JUDAISM, IS IT THE RELIGION OF THE OLD TESTAMENT ?
NOW WE COME TO THE PERIOD IN JEWISH HISTORY WHEN "JUDAISM" STARTS. GREEK
TRADITIONS, REPLACES THE LAW OF MOSES IN THE THIRD CENTURY B.C.
Part 6
"For one hundred years after Ezra and Nehemiah there was a time of peace and prosperity for the Jews" (Graetz,
History of the Jews, vol 1. page. 406,407). The Jews established themselves firmly in Palestine--in every section
of the province of Judaea. They were following the law of Moses in its entirety and it was the constitutional law
of the land. The Great Assembly which was Established by Ezra and Nehemiah was the head of the state. This
great religious assembly of priest directed the people in observing the law of Scripture and had proper religious
training every Sabbath.
As long as the Jews were under the authority of the Persian Empire, they were allowed to carry on their own
religious customs without interference. The Persians did not care how they worshipped God as long as the taxes
were being paid and they respected and were loyal to the government and king. The Jews wanted to keep in good
graces of their Persian rulers.
The goodwill that the Persians had for the Jews came to an end in 332 B.C. At that time Palestine--a part of the
Persian Empire was conquered by a rising young Empire--the Empire of the Greeks!
While the Jews were enjoying their peaceful existence, a young general was preparing an army beyond the
western frontier of the Persian Empire. In 334 B.C. after amassing a considerable army, Alexander the Great
swept over the Hellespont and into Persian territory.
He moved rapidly and with great success. In 10 short years conquered the Persian Empire and all civilized Asia
to the Indus River, as well as Egypt on the south. The Jews, because of this came under the domination of the
Greeks. This started a new way of life for the Jews---Hellenism!!
Under the Persians, the Jews were allowed to observe the Law of Moses with the Great Assembly as the religious
leaders. This all changed with the rulership of the Greeks!
Alexander the Great was steeped in the belief that the Greek way of life was the only suitable one for mankind
to follow. He was imbued with enthusiasm that the Greek culture and society be in all the nations he conquered.
"Hellenism" is described as the belief in practicing the manner of life of the Greeks--to imitate every phase of
Greek society: its politics, domestic life, philosophies, and its religions. The basic philosophy behind Hellenism
was this: every man had the right to think for himself on any matter as long as there was not a real departure from
the customs that were essentially Greek.
This philosophy--freedom of thought or individualism--resulted in confusing and contradictory beliefs
among the Greeks in all phases of life. Every man was allowed his own ideas about science, the arts, law and
about religion! Then, as today, the scholars in various fields of study took pride in contending with one another
over who could present the greatest wisdom and knowledge on any subject! The Greeks sought wisdom in order
to understand the world they lived in and the reasons for life. Their confusion of beliefs resulted from the fact that
their ideas came from their own rationalizing! (We see this happening in the Churches of God today!) Here was
the beginning of the philosophy of individualism--a product of Hellenism. When the Greeks came to Palestine,
they brought all their conflicting secular teachings as well as their many religious doctrines, all of which came
from individual philosophies of men. It is hard to describe the many religious cults among the Greeks or their
heathenistic doctrines. "Practically every religious belief capable of being devised by the human mind was found
in pagan Greece. In their religious beliefs we find ghosts and spirits and nature-gods, tribal religions,
anthropomorphisms {gods in human forms}, the formations of a pantheon {a temple for the worship of many
pagan gods}, individual religion, magical rites, purfications, prayers, sacrifices {animal, vegetable and
human}---all arising from the common stock and the successive phases of religious humanity" (Harrison, Religion
of Ancient Greece, pg.12-13).
Alexander spread Hellenism through out his Empire. Wherever he or his successors went, they carried Hellenism.
They took the Greek society and forced it upon all the captive people. The Greeks considered it their right to
govern in the way they deemed most suitable. The Greeks disbanded the Sopherim, the religious guardians of the
Law of Moses. They would not allow the Jews to be taught a different way of life from their Hellenistic society.
It is not known how the Greeks dismissed the Sopherim from their official capacity as the teachers of the Law,
but within a score of years after coming under Greek rule, the Sopherim disappeared from history as an organized
body having religious control over the Jews. Just how they took away the authority from the Sopherim and
forbade them to teach the law of God is a mystery but it is definitely known that it was taken
away.
Without the religious leadership of the Sopherim, the Jews imbibed in the customs and ideas of the Greeks.
Hellenism had made an inroad. "There was no escape from its influence. It was present everywhere, in the street
and markets, in the everyday life and all the phases of social intercourse" (Herford, Talmud and Apocrypha, pg.
