Rev Brian Richards and Family of Faith

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If you can relate to that feeling, then you can begin to understand what the Jewish people were experiencing in the first century AD.

  It had been four hundred years since they had last received a word from God.

“In a sense, this was Israel's Dark Ages.

  But the faithful trusted in God's promise, and waited expectantly for the coming Messiah.

  As time passed and Israel was made captive to Roman rule, the expected Messiah began to be described more and more like a military hero who would lead the Israelites to political freedom.

  The emperor had burdened them with heavy taxes, but their sin had condemned them to spiritual death.

Suddenly, after four hundred years of silence, God began again His special work in Israel.

  Matthew's gospel is the faithful recounting of the story of this man.

  I am convinced that God was delaying until the proper time when the followers of Jesus would best be able to take His message far beyond the borders of Israel to the Gentiles.

  This allowed the message of Christ to be shared more easily and effectively with non-Jews than would have been possible in prior centuries.

  Cities began to appear in many different regions of the empire, allowing the first missionaries to impact a greater number of people in a shorter amount of time.

* The Roman conquests had caused many pagan nations to lose faith in their gods.

  This created a "spiritual vacuum” ready to be filled by the message of Christ.

  By the time of Jesus' birth, a movement known as Pharisaical Judaism had risen to prominence in Israel.

  The standards for righteousness were impossible to reach, causing many to despair of any hope of pleasing God.