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Friday, December 6, 2013

Abomination of Desolation part 1

Rome and the Abomination of Desolation

Tags: abomination of desolation, chanukkah, Gaius Caligula, Jerusalem

D. Thomas Lancaster

During the days of the apostles, the Jewish people experienced a great miracle that must have reminded them of the miracles of Chanukkah. The wicked Roman emperor, Caligula, ordered his legions to erect an idol of himself in the Temple, in Jerusalem. The apostles and early believers wondered if this event might fulfill the Master’s predictions about an abomination of desolation standing in the Temple.

Gaius Caligula

The new emperor, Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus, was popularly known by the epithet Caligula, which meant, “little soldier’s boot.” His father’s soldiers had given him the name while the boy accompanied them in their campaigns. Gaius did not care for the nickname. After he became the emperor of Rome in 37 CE, he tried to shed the appellation.
He gained a reputation for lewd and indecent behavior. His insatiable appetites, lusts, and self-indulgences seemed limitless. Contemporary sources describe him as insane, self-absorbed, vicious, murderous, sexually deviant, incestuous, and bloodthirsty. He killed for amusement, committed adultery with impunity, and intentionally wasted money.
In the midst of his degeneration, he began to worship himself. The Roman Empire did practice an obligatory, ceremonial worship of emperors, but Gaius took the matter very seriously, and raised it to a new level. Gaius began appearing in public costumed as the gods. On one day he might appear dressed as Bacchus. The next time he appeared in public, he had put on the gear of Hercules. On another day, he made himself to look like Mercury, and on another, he wore the costume of Apollo. Stranger yet, he began to appear dressed as Venus and other goddesses. He began to associate himself with Jupiter, the father of the gods, claiming to be his brother, and then, eventually, claiming to be him, and signing public documents in his name. He established temples to himself in Rome and elsewhere, and he sent his images to be worshipped throughout the empire—even in synagogues.

Gaius was extremely capricious towards every one, and especially towards the nation of the Jews. He was bitterly hostile toward the Jews, and accordingly beginning in Alexandria he took from them all their synagogues there. In the other cities as well, he filled the synagogues with images and statues of himself. He was not concerned about any other statues, but he forced his own image to be set up. (Philo)

Abomination of Desolation

Prior to Gaius, the Roman emperors had allowed the Jewish Temple to remain untouched. The Jewish people showed their appreciation by offering a sacrifice on the emperor’s behalf every day. Gaius was not content. He objected, “But they do not sacrifice to me!”
The great Temple in the holy city had been left untouched because the Romans deemed it worthy of respect and preservation, but Gaius altered and transformed it into a temple of his own, so that he might call it “The Temple of the New Jupiter, the Illustrious Gaius.” (Philo)
Bad news travels fast. The entire Jewish world trembled. Whether they lived in the holy land or in the far-flung communities of the Diaspora, the Jewish people esteemed the sanctity of God’s house as inviolable. Jewish people everywhere raised a wail of distress and anguish. They committed themselves to fasting and prayer.
Meanwhile, the armies of Rome mobilized. In the early summer of 40 CE, word came to Jerusalem that Petronius, the Roman military governor of Syria, had taken several legions from the Parthian front and begun a march toward Jerusalem with the intention of erecting a statue of Gaius/Jupiter in the holy of holies.
Some did not believe the rumors of war, but those that did realized that they were not in any position to defend themselves. Terror spread throughout the city.

The Master’s Warning

The apostles in Jerusalem remembered the Master’s warning. Ten years earlier, in the last days before he suffered, the Master told his disciples that they would hear of wars and natural disasters and experience harsh persecution, but those things did not signify either the fall of Jerusalem or the coming of the Son of Man. Instead, they should watch for a definitive sign: “The abomination of desolation standing where he ought not to be” (Mark 13:14), that is, “the abomination of desolation spoken of through the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (Matthew 24:15). He told them that when they saw the abomination of desolation, they would know that the final calamity before his coming was imminent, and they should flee from Jerusalem and from the cities and villages of Judea.
The disciples prepared to flee. Without a doubt, the final battle of Gog and Magog, as predicted by Ezekiel and Zechariah, loomed just ahead. Already the armies of Gog and Magog came marching from the north under the standards of Rome.

