Oh, Jerusalem! by Norbert Mercado

Author:Norbert Mercado
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: history, israel, christian, jerusalem, norbert mercado, gene ensomo
Publisher: Norbert Mercado

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. . . CHAPTER . . .

8

“Empires rise and fall!” Andronicus stated.

He explained that God makes empires rise, but when their leaders fall away from God, disobeying His laws and rebelling against Him, they decline and fall.

“That happened to the Assyrian Empire, the Babylonian Empire, the Medo-Persian Empire and other empires which rose on the face of the earth after them,” Andronicus said.

“What empires rose afte the Medo-Persian Empire?” Chloe asked him.

“The Greeks conquered the Persians. Alexander the Great captured Jerusalem from them. After the death of Alexander the Great, the Greek Empire was divided among his four generals. Ptolemy I, one of Alexander’s generals, had Israel as part of his domain. So Israel was under Egypt during what is called the Rule of the Ptolemies. The Ptolemies were ousted in Israel by the Syrians. The Syrian leader Antiochus Epiphanes IV outlawed Judaism, and defiled the Temple of the Lord by butchering a pig in the temple. The Jews revolted against the Syrians, and ousted them from Israel. The Jewish revolt, known as the Maccabean Revolt, was initially led by a priest in the temple named Mattathias. His son Judas succeeded him, and he drove out the Syrians from Israel. He recaptured Jerusalem from the Syrians, and restored the Jewish worship at the Temple in Jerusalem,” Andronicus said.

“How long did the Maccabees rule Israel before the Romans came?” Olympia asked her husband.

“The Maccabean Revolt began in 167 B.C. The Roman General Pompey captured Jerusalem from the Jews in 63 B.C. So, the Maccabees ruled Israel for more than 100 years before the Romans came,” Andronicus said.

“How is it that the Jewish king Herod was ruling Judea and its capital Jerusalem when the Romans were ruling the place?” Olympia asked.

“Well, the Romans wanted to appoint a non-Roman as the Governor of Judah or Judea to placate the people of Judea. They appointed Herod as the Governor of Judah in 40 B.C. He ruled Judah from Jerusalem until the Lord Jesus Christ was born in 4 B.C. It was Herod the Great who initiated the reconstruction of the temple to placate the Jews. Although the temple reconstruction was completed only in 63 A.D., long after Herod the Great had died, the temple was dedicated in 10 B.C., and the temple services began that year,” Andronicus explained.

“But there was a Roman Procurator of Judea right? Pontius Pilate was one of them,” Olympia said.

“Right. The Procurator was the Roman Military Governor of Judea. The Roman Procurators were more powerful than the Judean king Herod and his successors. This political arrangement was employed by the Romans to appease their Jewish subjects,” Andronicus explained.

“When was the Lord Jesus crucified by the Romans?” Crispus asked.

“On April 25, 31 A.D. Before he was sentenced to death by crucifixion by Pontius Pilate upon the instigation of the Jews, the Lord prophesied the destruction of Jerusalem because of the sins of the people,” Andronicus stated.

He, again, turned the pages of his compact Bible to the 21st Chapter of the book of Luke.

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