1. God creates a people group called Israel Adam and Even sin
God lets Assyria and Babylon conquer Israel
Israel does a terrible job of being Holy
God wants Israel to be Holy
Israel returns to their land. They slowly rebuild
They wait for God to keep his promises

2. Unit 1 Setting the Stage

3. Lesson 1: The Plot Hung In Suspense

4. The Old testament makes up 75% of our Bible.
The Old Testament lays out the plot while the New Testament gives us the resolution.
Analogy- the OT is setting the rules of the game and beginning to play while the NT is winning the game.
New Growth begins with the church
Jesus chops that tree down
Israel-
the dead tree

5. Hellenism and Christianity
Alexander the Great conquered a large part of eastern Europe and the Middle East
He spread Greek culture to millions of people. He built cities, roads, and gave money to artists. He also spread the Greek language.
Greek philosophy also influenced theology heavily.

6. Was God speaking in the Intertestamental Peiord?

7. 1st Century Palestine

8. WAR

9. Babylon conquers Jerusalem

10. Persia conquers Babylon

11. Alexander the Great conquers Persia

15. They were somewhat kind to the Jews in Israel
The Ptolemies (Egypt)
They were somewhat kind to the Jews in Israel

16. Ptolemys and Seleucids get in a fight.

17. The Seleucids (Syrians)
They were okay at first, but they eventually turned bad

18. Antiochus Epiphanes King of the Seleucids Ruled over Israel
Disrespected Judaism
Robbed the temple
Stopped Jewish religious practices
Worshiped Zeus in Israel’s temple and sacrificed a pig there
Big Fat Jerk

19. The Maccabees a Jewish family
started a revolt when Antiochus sacrificed a pig in the temple
Judah Maccabee and his brothers led the Jews to battle against the Seleucids
They won and Israel was independent again!

20. The Maccabee/Hasmoneans
Maccabee family started ruling Israel
Called themselves the Hasmonean dynasty
They quickly became corrupt and abandoned Jewish ways

21. Rome conquers Israel in 63Bc
About 60 years before Jesus is born

22. The land of Israel by the time Jesus arrives has been through a lot of war and disappointment

23. …but that failed within 100 years, and Rome took control.
The Jews thought Judah Maccabee would save Israel and bring glory back to the land…
…but that failed within 100 years, and Rome took control.

24. Life under Roman Rule The Good Roads Peace New building projects
Technology
The Bad
Heavy taxes
No democracy
Strict laws and punishments

25. There were many transitions of power during the 400 years between the Old and New Testaments:
Babylon to Persia
Persia to Greek (Alexander)
Greek to Egyptian (Ptolemy)
Egyptian to Syrian (Seleucid)
Syrian to Independent (Maccabean)
Independent to Roman

26. The Septuagint The Old Testament was written originally in Hebrew
Alexander the Great spread Greek language and culture so people started speaking Greek
Jews living in Egypt decided that a Greek translation of the Old Testament was necessary so they made one
It was widely used by Jewish people, even in Israel. Jesus even quotes from it!

27. Reflection Questions

28. Politics and Geography in Palestine

29. Facts about Geography:
Israel is a hilly and mountainous country. This affects how people move through the country and how battles were fought.
Israel has a wide variety of geography: from dry deserts in the south to rich lush green land in the north
Israel is a “crossroads” between three continents.
The different regions of Israel in NT times held different kinds of people—there were Gentile regions, Jewish regions, and mixed regions.

30. The land of Palestine (also known as Israel or Canaan) was about 241 by 80 kilometers.
It was a small country, but why was it important to so many civilizations?

31. The land could be divided up into three main regions:
Galilee
Judea
Samaria

32. Let’s divide into three groups.
Each group will have a region of Israel.
At the end of class, your group will tell the class what you have discovered about that region.

33. Religious Groups in Palestine

34. OF
PALESTINE

35. Facts
More Jewish people were scattered around the Roman Empire rather than living in Israel. (More Jews live in America than in Israel today)
How can Jews retain and practice their religion when they are away from the temple in Jerusalem?

36. Synagogues
The synagogue is a place for Jews to gather. They pray, worship, study scriptures, and listen to teaching there.
There are synagogues all over the world today. They are like churches or community centers for Jews.

37. The Sanhedrin
The Romans were in control of Israel, but the Sanhedrin was a group of religious leaders that controlled religious matters. Two groups make up the Sanhedrin: the Pharisees and Sadducees.

38. The Sadducees They were often priests and focused on the temple.
They were more likely to tolerate the Romans.
They often were rich.
They only believed in the first 5 books of the Bible as scripture.
They were not popular with the common people.

39. The Pharisees They were focused on obedience to the law
They did not have much influence with Rome
They were often commoners
They accepted all OT as scripture and also had many added writings they followed
They were popular with the common people.

40. Scribes and Teachers of the Law
They had the ability to write and read deep knowledge of the laws and codes of Israel
They could be from either the Pharisees or Sadducees
They interpreted the law and teachings of others
They were like religious lawyers

41. The Zealots
This was a revolutionary group that wanted to overthrow the Roman government and make Israel free again. They could be very radical—using Sicarii as a tactic.

42. The Essenes They don’t seem to be mentioned in the Bible
They were a separatist group focused on holiness and cleanliness.
They may be the Qumran community (But not sure)

43. Cultural Setting in Palestine

44. Agriculture 1st Century Palestine was an agrarian society.
Crops- wheat, barley, olives, grapes
Livestock- sheep, goats
Fishing
Many of Jesus’ parables mention these items. They were common items for everyday life.

45. Education Most education was actually an apprenticeship
Learned from parents or relatives
Some boys had torah education
The highest education was for priests, scribes, and rabbis.
Who did Jesus pick for disciples? Who did Jesus allow to learn from him?

46. To sit at his feet
Sitting at someone’s feet is a way to say that they were a student of that teacher. Jesus let men and women sit at his feet, meaning that he was happy to teach men and women.

47. Classes
Kings, governors, High Priests, etc.
The gap between the upper and lower class was wider than it is today. There were very few in the middle.
Scribes, rabbis, Pharisees, Sadducees, wealthier merchants
shopkeepers, craftsmen, fishers, farmers
Laborers, slaves, disabled, lepers, mentally unstable

48. Preparing to Read the NT

49. What did Jesus have to say about money and classes in society?

50. What did you learn?

51. Reflection
Choose one reflection question (found at the end of every lesson) from Unit 1
Write a one page journal entry in your BIBLE notebook responding to the question you have chosen.
Due Friday at the end of class