Between the Testaments

Transcription

1 1 Between the Testaments Lesson Five The Herodian Dynasty Part One Antipater and Herod Introduction: I. Jewish independence during the Hasmonean dynasty lasted just over one hundred years ( BC). A. However, it was the Jewish people and their leaders who were responsible for the collapse of the Kingdom of Judah. 1. Greed, moral corruption, religious division, conspiracies, murder, fratricide, matricide, assassinations, and every imaginable vice led to the downfall of the Jewish state from within. 2. As before, history simply repeated itself to bring the people of God under the yoke of foreign rulers. 3. But in the case of Rome's dominion over the Jewish people it was more than simply a yoke, it would bring a permanent end to Jewish worship that existed since the days of Moses. 4. Judaism today is only a shadow of what it had been prior to AD 70 when Rome crushed the Jewish people and destroyed the Temple, forever ending ceremonial rites that could only be performed there. 5. Although an independent nation of Israel exists today, there is no High Priest, no priesthood, no sacrifices, no Temple rituals, all because there is no Temple. 6. Islam has since claimed the site where the Jewish Temple once stood by erecting their own holy place in honor of Mohammed the mosque commonly known as The Dome of the Rock. B. The end for the Jewish people began with the power struggle between two sons of the infamous tyrant king Janneus Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II.

2 2 1. Prior to his death (78 BC), Janneus willed that his wife Alexandra would ascend to the throne of the Jewish nation. 2. In the past, kings of the independent Jewish state of Judah often ruled as both king and High Priest. 3. But the popular and increasingly powerful sect of the Pharisees openly rejected this abuse of power which often put them at odds with ruling kings. a. This was not only seen as a power-grab by a power-hungry dictator king, it was also an offense to faithful Jews since neither the king nor the High Priest had a right to claim those offices. b. Since the birth of the Hasmonean Dynasty a hundred years earlier, no king nor High Priest had been descendants of king David, or of Aaron the first High Priest under Moses. 4. Therefore, when Alexandra was inaugurated as Queen of the Kingdom of Judah, she separated the throne from the office of High Priest. a. She appointed her son Hyrcanus II to be the new High Priest over the Jewish people. C. However, the death of the Hasmonean Queen Alexandra plunged Judah into civil war. 1. Hyrcanus II, the High Priest, immediately seized the throne for himself. 2. However, his brother Aristobulus II led a revolt and overthrew Hyrcanus, claiming the throne and office of High Priest for himself. 3. Rome could not tolerate that kind of internal strife to exist within the borders of its growing Republic. 4. And since the region was under the control of the Roman general Pompey, he had no choice except to intervene. D. The former independent Hasmonean state, "The Kingdom of Judah," came to an end (63 BC) when Pompey claimed the territory for Rome and changed the name of Judah to Judea. 1 1 The name Judea initially described the territory surrounding the city of Jerusalem but was later used to define the entire region inhabited by Jews and eventually became a Roman province.

3 3 1. Pompey reinstated Hyrcanus II as High Priest but would not reinstate him as king. 2. Instead, Pompey appointed Antipater the Idumean to serve as governor of Judea and political advisor to the High Priest. E. Nearly two-hundred years later, the emperor Hadrian would also rename Judea and all the surrounding Roman occupied territories. 1. Following the suppression of a bloody Jewish uprising in AD 135, Hadrian changed the name of the region to Syria Palaestina and renamed what was left of the city of Jerusalem to Aelia Capitolina. 2. Jewish historians claim the name-change was done to intentionally erase the historical ties of the Jewish people to the land. a. "It seems clear that by choosing a seemingly neutral name one juxtaposing that of a neighboring province with the revived name of an ancient geographical entity (Palestine), already known from the writings of Herodotus Hadrian was intending to suppress any connection between the Jewish people and that land." 2 3. However, this did not prevent the Jewish people from referring to the country in their writings as either "Yehudah" (Hebrew: (יהודה or "The.(ארץ ישראל (Hebrew: Land of Israel" II. Despite Roman occupation of Jewish territories beginning in the days of Pompey, the Jewish people were determined to maintain their unique distinction from all other people of the Roman world. A. Alfred Edersheim, in his book Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah, wrote: 1. "The pilgrim who, leaving other countries, entered Palestine, must have felt as if he had crossed the threshold of another world. Manners, customs, institutions, law, life, nay, the very intercourse between man and man, were quite different. All was dominated by the one allabsorbing idea of religion. It penetrated every relation of life." 3 2 Ariel Lewin. The archaeology of Ancient Judea and Palestine. Getty Publications, 2005 p Edersheim, Alfred. Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah - Enhanced Version (p. 84)