The Chanukkah Rebellion

More than a century and a half earlier (167 BCE), the wicked King Antiochus (IV) Epiphanes profaned the Temple of God and attempted to stomp out observance of the Torah. He put a stop to the daily sacrifices and defiled the Temple by setting up an idol of Zeus (Jupiter) in the holy place. According to legend, Antiochus had his own face carved onto the idol of Zeus. He ordered swine sacrificed to Zeus on the altar of the LORD. The writer of 1 Maccabees called the idol “the abomination of desolation,” a term he borrowed from Daniel 9:27, 11:31, and 12:11. Daniel had predicted it all:

Now the fifteenth day of the month Kislev, in the hundred forty and fifth year, he set up the Abomination of Desolation upon the altar, and built idol altars throughout the cities of Judea on every side. (1 Maccabees 1:54)

The author of the Gospel of Matthew makes the allusion to the book of Daniel explicit, adding a parenthetical exhortation to his readers, “Let the reader understand!” (Matthew 24:15). The prophet Daniel had foretold these calamites through his visions. He predicted that “forces from him shall appear and profane the temple and fortress, and shall take away the regular burnt offering. And they shall set up the abomination that makes desolate” (Daniel 11:31). He predicted that “from the time that the regular burnt offering is taken away and the abomination that makes desolate is set up, there shall be 1,290 days” (Daniel 12:11). Those predictions came to fruition in the days of the Chanukkah revolt.
Our Master Yeshua implied that these things would happen again. A second line of prophecy in the book of Daniel spoke of a second abomination of desolation. The prophecy of seventy weeks in Daniel 9 predicted that a series of calamities would culminate with the destruction of Jerusalem. The Messiah will be cut off, an enemy prince will come against Jerusalem and the Temple, the daily sacrifice will cease, and an abomination of desolation (i.e., an idol) will stand in the Temple:

An anointed one (Messiah) shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator. (Daniel 9:26-27)

When news of the march of Petronius and the Roman army reached the disciples, they knew that the remaining days were short. Everything was unfolding just as Yeshua had predicted. As the prophet Daniel declared, “The people of the prince who is to come (Gaius) will destroy the city and the sanctuary. And its end will come with a flood; even to the end there will be war; desolations are determined” (Daniel 9:26). Surely Gaius Caligula had revealed himself to be the anti-Christ, the man of lawlessness that apostolic eschatology anticipated as a precursor to the coming of Messiah:

Let no one deceive you in any way. For that day will not come, unless the rebellion comes first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the son of destruction, who opposes and exalts himself against every so-called god or object of worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4)

The apostles recognized that Gaius opposed and exalted himself above the so-called gods of Rome and intended on taking God’s place in his holy Temple.

James Prays in the Temple

With the imminent arrival of the Roman legions in view, the apostles might have been wise to leave Jerusalem and seek safety outside Judea, but they did not. They did not yet abandon the city, nor did they abandon the nation. The Master had told them not to flee until they saw the idol placed in the Temple. They prepared for the worst, but they prayed for the best.
The disciples of Yeshua loved God’s holy house. Though they longed for the coming of the day of the LORD, they did not long to see the holy Temple defiled. The disciples recognized Gaius as the servant of Satan on earth, and they trembled as a result. We may surmise that, along with the rest of the Jewish people, they threw themselves into prayer and supplication, beseeching God to spare his Temple, his holy city, and his holy people.
James the Righteous, the brother of the Master and the head of the Way, interceded on behalf of the city. The second-century church writer Hegesippus reports several traditions about James, the brother of the Master. James lived as a Nazirite and vegetarian from birth: “He drank no wine or intoxicating liquor and ate no animal food. No razor came near his head.” Like the Essenes, who refused to use olive oil for cosmetic or hygienic purposes, “He did not smear himself with oil.” He immersed himself daily in the mikvah, but he avoided the Roman-style bathhouses: “He took no baths.” Thanks to his exceptional piety and good reputation with influential men, James enjoyed unprecedented access to the Temple’s courts where he implored God on behalf of the nation:

And he was in the habit of entering alone into the temple, and was frequently found upon his knees begging forgiveness for the people, so that his knees became hard like those of a camel, in consequence of his constantly bending them in his worship of God, and asking forgiveness for the people. (Hegesippus)

James prayed every day in the Temple on behalf of the nation. How much more did the crisis under Gaius drive James and the other apostles to beseech God on behalf of the city, the Temple, and the Jewish people? They joined the rest of the nation in fasting, supplication, and lamentation as they saw the Master’s prophecies set in motion.

