Part 20

[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:39-48] When Mattathias and his friends knew it they mourned bitterly over them. And they said to each other, If we all do as our brothers have done, and do not fight against the armed heathen for our lives and our customs, they will now quickly destroy us from off the earth. So they took counsel that day, saying, Whoever shall come against us for battle on the sabbath day, let us fight against him, and we will by no means all die, as our brothers died in the hiding places. Then there gathered together to them a company of Hasideans, brave men of Israel, every one who offered himself willingly for the law. And all who fled from the evils were added to them, and strengthened them. And they mustered a host.

And smote the sinners in their anger And the lawless in their wrath.

And the rest fled to the heathen for safety. Also Mattathias and his friends went about and pulled down the altars, and circumcised by force the children who were uncircumcised, as many as they found in the territory of Israel. Thus they pursued the sons of arrogance, and the work prospered in their hand. They took the direction of affairs out of the hands of the heathen and of the kings, nor did they yield ground to the sinner.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:49-64] When the time approached for Mattathias to die he said to his sons, Now insolence and insult have grown strong, and a period of reversals has come, with flaming wrath.

Now, my sons, be zealous for the law, And give your lives for the covenant of your fathers. And remember the deeds which your forefathers did in their generations; And win great glory and everlasting fame. Was not Abraham found faithful when tested? And it was counted to him as righteousness. Joseph in the time of his distress kept the commandment, And became lord of Egypt, Phinehas our father, because he was so zealous, Received the covenant of an everlasting priesthood. Joshua for carrying out the word of God, Became a ruler in Israel. Caleb for bearing witness in the congregation, Obtained a heritage in the land.

David for being merciful, Inherited a kingly throne for ever and ever. Elijah because he was so zealous for the law, Was taken up into heaven. Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael believed, And were rescued from the flame. Daniel because of his innocence, Was delivered from the mouth of lions. And thus consider from generation to generation: None who put their trust in him ever want strength. Then be not afraid of the words of a sinful man; For his glory shall be dung and worms. To-day he is exalted, but to-morrow he cannot be found, Because he has returned to dust, and the memory of him has perished.

Then my sons be strong, and show yourselves men in behalf of the law; By so doing you shall obtain glory.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:65-68] And, behold, Simon your brother, I know that he is a man of counsel; Obey him always; let him be your adviser. Judas Maccabeus, too, has been a man of war from his youth; He shall be your captain, and fight the battle of the people. And take to yourselves all law-abiding men, And avenge the wrong of your people. Render a recompense to the heathen, And give heed to the commands of the law.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 2:69-70] Thus he blessed them and was gathered to his fathers. And he died in the one hundred and forty-sixth year, and his sons buried him in the sepulchres of his fathers at Modein, and all Israel made a great lamentation for him.

[Sidenote: Dan. 7:1-8] In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon Daniel had a dream and visions of his head upon his bed. Then he wrote down the dream: I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven broke forth upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, each different from the other. The first was like a lion and had eagle's wings. I looked until its wings were stripped off, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made to stand upon two feet as a man; and a man's heart was given to it. And behold, a second beast, like a bear; and it was raised up on one side, and three ribs were in its mouth, between its teeth; and they said thus to it: Arise, devour much flesh. After this I beheld, and lo, another like a leopard, which had upon its sides four wings of a bird; and the beast had also four heads, and dominion was given to it. After this I saw in the night visions, and behold, a fourth beast, terrible and fearful, and exceedingly strong; and it had great iron teeth; it devoured and broke in pieces and stamped the rest with its feet; and it differed from all the beasts that were before it; and it had ten horns. I gave attention to the horns, and behold another little horn came up amongst them, before which three of the first horns were plucked up by the roots; and behold, in this horn were eyes, like the eyes of a man, and a mouth speaking great things.

[Sidenote: Dan. 7:9, 10] I waited until thrones were set up, and an aged one took his seat; his clothing was white as snow, and his hair like spotless wool, his throne was fiery flames, its wheels burning fire. A fiery stream issued and came forth before him; thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him; the judgment was set and the books were opened.

[Sidenote: Dan. 7:11, 12] I looked at that time because of the sound of the great words which the horn spoke--I looked even until the beast was slain, and its body destroyed, and given to be fuel for the fire. Also the rule of the rest of the beasts was taken away; but their lives were prolonged for a fixed time and season.

[Sidenote: Dan. 7:13, 14] I saw in the night visions, and behold, there came with the clouds of heaven one like to a son of man, and he came even to the Aged One, and was brought near before him. And there was given him dominion and glory, and sovereignty that all the peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion which shall not pass away, and his sovereignty one which shall not be destroyed.

