Lesson 1: The Political & Social World

28 Pages·2014·1.96 MB·English

by  Greenfield Baptist Church

Lesson 1
The Political & Social Background to the NT
In 586 BC Jerusalem fell to the Babylonians.

In 538 B.C the Babylonians fell to the
Persian king Cyrus.
Cyrus allowed the captured Jews to return
to their homeland and they did so
under three Jewish leaders.

a. Sheshbazzar
(possibly he and Zerubbabel are the same person)
(Ezra 1:5-11; 2:64)
b. Ezra
(Ezra 7:1-10)
c. Nehemiah
(Neh. 2:1-10)
The Persians
eventually fell to
Alexander the Great
who conquered much
of the known world
between 334-323 B.C
and spread Greek
culture.
(Hellenism).
After Alexander the Great’s death his
kingdom was divided up by his four
generals.

a. The Seleucids took control of Asia Minor.

b. The Ptolemaics had control of Egypt and
Palestine.
Under Ptolemaic control those in Palestine
were treated fairly well.

It was during this time that the Septuagint
(LXX), a Greek translation of the OT,
begun.
(Competed in 132 BC).
In 199 BC the Seleucids took over Palestine
and caused the Jews many problems.

a. They set up temples to other gods.
b. Theatres were built depicting the stories
and the immorality of the gods.
c. Gymnasiums were build in which athletes
participated in the nude.
At the beginning of the 2nd
century BC, the Seleucid Empire
(in yellow) expanded into Israel
at the expense of Ptolemaic
Egypt (blue).
One of the rulers at
this this time Antiochus
IV
(Epiphanes - 175-163 B.C.)
tried to force the Jews
to Hellenize.
Antiochus IV did this by:

a. Destroying the city walls of Jerusalem.
b. Put an image of Zeus in the Jewish
temple and worshiped it by sacrificing a
pig.
c. Putting to death anyone found with the
Jewish scriptures.