The Prophetic Age has closed, the voice of the prophet is not heard. The Messianic Hope waits for its fulfillment until the night of four hundred years has passed and the dawning of the new Prophetic Age which shines forth when the voice of the Prophet of God, John the Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah, is heard. Four hundred years is a long period in the history of any nation. The nation enters upon these four hundred years without the aid of the prophet's voice but is furnished with the results and experiences of a rich course of instruction, accompanied by the Law as a schoolmaster and by the light of the prophetic word. With the Temple rebuilt, idolatry put away, religious services at Jerusalem thoroughly organized, the sacred books written and through the work of Ezra and Nehemiah collected and arranged into the Canon, we should expect the nation to continue the same spirit of development until the time of the fulfillment of the types and shadows. During this period many changes take place that are favorable to the ushering in of the New Era. The preparation during this period is not confined to the Jewish nation, as the Gentile world is undergoing radical changes that prepare them for his coming in whom they find an answer to many unsolved problems.

I. THE JEWISH NATION.

1. Location.

(1) The Jews of Palestine.—From the scattered Jewish nation perhaps not more than 50,000 returned to Palestine after the Babylonian Captivity. These are, in the strict sense, known as the Palestinian Jews, yet some include these among the scattered Jews in the East. The Jews of Palestine did not come in touch with the progress that was being made in other parts of the world, and it had a tendency to develop in them formalism and make them narrow in their religious views. They rigidly enforced the Mosaic Law as to the letter, and by the side of it formulated Traditional Law, which they considered of equal authority. Palestinian Judaism sank into narrow legal sectarianism. Foreign subjugations drove the Palestinian Jews more into themselves religiously. The Rabbinical Ideal Hope was different from the Scriptural Ideal Hope. In the former they expected an earthly king and in the latter they looked for a king in a new spiritual world.

(2) The Jews of the Dispersion.—The majority of the Jewish nation did not return to Palestine at the close of the captivity in Babylon. " There was no nation in the world which had not among them part of the Jewish people." A nation, the vast majority of which was dispersed over the whole inhabited earth, had ceased to be a special and became a world-wide nation. Yet its heart beats in Jerusalem, and thence the lifeblood passes into its most distant members. They are sent forth to influence the nations with the hope of the Spirit of Expectation and at the same time be influenced by the thought of the nations being brought to more spiritual life through the education of the nations.

(a) Dispersion in the East. When the Jews were carried away they had their home in the East. In the development of the Jewish literature these Jews in the East, with the Jews of Palestine, are in many things agreed as to a strict observance of the Traditional Law, as well as the Law of Moses. The Messianic teaching in the East appears at the time of the coming of the Son of Man when the wise men from the East bring him gifts at his birth.

(b) Dispersion in the West. The Jews are thoroughly interested in the national religion; however unconsciously to themselves, their mental characteristics and tendencies were in the opposite direction to that of their brethren in the East.

With those in the East rested the future of Judaism; and with those in the West the future of the world. The Jews located in the West are known by the name Hellenists, because they conform to the language, manner and culture of the Greeks. It was not possible, even by religious and social isolation in the progress that the Greeks were making in intellectual culture, not to be affected by it. The Jews were hated by the Gentile world, yet with all their hatred many of the Greeks became proselytes to the Jewish faith as set forth by the western Jews. Thus the Jews of the West developed not only the Spirit of Expectation in their own nation, but had by their influence prepared a number in the Gentile world for the coming of the Universal King.

2. The Sects.

(1) The Pharisees.—These were the most numerous, popular and powerful of the three sects of the Jews. They were so called because their main endeavor was to maintain the strictest separation from everything heathenish, foreign and ceremonially unclean. They originated about two hundred years before the birth of Christ. They placed the Traditional Law on the same authority with the Law of Moses. By their zeal for the law, contempt for everything not Jewish, and their strong opposition to Gentile customs and culture, they most completely won the favor of the people. They believed in the immortality of the soul and the resurrection of the dead. They were eagerly looking for the Messiah who would establish at once by force of arms, a splendid Jewish Kingdom.

