before. When the band had swelled to an army, the land was also capable of defense against a foreign foe, who could reach the heights only through narrow valleys where the defenders had a great advantage. 85. LYSIAS. To refill his treasury with plunder, Antiochus IV went to Persia, leaving the kingdom and his young son to the care of Lysias, a relative. On this expedition the king died, and the son succeeded as Antiochus V, reigning two years. The author of II Maccabees tells with exultation of the old tyrant's rage on hearing of Nicanor's death and the rout of Timotheus' forces in Gilead, and describes how, hurrying back to wreak vengeance, he fell from his chariot and soon after expired in great agony. 86. LYSIAS RETREATS. This savage onslaught, combined with the difficulty of maintaining an army on the waterless hills of Judah, moved Lysias to withdraw to Antioch until he could make larger preparation for victory. This gave Judas the breathing spell needed for the rededication of the temple. 87. THE GREAT DELIVERANCE. Judas is referring to the destruction, on the border of Egypt, of the vast army of Sennacherib, whose "rabshakeh" or ambassador, with a force of Assyrian soldiers, had insolently demanded of King Hezekiah entrance into Jerusalem, threatening the king's wrath if the demand was not granted. The prophet Isaiah told Hezekiah to stand firm and God would deliver the city. 88. THE ROMAN REPUBLIC. This glowing picture of the then rapidly rising power of Rome leaves out many dark features, as students of Roman history well know. But it does remind us that the Romans were idealists and that their conceptions of civil liberty, equal justice and world peace brought in many blessings. Their rule, hard as it was, was a great improvement on the lawless tyranny of the Syrian power. 89. DEMETRIUS I succeeded Antiochus V as king of Syria. Constant quarrels for over twenty years between rival claimants for the Syrian throne were skilfully used by the Jewish leaders in advancing their progress toward full independence. 90. DARK DAYS. Deserted by all but a handful of followers, yet seeing more clearly than ever the need of continuing the struggle if freedom were to be won, the noble Jewish hero reminds us of Washington on his retreat through New Jersey in the fall of 1776, when the masterly strategy at Trenton and the courage shown at Princeton enabled the commander to turn the tide and gain a chance for victory once more. 91. THE CITADEL CLEANSED. This final capture of the great fortress overlooking the temple, which for twenty-two years since the templecleaning by Judas had continued to menace the worshipers and pollute the city with heathenism, took place in 142 B.C. and marked the final achievement of Jewish independence. 92. THE MACCABEAN SUCCESSION. John, the third son of Simon, was enabled by a timely warning to save his life; and he ruled over the Jews for more than thirty years. After him came a succession of worldly leaders, many of them personally most corrupt. Leadership of the people was divided between two parties: the Sadducees or sons of Zadok, to whom the Maccabean rulers usually belonged, with the high priest and the wealthy class at Jerusalem; and the Pharisees, loyal to the ideals of Ezra. The Maccabeans, sometimes called the Hasmoneans, were in power from 167 B.C., the date of the old priest's revolt, until Pompey, the Roman general, took Jerusalem in 63 B.C., though he allowed them to hold the throne until 40 B.C. At that time Herod, called the Great, was appointed king of Judea by the Roman senate. He strengthened his position by marrying Mariamne, a descendant of the Hasmonean family. Herod died a few months after Christ was born. So the influence of this great family persisted down to the beginning of the Christian era. SCENES FROM HEBREW LIFE 93. "PLAGUE BOILS." We learn from the narrative that this mysterious Ark was carried as a trophy to Ashdod, a city on the much-traveled coast road from the East to Egypt; that among the crowds that must have thronged to see it a deadly plague broke out; that this plague was characterized by boils and swellings; that in connection with this there was also a plague of mice in the land, which the Philistine priests associated with the disease; that the infection seemed to travel with the Ark from city to city; and that when at last the Hebrews of Beth-shemesh received the Ark, they sacrificed the cows that drew the cart, and were themselves soon after attacked by the plague. It is interesting to note that every element in this description suggests what we know today as the bubonic plague, which has often broken out in that region, and which is spread by the bite of fleas carried in the fur of rats and other animals. 94. VOTIVE IMAGES. Visitors to the Church of Our Lady of Lourdes. in France, or of Ste. Anne de Beaupré in Quebec, or similar shrines of pilgrimage, will note the interesting parallel between these golden images prepared by the Philistines as an offering to Jehovah and the crutches, ship models, and other reminders of trouble and deliverance which the faithful have left at these shrines, in gratitude for blessings there received. The judgment of the Philistine priests that the Hebrew God would not receive back his Ark and stay the plague without an offering represents the universal thought of the ancient worshiper. Some scholars find this in the Third Commandment, which they translate, "Thou shalt not take up the name of Jehovah thy God for emptiness," that is, without an offering to show the sincerity of the worshiper's prayer. THE MACCABEES The following genealogical table, with its brief comments, will serve to place in the reader's mind each of the members of that remarkable family that was so influential through the Greek and even into the Roman period of Jewish history. |