies on their heart. Nevertheless when one turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now, the Lord is the Spirit; and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from [I will insert, physical] glory to [I will insert, spiritual] glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.

So we are being transformed from the glory of the Old to the glory of the New.

In the Old Testament there was a dimness, as if the light of understanding was coming through a veil. In the New Testament, we see unveiled faces, and God's own marvelous light of understanding.

There is no disparagement of the Old Testament, simply the recognition of the Bible as a dynamic spiritual Book. The second part contains more advanced and developed truth so that we may interpret and use the first part more fully.

God is the same God in both both Testaments, or if you like, Covenants. But in the New, God is more clearly and thoroughly revealed and accessible. Our responsibility as His children is more obvious and urgent. Our hearts are guided, regulated, and changed through empowerment by and through God's Holy Spirit so that we may live by righteous principles found in both Testaments.

Both Testaments announced the coming of Jesus Christ to establish God's Kingdom on earth.

Now for a final scripture, please turn to Malachi 3. John the Baptist (or John the Baptizer is what I prefer), in a sense, the last prophet of the Old Testament and the first of the New Testament, entered human history to announce the coming of the Messiah. And Jesus Christ came to bring us into an eternal relationship with God, to bring a message of peace to individuals as well as to the world, and to deliver people from the the slavery of sin. All people have their time that this will happen for them, that these things will be revealed.

He was rejected and crucified both by His people and by the pagan world. But the message of Christ's death and resurrection went out in Greek into the world that was under Roman rule, bringing the hope of Messianic deliverance, both for the present and for the future, when Jesus Christ will rule the world.

About 430 years before Christ's birth, Malachi was inspired to write that John the Baptizer would announce the coming of the Lord. Malachi writes,

Malachi 3:1 "Behold, I send My messenger, and he will prepare [of course, this is God speaking] the way before Me. And the Lord, whom you seek, will suddenly come to His temple, even the Messenger of the covenant, in whom you delight. Behold, He is coming," says the Lord of hosts.

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