August 15, 2013 – 1 Maccabees 12:24 – 12:53

Going back to the idea of this being a movie, you can picture the scene after Jonathon is captured.  You would think that losing their leader would send the Israelites into panic and disorder.  Instead, they rally around each other and encourage each other and turned ready to fight.  Far from the advantage the enemy might have been forseeing, they turn and flee from the united Israelites.

Even with them returning, all the nations around Israel see that Jonathon is gone and seek to use this as a moment to not only make war on Israel but “wipe out their memory from among men.”  That sounds like language that might have been used in Nazi Germany or heard in many of the Arab countries today.  When you think about that, realize that Israelites and the Jewish people, for whatever reason, has been the target of extermination for almost 3000 years.  Realizing that, you must believe that God wants them around still because nothing could survive that long without the help of God.