[Sidenote: Dan. 7:15-18] As for me, Daniel, my spirit was grieved by reason of this, and the visions of my head troubled me. I came near to one of those who stood by, and asked him the truth concerning all this. So he told me and made me know the interpretation of the things. These four great beasts are four kings who shall arise out of the earth. But the saints of the Most High shall receive the sovereignty, and possess the sovereignty forever, even for ever and ever.

[Sidenote: Dan. 7:19-22] Then I desired to know the truth concerning the fourth beast, which was different from all of them, exceeding terrible, whose teeth were of iron, and its nails of brass; which devoured, broke in pieces, and stamped the rest with its fourth feet; and concerning the ten horns that were on its head, and the other horn which came up, and before which three horns fell--it that had eyes, and a mouth that spoke great things, and it appeared to be greater than the rest. I looked, and the same horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, until the Aged One came, and judgment was given to the saints of the Most High, and the fixed time came that the saints possessed the sovereignty.

[Sidenote: Dan. 7:23-27] Thus he said, The fourth beast shall be a fourth kingdom upon earth, which shall be different from all the kingdoms; and shall devour the whole earth, and shall tread it down, and break it in pieces. And as for the ten horns, out of this kingdom shall ten kings arise; and another shall arise after them; and he shall be different from the former, and he shall put down three kings. And he shall speak words against the Most High, and shall continually harass the saints of the Most High; and he shall think to change the fixed times and the law; and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and half a time. But the judgment shall be set, and they shall take away his kingdom, to consume and to destroy finally. And the sovereignty, and the dominion, and the greatness of the kingdoms under the whole heaven, shall surely be given to the people of the saints of the Most High; his sovereignty is an everlasting sovereignty, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.

[Sidenote: Dan. 12:1-3] And at that time Michael shall stand up, the great prince who stands for the children of my people; and there shall be a time of affliction such as there never was since there was a nation, even to that time; and at that time thy people shall be delivered, every one who shall be found written in the book. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt. And they who are wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they who turn many to righteousness as the stars forever and ever.

I. The Uprising Led by Mattathias. The persecutions of Antiochus

Epiphanes had at last reached the point where patient submission and even martyrdom ceased to be a virtue. His agents had successfully carried the merciless, hellenizing campaign throughout practically all the territory of Judea. It was not until they reached its extreme northwestern border that they met the first open opposition. The little town of Modein lay out on the edge of the great plain where the central hills of Palestine break down into low foot-hills. These are intersected by rushing brooks and clear, crystal streams that descend from the heights above. The town lay on a rounded hill about one-third of a mile in diameter that rises abruptly in a series of steep terraces. The Wady Malakeh encircled it on the south and west. On the northeastern side, where lies the modern town, was a broad shoulder of land slightly lower and larger than the acropolis. In ancient times it was probably the site of the lower city. Deep, encircling valleys on the north and east completed the natural defences of this border village that became the altar of Jewish freedom. To-day the scattered ruins of the acropolis are covered in spring-time with a luxuriant growth of grain and olive trees, making it one of the most picturesque mounds in Palestine.

It is surprising that the revolt against the cruel tyranny of Antiochus was led by an aged priest. Like many priests, his home was outside Jerusalem. Evidently he was one of the chief men of Modein. He was descended from the family of Hasmon, hence his descendants, who ultimately became the independent rulers of their race, are sometimes called the Hasmonians. In Mattathias the long-suppressed, hot indignation of the Jewish race at last found expression. In slaying the apostate Jew and Syrian official, Mattathias evoked that warlike spirit which had in earlier days given Israel a home and a place among the nations. His impulsive act inaugurated a new chapter in Israel's life and thought. In its far-reaching consequences it was comparable only to Moses' impulsive slaying of the Egyptian taskmaster.

II. Party of the Hasideans or Pious. It was fortunate that Mattathias had five able, mature sons to support him. Simon, the eldest, was already famous in council. Judas, who bore the surname Maccabeus (whence the word Maccabees), soon proved himself a great military leader. Jonathan combined the qualities of Simon and Judas with a certain craftiness that makes him the least attractive of the three. Eleazar later proved on the battle-field that he had the qualities that make heroes and martyrs. Among the Judean hills, and especially in the barren, almost inaccessible fastnesses that descend in a series of terraces from the central plateau to the Dead Sea, Mattathias and his followers found refuge. Hither many patriotic Jews had already fled. The Syrian mercenaries, however, led by the relentless, apostate Jews, pursued them, and, knowing their scruples, attacked them on the sabbath day and pitilessly slaughtered them. Learning from this awful example, Mattathias and his sons wisely decided that it was more important to fight for their lives than to die for a mere institution. They soon attracted to their standard all who were still faithful to the law. Chief among these were those known as the Hasideans or Pious. They were the spiritual successors of the pious or afflicted, whose woes are voiced in the earlier psalms of the Psalter (Section XLVII:v). They were also the forerunners of the party of the Pharisees, which was one of the products of the Maccabean struggle. In them faith and patriotism were so blended that, like Cromwell's Ironsides, they were daunted by no odds. At first they depended upon the guerilla type of warfare, to which the hills of Judea were especially adapted. By enforcing the law of circumcision, by punishing the apostates, and by attacking straggling Syrian bands, they encouraged the faltering Jews, and intimidated the agents of Antiochus. Mattathias soon died, leaving the leadership to his third son, Judas. The poem recording his dying injunctions voices the inspiration that came at this time to Israel's patriots from their nation's past, and that supreme devotion to the law and dauntless courage that animated the leaders in this great movement.

