Hello, Crossroads Family!

I’m grateful for you!  There’s a lot of joy that comes to mind when I pray for you, think about you, hear about what you’re doing, meet up with you during the week, or imagine the good time we’ll share on  Thursday night (Men’s Recharge) or Sunday morning for worship.  What a privilege it is to belong to a local expression of the Body of Christ!  Please be in prayer for each other as we enter into the second half of the week.  Psalm 9 says, “You, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek You.”  We can count on that, and because we can, we keep pressing forward day by day!  “God is in the business of changing us,” is something I read today as I was preparing this Sunday’s sermon.  Let’s not lose sight of that — it’s a wonderful and hopeful reality!

I’ll keep this week’s TMG short and simple — mostly calendar information below.  Thanks to everyone who will be serving at Kamp Keirsey this coming Sunday evening!  Please be praying, today and each day going forward, for God’s special blessing on the high school kids attending, and for the adult staff ministering in His name!  Thank you!

Calendar

Thursday night, June 17

Men’s Recharge at the church, 6:30-8:00 pm.  Hope you’ll come out for good fellowship, spiritual encouragement, and food!  Contact Cris or Tommie for questions or information.

Saturday, June 19

Women’s Breakfast & Fellowship at 54 Cafe, for all women interested in starting the day with some friendship and food.

This Sunday, June 20

• Small Group Prayer in the Prayer Room for those interested at 9:00.
• Worship at 10:00.
• Children’s Church for ages 0-7 during the sermon.
• 8-13 year-olds Bible Class during the sermon.
• Elders Meeting following worship.
• Dinner served at Kamp Keirsey, 10002 NW State Route J, Amsterdam, MO 64723.  If you’re helping to serve, please plan to be at the camp by 5:00.  If you need a ride, let me know.  Thank you!  You are welcome to stay at camp after dinner for the evening’s chapel service.

If you have volunteered to make Rice Krispie treats for the camp dinner, Julie Kemper needs those from you before 3:00 on Sunday afternoon.  Thank you!

Coming Up :

— Tom on vacation, July 28 – August 3.  Mark Tice will preach in my place on August 3.

— Sunday, August 10 :  Ministry Team Leaders Meeting following worship to discuss fall ministry, coordinate calendars, and share hopes and expectations for the fall.

— Sunday, August 17 :  Membership Meeting after the worship service if you’re interested in membership at Crossroads.  

— Sunday, August 24 :  Jesse and Erica McCallister and their children — Chilton, Aubry, and Eliana — will be with us to tell us about the work God is doing in Berlin, Germany.  There will be a carry-in meal following worship.

I look forward to seeing you soon!

— Tom

Hello, Crossroads Family!

I’m excited to continue our sermon series this Sunday on “Being People Who Make a Difference.”  I felt like we had a good time with that last Sunday and that the Lord spoke to us.  Would you please pray with me, however, that this would not just be a matter of tossing around “good ideas,” but that some or all of us would be moved by God to take practical steps toward building bridges to our community.  Here’s one possibility available this week:  Diane Ray is asking for help in the diner at the fairgrounds tomorrow (Thursday) from 9-11 am.  What an easy and fun way to serve our community and build a bridge of love to people there.

Here are other thoughts that bounce around in my mind:

• I continue to set water bottles out at the corner of my property!    One was taken yesterday.  What a joy to bless someone in this little way and to know that they experienced love.
• As I mentioned Sunday, I’m working with Barbara Long at Community Outreach in fielding emergency requests for help through the Vernon County Ministerial Alliance Emergency Fund.  I wonder how we could be more of a support Community Outreach — some of us or all of us?  Barb and her team really do a lot of the hard work that would normally come to the churches.
• I look forward to our Crossroads hot dog party!  Julie tells me this will probably happen in September.  Before then, however, we have a chance to bless and build bridges to high school students by serving them dinner at Kamp Keirsey on Sunday evening, July 20.  (More information below.)
• I’m curious as to how we could be good neighbors to “On My Own” and/or the Nathan Jones assisted living facility right across the street from where we meet for worship.
• I’ve often wondered if Crossroads would, or should, have a Vacation Bible School.  However, the idea of doing a one-time craft class for kids could be effective in terms of building bridges to people around us.  What would that look like, practically speaking?
• I’m thinking about our Advent and Christmas season — wondering who would like to help me envision some sort of outreach during that season beyond Christmas Eve.

