The books of Maccabees.

These books bear the name of the heroes whose actions they describe. The books recount the

events that took place in 330-130 B.C. The domination of the Persian Empire was replaced by

that of the Greek Empire founded by Alexander the Great. His huge Empire did not last long.

After  Alexander.s  death,  it  was  split  into  four  kingdoms,  two  of  which . those  of Egypt and

Syria . played an important part in the history of the Jewish people. Palestine ended up being a

disputed territory as the rulers of these two kingdoms fought over the inheritance. In 203 B.C.

Judea changed hands, and the Jews suffered much under the rule of the kings of Syria, since the

Syrian rulers made every effort to convert the Jews to a pagan religion. The Jews who believed in

the true God were persecuted with special cruelty by the king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (175-164

B.C.). During his reign, the Greek pagan cult was declared to be the official state religion. Those

who refused to convert to paganism were persecuted and put to death. God.s temple was dese-

crated. Antiochus claimed the honor due to God and called himself Epiphanes, which means the

appearance of God. For his cruel persecution of believers, he became a type of the coming last

persecutor  of  the faith . the Antichrist. When writing about the Antichrist, Apostle Paul pre-

dicted that he would sit in the temple of God, claiming to be God (2 Thes. 2:4), thus reminding

them  about a similar situation involving Antiochus. When Jesus Christ was talking about the

abomination of desolation in the sanctuary of God.s temple (which was predicted by the prophet

Daniel in Dan. 9:27, cf. Matt. 24:15), He reminded them of the condition of the temple in Jerusa-

lem under Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus was struck by a terrible disease and died, being de-

voured alive by worms.

 The 1st Book of Maccabees, after a brief remark about the conquests of Alexander the Great

and the division of his kingdom between his commanders (330-310 B.C.), describes the horrors

of the persecution of the Jews by Antiochus Epiphanes (175 B.C.). The priest Mattathias and his

five sons stood up to defend the faith. For their successful fight against the supporters of pagan-

ism, they were named Maccabees, i.e. hammers. From among the sons of Mattathias, Juda, Jona-

than and Simon became particularly famous.

 The 2nd Book of Maccabees complements the first one by giving more details about  the

fight  of  the Palestinian  Jews against  the  enemies  of  the  faith  sent  by  the Syrian  kings,  starting

with Heliodorus sent by the king Seleucus Philopator to rob the Jerusalem temple, to the victory

of Juda Maccabee over Nicanor . a commander sent by Demetrius Seleucus. During the perse-

cution raised by Antiochus Epiphanes,  a  90-year-old  priest  Eleazar,  the seven brothers and

many others were put to death as martyrs in 166 B.C., after suffering cruel tortures (Ch.  6-7).

These sufferers became later known as  the Maccabeean Martyrs and are remembered  by  the

Church on August 1/14.

 The 3rd Book of Maccabees  contains  an account of earlier persecutions of the Jews in

Egypt that started in 216 B.C. during the reign of Ptolemy IV Philopator, i.e. 50 years before the

time of Juda Maccabee. The persecution was caused by king Ptolemy.s anger with the high priest

Simon, at whose prayer the king was prevented by God from entering the sanctuary of the temple

at Jerusalem. The book describes Ptolemy.s plot to destroy the Jews by luring them to the Hip-

podrome and trampling them with elephants.  At the high priest.s prayer, God send two angels

who scared the elephants, and the Jews were thus saved.

  In conclusion we must say that the books of Maccabees are full of accounts of courage and

strong faith in God. During the time of persecution by pagans, Christians found in these books

numerous edifying examples of patience and strength in the faith.