Zealots

Zealot

"The Zealots were originally a political movement in 1st century Second Temple Judaism which sought to incite the people of Judaea Province to rebel against the Roman Empire and expel it from the Holy Land by force of arms, most notably during the First Jewish–Roman War (66-70). Zealotry was the term used by Josephus for a "fourth sect" during this period."[1]

A zealot has become a person who is considered fanatical and uncompromising in pursuit of their religious, political, or other ideals. But historically he was a member of an ancient Jewish sect aiming at a world Jewish theocracy and resisting the Romans until AD 70.

The zealots and certainly the Sicarii were Jewish extremists that revolt against the Roman presence in Judea and despised Hellenistic views or any acceptance of Gentile customs. were another Jewish sect that were more extreme than the zealots. Their strict religious interpretation of what they considered to be the only acceptable doctrines coming from the ancient text. This would eventually contribute to a lack of unity because the Zealots were too selfish to believe that others forms of resistance could terminate the power of the Romans.

The Sicarii became so extreme and violent their willingness to assassinate any alternate ideological or philosophical opposition ruined the Jewish leadership by assassinating the rulers. The Sicarii fought the Romans until their defeat and mass suicide at Masada. Not far from there, according to the Jewish-Roman historian Josephus Flavius, they had plundered peaceful villages in the area including En Gedi^[1] where they ruthlessly drove out the the local defenders killing over seven hundred women and children who were trapped.

They hated what they called Roman oppression and believed their foreign views and interpretation of the nature of religion had brought their present bondage and corruption. They did not understand the Torah like the Essenes. The Sadducees, The Pharisees, The Zealots were all Factions at the altar of the Hasmoneans.

The Essenes often made altars of their own. The Christian customs were much like the Essene and their approach differed from the others to the point of being persecuted violently by Romans and zealots a like.

The real oppression came from the people who learned to covet their neighbor's good through systems of welfare which David and Paul said were a snare and Peter said made you merchandise and cursed children. But it has always been easier for the proud to blame others.

It was common then as it is now to imagine that our doctrines are right and that the wicked are the others who threaten us or our way of life. The truth is the problem hits much closer to home as we my desire to judge others when we should, and must, get our own house in order first according to The Way of God and His Righteousness.

Tyrants and Tribute

Understanding where the tyranny came from in Judea requires a willingness to see our errors and contributions. In a cause and effect universe God created us in tribute is the result of sloth and tyranny is a product of cvetousness.

Rome had not conquered Israel at that time, but had been invited in to settle a civil war between two brothers back in 66 B.C. over who should be king. Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II were fighting over the Kingdom of God. One brother got the idea to invite Pompey and his legions for benevolent aid to settle this dispute. Rome was offered reimbursement by Aristobulus. There were men trying to overthrow his government.

Under international law, Aristobulus had made the request to Rome seeking to use its might as a world police force. Many countries accepted Roman aid by treaty, and were required to pay into the Roman effort of Pax Romana in the form of a tribute, or excise tax. They created mutual obligations which bound Aristobulus and Rome to keep the peace.

Aristobulus gained Pompey's favor by giving him a gift of gold. After some complaints surfaced, Pompey personally investigated and found Hyrcanus had a better claim as rightful king by the laws of Israel.

Pompey gave the gift from Aristobulus to the poor and offered to assist the lawful king in obtaining his throne. King Hyrcanus would not appeal to Rome, but without proper authority the Pharisees did.

Pompey's troops carefully removed Aristobulus and his adherents, the Sadducees, who still occupied the Temple illegally. Rome respected the laws of other nations. It did not simply impose its personal whim, but through the reason of right and wrong and jus gentium, they decided disputes based on the specific customs and ordinances of each country.

The benefit of Rome

Jesus would not appeal to Rome, because to make treaties with other nations would be a violation of the laws of Israel,^[2] which diminished the rights of the people. Christ came to return every man to those rights endowed by God (Leviticus 25:10)and to the “perfect law of liberty”.

