John and Jesus | Apocalypse Now | Candida Moss and Bart Ehrman

A voice cries: “In the desert prepare the Way of Yahweh; Make straight in the Arava a highway for our God (Isa 40:3). They shall separate from the session of perverse men to go to the wilderness, there to prepare the way of truth, 14 as it is written, “In the wilderness prepare the way of the LORD, make straight in the desert a highway for our God” (Community Rule: 1QS 8:13) Both the group that produced the Dead Sea Scrolls and the John the Baptist/Jesus movement looked upon this verse as their basic “Call” to prepare the Way for the end of the age–which they believed was shortly to unfold. John the Baptizer and Qumran The 40s. The Shadow of a man god Caligula "I have existed from the morning of the world and I shall exist until the last star falls from the night. Although I have taken the form of Gaius Caligula, I am all men as I am no man and therefore I am God." Caligula James Tabor: Caligula’s attempt must have fueled the flames of apocalyptic expectation to a fever pitch, which we can see in Paul’s references to “the impending distress” and his advice to followers to forgo marriage since “the appointed time has grown very short” (1 Corinthians 7:26, 29). The actions of Caligula, which came close enough to make it all seem a real possibility in the reign of Nero, must lie behind Mark’s “Little Apocalypse” which predicts the “abomination of desolation” set up in the Temple as the spark that brings on the “great tribulation” and the return of Jesus in the clouds of heaven (Mark 13:14-27). A later letter attributed to Paul also picks up on these same sentiments, with direct references to a “man of lawlessness” who “sits in the Temple of God and proclaims himself to be God” (2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). Gaius Caligula for his order to have statues of himself set up in the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem in 40 CE in an effort to show the sometimes rebellious Jewish populations of the empire that their loyalty to the emperor could not be questioned. Although Augustus and Tiberius had been “divinized,” or declared to be Gods after their deaths by the Roman Senate, Caligula was the first emperor to demand this worshipful status during his lifetime. Caligula tries to desecrate the Temple Sometime between 39 and 40 CE, Caligula sent orders to Petronius, the governor of the Roman province of Syria. Petronius was to install the emperor’s image within the Temple of Jerusalem, using whatever military force was necessary to see his orders through. Before even departing from Syria, Petronius found himself confronted with thousands of protesting Jews, pleading with the governor to reconsider. As the news of Caligula’s orders spread, Jews across the Roman Empire reacted in horror. Not for 200 years had they faced such a threat to the fundamentally aniconic and monotheistic nature of their religion. According to Philo (Embassy to Gaius 203-337), when Agrippa I, Herod Agrippa’s grandson, heard what the emperor was planning to do, he was so shocked he suffered a stroke. Agrippa managed to recover swiftly and fully enough, however, to pen an urgent letter to the emperor imploring him not to go through with his plans. The question was whether he could manage to persuade Caligula before Petronius and his forces arrived in Jerusalem. The emperor changes his mind Meanwhile in Syria, Petronius was in no hurry to march on Jerusalem and install the emperor’s statue. The politically astute governor realised the act would pour fuel on the already flaming tensions between Romans and Jews under Caligula’s rule. Petronius’ gamble paid off. The time he bought by procrastinating proved enough for the emperor to change his mind, though exactly why Caligula did so is unclear. Jewish participation in the Imperial Cult Before we look at Caligula’s attempt to desecrate the Temple, we should remind ourselves of the complicated relationship between the Jews’ freedom to worship and their participation in ’emperor worship’ (the imperial cult). The first and most important thing to consider is that Judaism prohibits the worship of idols, not least those representing figures of power. A passage in the Mishnah (2nd/3rd century) censures the worship of statues holding anything in their hand, whether that be a bird, a staff, or a sphere (Abodah Zarah 3.1). The Jews could offer sacrifices on an emperor’s behalf. They just couldn’t afford him the same honours as a god. The difference is crucial and was the source of contention between Caligula and the Jews. Indeed, when Philo met Caligula during his embassy, he assured the emperor that nobody excelled the Jews in loyalty to the imperial house, as expressed with “prayers, preparation of votive offerings and quantity of sacrifices, not only at general festivals but also on a daily basis.” Judging by his decision to desecrate the Temple of Jerusalem with his image, Caligula seems to have been unconvinced.