In the Catholic bible there are two books called 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. The books chronicle the history of the Jews during the period 175 BC to 134 BC. The introduction sets the scene… Alexander the Great had advanced his kingdom to the ends of the earth, plundering many nations. All nations were forcibly brought under his domain and paid him taxes. His world reign as emperor lasted 12 years and then he fell ill and realizing he was about to die, divided his empire among his generals. The story begins with Antiochus Epiphanes who was a descendant of one of Alexander’s generals. In 143 BC, he set his sights on the land of Israel and the city of Jerusalem. He slaughtered many of the people, desecrated their temple and took woman and children as prisoners. After a couple murderous campaigns he decided to unite the world by commanding all nations to abandon their own customs. Many Jews adopted the official pagan religion and abandoned their laws and customs under the penalty of death.
Then one day a Jew called Mattathias stood up to the enforcers of the king’s decree and refused to obey the decree in public. He also killed one of his fellowmen who was offering a pagan sacrifice and killed the enforcer. This was the start of a rebellion of all those faithful to the Law and that is the main subject of the Maccabean books. The faithful Jewish people rallied around Mattathias and when he died he appointed one of his sons Judas Maccabaeus as commander of what was now an army. Judas waged war on all who opposed Israel and the Law with great zeal. His exploits were great and the Israeli army grew to the thousands. They routinely defeated enemies who were better armed and in far greater numbers.
What is noticeably absent from these books is a relationship with God. Hitherto the hallmark of the Jewish nation was that God was with them. There are no prophets or words from God in Maccabees. God was silent. Perhaps this was one of the reasons why these books were omitted from the King James Bible? I don’t know but when I read these tales I couldn’t help but think of some Christians today who have similar characteristics; we live a bible-centred life but have little relationship with God.
As I read the heroic exploits of the Maccabees, defeating all in their way in their zeal for the Law, I could not help but superimpose bible-thumping, hell and damnation preaching believers cutting down sinful idol worshipping pagans with their words left and right. Like the Maccabees some of us are self-styled heroes. Lost without a personal relationship with God but yet carrying on desperately clinging to the bible while our soul lies dead inside. Without a relationship with God, the law, the bible, the church attendance… it all means nothing and it is all for nothing.
To me, this is the great tragedy of the Maccabean tale. A read through the majority of the Old Testament describes the Jewish people always in relationship with God. He spoke with some of them directly and addressed the nation through the prophets. Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, Elijah, Isaiah, they all walked with God. It was Moses who said, “If Your Presence will not go with me, do not bring us up from here.” He refused to journey on through life without God. David said, “Cast me not away from Your presence, and take not Your Holy Spirit from me.” What had happened to the Israelites that caused them to go on without God? How is it that they went out against the enemy time after time without seeking God’s counsel forsaking hundreds of years of a heritage of, “Lord, shall we go up against them?” How was relationship so easily exchanged for religion?
When I look at my own life, I see how easily it can happen. It takes work to have a good relationship with anyone. God is no different. While it is easy to neglect our human relationships, it is even easier to neglect a God we can’t see. It takes a deliberate seeking. A deliberate pulling away from all distractions. A deliberate waiting to hear that small still voice.
Sometimes we say we are walking by faith but it is not faith in what God has told us, it is a resolute soldiering on (or even grasping at what we want and want now) in the absence of any communication from above. The Maccabean tale is a solemn reminder not to keep walking obliviously along the path when our divine travelling companion has paused. Wait. Wait on the Lord!
