Heroes of the Apocrypha, Part Four- Judah Maccabee

Did you know that the Roman Catholic Bible contains a longer Old Testament than the one Protestants use? That’s because the Catholic Bible includes the Apocrypha. The Apocrypha are a set of biblical books with titles like “Tobit”, “Judith”, “Wisdom of Solomon”, “Baruch”, and “Ecclesiasticus”. They appeared in the first Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, and so they have been considered Holy by many Christians ever since. The Jews, however, later decided to exclude these books from their canon, leaving it to the Christians to preserve them. They were part of the Bible for all Christians until the Reformation, when Protestants decided to exclude them too. But in doing so, we miss out on a number of great stories and characters from these books. Perhaps the Apocrypha are to be considered less authoritative than the rest of scripture, but there is still much there to learn from and enjoy.

The Jewish holiday of Hanukah celebrates the victory of a warrior hero named Judah “the hammer” Maccabee over the forces of the Seleucid King Antiochus IV “Epiphanes” of Syria, and the liberation of the Temple, in the year 165 BCE. How do we know about this victory, which happened in between the Old and New Testaments, and isn’t recorded in either part of the Protestant Bible? It is, of course, part of the Apocrypha.

Judah Maccabee’s story is told in two books, 1 and 2 Maccabees, which are two versions of the events written by two different authors. The first book is mostly a historical account, and the second is much more religious in character. They both recount Antiochus’ attempt to wipe out the Jewish religion, and the rise of a hero to save it. Antiochus was ruler of a huge empire to the west of Israel. In 168 BCE, thwarted in his desire to rule Egypt, the mad Antiochus turned his wrath towards Israel. “So, raging inwardly, he left Egypt and took the city [Jerusalem] by storm. And he commanded his soldiers to cut down relentlessly every one they met and to slay those who went into the houses. Then there was killing of young and old, destruction of boys, women, and children, and slaughter of virgins and infants. Within the total of three days eighty thousand were destroyed […] and as many were sold into slavery as were slain. Not content with this, Antiochus dared to enter the most holy temple in all the world…” (2 Macc.5:11-15)

“Not long after this, the king sent an Athenian senator to compel the Jews to forsake the laws of their fathers and cease to live by the laws of God, and also to pollute the temple in Jerusalem and call it the temple of Olympian Zeus […] For the temple was filled with debauchery and reveling by the Gentiles, who dallied with harlots and had intercourse with women within the sacred precincts […] The altar was covered with abominable offerings which were forbidden by the laws. A man could neither keep the Sabbath, nor observe the feasts of his fathers, nor so much as confess himself to be a Jew.” (2 Macc. 6:1-6)

Now the basic pattern of history observed by the writer of 2 Maccabees is this: God uses enemies like Antiochus to discipline God’s people for their sins. Those of the faithful who die can still look forward to resurrection. “You accursed fiend” says one martyr, “you are depriving me of this present life, but the King of this world will raise us up to live again forever.” (2 Macc. 7:9) Eventually God has mercy and is reconciled to his people. In the end, God’s people are redeemed, while their enemies are utterly destroyed. When God’s wrath turns to mercy, he sends a man like Judah Maccabee to save his people.

In 167 BCE, an old Priest named Mattathias and his five sons defied the edicts of Antiochus and refused to worship pagan gods. They joined together with other pious Jews, and began to fight back against the Syrians. Upon the death of Mattathias, his son Judah, a warrior from his youth, became leader of the army. He was so well loved that the following words of praise were written of him: “Like a giant he put on his breastplate; he girded on his armor of war and waged battles, protecting the host by his sword. He was like a lion in his deeds, like a lion's cub roaring for prey […] and his memory is blessed for ever. He went through the cities of Judah; he destroyed the ungodly out of the land; thus he turned away wrath from Israel. He was renowned to the ends of the earth…” (1 Macc. 3:2-9)

Unable to face the Syrian armies directly at first, Judah Maccabee led his rebels to strike from the hills and use guerilla warfare. In this way, he won a string of early victories. Judah won against all odds precisely because he had faith that God would give him strength for victory. “Judah replied, “It is easy for many to be overcome by few, for in the sight of Heaven there is no difference between deliverance by many or by few; for victory in war does not depend upon the size of the army, but on strength that comes from Heaven. […] we fight for our lives and our laws. He [God] himself will crush them before us; so do not be afraid of them.” (1 Macc. 3:18-22) “So now let us cry to Heaven in the hope that he will favor us, remember his covenant with our fathers, and destroy this army before us today.” (1 Macc. 4:10)

Every time Judah needed a victory, he would pray to God to deliver his enemies into his hands. Every time Judah won a victory, he and his men sang songs of praise to God. New recruits flocked to his side, and soon his army was large enough to win in open battle. Eventually, the Syrians were driven to the coast. In 165 BCE, another victory opened the road to Jerusalem, and Judah marched in at the head of his forces to liberate the city. The Holy Temple was in rough shape, thoroughly defiled by the Syrians.

“Then said Judah and his brothers, “Behold, our enemies are crushed; let us go up to cleanse the sanctuary and dedicate it.” So all the army assembled and they went up to Mount Zion. And they saw the sanctuary desolate, the altar profaned, and the gates burned. In the courts they saw bushes sprung up as in a thicket, or as on one of the mountains. They saw also the chambers of the priests in ruins. Then they rent their clothes, and mourned with great lamentation, and sprinkled themselves with ashes. They fell face down on the ground, and sounded the signal on the trumpets, and cried out to Heaven. Then Judah detailed men to fight against those in the citadel until he had cleansed the sanctuary. He chose blameless priests devoted to the law, and they cleansed the sanctuary and […] built a new altar like the former one.

“[…] Then Judah and his brothers and all the assembly of Israel determined that every year at that season the days of dedication of the altar should be observed with gladness and joy for eight days, beginning with the twenty-fifth day of the month of Chislev.” (1 Macc. 4:36-59) And so began the tradition which is now observed as Hanukah, although neither book of the Maccabees mentions the miracle of the lamp oil which burned for eight days – that story comes from another set of writings called the Talmud. Finally, in keeping with the pattern of history explained above, the human instrument used to discipline God’s people had to be completely destroyed, and so King Antiochus died just two years later. (1 Macc. 6; 2 Macc. 9)

This ends our brief meeting with the heroes of the Apocrypha. We have encountered quite a variety of heroes, but they have one thing in common – extraordinary faith in God. Daniel was an intellectual hero who used his cleverness to defend his faith while in exile in Babylon. Then there was Judith, a brave woman who used beauty and trickery to kill an evil General and save Israel. Tobias and an angel defeated a demon to save his new wife and his father, who had both lost their faith. And Judah Maccabee led the outnumbered warriors of Israel to save the Jewish faith one hundred sixty years before Jesus. Each hero embodied and expressed true faith in God. Although their stories appear in apocryphal books, they deserve to stand proudly next to all the other heroes of faith in the Bible.