III. Date of the Visions in Daniel 7-12. A parallel but different type of character and hope is reflected in the latter part of the book of Daniel. In the form of visions or predictions, these chapters interpret the meaning of the great world movements from the beginning of the Babylonian to the end of the Greek period. Each vision culminates in a symbolic but detailed description of the rule and persecutions of Antiochus Epiphanes. Several passages describe the destructive policies of this Syrian ruler almost as vividly as the books of Maccabees (Dan. 8:11, 12): "It (Antiochus) magnified itself even to the Prince of the Host (Jehovah), and took away from him the daily sacrifice, and cast down the place of his sanctuary, and set up the sacrilegious thing over the daily sacrifice, and cast down truth to the ground, and did it and prospered."

Daniel 11:20-44 contains a review of the chief events of Antiochus's reign. This description closes with the prediction: "He shall plant his palace between the Mediterranean and the glorious holy mountain; so he shall come to his end and none shall help him." Contemporary records indicate, however, that Antiochus died while engaged in a campaign in distant Persia and not in western Palestine as the author of Daniel anticipated. In the other visions, after the description of Antiochus's persecutions, the details suddenly give place to general predictions, implying that at this point the author turned from the contemplation of past and present events to that which was to him future. The great victories of Judas and his followers that led to the restoration of the temple in 165 B.C. are nowhere mentioned. In 11:34 is found an allusion to the Maccabean uprising: "Now when they are falling they shall be helped with a little help; but many shall join themselves to them with false protestations." This movement, clearly, is not regarded by the author as significant. The date of these visions, therefore, may be fixed with great confidence between the years 168 and 166 B.C.

IV. Their Real Character and Aim. In interpreting these visions it is important to note that they belong to the so-called apocalyptic type of literature. Already Ezekiel and Zechariah had employed the complex symbolism of the apocalypse to stir the imagination and strengthen the faith of their discouraged countrymen. The aim of the author of the closing chapters of Daniel was primarily to present a religious philosophy of history. Through the rise and fall of nations Jehovah's purpose was slowly but surely being realized. They are the expression of the eternal optimism of the prophets. They voice their deathless hope that "the best is yet to be." They were intended to encourage those in the midst of persecution with the assurance that God was still in his heaven, and that all would yet be right with his world.

V. The Four Heathen Kingdoms and the Kingdom of God. In the symbolism of the prophet the four beasts of Daniel 7 represented the Chaldean, Medean, Persian, and Greek Empires. The fourth beast with iron teeth that devoured and broke in pieces the rest was clearly the empire of Alexander, and the little horn that sprang up was the little horn which gored and mangled the helpless people of Jehovah. Opposed to the four beasts which represented the angels, or demons, the champions of each of the great heathen kingdoms, was Israel's patron angel Michael. It is this angel that is apparently referred to in 7:13 as coming from heaven, and in appearance like to a son of man. At Jehovah's direction he was to establish a glorious, universal kingdom, the citizens of which were to be the saints, the faithful Jews who remained loyal to Jehovah during the long, cruel persecutions. Not only those who survived but the martyrs sleeping in the dust of the earth were to awake and receive their glorious reward. The apostates were to be sentenced to everlasting shame and contempt. The wise teachers and martyrs who by word and example had striven to keep their race loyal to Jehovah were to be exalted in the coming messianic kingdom. Thus these visions reveal the hopes that inspired certain of the Jewish race in its period of supreme trial: the belief that Jehovah through his angel would speedily overthrow the power of the heathen persecutor, that he would establish a universal kingdom in which his own people should have chief place, and finally that even the bonds of death would not hold those who had died for the law. Thus at last out of this struggle Judaism emerged with a new-found faith in individual immortality. It was still bound up in the belief in the bodily resurrection, but at last the imperishable worth of the individual had become one of the cornerstones of Israel's religion.

