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force, a mere handful of Jews
wiped out the armies of Syria.”
What was this enthusiasm
that motivated the Maccabees?
In the year 167 BCE, Antiochus
Epiphanes devastated and im
poverished Judaea following a
period of military conquest.
After pursuing a policy of
ruthless destruction of life and
property, Antiochus then at
tempted to exterminate the
spirit, the will, the morale of
the Jewish people by destroy
ing their religion. They were
ordered to desist from the wor
ship of their God and the prac
tice of their faith. “Whosoever
is found with any sacred book
of Judaism shall die.” The
Temple was desecrated. The
sanctuaries were polluted. The
Sabbath and the Holy Days
were profaned. Altars, groves
and chapels of idols were set
up for the sacrifice of swine’s
flesh. The Holy Temple was
utilized for sexual orgies and
drunken licentious brawls. Im
morality and cruelty prevailed.
Morale was at its lowest ebb.
Overseers were everywhere.
The people were literally
crushed in the grip of an ab
solute monarchy. "Whosoever
will not do according to the
commandment of the king shall
die!”
Where was this enthusiasm
thai Montesquieu relates? The
ligh' of learning was no more!
The light of decency had been
obliterated! The light of moral
ity had been snuffed out! The
light of freedom had been ex
tinguished! There was only a
fluttering ray of hope and a
flicker of sporadic resistance,
until—
Members of a small and in
significant group, led by Mat-
tathias, met together and de
cided that they would rather
die on their feet than live on
their knees. The flicker of re
sistance increased to a flame of
burning intensity. Let others
give in! Let others yield to the
inevitable! Mad, foolish, and
futile as their efforts might be,
they were going to resist, and.
in effect, grow straight in the
strength of their spirit and live
out their lives as the light. Lis
ten to Mattathias’ strong words
of defiance against the military
might of Syria: "Though all the
nations that are under the
king’s dominion obey him and
fall away, everyone from the
religion of their fathers, and
give consent to his command
ments. yet, will I and my sons
and my brethren walk in the
covenant of our fathers." Stub
born fool! Rebel! Dissenter!
Why? All other peoples had
capitulated to the might of
arms. All the other nations had
yielded to the wisdom of sur
render. Listen to the flaming
ardor of his words that ignited
the will of his followers: “God
forbid that we should forsake
the law and the ordinance. We
will not harken to the king’s
words, to go from our religion,
either on the right hand or the
left.” We will not deviate from
our allegiance to our faith.
Threaten us, persecute utor
ture us, massacre us—we will
not obey! We will resist to the
end! We will live out our lives
as the light! There echoed
throughout Judaea the dark n
call to freedom, “Whosoever is
zealous of the law and main-
taineth the covenant, let him
follow me!” A light glowed in
just a few freedom-loving pat
riots who insisted that the only
way to extinguish that light
was to extinguish them.
The Book of Maccabees re
cords the formidable opposition
that faced these intrepid war
riors. It reveals the contempt of
the Syrian generals who shrug
ged off the rebellion as a sorry
joke. But it likewise reveals
the power of the spirit to meet
the challenge of evil. Judas
Maccabeus was cognizant of the
overwhelming superiority of
the military forces arrayed
against him, but with profound
insight he also recognized the
significance of enthusiasm and
the sustaining power of spirit
ual resolve, as he cried out de
fiantly, “The victory of the bat
tle standeth not in the multi
tude of an host, but strength
cometh from heaven.” Res
ponding to the clarion call:
“Arm yourselves and be val
iant men, for it is better foi us
to die in battle than to behold
the calamities of our people
and of our sanctuary,” with
the strength of the spirit, the
Maccabees harassed, sniped,
and by means of guerrilla war
fare, thrust back and routed
the military might of Syria. On
the 25th day of Kislev, they re
dedicated the Temple, cleaned
out the pollution, and lighted
the sanctuary lamp. But they
rekindled more than a cruse of
oil. In effect, they rekindled
the lamps of decency, just : ce
and morality to reveal the
eternality of the human spirit
struggling for freedom.
In the last battle he ever
fought, when his own followers
urged Judas to abandon the
fight because of the insuper
able military force of the en
emy, he said, “God forbid that
I should do this thing and flee
away from them. If our time
has come, let us die manfully
for our brethren. Let us not
stain our honor.” Judas died
in that battle. Eut he died as
the Maccabee—The Hammer—
strengthened on the anvil of
faith, pounding against the
forces of evil, smashing blow
after blow against tyranny. He
had grown straight in the
The Southern Israelite