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In last week’s article, we laid the historical and political foundation explaining the events which lead up to the Maccabean revolt. This week, week we continue with our chronological look into the events of the Maccabean revolt and the observance of Chanukah.
The Seeds of Revolt
When Antiochus left Jerusalem for Antioch, he left governors to attend to local matters – governors who were corrupt and mistreated the people of Judea. He further ordered the aptly named Apollonius to butcher all the men within Jerusalem and to sell the women and children into slavery;
When Apollonius arrived in Jerusalem, he pretended to be peaceable. He waited until the holy Sabbath day to take advantage of the Jewish rest from work, and then he led an armed parade of his troops. He suddenly killed with swords all those who had come out to see the spectacle. While running into the city with his foot soldiers, he slaughtered a large number of the crowd. But Judas, also known as the Maccabee, and about ten men with him, fled into the highlands where he (along with those accompanying him) managed to avoid defiling themselves by living like wild animals: they ate grass for food.
2 Maccabees 5:25 – 27 (CEB)
Following this, Antiochus essentially launched an assault on Judaism and the worship of יהוה (YHVH):
Shortly afterward the king sent out an Athenian elder to force the Jews to turn away from their ancestral laws and stop living according to God’s laws. He was also ordered to defile the temple in Jerusalem and to rename it for Zeus Olympus, and to rename the temple in Mount Gerizim for Zeus, Friend of Strangers, just as the people living there requested. The onslaught of this evil was severe and hard for all to bear. The Gentiles filled the temple with wild partying and sexual indulgence. They were entertaining themselves with prostitutes and having sex with women in the priestly chambers. In addition, they carried in unfit things, and the altar was illegally covered with offerings forbidden by the laws.
2 Maccabees 6:1 – 5 (CEB)
In all of this, Judaism – every observance and tradition handed down from the time of Moses – was essentially outlawed under pain of death. The Temple was defiled in every conceivable manner and an idol to Zeus was erected there as First Maccabees records:
Now on the fifteenth day of Kislev, in the year 145, they set up a disgusting and destructive thing on the altar for entirely burned offerings in the sanctuary. The inspectors built other altars in the surrounding Judean towns. They burned incense at the doors of houses and in the streets. When they found the Law scrolls, they tore them to pieces and burned them. If anyone was caught in possession of a copy of the covenant scroll or if anyone kept to the Law, that person was condemned to death by royal decree.
1 Maccabees 1:54 – 57 (CEB)
On the twenty-fifth day of the month they offered sacrifice on the altar built over the altar for entirely burned offerings. In keeping with the decree, they killed women who had circumcised their sons. They hanged the infant boys from their mothers’ necks. The king’s agents also killed the families of the women as well as those who had performed the circumcisions.
1 Maccabees 1:59 – 61 (CEB)
Note that as pertains to the Temple, we have here a model – a prophetic shadow – of the abomination of desolation spoken by the prophet Daniel. [Ref: Daniel 12:11]
This period of defilement and persecution is not without its heroes however.
But many in Israel stood strong, and they resolved in their hearts not to eat impure food. They chose to die rather than to be defiled by the food or to dishonor the holy covenant. And they did die. A great anger came against Israel.
1 Maccabees 1:62 – 64 (CEB)
Even before Judah Maccabeus took action, there were those who stood strong for their faith and for the word of the Living God. Second Maccabees provides stark examples of how the righteous conducted themselves:
- Two women had their sons circumcised on the eighth day as prescribed by the Torah. For this, their sons were hanged from their breasts and they were dragged through the city in a public display. Afterwards, they were thrown from the city wall to their deaths. [Ref: 2 Maccabees 6:10]
- Groups of Torah Observant Jews gathered in secret to keep and remember the Shabbat (Sabbath), but were betrayed and were subsequently burned alive. [ Ref: 2 Maccabees 6:11]
- Eleazar the scribe, being forced to eat pork spit the meat out of his mouth and proceeded voluntarily to the instrument that would end his life. Even when encouraged by others to simply pretend to eat the meat, he refused because of the example it would have set. [ Ref: 2 Maccabees 6:18 – 31]
- Seven brothers, brought before the King and ordered to eat the forbidden meat, refused and were summarily tortured and killed. One by one they were dismembered and cooked alive – all in front of their mother. [ Ref: 2 Maccabees 7:1 – 42]
Judah “The Hammer”
In those days a priest from Joarib’s family named Mattathias, the son of John and grandson of Simeon, moved from Jerusalem and settled in Modein. He had five sons: John, who had the surname Gaddi; Simon, called Thassi; Judas, called Maccabeus; Eleazar, called Avaran; and Jonathan, called Apphus.
