Who were the Zealots ?
About 25 years before the birth of Jesus, a man by the name of Judas the Galilean (Acts 5:37) led a revolt against the Romans. From his crushing defeat – in which he was killed – was born a political party called the Zealots. Zealots were fervent, fanatic, ardent, passionate Israeli nationalists. They believed that anything they could do to bring about Israel’s independence from Rome was proper. They hated their Roman masters and despised all Jews who had any dealings with them. (Josephus, Antiquities, 18.6) The Zealots had two guiding principles: • They refused to pay taxes to Rome. They believed that Palestine was a “holy land” and none of what it produced should go to a foreign occupying power. • They refused to acknowledge the rule of the Roman Emperor. To them Israel was a theocracy – Jehovah alone was their King. They would never worship or even acknowledge the Roman Emperor. (Gene Getz, The Apostles, p.153) One of the secret branches of this party was a group called the sicarii,
