Introduction

The Jews went into exile as the prophets had said… some ended up in Babylon, others in Persia, from there many were scattered to Western Europe, India and even to Eastern China… as had been foretold, they were scattered to every nation under heaven.  Some became high officials, other merchants and land owners, still others were sold into slavery. Women sold into slavery produced children with fathers from many lands, and a change was made: being Jewish no longer passed from the father, now it passed from the mother.  Eventually, a small band was allowed by the Persian government to return to Jerusalem.

This group, headed by Nehemiah faced many obstacles, but they grew, and eventually rebuilt the city.  The time came when this group of returnees renewed the Covenant with God in a striking ceremony. (Neh. 9:32-10:39) In this Covenant renewal, some interesting things emerge: First, the oath swearing was done only by those who can understand. The idea of covenant passage to any blood relation of Abraham, regardless of understanding or personal faith had been strained to its breaking point. This concept became very significant in the New Testament.  Second, some Jews returned to Canaan, while many, many others did not. Since returning to the Land had more to do with covenant keeping than it did with blood, the idea of being a Jew by blood was weakened, and eventually resulted in the collapse of the Covenant.

Many other questions were raised by these circumstances. Some of them are: What would become of those who could return, but chose not to? Do you need to live in Canaan to receive the covenant promises? Could a man be a Jew, and yet not speak the language of the Torah? How could sins be atoned for without the Temple sacrifices as required by Law? Ezra was quite strict on these questions. Jews who returned were not enrolled unless they could prove with documentary evidence that they were of pure Jewish blood. Jews who had married foreign women were required to divorce. Jews who returned out of pure devotion to the Lord, but who were not of pure blood were left entirely out of the central power structure.

They had a city and a Temple, and they had Levites, but they had no king of Davidic blo; things were confused.  Ezra and Nehemiah organized delegates to go to wealthy Jews abroad to collect donations for the Temple, and to attempt to convince them to return.  These delegates, called Apostolos also organized groups of Jews who could not return into communities called synagogues. These synagogues became little Jewish outposts, where among other things they attempted to buy the freedom of Jewish slaves. From that time forward, the dispersed Jews, called Diaspora, played an important role in Bible history.

Those who returned hardly personified the glorious visions of the prophets who had told of a glorious return of “multitudes” from exile. They had barely gotten things in order when the land was conquered by the Greeks led by Alexander the Great, and the result of this conquest was the “Hellenizing” of the culture, meaning that they would be overwhelmed by Greek thought, philosophy, language, architecture, religion and values.

The Greek Old Testament

During the exile, a large number of Jews moved to the new city of Alexandria, built on orders of Alexander. This great ancient city had a famous library containing over 500,000 volumes, and it was there that scholars translated the Hebrew Old Testament into Greek. This translation, called the Septuagint, provided many advantages; among them it allowed the Jews to access the scriptures in the dominant language.  In fact, it was the version of the Old Testament used during the time of Jesus and the early church. It also had disadvantages. The Greek translation tended to result in Greek definitions and philosophical interpretations in place of Hebrew definitions and understandings, and the confusion this caused are at the very heart of much of the divisions still with us to this day.  For example, when the Greek word for “hearing” would be translated, a Greek would understand it to mean “listen to” whereas the Hebrew concept is to “hear and do” (Mt. 7:24) When the word “flesh” is used, the Greek understanding is philosophic: it refers to the evil nature inherent in the body of Man. The Hebrew would never allow the understanding of the human body to be inherently evil!  Paul tells us that it refers to a wicked and sinful way of life, (Gal. 5:19) or a lifestyle dominated by the needs of the body. (Gal. 6:7)

The entire context of Hebrew Covenant is lost when it is understood in a Greek philosophical context, as we have seen previously.

Messianic Dream

Additional confusion arose because many of the pre-exile prophets spoke of a Messiah.  There were four theological strands in these prophecies. First, “the One to come” (Dan. 7:13) would be a “true son of David” (Isa. 11: ff.) and restore Israel. He would be “anointed” by God as was his father David (1Sam. 16:13)

Second, was that he would be a prophet (Deut. 18:15-18). He would be a “suffering servant” prophet. (Isa. 53:1 ff.) He would speak from God and lead the people as Moses and Elijah had done. He would be a “messenger” and a “covenant for the peoples” (Isa. 42:1-6; 61:1-6)

Third, he would be a priest. (Isa. 53:12)  See also Psalm 110:4.

