It's almost a sport these days to attack the Pharisees. After all, they were such hypocrites. You'll recall that they were the snobs who wore long fringes on their clothing to separate them from the common folk. However, not all Pharisees deserve the bad rap they receive. A little understanding is in order. To explain the actions of the Pharisees, we must first know what brought them into existence. Their beginnings are traced back to something called Hellenism, or more simply stated, Greekism. In the early 300's B.C., when Alexander the Great led the Greek armies and conquered most of the world of his day, he made it a point to plant Greek cities and Greek culture everywhere he went---including the Middle East. The Greek way of life was both good and bad. The Greeks had a high regard for beauty, art and learning. But there was also a down side---they were pagans with pagan morals, and they worshiped many gods. The Jews had much higher moral standards and worshiped only one God. In today's terms, we might call the Greeks liberal and the Jews conservative.

However, defining Hellenism (the Greek way of life) is not so simple, because not all Jews were conservative. Not all Jews believed alike. Within the Jewish nation an argument developed over just how much Greek culture the Jews should tolerate. Many of the more wealthy and influential Jews were highly influenced by Greek culture, even to the point of disregarding their religious practices. To compound matters, the Greek rulers who controlled Israel at that time, tried to force their Greek culture upon the Jews by military force. They even went so far as to try to ban the Jewish religion and its temple in Jerusalem. Riots broke out and the idea mostly failed.

Out of those times, which were several hundred years before Christ, several movements developed within the Jewish nation. One of these was the Pharisees, or the "separated ones." In the simplest terms, Pharisees tried to preserve the old-time Jewish religion and extend it from Jerusalem into every community within the Jewish nation. They did this by creating rules to live by. Rules from how to observe the Sabbath to the purity laws that governed every part of daily life. It seems that their original motives were good, but their rules got out of hand. However, the Pharisee did not consider himself to be living under a heavy burden of law, but instead saw the rules as a guide to direct his way. At the time of Christ there were about 6,000 Pharisees scattered throughout Israel, mostly from the middle class. They were also known for being extremely patriotic.

To their credit, after Rome's destruction of Jerusalem and the Jewish nation in 70 A.D., it was the Pharisees that picked up the pieces and carried the Jewish faith forward. In the early years of the Christian church, during the Roman occupation of Israel, the Pharisees eventually died out, but their legacy, both good and the bad lives on today.

Blessings in your study of God's Word!

Marvin Hunt

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Blessings!
Marvin Hunt

Http://www.biblehistory.com

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