By the time of the New Testament, the ancient city of Jerusalem had been transformed from the relatively small fortress of David’s day (2 Samuel 5:6-10; 1 Chronicles 11:4-9) into a major city with a Temple that rivaled the greatest temples in the Roman world. Just prior to Jesus’ birth, Herod the Great completely renovated […]
Category Archives: Roman Period
Paul’s Third Missionary Journey
Acts 18:23-21:19 Sometime after he finished his second missionary journey, Paul and Silas left Antioch and began a third missionary journey. As with their previous journey, they revisited the churches in Galatia and Phrygia and encouraged them. Then Paul fulfilled his promise to return to Ephesus, where he ministered for many months, preaching first in […]
Paul’s Second Missionary Journey
Acts 15:36-18:22 Sometime after Paul’s first missionary journey, he and Barnabas decided to revisit the churches where they had preached and deliver a letter to them from the apostles in Jerusalem, but a sharp disagreement between them over Barnabas’s cousin John Mark (see Colossians 4:10) led them to separate and take separate journeys. Barnabas took […]
Paul’s Conversion and Early Travels
Acts 9 Before his conversion, Paul (or Saul, as he is sometimes called in Acts) was a Jew who was zealously seeking out those who followed Jesus to throw them into prison (Acts 8:1-3). He had obtained permission from the High Priest to go to Damascus to arrest any believers he found there and bring […]
Palestine under Roman Rule
At the time of Jesus’ birth, the land of Israel (now called Palestine by the Romans) was ruled by the Romans, who had granted Herod the Great the title of “king” over the region. His domain included most of the land that once belonged to Israel. After his death, the Romans granted Herod’s wishes that […]