Books Jesus Read

Chapter 2: Hasmonean Holiness – Judas Maccabeus

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that it harbored a fabulous collection of weapons fashioned from gold left over from the reign of Alexander, he attacked the city in order to plunder it. But the citizens of Elymais got word that the attack was coming and withstood him. Antiochus, stunned at his defeat, decided to return home to Babylon. On the way, Antiochus was met by a messenger who informed him that Lysias had failed to conquer Israel. The messenger also reported that Judas Maccabeus and his brothers had assembled a fighting force that was undefeated, that they had purged their temple of the abomination 3 set up by the king, and that they had fortified the city of Jerusalem against its enemies by constructing high walls. The king, deeply shaken by this news, found himself unable to continue the journey home. Deeply depressed, he stayed in his tent for many days. At last, he called together his closest friends and advisors and confessed, “I am in distress, plunged into an overwhelming flood. I am weighed down with worry and unable to sleep. Though I have been kind and beloved in my reign, I have to confess the wrongs which I did to Jerusalem. 4 For I stole her vessels of silver and gold and sent armies to destroy her without good reason. I now realize the error of my ways and why all this bad luck has fallen on me. Here I lay helpless, dying of disappointment far from home.” 3 Abomination – the pagan idol placed in the sanctuary which, by its very presence, desecrated or corrupted the holy place. 4 At his death, Antiochus Epiphanes would be condemned by the Jews as the worst Gentile ruler of all time. Among his Gentile subjects, however, Antiochus was popular and would be remembered as someone who made friends easily and lavished gifts on them.