Books Jesus Read

Chapter 2: Hasmonean Holiness – Judas Maccabeus

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Lysias was enraged at the news of Israel’s success. He persuaded the young king to attack Judea with a legion stationed in the western kingdom. Within days his warriors crossed the Jordan River and assembled in the plains northwest of Jerusalem. When the Jewish scouts spied the vast army they reported that a force as large as the Midianite attack on Gideon was coming. Judas quickly abandoned his attack on the Akra and led all his men out to the field of battle. There, Lysias had arrayed his troops by employing strategies learned from mercenary soldiers he had hired from all over the world. At the center of each battalion was an attack elephant with a mini-fortress strapped to its back by harnesses. Each elephant was driven by a beast master and carried archers who rained arrows down upon the enemy. Before going into battle these elephants were fed a mixture of fermented grapes and berries, arousing their aggression and intensifying their terrible trumpet blasts. A thousand foot soldiers surrounded each elephant and five hundred soldiers on horseback surrounded the entire battalion. Many of them carried shields of polished brass and gold which blinded their opponents as they reflected the sunlight. Those who saw the battle from a distance swore the hills were on fire! Judas and his men made inroads against some of the battalions, killing hundreds of enemy soldiers but unable to stop the overall advance of Lysias’ forces. Eleazar, the younger brother of Judas, noticed that the largest and most fearsome of the attack elephants was at the center of a battalion that had gone unchallenged. This elephant was covered in more armor than any other, and Eleazar suspected it was carrying the king. Taking a few men