The Historical Divisions of the New Testament
In part two of our examination of the historical big picture overview of the New Testament, it may be helpful to begin by briefly considering the difference between our current canonical sequence of the books of the New Testament Vs the actual chronological listing of the books. Simply put, the order of the arrangement or sequence of the books that we have in our bible is what we call the Canonical order or biblical order. In other words, as the 27 books were copied and distributed among the churches, they were eventually placed in the standard order that we have today. And that order was basically logical rather than chronological. So, in other words, you have the four gospels which tells us about the life of Christ and then you have the book of Acts that tell us about the birth and growth of the Church. And then there was the major doctrinal epistle which was Romans, so it was logical to place Romans next after Acts. And then because of their lengths, first and second Corinthians were placed next and so forth.
However, when teaching and studying the New Testament from a big picture or historical perspective, it is helpful to rearrange the books into their actual chronological order, as opposed to their standard canonical order. Now it is important to keep in mind, that you are not tampering with inspiration by this rearrangement, because the standard canonical order that we have, was determined by men who where using their human logic, and not by God. Therefore, for study purposes, I have simply found it more helpful that we arrange the books of the New Testament into chronological or historical periods. In doing so, it will help us to better understand each of the individual books when we are able to understand those books within the confines of their individual and specific historical and cultural context and setting. So as you begin to study each of the books of the New Testament from this big picture perspective, it will greatly increase your grasp of the message that is being spoken in each of the New Testament books.
So, with that preface in mind, in this brief study, I would like to suggest and overview six historical periods of the New Testament and then slot each individual book into its corresponding historical period. And these six periods include:
The period of preparation – This is the period between the Old and New Testaments. This period is sometimes called the “intertestamental period.” It extends from the writing of Malachi about 420 BC to the birth of Christ around 5 BC. It is a period of about 400 years between the Testaments. It is called the period of preparation because, it was during this period that God was preparing the world for the birth of His Son. And as we will see, it was key historical events that God providentially orchestrated that set the stage, or “prepared history,” for the political, geographical, historical, social and religious environment that Christ was born into.
The period of expectation – This period covers the life of Christ, which is recorded in the four Gospels.
The period of establishment – This stretch covers the period of the birth and establishment of the Church.
The period of extension – This refers to the period of the growth of the Church as it begins to extend itself out from Jerusalem to the areas of Judea and Samaria.
The period of rapid expansion – This period includes Paul’s three missionary journeys.
The period of consolidation – Finally, the book of Acts abruptly ends with Paul’s Roman imprisonment. However, some books were written after Paul’s final imprisonment at the conclusion of the book of Acts and after his execution in Rome by Nero. So, the main intent of these books was to consolidate or to solidify the churches that were started by Paul.
Now, the standard or traditional system for studying the New Testament is to go book by book. However, in this study, rather than going book by book, I would like to explore the New Testament from the perspective of these six historical periods, and then connect each New Testament book within the context of their corresponding historical period and then slot each book accordingly. So, for example, if you study with the book by book method using the canonical order, you would of course have the four gospels and then the book of Acts. And then you would have the book of Romans and then you would have the book of Romans. However, when you consider the books from a chronological perspective, or in context of their actual corresponding historical period, the first epistle that you would have after Acts, would be the book of James, since the book of James was the epistle that was written first. Then after the book of James, you would have the book of Galatians, and then first and second Corinthians, followed by first and second Thessalonians and then on to Paul’s prison epistles and so forth. So, with that backdrop, over the next several posts, I will briefly overview and summarize each of these six periods beginning with the Period of Preparation:
1 The period of preparation – Interestingly, when the pages of the Old Testament closes at the end of the book of Malachi, Judah was back in their homeland after seventy years of captivity, Hebrew was the common language, Solomon’s Temple had been rebuilt after being destroyed by the Babylonians, and the Persia was the dominant world empire. Amazingly however, fast forwarding 400 years, there had been some radical changes in the religious, social and political environment in the Nation. We see such sweeping changes such as, Greek was now the dominant language, there were these competing religious sects like the Pharisees and Sadducees, the land of Israel had been divided up into provinces, and the Jews were under the control of this new dominant world power called Rome who had placed military Governors over the various provinces. Now, with all of these radical changes which add such a profound impact on the religious, social and political environment that Christ was born into, the question that every astute bible student should immediately ask is, “what happened?” How did the world of the New Testament get to this point?
