Daily Bible Reading: 1 Maccabees 11:38-74 and 2 Peter 3

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1 Maccabees 11:38-74 - The politically complex situation around which the Books of Maccabees are constructed is not easy for modern readers to understand. Generally, in school, history teachers focus on the rise of the Roman Empire in the years we are discussing here. The details of the Hellenistic world simply do no make it into the history books. What is happening here is that the Hellenistic rulers - Ptolemies and Seleucids - are trying hard to expand and consolidate their power in the face of growing Roman power. And the smaller kingdoms of the region - the Jews, for example - are caught up in the larger conflict, using whomever to build local strength. While the Maccabees rise in Jewish history as a force to battle the Hellenists, they soon begin to manipulate the situation for their own benefit as well.

King Demetrius II is unpopular with his own people and with his own troops largely because he does build up the local groups; he depends on Cretan mercenaries. His own troops - the veterans who served his father especially cannot stand him. A man named Trypho [Diodotus Tryphon], formerly a supporter of Alexander Balas, goes to the person who is raising Alexander's young son - whose name is Antiochus, and tries to convince him that young Antiochus could displace the unpopular king.

Jonathan tries to use the situation - the challenge to Demetrius - to get even more favors from him. He wants the Hellenist troops removed from the Citadel in Jerusalem and in other strongholds because they continue to challenge his [Jonathan's] authority. Demetrius promises Jonathan pretty much anything he wants, so Jonathan sends him 3000 men to join his fighting force. Certainly this is only going to make the anti-Demetrius group even angrier.  These troops, along with the other mercenaries working for Demetrius, kill 100,000 people. "They set fire the the city [Antioch] and seized a large amount of spoil . . . and saved the king" (11:48). The people of Antioch surrender to Demetrius, and the Jews return to Jerusalem with lots of loot. But Demetrius doesn't keep all the promises he made to Jonathan when he was trying to get him on his side. 

Meanwhile, Trypho returns with the young challenger to Demetrius - Antiochus VI. He sets the poor kid up as king and gets all the discontented veteran troops to rally to him. They attack Demetrius' troops and rout them from Antioch. Then it says that "the young Antiochus wrote to Jonathan" (11:57), confirming him in the high priesthood and setting him up as chief authority over the four districts the Jews claimed were theirs. He also appoints Jonathan's brother Simon "governor from the Ladder of Tyre to the borders of Egypt" (11:59). He gathers forces together without any trouble until he gets to Gaza, but there the people resist his authority. "So he besieged it and burned its suburbs with fire and plundered them. Then the people of Gaza pleaded with Jonathan, and he made peace with them, and took the sons of their rulers as hostages and sent them to Jerusalem" (11:61-62). 

Jonathan and his troops finally confront Demetrius' forces. At first he does badly; his troops mostly desert him. He "tore his clothes, put dust on his head, and prayed" (11:71), and this seems to turn things around for him. When he returns to battle, things go better and they win the day. Jonathan returns to Jerusalem. 

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2 Peter 3 - Peter associates some of the worldly temptation issues with prophecies of the “last days.” He says, “in the last days some people will appear whose lives are controlled by their own lusts. They will make fun of you and will ask, ‘He promised to come, didn’t he? Where is he? Our ancestors have already died, but everything is still the same as it was since the creation of the world!’” (3:4).

It is understandable, I think, that people who heard Christ say he would return would at some point begin to doubt that these words could be trusted. And if it was hard back in the first century, it is a great hurdle today, two thousand years later. But he reminds us “There is no difference in the Lord’s sight between one day and a thousand years; to him the two are the same” (3:8).  

“The Lord is not slow to do what he has promised, as some think. Instead, he is patient with you, because he does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants all to turn away from their sins” (3:9).

“The Day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that Day, the heavens will disappear with a shrill noise, the heavenly bodies will burn up and be destroyed, and the earth with everything in it will vanish” (3:10).

So what does this mean for how we should live? We look not for the destruction, but for the “new heavens and new earth, where righteousness will be at home” (3:13). As we wait for that day, we must do our best to “be pure and faultless in God’s sight and to be at peace with him” (3:14). We need to “continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (3:18).