March on Akko

Petronius, the Roman governor of Syria, marched out of Antioch and proceeded toward Jerusalem ahead of the legions he had taken from the Parthian front. Caesar told him that if the Jews resisted, he was to declare war on them. He had already contracted craftsmen in the Phoenician city of Sidon to create the colossal statue, and his legions had already marched into Phoenicia. Petronius awaited the arrival of the legions at Acco (Ptolemais, modern Acre, Israel), a port city near Mount Carmel, not far from Nazareth, on the border of Galilee and Phoenicia.
The Judeans came streaming north to intercept the governor. Likewise, the Galileans rose up in mass, as one man, and journeyed to Acco. They left their cities, villages, and houses empty behind them and streamed into Phoenicia.
The Phoenicians were dismayed to see what appeared to be the entire Jewish population striding into their territory. The Roman officers warned Petronius that a vast army was approaching the city. It looked like a cloud spread over the whole horizon. They told the governor that they were in danger of being overrun.
Petronius saw what appeared to be a countless multitude of Jews approaching. He prepared for the first battle of what was sure to be a long and difficult war.
Many believers stood among the Jews that day. A community of disciples already lived in the Jewish community at Acco. The Galilean believers from the many towns where Yeshua of Nazareth had ministered also marched with the multitude of Jews. The believers may have had an influence on the strategy the multitude adopted as they approached Petronius: “But I say to you, do not resist an evil person; but whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also” (Matthew 5:39). They all went unarmed. Whole families joined in. They divided themselves into six companies: elderly men, young men, boys, elderly women, young women, and girls.
A delegation from the Jews entered the town and assured Petronius that they had come unarmed. Petronius rode out to meet the Jews, but he stayed at a safe distance. When he and his men came into view, the whole multitude of Jews fell to the ground, lamenting, wailing, and supplicating. The sound of their cries filled the plain in its entirety and echoed from the mountains.
The elders approached the Roman governor. They assured him that they had come unarmed, accompanied by their wives and children and daughters. They wanted no war with Rome. They offered the governor their homes, properties, and very lives if he would only spare the holy Temple. If he refused and insisted on making war against them, they offered their throats to his blades.

Petronius Stalls for Time

Petronius was an educated man, and he understood Judaism. He knew that Caesar’s orders could not be carried out without a terrible slaughter, but he knew Gaius well enough to know that he could not hope to change his mind on the matter. Petronius agreed to stall for time. He sent word to the craftsmen fashioning the idol, instructing them to take their time with the project. He made plans to winter the legions in Acco and to start the campaign in the spring. He wrote a letter to Caesar offering excuses for the delays.

Decision in Tiberias

The legions remained on the coast at Acco. The fall festivals passed, and the people of Galilee massed at Tiberias where Petronius was in the palace of Agrippa. Tens of thousands gathered to implore him to stop the installation of the idol. Petronius stood before the assembly and asked them if they wanted war with Rome. They replied, “We will not by any means make war with Caesar. But we will die before we see our laws transgressed.”
Petronius replied, “And am I not also obligated to keep the laws of my lord? If I transgress his command and spare you, it will be just for me to be put to death. Then he that sent me will commence to go to war with you, for I am a man under authority as you are. Will you make war with Rome?”
The people replied, “We offer sacrifices twice every day for Caesar, and for the Roman people. But if he places his images in our Temple, he must first sacrifice the whole nation.”
They threw themselves on their faces before Petronius, stretched out their throats, and declared that they were ready to die—they, their wives, their sons, and their daughters. They continued on in this manner for forty days.
Petronius was a decent man and noble-hearted. He called the Jews together to Tiberias and told them that he would send a letter to the emperor explaining that he could not carry out his orders. He resigned himself to the knowledge that Caesar would surely sentence him to death for defying his orders.

The Death Sentence

The mail service was not always reliable, especially in the winter months, when navigation on the Mediterranean was dangerous. It took several months for the letter from Petronius to reach Rome. By then, the craftsmen had completed the new idol. They prepared to ship it to Judea.
The contents of Petronius’ letter did not amuse the emperor. He reacted with his typical rage and immediately dispatched a reply commanding Petronius to kill himself.
Only a week or so after Gaius sent his suicide orders, a miracle occurred. Gaius had made so many bitter enemies that half the population of Rome itched to assassinate him. Members of his own Praetorian Guard conspired against him. They killed Gaius on the last day of the royal games, January 24, 41 CE. When the city of Rome realized that the tyrant was dead, the mob toppled his statues from their pedestals and destroyed them to vent their hatred and express their relief.
Messengers immediately dispatched news of the assassination to Syria. Due to winter storms on the sea, the ship carrying the suicide orders floundered at sea. As a result, the ship carrying the news of the assassination arrived at port first.
Petronius received two dispatches from Rome. The first one informed him that the tyrant was dead. The second dispatch carried the suicide orders from Gaius. The short delay in the delivery of the first dispatch miraculously saved Petronius’ life.

