The Life of Jesus Christ - Chapter 1 - The Birth of a *Saviour - Part 1
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An online Bible Study course by Barrie Wetherill about the life of Jesus. This book is in EasyEnglish Level B. Use the links below for other online Bible Study books and commentaries that will help you. Or go to the Word List, which explains words with a *star.
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Jews lived in *Israel at the time of Christ. They probably did
not feel very safe. Once their country had been very powerful. David and Solomon
had been their kings. That was 1000 years ago. Now they were not powerful. The
people had done wrong things. They had not obeyed God. God had spoken to Abraham
and Moses. He had given them a Covenant (made a special agreement with them).
But the people did not obey God's rules. God punished them. He made them leave
their country. He had told them that he would do this. In 586 BC, enemies burned
down the *Temple of Solomon. This *temple was one of the most wonderful
buildings in the world. The enemies took away everything that was inside the
*Temple.
After 70 years, some of the Jews returned to *Israel. But it was
very difficult to live there. While the Jews were away, many foreigners had come
to live there. After some time the Jews did build the *Temple again. This was
much smaller than Solomon’s *Temple. It was not so beautiful.
At this time, there were very strong rulers in the world. There
were very strong countries. People from Egypt, Assyria, Babylonia, Persia and
Greece were very powerful. Their armies marched into many countries.
Alexander the Great (from Greece) entered *Israel and many other
countries. Alexander was not only a military leader. He also introduced new
ideas to these countries. He made the Greek language and customs popular. Some
Jews began to serve false Greek gods. After Alexander's death, his Generals
(important officers) fought against each other. Each one wanted to rule parts of
his lands. Some of these battles were in *Israel. Then one General spoilt the
*Temple, which the Jews had rebuilt. This General did some evil things in the
*Temple. He killed people who would not serve his false Greek gods. So, some
Jews became very angry.
The Maccabees were a family. They wanted the Jews to serve the
true God only. And they opposed the false Greek gods. The Maccabees encouraged
the Jews to fight their enemies. The Maccabees ruled *Israel for a short time.
The Jews began to argue with each other. Then the *Romans came
and ruled *Israel. They were very strict. The Jews wanted to be free. But the
Roman *Empire became very strong. The *Romans ruled many countries. Their power
was very great. It seemed impossible for the Jews to be free.
At the time of the birth of Jesus, the Romans had made Herod to
be king over *Israel. Herod was not a Jew. He was a foreigner. Although he was a
Jew by religion, he did not obey the laws of the Jews. He was a strong and cruel
man. He became king by a plot. He wanted to control the Jews. So he built the
*Temple again. He made it much bigger. His workmen began to build the *Temple in
20 BC. They continued until about AD 64. Herod's *Temple was a very beautiful
building.
But what happened in the *Temple was not always good. People did
not always behave in the right way:
·
A Jew might want to kill an animal as a sacrifice (as a gift to
God). He had to buy the animal from a special shopkeeper. The rulers in the
*Temple chose the shopkeepers. The shopkeepers could ask for big prices. People
could not bring any other animals, even if they were good animals!
·
The Romans appointed the *high priest. But one family gave money
to the Romans. So the Romans always chose men from that family to become the
*high priests.
One group of Jews were called Sadducees. They had different ideas from
other Jews. They did not believe in the *supernatural. They had very different
ideas. Some people also have such ideas today. Really the Sadducees were a
political party. They wanted to please the Romans. This group was very powerful.
They did not care what they did. They wanted to remain powerful.
Another group were Pharisees. They studied the law of Moses.
They did not always know its true meaning. Later, Jesus spoke to them about
this. The leaders of the Pharisees were rich and powerful.
There were also some good Jews. These people wanted to please
God. And they wanted to know more about God. They read the books of the
*prophets. So, these people believed that God would send a *Messiah. The
*Messiah would be a good king. He would rule over them well. They desired that
the king would come. But they had waited for a very long time. There had been no
*prophet for more than 400 years. Some people probably thought that God had
forgotten them. Or, that God had left them. So, they were not sure that the
words of the *prophets would come true.
In the next section, we will consider what the *prophets wrote
about a *saviour. And in later sections, we will see how their words came true.
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2002-2005, Wycliffe Associates (UK)