Righteous men ceased receiving inspired Words ending with the Book of
Malachi and not to resume until John the Baptist. It’s nearly of the same time
and duration as the second temple period – 530 BC to 70 BC. The time between 420 BC and the birth of John
ca 4 BC is called the Four Hundred Years of silence because God had nothing new
to say to mankind that had not been said. 325 Much of that time was
taken to rebuild the Church just in time for a destroyer to arrive. Satan’s
timing is impeccable but God’s is perfect! God knew the strategy Satan would
take but allowed it to come regardless. It seemed, I’m sure, that God was dead!
He was about to come as the living God in the flesh but not before the stage
was set.
Things were happening during those years. During the latter part the
Greeks had won control of Judah. Alexander the Great had conquered the area
from Europe to Pakistan, and from Africa northward. This young man founded a
great civilization, and Koine -
Common Greek became the language. Most people in Africa and “Asia” (Asia Minor)
spoke their own language and Greek. Seventy-two scholars from Judah, six from
each tribe translated the Hebrew Bible into Koine
Greek to the satisfaction of Ptolemy II of Egypt who ruled at that time. By
coincidence, or God’s Plan, it took seventy-two days to translate, and it is
said that all the translators doing their translation in separate rooms, coming
up with compatible transliterations. 326 The translation from Greek
to Hebrew is called the Septuagint – “the translation of the seventy”. Paul
quoted this version often. 327
On the other hand, the Authorized King James Version (KJV) of 1611
translated from the original Hebrew 328 while the Latin Vulgate
corrected the Old Latin Bible from the Greek Septuagint. 329
However, the KJV translators did check to the Septuagint. God was busy
inspiring men to understand the Word as well as spread His doctrine. Then there
was war!
The translation from Hebrew to the Greek brought the Holy Scripture to
the masses. Suddenly, God’s silence became heard in writing. Nothing new was
written but the ability for pagans to read about God in their own language
revived the Hebrew Bible – the Torah - which had all but died out until Ezra
found and read it every day until the Hebrews knew it well. 330 God
refused to die! He may not have spoken often but with His silence, the Church
was beginning to grow. God cannot die yet! The time had not come.
Judea, soon to be the name of Judah (Israel became Samaria), alternately
was controlled by the Ptolemys and the Seleucids; both lines of generals
rewarded at his death by Alexander. While the Word was in translation, the
nation was seeking its freedom. The Maccabee brothers, one after the other,
fought battles for independence from the Ptolemaic Egyptians and the and the
Babylonian Seleucids, both Greek-ruled. Thus, Judea became Hellenized, coming
from the Greek Hellas – the name for
Greece. 331
Hence, Judea’s culture became Greek, and their official language was
Greek. The native language, however, was Aramaic the Semitic language of the
Levant and Mesopotamia. 332 Aramaic was Jesus’s native tongue, and
what he spoke on the cross – “Eli, Eli,
Lama sabachthani?” – “My God, My God, why has thou forsaken me?” 333
God would have given up if He had forsaken Himself! That would have been the
true death of God. However, God is still very much alive!
Thus, there was a revolution. The Maccabees – the Hasmonian Dynasty –
seem to have won it. All of the brothers were great zealots and warriors.
Hanukkah is in honor of their war of independence when the second temple in
Jerusalem was rededicated during the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucids.
It’s still celebrated to this day! 334 The Hebrew people were alive
and well, as was the nation. The second temple was rededicated and the Church
was alive. God had thrashed the philosophical Greeks but their influence
remained alive. Even the Romans, soon to
come, were greatly influence by Greece, even to the extent of having the same
Greek gods with Latin names. The Maccabean Revolt brought live to the nation
and to the religion of the Hebrew people. The One True God had survived again!
