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Jewish Sects Introduction: Religious division is well documented in the Bible. Not long after the fall of man in the Garden of Eden, man started worshipping idols. While giving the law to Moses on Mount Sinai; Aaron was making a golden calf for the children of Israel to worship. Israel itself divided into two countries with the Northern tribes worshipping Baal and other idols. After the captivity a remnant returned to Canaan. They did not go back into idolatry but they divided into different sects or philosophies. We want to study some of those sects and notice how they correlate to religious division today. I) Different Jewish Sects A) Hellenist (Grecians) Acts 6.1. 1. This group of Jews were the most "liberal" of the Jews. 2. They accepted Grecian names, their institutions, and culture. 3. The Jews in Palestine were generally more conservative than those in other places. 4. See their opposition to the gospel in Acts 9.28-29 as Paul tried to teach in Jerusalem. 5. They are mentioned in Acts 11 as one of the groups hearing the Gospel, verse 20. B) Sadducees 1. Were small in number but had power due to their political influence, Acts 5.17 the High Priest was a Sadducee. 2. They controlled the temple, Acts 4.1 3. They were generally not well liked by the Jews. 4. Main beliefs: a. Believed only in the first 5 books of the Old Testament, the Pentateuch, otherwise called the Torah. b. Denied the resurrection of the dead, Luke 20.27 c. Denied the existence of angels or man having a soul, Acts 23.8. d. The fact is they did not believe the scriptures. Four times in Matthew we find Jesus asking, "Have you not read", Matthew 12.3,5; 19.4; 22.31. 5. They were materialist and materialistic in their religion and life. 6. This sect ended with the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. C) Pharisees, 134 BC 1. Pharisee meant "separated ones" 2. They were the strict legalist and looked on with favor be the people, Phil. 3.5. 3. They claimed strict adherence to the law as opposed to the Hellenist or the Sadducees, Acts 5.34. 4. They accepted all of the "Old Law" plus the Mishna otherwise called the "oral Torah". Referred to by Jesus in Matthew 15.6. a. The oral or tradition was superior to the written law. b. "the Mishna states that the oral law must be observed with greater stringency than the written Law, because statutory law (i.e. oral tradition) affects the life of the ordinary man more intimately than the more remote constitutional Law (the written Torah)" Between the Testaments, page 114. c. More ritualistic in religion and hypocritical. i. Seven times Jesus calls them hypocrites in Matthew 23. ii. Read Matthew 16.6, 11,12 concerning their teachings. 5. They would not eat with those they considered sinners, nor touch their clothing. Remember the charge they leveled against Jesus? He eats with sinners (Mark 2.16). D) Zealots 1. First appeared in Galilee, one of Jesus' disciples was a zealot, Luke 6.15 and he was a Galilean. 2. Their first leader was a man by the name of Judas. Acts 5.36-37 3. They refused to pay taxes to Caesar for God and God alone was their king. It makes the question about paying the temple tax more interesting since Jesus was a Galilean. 4. Eventually they became the leading group of Jews and rebelled against Rome. This resulted in the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 A.D. E) Essenes 1. Not mentioned in the Bible but they were isolationist. 2. Some did not believe in marriage while others did, Hebrews 13.4. This would explain why some settlement have the graves of man and women and others or only men; also why they died out. 3. Their best known for their settlement at Qumran where they found the Dead Sea scrolls. II) Lessons For Us Today A) There are many who claim to be following Christ but are like these groups. 1. The worldly Christians who want to accept the lifestyle or the world. To this group being God's special people is old fashion. 1 John 2.15-17 2. There are some who advocate the health and wealth ministries. The Oral Roberts, Jimmy Swaggarts, and others who put more emphasis on God's physical blessings instead of His spiritual blessings. They pick and choose the parts of the Bible that speaks of wealth but not of the soul and future judgment. They refuse to walk by faith, 2 Corinthians 5.7 3. There are the Pharisees those who are ritualistic but leave out the heart of the law. Religion is simply an exercise in rituals. a. Their heart is not changed, therefore, their lives are not pleasing to God. b. Their man made traditions supersede the Bible. 4. There are today's zealots who advocate the political over the spiritual. The emotional over the intellectual; the physical kingdom over the spiritual kingdom. a. There are some "zealots" who want to fight over every issue and I do mean fight. 2 Corinthians 10.3-5 5. Then there are the isolationist. They don't want to have an influence on those around them so they just keep to themselves. This is not the same as being different from the world because they are not being the salt and light of the world. B) One chooses which sect they belong. 1. There were faithful Jews during the days of Jesus. Those who did not claim allegiance to any sect but only God. 2. The same today. There are those desiring to be Christians and only Christians. Conclusion: Today the different Jewish sects are called Orthodox, Reformed, and Conservative. The problem we always face is to remain true to the Word of God.
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