At the time of Jesus, Palestine was occupied by the Roman army and it was under Roman rule. Jews of the time wanted political and religious freedom. Some Jews argued that Yahweh was the God of history and that if Yahweh so wanted, he could and would remove the Romans. It was obvious that Yahweh had the power to do this. That he did not use this power meant to these Jews that Yahweh did not want or wish to remove the foreign Romans. That Yahweh did not want to get rid of the Romans meant that he was punishing his people for something that they did. The solution to the problem of Roman oppression was for the Jewish people to purify themselves by leaving the city, particularly Jerusalem, going into the "desert," and becoming hermits by fasting and praying. In this way, the Jewish people would become "right with Yahweh" and Yahweh would easily take care of the Roman army. These Jews were called "Essenes".