Reaction in Jerusalem

When news of Gaius’ death reached the holy city, all of Jerusalem rejoiced. For a single day, sectarian lines and divisions among the Jews vanished. Hellenist, Hebrew, Herodian, Sadducee, Pharisee, Essene, Zealot, and Nazarene alike all had cause to celebrate. Gaius, the servant of Satan, had been an enemy to all of the Jewish people. The apostles saw that, for the time being, the Master’s dire prediction of an abomination of desolation in the Temple had been forestalled. They offered thanks to God for his abundant mercies. A great miracle happened there.

Adapted from Messiah Magazine #1. © 2012 First Fruits of Zion. All rights reserved. We encourage you to share this material with your friends for further personal study. However, this material may not be republished, in print, electronically, or any other form without our prior permission.

Abomination of desolation

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The abomination of desolation (or desolating sacrilege) is a term found in the Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible. It also occurs in 1 Maccabees and in the Synoptic Gospels of the New Testament. The Hebrew term (transliterated) is šiqqǔṣ mišômēm (שִׁקּוּץ מְשׁמֵם); the Greek equivalent is τὸ βδέλυγμα τῆς ἐρημώσεως.

Etymology

Biblical occurrences

Daniel

The phrase "abomination of desolation" is found in three places in the Book of Daniel, all within the literary context of apocalyptic visions.

Daniel 9:27 "And he shall make a firm covenant with many for one week: and in the midst of the week he shall cause the sacrifice and the oblation to cease; and upon the wing of abominations shall come one that maketh desolate; and even unto the full end, and that determined, shall wrath be poured out upon the desolate."

Daniel 11:31 "And forces shall stand on his part, and they shall profane the sanctuary, even the fortress, and shall take away the continual burnt-offering, and they shall set up the abomination that maketh desolate."

Daniel 12:11 "And from the time that the continual burnt-offering shall be taken away, and the abomination that maketh desolate set up, there shall be a thousand and two hundred and ninety days."

1 Maccabees

According to 1 Maccabees 1:54, the abomination was erected on the altar of burnt offering.^[2]
1 Maccabees 1:54 "Now the fifteenth day of the month Casleu, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and builded idol altars throughout the cities of Juda on every side;"
1 Maccabees 6:7 "Also that they had pulled down the abomination, which he had set up upon the altar in Jerusalem, and that they had compassed about the sanctuary with high walls, as before, and his city Bethsura."

Synoptic Gospels

Views

Historicism

Rabbinical literature

The rabbis as a whole consider that the expression refers to the desecration of the Second Temple (Herod's Temple) by the erection of a Zeus statue in its sacred precincts by Antiochus IV Epiphanes.^[4]^[5] Some rabbis, however, see in it an allusion to Manasseh, who is reported to have set up "a carved image … in the house of God".^[6]^[7]

Church Fathers

Church Father John Chrysostom understood this to refer to the armies that surrounded Jerusalem and the factions fighting within it which preceded the destruction of the city.^[8]

Modern Biblical scholarship

The 1 Maccabees usage of the term points to the actions of Antiochus IV Epiphanes in the mid-2nd century BC. Specifically, he set up an altar to Zeus in the Second Temple in Jerusalem, and sacrificed swine on it around the year 167 BC.^{[citation needed]} Many modern scholars believe that Daniel 9:27, 11:31 and 12:11 are examples of vaticinium ex eventu (prophecies after the event) relating to Antiochus.^[9]^[10]
Many modern Biblical scholars^[11] conclude that Matthew 24:15 and Mark 13:14 are prophecies after the event about the siege of Jerusalem in AD 70 by the Roman general Titus.^[12] Some scholars, including Hermann Detering^[13] see these verses as a vaticinium ex eventu about Emperor Hadrian's attempt to install the statue of Jupiter Capitolinus on the site of the ruined Jewish Temple in Jerusalem leading to the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132-135 AD.