4 4 B. The Jewish view of the world in the days before Jesus was unique. 1. They tenaciously clung to the belief they were still a holy nation, despite everything to the contrary. a. They still believed they had been specifically chosen and sanctified by Jehovah as His own special people. b. And they believed they were still heirs to the land wherein they dwelled, and by God's continued providence the land would be theirs forever. 2. They also held to the inflated belief that God had created the world with only the Jewish people in mind. a. They believed God planned the existence of the Jewish people chose them as His own special people long before the world was created. b. In other words, the Jews were the entire focus of God's eternal purpose. 3. But the one factor that sat the Jewish people apart from all others was the Law (the Torah). a. The Law was given to Moses at Mount Sinai by the hand of Almighty God as an everlasting covenant between Himself and the descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. b. Because of this, the Jewish people began to believe only they could merit supreme favor from God from a "study of the Law." c. Gentiles could study the Law to the end of time, but even then they would still merit no favor from God. 4. All this led to almost universal contempt among the Jews for anything "Gentile." a. Jewish adherence to the letter of the Law led to absolute scorn for all Gentile ways, traditions, and beliefs. b. Jewish self-righteousness, pride of ancestry, and sense of superiority also led gradually detest all Gentile association even more so, being ruled by Gentile overlords in their own land.

5 5 III. The Rise of the Herodian Dynasty. A. Antipater the Idumean was a shrewd political opportunist who would change allegiance to any Roman general he believed was destined to be the next rising star. 1. Antipater had originally been appointed governor over the former Hasmonean kingdom by Pompey. 2. But upon learning of the collapse of the First Triumvirate and hearing that Pompey was being pursued by Julius Caesar and his armies, Antipater immediately declared his allegiance to Julius Caesar. 3. Following Pompey's assassination in Egypt, Caesar rewarded Antipater's loyalty by allowing him to remain administrator of Judea and the surrounding region, and also gave him sole authority to collect taxes for Rome. a. To assist him in governing the region, Antipater appointed his two sons Phasaelus and Herod to serve as governors of Jerusalem and Galilee respectively. b. However, Antipater become increasingly unpopular with the Jewish people because of his pro-roman policies. 4. But following the assassination of Julius Caesar, Antipater's future seemed uncertain at best. 5. He had no choice but to reluctantly give his support and allegiance to Cassius a former ally of Pompey, and the man who was the architect of Caesar's assassination. B. When Cassius and his co-conspirator brother-in-law Brutus came to Syria to organize an army he began to demand harsh tributes. 1. Cassius demanded seven hundred talents of gold from the regional governor Antipater who split the cost between his two sons. 2. The heavy taxation imposed by Cassius sparked strong resistance from Jewish rebels in Galilee. a. The rebels called themselves the new "Maccabees" after the leaders of the Jewish revolt more than a hundred years earlier.

6 6 3. Herod, who was then governor of the region (47 BC) was given the charge of putting down the threat. a. The rebels found safety by retreating to caves that were nearly inaccessible. b. However, Herod was determined to put down the resistance by ordering his soldiers to be lowered into the caves in large crates. c. The rebels, who were quickly overwhelmed, peacefully surrendered. d. But after their capture, Herod ordered all the prisoners to be executed. 4. His actions against these Jewish patriots, as many saw them, led to violent protests in Jerusalem. a. Since Herod had converted to Judaism along with his father, he was called before the Sanhedrin to answer for his murderous acts. b. However, he narrowly escaped being condemned to death by boldly challenging anyone who dared questioned his authority by reminding them that his appointment as a governor was sanctioned by Rome. C. Meanwhile, Cassius had given the responsibility of collecting taxes to a political appointee named Malichus. 1. Malichus had contempt for Antipater from the start. a. He saw the Idumean regional governor as an opportunist who used his skills at political maneuvering to win favor with Cassius. b. And the fact that Antipater was deliberately slow in paying the required tribute didn't help matters between the two. 2. Malichus soon began to fall out of favor with Cassius because the revenue he desperately needed to pay for an army wasn't being collected quick enough. a. This only fueled the man's hatred for Antipater. 3. Eventually Malichus realized the only way to solve his problem was to plan for Antipater's assassination.

