The Pipe and Pencil Podcast
Welcome to the Pipe and Pencil Podcast where we help all church members learn more about theology and church history. It might be tough sometimes but the reward is worth it.
As C.S. Lewis said, "I believe that many who find that "nothing happens" when they sit down, or kneel down, to a book of devotion, would find that the heart sings unbidden while they are working their way through a tough bit of theology with a pipe in their teeth and a pencil in their hand."
I hope this podcast will give you the tools to study the Bible's doctrines and history and share what you have learned with others.
As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
The Pipe and Pencil Podcast
#7 - King Herod, Jewish Denominations, Divine Silence, and the Arrival of Christ
Discover the transformative power of understanding New Testament Church History. We'll uncover how the prophetic voices of the Old Testament set the stage for the long-awaited Messiah. Prepare to unravel the tapestry of ancient history and its pivotal role in the New Testament narrative.
In a world marked by religious tension and shifting political landscapes, what influences shaped the lives and beliefs of those awaiting the Messiah? We explore the loss of Jewish autonomy under Roman rule to the rise of Herod the Great. This episode sheds light on the complex relationships between Jews and Samaritans and the impact of Greek culture, setting the scene for Jesus' ministry. We'll dissect the roles of the Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Essenes, offering a rich context for the environment in which Jesus was born.
Finally, we delve into the awe-inspiring fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies through Jesus Christ. Reflect on the 400 years of divine silence and the culmination of centuries of anticipation with God's perfect timing. This episode examines the astronomical odds of one person fulfilling these prophecies. Join us for a thought-provoking journey through history, faith, and the extraordinary narrative that shaped the foundation of modern church history.
Follow us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61563531425133
Check out my favorite, free online Bible timeline: https://www.thebiblicaltimeline.org/
Here are some articles about King Herod including a map of the Herodian kingdoms:
https://www.thattheworldmayknow.com/herods-family
https://womenfromthebook.com/2012/12/10/here-come-the-royals/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herod_the_Great
https://ww.bibleodyssey.org/map-gallery/herodian-kingdoms-map/
Here are the two articles I mentioned about Philo:
https://www.atlantajewishtimes.com/the-strange-case-of-philo-of-alexandria/
https://thelehrhaus.com/jewish-thought-history/philo-of-alexandria-and-the-soul-of-the-torah/
Here is the link to the study on the prophecies of Jesus Christ:
https://sciencespeaks.dstoner.net/Christ_of_Prophecy.html#c9
Here is a great video by Dr. Henry Abramson about the different Jewish sects: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mw6R5cY0vUI
Note: Using the links below will help support the show.
Much of the history information I use on my show is from Bruce Gore's history book. This is a great book for study, teaching, or as part of a homeschool program.
#Ad https://amzn.to/3YAHFOV
To purchase an affordable translation of the works of Josephus:
#Ad https://amzn.to/3MeR3AD
For a copy of the translation of the Dead Sea Scrolls, click here:
#Ad https://amzn.to/3SZg7PE
To purchase our recommended timeline book:
#Ad https://amzn.to/4ch
and this is the pipe and pencil podcast. I'm stephen amos. Thank you for joining me again for another episode, and this is episode seven. I'm glad that you are here. If you are new to the podcast, be sure to check the description. We always have lots of links to articles, videos and, just in general, just some footnotes of where I've been able to gather information for these podcasts, so that if you want to dig deeper, you are more than welcome to do that.
Stephen:This podcast is all about helping everyone, even the Bible College dropout, to understand Bible doctrine and theology understand Bible doctrine and theology. Here at the Pipe and Pencil podcast, we believe that theology should not be complicated and that history should not be boring, and right now we are in our church history series and we have indeed finally made it to the New Testament. So if you've made it this far, congratulations. Here we are in the New Testament and this is the. You can't call it the finale of the story, and maybe I guess this would be the official kickoff, but this is where the story begins and before we get into the main part of that story, what we want to do today is we're actually going to kind of lay some groundwork. Many people might find that this type of study that we're going to do today is maybe a little more on the boring side, but that's okay. We know that getting a framework and laying a foundation for what is to come as we come into modern times. Some of the things that we're going to talk about are going to link back to this episode. So if you have not heard the other episodes in this series, you're welcome to go back and check those out. Also, don't forget to stay tuned.
