Page 39 - BV14

Is JUDAISM the Religion of

Moses?

When was the Old Testament completed? Who authorized the building
of synagogues in Judea? In this fifth installment you will learn how the
Jews continued under the Government of God to the time of Alexander
the Great.

by Ernest Martin

THE canonization of the Old Testament by the members of the Great Assembly was the real
stabilizing factor in the religious life of the Jews. Ezra and Nehemiah bound upon the people the Law of
Moses as the constitutional law of the land. And the Great Assembly, after the deaths of Ezra and Ne-
hemiah, enforced THIS SAME LAW in every respect.

Life Under the Persians

Even though Judea was properly a province of the Persian Empire, the Jews maintained a semi-
independent community. Since the days of Ezra, the Persians had shown extraordinary consideration to
the Jews. "God ... hath extended mercy unto us in the sight of the kings of Persia" (Ezra 9:9).

"The Persian rulers," says Herford, "living far from Judea, seldom interfered with the internal af-
fairs of their Jewish subjects, and were content to leave their public business in the hands of the gover-
nor of the province. If the royal taxes were paid, the order maintained, the Jews might organize their life
as a community in the way that seemed best to them" (Talmud and Apocrypha, p. 45).

The Persians had rule over Palestine until 331 B.C. -- for about one hundred years after Ezra
and Nehemiah. During this entire period, the Jews were allowed full freedom to practice their own cus-
toms and traditions. This Persian period was especially propitious to them because they were allowed
to observe the Scriptures as ordained of God (Kent, History of the Jewish People, p. 224). And
during this period the Law of Moses was kept!

At this time, the Jews were under the direction of the High Priest, the president of the Great As-
sembly, and the other authoritative priests who comprised its membership. No religious splits or
schisms were tolerated and all the people were kept in obedience to the laws of the Old Covenant.
This peaceful condition in Palestine led to many advances in the social and religious life of the Jews.

39