Thanks for thinking and dreaming and praying!  Please pray for God to provide additional space for Crossroads!  This is a time of growth for us, both in spiritual depth and in numbers.  However, our physical location, as much as we like it, doesn’t allow for much more numerical growth.  What should be our next steps?  What is God leading us to do?

In addition to preaching on Sunday mornings about people in the book of Acts who made a difference (Stephen, Philip, Dorcas, and Ananias), a person in the Old Testament we can learn a lot from in this area is Nehemiah.  The book of Nehemiah is easy to read if you divide it into two parts:

• Chapters 1-7 :  The reconstruction of the walls (of Jerusalem).
• Chapters 8-13 :  The re-instruction of the people.

Some things we see Nehemiah doing that allowed him to be a person who made a difference are these:

1. Eleven times in this short book, Nehemiah is said to be engaged in prayer.
2. After he arrived in Jerusalem, he studied the situation.  In other words, he did his homework, keeping his vision and ideas to himself for awhile as he studied and developed a plan.
3. He combined prayer and action.  “We prayed and we set up a guard.” (Neh 4:9).
4. He personally made financial sacrifices to bless the rebuilding of Jerusalem.  (See 5:14-17).

In chapter 4 of Nehemiah, we read that God gave the people of Jerusalem “a mind to work” (4:6).  Let’s make that a prayer for ourselves.  We’re doing the heavy lifting of re-planting a church.  May God give us a mind to work!  Not easy, but we can do it!  

A church calendar is below.  

• Kourtnee Vestal will be home this weekend and will update us on her ministry with CentriKid this summer.  I’m looking forward to that!
• Jesse and Erica McCallister arrive back to the U.S. July 14.  Please keep them in your prayers.
• Colin Welch, our ReachGlobal missionary in Paris, has a recent newsletter out which we’ll post at the church.  He thanks God for new members that have been added to the Paris Team; for his recent engagement to Angie; for bridges being built with classmates in his French language class; and he asks prayer for his grandmother whose cancer has returned in an aggressive way.  This grandmother doesn’t give evidence of knowing Christ as her Savior.

Coming Up …

• This Sunday:  
• Worship at 10:00.  Children’s Church for ages 0-7 during the sermon.  
• Sign-ups will be available if you can help prepare food and/or serve dinner at Kamp Keirsey the following Sunday, July 20, at 6 pm.  Specifically, we need help in two areas:  (1) We need servers at the camp, and (2) we need a team to make Rice Krispie treats for about 75 high schoolers.  Sign up this Sunday, or let Julie Kemper know you’re interested in helping!  Thank you!
• Women’s Designs & Devotionals, 3 pm, at Jenny Rives’ home.

• Next week :
• Thursday, July 17:  Men’s Recharge at the church, 6:30-8:00 pm.  Come on out, men!  This is good fellowship and encouragement!
• Saturday, July 19:  Women’s breakfast & fellowship at 54 Cafe, 8 am, for all women interested.
• Sunday, July 20:
  • Worship at 10:00.  
  • 8-13 year-old Bible Class and Children’s Church during the sermon.
  • Elders meeting following worship.
  • Dinner at Kamp Keirsey, 6 pm, Amsterdam, MO.

• August:
• Sunday, August 10:  We’ve scheduled a meeting for Ministry Team Leaders for this Sunday, following the worship service, to discuss plans and expectations for the fall.  We would like anyone leading a team to plan to be at the meeting.  Bring some of your ministry team with you if you would like.  Thank you!
• Sunday, August 17:  I will lead a membership meeting on Sunday, August 17, following the worship service, for anyone interested in church membership.  Let me know if you’re interested in attending!
• Sunday, August 24:  We’ll have a carry-in dinner at the church following worship.  The McCallister family will be with us — a chance to get to know them and the bridges they’re building to people in Berlin.

I appreciate all of you !  The prayer vigil is over, but there’s no reason not to spend an hour in prayer this week or every week.  Many of the helps I gave two Sundays ago for spending an hour in prayer can be found here.  

Tom

Hello, Crossroads Family!

I’m so excited about this coming Sunday and the message I’m working on right now!  Would appreciate your continued prayers as I work the rest of this morning and into the afternoon.  I am humbled and grateful when I think that many of you likely prayed for your dear old pastor at some point during this week’s prayer vigil.  Thank you!  