7 7 4. For a while Antipater managed to avoid multiple assassination attempts. 5. But Malichus was finally able to bribe an assassin who managed to poison Antipater who then died an agonizing death (43 BC). D. Despite his faults, Antipater's work as a diplomat and power-broker between the Hasmoneans and the Romans paved the way for the rise of his son Herod, and the Herodian Dynasty. 1. Young Herod's influence and prestige rose quickly after his second marriage to the Hasmonean princess Mariamne the granddaughter of Aristobulus II. 2. But a year later, after the death of his father, and following the victory of Octavian and Mark Antony over the armies of Cassius and Brutus, Herod saw an opportunity to further his political career. IV. Herod had learned well by watching his father's political maneuvers, A. He could also see that Octavian, fresh from victory, had the power and the ancestry of Julius Caesar to become the sole ruler of Rome. 1. Herod immediately went to Rome and ingratiated himself to Octavian. 2. Herod's schemes paid off. a. Since Herod was married to a Hasmonean princess, since he was also the son of the former governor Antipater, and since he had proven his own skills in putting down insurrectionists, Octavian rewarded Herod by making him king of the Jews. 3. Jewish political and religious leaders in Jerusalem were outraged that a foreign emperor would force an unqualified king upon the Jewish people However, once he was appointed king, Herod wasted no time in consolidating his power. a. His first act was to order the immediate execution Hyrcanus II. 4 The conversion of Herod's family to Judaism did not qualify him to be a Jewish king. Herod's father was an Idumean, descendants of the hated Edomites, and his mother was Arabic (possibly Nabatean).

8 8 b. Aristobulus II, who had been imprisoned in Rome since the days of Pompey, was mysteriously murdered (by poisoning). B. With the death of the last of the Hasmonean kings, Herod could rule over the Jewish people with no threat to his own reign or so he thought. 1. Much to his surprise, Herod soon learned the threat of a Hasmonean Dynasty had not been completely eliminated. a. There was still one surviving Hasmonean Antigonus II, the son of Aristobulus II. 2. Antigonus had previously fled to Parthia in the far east when his father had been taken hostage by Pompey and sent to Rome. 3. When Antigonus learned of the death of his uncle Hyrcanus and his father Aristobulus, he persuaded the Parthians (who were still at war with Rome) to march with him to Jerusalem and overthrow Roman rule. a. Antigonus was confident of victory. b. He had learned the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem were outraged at having Herod as their king and would gladly appoint the surviving son of Aristobulus to the throne. 4. While Herod was making one of his frequent visits to Rome, and to everyone's surprise, Antigonus and the Parthians quickly defeated the astonished Roman peace-keeping force in Jerusalem. a. Antigonus was proclaimed king, and reestablished Jerusalem as the capital of a new independent Jewish kingdom. 5. For the next three years Herod attempted to defeat the forces of Antigonus. 6. Finally, after several failed attempts, Rome came to Herod's aid with enough legions to force the usurper's surrender. 7. With Jerusalem and the throne now back in Herod's hands, he immediately ordered the execution of Antigonus along with forty-five members of the Sanhedrin whom Herod suspected of conspiring with Antigonus (37 BC).

9 9 8. Thus, Herod began his tyrannical, iron-fisted rule over the Jewish people in the vast region of what would come to be known as Herod's kingdom. V. Herod ("the Great," as Josephus named him) could best be described as an opportunist. A. Like his father Antipater, Herod shifted loyalties whenever the winds of power favored one Roman ruler over another. 1. And, like his father, Herod was highly skilled at ingratiating himself through flattery to those in positions of power and influence. 2. He also cultivated the image of a sophisticated, highly educated king, refined by the wisdom and learning of the Greek scholars. 3. He befriended leading Roman figures, showering them with invitations to his lavish palaces in Jerusalem, Jericho, and Herodium. 4. But it was the constant procession through the royal court of Gentile nobles, philosophers, historians, poets, and playwrights that angered the Jewish leaders most. B. Both the Sadducees and the Pharisees believed Herod was intentionally undermining the very foundation of Judaism. 1. Initially, the Sadducees saw Herod as a political compromiser who made decisions in favor of Rome than weakened the future security of the Jewish people. 2. The Pharisees saw Herod as deliberately corrupting the Law and the sacred Jewish traditions through the influence of Greek philosophy, thus weakening the Jewish people's resolve to remain faithful to Jehovah. 3. According to the historian Nicholas of Damascus, one of Herod's close friends, the king neglected the affairs of state and the study of Jewish law to spend his time studying Greek philosophy, literature, and the works of Geeks and Roman historians. a. State affairs were delegated only to officials with a Greek education.