(2) The Sadducees.—In direct opposition to the Pharisees stood the Sadducees, which sect also originated about 200 B. C. They defended the Sacred Scriptures, but wholly denounced the traditional writings. Through them the authority of the Sacred Word was confirmed and that which was not such constantly weakened for the orthodox ritualist Jew. The later Sadducees had no doubt carried much further than their predecessors the skeptical tendencies that had originated among them. They rejected the doctrine of future punishment, denied the resurrection and the existence of angels and spirits.

(3) The Essenes.—These are not named in the Bible, but are a sect of the Jews that are named by Philo and Josephus. The original germ of their society is found in distinct colonies on the banks of the Dead Sea. They kept apart from other Jews and had four distinct grades of initiation, each one distinctly separate from the other,

3. Literature.

(1) Apocryphal Books.—These books originate in the Alexandrian schools. The religion of the Old Testament is brought near to the Grecian world of thought through the translation of the Old Testament into Greek in the school of Alexandria. It is also important that the Jews come more under the influence of Greek thought, which is accomplished by an intermediate step through the preparation of the Apocryphal literature. This is a common ground on which the two can meet and a final reconciliation be effected. The general object of these books is twofold. " First, of course, it was apologetic intended to fill gaps in Jewish history or thought, but especially to strengthen the Jewish mind against attacks from without, and generally to extol the dignity of Israel." " The second object was to show that the deeper and purer thinking of heathenism in its highest philosophy supported nay, in some respects, was identical with the fundamental teaching of the Old Testament." There is no distinct allusion to the Messiah by name in these books, but in several of them there is an undercurrent of hope which is based upon the prophetic promise of a Messiah in the Old Testament. Only a few of these can be mentioned here as proof of the above statements.

(a) Ecclesiasticus gives expression of the Messianic Hope in different passages, says Ewald. The House of David is singled out as the ruling family and the glory of Israel in the future is clearly set forth.

(b) I Maccabees 14:41. The Jews and priests were well pleased that Simon should be their governor and high priest for ever, until there should arise a " faithful prophet."

(c) Wisdom of Solomon personifies the divine Wisdom and Love which was evidently regarded as the teaching of the Old Testament and blended with the hope of a Personal Deliverer. In some of the other books the same hope of the Coming King is clearly set forth. The value of these books will be more clearly seen by the student as he makes a thorough study of the period and observes the influence of Greek thought upon the Jewish nation.

(2) The Septuagint.—This is the Greek translation of the Old Testament made some time in this period. The series of events that led to the preparation of this Greek version of the Old Testament are of special interest to every Bible student in tracing the progress of religious thought. This work was used for some time before the coming of Christ, as it had in a sense displaced the Hebrew Bible which had been used for many centuries in the past. The Jews were favored by the great leaders of Greece and Egypt, and at one time it is said that there was no part of the world where the Jews congregated in such large numbers as in the city of Alexandria. About half the population gathered there, and in the time of Christ they numbered about one million. The Jews enjoyed great privileges in Egypt and were by the influence of Greek culture thoroughly trained in the Alexandrian school. Among them are many cultured, thoughtful men whose minds had been brought in contact with the best results of heathen philosophy. " This translation was made at Alexandria and no doubt originated through the advanced Jewish Bible students in that school. This Greek version of the Alexandrian School was put into the hands of the Gentiles and spread through the world before the coming of Christ." Dr. Stanley says:" If ever there was a translation which, by its importance, rose to the level of the original, it was this. It was not the original Hebrew, but the Septuagint through which the religious truths of Judaism became known to the Greeks and the Romans." Through the distribution of the Greek version among the Jews and Gentiles the Messianic Hope was ripened.