Preterism

Futurism

Mixed

Multiple fulfillments

Methodist theologian Adam Clarke and Anglican bishop Thomas Newton interpret the abomination of desolation as a proverbial phrase that could include multiple events “substituted in the place of, or set up in opposition to, the ordinances of God, his worship, his truth, etc.”^[20] This allows for some or all of the examples in the following (incomplete) list to be viewed as partial fulfillments of this prophecy simultaneously:^{[citation needed]}

the re-dedication of the Temple to Zeus by Antiochus IV Epiphanes in 167 BC,
the worship of the Roman Standards on the Temple Mount under Titus in 70 AD and
the building of the Dome of the Rock by the Umayyad Caliph Abd al-Malik ibn Marwan in 691 AD.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints

The Joseph Smith translation of Matthew states (in verse 12) that the abomination of desolation spoken of by Daniel is the destruction of Jerusalem (first in AD 70). Later (in verse 32) it states that the abomination of desolation will be fulfilled again when Jerusalem is subject to much destruction before the Second Coming of Christ.^[21]

References

Jump up ^ I Kings, xi. 5; II Kings, xxiii. 13; Sifra, Ḳedoshim, beginning, and Mekilta, Mishpatim, xx. ed. Weiss, 107.
Jump up ^ Apocalypse Against Empire: Theologies of Resistance in Early Anathea Portier-Young - 2011 "The precise referent or form of the desolating abomination remains obscure, yet it appears closely connected with new sacrificial practices.26 According to 1 Maccabees 1:54, the abomination was erected on the altar of burnt offering.
Jump up ^ http://www.sinaiticus.com/
Jump up ^ Abomination of Desolation, Jewish Encyclopedia
Jump up ^ See Apostomus.
Jump up ^ II Chron 33:7
Jump up ^ Yer. Ta'anit, iv. 68a, and Rashi on the passage in Babli, ibid. 28b.
Jump up ^ Iohannes Chrysostomus, Homilies on the Gospel of Matthew, http://www.documentacatholicaomnia.eu/04z/z_0345-0407__Iohannes_Chrysostomus__Homilies_on_The_Gospel_Of_Matthew__EN.pdf.html
Jump up ^ Ronald S. Wallace, The Message of Daniel, IVP 1979.
Jump up ^ "Desolating sacrilege" in New Bible Dictionary (third ed), IVP.
Jump up ^ McNeile, A.H. (1927). An Introduction to the Study of the New Testament. Oxford: University Press. Chap. II part 2 The Synoptic Gospels – 2. Date.
Jump up ^ Matt 23:37-38; Matt 24:1-2,15-21; Luke 13:34-35; Luke 21:20-21
Jump up ^ Detering, Hermann (Fall 2000). "The Synoptic Apocalypse (Mark 13 par): A document from the time of Bar Kokhba" (PDF). Journal of Higher Criticism 7 (2): 161–210. Archived from the original on 27 February 2008. Retrieved 2008-01-14.
Jump up ^ Craig Blomberg, Jesus and the Gospels, Apollos 1997, pp.322-326
Jump up ^ N. T. Wright, Jesus and the Victory of God, Fortress 1996, p. 348ff.
Jump up ^ Harvard University Press, 1976, ISBN 0-674-39731-2, The Crisis Under Gaius Caligula, pages 254-256:
Jump up ^ GAIUS (Caligula)
Jump up ^ Peter G. Bolt, The Cross from a Distance: Atonement in Mark’s Gospel, New Studies in Biblical Theology, 18. Downers Grove: InterVarsity, 2004.
Jump up ^ Pink, Arthur W. (1923). "The Antichrist". biblebelievers.com. pp. Chapter 6, The Career of the Antichrist. Archived from the original on 7 July 2007. Retrieved 2007-06-25.
Jump up ^ sacred-texts.com: "Commentary on the Bible" published in 1831. Daniel 12 verse 11 in Context
Jump up ^ "Bible Dictionary: Abomination of Desolation". Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Retrieved 2011-12-15.

External links

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia Online: Abomination of Desolation

Categories:

A stone (2.43×1 m) with Hebrew writing "To the Trumpeting Place" uncovered during archaeological excavations by Benjamin Mazar at the southern foot of the Temple Mount is believed to be a part of the complex of the Second Temple.

Remnants of the 1st century Stairs of Ascent, discovered by archaeologist Benjamin Mazar, to the entrance of the Temple Courtyard. Pilgrims coming to make sacrifices at the Temple would have entered and exited by this stairway.