1 Maccabees 2:1 – 5 (CEB)
To clarify, Judas is an Anglicization of the Hebrew name Yehudah, or Judah. What he will go on to accomplish following all of these events is summed up in the last recorded words of his dying father:
“So you see that from generation to generation, no one who continues to trust God will lack strength. Don’t fear the words of sinners, for their glory will turn into dung and worms. Today they may be exalted, but tomorrow they can’t be found, because they will have returned to the dust and their plans will have vanished. My children, show courage and grow strong in the Law, because this will bring you honor.
“Look, here is your brother Simon, who I know is a man with purpose. Always listen to him. He will be your father. Judas Maccabeus has been a powerful fighter since he was a boy. He will command the army for you and lead the battle against the peoples. Rally around yourselves all who observe the Law, and avenge wrong done to your people. Pay the Gentiles back in full, and obey what the Law commands.”
Then he blessed them and joined his ancestors. He died in the year 146 and was buried in an ancestral tomb at Modein. All Israel mourned for him with sorrow.
1 Maccabees 3:61 – 70 (CEB)
Judah and all those with him went on to fight the Seluecid forces and won victory after victory. 1 Maccabees records that he fought Apollonius (the same who had slaughtered many Jews on the Sabbath), killed him and took his sword – which he used in battle for the rest of his life. [ Ref: 1 Maccabees 3:10 – 12]
In response to the Maccabean victories, a Syrian commander named Seron, took a large force to confront Judah and his army:
When he approached the ascent to go up to Beth-horon, Judas went out to meet him with a small group. When they saw Seron’s army that was coming against them, they said to Judas, “How can we, who are so few, fight against so large and strong a multitude? What’s more, we feel faint because we haven’t eaten today.”
Judas answered, “It’s easy for many to be trapped by a few. In the sight of heaven, it makes no difference to win by many or by few. It’s not the size of the army that brings victory in battle, because strength comes from heaven. They’re coming against us with a lot of pride and evil. They want to destroy us, along with our wives and children. They want to ruin us. But we are fighting for our lives and for our laws. The heavenly one himself will crush them before us. Don’t be afraid of them.”
After Judas said these words, his soldiers rushed suddenly against Seron’s army, and they crushed them. Judas’ soldiers pursued Seron’s army down the hill from Beth-horon to the plain below. Eight hundred of them died. The rest fled into the land of the Philistines. After this, Judas and his brothers were feared. Terror fell on all the Gentiles around them. Even the king heard about his reputation, and the Gentiles talked about the battles waged by Judas.
1 Maccabees 3:16 – 26 (CEB)
As you can imagine, Antiochus wasn’t very happy about the circumstances in Judea, but was facing serious financial trouble. With all the turmoil, revenues were small and the treasury was running low, so he withdrew to Persia in order to raise more money to fund his sizable army. This, after paying his army for a full year’s service up front.
Prior to his retreat into Persia, Antiochus appointed a viceroy, a man named Lysias. Lysias then appointed 3 men, Ptolemy Nicanor and Gorgias to take a force of forty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry to lay waste to Judea and put an end to the revolt. When the army encamped near Emmaus, they were joined by a force from Edom and the land of the Philistines.