What a special 24 hours we spent on Monday and Tuesday.  I’ve heard from many of you, as has Catherine, about what a special experience that was.  Thanks for sharing, and thanks for the pictures you sent of where and how you spent your hour of prayer!  I’ve posted those on the Crossroads Facebook page.  

If you participated in the prayer vigil and will be present in worship this Sunday, would you be willing to share a very short thought of what that day of prayer did for you, how God worked in you, or any other impressions from the prayer vigil?  I would love to carve out a few minutes Sunday for your thoughts or experiences.  Thank you!

We will worship around the Lord’s table this Sunday as well.  I look forward to it!  Thanks to Kim and Dave for the monthly organization of Communion, and thanks to those who serve us the meal!  Thanks to our worship team and children’s team who serve faithfully every week, as do many others!  Thanks to those who clean the church each week.

Calendar & Reminders

Thank you!

Thanks to all who contributed to a great picnic last Sunday!  Special thanks to Diane and Tommie, Bobbie and others who put everything together for us, from ordering the chicken to reserving the pavilion.  A good time together as a church family!  

Coming up in July :

• Women’s Designs & Devotionals at Jenny Rives’ home on Sunday, July 13, 3 pm.  Please sign up at the church or you may contact Erin Townsend or Jenny.

• Men’s Recharge at the church on Thursday, July 17, 6:30-8:00 pm.  Men, this is a good time of encouragement and re-focus on God.  Hope you’ll plan to be there!

• Women’s Breakfast & Fellowship at 54 Cafe on Saturday, July 19, 8 am.

• Next 8-13 year-olds Bible Class will be Sunday, July 20, during the sermon.

• Camp dinner served at Kamp Keirsey on Sunday evening, July 20.  We’ll be signing people up very soon for your assistance in cooking and/or serving.  Thanks for your willingness!

Some more needs for prayer :

• There are several who have been at Crossroads in past years who need our prayer support at this time :  Misha Dubenin (living in Ukraine / Poland) ; Liz Hunt (now Liz Schultz) at the passing of her stepmom last week ; Richard Roberts is beginning dialysis ; Phill Edwards is dealing with some physical challenges ; LJ and Judy Austin need prayer for the continued rebuilding of their lives following the tornado and the fire in their home.  If you know these friends, please pray for them and ask God for ways you might bless them.

• Let’s be sure to keep Kourtnee Vestal in our prayers as she works faithfully through the summer with CentriKid camp ministry in the Southeastern U.S.  The McCallister family, our missionaries in Berlin, should be back in the U.S. either this week or very soon.  They will speak at Crossroads on Sunday, August 24.  Our Missions Team is planning a carry-in meal for that Sunday.

• Let’s be in prayer for the families at Crossroads that are raising children.  They need our support and prayers … and practical blessings as well.  Let’s pray that God will add more families to our number.

• Let’s keep in prayer those who are planning to be married :  Dominick Goodwin and Kylee Vestal ; Konner Sisseck and Jaci Servos.  My daughter Betsy is pregnant, expecting her first child.  Thanks for your prayers for Betsy and Dan.

Israel :  Past, Present & Future

We finished up our June Home Group last Sunday night.  Thanks for such a good turnout despite the storms!  Thanks to KJ and Alexandra and kids for hosting us in your beautiful home!  I hope perhaps to re-offer this course on some Sunday afternoons this fall.  There is so much to take in on the subject of Israel’s place in the world, in God’s plans, and the problem of antisemitism.

Of the many Bible passages we read last Sunday night, I would suggest going back to focus on these:

• Jeremiah 30:1-7 speaks of a coming time called “the time of Jacob’s (or Israel’s) trouble.”  If you read through the first eight or nine chapters of Revelation, notice how often the word or the idea of “tribulation” is mentioned.  This unique time of distress is a coming time when God’s wrath will be poured out on the earth; and He will deal strongly with Israel in a final attempt to turn their heart back to Him.  We should remember that while some would consider Revelation an allegorical book, all the prophecies concerning the first coming of Jesus (“born of a virgin,” etc) were fulfilled literally; we should anticipate, then, that prophecies concerning His second coming will also have a literal fulfillment. 

