Continuing our discussion of Israel (part 1 here)

The modern State of Israel can trace its evils (and its goods) back to biblical times.

The Sanhedrin (the Jewish high council) was very much opposed to those nasty rustic followers of Jesus of Nazareth – and not just because they were Galillean hicks. They arrested and imprisoned many of Jesus’ followers following His death (even though they claimed He had not risen). Killed some: Stephen stoned to death, James beheaded. It is highly likely that others were killed as well. And the authorities sent agents into other jurisdictions to intimidate and arrest those who had “abandoned” their faith to follow this Messiah. (Saul of Tarsus went to Damascus on such a mission – again unlikely to be the only such act.)

This was clearly done with the knowledge and (at least tacit) approval of the Roman government in Judea and Syria. From the Roman point of view, keeping Judea stable was important for several reasons.

First, as today, was the location of Judea and Jerusalem itself: midway between the valuable provinces of Syria and Egypt. (Syria’s capital at that time was Antioch, not Damascus. Although Damascus was an ancient city, even then.) Not just the trade routes inside the Imperium were important. Trade into the vast reaches of the Arabian Peninsula, Mesopotamia, and on into Persia and India was also. (Mesopotamia was still not part of the Empire.) Much of which went through Canaan. Judea (which varied in size based on local politics and imperial decrees) was also a key point of control and reinforcement against whatever might come out of Mesopotamia and what is today Iran (Persia), and threaten Syria and Egypt.

Second, and often overlooked, was Judea’s importance to the Empire. Today, blinded by the bloody affair of the Jewish-Roman War of AD 66-70 and subsequent revolts over the next half-century, we don’t understand. Jews, and Judea as their homeland and cultural and religious and social center, were essential, in several ways.

1. Historians have estimated that Jews made up to 10% of the Empire’s population in the First Century. Their population was dispersed across the Empire, and with family ties into Mesopotamia, Persia, and beyond. Virtually every major city and many smaller ones had fairly large communities of Hebrews.
2. Their importance in commerce, manufacturing, and banking (as it was known then) is hard to over-estimate. They may not have owned and operated many of the ships and caravans which linked the Empire together, but much of the cargo and many of the passengers carried on those ships were theirs.
3. In addition, and to many people, incredibly, the Jews were important in the Imperial government AND military. Again, some historians have interpreted evidence that Jews made up a large part of the Legions (perhaps 20% or more). But many senior (and successful) Roman military commanders, including several holding positions equal to the FedGov’s Chairman of the Joint Chiefs, were Jewish. There were also many Jews filling important civilian positions in municipal, provincial, and Imperial government.
4. Not all of those Jews were observant, of course. A situation similar to today. But they were still a distinct group of people, a subculture, in the Empire (and outside it).

In the New Testament, we see little of this, but other writers of the period provide significant evidence of this. And even in the Bible, we see signs. Saul of Tarsus (and his family) were far from the only Hebrews to have Roman citizenship – by birth. Or to have both Latin and Hebrew names, as did Saul or Paul.

Despite Judea being a hotspot of trouble, its place in the Empire was critical. Even for emperors (like Claudius and Caligula) who personally did not have high regard for Jews and their constant squabbles over religious matters. And the desire of many for freedom from the Empire. Or at least, MANY Jews’ desire. Herod the Great – key to Augustus’ victory in the civil war – and his family were prized both for their military and administrative skills and for keeping the many Jewish sects and rebels under control. Even if they were Jews.

Until the Imperial government became so corrupt and so isolated from reality that idiots rose to power and tried (almost literally) to kill the goose that laid the golden eggs. By egging (pun intended) the more radical factions of the Jews into open rebellion, the Imperial household triggered a cataclysm which all but destroyed the Empire.

My, does that sound familiar to 21st Century ears? It should. And indeed, the same thing could be seen to large degree in the last 500 years of history. Spain and England in the middle ages. The German Reich and Czarist Russia and the Soviet Union. Through all this mix of persecution and desperate need for their services, the Jews survived. That kind of courage and perseverance are good. But others would say that their insularity is a evil thing. There was also often a lack of proportionality to their response to attacks and to persecution. The situation seemed to constantly be spiraling out of control.

And of course, their support for the most despotic and cruel of governments is also an evil seen even today. And it dates back far beyond the time of Christ and even Moses: to a slave named Joseph. Joseph was sold as a slave to Egyptian. But he ultimately rose to be second only to Pharaoh, and with strong evidence that his Pharaoh reigned but did not rule: Joseph was in charge. And he used his power to enslave still more people: virtually the entire nation of Egypt, in fact. And to organize a state system that let Egypt become an empire.

The same thing can be said about France and probably Spain. Even though Spain in particular banished Jews, but continued to benefit from crypto-Jews in the New World.

We will pick up this discussion more in part 3.