The Intertestamental Period 400 BC-25 AD 8 April 2019 In my ministry as a Bible teacher over the air, broadcasting lessons in Arabic on the New Testament, it was necessary to deal with the history of the 400 years, between the Prophet Malachi and the New Testament age. This historical era known as “The Intertestamental Period,” produced among the Jewish people, the books of “The Apocrypha.” Two of these books, the First and Second Book of the Maccabees, give an account of the principal issues that took place during this period. i http://goodnewspirit.com/apocrypha.htm Historians of the early Church attribute the rapid spread of the Christian religion to the existence of the Septuagint (Old Testament in Greek), a common language in the Roman Empire, and The Jewish Diaspora . The majority of the Jews during the First Century lived outside Palestine. Most of them had settled in commercial centers such as Antioch, Damascus, Tyre, Sidon, Ephesus, Corinth, Thessalonica, and Rome. Paul and his companions visited the Synagogues of the Jews in the Mediterranean world, to announce the Good News, where they encountered Gentile proselytes who had been attracted to the monotheism of the Jews. I am indebted to the “Got Questions” Organization for the following valuable exposition of this timely study. “The time between the last writings of the Old Testament and the appearance of Christ is known as the “Intertestamental” (or “between the testaments”) period. It lasted from the prophet Malachi’s time (about 400 BC) to the preaching of John the Baptist (about AD 25). Because there was no prophetic word from God during the period from Malachi to John, some refer to it as the “400 silent years.” The political, religious, and social atmosphere of Israel changed significantly during this period. Much of what happened was predicted by the prophet Daniel. (See Daniel chapters 2, 7, 8, and 11 and compare to historical events.) “Israel was under the control of the Persian Empire about 532–332 BC. The Persians allowed the Jews to practice their religion with little interference. They were even allowed to rebuild and worship at the temple ( 2 Chronicles 36:22–23 ; Ezra 1:1–4 ). This span of time included the last 100 years of the Old Testament period and about the first 100 years of the intertestamental period. This time of relative peace and contentment was just the calm before the storm. “Prior to the intertestamental period, Alexander the Great defeated Darius of Persia, bringing Greek rule to the world. Alexander was a student of Aristotle and was well- 1