This is the period between the testaments from about 420 BC to around 5 BC to the birth of Christ. Interestingly, this period is sometimes and erroneously called the “400 silent years.” It has often been mistakenly referred to as the silent years essentially because as we get near the end of the Old Testament period, God’s people stopped listening, so God stopped speaking. In other words, there was no prophet in Israel throughout this 400-year period. Simply put, in the Old Testament, God primarily spoke to His people through the prophets (See: Hebrews 1:1). But for 400 years after Malachi the last of the Old Testament prophets, God ceased to speak through a prophet, which meant that there was no voice or word from God to His people, hence the term silent years. In other words, the voice of prophecy ceased in Israel with the writing of Malachi. And it wasn’t until John the Baptist, who came as an Old Testament prophet who came to announce the coming of God’s Son, that God began to speak once again to His people through a prophet. Interestingly in fact, it was Malachi who actually said that there would be one who would come who would “prepare the way,” (See: Malachi 3:1 & 4:5). And of course, we now know that this Prophet was John the Baptist. But what the Jews did not understand at the time, was that this messenger would not arrive for another 400 years, which to put that number into perspective, is almost twice as long as America has been in existence.
Now while this period is often referred to as 400 years of silence, in reality, during this period God had not given up on humanity, neither was He asleep, nor was He silent. God was still yet clearly, specifically and providentially at work. However, instead of working through a prophet, during this 400-year period, He was instead working through history, providentially preparing the world stage for the coming of His Son. In other words, like a Conductor orchestrating a great symphony, God was providentially orchestrating historical events in a way that would eventually set the stage of history for the birth of His Son Jesus Christ. Paul in fact, specifically identified this period to the Galatians when he wrote: “But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship (Galatians 4:4-5 NIV).
As I have already noted, Paul tells us in this verse that God controls history. And while God was not speaking through a prophet in the way that He did in the Old Testament, God was in no way silent during those 400 years of history. Instead, He was actively at work controlling and orchestrating the rise and fall of Nations for the purpose of providentially setting the stage for the birth of His Son. In other words, God was controlling nations so that at the strategic time in history, or when all of the prophetic I’s were dotted and all of the prophetic T’s were crossed, God sent His Son into the world that had been strategically and providentially prepared for His Son’s arrival. Hence the term, “period of preparation.”
Now just briefly, it is important that the students of the New Testament observe that when the Old Testament closes with the Book of Malachi, the Jews had not long returned from 70 years of Babylonian captivity. Hebrew was the common language and the Jews were once again observing the rituals of the Law as they had done for centuries. However, when you begin to open the pages of the New Testament 400 years later, we can immediately discover some very profound changes. Greek has supplanted Hebrew as the common language, the land has been divided up into provinces with Judea in the South and Galilee in the north, and Samaria is sandwiched between Judea and Galilee. In addition, the nation is no longer ruled by a King as in the Old Testament. Instead, Palestine is an imperial province of a super power called the Roman Empire. And in place of a king as they had in the Old Testament, a Roman military Governor ruled a conquered people with an iron hand.
In addition, while outwardly appearing Jewish, the people had been deeply impacted by Greek and Roman culture. And from a religious standpoint, the religious system had been corrupted by Jewish leaders who had their own personal agendas and who emphasized religious rituals, outward performances and adherence to religious traditions rather than an actual relationship with God. For example, in John 9:16, we can see an illustration of their spiritual insensitivity in their response to our Lord when Christ performed a miracle by healing a blind man who had been blind from birth on the Sabbath. Now you would think that the Jews would have been praising God because of this wonderful miracle. However, rather than celebrating this great miracle, they became incensed at Christ for performing this miracle on the Sabbath Day. So instead of praising God, they instead, criticized Christ for breaking their man-made tradition.