• Daniel 9:24-27 gives a calendar of future events from Daniel’s day until the end-times.  Notice that in reference to the 70 “weeks” Gabriel speaks about in this passage, one “week” is missing.  This missing “week” is a 7-year period of time we discover again in the book of Revelation.  Jesus laid out a calendar similar to Daniel’s when He spoke on the end-times in Matthew 24.  The 70 weeks of Daniel 9 begin with a decree to rebuild Jerusalem.  We know when that decree was given : 444 BCE by the Persian king Artaxerxes.  So we can count forward from that date.

• Zechariah 12-13 tell us about the Jews finally turning to faith in the Messiah, Jesus, when He returns.  Jesus said this very thing to the Jews on the day we call Palm Sunday:  “I say to you, from now on you will not see Me until you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord'” (Matthew 23:39).  When the Jews turn to the Lord in faith will be the day of His coming with His kingdom.

• Joel 3:1-2 is a rather grave and overlooked warning about dividing up the land of Israel.

What a wonderful God we serve!  We know that all times and all events are in His hands.  He is also intimately acquainted with the circumstances of our own lives.  He cares about all people; He cares about you; and He cares about Crossroads Church!

Have a happy 4th of July, and I hope to see you this Sunday morning at 10 am!

— Tom

Hello, Crossroads Family !

This is a quick note before I head out of town tomorrow for most of the rest of the week.  Lord willing, I’ll be back Thursday evening.  I’ll be attending EFCA One which is the national conference of the Evangelical Free Church of America.  The first time I attended this national conference was in 1987 in Fullerton, California, when Diana and I and our one baby were missionary candidates with the Evangelical Free Church Mission !  

It will be a blessing to re-connect with denominational leadership and other pastors and laypeople from all over the U.S. who belong to the Evangelical Free Church.  There will be worship services and training sessions each day and a business meeting tucked in there somewhere.  Thank you for praying for me and for our denomination !  The more connection Crossroads can build with people in the EFCA, the stronger we will be as a church.  If you’re going to take some vacation time out of town this summer, try attending an E-Free church near where you’ll be.

Thanks for the big response to the upcoming 24-hour prayer vigil !  If you haven’t signed up for a time slot, you still may — please do !  I would love for as many in our church as possible to take part.  I consider this one of the most important things we’ve done as a church in the ten years I’ve been here.  God will bless this united effort of bringing ourselves before Him in thoughtful, extended prayer.  Check with Catherine for how you can still be a part !  We’ll pray from Monday, June 30, starting at 6 am, through Tuesday, July 1, at 6 am.  Thank you !

Don’t forget we have a picnic planned for this coming Sunday following the worship service.  If you haven’t signed up for a side, dessert, or drinks to bring, please let Diane Ray know what you would like to bring !  This would be a great Sunday also to bring a friend to church !  We’ve reserved the pavilion at the upper part of Radio Springs Park.  There are picnic tables there but bring lawn chairs if you would like !

We’ll have our final spring/summer Sunday Night Home Group this coming Sunday night.  We’ll meet at KJ & Alexandra’s at 6 pm.  I’ve enjoyed this study very much — more than I realized I would.  I hope you’ll join us for the final session in which we’ll take a look at what God’s Word says about the future of Israel and the Jews.  Israel is really God’s timepiece for the unrolling of end-time events, so these prophecies about Israel have an impact on us as well.

Below is a summary of last night’s Home Group study on how the Jews who were dispersed all over the world starting in the year 70 came back together as a new nation in 1948 !  The existence of the Jewish people is a testimony to God’s faithfulness and to the veracity of the Bible.

Have a great week !  Keep praying for each other !  Good news today — Lola Vestal was able to go home from the hospital !  More good news — the potholes in the church parking lot were patched today !

— Tom

Home Group Summary — June 22, 2025

How did the dispersed Jews come back together to found a new nation in May 1948 ?  This return of the Jews from their dispersal all across the globe is an event spoken of in many places in the Bible. Deuteronomy 28-30 is a good starting point if you’d like to read those prophecies.  (By the way, as concerns the Jewish diaspora, it’s believed that the first Jews to migrate to what is now the United States came here in 1654 and settled in a place called New Amsterdam.  New Amsterdam is now New York City.)