Stephen:After the broadcast, we'll have some information about how you can help us and it's no secret, the biggest way you can help us is just by listening. You can subscribe and maybe leave us a rating if you feel like this information has been helpful. And I think even more than that. The best way to help us is not even financially. It is simply by telling other people about this podcast. So if you have enjoyed what you listened to, I would encourage you find somebody to tell about this podcast. It's always better when you study things in the Word of God and you get to share them with somebody else. So you know, maybe have a friend that you listen to the podcast with and then you can go back over certain things that you've learned. You can look at the materials and things and you can share with each other some of the things that you are learning and studying in the Word of God. It's always better to do it with a friend, right? All right, let's get into our content today.
Stephen:Last week, we told a story, a rather long story, historically speaking, reaching all the way back to actually Hezekiah and following the story of his children up to the fall of Jerusalem, and then we continued the story all the way to King Herod. So now it's time Everything is fitting together, and we see this in hindsight. But, to be honest, we see this in hindsight. But, to be honest, even the people who lived during Jesus' time, they knew that something was about to happen. They were looking for the Messiah, and there's plenty of reasons for that. So let's kind of set up where we left off, and we're going to start not only with talking about where the Jews are at this time, but let's go back and look at what has created the situation that we're looking at. Okay, so, first of all, the Jews and the Israelites, the Northern Kingdom were taken away from their homeland. Now we've talked about the Jews, but what about Israel? Let's go back.
Stephen:If you're able to look in your Bible, let's look at 2 Kings 17. And this passage is dealing with the northern kingdom. So what happened and why? Let's just refresh our memory here.
Stephen:Let's look at 2 Kings 17, verse 6. It says there in the ninth year of Hosea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria, that's the northern kingdom, and he carried the Israelites away to Assyria and placed them in Halah and on the harbor, the river of Gozan and in the city of the Medes. And this occurred because the people of Israel had sinned against the Lord, their God, who had brought them up out of the land of Egypt, from under the hand of Pharaoh, king of Egypt, and had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel, and in the customs that the kings of Israel had practiced. And the people of Israel did secretly, against the Lord, their God, things that were not right. They built for themselves high places in all their towns, from watchtower to fortified city. They set up for themselves pillars and ashram on every high hill and under every green tree and there they made offerings on all the high places. And the nations did, whom the Lord carried away before them, as the nations did, and they did wicked things, provoking the Lord to anger, and they served idols of which the Lord had said to them you shall not do this. Yet the Lord warned Israel and Judah by every prophet and every seer, saying turn from your evil ways and keep my commandments and my statutes, in accordance with all the law that I commanded your fathers, that I sent to you by my servants, the prophets. And here's the key phrase, verse 14,. But they would not listen but were stubborn, as their fathers had been, and here's the key of the Lord, their God, and made for themselves metal images of two calves. And they made an Asherah and worshipped all the hosts of heaven and served Baal.
Stephen:Now, if you look at verse 19, it goes on to mention that Judah also did not keep the commandments of the Lord, their God. They walked in the commandments that Israel had introduced. So this is what happened. And there are two other things that the Bible mentions. If you look throughout the prophets, you're going to find that Judah in particular. It was mentioned that they were not taking care of the poor. The poor were being taken advantage of, people were not doing justly and walking with the Lord, their God. Another thing we find is that the land had not had its Sabbaths. If you read in the Old Testament law, it talks about the Sabbaths needing to be followed, not just for the people every week, but for the land. So all of these things together this seeking after other gods, mistreating the poor, not keeping the Sabbaths this is what led to the nation being taken away, and it's a warning to all of us that we need to serve the Lord, but we also want to be a people that does right, that does just watch out for the poor and do the right thing by people. Okay, so this was not happening. And even though the temple was in Jerusalem, the people would worship there, but then they would go to the high places and worship other gods.
Stephen:Now, by the time we get to where we are now, has anything changed? That's the question. Now, I know this is going to be a lot of reading, but let's keep looking in 2 Kings 17. So we're going to look here and we're going to see that the people of Israel are brought back, but let's look at something different and I promise you're going to see. What is going on here is going to affect things that are going to happen in time to come. We even see some of this affecting groups of people today. So let's look at verse 24. Look real carefully here.