In other words, they cared more about the observation of the minute details of their man-made rules that these religious leaders had imposed upon the nation, then they cared about recognizing that the Savior the Prophets of Old had promised, was standing right in front of them. And they had also become blind to the real reason for the Sabbath, which was God’s gracious provision for His people to receive rest, and even more than that, it was a time for them to remember that He was their Creator. This unyielding emphasis on outward displays of religion, turned out to be disastrous in to the first century Jews. And it is likewise, disastrous to believers today who are so rigidly bound by their religious tradition that they become insensitive to the true purpose and “commission” of the Church which is to impact and influence the world with the Gospel.
Now, in order to understand these profound political, social, cultural and religious changes, we have to briefly go back and take a look at this previous 400-year history in order to see just how these changes came about. And while this will be a very brief overview, I would like to encourage everyone reading this to go and study this period, because it will make a profound impact on your understanding of the Life of Christ and the New Testament period in general. Now in the briefest sense, I would like to reiterate what I have previously stated about this period which was that, while this period is commonly referred to a the “400 years of silence,” because God was not speaking through a prophet, God was absolutely not being silent. Instead, rather than speaking through the prophets, God was working through history and controlling nations for the purpose of preparing the world stage for the coming of His Son.
Amazingly in fact, the rise and fall of each and every one of these nations, God precisely and meticulously detailed in the visions that God gave in the Book of Daniel Chapters 2, 7, 8 and 9.
During this 400-year period, God work through four nations or Empires that had a profound influence on the unfolding of history particularly as it pertained to the Nation of Israel: The Persians (from 539 to 331 BC), Then in 331 BC Greeks lead by Alexander the Great, defeated the Persian Empire and spread Greek culture, literature, architecture, language and Greek philosophy throughout their territories. And from 331 until 143 BC Israel was under the control of the Greeks. Alexander the Great (356–323 BC) died suddenly at the age of 32, leaving no apparent heir or appointed successor. Some 40 years of internecine conflict followed his death, as leading generals and members of Alexander’s family vied to control different parts of the vast empire he had built. The Battle of Ipsus, fought in Phrygia, Asia Minor (present-day Turkey) in 301 BC between rival successors, resulted in the empire’s irrevocable dissolution (See: Daniel 8:8). Eventually the Empire that Alexander built was divided between Alexanders four top Generals. And two of those Generals, (Ptolemy I, Seleucus I), controlled territories that would ultimately have a major influence and impact on the nation of Israel. The kingdom of Seleucus(who died in 281 BC; later the Seleucid Empire), comprised present-day Iran, Iraq, Syria, and parts of Central Asia. The kingdom of Ptolemy I (who died in 283 BC) included Egypt and neighboring regions.
First, Israel was controlled by the Greek the Ptolemy’s who were based in Egypt, and then they were later controlled by the other Greek clan known as the Seleucids who were Syrian. Then for a short period of time, about 100 years from 143 to 63 BC, The Jews existed as an independent state. They won their independence from the Syrians or the Seleucids in 143 BC and were and independent state until 63 BC. And in 63 BC, a Roman General named Pompeii, captured Jerusalem. So, by the time of the birth of Christ, the Jews were under the control of the Roman Empire. In fact, the Jews were under the control of the Romans for the entire period of New Testament history.
Now again, while the above overview is just nothing more than a thumb-nail sketch of those four hundred years, it is important that I emphasize the fact that these events did not occur by accident, nor did they the result of mere coincidence. Instead, these events were divinely planned and orchestrated by God as part of His plan for the Nation of Israel and His overall plan for the redemption of the human race. In other words, each of these nations in their own way, had a significant impact and influence on the area of Israel, that eventually set the stage for the historical, cultural, political religious and even geographical setting that existed when the pages of the New Testament open. So, in short, it was during this 400-year period, that God was divinely working through history in order to prepare the world for His Son. Each of these nations had a significant role to play in preparing the Israel and the world, for the coming of God’s Son.
