Good afternoon, everyone!
Last night we started a new Wednesday night study that focuses on the fact that when you turn the page from the Old Testament book of Malachi to the first page of the Gospel of Matthew you are, in fact, jumping a period of about 500 years! Hard to believe, but there is a huge gap between the testaments that many of us just completely gloss over that answers some questions you may not have even realized were there.
For example:
In the stories of Jesus and during the time of the writings of Paul, Rome was the empire in charge of all things. Yet at the end of the Old Testament, Persia is in charge. What transpired that lead to the Romans having sovereignty over Israel?
In the time of Jesus there are groups known as the Sadducees and the Pharisees. They are not mentioned in the Old Testament, but they have great influence in the New. Who are they? What did they teach?
The story of Hanukkah, the festival of lights, is an important one for Jews even today. However, it is not a story that most Christians know. Why not? Because it is a story found in the book of 1st Maccabees (the first book of what?) that is not a part of our Bible, yet is a story that took place in the years between the Testaments.
So what did happen between the Old Testament and the New? We are looking at that on Wednesday nights, so I invite you to come and be a part of that discussion. However, since I know not everyone can make it, I am going to post a few articles over the next several weeks to offer some of the material we are covering. So keep your eyes open this month as I bring to you some of the stories that fill in the gaps between the Testaments.
Grace and Peace,
- Pastor Charles
No comments:
Post a Comment