Stephen:And the king of Assyria brought people from Babylon Kathah Avah, hamath and Sepharvaim and placed them in the cities of Samaria instead of the people of Israel. And they took possession of Samaria and lived in its cities In the beginning of their dwelling there. At the beginning, they did not fear the Lord. Therefore, the Lord sent lions among them, which killed some of them. So the king of Assyria was told the nations you have carried away and placed in the cities of Samaria do not know the law of the God of that land. Therefore, he has sent lions among them and behold, they are killing them because they do not know the law of the God of the land.
Stephen:So let's stop here for a second. These people that are settling here, these are not Jewish people. These are Gentiles. These are not Jewish people. These are Gentiles. So what few Jewish people, the Israelites that are left in the land, are going to be intermingling with these people? As people return to the land, they will be mingling with these people. This is going to produce a mixed multitude, I guess we could call it, and maybe that gives us some context as to why.
Stephen:When we look at Ezra, we look at Nehemiah, we see the Samaritans being kept away from the temple as it was being built. This is why the Jews did not see them as a pure people genetically Okay, and the Samaritans began to feel like they weren't wanted, that they were not accepted at the temple. It makes us understand a little bit more about why they began, continued to worship at Mount Gerizim. But here we see that even the king of Babylon kind of a superstitious way, he knows that something needs to be done, that these people don't know the God of that land, so they're cursed. So let's look at verse 27 here.
Stephen:Then the king of Assyria commanded send there one of the priests whom you carried away from there and let him go and dwell there and teach them the law of the God of the land. So one of the priests whom they carried away from Samaria came and lived in Bethel and taught them how they should fear the Lord. Again, key verse look at 29. But every nation still made gods of its own and put them in the shrines of the high places that the Samaritans had made Every nation in the cities in which they lived had made every nation in the cities in which they lived. Okay, so this is what is going on in the northern kingdom, israel. Look at verse 32. They also feared the Lord and appointed from among themselves all sorts of people as priests of the high places who sacrificed for them in the shrines of the high places.
Stephen:Now, we believe some people believe Jeremiah wrote this, so it kind of gives you an idea of the context, of what time this would have been written. But if you look at verse 34 again, it says they do not fear the Lord. They do not follow the statutes or the rules or the law or the commandment that the Lord commanded the children of Jacob, whom he named Israel. God had commanded them to only worship him, the one true God, but these people did not listen. So that's where the northern kingdoms, the northern kingdom, ended up. Where the northern kingdoms, the northern kingdom, ended up.
Stephen:This is what happened to their land, and this sets up a dichotomy that we're going to see played out. You have the Jews, the southern kingdom, who come back from captivity, and the land to the north of them is where these Samaritans have taken up residence, the people that they call the Samaritans, a mixed multitude. They are impure genetically. They're not pure Israelites and they're not worshiping the true God, at least not fully. They have not torn down the high places. So this is going to be, among other things, a source of contention between these people, not to mention the fact that one of the kings of the Hasmonean dynasty destroyed their temple in Mount Gerizim. So you've got this piece, so let's keep that in mind.
Stephen:The Jews have come back into the land For a while. They had their own dynasty, the Hasmonean dynasty, though, again, the kings of this dynasty do not believe were kings of Judah. They're not of David's lineage, but it was something. There was some independence, but it was something. There was some independence. Now, for all of the history that we're going to be going over you can check in the description We'll have an affiliate link to Josephus and his writings. I would encourage you. If you don't have that, you know, if you'd like to, you can use our link to get that book. That will help support our podcast. But for those of you that want to do a deeper dive into this period of history, josephus is the historian to go to, and we'll be talking more about him in other episodes. But this point that we're at in history, after the Hasmonean dynasty, the Jews are going to lose their independence in 63 BC.
Stephen:What had happened was there was a dispute between two members of the family, the descendants of Judah Maccabee, hyrcanus II and Aristopoulos. These two were fighting over their role as ruler in Judea, and about this time one of these men, hyrcanus, went to a man by the name of Antipater. Now, antipater had married a princess of a kingdom whose capital was in Petra. This kingdom was called Nabatea. This man, antipater, told Hyrcanus to call on the king of Nabatea and he would help him take the throne there in Jerusalem. Well, one thing led to another and Pompey, who you may have heard of in history. Pompey came from Rome and decided to just settle the dispute himself. He invaded Judea and there's a little bit more to the story than what we're going over now, but you can read more about it. We'll try and leave some links for you to follow up on some of this. But Pompey comes and he invades Judah in 63 BC and even though there would be a king left of the dynasty, there would not be any independence. They would be kind of ambassadors or mediators between the Jewish people and Rome.