Now it is interesting to explore, just how much of a profound impact that each of these Nations had on the Nation of Israel. For example, while the Jews were enduring their 70 period of captivity in Babylon, the Babylonian Empire was defeated by the Persians who then now becomes the dominant world super power. And while the Jews were still in Babylon, they developed the system of Synagogues in an attempt to preserve their culture and their religion. And of course, when we study the New Testament, not only did Jesus minister in the Synagogue, but also Paul would seek out the local Synagogue whenever he visited a new city. So, it was this network of Jewish Synagogues that were established while in Captivity in Babylon, that the early Christians used as a key platform to proclaim the gospel of Christ to the Jewish people. God also used the Persians under Cyrus, who by the way, was prophesied by the Prophet Isaiah (45:1) 200 years before Cyrus was born, issued a decree in 539 BC, to deliver the Jews from Babylonian Captivity and permitted them to return to their homeland and rebuild their Temple and rebuild the walls.
In 331 BC, the Persians were defeated by a young Greek General named Alexander the Great, who then spread Greek culture know as Hellenism throughout the Greek Empire. But providentially speaking, unknown to Alexander, by spreading Greek culture and Greek language, he was setting the stage for the spreading of the Gospel. This is because of the fact that, because at the time of Christ and the writing of the New Testament, almost everyone spoke and understood Greek. In fact, because Greek had become the universal language of the Mediterranean world, which it made it easier to facilitate the spread of the Gospel because everywhere they went, most of the people understood Greek. Furthermore, it allowed the New Testament to be written in a common language that just about everyone understood.
Alexander dies at the early age of 32 years old, and because there was none of his Generals who had Alexanders brilliance and leadership ability, the Greek Empire was divided into four parts by Alexander’s four top Generals. The Ptolemy’s who ruled Egypt, gained control over Israel initially. For the most part, the Ptolemy’s were tolerant of Israel and respected Judaism. However, The Seleucids who had control of Syria defeated the Ptolemy’s in 198 BC and they then gained control over Israel. Now the Seleucids were the exact opposite of the Ptolemy’s, because they were completely intolerant and cruel. And the most infamous of the Seleucid rulers was Antiochus Epiphanes, who tried to force the Jews to abandon their culture and except Greek culture. Antiochus actually wanted to destroy all traces of Judaism. He ruthlessly persecuted anyone who wanted to practice Judaism.
Eventually, because of the oppressive policies of the Seleucids, the Jews revolted. Antiochus invaded Jerusalem, killed men, women and children, took over the Temple and erected a statue of the Greek god Zeus, where he sacrificed a pig on the alter. To say the least, this was more than the Jews could tolerate. And led by the Maccabee’s, after a 20-year guerilla war against the Seleucids, the Jews finally gained their independence in 168 BC. And for about 100 years, Israel existed as an independent nation. And it was during this 100-year period, that two of the leading religious sects that were prominent during the life of Christ emerged. Those two parties were the Pharisees and the Sadducees. These two parties had always been divided on ideological differences, but sometimes the conflict between the Pharisees and the Sadducees became violent as they struggled for political power in Israel and influence with the Roman government.
Now the hostility between these two groups mainly centered around the control of the Temple and the office of High Priest. Now, the office of High Priest, which was supposed to be the highest spiritual office in Israel, became a political divide as these two parties fought one another for control of this important position. That’s why at the time of Christ, the office of High Priest, was more of a political leader than a spiritual leader. The Pharisees who were the largest and most influential Jewish Sect, (numbering about 6,000 at the time of Herod) were a group of religious leaders who lived in Palestine during the time of Jesus’ life and the beginnings of the Christian church. In the Gospels, the Pharisees are consistently described as major antagonists to Christ. Most Bible dictionaries describe the Pharisees as greedy and hypocritical people who were only interested in fulfilling the literal details of God’s law. For some scholars, the most important characteristic of the Pharisees was that they generally separated themselves from society. These scholars base their thinking on the name “Pharisee,” which comes from the Hebrew word “parush” which means “the separated one.” Other scholars believe that the most important characteristic of the Pharisees was their desire to keep their religious rituals pure (Mark 7:1-4). The Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead. The also relied on their non-biblical “traditions of the fathers,” some of which made the law stricter. All Pharisees were committed to the idea of two different forms of God’s law.
