In order to understand the New Testament it is helpful to understand the 400 years of silence that separates the Old Testament from the New Testament

1. Religious Groups in
Palestine

2. Key Dates
586 BC - Fall of Jerusalem

3. Key Dates
•586 BC - Fall
of Jerusalem
•539 BC - Fall
of Babylon /
Jews return to
Israel

4. Key Dates
•586 BC - Fall of Jerusalem
•539 BC - Fall of Babylon /
Jews return to Israel
•515 BC - Rebuilt Temple
Dedicated

5. Key Dates
•586 BC - Fall of
Jerusalem
•539 BC - Fall of
Babylon / Jews
return to Israel
•515 BC - Rebuilt
Temple Dedicated
•445 BC - Nehemiah
comes to Jerusalem
to rebuild the city
wall

6. Key Dates
•586 BC - Fall of Jerusalem
•539 BC - Fall of Babylon / Jews return to Israel
•515 BC - Rebuilt Temple Dedicated
•445 BC - Nehemiah comes to Jerusalem to
rebuild the city wall
•440 BC - Malachi written

7. Key Dates
•332 BC - Alexander the
Great conquers Israel

8. Key Dates
•332 BC - Alexander the Great
conquers Israel
•323 BC - Alexander Dies,
kingdom divided

10. Key Dates
•332 BC - Alexander the Great
conquers Israel
•323 BC - Alexander Dies,
kingdom divided
•250 BC – Septuagint produced
(Greek OT = LXX)

11. Key Dates
•332 BC - Alexander the Great
conquers Israel
•323 BC - Alexander Dies,
kingdom divided
•250 BC – Septuagint produced
(Greek OT = LXX)
•167 BC – Temple defiled by
Antiochus Epiphanes

12. Key Dates
•332 BC - Alexander the Great
conquers Israel
•323 BC - Alexander Dies, kingdom
divided
•250 BC – Septuagint produced
(Greek OT = LXX)
•167 BC – Temple defiled by
Antiochus Epiphanes
•167 BC – Maccabean Revolt

13. Key Dates
•37 BC – Herod the Great gains
control of Jerusalem and
establishes himself as king
•20 BC – Herod’s Temple
rebuilding project

14. 400 Years of Silence
•Between Malachi and Matthew
God did not add anything to the
Bible for around 400 years
•During this time God was actively
working through human history to
prepare the world for His coming

15. 400 Years of Silence
• The land of Israel passed from Babylon to
the Medo-Persians to Greece and then to
Rome
• All that Daniel had predicted came to pass…
(Dan. 2)

16. The Sanhedrin
• Supreme civil and religious court of the
Jews
•Composed of 70 Jewish leaders (from
Numbers 11:16), plus the High Priest
(71 TOTAL)
•Members were composed of Pharisees
and Sadducees.
• (Mt. 26:59; Mk. 14:55; 15:1; Lk. 22:66; Jn. 11:47; Acts 4:15;
5:21, 27, 34, 41; 6:12, 15; 22:30; 23:1, 6, 15, 20, 28; 24:20)

17. Scribes
•Scholars of the Old Testament
•Scribes in ancient Israel were learned men whose business
was to study the Law, transcribe it, and write
commentaries on it.
• -not just copiers, but guardians & teachers of Law

18. Scribes
•The scribes took their job of writing Scripture
very seriously.
•We can thank the scribes for preserving the
Old Testament portion of our Bibles.

19. Essenes
•Lived apart from society in small communal
settlements.
•Thought of themselves as the faithful remnant of
God’s people, Israel.
•Best remembered as the community that
produced the Dead Sea Scrolls.

20. Zealots
•Sought to overthrow the
occupying Roman government
•They believed that God would
deliver Israel from the Romans
with the sword – their sword
•Many came from Galilee.
•Jesus’ disciple Simon was a
Zealot before becoming a
Christian. (Mt. 10:4, Lk. 6:15)

21. Pharisees
•Middle Class
•Conservative
•Religious leaders of Israel.
•Made and enforced a rigid code of oral laws
based on their interpretation (600+ Laws!)
• Sought to preserve tradition
•Often appeared that they followed the rules
out of duty and not out of love for God
(Legalistic).

22. Pharisees
• Represented the common working people and
were popular among the masses.
•Pharisees controlled the synagogues.
• Strong Hebrew Nationalists
•The Pharisees resisted foreign influence
and Hellenism, but the Sadducees welcomed it.

23. Pharisees
•Believed in the entire Old
Testament as God’s Word
•Belief in afterlife, angels,
resurrection (Lk. 7:39;
15:2; Mt. 9:11)

24. Sadducees
• Upper Class
• Liberal beliefs
• Accepted only the first 5 books of the Bible (Pentateuch)
• Rejected belief in angels, resurrection, and heaven
(Mt. 16:1, 11; 22:23; Acts 23:8)
• Ceased to exist in AD 70 when the temple was destroyed.
• Worked to retain their power and standing with the Romans.

25. Sadducees
• The High Priest was a Sadducee, as were the
majority of seats in the Sanhedrin.
• The Sadducees’ controlled the Temple in Jerusalem
• The Sadducees were friendly with Rome
• Worked to retain their power and standing with the
Romans
• Called “Hellenists” (Greek-lovers)
• Ceased to exist as a group in AD 70, when Jerusalem
and the temple were destroyed by the Romans

26. End of the
Old Testament
• 1. Assyrian Empire conquers
Northern Kingdom (Israel) -
722 B.C.
• Origin of the Samaritans
• 2. Babylonian Empire
conquers Southern
Kingdom (Judah) - 605–586
B.C.
• Jeremiah, Lamentations,
Ezekiel & Daniel
• 3. Restoration Stage (535 -
420 B.C.)

27. 400 Years of Silence
(Foreign Domination)
• A. Babylon rule (609-539 B.C.) – King Nebuchadnezzar
• B. Persian rule (539-333 B.C.) – King Xerxes
• C. Greek rule (333-165 B.C.) – Alexander the Great (Daniel 7:6; 8:1-7, 21-23)
• Provided a common language for the region
• 1. Ptolemy – (Greek kingdom over Egypt)
• Septuagint (LXX) – translation of OT into Greek
• 2. Seleucid – (Greek kingdom over Syria)
• Antiochus Epiphanes (175 B.C.) – desecrated Temple (Daniel 8:13)
• D. Maccabean independence (165 – 63 B.C.)
• Led by Judas Maccabeus (“The Hammer”)
• Jewish revolt against Greek rule in Israel

28. 400 Years of Silence
(Foreign Domination)
• E. Roman rule – conquered Palestine(63 B.C.)
• Julius Caesar appointed Antipater over
Judea (47 B.C.)
• Antipater appointed his son Herod governor
of Galilee
• Herod the Great’s son (Herod) ruled from 4
BC – 34 AD
• Caesar Augustus appoints him Herod the
Great, King of the Jews (31 B.C.)

29. 5 Positive Aspects of Roman Rule Over Israel
• Greek remained common tongue (Rome keeps
Hellenism going)
• Pax Romana – Latin for “Roman Peace” Galatians
4:4 “in the fullness of time God sent forth His
Son”
• Transportation / Roads
• Cross-cultural barriers eliminated
• Christianity initially a “legal religion”

31. New Testament =
1
Creation
2
Patriarch
3
Exodus
4
Conquest
5
Judges
6
Kingdom
7
Exile
8
Return
9
Silence
10
Gospels
11
Church
12
Missions