Fourth, he would be the “son of man” (Ps. 8:4) this figure is also seen in the writings of Ezekiel:

“Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; so hear the word I speak and give them warning from me.” 

Ezekiel 33:7

            Clearly, this was the image Jesus Himself preferred, as he used it in reference to Himself more than any other. Daniel also used it:

“In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence.  He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all peoples, nations and men of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.”

Daniel 7:13-14

            There were then, as there are now various ideas about what this passage means, but one thing is clear: it was understood by some in the age of the Apostles to mean that someone would come from Heaven to set up his own eternal kingdom. What is important to realize in this study is that the One who would come had the authority, of king, prophet, priest and redeemer to set all things right, and when He arrived, Israel’s problems would be over.

The Last Promise to Abraham

“And in your seed shall all the nations of the earth be blessed”

Gen. 12:1-3

            In the writings of Joel, Isaiah and Jeremiah the word “gentile” began to be used… in fact, it was used in parallel with “peoples, nations and tongues”. How indeed could they be blessed by the seed of Abraham, the holders of the promise of God?  Consider:

“In that day I will restore
David’s fallen tent.
I will repair its broken places,
restore its ruins,
and build it as it used to be,

so that they may possess the remnant of Edom
and all the nations that bear my name, ”
declares the LORD, who will do these things.

(Amos 9:11-12; Cf. Acts 15:16-17)

Other passages indicate an expectation that the gentiles will share in the glory to come: (Ps. 18:49; Deut. 32:43; Ps. 117:1; Isa. 11:10) God’s intention was to develop a people who would obey His commands, and when the day arrived, they would hear Him… and the day did come when the command that all of heaven had been waiting for came:

He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation

Mark 16:15

Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them inthe name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Mt. 28:18-20

Hints of the End

            There are four hints in the Old Testament texts pointing toward an end or revision of the Old Covenant. They are listed below:

1. Genesis 3:15. This is the passage that indicates that the offspring of the woman will crush the serpent’s head (Satan) and that the serpent will strike the offspring’s heel. It is understood by many that the serpent was crushed at the cross, and also at the cross he struck the heel… but Paul put it differently: “The God of peace will soon crush Satan under your feet” (Romans 16:20) Paul saw that it would ultimately be the church that crushed Satan for all mankind through the Gospel, which is the “power of God unto salvation”. In order for this to occur, the Law of Moses must pass so that all mankind can be united, as it was in the Garden.

2.  The promise to Abraham implies a covenant change, because if the Mosaic definitions of blessing remained, there was no room for any blessing to the gentiles.  This is true because, as defined by the Law, the gentiles were to be utterly excluded from the blessings of the Covenant.

3. Deut. 18:15-18 tells us that there would be one to come after Moses, and as a result, the Jews should have expected that one to come after the giver of the Law would give a new law… a New Covenant. Peter spoke plainly of this in Acts 3:22-23…

For Moses said, ‘The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’

4.  Jeremiah 31 tells directly that there will be a New Covenant… and it does so in exact and clear words:

“The time is coming,” declares the LORD,
“when I will make a new covenant
with the house of Israel
and with the house of Judah.”

Jer. 31:31

            Read the entire passage: Jeremiah 31:31 ff. Note verse 34:

No longer will a man teach his neighbor,
or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the LORD,’
because they will all know me,
from the least of them to the greatest,”
declares the LORD.
“For I will forgive their wickedness
and will remember their sins no more.”

            No one will be a part of the New Covenant Jeremiah is talking about who does not already know the Lord. This is very different from the Old Covenant which is entered into by birth!  In the New Covenant, you must know the Lord and swear allegiance to Him in order to enter the Covenant. The author of Hebrews slams the door on the issue:

By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and aging will soon disappear.

Hebrews 8:13