There were many developments in the period between the Old Testament and New Testament. However one development that happened already in the last half of the fifth century BC and that continued after that was the increasing indifference or even growing cynicism of the Israelites that set in again after they were back in the land after the days of Ezra and Nehemiah. This cynical and ungodly attitude was in full display in the last book of the Old Testament the Book of Malachi. In that book there are a series of arrogant or impudent questions showing the way the Israelites would talk back to God and not obey him but just act according to their own understanding. Some of the history of Israel between the testaments isn't very well known but from about 330 BC to about 160 BC Israel was under Greek domination and for the remainder of the period until the New Testament under Roman domination although Greek culture continued to have an influence. The Sanhedrin started to develop its form shown in the New Testament in the Greek period and it was mainly consisting of priests who would be mostly Sadduccees. The Pharisees were more popular and had more power and continued the role of the scribes from Ezra's time and they were in control of developing most things relating to religion and spirituality in Israel. Although there was a rebuilt temple in this time, Zerubbabel's or the second temple, it didn't have as much importance as when Israel was an independent nation and Solomon's Temple still stood. Especially as a result of this synagogues began to be established throughout Israel to teach people the Law and other parts of the Bible and for people to worship without always going down to Jerusalem to the temple. The synagogues could also have filled the void opened by the lack of prophets in this time between the testaments. In the second century Israel faced a critical situation. This was the attempt of the Greeks to snuff out any non-Hellenist (non-Greek) culture including in Israel. This was manifest by the Greeks trying to break down Jewish religious institutions and most notably by trying to discourage Jewish worship in the second temple. This climaxed in the act by Antiochus Epiphanes, a Greek Syrian leader, in bringing in a pig into the holy of holies of the temple as an offering to his god and an attempt to descecrate the temple for the worship of the LORD. The Jews rightly saw this as a great offence and it is mentioned prophetically in Daniel as a type or foreshadowing of the defiling of the temple in the tribulation by the Antichrist. This protection of the temple with oil that lasted eight days instead of one led to the festival of Hannukah or the Feast of Dedication that of course is still celebrated by Jewish people throughout the world. This attempt to Hellenize or assimilate the Jews by the Greeks led to the counter movement of the Maccabbees who led a rebellion against Greek influence in an attempt to reassert Jewish culture and independence. This period of history is recorded in the historically accurate but not divinely inspired Apocryphal books of 1st and 2nd Maccabbees written between the Old and New Testaments. The Pharisees with this victory over the Greeks emphasized the Law of Moses and religious committment as the basis for victory over the Greeks and basis for victory over any other Gentiles that might try to reduce Jewish independence. The Sadduccees related to the priests saw Jewish political power as the basis for victory over the Greeks and sought to emphasize this area after the victory of the Maccabbees. After Rome had ruled Israel for some time there arose resentment against them and one of the results was the rise of political Jewish groups campaigning for political freedom from Rome. One large group was the zealots which included one of Jesus' twelve disciples as a member. There was also a large apocalyptic and messianic expectation and desire when John the Baptist and Jesus of Nazarth came on the scene in hopes of finding someone to deliver Israel from bondage to the Romans. Many of the Jews including Jesus' disciples were this way as were the Essenes in Qumran where the Dead Sea Scrolls were written and of whom John the Baptist could have been a member. This messianic and apocalyptic expectation is a major factor in the early popularity of Jesus. However later many people turned against him or lost interest in him when he made it clear he was coming to die for the sins of the world and rise from the dead in his first earthly ministry rather than set up God's Kingdom on Earth and rid the Jews of the Romans or other Gentile oppressors. Probably the building of the expanded version of the second temple by King Herod called Herod's Temple immediately before Jesus' birth added to these messianic and apocalypic expectations or atmosphere.
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