Intertestamental Period

LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

THE PRESSURES AND DISUNITY OF THE INTERTESTAMENTAL PERIOD

BY

ARTHUR D. JACKSON (ID# 24522806)

NEW TESTAMENT INTRODUCTION
NBST 525 LUO (summer 2013)
Dr. Bob Kendall
August 11, 2013

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION 3 ANTECEDENT EVENTS 722-433 BC 5 PERSIAN AND MEDO-PERSIAN RULE 559-331 BC 6 HELLENISTIC (GREEK) RULE 368-323 BC 7 PTOLEMIES AND SELEUCIDS RULE 323-166 BC 8 JEWISH (MACCABEAN AND HASMONEAN) SELF-RULE 166-63 BC 9 ROMAN (HEROD) RULE 63 BC to AD 663 10
MAJOR PROBLEMS AND RESPONSE 11
CONCLUSION 16
BIBLIOGRAPHY 17

INTRODUCTION
The overarching goal of the Christian church is to model a Kingdom lifestyle and in so doing facilitate a change in the world towards a lifestyle approved of God. That goal is accomplished by (1) being in the world, but not of the world, (2) being one and (3) using Kingdom methodology to achieve God’s objectives. But achieving the goal using that strategy is made difficult when it must be done in the midst of competing lifestyles. Especially when there is a desire to fit in rather than being ‘peculiar’.
During the Intertestamental Period, also called the Second Temple Period by some authors, the Jews experienced cultural and environmental pressures which forced them apart and set the stage for the ministry of Jesus. The following is a brief summary of those pressures.
1. The Jews were bounded on all sides by other cultures and this caused them to compromise their life style to fit in with the world giving up any real distinction between a righteous lifestyle and a worldly lifestyle. Bruce stated that “the Greek way of life was attractive to many, and slowly but surely it continued to make headway among large sections of the population, including even the great priestly families in Jerusalem. This tendency was inimical to the true calling of Israel, and tended to break down the wall of partition between Jews and Gentiles in the wrong way, by blurring the sharp distinction between

Bibliography: Bruce, F.F. The Period Between The Testaments: I, Political Development. Department of Biblical History and Literature in the University of Sheffield, 1949, 64. Carroll, Benajah Harvey. Between the Testaments, A Class on Biblical History. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminar, Fort Worth, Texas. 1914. Gene Taylor. 2005. Between the Testaments: A Study of the 400 Years of Biblical Silence and the Relevant Empires. http://www.padfield.com/acrobat/taylor/between.pdf [Accessed July 25, 2013]. Hayford, Jack W. 1995, Hayford’s Bible Handbook: The Complete Companion for Spirit-Filled Bible Study. Nashville: Thomas Nelson Publishers. Kostenbergen, Andreas J., L. Scott Kellum and C. L. Quarles. 2009, The Cradle, The Cross and the Crown. Nashville: B&H Publishing Group. [ 4 ]. Andreas J. Kostenberger, L. Scott Kellum and C. L. Quarles, The Cradle, The Cross and the Crown, (B&H Publishing Group, 2009), 63. [ 5 ]. Benajah Harvey Carroll. Between the Testaments, A Class on Biblical History. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminar, Fort Worth, Texas. 1914, 6-8. [ 6 ]. Jack W. Hayford, Hayford’s Bible Handbook: The Complete Companion for Spirit-Filled Bible Study Nashville: (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), 507. [ 7 ]. F.F. Bruce, The Period Between The Testaments: I, Political Development. Department of Biblical History and Literature in the University of Sheffield, 1949, 10. [ 8 ]. Jack W. Hayford, Hayford’s Bible Handbook: The Complete Companion for Spirit-Filled Bible Study Nashville: (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), 507-508. [ 9 ]. F.F. Bruce, The Period Between The Testaments: I, Political Development. Department of Biblical History and Literature in the University of Sheffield, 1949, 10. [ 10 ]. Jack W. Hayford, Hayford’s Bible Handbook: The Complete Companion for Spirit-Filled Bible Study Nashville: (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), 508. [ 11 ]. F.F. Bruce, The Period Between The Testaments: I, Political Development. Department of Biblical History and Literature in the University of Sheffield, 1949, 11. [ 12 ]. Jack W. Hayford, Hayford’s Bible Handbook: The Complete Companion for Spirit-Filled Bible Study Nashville: (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), 508. [ 13 ]. F.F. Bruce, The Period Between The Testaments: I, Political Development. Department of Biblical History and Literature in the University of Sheffield, 1949, 11. [ 14 ]. Jack W. Hayford, Hayford’s Bible Handbook: The Complete Companion for Spirit-Filled Bible Study Nashville: (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), 509. [ 18 ]. Benajah Harvey Carroll. Between the Testaments, A Class on Biblical History. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminar, Fort Worth, Texas. 1914, 42-43. [ 19 ]. Jack W. Hayford, Hayford’s Bible Handbook: The Complete Companion for Spirit-Filled Bible Study Nashville: (Thomas Nelson Publishers, 1995), 511. [ 20 ]. F.F. Bruce, The Period Between The Testaments: I, Political Development. Department of Biblical History and Literature in the University of Sheffield, 1949, 11. [ 21 ]. Gene Taylor. 2005. Between the Testaments: A Study of the 400 Years of Biblical Silence and the Relevant Empires. http://www.padfield.com/acrobat/taylor/between.pdf [Accessed July 25, 2013], 33. [ 22 ]. F.F. Bruce, The Period Between The Testaments: I, Political Development. Department of Biblical History and Literature in the University of Sheffield, 1949, 63. [ 23 ]. Andreas J. Kostenberger, L. Scott Kellum and C. L. Quarles, The Cradle, The Cross and the Crown, (B&H Publishing Group, 2009), 72. [ 25 ]. Gene Taylor. 2005. Between the Testaments: A Study of the 400 Years of Biblical Silence and the Relevant Empires. http://www.padfield.com/acrobat/taylor/between.pdf [Accessed July 25, 2013], 35. [ 27 ]. F.F. Bruce, The Period Between The Testaments: I, Political Development. Department of Biblical History and Literature in the University of Sheffield, 1949, 64. [ 28 ]. Andreas J. Kostenberger, L. Scott Kellum and C. L. Quarles, The Cradle, The Cross and the Crown, (B&H Publishing Group, 2009), 72. [ 29 ]. Gene Taylor. 2005. Between the Testaments: A Study of the 400 Years of Biblical Silence and the Relevant Empires. http://www.padfield.com/acrobat/taylor/between.pdf [Accessed July 25, 2013], 35. [ 33 ]. F.F. Bruce, The Period Between The Testaments: I, Political Development. Department of Biblical History and Literature in the University of Sheffield, 1949, 64. [ 34 ]. Benajah Harvey Carroll. Between the Testaments, A Class on Biblical History. Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminar, Fort Worth, Texas. 1914, 11.