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Pharisees: Ante/Anti-Christ & Anti-Christian by David L

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Pharisees: Ante/Anti-Christ & Anti-Christian by David L Page 1 of 235 Pharisees: Ante/Anti-Christ & Anti-Christian by David L. Burris Page 2 of 235 Page 3 of 235 Page 4 of 235 Page 5 of 235 ◼ Made Babylon the chief city & Wonder of the Ancient World ◼ Covered 200 square miles ◼ Walls surrounded the city ◼ Some were wide enough for horse- drawn chariots to overpass on top ◼ Babylonians were not considered as cruel as Assyrian Conquerors ◼ Tended to leave all people exactly where they found them as long as they accepted Babylonian rule ◼ Nabonidus was the last actual king ◼ Left Belshazzar in charge in Babylon on the night God’s handwriting on the wall that pronounced mighty Babylon’s soon to come doom Page 6 of 235 ➢ Persia Babylonians take Judah 586 BC ➢ Medes’ Cyrus subdues Babylon 539 BC ➢ He lets Jews return to Jerusalem 536 BC “Who says of Cyrus, 'He is My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," And to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."‘ “Thus says the LORD to His anointed, To Cyrus, whose right hand I have held — To subdue nations before him And loose the armor of kings, To open before him the double doors, So that the gates will not be shut:” (Isaiah 44:28-45:1) Page 7 of 235 Page 8 of 235 ✓ Cyrus, the first king wanted a foothold in Europe ✓ Darius, the third king actually attempted an invasion He Took Thrace and Macedon, but the Greeks held out Page 9 of 235 Page 10 of 235 ◆ The Greeks began to grow in strength ✓ Philip rose to power in Macedon in 359 BC – He was able to unite the Greek states under his control over the next 20 years – Elected commander of the allied Greeks – Set out to take vengeance on Persia ✓ Appointed his son Alexander regent of Greece when he was only 16 years old – Four years later his father was assassinated and he became an experienced ruler ◆ Alexander’s army continued toward Persia ✓ Met at Issus & Darius III was defeated there ◆ Alexander’s army turned southward ✓ Took Damascus, Gaza, Jerusalem & others – Some peacefully and others with battles ✓ Island-fortress of Tyre also fell before him – Egypt welcomed the Greeks as liberators from the hated Persians Page 11 of 235 ◆ Alexander’s army pushed eastward to complete the conquest of Persia ✓ Carried him as far as the Indus River ◆ Returned as far as Babylon in 323 BC ✓ Died there of a fever at only 32 years of age – For the first time in all the centuries, we have an empire with its source far removed from the Mesopotamia Valley ◆ Alexander’s tutor was the famous Aristotle ✓ Thought the Greek or “Hellenistic” culture was the greatest the world had ever before seen – As a result he established model Greek cities on-going as he conquered every region Page 12 of 235 Page 13 of 235 Page 14 of 235 Page 15 of 235 ✓ He didn’t live long enough to carry out his plans – His kingdom fell into the hands of generals – Various men struggled for dominance – The territory of Palestine changed hands five times in the first 20 years after Alexander’s death Page 16 of 235 Alexander The Great conquered Medo-Persia— The third world empire represented in Daniel’s vision by the middle body and thighs of brass. Division of Alexander The Great’s Empire was as Daniel predicted - the empire of Alexander would separate into 4 parts, that the great horn would be broken and in its place would arise 4 horns. Following Alexander’s death his empire was divided between his four generals. The Grecian Civilization Gave the world a universal language resulting in the Old Testament scriptures being translated and accessible to all. The Jews were treated favorably and encouraged to settle in various centers throughout the empire. Away from Jerusalem, from the sacrificial part of their worship, greater attention was given to the Law and the Prophets, and the result was that in the dispersion the expectation of the coming Messiah widely spread. Page 17 of 235 Then The Syrian Kingdom Arose & The Jews Persecuted In the conflicts between Syria and Egypt Antiochus Epiphanes, King of Syria, seized Palestine and bitterly persecuted the Jews. It was reported that Antiochus Epiphanes died in Egypt which caused the Jews to rejoice. But, it was a false report, and when he returned in 168 B.C. he slew 40,000 Jews and profaned the Temple by offering a sow on the altar. The Jews were forbidden to worship in the Temple and compelled to eat the flesh of swine. The cruelties of Antiochus Epiphanes, King of Syria, brought about a revolt of the Maccabees under the leadership of Matthias. The Maccabees aroused the patriotism of the Jews who rebelled. A name given to a Jewish family that had the courage to “hammer” their enemy. Matthias, the father, was a priest. He had five soon to be famous sons. Page 18 of 235 Antiochus IV ⚫ Declared himself as the human manifestation of Zeus, the chief god of the Greeks ⚫ Tried to force everyone to accept the Greek way of life and to worship him as the Greek god ⚫ His actions brought him in conflict with the Jews To submit to his actions