POWER SHIFTS
THE LEAD UP
Political futures have not changed much in the last 2000 years. There is always a world power that is striving to maintain its position and even gain more authority. About 150 years before the birth of Christ, the Ptolemy reign was the superpower, but the Seleucid empire fought to be the dominant force. The battle for power began after Alexander the Great’s death. The Ptolemy empire was given control of Egypt and Palestine; the Seleucid family controlled the land mass around Palestine. The Seleucid’s regime’s only goal was more power, more land.
After generations of small skirmishes against the Ptolemy empire, Antiochus III became ruler of the Seleucid empire. Within a few years, he attacked both Egypt and Palestine. While he could not conquer Egypt, he added Palestine to his empire. With him in control, there were a few years of peace and then despair flooded the nation because of his son.
Antiochus IV was a despot out for power regardless of the consequences. Although he ruled for only nine years, the impact of his decrees affected every aspect of Jewish life. Antiochus IV or sometimes called Antiochus, Epiphones, sought the complete Hellenization of Palestine. In his brief period ruling Palestine, he outlawed major Jewish practices and traditions. Possession of the Pentateuch, observance of the Sabbath, or the circumcision of a Jewish male resulted in death.
HANUKKAH
Antiochus’s opposition to Jewish religious practices sparked a guerrilla movement in Palestine. Within three years, the Maccabees seized Jerusalem and rededicated the Temple, an event commemorated annually as Hanukkah. After two more decades of sporadic conflict, the Seleucids signed a peace treaty with Jewish leaders, granting them autonomy over Judah. The Hasmoneans (formerly the Maccabees) continued to contend with the Seleucids for dominance until internal decline within the Seleucid empire allowed Israel to ally with the rising Roman power.
NEW RULER—SAME DOMINATION
Believing the Roman ruler Pompey would allow greater religious freedom, the nation sought their military help. Instead in 63BC, Pompey invaded Jerusalem and took personal control of Judah. Pompey ruled with a heavy hand over Palestine until he lost power to Caesar. Caesar appointed Herod the Great as the ruler of Palestine.
Herod the Great believed in only one set of rules—that which kept him in power. Rebellions arose against Roman rule but were quickly put down. Anti-Roman hatred filled Israel, but Herod prevailed. In his sick mind, any perceived threat led to death.
Trying to appease the Jewish population, Herod invested tax money in the renovation of the Temple and the Temple Mount, the acreage surrounding the Temple. Because of his family’s gifts, the religious area grew from a small temple to over thirty-five acres and could hold over one million people for its yearly festivals.
While Herod financially supported the Temple’s construction, he also defied Jewish authorities by building heathen pagan temples and building a large amphitheater that housed games honoring the Roman rulers. Shortly before Herod the Great’s death, he used the military to kill every Jewish male under the age of two in the vicinity of Bethlehem after the visiting Magi spoke about the birth of a Jewish king. (Matthew chapter 2).
In the final year of his life, in defiance of all that the Jewish nation believed in, he placed a golden eagle at the gate of the Temple to honor the Roman ruler, Augustus. Herod’s life ended in excruciating pain. The historian Josephus recorded that the pain was so unbearable that Herod tried unsuccessfully to commit suicide. His punishment and death shortly after trying to kill the baby Jesus in Bethlehem was a fitting end to this despotic rule. After the death of Herod, the Great, his children took control of Palestine.
Herod’s son, Archelaus, ruled Judea for nine years. Archelaus continued Herod the Great’s cruelty. In revenge for the religious leaders’ defiance of Rome, Archelaus had a large group of Jews arrested and burned to death as a sacrifice to Caesar.
The Jewish hatred of Roman rule only grew. Archelaus tried to make amends by lowering the taxes and freeing the remaining political prisoners, but the Jewish faithful were not to be appeased. When the Jewish leaders demanded those responsible for the burnings be punished, Archelaus refused. The Jewish nation revolted. In fury, Archelaus killed over three thousand more Jews.
His cruelty led to him being deposed. After nine years of Herod Archelaus’ reign of terror, Rome took direct control of Judea and appointed Pontius Pilate as governor. Rome only required that peace in Judea be maintained.
Into this world, the Messiah was born. The same Pontius Pilate would thirty years later order the crucifixion of Jesus, the Christ.
The Journey 