The idea for a homeland for the Jews began to take shape well before World War II ; in fact, enthusiasm for the idea began to develop in the 1880s, then really gained momentum during and following World War I.  At the close of World War I, the Ottoman Empire was divided up into territories that came under the administration of some of the victorious European nations.  

Some important events in that process were the following :

The Balfour Declaration (1917)

British Foreign Secretary Arthur Balfour wrote a letter to Chaim Weizmann, an influential Jewish chemist in England, promising, on behalf of the King of England, a Jewish homeland in Palestine.  (The Brits took control of the Holy Land in 1918 when General Allenby defeated the Turks there.)  Some historians think Balfour made this promise to the Jews primarily so England could gain financial support for the war from Jews living in America and elsewhere.  

San Remo Conference (1920)

This was a formal international meeting held in San Remo, Italy, after the conclusion of the war, for the purpose of determining the division of the Ottoman Empire.  The conference laid the foundation for twenty-two Arab states and one Jewish state.  The Balfour Declaration was used to develop the final San Remo resolution, thus transforming the Balfour Declaration from a simple letter into a legally binding document under international law.  At the time, Arab leaders had no objection to the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.  The British mandate of Palestine (land at that point theoretically promised to the Jews) would cover area on both the west and east sides of the Jordan River.

British Mandate confirmed by the League of Nations (1922)

In July 1922, the League of Nations confirmed the San Remo resolution and the British administration of Palestine.  However, at that same time the House of Saud was consolidating power in Arabia to the detriment of another powerful Arab family, the Hashemites.  As a result of the conflict there, the Hashemites asked for land and a nation of their own.  A decision was made to take about 78% of what had been promised to the Jews and give it to the Hashemites — what would become the new nation of Transjordan (today, Jordan).  The Jews would be allowed to settle only west of the Jordan River under this new decision.

U.N. Partition Plan (1947)

After twenty-five or so years, the British wanted out of Palestine.  A special United Nations committee spent months traveling the Middle East, interviewing and conducting meetings with both Jews and Arabs, trying to facilitate a peaceful transfer from British oversight to Jews and Arabs.  By this time, many Arab leaders had changed their minds about a Jewish homeland.  They expressed their feelings that the land of Palestine should be an Arab nation where Jews could live only as a minority.  As a result of this new pressure on the British and the U.N., the land west of the Jordan River was also divided between Jews and Arabs, the Jews being given just over 50% of that part of the land, mostly the Negev which is desert.  Arabs were given the West Bank (land which the Bible calls Judea and Samaria) and Gaza.  Jerusalem would be a city under international control.  These 1947 dividing lines are sometimes still today referred to as the “Green Line,” the first attempt, nearly 80 years ago, at a two-state solution. 

Three Wars

Immediately following their declaration of independence in May 1948, Israel was attacked by Egypt, Transjordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and Syria and yet miraculously won the war !  During that war for independence, Transjordan moved in to take its own control of the West Bank.  Two more wars (1967 and 1973)  produced more changes still :  In 1967, Israel took the West Bank from Transjordan and also gained control of the Gaza Strip, Sinai, the Golan Heights and Jerusalem.  Sinai was later given back to Egypt ; Gaza was given to Palestinian Arabs in 2005 ; and the West Bank is currently under control of the Israeli military, though administrative and civil authority in parts of the West Bank belong to Arabs.

Let’s continue to watch and pray over events happening in the Middle East and all around the world.  Can the Gospel of Jesus Christ somehow be advanced in the midst of these conflicts ?  Following the events of October 2023, many Jews are open to questions about the meaning of life and what answers might be found in the Scriptures.  God is working among Arabs and other Muslims as well.  Iran has historically had a strong Christian population.  

Our world leaders need great wisdom.  We see in history some leaders making promises then changing their minds, creating confusion and hard feelings.  Two American presidents — Truman and Nixon — intervened on behalf of the Jews because of Bible teachings they had received in their childhood.  Truman saw himself as a kind of “Cyrus” figure.  Donald Trump was also given a “Cyrus” label by some when he moved the United States embassy from Tel-Aviv to Jerusalem in 2018, thus recognizing Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.  In fact, Jerusalem has never been the capital of any other nation in history, unless perhaps we could call it the capital of the Jebusites in the days of Joshua.

