Both The Bronze Bow and Ben-Hur are set in a very turbulent time in Jewish history - the time of the Zealots. Most of us, when we read of Jesus' life and teachings, do not realize the dynamite of the Jewish culture at that time, and his ministry, we see, is even more amazing then we would think at first glance. The Romans occupied Palestine in 63 B.C. and in 37 B.C. Herod the Great became Governor. He was willing to do anything to cement his rule. The wealthy Jews that were willing to yield to him got richer. The poor got poorer, and some lost their lives when they protested.
The Israelites had always been a patriotic people, and they had overthrown another despot in 165 B.C., Antiochus IV of Persia. Antiochus had desecrated the temple and oppressed the people until Judah Maccabee and his brothers overthrew him and restored peace. With such historical precedent, many Jewish men became Zealots, pledged to fight if a strong leader arose to lead them to victory. Zealots were not just middle-aged men who remembered life before the Romans. Those men's sons became young hotheads who cared for nothing else but the revolution in the making. Sometimes patriotic fathers had to caution their sons against foolhardy exploits, as seen in the Bronze Bow, for Roman occupation was no laughing matter. Men could lose their homes, their freedom, even their lives, for the slightest offense. This, then, was the situation Jesus surveyed when, at age thirty, He began his ministry. The whole country, and especially Jerusalem, was a simmering cauldron of hot oil. Many Zealots must have thought Him the leader who would overthrow the Romans, for did He not speak of the kingdom? One of Jesus' disciples' names was Simon the Zealot.
'Love one another', 'Pray for them who despitefully use you', and 'Turn the other cheek', must have seemed very strange doctrines for this time. Jews hated anything to do with the Romans. Some would not speak to their 'masters', while the Romans looked down their noses at the occupants of this hot, desert land and were unlikely to wish to make friends with them. If Jesus had but said one word, the whole of Palestine would have risen against the Romans. On Palm Sunday, the people were welcoming the one who they believed would become their king. But less than a week later, He was dead, murdered by the Romans. Many must have wondered why. He had said He was the Son of God, the Messiah. The Messiah would free them from bondage: it was prophesied! And now He was dead. A dead man could do nothing. They did not understand that it was meant he would free them from the bondage of their sins.
Three days later, three women went to the tomb. But it was shut tight, and it would take several men to move it. They turned despondently away. Suddenly they heard a voice and turned. An angel told them that He was risen and to go tell his disciples. You know the story. The disciples came, His body was gone, they left, He appeared to Mary Magdalene, and later appeared to the disciples.
A month later, He ascended to His Father. The people who believed in Him, the men and women who had seen His miracles, had heard His preaching, they knew now who He was. They comprehended the seemingly impossible truth, that God had walked on earth for thirty-three years. That He had loved them and had sacrificed Himself that they might be with him forever.
Despite His words, most Jews continued to hate the Romans. In 66 A.D. the nation rose against the tyrants and liberated Jerusalem. For four years, they were free. Then the Romans returned. They razed Harod's Temple and much of Jerusalem's walls. Only the Western Wall on the Temple Mount remains today. What Jews who were not killed in the battle for the city were made slaved, banished, or executed. Jerusalem became a ghost city.
In 130, the emperor Hadrian announced a plan to rebuild the city. But now it was to be called Aelia Capitolina and have many monuments to pagan gods. He was even going to build a temple to Jupiter on the site where the Temple had stood!
Jews everywhere, revolted by the news, rebelled under the leadership of the Zealot Bar Kokhba. They retook Jerusalem and held it for three precious years. But Rome was once again too strong and too well organized for the valiant Jews. This time when the Romans re-conquered, they made a law stating no Jew could live within a certain mileage of the city, or even visit the city.
The few Jews who remained alive in the country were far too old, poor, and scarred by remembrance of friends and family lost to attempt any further uprisings. The chapter of the Zealots was closed, but their memory lives on.
The Zealots remain revered heroes to this day. They are the symbol of what Israel stands for, the embodiment of the strength that keeps her alive and prosperous. And if ever the need should arise, I believe new Zealots would arise to keep their country and themselves free. |
