What happened in the intertestamental period?

THE MACCABEES. It may be well to describe in few words the history of the Jews during the four hundred years that elapsed between the writing of the Book of Malachi, the last of the Old Testament writings, and the birth of our Lord as given in the gospels according to Matthew and Luke. The story is told by Josephus. This period is chiefly remarkable for the rising up and exploits of Mattathias, a great-grandson of the celebrated Asamoneus, and his five sons, commonly called the Maccabees. The uprising of this wonderful family was occasioned by the daring sacrilege of Antiochus Epiphanes, who gained possession of Jerusalem by guile, and then proceeded to rob the Temple of its golden candlesticks, golden altar of incense, table of showbread, and altar of burnt offering. He forbad the Jews to offer their daily sacrifices. Added to this, he built an idol altar upon God’s altar, and offered swine—the abomination of the Jews—upon it. He commanded that Jewish sons should no longer be circumcised, and ordered that temples should be built in every city and village, and swine offered on their altars in idol worship. All this was prophesied as to take place by Daniel the prophet centuries before (Chap. 8:9-14).

Over 500 years had passed away since Ezra, by the decree of Cyrus the Persian, had led a little remnant of the people back from Babylon to rebuild the shattered fortunes of the nation, after the terrible overthrow by Nebuchadnezzar, which began about 606 B.C. It was but a small proportion of the many thousands who had been carried away, but their hearts were towards the land of Israel, and the Lord had blessed and multiplied them greatly. The intervening years had been times of varying fortunes for the little hierarchical state. The Persian monarchy, which had been the means of their restoration, had been overthrown by Alexander the Great in 330 B.C., and Palestine then came under the power of Greece. Daniel had described, in few words, the character of the "mighty king" and the break up of his kingdom, "divided towards the four winds of heaven" (Dan. 11:3). This was an event of much political importance to Judea, for it found itself — as it will be in a later day — the bone of contention between the king of the South, Egypt, and the king of the North, Syria. The first hundred years of this period the land was under the power of Egypt, and though ill-governed at the best, it had not reached the depth of suffering measured out to it during the Syrian oppression. The terrible cruelty and madness of Antiochus Epiphanes (175-164 B.C.) has seldom been equalled in the world's history. The ruling passion of his wicked life was hatred to the Jew and the religion of Jehovah. On one occasion he captured the city of Jerusalem, slaughtered 40,000 of the inhabitants, sacrificed a sow upon the brazen altar, and erected a statue to Jupiter in the Temple courts. This brought matters to an issue. Under Judas Maccabeus and his brethren the War of Independence began, which resulted in Judea once more becoming a free state in 161 B.C.

The principal events stand thus: B.C. 4004 Adam created. 2948 Noah born. 2348 The Flood. 1996 Abraham born. 1921 Call of Abraham. 1896 Isaac born. 1836 Jacob born. 1706 The Israelites enter Egypt. 1491 The Exodus. The law given. 1451 The Israelites cross the Jordan. 1444 The division of the land. (See JUDGES.) 1095 Saul anointed king: the kingdom begins. 1055 David, king. 1015 Solomon, king. 1005 Dedication of the Temple. 975 Division of the kingdom. (See KINGS.) (776 Era of the Olympiads begins.) (753 Rome built: era of A.U.C. begins.) 740 Captivity of the two and a half tribes east of the Jordan. 721 End of the kingdom of Israel. 658 Manasseh carried to Babylon. 606 Jerusalem taken: first captivity of Judah. 605 Nebuchadnezzar reigns alone. Time of the Gentiles begins in the first great empire — Babylon. 599 Jerusalem re-taken: the great captivity. 588 Jerusalem re-taken and destroyed. 538 Belshazzar slain: the second great empire commences. The Medes and Persians. 536 Cyrus reigns alone. The 70 years of Jer. 25:11-12 end. The Jews return. Ezra 1, 2: (See PERSIA.) 475 Artaxerxes succeeds Xerxes. 455 Artaxerxes commissions Nehemiah to build Jerusalem. The Seventy Weeks of Daniel begin. 336 Alexander the Great, head of the third great empire — The Greek. 323 Death of Alexander the Great: his four Generals divide the kingdom, but it mainly merged into two kingdoms: Egypt, 'kings of the South,' and Syria, 'kings of the north.' (See ANTIOCHUS.) 191 All Asia Minor on the west of Mount Taurus delivered to Rome. 166 to about 65 The times of the Maccabees. In 166 Jerusalem was recovered and the temple re-dedicated. 65 Rome, the fourth great empire, rapidly gains ascendancy. Syria becomes a Roman province. In 63 Judaea is subjected to Rome. In 30 Egypt becomes a Roman province. 40 Herod is appointed by Rome king of Judaea. 20 Herod begins to rebuild the temple 6 Birth of John the Baptist. 5 Birth of Christ. (See NEW TESTAMENT.)

