We see, so far, that Judas is successful as a military leader. He has used brilliant tactics to bring his war to the Seleucids instead of fighting their war where larger numbers of forces and cavalry would destroy him and his forces.
Lysias vs. Judas (1 Maccabees 4:26-35)
Read 1 Maccabees 4:26-27
– How is Lysias, whom Antiochus Epiphanes had appointed to take care of the Israelite problem, affected by the news of his force’s defeat?
Read 1 Maccabees 4:28-33
– What is the situation after Lysias regroups?
Lysias chooses to enter Israel from the south. This was to help keep the Israelites from having the advantage of the higher mountainous ground and force the Israelites (at least he hoped) to fight a conventional war on the plains.
– How does Judas again prepare for battle?
– What is the ratio of forces that Lysias has over the Israelites?
Read 1 Maccabees 4:34-35
– What is the result of the battle?
– Where does Lysias withdraw?
Although not stated in 1 Maccabees, 2 Maccabees tells us that Lysias withdrew to Antioch thinking that once he had withdrawn from Israel, support for Judas would fragment. He thought this would take place, for when the threat no longer seemed imminent, the Israelites would break into many factions with differing demands and competing ideologies.
Lysias’ withdrawal also implies that Judas’ forces, although only numbering 10,000, had much support from the population at large. So, instead of achieving a victory at such a high cost, Lysias decided to bide his time and attack later when Israel was weak and fragmented.
The Temple is Rededicated (1 Maccabees 4:36-61)
Read 1 Maccabees 4:36-40
– What is the state of the Temple when Judas goes to investigate?
– How did he and his brothers respond?
Read 1 Maccabees 4:41-46
Judas was unsure about what to do with the altar stones that had been desecrated by pagan worship.
Deuteronomy 12:2-3: Completely destroy all the places where the nations that you are displacing worship their gods–on the high mountains, on the hills, and under every green tree. Tear down their altars, shatter their sacred stones, burn their Asherah poles in the fire, and cut down the carved images of their gods. You must wipe out the names of their gods from those places.
– What does this verse say about what the Jews were to do with pagan altars they found within the borders of Israel?
Yet, Judas was not dealing with pagan altars but with an altar used for worship of the one, true God that pagan worship had defiled.
– What does Judas choose to do?
– Why?
– Discuss: Why did Judas remove the stones and store them instead of crushing them?
Read 1 Maccabees 4:47-51
– What did Judas now have done?
Judas now restored the Temple according to Exodus 25-27. The furnishings that God had commanded to be in His Temple all were there for a reason. Yet, even in the Old Covenant, they all pointed to their fulfillment in Christ. For example:
- The Altar: Pointed forward to Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross.
- The Showbread: Jesus referred to Himself as the bread of life (John 6:31-35). We see the ultimate fulfillment in the Lord’s Supper, where Jesus, the Bread of Life (John 6:51), gives us His flesh to eat in the Supper (John 6:53-55; Matthew 26:26-28).
- The Lampstand: Jesus referred to Himself as light of the world (John 8:12; 9:5). Without Him we remain in spiritual darkness.
- Incense: Represents our prayers rising to heaven (Psalms 141:2). In the way that incense represents our prayers rising to God, incense also represents Jesus bringing our prayers (like incesne) to God the Father (Hebrews 7:25, 9:24).
Read 1 Maccabees 4:52-59
– What now took place after the Temple was restored?
– By what took place, what do we learn about “styles” of worship?
– After that, what took place every year because of what had happened?
NT-Tie In: The Feast of Dedication
Today, the original Israelite celebration of the Feast of Dedication has changed and become Chanukah (Feast of Lights). Originally, it is an eight-day winter festival that celebrated Israel’s deliverance from Syrian oppression as well as Judas Maccabeus’ cleansing and rededication of the Jerusalem Temple in 164 BC (See also 2 Maccabees 10:1-8).
Read John 10:22-38
John specifically mentions Jesus being at the Temple during the Feast of Dedication. Thus, Jesus being there and what He said was not incidental. John wants us to hear Jesus’ words in light of the events that the Feast of Dedication was celebrating. John also wants us to understand why the Jews responded so emotionally to Jesus because of that festival.
The Feast of Dedication celebrated the re-consecration of the Second Temple by the Maccabees, just as its predecessors, the wilderness Tabernacle (Numbers 7:1) and Solomon’s Temple, had been consecrated (1 Kings 9:3). Jesus words, resonating against the background of the Feast of the Dedication, show us that Jesus becomes of the fulfillment of the Temple (John 2:20-21).
– At a Feast of Dedication, the Jews were celebrating the restoration of the Temple and the removal of an imposter who claimed to be God (Antiochus Epiphanes). Who was Jesus claiming to be (vs. 30)?
– Because of that, how did the Jews respond (vs. 31-33)?
Jesus said that He was God during the Feast of Dedication. Those who believed Jesus understood what it meant for Him to be the Messiah. Those who did not, boiled over in anger. “Here’s this man claiming to be God just like Antiochus Epiphanes. He should now be in the grave just like him!” And so they picked up rocks to stone Him.
By His words, they knew that Jesus called Himself God. In anger they responded, “We aren’t stoning you for good work, but for blasphemy, because You–being a man–make Yourself God.”
So there Jesus is, saying He is God. How was it supposed to be understood? In this way: Yes, Antiochus Epiphanes was nothing but a fraud who claimed to be God, but here before you is God in the flesh–the Messiah, the I AM. That was what they were meant to learn and take in.
Read 1 Maccabees 4:60-61
– What did Judas do to help ensure the Temple was not profaned a second time?