10 10 C. But the one innate talent which Herod clearly possessed was his uncanny ability to maneuver his way to gain the favor of others. 1. He used these skills be appointed "king" of the Jews by winning the favor with Octavian (now Augustus Caesar). 2. And he used these skills to remain in power. 3. In fact, his reign as king has been described as a balancing act between serving his Roman masters and appeasing the Jewish people over whom he ruled. a. To remain in favor with Rome Herod proved his undying loyalty by immediately putting down even the slightest hint of a Jewish insurrection. b. And to remain in favor with the Jewish people Herod launched magnificent building projects in Jerusalem and throughout his kingdom. VI. Despite his best efforts to please the Jews, Herod fell short time and time again. A. Between 22 and 10 BC, Herod built the coastal city he named Caesarea Maritima after his patron, Caesar Augustus. 1. The magnificent city was constructed around an artificial harbor, protected by massive concrete breakwaters. 2. This incredible engineering feat was the base of the Herodian fleet, which the king placed entirely at Rome's service. 3. The main temple in Caesarea was dedicated to the goddess Roma but named after Augustus Caesar.

11 11 4. Every five years, Herod organized gladiatorial fights, dedicated to Augustus, where it was said foreign dancers almost outnumbered the guests. a. Magnificent prizes were awarded to the winners, and the Jewish people often heard the rumors of wild orgies hosted by Herod himself. 5. Herod also build for himself a luxurious seaside palace complex on a rocky peninsula south of the city's harbor. a. He spared no expense in making the palace a showpiece that would rival even the palaces of the Roman emperors. b. The palace is mentioned in the Bible (Acts 23:31-35) as "Herod's Praetorium," 5 the place where the apostle Paul was held under house arrest while in Caesarea Maritima. B. While Caesarea, which became the official capital of Judea in 6 BC, would be written off as a city for pagans, the city of Jerusalem was facing a different kind of threat. 1. Tension rose over Herod's remodeling and expansion of the Jerusalem Temple. a. The chief complaint from Herod's critics was that all the architects employed Greek-style architectural throughout the entire project. b. Some critics said that even the stones of the Temple had been Hellenized. 5 Praetorium: originally "a general's tent." Later used to identify the official residence of a Roman governor.

12 12 2. The initial restoration project began in 20 BC and was completed just a year-and-a-half later. 3. Although the majority of the work of reconstruction was completed during Herod's lifetime, additional decorative work continued until just a few years before its destruction in 70 AD. 4. But when the Temple was completed, it was truly spectacular. a. The entire structure had been resurfaced with while marble, then crowned with an ornate decorative cornice of pure gold. b. The marble courtyard around the Temple was doubled in size. c. And massive porticos surrounded the temple on all four sides, the largest of which was called Solomon's Porch. 5. Josephus described the wonder of the Temple: a. "The outward face of the Temple in its front wanted nothing that was likely to surprise either men's minds or their eyes; for it was covered all over with plates of gold of great weight, and, at the first rising of the sun, reflected back a very fiery splendor, and made those who forced themselves to look upon it to turn away their eyes, just as they would have done at the sun's own rays. The Temple appeared to strangers, when they were at a distance, like a mountain covered with snow, for those parts of it that were not gilded were exceeding white." 6. John Milton's classic poem Paradise Regained described the grandeur of the Temple in similar words.

13 13 a. "The holy city, lifted high her towers, and higher yet the glorious temple reared her pile, far off appearing like a mount of alabaster, topped with golden spires..." 7. The interior of the Temple was just as spectacular. a. The Holy of Holies was covered in gold; the walls and columns of the other buildings were of white marble; the floors were of carrara marble, its blue tinge giving the impression of a moving sea of water; the curtains were tapestries of blue, white, scarlet and purple thread, depicting, according to Josephus, "the whole vista of the heavens." C. Herod also build massive palaces in Jerusalem, Jericho, Herodium, and on the mountain-top of Masada. 1. Herod's Jerusalem Palace consisted of two main buildings, each with its own banquet halls, baths, and accommodations for hundreds of guests. a. At the center of the palace complex was a huge courtyard lined on each side with covered porticoes. b. Surrounding the palace complex were gardens, groves of fruit trees, canals, and ponds fitted with bronze fountains. 2. Herod's palace in Herodium, about 12 miles south of Jerusalem, was just as lavish a. The location consisted of Herod's own man-made mountain Mount Herodium. b. At the top, he constructed a fortress with towers seven stories tall.

