A World Before CHRISTmas

From the writing of Malachi to the narrative recorded in the Gospels some 400 years had passed without as much of a whisper of divine inspiration. What took place during this time set the stage for the coming of the Messiah, but it was still a dark and terrible time. This morning we will examine the events leading up to the birth of our Savior, and I believe that we will see a world without CHRISTmas is not a world that we want or need.

John 3:19 “And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil.”

Before CHRISTmas

Hope was a distant promise

Genesis 49:10 “The scepter shall not depart from Judah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his feet, until tribute comes to him; and to him shall be the obedience of the peoples.”

Numbers 24:17–19 “I see him, but not now; I behold him, but not near: a star shall come out of Jacob, and a scepter shall rise out of Israel; it shall crush the forehead of Moab and break down all the sons of Sheth. Edom shall be dispossessed; Seir also, his enemies, shall be dispossessed. Israel is doing valiantly. And one from Jacob shall exercise dominion and destroy the survivors of cities!””

351 different promises in the Old Testament of a Messiah

Freedom seemed unattainable

The period divides into six historical divisions:

Persian Era (536-336 BC)

Daniel 5:30–31 “That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old.”

The rise of the synagogue as the local center of worship happened in the Persian Era. Scribes became very important for the interpretation of Scriptures in the synagogue services. Towards the end of this era, a temple rose up in Samaria, establishing a form of worship that rivaled Judaism. That event encouraged the ultimate social and religious separation between Jew and Samaritan.

Greek Era (336-323 BC)

Alexander’s desire was to found a worldwide empire united by language, custom, and civilization. Under his influence, the world began to speak and study the Greek language. This process, called Hellenization, included the adoption of Greek culture and religion in all parts of the world. Hellenism became so popular that it persisted even into New Testament times.

With the death of Alexander in 323 BC, the Greek empire became divided into four segments, which were Daniel’s “four kingdoms” that took the place of the “large horn”

Egyptian Era (323-198 BC)

Daniel 8:21–22 “And the goat is the king of Greece. And the great horn between his eyes is the first king. As for the horn that was broken, in place of which four others arose, four kingdoms shall arise from his nation, but not with his power.”

Syrian Era (198-165 BC)

During this era, the Jewish religion became divided over the issue of Hellenism. The groundwork was laid for an orthodox party, generally led by the scribes and later called the Pharisees, and for what we may call a more pragmatic faction of Jews which became more or less associated with the office of high priest. The pattern of thinking upon which the latter group was based fostered the rise of the Sadducees at a later date.

Maccabean Era (165-63 BC)

Much of the events surrounding this time period are celebrated in the traditions of Hanukkah

Roman Era (63-4 BC)

Herod the Great restores the temple but remained devoted to Hellenist ideologies. He hated the Hasmonaean family and killed everyone in that line including his own wife and 2 sons. This was the same Herod who was on the throne when Jesus was born.

Silence was deafening

The power of “PAUSE”

Psalm 46:10 ““Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!””

5 notable groups from this era:

The Pharisees

During the ministry of Jesus, this law was so rigid with legalistic expansions that it usually had little to do with the original intent of Scripture. What started out as a wholesome and needed dependance on the Word of God deteriorated to a formalism and legalism that denied the spirit of the Word.

The Sadducee

Belonged mostly to the wealthy influential priestly families who formed the social aristocracy of the Jewish nation. They felt that God’s law and a nation’s politics were totally separate. They were therefore skeptical of the Pharisees and thought of them as old-fashioned, irrelevant, and fanatical.

The Herodians

A political party whose major aim was to further the cause of Herod’s government. They were perhaps motivated by a fear of the Roman government and the possibility of total destruction that could result from an act of rebellion by the Jews.

Matthew 22:16 “And they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are true and teach the way of God truthfully, and you do not care about anyone’s opinion, for you are not swayed by appearances.”

The Zealots

A political party directly opposed to the Herodians. They would not conform to Roman rule and did not believe in waiting submissively like the Pharisees until Israel’s Messiah would come and overthrow the Romans. In their opinion, God only helped those who helped themselves, so the Jews had to be ready to fight for independence

.The Zealots had a fiery nationalistic spirit. The teachings of this group stressed a type of man-made, military deliverance rather than divine intervention.

The Essenes

Also a product of the Roman Era. Not mentioned in the New Testament but have received considerable attention since the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls.

A religious group – not political.

A type of pseudo-spiritual cult which felt that they must withdraw from ordinary human society and practice a monastic kind of life and a mystical kind of Judaism.

With a passion for the spirit of the law and a separation to God, the Essenes lost all consciousness of the evangelistic mission of Israel. They were content to lock out the world, ignore its problems, and let it die without hope.

The Stage Was Set…

Mankind’s futile attempts to deal with the shifting tide of political power and religious belief had produced very little. Israel was in a kind of spiritual bondage that was even worse than her political bondage. The rise of various parties and movements discussed above was evidence of a sincere search for some final solution to her problem. All seemed to have failed. The stage of history was dark. The situation was indeed desperate.

Amid this setting God broke four hundred years of silence with the announcement of the coming of Christ, the faithful Servant of the Lord, and the Intertestamental Period came to an end.

Preparations were being made

Announcement of John the Baptist Luke 1:11–17 “And there appeared to him an angel of the Lord standing on the right side of the altar of incense. And Zechariah was troubled when he saw him, and fear fell upon him. But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid, Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard, and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great before the Lord. And he must not drink wine or strong drink, and he will be filled with the Holy Spirit, even from his mother’s womb. And he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God, and he will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, to make ready for the Lord a people prepared.”

Luke 2:1–3 “In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town.”

Ezekiel 22:30 “And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.”