We are asked to appreciate the great patience God shows us and we are warned against getting confused by people who distort the church’s teaching or the words of Scripture

Daily Bible Reading: 2 Kings 24-25 and Luke 17

2 Kings 24 – King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. Jerusalem Bible calls Nabu-kudur-usur founder of the Neo-Babylonian or Chaldean Empire, which succeeded Assyria from 605-562. The expedition to Palestine described here took place around 602. He defeated Pharaoh at Carchemish in 605. He comes to dominate Judah. Jehoiakim “became his servant for three years,” but then Jehoiakim rebels. “The Lord” sent against them bands of Chaldeans, Arameans, Moabites and Ammonites “to destroy” Judah “for the sins of Manasseh, for all that he had committed, and also for the innocent blood that he had shed; for he filled Jerusalem with innocent blood, and the Lord was not willing to pardon” (24:4).

When Jehoiakim dies, his son Jehoiachin (598-597) succeeds him. He was 18 and reigns three months; he did what was evil as his father had done.  The King of Babylon takes him prisoner, carries off all the treasure of the king’s house, cuts up the vessels of gold in the temple and carries off “all the officials, all the warriors, ten thousand captives, all the artisans and the smiths; no one remained, except the poorest people of the land” (24:14). He made Mattaniah, Jehoiachin’s uncle, king in his place and changed his name to Zedekiah. He reigned 11 years (597-587). Apparently he was Jehoahaz’ brother or half-brother.

2 Kings 25 – Zedekiah rebels against Babylon in the 9^th year of his reign (589). The city is besieged for 3 years. There is severe famine. When a breach is made in the city wall, the king and his soldiers flee in the direction of the Arabah; but the army of the Chaldeans overtakes him in the plains of Jericho. All his army is scattered. They capture the king and bring him to the king of Babylon at Riblah. “They slaughtered the sons of Zedekiah before his eyes, then put out the eyes of Zedekiah; they bound him in fetters and took him to Babylon” (25:6-7). In 587, Nebuzaradan, the captain of the bodyguard, servant of Nebuchadnezzar, comes and burns all the great houses of Jerusalem; they break down all the walls of the city and carry into exile everyone except the poorest people “to be vinedressers and tillers of the soil?” (25:12) They take the chief priest Seraiah and the second priest, Zephaniah and the three guardians of the threshold. They were put to death at Riblah in the land of Manath. He appointed Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan as governor. He tries to get people to cooperate but he is struck down by someone in the royal family, and they flee to Egypt. Meanwhile, in Babylon, Jehoiachin lives well, having been released from prison.

Luke 17 – Do not cause others to stumble. “It would be better for you if a millstone were hung around your neck. . .” (17:2). If a believer sins, you must rebuke him, and if there is repentance, you must forgive—even if the sins are repeated. The disciples beg Jesus to increase their faith.  He says if it is the size of a mustard seed, they could do anything.

Jesus is just teaching them what it is their duty to do.  Who among them would welcome their own servants back from the fields with a banquet?  Rather, they would tell the servant to serve them first and then satisfy themselves later.

On the way to Jerusalem, in the region of Samaria and Galilee, Jesus is approached by ten lepers. He heals them and tells them to show themselves to the priests.  But only one turns back to thank Jesus—a Samaritan leper.

Jesus is asked about the coming kingdom and the “last days.”  He tells the Pharisees, “The kingdom of God is not coming with things that can be observed . . .the kingdom of God is within you” [another translation is “among you”](17:21). To the disciples, however, he goes into other things.  He says they will look for “one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it” (17:22).  Do not pursue it. “For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day” (17:24). He must endure much suffering and be rejected “by this generation” (17:25—the 2^nd prediction of his passion). As in the days of Noah, there will be eating and drinking until the floods come.  You must be ready to follow and not look back when the time comes.  When the time does come, people will be plucked away and some will be left.  Where to? He says, “Where the corpse is, there the vultures will gather” (17:37).