A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

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Antiochus Epiphanes was predicted in Daniel 8:9ff as the “little horn” who persecuted the Jews and plundered the Promised Land. He is a type of “the Beast,” antichrist, who will persecute the Jews in the Great Tribulation. The excesses of Antiochus sparked a popular and patriotic revolt among the people. The revolt was begun by Mattathias Maccabee, a priest with an apparent genuine concern for the holiness of God. He led a band of Zealots into a campaign to free Israel and restore the worship of the temple in accordance with the Law of Moses. He did little more than rally enthusiasm. His son and successor Judas regained possession of Jerusalem and purified and rededicated the temple. This purification of the temple is still celebrated by Jews each December and is the only celebration of the Jews which has a historic background outside of the Old Testament (cf. John 10:22). The Maccabean revolt was one of the most heroic in all history but failed to achieve a lasting victory against the imperial power of Rome. Judas was killed in battle but was succeeded by his brother Jonathan. Though they maintained control of a few major centers for some time, Rome soon conquered and reigned over Palestine again. By the time the Romans and Zealots met at Massada, the revolt had come to an end. For some time the Zealots continued as an underground group of freedom fighters, but they never again posed a serious threat to Rome. The civil war in Judea came to an end with the conquest of Judea and Jerusalem by Pompey in 63 B. C. Though John Hyrcanus was given a nominal leadership role, the real ruler of Judea was Antipater. In 47 B.C., he was formally made procurator of Judea by Julius Caesar. In that role, he made his son Herod governor of Galilee. But Rome was not without its own civil problems. News of the assassination of Caesar resulted in another outbreak of disorder in Judea. For his own security, Herod went to Rome. While there, he was appointed king of the Jews. Two years later (38 B. C.), he married the granddaughter of John Hyrcanus and appointed the Maccabean Aristobulus III as high priest. As a further gesture of goodwill to the Jews, Herod began a major restoration of the temple, which amounted to a building of a third temple. This was the temple where Jesus worshiped. For 400 years the Jews lived and died in a changing world without a fresh revelation from God. It was inevitable that the religion of Israel would experience changes during this time. The Captivity seemed to have cured Israel of its tendency toward idolatry. It also resulted in the establishing of synagogues in every center where there were Jews. The synagogue was vastly different from the temple. Some have called the synagogue (i.e., assembly of teaching) a symbol of defeat. Whereas they met God in the temple between the seraphim when they brought a blood sacrifice, they retreated to the synagogue to learn and reinforce their sectarian identity. During the 400 silent years, the Jews built synagogues everywhere to hear the Old Testament Scriptures read to them. During those years when there were no prophets, the vital faith of Israel became increasingly institutionalized. Whereas in the Old Testament the Jews were mostly illiterate, during the intertestamental period they became a reading people; that helped preserve Jewish identity while other cultures disappeared. Religious literature was written and revered in the synagogue until the traditions, comments, and interpretations recorded in the Talmud, Midrashim, and Cabala were considered as authoritative as the Scriptures they commented on. Sects began forming within Judaism including both the Sadducees and Pharisees. For 400 years, God did not speak to His people. They had the record of what He had already said, but it was increasingly ignored. But one would be wrong to assume that God had abandoned His people. He was silent, but He was about to speak as loudly and clearly as He would ever speak to any people. “But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His
Son, born of a woman, born under the Law, to redeem those who were under the Law, that we might receive the adoption as sons” (Gal. 4:4-5). “God ... has in these last days spoken to us by His Son” (Heb. 1:1-2).