Judah, his brothers and those with him sought the Lord in prayer and fasting. They consulted the Torah and prepared themselves in accordance with the prescriptions of the law. [Ref: 1 Maccabees 3:42- 60]
Gorgias took five thousand infantry and one thousand cavalry with the intent of ambushing the Maccabean camp during the night – but Judah got word of the plan and moved his men to attack the main Seluecid force during the absence of Gorgias contingent.
For those not keeping track – there would still have been forty-one thousand Seluecid troops and an untold number of Edomite / Philistine soldiers. Bear that in mind when considering the following citation:
At daybreak, Judas appeared in the plain with three thousand men. But they didn’t have armor and swords such as they would have liked. They saw the Gentile camp, strongly fortified, surrounded by cavalry clearly trained in warfare. Judas said to those who were with him: “Don’t fear their numbers or be afraid when they charge. Remember how our ancestors were saved at the Red Sea, when Pharaoh was pursuing them with his forces. So let’s cry to heaven to see if the heavenly one will favor us and remember his covenant with our ancestors and crush this army in front of us today. Then all the Gentiles will know that there is someone who redeems and saves Israel.”
The foreigners looked up and saw the Israelites coming against them. They went out from their camp to engage them in battle. The men with Judas blew their trumpets, and the battle began. The Gentiles were crushed and fled into the plain. All those who were in the rear were killed by the sword. The Israelites pursued them to Gazara, to the plains of Idumea, and to Azotus and Jamnia. Three thousand Gentiles died. Judas and his forces stopped pursuing them.
1 Maccabees 4:6 – 16 (CEB)
Lysias, displeased with the events, organized an even larger force of sixty thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry to subdue the uprising in Judea and would meet Judah and the Maccabean army the following year. [Ref: 1 Maccabees 4:26 – 29]
Then both sides attacked each other. Five thousand men from Lysias’ army died in the fighting. Lysias saw his troops being defeated and took note of the boldness that inspired Judas’ troops—how ready they were to live or die bravely. So he withdrew to Antioch and enlisted mercenaries so that he could invade Judea again with an even bigger army.
1 Maccabees 4:34 – 35 (CEB)
The Heart of Chanuka
Although the conflict between the growing Judean / Maccabean forces and the Seluecid Empire would continue for some years, it was at this time that the Temple was rededicated [Ref: 1 Maccabees 4:36 – 37]. Chanukah is commonly referred to as the “Festival of Lights”, but I contend it is more accurately referred to as the “Festival of Dedication” because this, dedication and / or re-dedication is the very heart of Chanukah.
Then came the feast of the Dedication in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple area in Solomon’s Portico. The Jewish leaders surrounded him and asked, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus replied, “I told you and you do not believe. The deeds I do in my Father’s name testify about me. But you refuse to believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
John 10:22 – 27
Judaic / Rabbinic tradition holds that during this time, there was only enough oil to light the Menorah for one day, but that the lamp burned for eight full days until new oil could be produced for fuel.
It sounds nice and all, but I have yet to find a single ancient source which speaks of, alludes to, or validates this claim in any way shape or form… What I do find is the miraculous intervention of Almighty God to strengthen the faithful, lift up the downtrodden and maintain unwavering faithfulness to His covenant and His covenant people.
You may ask then, why is Chanukah an eight day celebration? I contend that it’s because the re-dedication of the Temple was modeled after the dedication of the First Temple by Solomon – which occurred during Sukkot, or the feast of Tabernacles, which is an eight day celebration. [Ref: 1 Kings 8]
Personally, I celebrate Chanukah because my Messiah did.
I celebrate Chanukah because I am thankful there was a Judah Maccabeus to fight for the people and rededicate the Holy Temple.
I celebrate Chanukah because I want to honor and commemorate those righteous Jews who upheld the law, who stewarded the oracles entrusted to them, who fought for their people and for the Name of the Most High and those who shone as a light to the nations in their undying loyalty to the King of the Universe…
Should the need arise, I pray to have the strength of even one of the least of these… to stand for my faith and, if necessary, to die for it.
חג שמח – Chag Sameach – Joyous Festival
שלום עליכם – Shalom Aleichem – Peace Be Upon You