The first form, the written Torah, included the writings in the Old Testament. And the second form was the oral Torah, which included laws and traditions that were orally passed down from generation to generation. The belief in these two forms of law was a big difference between the Pharisees and the Sadducees. The Sadducees believed that it was only the writings of Moses that had any authority and believed that the Pharisees put too much emphasis on oral tradition. These man-made oral traditions, became more and more expanded and restrictive over the course of time. Around A.D. 210, all of these man-made oral laws were collected and written down in a single book called the Mishnah and passed down from generation to generation. And by the time of Christ, these oral laws had risen to the same level of authority as the law of Moses, hence setting the stage for the major conflict and confrontations with Christ, which ultimately led to His crucifixion for the sins of the world, which was God’s plan all along.
The Sadducees on the other hand, were the wealthy landowners. They were members of the priesthood and made up part of the Sanhedrin. They were a Jewish party who were opposed to the Pharisees but joined them in their persecution of Jesus. When they questioned Jesus about the resurrection of the dead Jesus told them they were ignorant of the Scriptures and the power of God. The Sadducees ceased to exist after A.D. 70. Luke gives us a description of the Sadducees in the Book of Acts when he records, “The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there is neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees acknowledge them all” (Acts 23:8). Because the Sadducees were basically a political party rather than a religious sect, they were unconcerned with Jesus until they became afraid He might bring unwanted Roman attention. At that point the Sadducees joined with the Pharisees and conspired to put Christ to death (John 11:48–50; Mark 14:53; 15:1). Other mentions of the Sadducees are found in (Acts 4:1 and Acts 5:17), and the Sadducees are implicated in the death of James the brother of John in (Acts 12:1–2). The historian Josephus also connects the Sadducees to the death of James, the half-brother of Jesus. Since the Sadducees left no written description of themselves, all we know about what they believed or what they did is what is found in the Bible and secondhand sources. According to most historical records, including those of Josephus, the Sadducees were rude, arrogant, power-hungry, and quick to dispute with those who disagreed with them. The Sadducees ceased to exist as a group in AD 70, when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans.
The differences between the Pharisees and the Sadducees are known to us through a couple of passages of Scripture and through the extant writings of the Pharisees. Religiously, the Sadducees were more conservative in one doctrinal area: they insisted on a literal interpretation of the text of Scripture; the Pharisees, on the other hand, gave oral tradition equal authority to the written Word of God. If the Sadducees couldn’t find a command in the written Torah, they dismissed it as man-made. Given the Pharisees’ and the Sadducees’ differing view of Scripture, it’s no surprise that they argued over certain doctrines. The Sadducees rejected a belief in the resurrection of the dead (Matthew 22:23; Mark 12:18–27; Acts 23:8), but the Pharisees did believe in the resurrection. The Sadducees denied the afterlife, holding that the soul perished at death, but the Pharisees believed in an afterlife and in an appropriate reward and punishment for individuals. The Sadducees rejected the idea of an unseen, spiritual world, but the Pharisees taught the existence of angels and demons in a spiritual realm.
The apostle Paul shrewdly used the theological differences between the Pharisees and the Sadducees to escape their clutches. Paul had been arrested in Jerusalem and was making his defense before the Sanhedrin. Knowing that some of the court were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, Paul called out, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead” (Acts 23:6). Paul’s mention of the resurrection, precipitated a dispute between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, dividing the assembly, and causing “a great uproar” (verse 9). The Roman commander who watched the proceedings sent troops into the melee to rescue Paul from their violence (verse 10). Socially, the Sadducees were more elitist and aristocratic than the Pharisees. Sadducees tended to be wealthy and to hold more powerful positions. The chief priests and high priest were Sadducees, and they held the majority of seats in the Sanhedrin. The Pharisees were more representative of the common working people and had the respect of the masses. The Sadducees’ locus of power was the temple in Jerusalem; the Pharisees controlled the synagogues. The Sadducees were friendlier with Rome and more accommodating to the Roman laws than the Pharisees were. The Pharisees often resisted Hellenization, but the Sadducees welcomed it.
