Thomas Fretwell: Life of Messiah 02: The 400 Silent Years – From Alexander the Great to Herod

This episode continues the “Life of Messiah” series by completing an overview of the 400 “Silent Years” between Malachi and John the Baptist, explaining how God’s “fullness of time” (Galatians 4:4–5) prepared the world for Jesus. It traces the transition from Persian rule to Alexander the Great, the spread of Greek language and culture, the Septuagint, and the division of Alexander’s empire, focusing on the Seleucids and Ptolemies and Israel’s position between them. The lesson highlights Antioch’s later New Testament significance, the rise of Hellenistic vs. pious Jewish factions that became Sadducees and Pharisees, and Antiochus Epiphanes’ corruption of the high priesthood and persecution described in 2 Maccabees. It summarises the Maccabean revolt, the Hasmonean dynasty’s decline, Rome’s takeover under Pompey, and the rise of Herod the Great, setting the political and religious context of the Gospels.