14 14 c. Below the fortress was the enormous palace complex, complete with a bathhouse, courtyards, a Roman theatre, banquet rooms, as well as extravagant living quarters for himself and guests. d. Herodium was also the location of Herod's tomb, which archeologists discovered in 2007 while excavating on the slope of "Mount Herodium." 6 3. But his most adventurous project was the mountain-top palace complex at Masada. a. Masada is located on a mesa at the eastern edge of the Judean wilderness overlooking the Dead Sea. b. Cliffs on the western side are over three-hundred feet tall, while they rise to more than thirteen-hundred feet on the east. c. The only access to the fortress was by three narrow winding paths, making the fortress easily to defend. d. Josephus wrote that the site had originally been a Hasmonean fortress built by Janneus. e. But Herod turned mountain-top plateau into an enormous palace with swimming pools, banquet rooms, three bath-houses, and living quarters fit for the best of kings. f. The complex was ringed with massive walls, fortified gates, and 72 towers, a barracks for hundreds of soldiers and an armory. 6 A team of archaeologists, including Prof. Ehud Netzer, Yaakov Kalman, and Roi Porath of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Institute of Archaeology, along with the help of local Bedouins, unearthed the remains of Herod s grave, sarcophagus, and mausoleum. The archaeological team describes the burial site as one of the most striking finds in Israel in recent years.

15 15 g. In addition to irrigated gardens and groves of fruit trees, he built huge storehouses, massive grain storage facilities, and huge deep cisterns dug into the sandstone that were constantly filled naturally by rainwater. h. Herod built this mountain-top palace fortress for only one purpose this would be where the king would flee if he was ever threatened with being overthrown. D. Unfortunately, all these massive building projects cost huge sums of money, which Herod needed to replenish somehow. 1. One of Herod's schemes concerned the Tomb of David in Bethlehem. 2. The riches and wealth of David's tomb in Jerusalem had already been raided several times by former Syrian and Jewish rulers. 3. But rumors had long circulated that the tomb of David in Bethlehem still contained hidden treasures. a. Since Herod was king of the Jews, he believed that somehow made him heir of David. b. So, it's said that Herod ordered workmen to secretly rob the tomb. c. But according to the historian Josephus, if there had ever been any treasure in the tomb it had long since disappeared. 4. The Jewish people, however, were outraged upon learning that Herod has desecrated one of the most holy shrines in all Israel. VII. Despite all the negative things Herod did, there are some positive aspects to his reign as king of the Jews.

16 16 A. Herod's diplomatic ties with Rome ensured the survival of Jewish people during several turbulent incidents in the eastern Mediterranean. 1. It's often been said that Rome's way of responding to uprisings was to slay everyone, then sort out the friends from the foes among the dead on the battlefield. 2. Herod rigorously avoided any alliances that might be perceived by Rome as disloyal or even questionable. 3. He expanded his territory so that the boundaries of his kingdom reached those of Israel during the days of King Solomon. B. He also contributed to the material welfare of the Jewish people. 1. He constructed aqueducts with Rome's help to ensure the city of Jerusalem with a constant supply of fresh water. 2. And when the region was ravaged by a famine in BC, Herod used his influence in Rome to arrange for the importation of tons of Egyptian grain to feed the people. VIII. But all the good Herod accomplished could not outweigh the cruelty, violence, and murderous acts that characterized his later years. A. Historians have long recognized that Herod was mentally ill. 1. From adolescence Herod showed signs of paranoia, shown in his pathological suspiciousness. a. He trusted no one (apart from his quarrelsome sister) and had delusions that people were plotting against him. b. He suffered from extreme mood swings that became progressively worse over the years. 2. But a king who murders three of his sons, his beloved Hasmonean wife, Mariamne (whose death sent him into a deep depression), and countless other members of his close circle, is obviously not in his right mind. 3. Some of his victims were cruelly tortured before their deaths, testifying to sadistic tendencies.

17 17 4. No wonder the people, and presumably many of his close associates, feared and hated him. B. Herod, more than anyone else, unwittingly orchestrated the downfall of Jerusalem and Judaism. 1. Herod's paranoia, his interference with the Temple hierarchy, and his dedication to the Hellenization of the Jewish people all contributed to the growing discontent that would erupt in a revolt against Rome some 70 years after his death.