The scene changes once more. One of Alexander's successors, Antiochus Epiphanes, and the Maccabean victory is the topic of these verses. On this invader see Daniel 8, where he is predicted as the little horn and his abominable work there is fully described. He entered "the pleasant land," the land of Israel. A bitter struggle commenced, for Antiochus tried to exterminate the Jews, and their religion as well. Every observance of the Jewish religion was forbidden, the Sabbath had to be profaned, and unclean food had to be eaten. Idols were set up in the temple. Instead of the Jewish feasts, the feasts of idols, with all their shocking abominations and immoralities, were introduced, and the Jews were forced to join in them. Thousands suffered martyrdom. But all at once a few people stood up against the abominations, the Maccabeans, and in a struggle lasting about twenty-five years, they fought successfully against the enemies.

Leaving the Jews to meet and conquer their many foes as best they may, we must take a glance at the blank leaf between our Old Testament and the New.

It was a period of stirring times for the land of Israel. Systematic and diabolical persecution, such as perhaps no other nation could have survived, occupied part of this period. Remarkable victories, gained by a few patriotic men over multiplied enemies, followed. Finally, corruption and decay set in, until all that was good and noble disappeared; and we open our New Testament to find Herod, an Idumean usurper, reigning in the Lord's land: the "sceptre has departed from Judah."

The Time Between the Testaments.

The New Testament, as every one knows, was not given in quiet continuity with the Old. Inspiration had long lapsed, and after Malachi no prophet had arisen in Israel for over 400 years, when suddenly the "Messenger" before Jehovah, of whom he had spoken, broke the long silence, preaching in the wilderness of Judea. There had been much and stirring history, and Israel herself had seemed for awhile to have a resurrection in the kingdom of the Maccabees. But it had proved, as to the nation, to be but as the galvanizing of a corpse, which does not preserve it from increasing corruption. The sceptre, which from the prophetic point of view had never been a legitimate one, tumbled helplessly at last into the hands of the open usurper and Edomite, Herod and it was in a land under his cruel sway that the true King was born.

Verse 32, whilst it prophesies the wickedness of the many apostate Jews, whom he corrupted, also foretells the exploits of the Jews who refused to become apostate. This covers all the valor and deeds of the family of the Maccabees, and which occurred in the time unrecorded by Scripture between the closing of the Old Testament and the opening of the New Testament. At this time thousands were slain. The Maccabees performed prodigies of valour.

This same king is called the "King of the North" in Daniel 11:40-45, which we will now turn to, as there we get more details about him. Daniel 11 gives a detailed prophecy of the wars between the kings of two of the monarchies that arose out of the Grecian Empire after the death of Alexander the Great. One was Egypt to the south of Palestine and the other was to the north. Verses 1 to 34 have already been fulfilled. Verses 21 to 32 present prophecy about that notoriously wicked king of the North, Antiochus Epiphanes (B.C. 175 to B.C. 165), who defiled the temple of the Jews. Verses 32 to 34 are a general prophecy of the Maccabees who lived during a portion of the period between Malachi and the birth of Christ. And verse 35 speaks in general terms of the persecution of the remnant that begins then but carries us on to "the time of the end." The whole period of this present dispensation, in which God is calling out a people from Jews and Gentiles to be the heavenly bride of Christ and to reign with Him in His coming glory, is passed over in silence. As we have seen before, the whole Church period from Pentecost to the Rapture of the believers comes in as a parenthetical period of time not reckoned in connection with Israel, because during the Church dispensation God's relation with Israel is temporarily suspended to be resumed only after the Rapture.

The endeavor of the Jews to regain their independence under the Maccabees, resulting in Palestine's becoming tributary to Rome, prepared the people and the land for that condition of things into which Christ was born. This period we do not enlarge upon. We will pass on to the moment when Scripture lifts the veil once more.

But during the days of this empire also, the Jewish nation was subject and tributary. The times of the Gentiles were still in progress. There were, indeed, seasons of partial mitigation of their sufferings vouchsafed ever and anon, but even the circumstances connected with such temporary and partial relief prove the enslaved state in which the Jews continued. Fresh and successful attacks upon their country and their capital generally resulted. In Dan. 11 we have mention of more than one such devastation. In ver. 16, we read of one of the successors of Alexander, "He shall stand in the glorious land, which by his hand shall be consumed." This "glorious land" was, doubtless, Palestine. Then in verses 28-33 we have reference to another invasion. It is said, they should "pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and place the abomination that maketh desolate." Whether this should be understood of Antiochus, or of the Romans, I will not seek now to determine. The character of the transaction predicted is plain. Both Antiochus and the Romans so acted. The Apocryphal Books of the Maccabees, which we may receive as authentic history, describe at length the Jewish sufferings under Antiochus. Though Alexander the Great was no more, and though his empire had been divided, still the Jews were a degraded and suffering people. They at last sought the alliance of the Romans, purposely to strengthen themselves against those who successively held the reins of power after Alexander. This alliance with the Romans doubtless prepared the way for that subjugation to the Roman yoke under which we find them when our blessed Lord appeared. Thus, from age to age, they fell under Gentile power, fulfilling the prophetic word, "I will overturn, overturn, overturn it; and it shall be no more, until he come whose right it is, and I will give it him."