The end-time prophecies in the Bible (found in Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Revelation, and even spoken of by the Lord Jesus in the Gospels) can only take place if the Jews are back in the land.  The fact that they are in the land today is extremely significant.  We’re told in Zechariah 12 that Jerusalem will be a heavy stone for all people and that one day all the nations of the earth will gather against it (Zechariah 12:3).  We seem to have a taste of that conflict already in our day.  If we want to know what time it is on God’s watch, we need only keep our eye on the Middle East !  “Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” says Psalm 122.  Ultimate peace will come only with the arrival of the Prince of Peace.  

Hello, Crossroads Family!

Congratulations to the Vestal family on the arrival of Lola Jean Vestal to Kaleb and Lilly early today.  We thank God that Lola is healthy and weighs a little over five pounds!  Congratulations on the arrival of this first little one in a new generation of the Vestal family!  Thanks to everyone for praying!

Below are some reminders of what’s coming up at Crossroads!  We have an exciting second half of the month of June!  Thanks for the response of all you are and have to all that God is, says, and does!  He is changing us into the people He intended us to be!

This Thursday, June 19, 6:30-8:00 pm

Men’s Recharge

We’ll meet at the church.  All men are welcome!  We’re studying “The Ten Greatest Struggles of Your Life,” a look at the Ten Commandments and what they reveal about us.  This week we’ll be on the fifth commandment, “Honor your father and mother,” our struggle with authority.  Why is our struggle with authority sometimes such a difficult one?  Also, what do we need to do as Christian men to honorably hold positions of authority ourselves?

This Friday, June 20, 7:00 pm

Women’s Drive-In Movie

The movie will take place at Erin Reedy’s home in Metz.  If you’d like to carpool with some other women, please meet in the church parking lot at 6:30.  (Watch out for those potholes!)  This will be a fun time for all women and any friends you would like to invite.  Part of our Summer of Sisterhood!

This Saturday, June 21, 8:00 am

Women’s Breakfast

All women are invited to have breakfast together Saturday at 54 Cafe.  If you have questions or need information, contact Erin Townsend or Jessica Baker.

This Sunday, June 22

• Worship at 10:00 am.
• Sunday Night Home Group, 6:00 pm.  We’ll meet again this week at the church.  There is a summary of last Sunday’s discussion at the end of this email.

We have two big happenings at the end of June :

Sunday, June 29

Church Picnic

We’ll hopefully enjoy some sunshine and great fellowship on the 29th immediately following the worship service.  We have the pavilion reserved at the upper part of Radio Springs Park.  Fried chicken will be provided.  Please sign up at the church to bring a side, a dessert, and/or drinks or ice.  Bring a lawn chair if you’d like.

Monday, June 30 – Tuesday, July 1

24-Hour Prayer Vigil

I’m excited about what God will do in us as we commit to 24 hours of prayer.  I hope you’ll sign up to be a part if you haven’t already!  If someone has already signed up for a time slot that’s one you need, feel free to sign up anyway — there’s no problem with two people occupying one or more of the hourly time slots.  If an hour is too much for you, let Catherine Moss know you’d like a half-hour or some other segment of time.  We’ll be talking the next two Sundays about some helps available for you for your praying !  If you have other questions or need help, let Catherine know!  Thank you!

I’ll be out of town next Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday to attend EFCA One, the national conference of the Evangelical Free Church of America, in Des Moines.  Thanks for your prayers for me and for the conference!  I look forward to coming back renewed and inspired!

Something spoken by the Apostle Paul in the book of Acts has encouraged me this week.  As Paul was finishing his third missionary trip, on his way to Jerusalem where he would be arrested, he said, “I must finish my course and the ministry which I received from the Lord Jesus, to testify solemnly of the gospel of the grace of God” (Acts 20:24).  

I hope that’s a call you and I feel today as well :  Let’s pursue the course set out before us and finish the ministry we’ve been given as a church!

— Tom

Home Group Summary from June 15 — Israel : Past, Present, & Future

Last Sunday, we discussed what we know of the period of time between the Old Testament and the New Testament, what is sometimes called 400 “silent years.”  

400 years is actually not all that long a period of time, especially in the Bible.  These years may seem long to us because when we turn the page to the New Testament it seems much different to us from the Old Testament.  What happened in between?

A very broad outline is below with rounded-off dates.  So much of what happened was prophesied in advance by Daniel when he interpreted King Nebuchadnezzar’s dream in Daniel 9:31-49.