would mean apostasy from Jehovah ⚫ Succeeded in forcing the Samaritans to renounce their religion – then headed toward Jerusalem Set up a high priest favorable to the Hellenistic way Defiled the altar of burnt offering Outlawed all Jewish ceremonies such as circumcision Forbade the observance of the Sabbath or feast days Burned copies of the law Set up a cult to worship Zeus in the temple Page 19 of 235 All who would not obey the king’s decrees and display allegiance to the idol were publicly whipped and then killed! Mattathias Hasmonean ⚫ A priest living in Modein, northwest of Jerusalem First to have the courage to withstand a Syrian official ⚫ Refused Syrian’s demands and declared to live and die in the religion of his fathers Killed the king’s officer Fled to Gophna, Ephraim Page 20 of 235 ⚫ Faithful from all over rallied around them ⚫ Mattathias, realizing his great age, appointed his son Simon as counselor & head of family Named Judas as the military leader “Maccabee” & “Hammer” were also names by which they were known Remembered in history as the “Hasmonean Dynasty” Judas and his followers ⚫ Began waging guerrilla type warfare immediately ⚫ Mingled with local villagers during the day and attacked Syrian army outposts at night ⚫ Judas constantly was ambushing some vastly superior force and scattering it ⚫ Outnumbered, he met and defeated the royal forces in a series of victories. Page 21 of 235 Page 22 of 235 Judas and his followers ⚫ Defeated a large army at Beth-zur ⚫ It paved the way for re-taking Jerusalem Retook the city & the Temple Mount 164 BC The Temple was recaptured, the sanctuary was cleansed, the temple lamps were re-lit, & sacrifices were resumed. The Maccabees served as both high priests and kings. Jews have celebrated the moment ever since with a feast in the New Testament called: ⚫ Today it is known as “Hanukkah” ⚫ Jesus Himself attended the feast as recorded in John 10:22-23 Maccabean Accomplishment ⚫ Subjugation of ancient enemies ⚫ Samaria was conquered ⚫ Mt. Gerizim Temple destroyed Page 23 of 235 Page 24 of 235 RELIGIOUS CHANGES Traditions, not inspired by God, gradually were given greater honor than scriptures themselves. ▪ Attitudes such as mercy, justice, honesty were abandoned by certain religious sects ▪ Tried to keep ceremonial rites such as circumcision, the giving of a tenth, and keeping the Sabbath day holy Vengeance Begets Revenge ⚫ Old Edomites or Idumeans were conquered and forced to formally accept the Jewish religion This point important later because: The Herod’s were Edomites who had become forced Jews in religion ⚫ Yet their religion was shallow since they had become such in order to avoid death Page 25 of 235 From the time of the Greco-Syrian persecution and going forward the land was divided into Five Provinces with which the Bible Student of the New Testament is familiar: Judea, Samaria, Galilee, Perea, and Trachonitis . Page 26 of 235 ⚫ Practical independence was maintained until about 63 BC when the Roman General Pompey invaded the country and brought it under Roman domination Page 27 of 235 Rome was the world power with Julius Caesar on the throne. Julius Caesar appointed governors over the provinces. Herod the Great was over Galilee. THE HERODS Rulers of Palestine (47 B.C. to A.D. 93) The line started with Antipater who Julius Caesar made Governor of Judea. Herod the Great, 37-4 B.C. Herod Antipas, 4 B.C.-A.D. 39 Herod Archelaus, 4 B.C.-A.D. 6 Herod Philip, 4 B.C.-A.D. 39 Herod Agrippa I, A.D. 41-44 Herod of Chalcis, A.D. 48-53 Herod Agrippa II, A.D. 53-93 Page 28 of 235 ADDITIONAL NEW TESTAMENT VOCABULARY FROM THE 400 YEARS OF BIBLICAL SILENCE Samaritan Sanhedrin Synagogue Zealots Herodians Essenes Scribes Sadducees Pharisees Page 29 of 235 ▪ Language ▪ Aramaic language was the predominant language in the Fertile Crescent from the days of the Assyrian empire ▪ During the period of Biblical silence, the Greek language became official tongue of both the Syrian and Egyptian empires ▪ Jews living in Palestine tended to resist the Grecian influence as possible ▪ They continued speaking Aramaic in their daily lives as they had for years ▪ Jews had been scattered everywhere ▪ Many migrated to Egypt during the Greek-Egyptian domination ▪ Alexandria became one of the world centers for Judaism with an estimated million Jews living there ▪ These Jews began to speak Greek more exclusively and had trouble reading their Hebrew scripture Page 30 of 235 ▪ By New Testament days there was a synagogue in every city where there were enough Jews ▪ Ten Jewish men were required to have a synagogue Page 31 of 235 Page 32 of 235 Page 33 of 235 Page 34 of 235 ▪ “Pious ones” or “Hasidim” ▪ Early group of religious people strict in observance to the law and firm against anything that would corrupt the Jewish system of religion ▪ Later known as the Pharisees “Now, for the Pharisees, they live meanly, and despise delicacies in diet; and they follow the conduct of reason; and what that prescribes to them as good for them they do; and they think they ought earnestly to strive to observe reason’s dictates for practice.
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