Daily Bible Reading: 1 Maccabees 6:18-63 and Titus 3

1 Maccabees 6:18-63 - Meanwhile, the garrison around Jerusalem continues to harass the Jews. This site is called the Citadel or Acre. It is a Hellenist garrison established around 168 BC by Antiochus IV [Epiphanes]. It was manned by Seleucid troops and also by some pro-Seleucid Jews who were not sympathetic to the Maccabeans. It is rather easy for me to imagine that there might have been a good many Jews who actually favored the Hellenizers. They were, after all, more “universalist” in their perspective, less “conservative” about their religious practices. The Maccabeans were super-orthodox; they wanted none of this assimilationist, “modernist” kind of approach to culture and religion.

Judas resolves to destroy them. They besiege the garrison, but some of the men there escape and are joined by “renegades from Israel” (6:22). They go to the new king – Eupator, or his advisors [he’s still a little boy at this point]. They ask for his help against the Maccabbees.

A huge force is assembled, including mercenaries “from other kingdoms and the islands of the seas” (6:28): 120,000 foot soldiers, 20,000 cavalry, and 32 elephants. The Jews destroy some of their war engines and then encamp opposite the camp of the king. Then they attack, offering the war elephants the “juice of grapes and mulberries, to arouse them for battle” (6:34).

The Seleucid army is organized around the elephants; and on the elephants’ back are “wooden towers, strong and covered” (6:37) with four armed men and an Indian “driver.” Judas’ men go out to meet this huge force. 

Judas’ younger brother Eleazar notices that one of the elephants’ towers is taller than all the others, and he concludes that the king must be on this one. “[S]upposing that the king was mounted on it, [he] sacrificed himself to save his people and win an imperishable name. Boldly charging towards the creature through the thick of the phalanx, dealing death to right and left, so that the enemy scattered on either side at his onslaught, he darted in under the elephant, ran his sword into it and killed it. The beast collapsed on top of him, and he died on the spot” (6:45-46).

Apparently medieval Christians saw Eleazar as a kind of pre-figuration of Jesus because of his willingness to die for his people. A number of paintings were done to commemorate his martyrdom.

           

It is at this point that Lysias, the young king’s adult-protector and teacher, his “regent”, learns that Philip, the man king Antiochus named on his death-bed to bring up his son, is returning from Persia, and intends to seize control of the government. He realizes that he must return and deal with this problem, so he offers to make peace with the Jews and permit them to live by their own laws. They make the peace, but when the king sees the strong fortifications the Jews have constructed on Mt. Zion, he breaks the peace and gives orders to have it torn down. He then goes and defeats Philip at Antioch.

Titus 3 – It is important to Paul that Christians not be seen as trouble-makers. So he emphasizes that it is their [our] duty “to be obedient to the officials and representatives of the government [and] be ready to do good at every opportunity” (3:1). 

We should “not go slandering other people or picking quarrels, but . . .be courteous and always polite to all kinds of people. Remember, there was a time when we too were ignorant, disobedient and misled and enslaved by different passions and luxuries” (3:2-3).

It’s hard to skip over or easily paraphrase what is written here. It is all pretty core-stuff: “[W]hen the kindness and love of God our savior for mankind were revealed, it was not because he was concerned with any righteous actions we might have done ourselves; it was for no reason except his own compassion that he saved us, by means of the cleansing water of rebirth and by renewing us with the Holy Spirit which he has so generously poured over us through Jesus Christ our savor. He did this so that we should be justified by his grace, to become heirs looking forward to inheriting eternal life. This is doctrine that you can rely on” (3:4-8).  Those who believe should “keep their minds constantly occupied in doing good works” (3:8). And avoid “pointless speculations” (3:9), for they are useless.

Daily Bible Reading: 1 Maccabees 6:1-17 and Titus 1-2

1 Maccabees 6:1-17 – Meanwhile, King Antiochus IV tries to take and plunder a rich city in Persia—Elymais—but fails. He receives word that the Jews have used all the plunder they have won to strengthen their towns and that they have torn down the “abomination” in their Temple. He is shaken by both these things and feels that he has failed. He becomes depressed.

The tone of the passage is interesting because he is, after all, the enemy of the Jews; but they seem to see him sympathetically here. He is seen as repentant. He says, “now I remember the wrong I did in Jerusalem when I seized all the vessels of silver and gold there, and ordered the extermination of the inhabitants of Judah for no reason at all. This, I am convinced, is why these misfortunes have overtaken me, and why I am dying of melancholy in a foreign land” (6:12-13).

He calls for Philip, a friend, and gives him the crown and authority to guide his son, whose name is also Antiochus – Antiochus V - until he is old enough to rule. The young Antiochus is eight years old when he becomes king. Lysias, the general who is presently charged with caring for the king’s son, calls the boy Eupater, and when Antiochus dies, he is established as his father’s successor. There is another man – Philip – whom Antiochus’ wanted to watch over his son and these two will later come into conflict.

Introduction to the Epistle to Titus: This “pastoral” letter is also ascribed to Paul though there are scholars who doubt his authorship. Its main concerns are similar to those expressed in 1 Timothy, namely the kind of “church order” that should be established in these more recently converted communities, concerns over “false teachings” that threaten the core Christian message, and the kind of community culture that should be established. Titus is never mentioned in Acts. Here he is described as a convert of Paul’s, brought to the Jerusalem meeting in AD 49 to show how “genuine a Christian an uncircumcised Gentile could be” (Raymond Brown 640).

This letter “assumes that Paul has been in Crete with Titus and has left him there to correct anything that is still defective, specifically to appoint presbyters (Brown 641).

Titus 1 – Paul writes this letter to Titus who is on the island of Crete. He opens the letter by describing himself as an “apostle of Jesus Christ” who has been charged with brings “whose whom God has chosen to faith and to the knowledge of the truth that leads to true religion; and to give them the hope of the eternal life that was promised so long ago by God” (1:1-2). He calls Titus “true child of mine in the faith that we share” (1:4).

He has left Titus in Crete to “get everything organized there and appoint elders [presbyters] in every town” (1:5). Elders must be men of “irreproachable character” (1:6), married no more than once. His children “must be believers and not uncontrollable or liable to be charged with disorderly conduct” (1:6).

The elder is seen as “God’s representative” (1:7) so he has to be “irreproachable.” And “he must have a firm grasp of the unchanging message of the tradition, so that he can be counted on for both expounding the sound doctrine and refuting those who argue against it” (1:9).

Apparently in Crete, there are many people whom the writer thinks should be “disciplined,” “silenced” because they are teaching “things that they ought not to, and doing it with the vile motive of making money” (1:11). Cretans apparently have a reputation for being corrupt and untrustworthy that the writer here believes is accurate. The corrupt influences are working their bad stuff in the community of the faithful and they need to be dealt with.

Titus 2 – Paul instruct Titus to focus on the “behavior” that goes with correct doctrine. The behavior of men and women should be a model for all to follow. Older men should be “reserved, dignified, moderate, sound in faith and love and constancy”  (2:2). Older women should be religious and not “scandal-mongers,” known for drinking too mush wine and misbehaving. Young men should be models of good behavior as well.

“You see, God’s grace has been revealed, and it has made salvation possible for the whole human race and taught us that what we have to do is to give up everything that does not lead to God, and all our worldly ambitions; we must be self-restrained and live good and religious lives here in this present world, while we are waiting in hope for the blessing which will come with the Appearing of the glory of our great God and savior Christ Jesus” (2:11-13).