A brief intertestamental interlude from the minor prophets

The Intertestamental Apocrypha

Now… a couple of terms off the bat - intertestamental means between the testaments… that one is kinda easy to figure out. Apocrypha is actually a Greek word that means something concealed. This was the word used because even though the Jewish people had these books, they had been copied fairly well they were things kept hidden, or stayed put away for the readings in the synagogue. The same was generally so for the early church when it came to the Apocrypha but not with entire consensus. So what we’re going to briefly chat about is what they are, what they cover, and why you should or shouldn’t read them.

Any questions on terms?

From the oldest to the newest the books or extra bits of books we’re talking are the following.

Tobit - 3rd century BC A story of providence that takes place in the time after Assyria has conquered the Northern Kingdom. Charity is emphasized and so it the power of prayer. An angel in disguise joins the son of Tobit, Tobias on his journey and gives advice and intercedes for him and his wife Sarra that he meets in his travels.

Sirach 200-175BC A book of wisdom, morality and ethics. Written a lot like proverbs.

Judith late 2nd century BC The story of a brave and faithful woman that defeats the might General of Assyria beheading him in his tent.

Wisdom of Solomon 1st century BC Another book like proverbs

1 Maccabees 100-90BC The historical account of the Maccabean revolt which took place after the temple had been defiled. It focuses more on military and politics. It does have the story of Hanukkah 1 Macc 4.52-59.

John 10:22–23 ESV

At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.

2 Maccabees 100-80BC Written after 1 Macc covering a broader perspective with more religious perspective on the events that take place, especially the martyrdom of many Jews.

Extra parts of Esther 2nd - 1st century BC Some extra parts are written for Esther but never get completed adopted and aren’t entirely coherent with the rest of the text.

Extra parts of Daniel 2nd - 1st century BC More work that feels very added on to Daniel show up here. A prayer of Azariah and a song of the three boys both related to the fiery furnace incident. There is also a Bel and the Dragon addition that has short stories of Daniel exposing these as not real gods.

Prayer of Manasseh 1st century BC Is a short text dealing with the repentance of 2 Chron 33.10-13

2 Chronicles 33:10–13 ESV

The Lord spoke to Manasseh and to his people, but they paid no attention. Therefore the Lord brought upon them the commanders of the army of the king of Assyria, who captured Manasseh with hooks and bound him with chains of bronze and brought him to Babylon. And when he was in distress, he entreated the favor of the Lord his God and humbled himself greatly before the God of his fathers. He prayed to him, and God was moved by his entreaty and heard his plea and brought him again to Jerusalem into his kingdom. Then Manasseh knew that the Lord was God.

3 Esdras 1st century AD purports to be from the time of Ezra giving more details about restoration of the Jewish people after the Babylonian exile

That’s all the intertestamental books, but should you read them? I think it would be good to read them if you’ve already read the entire Bible a couple times. If you haven’t then spend the time doing that first. The church has always recognized most of these works as good and beneficial even when they haven’t though they were the inspired Word. So, read them if you want - know that we don’t hold them at the level of inspired scripture but they are beneficial historical documents. You might find some very familiar themes in Sirach, you might hear phrases that sound very much like a sermon illustration from Jesus in Tobit. Most of these books would have been known to most of the Jews of Jesus’ day their recorded history influenced the culture.

Now we couldn’t call it a Wednesday Bible study if we didn’t actually study the Bible. We looked at the books written between the testaments we have in the Bible, but the the Bible does talk about the things that happen in that time period. Both in Daniel 2 and 7 and we’ll take a quick look the rest of the night at what the Bible tells us would happen in this period.

Daniel 2:32–33 ESV

The head of this image was of fine gold, its chest and arms of silver, its middle and thighs of bronze, its legs of iron, its feet partly of iron and partly of clay.

We get told that the gold head is Babylon. We get I think most people agree a parallel prophecy from chapter 7.

Daniel 7:2–8 ESV

Daniel declared, “I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea. And four great beasts came up out of the sea, different from one another. The first was like a lion and had eagles’ wings. Then as I looked its wings were plucked off, and it was lifted up from the ground and made to stand on two feet like a man, and the mind of a man was given to it. And behold, another beast, a second one, like a bear. It was raised up on one side. It had three ribs in its mouth between its teeth; and it was told, ‘Arise, devour much flesh.’ After this I looked, and behold, another, like a leopard, with four wings of a bird on its back. And the beast had four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrifying and dreadful and exceedingly strong. It had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped what was left with its feet. It was different from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I considered the horns, and behold, there came up among them another horn, a little one, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots. And behold, in this horn were eyes like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

The winged lion is the gold head Babylon. A lion with wings but they were plucked. As Nebuchadnezzar was brought down low. Then lifted up and put back on his feet and his mind was restored to him. The bear - the silver portion that came after Babylon was the Medo-Persian empire. One side was greater than the other, the three Ribs being the three major conquests of this empire Babylon, Lydia, and Egypt. Or that’s a guess anyway, the three ribs could just be “eats big stuff” symbolically. The Medo-Persian Empire extends into the intertestamental period. So here we get things that do not happen during times where a book of the Bible is being written. The bronze part of the statue, the leopard with four wings. This is Greece - Alexander the great who conquers the world ridiculously fast. The four heads are the four parts the empire splits into after Alexander’s death. The Iron and the iron-clay are the terrible beast Rome which lasted far longer than most people realize.

Sometimes we think God has gone dark, went silent, isn’t communicating to mankind any longer. This intertestamental period is a good example of that. It appears as if God was quiet but he had already spoken of what was going to happen. There was a new kingdom coming whereupon the Ancient of Days would rule at it’s head.