Has there ever been such a brood of vipers? Thursday, Mar 11 2010 

Biblical history and New Testament kennethbow 12:03 am

The lives of the Herod family intertwine with the life of Jesus and the lives of His Apostles.  At times it is difficult to discern which Herod is being mentioned.  They are often just referred to as “Herod”.  Sometimes they are mentioned only a few verses apart, yet are different members of the family.

This blog today is for those of you who would like to be able to keep them separated in the scriptures.  It is not always easy because this brood of vipers were constantly writhing and hissing!

Here are their biographies.

Herod Antipater, the father of Herod the Great, is not mentioned in the New Testament, but ten of his descendants played major roles in the lives of Jesus and of the apostles.

The Herod family were Idumeans. That is, they were descended from Abraham through Isaac and Esau, rather than through Isaac and Jacob. They saw themselves as Jewish, participating in God’s covenant with Abraham, but their ancestors had not gone to Egypt with Joseph and returned with Moses and Joshua.

Herod Antipater formally converted to the Jewish religious practice of the descendants of Jacob. His family would not allow their portraits (graven images) on the coins they issued, they did not eat pork as they followed the Jewish dietary laws, and the women of the family were not allowed to marry men who were uncircumcised.

But the family also followed Roman social practices. They traveled to Rome frequently and commissioned buildings in the Roman style of architecture. Herod the Great sent his sons to live in the household of Octavian (Caesar Augustus) in Rome while they received their formal educations.

Members of the family sponsored athletic games in the Greek style, which were offensive to the Jews. And they also arranged marriages between uncles and nieces in the Roman fashion.

Herod the Great undertook great building projects in Palestine, including whole cities like Caesarea Maritima and Masada and the rebuilding of Jericho. Most important, he rebuilt the Temple of Solomon in Jerusalem. After he completed the work, he deeply offended the Jews of Jerusalem by placing an eagle, the emblem of Roman rule, on the Temple. His last act in life was overseeing the execution of the Jews who tore it down.

In Matthew 2, the wise men from the East asked Herod the Great where the King of the Jews was to be born. Herod was deeply disturbed, because he had earned the title, King of the Jews, from the Romans, and he was planning that one of his sons would inherit the title from him. Equally disturbing was the news that the child would be born in Bethlehem, the site of Herod’s summer palace.

Herod the Great ordered the slaughter of all boys under the age of two years, and Joseph took Mary and Jesus to Egypt for safety. Joseph did not bring his family back to Nazareth until after Herod the Great’s death in 4 b.c.

After the death of Herod the Great, the Romans divided his kingdom between his sons, and none of them was called King of the Jews.

Herod Archelaus ruled Judea after the death of his father. In Matthew 2: 22, Joseph decided to take his family north to Galilee, because he was also afraid of Archelaus. Archelaus ruled badly, and the Romans removed him after ten years, replacing him with a Roman Governor.

His brother, Herod Antipas, was tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. In the New Testament, he is called Herod the Tetrarch. Another brother, Herod Philip, was tetrarch of Iturea, Gaulanitis, and Trachonitis. Their cousin, Herodias, first married and divorced an uncle living in Rome, then married Philip, and then divorced Philip to marry Antipas.

When John the Baptist preached against this marriage and divorce within the family, Antipas had him thrown into prison. The daughter of Herodias by her first marriage is unnamed in the New Testament, but she is called Salome (a common name in the family) in later accounts. With her mother’s prompting, she requested the head of John the Baptist on a platter, and Antipas ordered John beheaded (Mark 6).

In Mark 8:15, when Jesus warned the disciples against the leaven of the Pharisees and of Herod, he was talking about Herod Antipas. Antipas was also the fox that the Pharisees warned Jesus about in Luke 13: 31.

Antipas presided over Jesus’ trial in Luke 23, and with Pontius Pilate, the Roman procurator, determined Jesus’ death sentence. Jesus would not even speak to the murderer of John the Baptist! John and Peter refer to the decision of Antipas and Pontius Pilate to execute Jesus in Acts 4: 27.

Herod Agrippa I, King of Iturea, Gaulanitis, Trachonitis, Galilee, and Perea, was the grandson of Herod the Great and the nephew of Philip and Antipas. He ordered the execution of James the Elder, and was so buoyed by the public response that he had Peter arrested and put in prison (Acts 12).

Herod Agrippa II was the son of Herod Agrippa I and the great-grandson of Herod the Great. His sister Bernice accompanied him at public functions, and Paul spoke before them in Acts 25 and 26, asking for his right to be tried as a Roman citizen. Agrippa seemed to enjoy talking to Paul, and he used the word Christian to describe him.

Drusilla, the daughter of Herod Agrippa I, was married to Felix, the Roman procurator. She may have argued for compassionate treatment of Paul by her husband (Acts 24: 24).

They were a brood of vipers down to the last one.


 

Will our Apostolic way of life survive? (The Talmud) Wednesday, Mar 10 2010 

Uncategorized kennethbow 12:00 am

The Talmud

I suppose at first thought, you might wonder why a note on the Talmud, when many other books of the Bible are not included yet.  There are a couple of reasons.