Jesus had more run-ins with the Pharisees than with the Sadducees, probably because of the former’s giving preeminence to oral tradition. “You ignore God’s law and substitute your own tradition,” Jesus told them (Mark 7:8, NLT; see also Matthew 9:14; 15:1–9; 23:5, 16, 23, Mark 7:1–23; and Luke 11:42 ).
Because the Sadducees were often more concerned with politics than religion, they ignored Jesus until they began to fear He might bring unwanted Roman attention and upset the status quo. It was at that point that the Sadducees and Pharisees set aside their differences, united, and conspired to put Christ to death (John 11:48–50; Mark 14:53; 15:1). The Sadducees as a group ceased to exist after the destruction of Jerusalem, but the Pharisees’ legacy lived on. In fact, the Pharisees were responsible for the compilation of the Mishnah, an important document with reference to the continuation of Judaism beyond the destruction of the temple. In this way the Pharisees laid the groundwork for modern-day Rabbinic Judaism.
Now, as I noted, Israel’s independence didn’t last for long, because at this time, there was another giant that was beginning to flex its muscles by the name of Rome. And in 63 BC, Israel was conquered by the Romans under General Pompeii and Palestine was designated an Imperial province of the Roman Empire. In order to control the territories that they conquered, the Romans divided their conquered territories up into Provinces and then appointed Governors over those provinces. The most famous of these Provincial Governors in Palestine was Pilate. Pilate was the Governor who ordered Christ’s crucifixion. The book of Acts mentions that Paul gave his defense before two other of these Governors (Felix and Festus) who Paul had to make appeals to while he was in custody in Caesarea.
Now, in addition to a military Governors, the Romans also appointed political rulers in Palestine. The first of these was, Herod Antipaterand it was his son, Herod the Great, who the Romans gave the title “King of the Jews.” And because the Romans gave him this title, he felt threatened by the birth of Christ. And after he realized that the Magi had tricked him, he order the execution of every male child three years old and younger, in the vicinity of Bethlehem. In addition to the military, religious and political environment that the rise and impact of the Roman Empire had been established, amazingly, in addition to adapting and incorporating much of Greek culture into Roman culture eventually paved the way to the spreading of the Gospel, the Romans also ingeniously developed a series of roads throughout the empire that were originally designed for the purpose of rapid deployment military troop transport and for purposes of making it easier for commerce and trade throughout the Empire. Interesting however, is the fact that many of these roads, some of which are still in use today, and while unknown to the Romans at the time, these roads would eventually become a major asset to those early disciples who were traveling and spreading the message of the gospel and starting new churches throughout the empire using these same Roman roads.
So, we can see from this brief description of this period of preparation, that God was actually working through history for the purpose of “preparing” the world for His Son. It was the combination of these and other events that occurred over this 400-year period, that set the stage, or “prepared” the way for the political, social, cultural and religious setting at the time of the opening of the New Testament. And understanding these key historical events and how they impacted and influenced the world of the New Testament, is imperative in our quest to “rightly divide” the New Testament scriptures.
In conclusion, there were many other significant and influential developments that occurred over this 400-period between the testaments or this period of preparation that had an impact on the New Testament world, that I won’t be able to go into. Arguably however, of all of the arguments that I could undertake to defend the authority of Scripture, it is this remarkable accuracy, meticulousness and precision of the fulfillment’s of biblical prophecies that stand out as the single most significant evidence. Prayerfully therefore, this survey through this 400-year period has given you some helpful background information, as well as, insight into God’s providence over world events. I would encourage anyone who desires to increase their understanding of God’s word to continue to further study and research this period. Some additional helpful resources would be: The Works of Josephus, The New Testament World by Bruce J. Malina, and of course, The Book of Daniel, whom God revealed this period to Daniel in explicit detail, while he was in one of those young men taken captive by the Babylonians.
“But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship (Galatians 4:4-5 NIV).
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