Stephen:Now, why is all of this important to our story? We're supposed to be moving into the New Testament, right? Well, here's the thing Pompey, eventually, because of his relationship to the people in our story, antipater, in particular Antipater would be made procurator of Judea. Okay, well, what does that mean? Well, it means he would be ruling over that land for Rome. The importance of this is that when he came to that position, he made his son the governor of Galilee. His son's name was Herod, and this individual, as you can imagine, is important to our story.
Stephen:As you can imagine is important to our story, herod would eventually go on to take his father's position when his father was assassinated. This would have been about 40 BC, thereabouts, no-transcript Jerusalem, and so Herod went to his friend, mark Anthony, to ask his help in getting Jerusalem back. He wanted his position back. Well, long story short, mark Anthony helps him do that. They go in, they take Jerusalem, and Herod is actually named king of the Jews. Again, these little details this is a lot of boring stuff. It may seem like. It may seem like, but keep in mind, these little details are what is going to affect everything that we see as the New Testament opens. Okay, let's think about this.
Stephen:King of the Jews, herod, was not Jewish. He was from Idumea. He was a descendant of Esau, actually. Now, his people had been forced by the Hasmoneans to convert to Judaism. So he knew the lingo, he knew how to be Jewish in a religious sense, but he was not Jewish, nor was he a believer. He had no problem worshiping other gods, building great constructions, great buildings in honor of Roman Caesars. He even, at one point, put an eagle over the entrance to the temple. So him being named King of the Jews, which was a position that was only open to the Messiah, really somebody from the line of David, this was really hard for the Jews to deal with and we're going to talk about that in a minute. To solidify his position on the throne, he married into the Jewish Hasmonean dynasty by divorcing his first wife, first wife, and he would end up marrying Mariami, who was a daughter, a descendant of Judah Maccabee.
Stephen:Again, a lot of little details, but all of this becomes important as we go along. Details, but all of this becomes important as we go along. Now he wanted to. Herod wanted to stay in favor with the Jews. He wanted to earn their loyalty, so he did increase the size of the temple. He built the biggest, most magnificent version of the temple that we would ever see. However, he also rebuilt Samaria. He also did an amazing construction really.
Stephen:In Caesarea he built a port. He put in an artificial port that would allow shipping to basically be able to run back and forth year-round. At the very least they would be able to put their ships in port and protect them during the winter from the tempestuous waves. Before this, shipping during certain times of the year was very hazardous. And also, let's just remember too that the Jews there really are no really good ports at this time for them to use, and throughout history the coastline was held by the Philistines anyway. So to the Jews, the water came to symbolize the Gentile nations, and when the port was built, that flood actually ended up happening. We do see Caesarea becoming a Gentile city. A lot of the wealthy merchants, the people who were doing business throughout all the world, business that was coming to this port. They were based in Caesarea. There was a great intermingling of many cultures, and so that brought basically the outside world to Israel in a new way.
Stephen:Herod also built a temple to Augustus. So we can see in Herod a lot of changes happening that the Jews had to be concerned about. A particular group would be the Pharisees, for instance. They didn't really like it. That you know, herod was building this temple. That's great, but he didn't meet their it. That you know, herod was building this temple, that's great, but he didn't meet their demands for the temple. They hated the golden eagle that was placed. In fact, a group of students ended up removing that eagle. Many of them were killed for that. The Sadducees, another group, didn't like that. He was appointing outsiders to work in the temple. By this point, the job of high priest was something that the ruler of Judea would appoint once a year. Judea would appoint once a year. Herod had no problem appointing people from Babylon or Alexandria, and he did this to gain favor with the diaspora.
Stephen:Are you seeing a pattern here, in all of these little things that we're talking about? What I love about history is that, no matter where I turn to, no matter what page we're looking at, let me tell you it's like sometimes it's like going online and getting the latest news. Herod is no different from many politicians that you may know. Again, he increased the size of the temple to make the Jews happy. He rebuilt Samaria to make them happy. He built the port in Caesarea so that he could continue to trade and build relationships with the Gentiles. He built temples to Augustus to make Caesar happy. This guy was in love with power. His most important mission was building his kingdom and he would do whatever it took to get that done.
