: Synopsis of Jewish History From the Return of the Jews from the Babylonish Captivity to the Days of Herod the Great by Henry H A Henry Abraham - Jews History 586 B.C.-70 A.D.

@FreeBooks

Posted in: #FreeBooks #FreeBooksIndia #FreeBooksApp #gg

Vote Up Vote Down   0 Reactions

Login to give Reaction!

hey have nothing to console them, as in olden times, as exhibited in the history before us.

Mattathias and his party then marched, well armed, through all the towns and villages, destroyed all the altars and places of worship belonging to the heathens. They then circumcised all the male children, who had been neglected in this matter in consequence of the edict passed by the tyrant Antiochus. In this affair they met with very strong opposition, and in their defence they committed great slaughter among their enemies. They succeeded on this occasion in recovering many copies of the law, which had been hid at the time the mandate was issued to destroy all the copies of the law, or any other Hebrew manuscripts which might be found among the people. The venerable and pious priest had now grown grey in the service, and appeared to be fast approaching the verge of the grave. Sensible of his position, Mattathias assembled together all his children, together with his friends, and on his death bed he thus addressed them:

After this tender and affectionate interview, this, his last and farewell advice to his sons, Mattathias in a good old age expired, and was honorably buried at Modin, in the sepulchre of his ancestors--beloved and esteemed by all who knew him in life, and revered and lamented by all who attended his mortal remains to the grave.

The Government of the Jewish nation under the Maccabees, or as they were otherwise called, the Asmoneans, this being the family name.

Judas and his brethren achieved many very valiant deeds, in defending the cause of the holy law, and the holy religion of the God of Israel, of which they were the bold champions. Judas was successful in gaining the many battles he fought with Antiochus; and to encourage his army to fight bravely, he exhorted them to put their trust in God and that they would conquer. This inducement held out to the army, appears to have produced the desired effect.

The tyrant Antiochus, seeing their repeated success, became resolute and determined to be avenged of his powerful opponents, the Maccabees. To effectuate this, he adopted the following stratagem: when he went into Persia to gather the tribute of the countries round about, he left Lysias with half his army, with express orders to destroy and root out all the Jews from their land.

Lysias proved as cruel as his master; he collected numerous forces and encamped near Jerusalem; his army consisted of forty thousand foot, and seven thousand horse. Encouraged by the hope of success on the part of Lysias, a body of merchants, about a thousand in number, repaired to the place of action, provided with large quantities of gold and silver, with the full expectation of buying the captive Jews for slaves. Whilst the enemy contemplated a complete victory, Judas and his brethren gathered themselves together unto Mizpah; here they fasted, put on sackcloth, and prayed to God to help them in their great distress. They opened the book of the law before God, where the heathens had polluted it by painting their images which they worshiped. They then sounded the trumpets and prepared for battle, resolved to a man to die in defence of their country and their religion. The result of this zeal and courage on the part of Judas, proved successful; Judas and his army put to flight and destroyed several large forces which Lysias had sent against them. They drove the enemy out of Jerusalem, and almost out of the land of Judea, and succeeded in possessing themselves of a large booty, both from the army and the merchants, who expected to become their masters.

Judas and his party, grateful to heaven for this great and glorious success over such powerful enemies, immediately repaired to Mount Sion, where they saw the sanctuary of God made desolate, deserted and neglected; even the altar was polluted, the gates and walls thrown down, the courts of the Temple, the beautiful edifice itself bedecked, not with sweet or odoriferous herbs, but with wild shrubs and grass which the hand of time had allowed to grow on that sacred spot. What a heart-rending scene for the pious Judas and his followers! Grieved at beholding such a devastation of God's holy place, they fell on their faces, rent their clothes, and made great lamentations; at the same time imploring the aid of heaven to repair the loss thus sustained.

Judas and his party diligently applied themselves to repair the Temple, and to restore the worship of God. They selected some of the good priests to purify the sanctuary; they removed the altar, which had been profaned by the heathens, and built a new one as the law directs. They then made some new vessels for the use of the Temple, from the gold which they had taken from the enemy in the late battle. The regular order of divine worship was again introduced, and sacrifices offered up according to the law of Moses.

Notwithstanding the success achieved by Judas and his party, they were much annoyed by their enemies, from the fact that the fortress built by Appolonius still remained in the hands of the heathens. It stood on Mount Acra, a rising ground facing the Temple. The heathens placed themselves here to annoy the Jews, on their going to, and returning from the Temple. Judas finding that he could not drive out the enemy at once, endeavored to prevent these annoyances by building up Mount Sion with high walls and strong towers. He also placed guards there to protect the priests and the people when they went to the Temple, with the view of preventing the Gentiles from invading the sanctuary.

Though Judas and his men continued the Temple worship, they were still in constant warfare. The neighboring nations were all jealous of the success gained by the Jews, and dissatisfied that they had restored the sacred worship in the Temple of the Lord. To show their displeasure they attacked the Jews on all sides; war ensued, and fierce battles were fought, in most of which Judas proved victorious, sustaining but little loss in his army.

Antiochus enraged at this discomfiture, and at the reports he had received of the defeat of his generals in Judea, resolved to march toward Jerusalem, and threatened to make the whole city as one grave, in which to bury all the Jews then in the Holy Land. How far this wicked man succeeded in his cruel resolve, the following facts will show; they need no comment on our part, to prove that it was the finger of God that was directing all that befel Antiochus, and other persecutors of mankind. It is generally supposed by historians, that the same disaster which befel the tyrant Antiochus, was visited on many persecutors of God's people, both in former and latter times--hence supporting our views on the subject, that Heaven ordained all that had happened. Whilst on his journey, Antiochus was smitten with an incurable plague; his chariot was upset, and he was seriously hurt. He was then carried to a small town on the road side, put to bed, in which he lingered for some time, suffering the most excruciating agonies of body, and torments of mind, until he died. On his death-bed, Antiochus showed great contrition of mind for the crimes which he had perpetrated against God and man. The heathens declared that it was a punishment inflicted for his intended sacrilege of the Temple of Diana; but the Jewish historians acquaint us, that the tyrant himself imputed his sufferings as a punishment for the cruelties towards Israel, and the impieties he practised against the Lord and his holy Temple. Thus ended the life of this great and relentless tyrant.

Free books android app tbrJar TBR JAR Read Free books online gutenberg

(0)

Login to post a comment!