The Romans had washed (in respect to the laws of the Jews) before entering that Herodian temple to remove Aristobulus' followers. The true defiling of the temple was at the hands of the people who had made the city a cauldron filled with the flesh of the people for the elite.^[3]

The real problem

The Romans presence should not have been a problem to those following the true way taught by Moses and certainly The Way of Christ. The Jews were not at that time.

The problem was not Rome but Because of an appetite for the blood of the innocent, and a willingness to consent to the one purse that runs toward evil, the people were captured in the net of their own making which had been set to snare their neighbor for their personal welfare and gain.^[4]

“Let their table become a snare before them: and that which should have been for their welfare, let it become a trap.” Psalms 69:22.

“And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumblingblock, and a recompence unto them:” Romans 11:9.

If the people build a city of blood through the covetous practices of the welfare state it will be their blood that is shed. Proverbs 1 warns against the common purse of socialism just as Samuel warned against a central government.

Hyrcanus was hoped by some to be the promised King and High priest.^[5] But others disputed his legitimacy as heir but his tactics were the opposite of those of Christ.

Christ faced the same temptations but did not fall to the desire to exercise power over others. The Zealot often desires to force his will which often progresses to becoming the murderous extremes of the Sacarii as both assassins and commandos freedom fighters who wrought genocide before taking their own lives.

Christ called for love and faith through charity but King Hyrcanus required allegiance.^[6]

At one point, there were so few priests that there was no one to even say grace at the kings table.^[7]

The temptations of Christ are the same temptations for us all. The syndrome that brought Saul to death by his own hand brought the Zealots at Masada to the same fate.

“Cursed be the man who rebuilds this city! May he lay its foundation on his firstborn, and set its gate upon his youngest son. Behold, an accursed man, a man of the adversary, has risen to become a fowler’s net to his people, and a cause of destruction to all his neighbours. And arose to exercise authority, also being instruments of violence. they have rebuilt a wall and towers, to make of it a stronghold of ungodliness … They have committed an abomination in the land, and a great blasphemy among the children…” ^[8]

This curse of Joshua seemed to fall upon the Hasmonean dynasty, specifically John Hyrcanus. The blasphemy was not so much the building of a particular city, but the turning away from God’s ways of charity and liberty by building his city of blood, and the return to the adversarial civil system of Belial, the “worthless or wicked”, a return to the bondage of Egypt.

Until the Zealots of the world choose to Repent of their covetous practices they will fight without God's grace and protections.

Was Jesus a Zealot?

The book Zealot by self-proclaimed expert^[9] Reza Aslan begs the question "Was Jesus a Zealot?"

Is Reza Aslan^[10] wrong about Jesus?

9/3/2013 1:40 PM 26693906
http://www.hisholychurch.net/kkvv/9thfolder/13-08-02-Asland-1.mp3
Reza Aslan "Zealot". Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth, which offers an interpretation of the life and mission of the historical Jesus. Does he know what he is talking about?

9/3/2013 1:42 PM 23339575
http://www.hisholychurch.net/kkvv/9thfolder/13-08-02-Asland-2.mp3

9/3/2013 1:43 PM 23107456
http://www.hisholychurch.net/kkvv/9thfolder/13-08-02-Asland-3.mp3

9/3/2013 1:39 PM 23156279
http://www.hisholychurch.net/kkvv/9thfolder/13-08-02-Asland-4.mp3