First, I wanted to include some things that give support and understanding on how God views our journey here on earth.

Secondly, I wanted to include the note on the Talmud because it supports our position on holiness in this present day.

The Torah is the Jewish name for the Pentateuch.  The Pentateuch is the first five books of the Bible.  The Talmud is the collection of commentary from Jewish Rabbis on the Torah.

Why would this be important to us as gentiles?  My answer is it provides such a beautiful example of how to survive in a world that does not understand us as Apostolics.  To live in our world, which views us as outdated and eccentric, is becoming more difficult as society drifts farther and farther from the principals of the Bible.

The Jew has survived in every century, in every culture, and in every continent.  The Jewish life is as strong today as it was 2000 years ago.  As Apostolics, we need to adopt some of the same principles to insure we do not lose our identity.

The five books of Moses can be written out in about 350 pages.  The Talmud now takes up 523 books in 22 volumes.  As the Jew was scuttled from empire to empire, the need arose for a protection from the blows without and the pressure from within.  The Talmud has provided that.  The Talmud has become the home of the Jew no matter where he lives in the world.  The Talmud has single handedly provided the survival of the Jewish person.

As Apostolics, it appears to me that we are in danger of losing our heritage of holiness.  More and more I see whole churches assimilated into our worlds culture and mores.  We need holiness and separation more than ever before.

The way we dress and live must not die with this generation!  As simple as it may seem, our standards are what will keep us separated from the world.  Simple things like sleeve length, and the distinction of dress between male and female, are critical to the survival of the Apostolic heritage.  It provides us with the cold concrete of protection from the blows that come from without.

In the Talmud, there are many issues that may seem insignificant.  But upon inspection the Talmud provided the Jew with answers to the baffling questions of life.  The Talmud has done more to preserve the Jewish way of life than any other factor.

This oral law that has been discussed over the centuries has kept the Jewish people uniquely Jewish.  It is my hope that our holiness standards will keep us Apostolic in a world that has lost all sense of direction!

The Rabbi’s have haggled over every phase of Jewish life!  They have argued over every word and comma.  In the process of mulling all this over, they created a mandate for survival in a hostile world.

When the world attacked, the Talmud was there to soften the blow and stiffen the will.  Other ancient cultures have faded from the earth, but the Jew has survived.  Can we learn a lesson from them?

The authors of the Talmud seemed to think that no issue was to small to discuss.  They would debate for months whether a person could wear a false tooth on the Sabbath.  A tailor could not take his needle in his hand just before the Sabbath because he might forget and go out with it. You could have candy in your mouth as long as it was put in your mouth before the Sabbath began.

They discussed for nine years one statement in the law; “Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother’s milk”.  From this one issue came the whole idea of Kosher food and food that was not Kosher.

Our first response might be, that is foolish and insignificant.  But never forget it is the small things that have kept them as a people.  They have survived.

We need to appreciate the “small” things if we are going to preserve this Apostolic way of life.  Our standards of dress are important to our survival.  Our standards of what we watch and what entertainment we allow is important to our future.  Our survival depends on the small things.

I will be the first to admit that the Rabbis went to extremes to preserve the Jewish way of life.  However, it is beyond argument that the Jew has survived while other people have been assimilated and have vanished from the stage of time.

Our survival as a distinct people depends on the small things.  We must maintain our holiness and our standards of life.

When they become unimportant, you can write the epitaph of the Apostolic movement.

 

Were the 400 silent years silent? Monday, Mar 8 2010 

Biblical history kennethbow 10:56 pm

They are called the 400 silent years.  Interesting that the whole world was convulsing with worldwide change, yet Biblically it was silent. While the world heard marching armies and battle cries, heaven was mute toward earth. It is called silent because there is no recorded instance of God speaking to man during this time.

When Malachi laid down his writing instrument, there was not a voice from God until the days of John the Baptist.  When that stern Essene, John, lifted his voice for the first time to preach, 400 years of silence was shattered.  How heaven must have rejoiced!  God was again on speaking terms with His creation.

You are reading your Bible.  You finish the Old Testament.  You turn the page.  You continue to read, not thinking of the vast time and change that happened in the turn of that page.

Because we are familiar with the New Testament, we do not stumble at terms like Pharisee, scribe or synagogue.  But none of those or many other terms are used in the Old Testament.  Were you not familiar with the Bible, you would indeed be scratching your head saying what is a Hasmonean?  What is a Herodian? These and many other important Bible subjects and issues emerged during this silent period.

When the Old Testament closes, The Babylonian Empire has fallen and the Media Persian Empire has taken over.  Cyrus the Persian has allowed the decree to rebuild the temple in Jerusalem.  The Old Testament prophets have died, and there is a huge spiritual vacuum.

The writings of Daniel chart the course during these silent years and let Israel know all is on track as God predicted.  Without Daniel, would they have been able to persevere?  We do not know.