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A Journey Through The Old Testament
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43. ELISHA: The Prophet of Twice th
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matter of fact, nothing is eternal
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Be like the Most High The title “
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TWO ADAM: The Man Who Had Everythin
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Individuals normally fall into sin
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Christ whom Paul calls “the last
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abandon Cain. Rather the Lord came
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When Cain determined to abandon the
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would be that son, Noah, who sailed
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8 The Flood which followed the ente
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always leads to judgment. But Noah,
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happened in the tent is not certain
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at this time that the Americas and
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Though the Scripture explains, “N
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The first call of Abram involved th
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Damascus (cf. 15:2-3). When Abram a
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SEVEN ABRAHAM: Lapse of Faith: Reas
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their root in this period when Abra
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comes to God must believe that He i
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(Gen. 13:8, literal translation). A
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greater blessing. The man of faith
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mothers, a practice which may have
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Melchizedek is described as the pri
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tion of righteousness. Also, the co
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Israel, consistently tried to destr
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HAGAR AND SARAI (Gen. 16:4-6) (2080
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the natural carnal instincts of hum
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eflects a change in Abram which end
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appreciation. When God promised Abr
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desert period in Abraham’s life w
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focus on the problems and soon come
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FOURTEEN LOT: The Destruction of So
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The Scriptures record, “The sun h
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of the highest costs associated wit
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must be viewed as intentional mocki
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6, 9). Second, we are to reckon or
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“offer” and the name of the sac
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forward to that distant day when on
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faith commitment to God is more tha
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constant reminder of the past. Abra
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THE SERVANT AND THE FATHER (Gen. 24
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Rebekah proved herself to be a hard
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een meditating about his flocks, bu
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let the children separate them and
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Though Isaac left the city, he did
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similar symptoms of aging in his ow
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house of God.” Bethel would be mo
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a curse. It might be paraphrased to
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The Dreamer (Genesis 37:1-50; 26) T
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JOSEPH AS A SLAVE IN EGYPT (Gen. 39
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plenty, God continued to bless Jose
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Some critics have disputed the reli
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high, and a man who had a vital rel
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scarring and mutilation may be caus
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God, Eliphaz was instructed, “Tak
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First, Jochebed wove a basket out o
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were a phenomenon which challenged
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oasis Marah which means “bitter
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The giving of the Law to Israel cam
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While Moses and Joshua ascended the
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A second area of interest in the Bo
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ecause of the same kind of unbelief
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Israel. “And the earth opened its
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contains a chapter which the rabbis
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Learning about a sustained confiden
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Christ, John the Baptist chose seve
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described as a savior meeting the S
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JOSHUA: From Victory to Victory (Jo
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THE NORTHERN CAMPAIGN (Josh. 11:1-1
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TWENTY-EIGHT JUDGES: Othniel, Ehud,
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attlefield or in spiritual realms.
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DEBORAH AND BARAK AND THE DEFEAT OF
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Lord is with us” (v. 13), suggest
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GIDEON: THE READY CRUSADER (Jud. 7:
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of action in that city, it was he w
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ead during their Exodus from Egypt
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LOVE’S REQUEST (Ruth 3:1-18) Naom
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worshipers. Because of the importan
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paternity could not always be estab
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Jephthah’s problems were not over
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THE WIFE OF MANOAH (Jud. 13:1-25) (
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decaying carcass of the lion as a h
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Delilah sought to learn the secret
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With the compromising Levite and Mi
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attlefront would raise the spirits
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“Then she made a vow and said, `O
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the voice again, he was to remain w
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territory, to Beth Shemesh, then He
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when they would cry out to God beca
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finding the lost asses; however, hi
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a battle and the ensuing loss of li
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Philistines disarmed the nation so
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to mourn until God intervened and s
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valley of Elah. “I defy the armie
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Saul began to view David as a perso
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Samuel were staying, he too began p
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dead. Every legitimate means of dis
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On the death of Saul, David was the
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elieved Joab could be trusted. He p
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that place until the dedication of
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his own bed in Jerusalem rather tha
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David himself had called for the st
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When his cousin Jonadab probed Amno
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attlefields against Absalom, the ot
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enemies of Israel during his reign.
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agreed with the settlement, the oth
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THE WEALTH OF SOLOMON (1 Kings 9:10
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Though most of the book contains an
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JEROBOAM AND REHOBOAM: The Division
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chance of succeeding, and now it wa
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It took the serious illness of his
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Kingdom of Israel. The political tu
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God. This apostate dynasty would le
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anticipatory sense as the next dyna
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The Man of Like Passion and Power (
Page 234 and 235: again appear in the sky and the ear
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Page 238 and 239: for the king. “Because you have l
Page 240 and 241: Rather than call for the surrender
Page 242 and 243: On another occasion, Elisha raised
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Page 258 and 259: FORTY-SIX JEREMIAH: The Collapsing
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Page 270 and 271: may have often heard her father spe
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Page 276 and 277: For the Jews who chose not to retur
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Page 280 and 281: project would take. Soon Nehemiah h
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A Journey Through The Old Testament - Elmer Towns

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