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Footnotes

↑ 'Ain Jidy From the Hebrew letters GimelDelathYod also spelled Engedi. It is commonly said to mean meaning "spring of the kid". It is an oasis with springs and wild goats west of the Dead Sea, near Masada and the Quamran.
↑ Exodus 23:32 “Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. Judges 2:2 And ye shall make no league ... but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?” See Deuteronomy 17:15,17.]
↑ Ezekiel 11:3-11 “Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.” See also Exodus 16:3, Ecclesiastes 4:5, Micah 3:3 .
↑ Proverbs 1:10-33 “Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: ... let us all have one purse... consent thou not....”
↑ “…Judah ben Yedidyah, who said to King Hyrcanus, ‘King !Hyrcanus Thou hast enough with the royal crown, leave the crown of priesthood to the seed of Aaron!’”Bab. Talmud, Kidd. 66a. see also Josephus, Ant. 13.288-298.
↑ “… his own people revolted against him…, they pelted him with citrons… at the festival of Tabernacles… and they added insult to injury by saying that he was descended from captives and was unfit to hold office and to sacrifice; and being enraged at this, he killed some 6,000 of them, and also placed a wooden barrier about the altar and the Temple as far as the coping of the court which the priests alone were permitted to enter, and by this means blocked the people’s way to him.” Josephus, Ant. 13.372-4
↑ “…he had put the rabbis to death, there was no-one to say grace for them…” Bab. Talmud, Berakoth 48a
↑ A Dead Sea Scrolls text 4Q175 21-30
↑ Ipse Dixit "He, himself, said it". In logic, ipse dixit is known as the bare assertion fallacy. ipse dixit is an assertion without proof; or a dogmatic expression of opinion. The fallacy of defending a proposition by baldly asserting that it is "just how it is" distorts the argument by opting out of it entirely: the claimant declares an issue to be intrinsic, and not changeable.
↑ Is a Professor of Sociology who believes he knows about "Religion" but has stated that “Religion is a language.” David Pakman is a critic https://youtu.be/E9RmAo6XVAA

[1] 'Ain Jidy From the Hebrew letters GimelDelathYod also spelled Engedi. It is commonly said to mean meaning "spring of the kid". It is an oasis with springs and wild goats west of the Dead Sea, near Masada and the Quamran.

[2] Exodus 23:32 “Thou shalt make no covenant with them, nor with their gods. Judges 2:2 And ye shall make no league ... but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?” See Deuteronomy 17:15,17.]

[3] Ezekiel 11:3-11 “Which say, It is not near; let us build houses: this city is the caldron, and we be the flesh.” See also Exodus 16:3, Ecclesiastes 4:5, Micah 3:3 .

[4] Proverbs 1:10-33 “Come with us, let us lay wait for blood, let us lurk privily for the innocent without cause: ... let us all have one purse... consent thou not....”

[5] “…Judah ben Yedidyah, who said to King Hyrcanus, ‘King !Hyrcanus Thou hast enough with the royal crown, leave the crown of priesthood to the seed of Aaron!’”Bab. Talmud, Kidd. 66a. see also Josephus, Ant. 13.288-298.

[6] “… his own people revolted against him…, they pelted him with citrons… at the festival of Tabernacles… and they added insult to injury by saying that he was descended from captives and was unfit to hold office and to sacrifice; and being enraged at this, he killed some 6,000 of them, and also placed a wooden barrier about the altar and the Temple as far as the coping of the court which the priests alone were permitted to enter, and by this means blocked the people’s way to him.” Josephus, Ant. 13.372-4

[7] “…he had put the rabbis to death, there was no-one to say grace for them…” Bab. Talmud, Berakoth 48a

[8] A Dead Sea Scrolls text 4Q175 21-30

[9] Ipse Dixit "He, himself, said it". In logic, ipse dixit is known as the bare assertion fallacy. ipse dixit is an assertion without proof; or a dogmatic expression of opinion. The fallacy of defending a proposition by baldly asserting that it is "just how it is" distorts the argument by opting out of it entirely: the claimant declares an issue to be intrinsic, and not changeable.

[10] Is a Professor of Sociology who believes he knows about "Religion" but has stated that “Religion is a language.” David Pakman is a critic https://youtu.be/E9RmAo6XVAA

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Zealots

Contents

Zealot

Tyrants and Tribute

The benefit of Rome

The real problem

Was Jesus a Zealot?

Footnotes

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Zealots

Zealot

Tyrants and Tribute

The benefit of Rome

The real problem

Was Jesus a Zealot?

Footnotes

Navigation menu

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