77). With the Sopherim removed from the scene, along with the true Law of Moses, we can comprehend why the
Jews absorbed the teachings of Hellenism. The Jews had no one to guide them in understanding the Law of
Moses, except a few isolated teachers here and there who had no authority as the Sopherim.
It was obvious that after a few years under the influence of Hellenism, the Jews literally came to a state of
religious confusion. Some were endeavoring to keep a form of Scripture teachings, but with Hellenism
everywhere, it became almost impossible to keep the true form of the Law of Moses.
The human opinions of the Greek poets and philosophers, as well as the doctrines of the various heathen sects of
the Greeks, were propagated among the Jews. Everything the Greeks brought to the Jews was antagonistic to the
Law of God, and without the religious guidance of the Sopherim, many of them began to tolerate and take up the
Greek ideas and customs!
Josephus, the Jewish historian tells us about Alexander the Great when he had conquered Palestine and was about
to enter Jerusalem. "Alexander was met on the outskirts of the city by Jaddua, the High Priest, with many
inhabitants of Jerusalem. The High Priest was bedecked in his priestly robes and leading the procession who met
Alexander. Upon seeing the High Priest and procession following him, Josephus says that Alexander recalled a
dream he had previously in which such a procession was seen with a person dressed in exactly the same attire of
the High Priest leading it. Alexander reckoned that his dream was a sign to leave the inhabitants of Jerusalem
alone. He entered the city peaceably with the High Priest and offered a sacrifice to God. Afterward, he was shown
the prophecy of Daniel 11:2-3, which revealed that a mighty king from Greece would conquer the Persian
Empire. Josephus says that Alexander recognized that Daniel was writing of him. After reading this prophcey,
Alexander became very glad and gave favor and gifts to many of the Jews" (Antiquities of the Jews, xi, 8,5-6).
Daniels prophecy had more to say about Alexander and his Empire. "And when he shall stand up, his kingdom
shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven; and not to his posterity, nor according to
his dominion which he ruled: for his kingdom shall be plucked up, even for others beside those" (Dan. 11:4). This
prophecy was fulfilled upon the death of Alexander. His Empire was divided into four sections. Each headed by
one of Alexanders former generals: Cassander, Lysimachus, Seleucus and Ptolemy. The Palestine area was given
to Ptolemy of Egypt. But, the Seleucid kingdom on the north also claimed Palestine and had loyal troops there.
Neither kingdom was willing to give into sole rulership of the other. Ptolemy of Egypt, in 320 B.C. attacked the
Seleucid garrison in Palestine to secure the area for himself. However, the Seleucid took it back in 315 B.C. But
Ptolemy again retook Palestine in the battle of Gaza in 312 B.C. There were many more battles between the two
kingdoms until 301 B.C. At that time the Greeks government of Egypt took final control of Palestine and had
control for over one hundred years---until 198 B.C.
This one hundred year domination is very important as a period in the religious history of the Jews. During this
period significant changes in the religious life of the Jews were made. During this time the effects of Hellenism
was extremely great. What was started by Alexander the Great was brought to its greatest degree of perfection
during this one hundred years among the Jews. The customs and teachings that had been handed down by the
Sopherim was completely overshadowed by the Hellenistic culture of the Greeks as promulgated by the
Egyptians. The Jews during this time of Egyptian control surrendered themselves to Hellenistic ideas and ways
of life.
"During the comparatively quiet rule of the Ptolemies (the Egyptians), Greek ideas, customs, and morality had
been making peaceful conquests in Palestine. Their own inherent attractiveness and the fact that they were
supported by the authority of the dominant race, cast a glamour about them (the Jews) which made the severe
religions of Jehovah (to Hellenistic minds), the simple customs and the strict morality of the Jews, seem barren
and provincial. All the other people of Palestine...had set the example by imitating their conquerors. Hellenistic
Greek was the language of commerce and polite society. Greek literature was widely studied. Greek manners
were the standard throughout Southeastern Palestine" ( Kent, History of the Jewish People, pg. 320,321).
Everyone in Palestine was affected by the new Hellenistic culture. The Ptolemies of Egypt followed the example
of Alexander the Great and saw that the manners of the Greeks were implanted throughout their areas. All phases
of life in Palestine during this period was following Hellenism. ‘It is safe to say that no one, high or low, who was
living in Judea in the period which includes the whole of the third and beginning of the second century B.C.
wholly escaped the influences of Hellenism...." (Herford, Talmud and Apocrypha, pg. 77).