War in primitive times was more than between conflicting leaders. It was
a show of which God was greater. Throughout Jewish history, as long as God was
revered, Jehovah was always the victor. When the Hebrew people sinned greatly,
God allowed them to suffer defeat. The most notable example was when the
Israelites fought the Amalekites, Moses held his arms outstretched, and the
battle favored the Israelites. If his arms were let down, the battle favored
the Amalekites. When Moses tired, Aaron and Hur held up Moses’s arms, obviously
lifting the Word up on the cross. 335 Moses honored God by
recognizing Him as Savior, and God had grace on the Israelites. This example
was the power of the Living God! As long as the Israelites raised God up, he
was alive and not even silent!
The Church is a covenant of a mutual relationship. Whatever the deal is called, it is that God will keep
His people alive if they keep him alive! God loves everybody and has the
expectation that mankind is to love Him back! That love is shown by obedience
to God. Imagine how honored God felt
when Moses held outstretched arms to Him. Recognizing the cross, Moses didn’t
take God’s “Name” in vain as he did not take God’s death frivolously!
That idea is worth evaluating. The adage, sticks and stones can break my bones but words will never break me,
336 rings true. The Fifth Commandment is “Thou shalt not take the
Lord’s Name in vain” 337 Vanity is without usefulness. God has no
name. How can this command be broken? Because God with us is called Jesus. Taking Jesus in vain, is regarding his purpose
with flippancy. Thus, taking the Lord’s Name in vain seems to be taking God’s
propitiation for the sins of mankind without seriousness. That is blasphemy and
is the unpardonable sin. The rest of the command is the punishment: “the Lord
will not hold him guiltless”, not ironically, the outcome of blasphemy. It
seems so simple when the following passage is read: 338
And whosoever shall speak a word
against the Son of man, it shall be forgiven him: but unto him that blasphemeth
against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven.
Taking the Lord’s Name in vain
is certainly speaking a word against His
Son – God’s very Name! It appears that the Fifth Commandment cautions
against denying God’s death! That is imperative for salvation because without
the shedding of blood there is no redemption. 339 God must die! God
knows that and planned His own death. The Adamic Covenant is the promise that
God would someday die for the sins of mankind! 340 To set the stage
for that event, now comes Titus!
The future Roman Emperor, the General Titus Flavius Caesar Vespasianus
Augustus – called Titus - sacked Jerusalem in 70 CE while his father Vespasian
was emperor. With that, the war for independence waged by the Hasmoneans was
lost. Only a few zealots remained in the mountains, never quite ceasing the
revolution. The Judeans anticipated a savior to defeat the Romans and regain
their freedom; someone from the mold of the Maccabees. Not only did Judea succumb;
but on Aug 30, 70 CE, God’s Home – the second temple – was destroyed. 341
Shortly thereafter a Judean-free government was formed. God’s law was replaced
by Caesars. Surely, the destruction of God was soon to come.
God built the Roman Empire. It came about for two purposes: (1) to kill
God and (2) to spread the gospel. Like it or not, God’s purpose for Rome was pre-ordained.
Not only was it a pagan empire but with Constantine, became a holy Roman empire. From Titus’s first attack until the present
day, Rome has been engaged in killing God. The less obvious is the withering
Church but more blatantly were Nero’s persecution of Christians, the spread of
Islam, the abuses of the Holy Roman Empire, the European Enlightenment, and
more recently the Napoleonic Empire, Marxism, the Third Reich, and Italy’s
fascist dictator. Often neglected is the killing of God by the Bolshevik Revolution
in the U.S.S.R.
Judea became a Roman province ruled by Caesar through a governor or
pro-counsel. The Hebrew people were allowed to keep their religious laws, and
ironically, they were as severe as Roman law, requiring all the 633
commandments of Mosaic Law to be kept faithfully. 342 Below are some of the more coercive ones:
·
Anyone who touches or eats the carcass of an
unclean animal becomes ritually unclean.
·
Any article that has come in contact with a
ritually unclean object becomes ritually unclean.