Caligula and Antiochus Epiphanes

26 Mar

I believe the reign of Caligula, emperor of Rome (37-41 CE), is underrated, as it pertains to the New Testament and the early Messianic movement in Judea. There was a lot happening during these few years in Jewish history that remind me of the period of Antiochus Epiphanes who desecrated the Temple, which gave rise to the revolt of the Maccabees, cir. 168 BCE.
Just before the days of the Maccabees the corruption of the high priesthood had become so prevalent that the Temple duties of the priests had been ignored in favor of spending time in the gymnasium, bowing to Hellenism. In other words, the desire to become like the nations around them was so intensified among the Jews that true worship of God had been virtually abandoned. In fact, to accentuate his displeasure with his people, the Lord allowed or perhaps caused Antiochus IV to sacrifice swine’s flesh upon the brazen alter in the Temple at Jerusalem, thus polluting it and officially ending worship in the House upon which he placed his name, emphasizing in the words of the writer of the second book of the Maccabees:

2 Maccabees 5:19-20 KJVA (19) Nevertheless God did not choose the people for the place’s sake, but the place far the people’s sake. (20) And therefore the place itself, that was partaker with them of the adversity that happened to the nation, did afterward communicate in the benefits sent from the Lord: and as it was forsaken in the wrath of the Almighty, so again, the great Lord being reconciled, it was set up with all glory.

In other words, as the people go, so goes the Temple of God. Therefore the abomination that polluted the Temple occurred long before official deed of Antiochus IV. The religious revolution among the dueling High Priests during this time had taken away the hearts of the people and caused them to seek to become like the nations around them, ignoring the Covenant made with the Lord.
During the reign of Caligula and before, Annas, the High Priest, had initiated a persecution of Messianic Jews, thus making war against true worshipers of God, simply because they were so devoted to the Lord. I don’t mean to imply the unbelieving Jews didn’t worship God, but I do mean to say Annas was not among them. Annas’ persecution began with the stoning of Stephen and the expulsion of Hellenist Messianic Jews from Jerusalem (Acts 8:1-3), and pursuing them even to cities outside Judea (Acts 9:1-2; 26:11).
I often wonder if we tend to leave God out of history at times, or, at least, refrain from acknowledging the real reason that historical developments took the shape in which we see them today. What I mean is, what do we really know about Jewish history between the time of Stephen’s death in Acts 7 and the death of Herod Agrippa of Acts 12? All the Scriptures tell us is that there was a persecution, but it doesn’t say how effective or widespread it was. We are told of evangelistic efforts (Acts 8), Paul’s conversion (Acts 9), Peter’s preaching to Cornelius, a Gentile (Acts 10), Peter having to explain himself due to his receiving Cornelius as a believer, and an almost parenthetic remark about the Hellenist believers getting as far as Antioch with the Gospel (Acts 11), and the death of James the Apostle, Peter’s expulsion from Jerusalem and the death of Herod Agrippa (Acts 12). More than this we are not told, and this period covers approximately 10-11 years! Did anything really important occur that we have to read into the text in order to receive the full impact of what God is saying to us?
Unrest in Egypt began over the Jews’ exemption of having to practice the emperor cult, whereby statues of Caligula were placed within their places of worship. This ensued into riots with the result that many Jews were killed. In probable retaliation, Jews rose up in defiance of the emperor cult in Jamnia, a city in Palestine, near the coast and just south of Lydda and Joppa, and destroyed an imperial altar there. When news of this incident reached Caligula, he decided to erect a statue of himself in the Temple at Jerusalem. Meanwhile, an anti-Jewish backlash among the Gentiles began to spread throughout the Gentile cities in Palestine. What does all this mean?
What had occurred in history is only implied in the Scriptures with: “Then had the churches rest throughout all Judaea and Galilee and Samaria, and were edified…” (Acts 9:31). Rome and Jerusalem were brought to the brink of war during Caligula’s reign, and war would have indeed occurred had he placed the images of himself in the Temple at Jerusalem. If we allow for the working of God in the historical developments of this time, what may we conclude? What I see is, Annas was seeking to wipe out the Jesus movement in Judaism. God retaliated by threatening to wipe out the Jewish nation, if things persisted as they were. The Jerusalem government left off its persecution of the Messianic believers (Acts 9:31) in order to pursue peace with Rome. By the thousands Jewish families flocked to Ptolemias just north of Caesarea, where the Roman legate of Syria, Petronius, was wintering his troops, planning to erect the statues of Caligula in the spring of 39 CE. It is only through his wise efforts to calm the tumultuous situation that Rome and Jerusalem didn’t come to war at this early date.
What, therefore, do Caligula and Antiochus Epiphanes have in common, as their reigns pertain to the Jews? Both reigned during a time when the Jews were abandoning their God and breaking covenant with him on a national scale. The one ruler officially desecrated the Temple, while the other planned to do so. Both rulers were involved in the emperor cult that required worship from those they ruled. Many scholars associate Daniel’s prophecy of the abomination of desolation as it pertains to the 1290 days of Daniel 12 with Antiochus Epiphanes. In reality these 1290 days have to do with the abomination of desolation set up at the death of Stephen in Acts 7—when persecution culminating in death began (cp. Matthew 24:15), which if we allow for the presence of God in history, brought about Caligula’s decision to set up images of himself within the Temple compound at Jerusalem.