4. Worship.

(1) The Temple.—After the Jews returned from captivity the worship of God in the Temple was reestablished. The temple worship continued throughout this period with more or less faithfulness. At times the conflicts were so severe and the Jews were under such cruel rulers that it was impossible to carry out their system of worship. However, this was broken at intervals, yet there was found at the coming of the Son of Man the Temple and the Jewish system of worship.

(2) The Synagogue.—The Jews were widely scattered and worshiped in synagogues which probably originated during their stay in the Captivity. These were of great importance, as they gave opportunities to study the Sacred Literature in every province. They had a great missionary influence on the nations and prepared the people for more spiritual service. It so broadened the Jew that at the coming of Christ those who read and studied the Scriptures were ready to accept him as the Messiah, while those who were in the Temple service continually developed the letter of the Law and failed to be ready when the Messiah came.

II. THE INTELLECTUAL WORLD.—The literature that was developed by the ancient Greeks was another great factor in preparing the world for the coming Messiah. The Jews are scattered in every province, and by the aid of the universal Greek language they can prepare themselves and the Gentiles who come in contact with them for the 1 coming event. They already, through the progress of Greek thought and literature, received copies of the Old Testament in the Greek language. The Greek language was the universal language when Christ came and made it possible for all to understand the new life; it also furnished a form in which to crystallize the Divine Utterances for all future history. The heathen world was during the last four hundred years making rapid progress to develop by her philosophies and literature a people ready for something larger and greater than that furnished through the material world. They had names for many idols, but there developed in the time of Plato, Socrates and Cicero, and in the later history, events too great to assign to any power they were acquainted with. It was this unexplained power they were reaching out after that made them ready for the coming of the God-Man. They wanted to know the " unknown God."

III. THE POLITICAL WORLD.—During this period there are numerous changes in the centralization of power. When the Old Testament closes the ruling power is the Persian Empire. The ruler that conquers the nation and changes the centralization ot power is Alexander the Great. After his death there was a struggle, between Syria and Egypt as to the ownership of the Jewish nation. The Jews receive favorable treatment from the king of Egypt while they are under his authority, the same as they did under the emperor Alexander. But when they fall under the wicked rule of the Syrians they pass through a period of severe persecution. They are delivered from this oppression by Judas Maccabaeus. who at the head of a great army defeated the Syrians, and the Jews again became a free people. After this they became subject to the Roman Empire, which was universal and one of the three great factors in preparing the world for Christ. Thus the Jews prepared a people for the Ideal Hope. The Greeks prepared a universal language by which all peoples might hear and know the Hope. The Romans prepared a universal government in which there was peace when the Hope was being fulfilled.

QUESTIONS.

• How many years of silence?

• What had the Jews during this period to direct them?

• What about the Gentile world?-

• Who were the Palestinian Jews?

• How did they regard the Mosaic Law and Traditions?

• Who were the Jews of the Dispersion?

• What effect had they on the nations?

• Who were the Hellenists?

• Name the sects of the Jews.

• What did the Pharisees believe?

• When did the Sadducees believe?

• Who were the Essenes?

• What effect had the literature on the Gentile world?

• In what books is the Messianic Hope presented?

• When did the Septuagint originate?

• Where was the Greek translation made?

• In what did the people worship?

• What effect did synagogue worship have upon the people?

• What was the mission of the Jews, Greeks and Romans?

REVIEW.

I. The Jewish World.

1. Location:

(1) The Jews of Palestine.

(2) The Jews of the Dispersion,

(a) Dispersion in the East,

(b) Dispersion in the West.

2. The Sects:

(1) The Pharisees.

(2) The Sadducees.

(3) The Essenes.

3. Literature:

(1) Apocryphal Books,

(a) Ecclesiasticus.

(b) Maccabees,

(c) Wisdom of Solomon.

(2) The Septuagint.

4. Worship:

(1) The Temple.

(2) The Synagogue.

II. The Intellectual World.

III. The Political World.