Stephen:Towards the end of his life he would actually have health issues. We believe that would further cloud his mind and the last year or two of Herod's life would be the worst. Year or two of Herod's life would be the worst. We don't know exactly what was going on with him. Some have said maybe a kidney disease that was left untreated. That would affect his body, would affect his mind. Whatever the case, in the last two years of his life it was a reign of terror.
Stephen:The Pharisees said at that time that they believed a Messiah was coming and when he came he would be the real king of Israel. Well, we believe that upwards of 3,000 Pharisees were killed by Herod at that time. We understand that he executed one wife at least that I have found. He executed one wife and three sons. Don't know exactly. We believe he had nine wives, and not only would his sons go on to continue to rule in Israel and in the area, but Agrippa the first and Agrippa the II would come from his line. So I know this is just kind of a lot of information just strung together and, like I said, we can leave links so you can go study some of this on your own. Go study some of this on your own, but I hope this gives you a little bit of an idea into the character of Herod.
Stephen:We cannot be fooled by the fact that he added to the temple on the south side was this area where there would be a market and, yes, it did pretty good business, but that market was not supposed to be there. Now, another reason he added these buildings was he wanted some buildings there that were tall enough that he could stand there and see what was going on in the temple. Let's remember he was not a Jew. He was not allowed into the temple. So for everything that we see Herod, do remember, there's always other motives. Mostly it has to do with making sure that he stayed in power. So this is what the Jews were up against. This is the Herod that you find in Scripture.
Stephen:Now, we've already mentioned a couple different groups of the Jews the Pharisees, the Sadducees. What do we mean by that? Well, we have to remember at this time again, just like today maybe you'll find something applicable in what I'm about to say but in the Jewish faith at this time, there were different groups, and there's four in particular that we're going to look at, maybe five. These groups, you could almost consider they were all followers of the scriptures, the Torah. They believed the word of God. In a sense, they believed that God gave them the word and they tried to follow the word. The disagreements between these groups was not whether or not the Torah was God's word. The disagreement came in how to understand the Torah. These groups all had the Torah, but their commentaries on it were very different. They had a different way they could look at the same verse and come away with different interpretations. Does that sound familiar? We find a lot of that. I mean a lot of that today, don't we? But let's talk about these groups.
Stephen:When Jesus was born, these were the main denominations of the day, and we have mentioned the Pharisees, and we have actually talked about the Pharisees and the Sadducees in previous episodes, so you can go back even to the last episode and we talk a little bit about them and we'll just kind of very briefly go over these and as the story goes along we'll be learning more about these groups. So we'll just kind of introduce them here. The Pharisees these guys accepted the written law but they also accepted the oral law. They accepted the traditions. Each great rabbi that would come along he would give his interpretation of the law, teaching of the law. They had things that they believed were handed down from Moses, that Moses and Joshua had versions well, not versions, but different things that they taught that went along with the law, and this was all supposed to have been passed down. Eventually it would be put into what we call the Mishnah.
Stephen:Even among the Pharisees there were divisions in a sense of how strict to be about the law and the traditions. When we look at the Pharisees in the New Testament we think of a very strict group, and they were. But there was a rabbi named Hillel who wanted to get people to understand that you could be strict with the law up to a certain point, but then at some point, you know, you have to think about the spirit of the law. There was another man called Shammai. He believed for a super strict interpretation of the law. Now, if you read the Mishnah, you will find them. Reference the Hillel teachings and the Shammai teachings. The people, the followers of Hillel and the followers of Shammai. The people, the followers of Hillel and the followers of Shammai. These two were contemporaries and they were part just a great part of the conversation, of the differences between being too strict or not strict enough about following these oral laws and traditions. Oral laws and traditions. In fact, we believe Gamaliel that we'll talk about later was part of the. He was one of the followers of Hillel.
Stephen:The Sadducees, on the other hand, where the Pharisees were more of, they were drawn from the people. Okay, so if you wanted to be a Pharisee, you could study hard. You could be a Pharisee, you could be a rabbi. These were the people that you would run into at the synagogue. These were the teachers of the people. They were often from the middle class. Okay, some of them, like Hillel, were very poor.