Section CX. THE VICTORIES THAT GAVE THE JEWS RELIGIOUS LIBERTY

[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:1-9] Then his son Judas, who was called Maccabeus, rose up in his place. And all his brothers helped him, as did all those who had supported his father, and they fought with gladness the battle of Israel.

He spread far and wide the fame of his glory And put on his breastplate like a giant, And girded on his weapons of war, And set battles in array, Protecting the army with his sword. He was like a lion in his deeds, And as a lion's whelp roaring for prey. He pursued the lawless, seeking them out, And he burnt up those who troubled his people. The lawless shrunk for fear of him, And all the workers of lawlessness were greatly terrified; And deliverance was attained through him. He angered many kings, And made Jacob glad with his acts; And his memory is blessed forever. He went about among the cities of Judah, And destroyed the godless from the land, And turned away the wrath of God from Israel. And he was renowned to the ends of the earth.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:10-12] Then Apollonius gathered the heathen together and a great army from Samaria to fight against Israel. And when Judas learned of it, he went out to meet him, and defeated and slew him; and many fell mortally wounded, while the rest fled. And they captured their spoils, and Judas took the sword of Apollonius, with which he fought all his days.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:13-15] When Seron, the commander of the army of Syria, heard that Judas had gathered a large force of faithful men about him, who went with him to war, he said, I will make myself famous and gain renown in the kingdom; for I will fight with Judas and those with him, who are defying the command of the king. And there went up with him also a mighty army of the godless to help him, to take vengeance on the Israelites.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:16-22] As he approached the ascent of Bethhoron, Judas went forth to meet him with a small company. But when they saw the army coming to meet them, they said to Judas, How shall we, few as we are, be able to battle against so great a multitude? and we are faint also, having tasted no food to-day. Then Judas said, It is an easy thing for many to be shut up in the hands of a few; and with Heaven it is equally easy to save by many or by few; for victory in battle does not depend upon the size of an army, but from Heaven comes the strength. They come to us full of insolence and lawlessness, to destroy us with our wives and children and to plunder us; but, as for us, we are fighting for our lives and our laws. And he himself will crush them before our face; so do not be afraid of them.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:23, 24] Now when he had finished speaking, he leaped suddenly upon them, and Seron and his army were put to flight before him. And they pursued them by the descent of Bethhoron to the plain, and there fell of them about eight hundred men; but the rest fled into the land of the Philistines.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:25-31] Now the fear of Judas and his brothers and the dread of them began to fall upon the nations round about them. And his reputation reached the king, for every nation was telling of the battles of Judas. But when King Antiochus heard these things, he was filled with indignation and sent and gathered together all the forces of his realm, a very strong army. And he opened his treasury and gave his forces pay for a year, and commanded them to be ready for every emergency. And seeing that money was scarce in his treasury and that the tributes of the country were small, because of the dissension and calamity which he had brought upon the land, for the purpose of taking away the laws which had been in force from the earliest days, he feared that he should not have enough, as at other times, for the expenses and the gifts which he had formerly given with a liberal hand, in which he had surpassed the kings who had been before him. And he was exceedingly perplexed in his mind, and determined to go into Persia and to take the tributes of the countries and to gather much money.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:32-37] So he left Lysias, an honorable man and one of the royal family in charge of the affairs of the king from the River Euphrates to the borders of Egypt and to bring up his son Antiochus, until he returned. And he delivered to him the half of his forces and the elephants, and gave him charge of all the things that he wished to have done and concerning those who dwelt in Judea and in Jerusalem, that he should send a force against them, to root out and destroy the strength of Israel and the remnant of Jerusalem, and to take away their memory from the place, and that he should make foreigners dwell in all their territory and should divide their land to them by lot. Then the king took the remaining half of the forces and set out from Antioch his capital, in the one hundred and forty-seventh year, and, crossing the Euphrates, he went through the upper countries.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:38-41] Now Lysias chose Ptolemy the son of Dorymenes, and Nicanor, and Gorgias, influential men among the king's Friends, and with them sent forty thousand footmen and seven thousand horsemen to go into the land of Judah to destroy it, as the king had ordered. And they set out with all their army and pitched their camp near Emmaus in the plain. And the merchants of the country heard the rumors about them, and taking silver and gold in large quantities, and shackles, they came into the camp to get the Israelites for slaves. There were added to them the forces of Syria and of the Philistines.

[Sidenote: I Macc. 3:42, 43, 46-54] Then Judas and his brothers saw that evils were increasing and that the forces were encamping in their territory, and when they learned of the commands which the king had given to destroy the people and make an end of them, they said to each other,

Let us raise up the ruin of our people And let us fight for our people and the sanctuary;