Tuesday, January 31 2012
A History Of Jerusalem: The Hasmonean Kingdom

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

The complete series of studies for A History Of Jerusalem:

Antiochus IV, or Antiochus Epiphanes (lived 215-164 BC), was the king of the Seleucid Empire (see A History Of Jerusalem: Greeks, Ptolemies, Seleucids) from about 175-164 BC. Antiochus committed the original "abomination of desolation" (see A History Of Jerusalem: Abomination Of Desolation) - an outrageous act of desecration in Jerusalem that produced three major consequences.

The MaccabeesThe first was the present-day observance of Hanukkah, by the people of Judah (see also Christ's Hanukkah), which began after the time that they purified the Temple of the desecration by Antiochus in 167 BC.

The second is that Jesus Christ (see also The Rock Of The Church) referred to the original "abomination of desolation" by Antiochus in a prophecy of someone who is going to do something very similar in the days just prior to Christ's return (see the Fact Finder question below). Antiochus was a conquering emperor, a king of other people's nations and their religion. What Antiochus did wasn't merely a malicious act of vandalism to the religion of the people of Judah; it was a "devoted" observance of his own idea of religious "truth," in the Temple of the LORD i.e. Antiochus sacrificed a pig to his own Greek god "Zeus." While doing so in the Temple of God, he assumed the position of high priest for himself. The Levitical high priest was a living prophecy of the Christ; Antiochus then made himself a living prophecy of the antichrist, hence the reason that Jesus Christ used that event, and that man, in describing the end-time antichrist.

The third consequence is that when the people of Judah rebelled against Antiochus, they were more successful than they at-first expected that they would be - they took back the Temple and purified it, which was their goal, but they also found themselves with the opportunity to drive the Seleucid military forces of Antiochus out of Jerusalem, and even a large part of Judea. Led by the "Maccabees," the people of Judah established what has become known as the Hasmonean Kingdom, or the Hasmonean Dynasty. It was a relatively autonomous area, that, while still within the Seleucid Empire, was left alone, not because they became overall more powerful than the Seleucid "superpower," but because the Seleucids regarded the cost of taking Judea back to be too high i.e. you don't necessarily have to be bigger than your enemy, just smarter and more deadly if need be.

The Hasmonean Kingdom existed for about a century, gradually growing even beyond Judea, primarily because the Seleucid Empire was then beginning to corrupt and deflate (it was eventually taken over by the Roman Empire). From 63 BC, the Hasmonean Kingdom was absorbed by the rising Roman Empire and its Herodian Dynasty in Judea (as we will cover in subsequent detailed studies in this series).

Some key events related to the Hasmonean Kingdom:

The Hasmonean Kingdom
175 BC: Antiochus IV / Antiochus Epiphanes became king of the Seleucid Empire. He sought to unify the empire politically (with everyone required to regard him as the self-elected "leader of the free world"), culturally (i.e. Greek culture) and religiously (i.e. Greek idolatry).
167 BC: Mattathias, a Temple Levite (see also A History Of Jerusalem: The Capital Of Judah and Are Levites 'Jews'?), began a religious revolt against Greek idolatry in Jerusalem and the "abomination of desolation" committed by Antiochus. He opposed not only the Greek occupiers, but also many of his fellow people of Judah who had been brainwashed into thinking of themselves as Greeks ("the Hellenizing Jews") to the extent that they regarded their own country and history as being foreign to themselves.
166 BC: Mattathias died. He was succeeded as leader of the rebellion by one of his five sons, Judas, who was later known as "Judah the Hammer" (in translation, Judas Maccabaeus, or Judah the Maccabee - hence the origin of the "Maccabees" name) because of his ferocity in battle (some Levites then, as now, are as skilled with a weapon as they are with the Holy Scriptures).
164 BC: The patriotic people of Judah (in contrast to the others of their nation who wanted to continue living their lives as make-believe Greeks) defeated the Seleucid forces in Jerusalem and cleansed the Temple of the idolatry and "abomination of desolation," thereafter beginning the annual observance of Hanukkah (which, as a Jew, Jesus Christ observed as "the feast of the dedication" i.e. "10:22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. 10:23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon's porch. 10:24 Then came the Jews round about him, and said unto him, How long dost thou make us to doubt? If thou be the Christ, tell us plainly" John 10:22-24 KJV).
160 BC: Judas Maccabeus was killed at the Battle of Elasa. He was succeeded by his brother Jonathan, a high priest, who, along with the other surviving brothers, led the people of Judah to independence.
142 BC: Simon, the last surviving son of Mattathias, was proclaimed high priest and leader of Judah. The beginning of the Hasmonean political dynasty of independent Judah. The Hasmoneans began seeking foreign allies, among them, an as-yet benign republic with its capital at Rome (see The Politics Of Rome).
63 BC: With the rising extraterritorial power of the Roman Republic into an empire (see Pax Romana: The Birth Of The Roman Empire), Roman general Pompey (see also Legions Of Men And Angels) captured Jerusalem and subjected Judea to Roman rule - thereby ending the Hasmonean Kingdom.
37 BC: The Hasmonean dynasty ended when Herod the Great of Idumea was appointed the Roman "king of the Jews."
The Hasmonean Kingdom was not without the many internal intrigues and struggles common to all political and/or religious entities. It was also during the Hasmonean Kingdom era that the Pharisees grew to social (moreover than religious) prominence, in effect requiring the general population to observe the symbolic rituals that only Temple Levites, not the general public, or the Pharisees themselves, were to, or had any right to, observe. Their supposed justification may have been an overzealous extension of the purification act and meaning of Hanukkah, but they went too far - for which the Messiah rebuked them decades later:

Hanukkah
""7:3 For the Pharisees, and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. 7:4 And when they come from the market, except they wash, they eat not. And many other things there be, which they have received to hold, as the washing of cups, and pots, brazen vessels, and of tables. 7:5 Then the Pharisees and scribes asked him, Why walk not thy disciples according to the tradition of the elders, but eat bread with unwashen hands? 7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well hath Esaias prophesied of you hypocrites, as it is written, This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. 7:7 Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 7:8 For laying aside the commandment of God, ye hold the tradition of men, as the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things ye do. 7:9 And he said unto them, Full well ye reject the commandment of God, that ye may keep your own tradition" (Mark 7:3-9 KJV)
The end of the Hasmonean Kingdom was brought about by the rise the Roman Empire and the "client kings" that they appointed for Judea. The Herodian Dynasty, perhaps most well-known by the infamous Herod the Great, became the new rulers of Judah. The reason that Herod wanted to kill the newborn King of the Jews is because Herod claimed that title for himself, as we will cover in detail in a subsequent study in this series.

"2:1 Now when Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judaea in the days of Herod the king, behold, there came wise men from the east to Jerusalem, 2:2 Saying, Where is he that is born King of the Jews? for we have seen his star in the east, and are come to worship him.
2:3 When Herod the king had heard these things, he was troubled, and all Jerusalem with him. 2:4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. 2:5 And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet,

2:6 And thou Bethlehem, in the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel." (Matthew 2:1-6 KJV)

Fact Finder: How long will the prophesied "abomination of desolation" last before Christ returns to purify the Temple, just as the Maccabees did?
See How Long Will 'The End Time' Last?; also The Temple Vessel Prophecies Today
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