In 198 B.C. the Egyptians were driven out again by the Seleucid kingdom. The rulers of this kingdom were also
Hellenistic in their beliefs. The new rulers expected the Jews to follow their ways and only their ways of
interpreting Hellenism! Only the Hellenism that supported the Seleucid customs were allowed to remain. Many
of the Jews after a century of Hellenistic influence, accepted the Seleucid Hellenism and this system was much
more effective in the Hellenistic convictions. "A passion for Greeks customs and Greek names seized the people.
Large numbers were enrolled as citizens of Antioch (the capital of the Seleucid Kingdom). Many even endeavored
to conceal the fact that they had been circumcised. To the horror of the faithful, Hellenism seemed to be carrying
all before it...To demonstrate that he had left all traditions of his race behind, Jason the High Priest himself sent
a rich present for sacrifices in connection with the great festival at Tyre in honor of the god Hercules" (Kent,
History of the Jewish People, pg. 324-325). It is remarkable the extent of the paganism that the Jews were
observing at that time!! So strong was Hellenistic beliefs that even the High Priest himself was offering sacrifices
to pagan gods. This reaction began to take place among some of the Jews. Some of them could not bring
themselves to go as far as the High Priest. But the majority had fallen sway to the Hellenism of the Seleucids.
In the eleventh chapter of Daniel, the longest single prophecy in the Bible, foretold the Persian Empire was to fall.
This happened exactly as was told by Daniel. This prophecy told in advance what would happen 300 years later.
Daniel did not stop in verse 20, but in verses 21-39, Daniel speaks of a vile person who was to arise in the
kingdom of the north--this person was to be most wicked and was to cause many terrible indignities to the Jews.
And the prophecies were fulfilled to the letter. The king of the north--was the vile person--Antiochus Epiphanes.
Antiochus Epiphanes, in the years 175 B.C. obtained the throne of the Seleucid kingdom and assumed control
of Palestine. When he took over the kingdom there was a reaction between several priest in Jerusalem who were
contending for the position of High Priest among the Jews. "Jason the brother of the reigning High Priest,
persuaded Antiochus Epiphanes to permit him to be High Priest instead of his brother. Because of the large sums
of money Jason offered for the position of High Priest, Antiochus transferred the priesthood to him. The High
Priest position had become no more than a political honor. There was little regard paid to the Law of God by these
High Priests. Most of them were outright Hellenists" (Cyc. Bible. Theo. And Ecc. Bit, vol i,pg. 271).
About three years later, a Jew Menelaus, of the tribe of Benjamin (not from Aaron), offered Antiochus Epiphanes
a larger sum bribe than Jason and he was named High Priest instead. Because of this Jason fled to Jordan to an
Ammonites refuge. Many Jews thought Jason had been unjustly deprived of his priesthood. A good number of
the Jews in Palestine began to take sides--between these two men. So hot were the tempers between these factions
that a good deal of violence broke out between them. Fight against Menelaus, as High Priest was constituted as
rebellion against the Seleucid government, because Antiochus gave Menelaus his High Priesthood (See
Antiquities of the Jews, xii, 5, 1-5).
The Jews war for independence from the Seleucid Kingdom has often been called the Maccabean Revolt. People
have assumed that this revolt was begun because the religious Jews wanted to rid Palestine of the pagan influences
that had been in the land for one hundred fifty years or more. This was not the case! The Jews, on the whole had
accepted Hellenism to a major degree, as had all the countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region. It was not
the desire to eradicate Hellenism from Palestine that prompted the Maccebean Revolt! "The one rebellion which
had been recorded in history as directed against Hellenism, that of the Maccabees in Judea, was not, in its origin,
a reaction against Hellenism. From the contemporary or almost contemporary accounts in I and II Maccabees it
is clear that Hellenism had proceeded far indeed and apparently without protest, before the insurrection began.
Violence started in consequence of rivalry between equally hellenized contenders for the high priesthood, and
religion was not an issue" (Hadas, Hellenistic Cultures, pg. 43). The revolt began when fighting between the Jews
on the side of Jason, the disposed High Priest, and those on the side of Menelaus, the High Priest appointed by
Antiochus Epiphanes. It infuriated Antiochus that many of the Jews began to take sides against the government.
With a number of Jews gathered to the side of Jason, the real reason for the revolt, the desire for independence
from the Seleucid yoke began to be voiced. Religion did not enter in the controversy at first because Jason was
as Hellenistic in his beliefs as was Menelaus. The insurrection began as a political revolt for independence from
the Seleucid Kingdom. "The Maccabean uprising, at least in its initial stages, was not against Hellenism but for
national independence" (Goodspeed, the Apocrypha, pg. xiv).
