Thursday, July 3, 2008
"Some faced jeers and flogging, while still others were chained and put in prison. They were stoned, they were sawed in two, they were put to death by the sword. They went about in sheepskins and goatskins, destitute, persecuted and mistreated – the world was not worthy of them. They wandered in deserts and mountains, and in caves and holes in the ground" (Hebrews 11:36-38 NIV).
IDEA: The Pharisees wanted righteousness.
PURPOSE: To help listeners understand why the Pharisees were deeply respected by people in the first century.
Have you ever watched a television program series that ends in spring and doesn't begin again until the fall?
Sometimes the writers add or subtract players during the summer break.
A person who reads the Bible through and goes from the Old Testament to the New Testament may have that same sensation that something has changed.
I. What are the changes that have taken place?
How many years elapsed from the end of Old Testament to the beginning of the New Testament?
How long is 400 years? When you look back at it in history, it may not sound like much, but actually living in the experience it is a long time.
What has changed when you go from one testament to the second one?
The scenery has changed. It's the same land but a different government.
The major players have changed.
At the end of the Old Testament the major players are the prophets—Haggai, Zechariah, Malachi are the post-exilic prophets. Also some people returning to the land from Persia try to rebuild the walls and temple in Jerusalem.
They are never mentioned in the Old Testament.
Where did they come from? We don't know. They did come into being during the period between the Old and New Testaments.
Josephus, a Jewish historian, mentions the Pharisees as he writes about the reign of John Hyrcanus (135-105 BC).
From the first time we hear of them they were a very influential group and continued that way into the New Testament.
They were laymen, not the religious professionals.
III. The name Pharisee means "separatist." Why we can only guess.
The Pharisees separated the tithe and the offerings that were required for the temple.
The tithe is close to a tax, but the offerings were special.
They separated themselves from other Jews.
They wanted to establish righteousness in the land, so they were a lay movement eager to get the people to take seriously what the Old Testament Law said.
People who read the New Testament regularly tend to color the Pharisees gray. The people of the time would have colored them solid white.