In the last lesson, we heard Mattathias tell Judas to become the military leader of the revolt against the Seleucids. The transition went smoothly and Judas began to lead.
Read 1 Maccabees 3:1-9
1st Maccabees then breaks out into poetry again, but this time to praise Judas.
He extended the honor of his people,
and put on his breastplate like a giant.
He armed himself with the weapons of war,
and protected the ranks with his sword.
He was like a lion in his exploits,
like a young lion roaring for prey.
He searched out the wicked, hunting them down,
burning them down with the flame.
The lawless cowered, retreating in fear,
and the evildoers were all confounded.
Deliverance prospered under his hand,
and he afflicted many a king.
He brought joy to Jacob by his deeds,
and his memory is blessed forever.
He passed through the towns of Judah,
and destroyed the ungodly out of the land.
He turned away wrath from Israel,
and his name was known to the ends of the earth.
He gathered the people who were near to destruction.
The writer of Maccabees wants the reader to see Judas in messianic terms.
- Judas does not fight for himself but for the people.
- Burning down the wicked brings out imagery of divine judgment.
- He delivers and gathers his people who would otherwise perish.
Read 1 Maccabees 3:10-12
According to Josephus, Apollonius was the governor of Syria.
– Where are these troops from?
– Could this also explain some of the animosity that the Jews in Jesus’ day had against Samaritans?
1 Samuel 17:51, 54: [After David defeated Goliath, he] ran and stood over him. He grabbed Goliath’s sword, drew it from its sheath, and used it to kill him. Then he cut off his head…. David took Goliath’s head and brought it to Jerusalem, but he put Goliath’s weapons in his own tent.
– How does 1st Maccabees want us to see Judas?
Read 1 Maccabees 3:13-26
In 166 BC, the Syrian army was engaged at Daphne, near Antioch. That would have reduced the number of professional soldiers that Seron would have at his disposal. The “body of faithful men” may have referred to the small core of professional Syrian soldiers. That would mean most of the others in the fighting force were quickly assembled for this battle.
– In verse 15, we can see who makes up most of Seron’s fighting force. They are “ungodly” or “godless.” To whom did the “godless” refer? (1 Maccabees 3:8; 6:21; 7:5; 9:25, 73)
– Besides being outnumbered, why did Judas’ men think it was a bad idea to engage the enemy? (vs. 17)
During a time when Israel was fighting the Philistines, Jonathan (King Saul’s son and David’s friend) defeated the Philistines in a battle. Yet, Jonathan also fought a larger force. Knowing that, this is what Jonathan told his armor bearer: “Come, let us go over to the garrison of these uncircumcised men. Perhaps the Lord will help us. Nothing can keep the Lord from saving, whether by many or by few” (1 Samuel 14:6).
– What does Judas’ response say about how he views what he is doing?
– What was the result of this battle?
Read 1 Maccabees 3:27-37
– How does Antiochus respond to the problems he is having with Judea?
– What was hindering his wanting to raise an army for a year-long campaign?
– Why were revenues low?
– What was Antiochus’ planned “final solution” for the Jews?
Read 1 Maccabees 3:38-45
– How large is the assembled force to destroy Israel?
– Lysias also had a large sum of money to do what?
– How does Judas see his situation? How does he respond?
1st Maccabees again breaks out in poetry to let the reader feel, in some way, the desecration that had befallen Jerusalem and the people of Israel.
Jerusalem lay deserted as a desert;
not one of her children when in our out
The sanctuary was trampled underfoot,
and the sons of foreigners were in the fortress,
a habitation for the Gentiles.
Joy was taken from Jacob,
and the flute and lyre played no more.
NT-Tie-In: In Luke 21:24, Jesus described the destruction awaiting Jerusalem. Jesus drew from several Old Testament passages that described Jerusalem’s destruction in the past. However, Jesus applied them to its devastation in the near future (70 AD). People “falling by the sword” recalled Jeremiah 21:7 and Ezekiel 39:23. Jerusalem being trampled underfoot evoked Isaiah 63:18, Daniel 8:13, and 1 Maccabees 3:45. The times of the Gentiles referred to God’s use of foreign armies to chastise Israel, as in Deuteronomy 28:49 and Zechariah 14:1-2.
– How does this description in 1 Maccabees strongly point forward to what will take place when the Romans destroy Jerusalem in 70 AD?
Read 1 Maccabees 3:46-53
In the Greek, the second half of verse 48 makes no sense. It could be that the original Hebrew was using idiomatic language, which was further garbled in the Greek. It may be that the text was somehow corrupted.
And so to help make sense, we turn to the Syriac translation of 1 Maccabees. It reads:
And they unrolled the scroll of the law and mourned before the Holy One because pagans had compelled them to follow practices like theirs.
– What do we see taking place within the Israelite camp?
Read 1 Maccabees 3:54-60
– Whom did Judas release from the coming battle?
– Discuss why he may have done so.
Read 1 Maccabees 4:1-5
Now Gorgias, an officer in the Seleucid army, took 6,000 men to see if he could defeat Judas in a sneak attack during the night.
– What does Judas do?
Read 1 Maccabees 4:6-11
– What is the situation before the attack ensues?
– How does Judas encourage his men?
Read 1 Maccabees 4:12-18
– What was the result?
Read 1 Maccabees 4:19-25
– What does Gorgias’ 6,000 men do when they finally get near Judas and his troops at Jamnia?
Verse 24 reads: “For he [God] is good, for his mercy endures forever.” That’s a phrase we see throughout the Old Testament, especially in the Psalms and Chronicles. In 1 Maccabees 4:24, that refrain was to remind the hearer of his covenant with God, which God established with His people. When that phrase was heard, it called to mind Jeremiah 33:11. After extolling God’s goodness and mercy, which would endure forever, Jeremiah 33:11 then says: “For I will restore the fortunes of the land as in former times, says the Lord.”