·
Women after childbirth are ritually unclean.
·
A human corpse and anyone who comes near it is
ritually unclean.
·
Examine the meat of animals to make sure it is
permitted for consumption.
·
Remove all leaven from all your property by the
fifteenth of Abib.
·
Dwell in booths (succahs-temporary dwellings)
during The Feast of Tabernacles.
·
Listen to and obey Yahweh's anointed priests.
·
Blot out the remembrance of godworshipers (those
who worship false gods).
·
Loans to brothers must be without interest. Loans
to the foreigner may be with interest.
·
Those who sin must be corrected.
·
Should a man die childless, his brother must
either marry the widow.
·
A woman suspected of adultery must submit to the
required test.
·
A thief must make full restitution or else be
sold for his theft.
·
Do not listen to one who teaches in the name of
any false god.
·
Women must not wear a man's Holy Garments. Men
must not wear a woman's Holy Garments.
·
Do not tattoo yourself.
·
Do not shave the sides of your head in honor of
the dead. Do not shave the sides of your beard in honor of the dead.
·
Do not make allies with godworshiping nations.
·
Do not allow the body of one hanged to remain so
overnight.
The reader gets the
idea! The Church had to watch every move. There were 633 of these. Many could
be broken with the slightest negligence or thoughtlessness. All these commands
had scripture to support the commands. All of these are God’s will for specific
reasons. Some are to honor God, some to grow and preserve the nation, and
others to be fair to fellow men and even slaves and enemies. They are not bad
commands! What then is the problem with staying so aware of commands? They do
include loving Yahweh, loving the neighbor, and even the enemy, and strangers.
However, there are so many others that these exceptional commandments were not forthcoming
because obedience became a drudge rather than a desire.
Man was willing to obey all these laws
but there were so many that it was an impossibility. They became slaves to the
law because regardless of how hard they tried, it seemed that they often broke
them. Thus, rather than of a loving nature, the Jews became enslaved with
obedience. The death of God was to set them free! 343 God didn’t
have to die because of the Jews or Romans. All mankind killed God: some by
having other gods and others by being a god. By professing to be obedient to
the Law, implied those people implied they were perfect but only God is perfect
and good. 344 345 Ironically, men became their own gods
in God’s stead! It was doing works to earn the reward.
Grace is God granting
redemption to even the underserving, albeit no one deserves redemption. All 633
are “good” things to do because they are God’s will. On the other hand, doing
them out of fear is not the right reason. What is? Obeying God’s commandments
willingly without fretting about the sin. Christians are never to fret over
conviction, and only need to repent.
This was the
condition of the Church during God’s silence. He was dismayed with the works of
mankind. God did expect something in return. Every covenant ever made with
mankind had one expectation – love Me. How is it that people should demonstrate
the love which they claim? Willingly obeying God. The willingness to disobey discourages God more
than the disobedience. He knows that feeble mankind will fail because as
Designer of the flesh, he knows its weaknesses. He experienced the flesh after
remaining silent for so many years.
326 Letter if Aristeas Chapter 9
327 Wikipedia; “Septuagint”.
328 Wikipedia; “Authorized King James
Version”.
329 Wikipedia; “Latin Vulgate”.
330 Holy Bible, Ezra 7-10; Neh 8.
331 Wikipedia; “Hellenistic”
332 Wikipedia; “Aramaic”.
333 Holy Bible; Mat 27:46; Mark
15:34.
334 Wikipedia; “Hanukkah”.
335 Holy Bible; Exod 17
336 The Christian Recorder; March
1862
337 Holy Bible; Exod 20:7
338 ibid; Luke 12:10
339 ibid; Heb 9:22
340 ibid; Gen 3:15
341 Matthew Bunson; A Dictionary of
the Roman Empire; p.212.
343 Holy Bible; John 8:32
344 ibid; 2 Sam 22:31
345 ibid; Mat 19:17
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