Religion became a factor later to get the whole population of the Jews to revolt against the Seleucid government.
The protestors began to point to the heathenistic beliefs of the Seleucids and of Menelaus the High Priest, claiming
they were anti-Jewish. Thus the rebels brought religion into the issue!! Many said that the government was
proclaiming policies that were fundamentally anti-Jewish--especially to the religious customs of their forefathers.
In 168 B.C. Antiochus Epiphanes, on his way back home from a humiliating experience under the Romans, went
to Palestine to put an end to the rebellion that was beginning in Judaea. Because the issue of religion had been
brought up in the insurrection, and because many of the rebels were proclaiming that their struggle was for
religious freedom, Antiochus Epiphanes in a mad frenzy, determined to obliterate any vestiges of the religious
customs of the Jews! He boldly repudiated God and entered the Temple in Jerusalem and dedicated it to the pagan
god Jupiter. He set up an idol which he called "the lord of heaven" which is referred to in the Bible as the
abomination of desolation" (Dan. 11:31). He also offered swines flesh on the Holy Altar and polluted the Temple
with all the evil he could perpetrate. He even turned the Temple into a center of prostitution. Many innocent
people suffered under the evils of Antiochus Epiphanes in his rage to do away any semblance of the commands
of God. "By royal decree, the observance of the Sabbath or the sacred feasts, and practicing the rites of
circumcision, were absolutely forbidden under penalty of death. All copies of the law were destroyed. Heathen
altars and temples were erected throughout Judaea, and every Jew was compelled in public to sacrifice to idols,
swine’s flesh or that of some other unclean beast, and to present conclusive evidence that he had ceased to observe
the laws of his fathers" (Kent, History of the Jewish People, pg. 328,329). "All women who had their sons
circumcised were publicly marched around the city of Jerusalem and then thrown from the high walls to their
death. One group of people who fled to a cave near Jerusalem in order to keep the sabbath service were surprised
and committed to the flames. Such things were everyday occurrences against the Jews who failed to abide by the
decrees of Antiochus Epiphanes" (Margolis, History of the Jewish People, pg. 137,138).
Among those Jews who were outraged at Antiochus Epiphanes, was Judas Maccabeus and his brothers. They
abhorred the actions of this crazed ruler. They did not want to put up with the abuses that were being done to the
Jews, so they gathered together many more dissenting Jews and formed an army. Their vow was to exterminate
the foreigners from Judaea. After many successful battles, they acquired many Jews to their cause. After three
short years they had defeated the Seleucids to such an extent that for all practical purposed, their independent
autonomous Jewish state was realized. The Maccabees became the leaders of this new state.
The Maccabean Revolt was not at first a matter of religion. The main reason for the insurrections was to establish
an independent Jewish state!! "The Maccabean uprising, at least in its initial stages, was not against Hellenism,
but rather for national independence. And when independence, real or nominal, was secured, the object of the
Maccabean principality was to hold its head up among other principalities that had arisen out of the ruins of the
Seleucid Empire; there was nothing like anti-Greek program" (Goodspeed, The Apocrypha, pg. xiv,xv).
The majority of the Jews had not been anxious to depart from their Hellenistic ways! They wanted primarily their
freedom from the foreign yoke. The matter of religion was really invoked to get the people to unite in one
common goal--to drive the foreigner from Judaea. There was no real desire to get the people back to the Laws
of God!! Religion only became an issue when Antiochus Epiphanes voiced his anti-religious decrees!
The Jewish historian, Moses Hadas, describes the situations during the Maccabean Revolt. "The standard of
religion was raised in the countryside, and then served to rally the people to the cause. It was only after religion
had become the battle cry of the rebels that Antiochus IV (Ephiphanes) issued his decrees against the observance
of central religious rites, and it is highly significant that as soon as the anti-religious decrees were rescinded the
pietist group (the religious people) withdrew from the fighting. The object of the Hasmoneans (Maccabean) rulers
was not to protect religion...but to maintain a sovereignty ....among others which were being carved out of the
weakened Seleucid empire" (Hellenistic Culture, pg. 43).
Although independence was gained, the Hellenistic elements remained among the Jews. They had been so wedded
to its influences for so long that it was impossible to remove the influences from them.
(To be continued in the next issue of the "Prove All Things "). Information for this article was taken from the
Good News Magazine, May 1961. We encourage you to read the original article titled "Is Judaism the Law of
Moses? ☜