From the standpoint of world history, how do we measure the importance of the Greek Macedonian empire? The leader of Greece at this time was Alexander the Great.  He is called “the Great” for some valid reasons.  The cities the Greeks built, and the culture they exported to their conquered lands (Hellenism), was world changing.  Romans built upon the foundation Greece had laid.

This period of Greece was followed by the Roman Empire which lasted 700 years and had two pax romanas (empire wide peace).  Rome built the roads that missionaries would travel.  Rome brought peace so missionaries could travel in relative safety.  Yet all of Rome and Greece’s Hellenestic influence, is unmentioned or never referred to by God.  Heaven’s record and evaluation appears to be far different than mortal men.

When Paul begins his missionary journeys that would transform the known world, these issues of Hellenism would play a major part.  God placed these issues in the mosaic of time for all to be fulfilled when the fullness of time came to pass.

Cyrus the Persian was tolerant and allowed the repatriates to return to the land of Israel.  According to Ezra only 42,000 or so elected to return.  Babylon had been good to the Jewish merchants and life was plush.  They had no desire to endure the rigors of the journey back to Palestine!  Then after they arrived they would be required to live more primitive and frugal.  The majority said “no thank you”.

Their needs had changed as a nation.  Idolatry, that had been the albatross around the national neck for a thousand years, had finally been put away during the captivity.  The death of idolatry, as strong as idolatry had been, was final.  To this day none of us know of a single instance of a Jewish person who worships idols.

The Jewish people needed guidance.  Into this vacuum stepped the scribe.  Ezra was the forerunner of this elite group so highly esteemed.  They were to play a vital role in Jesus’ day.

In captivity they had no temple to worship at, so the Synagogue was established.  Any place ten Jewish males lived the Rabbi’s decreed a synagogue was to be built.  The Rabbi was the local leader of the synagogue.  Some Rabbis became famous and venerated among the population.

Here are some terms that play a part in the New Testament that are not in the Old Testament, but are there when you turn that page from Malachi to Matthew.

  • Scribe (mentioned in Ezra)
  • Synagogue
  • Pharisee
  • Sadducee
  • Hasmonian
  • Herodian
  • Essene (non biblical term)
  • Sanhedrin
  • Governor (Roman)
  • Tax collector
  • Zealot

All of these are important in the inter-testament period.

These are my definitions of them.

Scribe: became the leaders of the community.  Interpreted the law for the common man.

Synagogue:  House of worship for Jewish people all over the world. Visited every Sabbath.

Pharisee: Keepers of the law.  Very concerned with detail.  Jesus’ main opposition for three years.  Not powerful in the government, for they could not get Jesus arrested.

Sadducee: wealthy group as a whole, many of them members of the Sanhedrin.  Did not believe in the resurrection.  When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and offended them, Jesus was arrested and put on trial.

Hasmonian:  these were the Jews who wanted to merge with the Greeks and the Romans. They were ashamed of their Jewish heritage.  They dressed like the Greeks and Romans.  They even went so far as to reverse circumcision, so when they went nude in public like the Greeks, no one would know they were Jewish.

Herodians; these were a political group loyal to the Romans and the line of Herod who were puppet kings installed by Rome

Essenes: These were people who lived apart in communities like communes.  They ate, dressed and lived very sparingly.  John the Baptist was an example of an essene.

Sanhedrin: this was a Jewish council allowed by the Romans to adjudicate Jewish laws.  Rome did not want to deal with the petty issues of a conquered nation’s differences.  This group was comprised mostly of Sadducees, and consequently wealthy men.  History says the number was 70 who were on this council.  Maybe they chose the number from Moses’ day?

Governor; When Herod the great died he divided his kingdom into three parts.  He gave one of the parts to Archalaus his son who was extremely vial.  The night Archalaus inherited, he killed 3000 Jews to entertain his guests.  Rome removed him for his cruelty and replaced him with a governor.  There were several governors before the New Testament opens, but at Jesus’ trial the governor was named Pontius Pilate.

Tax collector: The Roman Empire lasted 700 years.  American has lasted about 250 years.  It is easy to see Rome was around a long time.  Their success in part was due to how they adjudicated the subjugated peoples they conquered.  As a rule they left the national laws and traditions in place and this contributed to their longevity as an empire.  They followed this policy with Palestine.  All Rome asked was the tax due the empire.  So they leased out the collecting of taxes to the highest bidder.  The tax collector kept whatever he could extort from the people.  As a rule the tax collectors were despised as rouges and crooks.  Matthew, Jesus’ disciple was a tax collector.

Zealot: maybe a more familiar term to us would be revolutionary.  A zealot was a person who wanted to over throw the Roman power over Palestine.  One of Jesus’ disciples was a zealot, lending credibility to the charges against Jesus that ultimately got Him crucified.

To the world at large the 400 years were not silent.  It was business as usual.  There was commerce and war, peace and revolution.  There was the siren song of time marching steadily forward.

Finally after 400 years of heaven’s silence, in a far flung corner of the mighty Roman Empire, a child was born and a son was given.  Heaven has never been silent since, and will never again hold it’s peace.

God was manifest!

 

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