koinonia

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BLACK SEA
THRACE
PONTUS
MACEDONIA
CAPPADOCIA
ASIA MINOR
ACHAIA
MESOPOTAMIA
LIBYA
EGYPT
JUDEA
Jerusalem
RED
SEA
SYRIA
ARABIA
SELEUCUS
PTOLEMY
CASSANDER
LYSIMACHUS
CASPIAN
SEA
MEDIA
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Bible Survey & Reference
The Promise and the Blessing
A Historical Survey of the Old and New Testaments
Michael A. Harbin
Having taught Old and New Testament survey courses for over twenty years, Michael A. Harbin has
written a book to fill the need for a single text that overviews both Testaments in a unifying manner.
The Promise and the Blessing traces the writing of the Bible as part of the history of the Israelite people
and the nation of Israel, showing how the New Testament naturally flows out of the Old, not only
theologically, but also historically. As such, the book follows a historical order rather than a strict
canonical one.
michael a. harbin (ThD and ThM, Dallas Theological Seminary) is the chair of the biblical
studies, Christian education, and philosophy department at Taylor University. He is the author of To
Serve Other Gods.
DIGITAL
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ISBN 9780310240372
biblical studies
A E G E A N S E A
B I T H Y N
I A
M E D I T E R R A N E A N S E A
P H O E N I C I A
EUPHRATES
TIGRIS
P E R S
I A N G U L F
In 305 BCE, after sixteen years as a nominal “satrap” or governor, Ptolemy I THE DIVISION OF
took the title of “King of Egypt.” One of his most significant acts was to establish
a major library in Alexandria, a city founded by Alexander the Great and AFTER HIS DEATH.
ALEXANDER'S EMPIRE
named after him. Alexandria also became a major settlement for Hebrews who
did not go back to Judea. 16 His son, Ptolemy II Philadelphus (284–246 BCE),
organized his father’s library and instituted major expansions and settlements.
Manetho, a major Egyptian historian who provided records of the Egyptian
dynasties, worked for him. It was during this time that the Septuagint (a Greek
translation of the OT) was made.
Wars between the Seleucids and the Ptolemies began during this period, but
a tenuous peace was established when Philadelphus gave his daughter in marriage
to Antiochus II of Syria. Just before Philadelphus’s death, she and her son were
murdered. This act led to further conflicts for Ptolemy IV and V. Ptolemy V, a
DANIEL AND THE EMPIRES
The age of empires during the intertestamental period is shown by the four beasts
in the vision of Daniel 7. Many scholars correlate the third beast (the leopard with
four heads) with Alexander’s empire, which divided into several Greek-speaking
kingdoms. It is seen in more detail in the vision of the goat and the ram in chapter
8, where Daniel is told specifically that the ram represents Media and Persia, and the
goat, Greece. The conflict between Syria and Egypt is traced in significant detail in
Daniel 11 (for which reason scholars who do not accept prophetic revelation argue
that it must have been written after the Maccabean revolt).
Read Acts 16:11–15.
PARTHENON. The most
famous temple in Athens. It
is actually part of a large
complex of temples atop a
large rock outcropping near
the center of the city.
hroughout the history of Christianity there have been significant events
and locations marking changes in the direction of its growth. Philip’s trip
Tto Samaria was one. Peter’s trip to Caesarea was a second. Barnabas’s trip
to Antioch was a third. Paul’s vision at Troas was a fourth. Following this, Paul’s
ministry circled the Aegean and moved westward toward Rome. While there was
already a church in Rome itself, Paul started filling the spaces in between.
FIRST CONVERTS IN PHILIPPI
As soon as Paul’s companions agreed that his vision was a direction from God, the
team took action. They caught a ship and sailed directly to the island of Samothrace
and then to Neapolis, a coastal town in Macedonia. Their choice of a direct
route indicates that they took advantage of a southeast wind. These ideal conditions
would seem to confirm the choice they had made. From Neapolis, they traveled
to Philippi.
Luke notes that Philippi was both a Roman colony and a major city of the
region. As a colony, it tended to follow carefully the leading of Rome. Since
Claudius, the emperor, had cast the Jews out
of Rome in 49 CE. (see Acts 18:2), it is possible
that a similar decision was made in
Philippi. 1 Consequently, when Paul and Silas
arrived in the fall of 50, they did not find a
synagogue in which they could follow their
standard process. So on the Sabbath, they
went outside the city, looking for “a place of
prayer.”
When they got to the banks of the Gangites
River, where they expected to find a
gathering of Jewish men, they found only a
group of women. Never one to let an opportunity
go by, Paul talked to them about Jesus.
One of the women was a merchant of purple
fabrics from Thyatira. 2 Her name was Lydia.
The nature of her profession shows that she was a part of the upper socioeconomic
group. She is also termed “a worshiper of God” (Acts 16:14).
PHILIPPI
This city, originally called Crenides, was founded in the fourth century BCE and then named after Philip II, king of
Macedonia. It was reestablished by Mark Antony in 42 BCE after a battle that he and Octavian fought against Brutus
and Cassius. Because of Roman expansion toward Thrace and incorporation of the Scythian tribes along the
Black Sea (ca. 46 CE), it was a garrison city on the edge of the empire at the time of the emperor Claudius.
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CHAPTER 17: BRIDGES TO THE NEW TESTAMENT ◗ 363
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