Between Malachi and Matthew: From Persia to Greece

There is a period of about 400 years between when the Old Testament ends, and when the New Testament begins. Lately, some have asked questions about this time period, and how what we see at the end of the Old Testament gets to the very different scenario of the New Testament world. While this, because of a lack of scripture, may be unsuitable as a sermon subject, that is partially the sort of thing I like to include in the bulletin. This week we will look at how Judea went from Persian control to becoming, Hellenized (or Greek-like). While the history presented here will be incomplete, it is hoped that it will help us better understand this time period, and thus the Bible.

The Old Testament closes with Judea under Persian rule. Artaxerxes I was the king who allowed Nehemiah to return and to begin rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem. He was followed by his son, Darius II, who extended Persian control into Asia Minor. Upon his death, his son Artaxerxes II took power. His reign was marked by revolt. Egypt separated itself from Persian rule, his brother waged a civil war and was eventually killed in battle, and many of the western satraps (governors) rose up in rebellion and had to be defeated. Although Artaxerxes II maintained control, it was evident that the empire was growing too slippery to hold. His son, Artaxerxes III, largely ruled through blunt force, even to the point of killing his siblings to make sure they didn't rise up against him. He was poisoned by his son in 338BC. His son, Arses, held power for only two years before he and his family was murdered, and replaced by a man who took the name Darius III. During his reign, he was defeated by the Greek, Philip the Macedonian. The Persian Empire (sometimes referred to as the Medo-Persian Empire because of the intermingling of the two peoples) had come to an end.

In 336BC, Philip the Macedonian died. Before that time he had managed to join all the previously independent city states under his rule. Upon his death, his 20 year old son took over. His son was Alexander, who we usually refer to as Alexander the Great. Alexander's great dream was to have the entire world united in a single Hellenized (Greek) society. And so he set out to accomplish that very thing, managing to conquer everything between Greece and India before his death, shortly before his 33rd birthday. Because he focused his goal on creating a Greek society across the world, this is often referred to as the Greek Empire. It is also referred to as the Macedonian Empire.

After Alexander died, the kingdom did not remain united. It was split into several different parts, run by his generals. The ones that concern us are the Selucid and Ptolemaic kingdoms. The Selucid kingdom was that part which was north and east of Judea, occupying a huge swath of land from the Mediterranean in the west to nearly India in the east. It is sometimes also referred to as the Syrian kingdom, as that was the capital area. The Ptolemaic kingdom was essentially Egypt. The Pharaohs had been replaced with Greek rule. If you consider a map, you realize that Judea is right between the two, and naturally enough, was fought over by the two kingdoms. After some brief fighting, Judea came under Ptolemaic rule. During this time, all that was really expected of the Jews by the Greeks was that they would pay their taxes (which, admittedly, where high) and behave themselves. They were not forced to give up their faith, traditions, or way of life, as long as those things happened. However, the Selucid ruler Antiochus III (also called Antiochus the great) wrested control of Judea away from the Ptolemaic kingdom. While at first this seemed a boon to Judea, financial concerns after Anctiochus III's failed confrontation with Rome in 190BC caused a harsher change throughout the Selucid kingdom, including Judea. After his death, his son Seleucus IV reigned. He, in turn, was succeeded by Antiochus IV, better known as Antiochus Epiphanes. And with Antiochus Epiphanes came great change to Judea.

Next week, Lord willing, we will take a glance at the Maccabean Revolt and how Rome came to influence Judea. The following week, we will look at at some long term effects of these events.