In Biblical history the approximately 400 years that separate the time of the ministry of Malachi to the appearance of Jesus Christ is known as the Intertesamental period. Roughly from 433 B.C. – 5 B.C; some refer to this period as the silent years; however this time was anything but silent. Israel during this time ceased to be an independent nation and was downgraded to a minor territory while other great empires flourished. Then in 332 B.C. when Alexander the Great took over the Holy Land, the Israelites were faced with a great risk as Alexander wanted to install a guiding principle called Hellenization. This policy was committed to the formation of a world unified by Greek language and culture. After the death of Alexander, his empire would
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Antiochus would take Alexander the Great’s vision of Hellenization a step further as he aimed at the eradication of the Jewish religion all together. He attempted to annihilate all copies of the Torah, banned some of the central elements of Jewish practice, and required offerings to the Greek god …show more content…
Like all dynasties however, they all fall and the Hasmonean dynasty ended when an expanding Roman Empire intervened in a dynastic clash between brothers. From there Roman’s rule would be one that Jews would never overlook or pardon. The Jewish people were also able to manufacture a sizable body of literature that both recorded and addressed their Era during these miserable years of tyranny and internal strife. Three of the more noteworthy works of the Bible would be discovered during this time: the Septuagint, the Apocrypha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Therefore, God was indeed lively and working during the Intertestamental Period. While things may have looked awful for the Jewish people several times after the Babylonian Exile, through their trials and their triumphs, God constantly showed he was without a shadow of a doubt in control. This is visible from the Maccabean revolt after the blatant disrespect of God and his temple shown by Antiochus, the literature that was produced during the “Silent” Years, and all the way to the end of the period of silence when Jesus Christ story
Antiochus would take Alexander the Great’s vision of Hellenization a step further as he aimed at the eradication of the Jewish religion all together. He attempted to annihilate all copies of the Torah, banned some of the central elements of Jewish practice, and required offerings to the Greek god …show more content…
Like all dynasties however, they all fall and the Hasmonean dynasty ended when an expanding Roman Empire intervened in a dynastic clash between brothers. From there Roman’s rule would be one that Jews would never overlook or pardon. The Jewish people were also able to manufacture a sizable body of literature that both recorded and addressed their Era during these miserable years of tyranny and internal strife. Three of the more noteworthy works of the Bible would be discovered during this time: the Septuagint, the Apocrypha, and the Dead Sea Scrolls. Therefore, God was indeed lively and working during the Intertestamental Period. While things may have looked awful for the Jewish people several times after the Babylonian Exile, through their trials and their triumphs, God constantly showed he was without a shadow of a doubt in control. This is visible from the Maccabean revolt after the blatant disrespect of God and his temple shown by Antiochus, the literature that was produced during the “Silent” Years, and all the way to the end of the period of silence when Jesus Christ story