Stephen:The Sadducees, on the other hand, they claimed their to be descendants from Zadok, the priest. Many of them were very wealthy, but the high priests, the higher offices that were offered at the time, usually came from this group. They believed that they had the right by line, by their family line, to be priest. But again, remember too, these are just a very aristocratic group. Now, how did they get their wealth? Well, we know there was a lot of profit to be made in the temple right in the temple right. So that was part of it.
Stephen:Because of the wealth they had, they tended to want to just get along with Rome or get along with whoever was in power, and really they just didn't care. They didn't care who was in power, as long as they stayed in power. Unlike the Pharisees, they did not believe. They did not follow as much the oral law. You can't get away from it completely. You have to have some kind of understanding or commentaries, usually on the law. What they were teaching on the law was definitely their oral tradition, but you understand what I mean. In the strictest sense they followed only the Torah. They didn't want to be bound by all the extra traditions that the Pharisees had in place. The main thing about them is they had no problem with Herod, other than the fact, of course, like we talked about earlier, they didn't like it that he appointed outsiders to positions of authority in the temple, but other than that, they were fine with Rome. They wanted to be friendly with Rome. We'll put it that way.
Stephen:Now, because of groups like this and we can go back to Maccabee and kind of trace where this group came from we see the rise of a group called the Zealots. These were people that they arose, I would say, mostly with the reign of Herod. They knew that he did not belong on the throne. They knew he should not be allowed the title of king of the Jews. They knew that and they wanted a change. They were not comfortable with Rome being in power, with Rome being in power. In a sense, the Pharisees wanted. It would have been better to them if Israel had its independence, but they were most concerned about the temple and they didn't want to push the envelope too far. The Zealots did not care, they were fine. There was a group of them that would become assassins. We would see that later on and when we get to AD 70, they play a big part in the destruction of Jerusalem. Their battle cry was freedom, freedom at all cost. So I've heard some people refer to this group as the group of politicians. I don't know what kind of politicians they would be. They ended up being a very violent group, as we'll see later on.
Stephen:Then there was our fourth group that just said you know what? We just don't need any of this. They had read the writings of Daniel and they believed that everything was lining up. They saw the Hasmonean dynasty fall. They saw Rome come in. They saw a maybe we could say a willful king. If we look back at the prophecies of Daniel, we see a willful king that could be Herod, and they believed everything was lining up. Maybe you've heard of a group like this. They started focusing on controlling what they could control, which was themselves.
Stephen:Basically, they took after some of the more I don't want to say the teachings of the cynics. You may remember us talking about the cynics, those that just didn't care. They just decided they were going to live like animals. These people didn't do that, but these Essenes did pull away from society. They did decide to live basically in communes. Many of them became celibate and they basically set up camp near the Dead Sea. Many of them, we believe that the Qumran community. If you've heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls we believe that they may have been linked to the Essenes. Basically, these people just went out to the Dead Sea and decided to camp out in the hills and wait for the Messiah to come, and they even decided to try to preserve their writings because they believed that not only was the Messiah coming, but they believed that destruction was coming to Jerusalem. So in many ways they were right in that sense. So those are the four main groups, the four denominations. I guess you could say that you're going to find the Pharisees, the Sadducees, the Zealots and the Essenes Now interspersed amongst all this. I wouldn't call them a denomination, but you still have a strong Hellenist influence.
Stephen:This is mostly being led by a man named Philo. He was a Jewish man. He lived in Alexandria, alexandria, and he was Jewish Jewish indeed, but we don't even we're pretty sure that possibly he didn't even read Hebrew. There was a translation of the scriptures made into Greek. We call it the Septuagint made into Greek. We call it the Septuagint. This translation was made in Alexandria and we believe that this is what Philo read. But along with reading the scriptures and we do believe he was a faithful Jew he did his best to abide by the Torah, but he really tried to make sense of things through a philosophical lens as well. So I'm going to read you a quote and we'll have a link to this article in the description. In fact, we'll have a couple of quotes here. Listen to this quote in the description. In fact, we'll have a couple quotes here. Listen to this quote.
