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Between the Old and New Testament
  | Almost 400 years went by between the last stories in the Old Testament and the beginning of Jesus' story in the New Testament. There were many changes during that time. For most of those years a succession of empires - Assyria, Babylonia, Persia and Alexander the Great's Macedonian Empire controlled the Jewish states. After Alexander's death, two empires - Syrian and Egyptian - vied for power and Jerusalem changed hands seven times in 20 years! Eventually the Jews were able to free themselves from foreign rule under the guidance of the Maccabees. For about 100 years they were once again an independent nation with their own kings. About 50 years before Jesus was born, in 53 B.C., Jerusalem was captured by the Romans. The Romans sent a man named Herod to be king of the Jews. He made his home in Jerusalem, but took all of his orders from Rome. He didn't listen to or care about his Jewish subjects' concerns. As a result, over the years Herod became more and more unpopular. Herod began to worry that there might be an uprising. That wouldn't make him look good to the Romans, so he decided to do something about it. The old temple in Jerusalem was several hundred years old and in disrepair. Herod tore it down and replaced it with a beautiful white marble building. Parts of it were covered in gold and silver. It took many years and over ten thousand workers to complete the new temple. It towered over Jerusalem and dazzled in the sunlight. This made the Jews very happy! Descendants of Aaron took their rightful position as priests at the temple and offered sacrifices to God every morning and evening just as God had instructed Moses on Mount Sinai. The priests became a powerful class and Herod worked hard to keep them happy. The priests seemed to keep the people in line so Herod didn't have to worry about them. This was the world into which Jesus was born. When the three Wise Men came looking for "the king of the Jews," they stopped in Jerusalem and asked King Herod. Their question made him very nervous! Herod told them to let him know who the 'king' was and where to find him, but the kings were warned in a dream not to do that. After they visited Jesus in Bethlehem, the kings went straight home. |
| December 2016 | ||||
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