Herod was ruler over Judea when John the Baptist (Yochanan the Immerser) appeared. John the Baptist was the last of the Old Covenant prophets and the forerunner of the New Covenant.

God had been actively working for 400 years to set the stage for the New Covenant =

It certainly does not look like a stage was being set, does it? It looks like total chaos (like Pac-Man) to me—

• Babylon conquered Israel, then Judah.
• Persia conquered Babylon.
• Greece conquered Persia.
• Rome conquered Greece.
• Much betrayal was going on.
• Pigs are used to desecrate the Temple and Holy of Holies.
• Warfare ensued.
• Civil unrest developed.

How did this prepare for anything to come? What did all of this accomplish? Actually, it accomplished a lot, and it set the stage for the One Who Was To Come. Let us take a closer look.

The Jews had been dispersed throughout the whole world. What did they take with them wherever they went? Their expectation that the One Who Was To Come was coming—

Even secular sources recorded that at that time just before Jesus of Nazareth was born, there was a general anticipation around the whole world that this Person was coming.

During the Babylonian captivity, Daniel predicted the very day when Messiah would present Himself as King. Is that not remarkable? That wonderful prediction was not made in Israel; it was made during the Babylonian captivity, and Babylon was thousands of miles away from Jerusalem!

When you read the book of Daniel, look at the people over whom Daniel had direct authority. They were the magi (king-makers). It was by the providence of God, that as the New Testament opened, magi appeared from the east and they asked:

How did they know to come to Israel? Because Daniel had told them—

• A King was to come.

Based on this scriptural understanding, the magi knew the time was close for the King to be born; when they saw His star in the east, they knew it was God's evidence of that time.

During this time, Alexander the Great conquered the known world; obviously, it was under God's sovereignty (as prophesied in Daniel 2:36-45). In fact, Alexander conquered the known world so quickly that it is beyond belief.

You see, Alexander the Great had a very, very small army that was always outnumbered by opposing forces; however, they moved with such a rapidity that even a modern army could not keep up. Somebody was helping them behind the scenes; that Person was God.

Why did God help a tyrant, drunkard like Alexander the Great conquer the world? Because wherever Alexander went, he effectively took the Greek language.

In fact, the Greek speaking Jewish population was so large during the 400 years between the Testaments that the Septuagint — the Greek translation of the Scriptures — was written by 72 Hebrew scholars in Egypt.

Importantly, the Septuagint was the source from which Messiah Jesus and the New Testament characters quoted.

God was setting the stage to send the Good News of Messiah Jesus to the whole world in a language the world could understand.

From the time of the Tower of Babel all the way through our day in 2001 A.D., that was the only time — that brief window of only a few hundred years — when the whole world knew one language, which was Greek. It had not happened before and it has not happened since.

May the reader understand:

GOD sent His SON in the fullness of time.

The effect of Alexander the Great's achievements spread Greek culture around the world. Greek culture, philosophy, and literature stressed ideas and theology, and the Greek language is a very precise language for expressing those concepts.

That is why we have someone like the Apostle Paul, who was very familiar with Greek language and culture. In fact, he was a Hebrew by birth, but he was a Hellenized Jew. Hellenized means to be accepting and familiar with Greek culture, language and thinking.

Greek culture entered into Jerusalem, because Greek culture entered into the whole world. That was good because there was a platform for the Good News of Messiah Jesus.

However, when Greek culture entered Jerusalem, the intellectuals started buying into Greek theology and Greek philosophy for themselves. Apparently, it became very cool to be Greekly academic. [They did not call it that, but I am.] Some of the Jewish intellects mingled Greek philosophy and theology into their Jewish theology. And some Jews stopped believing in the supernatural and in any kind of resurrection. Do you know who that party was? The Sadducees.

At the beginning of the New Testament, the Sadducees have control of the priesthood.

The Roman Empire provided stability to the world. The Roman roads connected the entire empire, and they provided access between countries. Know that individuals, such as Paul, did not have to get visas, passports, or identification cards to travel! Paul went wherever he wanted to go because Rome ruled the whole world.

Throughout time of the Old Testament, the Israelites were looking for the One Who Was To Come, the Deliverer.

During the 400 years between the Testaments, God arranged the events behind that curtain so the world would know about the One Who Was To Come. The world would understand what He was saying, because they would have the same language (Greek). In addition, they would have a way to hear THE MESSAGE, because the Roman Empire provided roads to send people to give them the Good News of Messiah Jesus.

The book of Matthew is the book that best identifies and proves that the One Who Was To Come was—

What is so incredible is that this is such an easy proof. To prove that Jesus of Nazareth was the One long foretold from the Garden of Eden, you do not have to go into a deep, detailed proof. All you have to do is read the predictions foretold within the canon of the Old Testament, and then read about the life of Messiah Jesus in the New Testament.

There is the proof, because the messianic prophecies and the fulfillment of those prophecies by Messiah Jesus were the perfect match. Anybody who looks at this sincerely and honestly will know Jesus of Nazareth was the One Who Was To Come.

That was the main thrust of what Matthew was saying in the book of Matthew —

There is a phrase that keeps coming up throughout the book of Matthew, as follows:

That was what Jesus of Nazareth was doing.

Heavenly Father, thank You that we do not have to worry about how to resolve things because You resolve them on our behalf.

We thank You that as we look back at the 400 years between the Testaments — a godless, barbaric time when it seemed that raw power was ruling and the Gentiles were oblivious to, or were running roughshod over, Your people — You were controlling everything; You were setting the stage.

Father, we thank You that even when it may seem that there is nothing good happening in our lives, when bad is triumphing and evil is winning, You are working.

We also thank You that You are never silent. Father, You always speak to us in the person of Holy Spirit, and we thank You for His guidance and counsel that is unceasing.

Father, I know that I am a sinner and I deserve to go to hell because of my sins. But I believe that when Messiah Jesus died on the Cross, He was paying the penalty for my sin, and when He rose again, He rose to give me eternal life. Thank you for His resurrection power through the Person of Holy Spirit, who indwells all biblical believers.

We ask that as we study the book of Matthew that our eyes would be on Jesus, our Messiah and our King. It is in His name that we pray these things. Amen.

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