began secretly plotting a guerilla style insurrection. Many Judeans either thought Bar Kockba to be the Messiah or that the Messiah would come forth if they were victorious. Along with the Messiah, a third temple would descend from the sky and settle on top of the previous one. In 132 AD the rebels ranks swelled when the most prominent rabbi declared Bar Kockba to indeed be the Messiah. The Bar Kockba rebels bided their time until Emperor Hadrian had left the area for a return trip to Rome. Once he was far enough away, the rebellion was launched and they succeeded in having the Romans withdraw from the area. Julius Severus and Exile Emperor Hadrian could ill afford to have Judea break away and set an example for other rebellious regions within the empire. He commissioned Julius Severus to settle the Judean problem once and for all and sent 13 legions to the area, with units coming from as far as the Rhine and Britain. In all, about 600,000 Jews were slaughtered and the remnants were forced to leave the land. In the centuries that followed, whole villages were abandoned with their citizens settling elsewhere within the empire. Jerusalem was renamed Aelia and Judea took on the name of Palestine (in honor of the Philistines - a final insult to the people of David). Christianity In their new homes, the Jews faced a challenge just as daunting as the Romans. This time the threat came from within - a new form of Judaism called Christianity. These Christians did not mourn the loss of the temple and its sacrificial ordinances like the Jews did. They believed that God had decided to sacrifice His Only Son once and for all making animal sacrifices obsolete. Constantine In 320 AD, civil war had broken out in the Roman Empire and the victorious Constantine had received a revelation to bind the empire back together under the sign of the cross. Unfortunately for Judaism, the Christian bishops who most influenced Constantine happened to be the ones most hostile to the Jews. These bishops wanted to stamp out any friendship that other bishops felt towards Judaism. John Chrysostom, one of the great preachers of the 4th Century, was enraged when some in his congregation would slip out during church services to attend the more interesting Jewish High Holy Days festivals. He preached eight sermons against the Judeaizers