What do we mean by political history? We mean the intertestamental period, which consists of approximately four hundred years transpiring between the closing of the Old Testament canon, and the beginning of the New Testament history. To be more precise than estimating about four hundred years, we can say it goes from 424 BC to about 5 BC when our Lord was born. There is no record made in the Bible of the experiences of the Jewish people during this gap—this hiatus during the Old and New Testament. Yet during this gap between Malachi and Matthew, or between Nehemiah and the coming of the Nazarene, this gap of time, many important changes evolved. This is virtually the “dark ages” of Jewish history. That is, during this time, there is no prophet or inspired writer during this period of time. We can see something of the attitude of the people expressed in Psalms 74:9 where it reads, “We do not see our sign, there is no longer any prophet, there is none among us who knows how long.” In this “Dark Age” of Jewish history, it is impossible to understand the life of Christ, or other New Testament events without at least a cursory acquaintance with the happenings during this intertestamental period.