• Kingdom of Babylon — the first of four Gentile kingdoms to dominate the Middle Eastern world and control Jerusalem (605-550 BCE).

• Kingdom of Persia (550 – 330 BCE).  Esther was among the Jews who stayed in Persia even though King Cyrus had decreed that all Jews could return to Jerusalem and rebuild their Temple there.

• Kingdom of Greece, first under Alexander the Great, then a divided kingdom ruled by his generals (330 – 150 BCE).  Antiochus IV (aka Epiphanes) was one of the Greek rulers who sought to eliminate the Jewish way of life and impose, instead, Greek culture on Israel and its people.

• Jewish Revolt led by Judas Maccabeus and his father Mattathias (167-142 BCE).

• Reign of the Jewish dynasty known as the Hasmoneans (142-63 BCE), a relatively peaceful co-existence with the Greeks.

• Roman Empire (General Pompey captured Jerusalem in 63 BC, and Rome later installed King Herod the Great, a descendant of Esau rather than a true Jew, as “King of the Jews.”)

In response to the growing influence of Greek and Roman culture, some political and religious groups developed in Israel during this intertestamental period of time.  These groups of men sought to preserve Jewish identity and to uphold the Law of Moses as commanded by God.  

Among these groups which we don’t see in the Old Testament but do see in the New Testament are …

… the Pharisees who were separatists committed to the Law, the Sabbath, and to oral traditions which had been added to the written Law.  The Pharisees were not necessarily unpopular during Jesus’ day — they were considered the “people’s party,” in contrast to the Sadducees who wealthy aristocrats.

… the Sadducees who had connections to the Jewish priestly families and had care of the Temple and all the revenue from the Temple.  The Sadducees did not believe in resurrection, life after death, angels, or demons.  

… the Essenes, a group that completely abandoned the religious and political environment of Jerusalem and created a new community around the northern end of the Dead Sea and in Engedi.  Purity was of even greater importance to the Essenes than it was to the Pharisees.  Thanks to the Essenes, we have today ancient copies of the Old Testament known as the Dead Sea Scrolls.

… the Zealots who were Jews fully committed to the toppling of the Roman occupation.  Violence was not off the table for the Zealots.  When the Temple and the city of Jerusalem were destroyed by the Romans in response to the First Jewish Revolt (66-73 CE), one Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus, blamed the Zealots.

After the Second Jewish Revolt against Rome (117-138 CE), the Roman Emperor Hadrian denied Jews any further access to Jerusalem ; he renamed the city in honor of a trio of Roman gods, including Jupiter ; and he renamed the land of Israel “Palaestina.”

Where did the Jews go?

The Jews of Israel fled to Eastern Europe (Germany, initially ; later Poland, Lithuania, and Russia), North Africa, Spain, Persia, and even to the Far East.  We discussed these various groups of dispersed Jews and how they continued to maintain their identity even while adopting parts of the cultures of the new countries in which they lived.  

Many of these dispersed Jews were persecuted by the early Church (as they had been in earlier generations by the Romans, Greeks, Persians, Babylonians, Edomites, and Amalekites).  The reasons for this persecution by the early Church, and later by the Church of Rome, were mainly three:

• Jews were blamed for the death of Jesus.
• Jews were blamed for the revolt against Rome and subsequent destruction of the Temple.
• Early Christian leaders believed the Church was the true Israel and that God’s covenant with the Jews was no longer valid (i.e., Judaism was a “fallen,” “false” Israel).  

Lessons learned:

• What we see happening in that land today resembles what has been happening there for hundreds of years.  God had placed Abraham’s descendants in this important place to be a light to the world which used the land of Israel as a bridge for trade between three different continents.

• Antisemitism is ancient problem and is spiritual in nature.  Satan would like to wipe out the Jews, a people God chose for a special role in the world.  

• The people of Israel and their history tell us about God’s faithfulness and help us to have a sense of God’s timing for events associated with the return of Christ and the judgment of all people.  The survival of the Jews, as promised by God’s everlasting covenant with them, is one of the greatest evidences we have for the existence of God and for the veracity of the Bible.

This coming Sunday we’ll take a look at the Holocaust and the rebirth of Israel beginning in the late 1800s, culminating with the independence of Modern Israel in 1948.