Stephen:Philo believed that the world of Plato's forms was created by the God of Israel. For Philo had a love of Judaism which mixed in his mind with the wisdom of the Greeks, especially Plato. Long before the medieval scholars of Judaism, christianity and Islam meshed together faith and reason, scripture and science, greek wisdom. Philo wrestled with these topics, these two worlds. He was the first to do so by many centuries. Philo was content to mix and match content from the Greek writers and scripture, harmonizing the two through his explanations. He held that God created the cosmos from some eternal material. He taught that the divine is apprehended in the human mind through the deepest contemplation. Philo taught that logos, an organizing structure which the mind can apprehend, stands between the creator and the creation. That is, that God creates the world not directly, but rather through a mediating agency. End of quote. Okay, and that's a quote by Heller. We'll leave a link to that. But here we see another influence that is working its way into Judaism.
Stephen:Into Judaism, we see Philo studying Plato's world of the forms, which we talked about in episode five. We see him seeking the logos, which we talked about in episode five. He believed that this intermediary, this, you know. Like we said before, plato was not sure, socrates was not sure that God would create the world, this chaotic world. They didn't understand what sin had done to the world, but they really believed. They felt that God was aloof from creation and that it couldn't have been him that created. Even though he did. They believed it was a mirror image. You go back to our talk on the Logos episode 5, we talk about that. Philo believed the same thing that an organizing structure stood between the Creator and the creation. This was the Logos. Another interesting side note about Philo in this. I have to read this again. This is a lot of groundwork, but you're going to see this all throughout the Church History series. We'll have a link to this in the description.
Stephen:Listen to what this writer said here about philo. There is an inherent continuity between Torah and worldly experience that can only be appreciated when one is immersed in both. For philo, the Torah guides us to the various branches of wisdom, but it cannot replace the love of harmony that we gain from music or the appreciation of order that is cultivated in the study of mathematics, nor does it seek to End of quote. So, with Philo, we see him studying the world around him. Now, I hope, you see, keep this tucked away in the back of your mind. We're going to be discussing this when we get to Paul. We're going to be discussing this when we get to the Renaissance. Okay, I'm just, I'm telling you all of this is important. So all of this is going on.
Stephen:And all these people, especially the Essenes, they had this right. They knew the Messiah was coming. They had looked at Daniel. They knew the Messiah was coming. The Zealots were actively trying to prepare the way politically for the Messiah to come, the way politically for the Messiah to come. The Pharisees were seeking to have a pure people. They wanted to follow the Lord the best they can. Let's try and wrap all this up. As we get to the birth of Christ, let's think about how all these pieces fit together. I want you to keep in mind just think of these words the right time.
Stephen:There had been 400 years since the Jews had heard from God, and sometimes we think of that, as just there wasn't any scripture written, there wasn't any prophets. No, literally, guys, his presence had not been in their midst for 400 years. His literal presence, you say? Well, what do you mean by that? Well, remember, at the beginning, when we talked about Pompey invading Jerusalem, one of the things that he wanted to see when he went there was he was fascinated that the Jews worshipped one God. This just did not make sense. No other culture did this. So he went to the temple, burst in, went through the curtain and looked upon the Holy of Holies. Now, if you're a Bible student, you would think to yourself well, he should have died. Well, here's the thing he didn't, and he wasn't the only Gentile to do this. He looked in there and there was nothing. There was nothing, nothing, even in the Mishnah. It's admitted that, though the temple had been rebuilt, there was some things missing. One of them was the ark and the other one was the glory, what the missional refers to as the Shekinah glory. It wasn't there, guys. God's presence had not been there.
Stephen:Think about the times in your life where you wondered where God was. Think about these people. 400 years, they were able to put things together. There were 400 years, for instance, that they were in Egypt and God came and delivered them. That time had come again. It had been 400 years. They were looking for a deliverer when the priest went in.
Stephen:In fact, our story begins not in Bethlehem, but it begins at the temple. Remember a priest named Zechariah? He goes into the temple. You know, one of the things that they would pray for was for God's presence to return. They've been praying that for 400 years. Can you imagine his surprise when it happens? Happens that moment when a word comes to him through this angel? He tells him that his wife is going to have a baby. This is the beginning of another season of miracles. Great signs would happen. What must he have been thinking? This is what the Jews had been waiting for. It's said that even in the curtain of the temple were embroidered the image of the cherubims. They had so, so been hoping for God to return and they were looking for the signs.