The Herodian Era

Herod may have been a great murderer, but he was a great builder. And he was not a person given over to modesty or one who did things on a small scale. Whatever he did was larger than life. Furthermore, money was no object – especially since it was not his money.
The two greatest buildings that Herod built were the Temple and his own palace. There is nothing left of his palace, but according to Josephus it was even more magnificent than the Temple, and regarding the Temple the Talmud says that, “He who did not see the Temple of Herod never saw a beautiful building in his life.” In a world of the Roman Coliseum, the Parthenon and other magnificent structures it was the building.
The Talmud says that Herod built it under the advice of Rabbi Baba ben Buta, a disciple of Shamai. In the upheavals that occurred, Herod arrested him and had him blinded. Then he was overcome by remorse. (Herod was often overcome by remorse, but it never prevented him doing the next maniacal act that would bring on regret.)
He came before the blinded Baba ben Buta, disguised his voice, and tried to get him to say seditious things against him (Herod). His hope was to get him to slip up and justify, retroactively, this terrible act that he did: blinding this great rabbi.
However, Baba ben Buta sad nothing bad despite Herod’s prodding. Herod was so overcome with sorrow that he admitted who he was and how much he regretted killing all the rabbis; that it was all a mistake. Then he asked what he should do for penance.
Baba ben Buta told him that he should use his talents and money to rebuild the Temple. Herod agreed.

Herod’s Temple

They began building it in about 19 BCE. It was basically completed by 30 CE, almost 50 years later. Most of it was built in the first five years.
Herod spared no expense. He brought marble from Carrara, Italy, and laid it on the floor of the Temple in such a way that it looked like the waves of the ocean; it gave one the feeling that he was walking on water. He brought gold, precious wood, tapestries and brickwork. It was an incredible project.
The famous Western Wall that remains standing today is the wall of the Temple Mount, not of the Temple itself. It, too, is from the time of Herod. It stood, according to Josephus, about 12 stories high. Today it is only about four to five stories high. There is just as much in the ground and above the ground, because the rubble of the centuries closed it up, while the top of the wall was dismantled by the Romans, Crusaders and Arabs. What we see today, in other words, is just a piece of a much greater wall.

Herod’s Death and Successor

Herod died in 4 BCE. (Both Hillel and Shamai outlived him.)
When he died his son, Archelaus, ascended to the throne. He would rule for ten years. Unfortunately, he inherited all of the bad habits of his father and almost none of the minor redeeming ones.
The Jews did not consider him Jewish and treated him as a foreign ruler. From the start, they were almost in open rebellion against him and everything that he stood for.
The Romans were now well aware of the danger that was brewing in the small country. This, coupled with the wave of conversions, which we discussed, frightened them. Therefore, Rome took a very strong interest in seeing that the country was somehow pacified.
Nevertheless, they still did not want to pacify it by force and preferred the Jews to do so by themselves. Therefore, they had Archelaus poisoned around the year 12 CE.

Agrippas

In his place, the grandson of Herod ascended the throne: Agrippas. (He is sometimes referred to as Herod Agrippas or Agrippas I.) He claimed to be the grandson of Herod, the son of Aristobulus and Mariamne, whom we discussed previously. However, there were those that said he was really descended from Herod. (Incest was just one of Herod’s bad habits.)
He was a person of nobility who became famed for his righteousness. He would be the last great king to rule over the Jewish people, someone mentioned almost universally with favor in the Talmud. His reign will be a time when both government and religion work in harmony and for the good of the people.
As per the Roman custom with the children of foreign leaders of lands they controlled, Agrippas was raised in Rome. By holding the children of the king hostage in Rome they hoped to thereby deter them from rebelling. When in Rome, he was raised in the household of Augustus Caesar, and later of Tiberius. He became friends with the emperor’s nephews, including the future emperor’s Caligula and Claudius. He was educated with them, played with them and was considered part of their circle.

