The World Between the Testaments

November 27, 2012

Dear St. Paul’s Family,

Imagine waking up this morning after having been asleep for the last four hundred years.

It would mean that the world you once knew was back in 1612, just five years after the first English settlers founded the Jamestown colony in Virginia, a few years after Captain John Smith met the famed Pocahontas, and back when the first seeds of tobacco were ever planted on our soil.

Then, you wake up from your four century long slumber, and you see the United States as it is today.  A jungle of concrete and cables, with sprawling cities and cultivated farmlands, filled with millions of people living in a high speed, completely digitized world.

Culture shock?  Probably so.

To a large degree, that is precisely what readers of the Bible experience when they skip from the Old Testament into the New Testament.  The jump from Malachi to Matthew may be a mere flip of the page in our Bibles, but it is a hyper-speed time shift of four centuries in the Ancient Near Eastern world.

In that period of time, commonly known as the Intertestamental Period, seismic events shaped the world into which Jesus was eventually born.  The land of Palestine, occupied by the returning Israelite exiles, became the brokered pawn of major empires that entered and exited the world stage.  The great Persian empire fell with the rise of the Greeks and Alexander the Great, whose demise gave way to independence under the Ptolemies, eventually to succumb to Caesar and the mighty Romans.

Consider all the changes that occurred to the Hebrew people between the Old and New Testaments.  

        •    They learned to speak new languages (Aramaic for every day conversation, Greek for international commerce, while still maintaining Hebrew for worship.)
        •    They saw the rise of new religious leaders that would react either favorably (Sadducees) or against (Pharisees) prevailing Greco-Roman influences.
        •    They would gather in new facilities called synagogues for religious instruction and community affairs.
        •    The isolated communes of farms and villages would evolve into expansive metropolises connected by modern roads and common currency.
        •    Even the way the Hebrew people referred to themselves changed, from the ancient name Israelite (which connected them to their ancestor Jacob, meaning “mighty with God”) to the modern name Jew (which connected them to Judah, the sole surviving tribe which returned from exile).
        •    And it is here we find the origins of Hannukah, the festival of lights that Jewish people still observe today, based on the miracle that occurred at the dedication of the Temple during the second century B.C.

Most importantly, this period gave rise to the chief theological concern of the Jewish people:  the arrival of a messiah, who would bring them political freedom and cultural independence.

I don’t think it’s possible to fully understand and appreciate all that the arrival of Jesus means to us this Christmas without knowing what happened in the years just prior to his birth 2,000 years ago.  That’s why I’ve decided to devote this Advent season to a deeper exploration of the significant changes that occurred in the people of God between the testaments.

Over these upcoming weeks, we’ll discover how the return from exile and the dominant Greco-Roman world contributed to the world that Jesus knew, and why they are so important in understanding the message of the gospels.

More importantly, we’ll learn how to cultivate and maintain hope amid the cultural and societal shifts taking place in our world today.  If you are looking for ways to find a solid anchor in your life in a time when so much around you and within you is changing beyond your control, then join us for this special Advent series.  It will be both informative and formative, preparing you once again for the arrival of the Messiah.

Between the Testaments:
The World Awaiting Jesus

December 2
The Exiles Return:  The People Long for a Messiah
Jeremiah 33:14-16

December 9
Children’s Christmas Program
Malachi 3:1-4

December 16
The Greek Empire:  Changing the Way We Think
Zephaniah
3:14-20

December 23
The Roman Empire:  The World of Jesus
Micah 5:2-5a

December 24
A St. Paul’s Christmas Carol
Luke 2:1-20

December 30
Jesus:  What the World Needs Now
Matthew 2:13-23

Happy Advent!

Magrey  


The Rev. Magrey R. deVega
St. Paul's United Methodist Church
531 W. Main St.
Cherokee, IA  51012
Ph:  712-225-3955
Email:  mdevega@sp-umc.org


CHILDREN’S CHRISTMAS PROGRAM
Join us on December 9 for our special Christmas program featuring our Children’s Ministries.  They will lead us in the singing of carols, and a vivid retelling of the nativity story.

CHRISTMAS COOKIE SALE
Once again, our Adult Class will be sponsoring a sale of Christmas cookies to support ministries and projects for the church.  Reserve an extra batch or two of your favorite holiday cookies and bring them to the church Sunday morning, December 9, where they will be packaged as part of our sale.

COMMITMENT CARDS
If you have not yet done so, please turn in your stewardship commitment card to the church office, so that the Finance Committee can make budgetary plans for next year.  Extra pledge cards are available in the office or in the sanctuary pew racks.