Stephen:Can you imagine being a Bible scholar at the time and looking through the word of God trying to sort out? Okay, I believe the time is here. Who are we looking for? Well, according to Malachi 3.1, we would need a forerunner. We would need somebody to prepare the way. We also know that he would need to be like Elijah. We know from Micah 5.2 that he should be born in Bethlehem. We know that he eventually will ride on a donkey. He would be wounded by his friends. Zechariah talks about that. Zechariah says he would be betrayed for 30 pieces of silver. Zechariah said that the money would be returned in the temple and that it would go to the potter. Isaiah says he would make no defense. Psalm says that his hands and feet would be pierced.
Stephen:Now I'm going to leave a link in the description because to me this is just fascinating. There are so many prophecies about Jesus that were fulfilled. I've just mentioned eight of them. I want you to think about this. We have Jesus showing up at the right time. What are the odds? What are the odds that he could fulfill all of these prophecies? And this is for you know. If you have somebody who doesn't believe the word of God, think about this. There was a study done and I'll leave a link to it. This group at a university took eight prophecies the eight that we just mentioned and they tried to figure out what are the odds that somebody could make that prophecy and it be fulfilled All eight. Now, mind you, there's many, many, many more, but these eight. Can I quote you a piece from this study. They looked at this and they said what are the odds that all eight of these, just these eight, can be fulfilled? Let me read you what they said. Quote Let us try to visualize this chance.
Stephen:If you mark one of ten tickets and place all of the tickets in a hat and thoroughly stir them and then ask a blindfolded man to draw one, his chance of getting the right ticket is one in ten. Suppose that we take 10 to the 17th power silver dollars and lay them on the face of Texas. They will cover all of the state two feet deep. Now mark one of these silver dollars and stir the whole mass thoroughly, all over the state. Blindfold a man and tell him that he can travel as far as he wishes, but he must pick up one silver dollar and say that this is the right one. What chance would he have of getting the right one? Just the same chance that the prophets would have had of writing these eight prophecies and having them all come true in any one man from their day to the present time, providing they wrote using their own wisdom. End of quote.
Stephen:So we have here a setup, the odds of which you know. All of this coming together the way it did is just astounding. There's nothing else like this, ladies and gentlemen. There's nothing else like this, ladies and gentlemen. These people were carried away from their homeland. They were brought back, just like the Bible says. The Bible talked about them being brought back to the land. This happened, but they still didn't have their kingdom, what they were looking for. They didn't have their Messiah.
Stephen:We see Herod come to power. We see these four different denominations all rise up and so many are looking for the Messiah to come. They're praying for God's Spirit to come back. And then, one day, zacharias told you're going to have a son, it's time. This one will prepare the way and not long after that, in a stable, a king would be born, and so much more than a king A prophet, priest and king.
Stephen:And it all starts for us in Matthew, chapter 1. Take a look at that. If you go to your Bible Matthew, chapter 1, look at verse 1. Look at this. If you go to your Bible, matthew, chapter 1, look at verse 1. Look at this the book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Why those two? It mentions those two right off. If you go back and listen to our series.
Stephen:So far, we've talked about some covenants that needed to be fulfilled. One was the Davidic covenant. The other was the Abrahamic covenant A king whose nation would be a blessing to all, to all the nations of the earth, all the kingdoms. This is him, this is Jesus Christ. And where the Israelites failed with their covenant that was made with Moses, we have talked about a new covenant that was going to be made, where God would write his law in the people's hearts. All of this is going to be fulfilled and I don't know how to apply it. All of this that we've talked about, I know it just seems like a lot of random information and I promise you, in the next episode you're going to see how all these pieces fit together. But if you get nothing else from today's episode, you're going to see how all these pieces fit together. But if you get nothing else from today's episode, do you see this? It was the right time.
Stephen:God is always on time. You may go through periods in your life where you just you're not sure God's presence is there. You feel like he's not answering your prayer Doesn't mean he won't answer your prayer. Maybe it's not time, but I can promise you God's timing is always perfect. Would you look at this with me? Galatians, chapter 4. Look at Galatians, chapter 4. Look at Galatians, chapter 4, and let's start reading in verse. We'll start at verse number 1.
Stephen:I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though. He is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by the father. In the same way, we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, god sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, god has sent the spirit of his son into our hearts, crying Abba, father. So you are no longer a slave but a son. And if a son, then an heir through God, a son than an heir through God. When the fullness of time had come, god sent forth his son. And that's where we are. The fullness of time has come, and right on time. Jesus, the word of God. The Logos becomes flesh to dwell upon us. Thank you.