Caligula

In the Roman power struggle to become emperor, Caligula emerged victorious, albeit it through killing the nephews who stood in his path. This was common practice in the brutal world of Roman politics. Poison was often the favored method of assassination. Indeed, there was a whole industry of professional poisoners.
At the death of Tiberius, Caligula became emperor of Rome. He was a certified madman, the epitome of lunacy seated on a throne, although it was by no means the first time that a raving lunatic became the emperor. Among his many acts, Caligula appointed a horse to the Roman senate (although if one knew the Roman senate perhaps that was not so insane).
Rome was subjected to a reign of terror. Caligula had thousands killed. He reverted back to primitive Roman paganism. Even through the Romans were officially pagan, the leaders had become less zealous about it. They did not believe in a lot of the nonsense any longer.
Nevertheless, Caligula not only believed in it but had himself elected as a god. Among the advantages in his mind was that no matter what he did he would not suffer the consequences in the Roman afterlife. He had statues of himself erected wherever he could, and people had to worship his image like that of the classic gods. He had dreams of becoming a permanent god on the order of Apollo, Zeus, etc.
He decreed that his statue be erected in the Temple in Jerusalem and that the Jews worship it. A similar decree had touched off the revolt of the Hasmoneans. It was an act that guaranteed to ignite a rebellion against Rome.
However, Agrippas interceded. He knew him from his days growing up in Rome. As mad a Caligula was, he heard Agrippas’ arguments and withdrew the order. The only place in the Roman world where the statue of Caligula did not appear was in Jerusalem.

I, Claudius

Eventually, the Romans had enough of Caligula, and his own soldiers, the Praetorian Guard, assassinated him. They looked to replace him with someone they felt would not be a strong leader so that the Senate, in effect, would have the power. They chose Claudius, who was a hunchback and who stammered – someone who possessed the veneer of a simpleton. In fact, this appearance had allowed Claudius to survive all of the court politics and intrigue that took the lives of others. However, beneath the façade lay a very sharp mind, as well as a great organizer with a steel will.
When the Senate installed Claudius to the throne they thought they were going to have a free ride, so to speak. Nevertheless, Claudius, perhaps more than any other, was able to strengthen the office of the emperor and diminish the power of the Senate.
Claudius and Agrippas were very good friends. As a reward for their friendship, he appointed Agrippas the king of Judea upon the death of Archelaus. He not only gave him Judea, but restored to him all the pieces of empire that Herod had built, and which had been taken away by the Romans after the death of Herod. Agrippas was now the king in what is today southern Lebanon and Syria, as well as trans-Jordan and pieces of the Nabatean kingdom in the Negev. Agrippas came back to Jerusalem in triumph and wielding great power.

Agrippas Cried

Agrippas behaved like a devout Jew and went out of his way to protect the Jewish people and Judaism from the Romans – not only from the Roman tax collector but also from the Roman lifestyle. He was truly interested in having a Jewish way of life.
He was also friends with many of the leading rabbis of his day. The spiritual leader at the time was Shimon, the son of Hillel. After the death of Shimon, Hillel’s grandson, Gamaliel, would become the Nasi or Prince/Leader. Agrippas was also friends with him, as well as the Sanhedrin, whom he listened to. It was a time of harmony, tranquility and economic stability. Not only were the Jewish people satisfied with him, but so were the Romans.
The Talmud (Sotah 41a) tells a famous story about him that shows his popularity. Once every seven years the king would publicly read the entire book of Deuteronomy. When Agrippas did so, he came to the verse, Do not place upon yourself [a king who is] a foreigner (Deuteronomy 17:15). The king had to be someone who is from the Jewish people. When Agrippas read that, tears streamed from his eyes. He realized that he did not meet that requirement.
However, the rabbis told him not to weep. They said to him, “Do not fear, Agrippas. You are our brother.” That is how they felt toward him; they had not had a king as good as him for a long time.[1]
Agrippas died suddenly in 44 CE. There is no record of whether he died of natural causes or foul play. Nevertheless, his death was a tremendous shock to the Jewish people, as well as in the Roman Empire. His death also marks the end, for all effective purposes, of the Jewish commonwealth under the Romans. The next 20 years will be decades of constant turmoil.
His son, Agrippas II, was a throw-back to Herod. He was Roman, anti-Judaism and anti-Jews. He undid in a very short period of time everything his father had built up. With him the country began a headlong slide toward the war against Rome.