🔥🔹 What Really Happened: 71–140 AD
📆 71–85 AD – The Hebrew Followers Regroup
After the destruction of the Temple in 70 AD, the surviving followers of Yeshua (Jesus), known as Nazarenes, regroup in Pella and nearby areas.
Though James the Just (Yaakov) had been killed around 62 AD, the movement continued under other original disciples.
These followers kept Torah, including:
Sabbath
Circumcision
Kosher laws
The teachings of Yeshua as the promised Redeemer.
📆 81–96 AD — Reign of Titus and Domitian
🔥 Roman Persecution & Suppression Intensifies
Titus and especially Domitian (81–96 AD) saw Jews and Messianic followers as a threat to Roman unity.
Domitian demanded emperor worship — refusal led to imprisonment, exile, or death.
Many Hebrew scrolls, genealogies, and Messianic writings were destroyed or lost.
⚠️ Anyone keeping Torah, Sabbath, or proclaiming Yeshua as Messiah was in danger.
📆 85–95 AD – Conflict Grows Between Hebrew Followers and Paul-Based Assemblies
Gentile assemblies grow in Greek-speaking areas, many following Paul’s teachings, which rejected Torah.
Two distinct groups emerge:
Hebrew disciples (like Peter, John, Matthew, Thomas) who kept Torah.
Pauline followers, claiming freedom from the law.
Tensions rise between Torah-keepers and law-free Gentile congregations.
📆 90 AD – The Birkat HaMinim Curse Introduced
Jewish leadership adds a curse against “Minim” (heretics) into synagogue prayers.
This likely targeted Nazarenes, forcing them out of synagogues.
The divide between non-Messianic Jews and Hebrew followers of Yeshua becomes sharp.
📆 95–110 AD – Gentile Leadership Expands
Teachers like Ignatius of Antioch (around 110 AD):
Reject Torah, Sabbath, circumcision.
Promote bishop authority.
Encourage separation from Judaism and Hebrew roots.
🔄 Hebrew traditions and scriptures begin to be devalued and replaced by Greek-influenced teachings.
📆 96–117 AD – Reign of Emperor Trajan
🔥 Persecutions intensify, especially outside Judea.
Trajan authorizes governors to execute followers of Yeshua who won’t recant.
Pliny the Younger’s letters confirm execution of early believers.
Writings and scrolls are confiscated or destroyed.
📜 Hebrew-focused Yeshua-followers fade from visibility under mounting pressure.
📆 110–130 AD – Nazarenes Pushed Underground
Hebrew followers are now attacked by both Rome and rabbinic Jews.
They refuse to join Pauline Gentile churches and are also expelled from Jewish synagogues.
Meet in secret, preserving Hebrew teachings of Yeshua.
Their texts remain Hebrew, not Greek.
📆 132–136 AD – The Bar Kokhba Revolt and Hadrian’s Persecution
🔥🔥 The most destructive period under Emperor Hadrian.
Hadrian bans:
Sabbath
Circumcision
Torah study
Scrolls are burned, synagogues destroyed.
Jerusalem renamed “Aelia Capitolina.”
A temple to Jupiter is built over the ruins of YHWH’s Temple.
Jews banned from Jerusalem. Hebrew identity is criminalized.
🎯 Persecution targets anyone linked to Hebrew customs, including followers of Yeshua.
📜 Many early writings and teachings of Yeshua in Hebrew are lost, hidden, or destroyed.
Gentile churches in Rome and Alexandria rise, abandoning Hebrew identity to survive.
💡 Bottom Line (Summary):
From 71 to 136 AD, Rome tried to erase Hebrew identity—from Judaism to early Messianic believers.
Scrolls that tied people to Torah, Sabbath, and Yeshua as the Hebrew Messiah were seen as dangerous and often burned.
This era opened the door for Greek Christianity to dominate, while Hebrew disciples and their legacy were nearly erased—until fragments began re-emerging centuries later.