Tuesday November 13, 2012

Read John 10:22-24;  Daniel 8:1-12, 11:32-33

Hanukkah means ‘dedication’ and is celebrated in winter in the month of Kislev, roughly equivalent to our December. The apocryphal books* of 1 and 2 Maccabees are the earliest record of Hanukkah.

 

In 326BC Darius III came to power in Medo-Persian empire, the military super power of the world.  In the west in Macedonia, Alexander also ascended to the throne. At only 20 years of age, he was already known as a brilliant commander. Within 3 years his military genius allowed him to defeat the great Darius III at Issus.

 

By his 30th birthday he had conquered all the known world from Europe to Egypt and to the boards of India. He unified the known world under the Greek culture and religion known as Hellenism.

 

Unfortunately Alexander died at 33 years of age without an heir to the throne.  The vast empire was divided into four regions - Seleucus ruled Syria and Eastern Asia Minor, Ptolemy ruled Egypt, Lysimachus ruled Thrace and Western Asia Minor (Turkey) and Cassander ruled Macedonia and Greece.

 

In this fourfold division Israel sat between the Seleucid empire and the Egyptian or Ptolemaic empire. Whoever controlled Israel had a key strategic position. For almost 2 centuries the Promised Land was greatly fought over. In 171BC Antiochus IV came to the throne. This ruler was harsh, cruel and extreme. He called himself Antiochus Epiphanes (that’s right as in epiphany - it translates to ‘Antiochus the visible god) believing he was deity in the flesh. Using a pun, his enemies called him Antiochus Epimanes - Antiochus the madman! His goal was to unite all the people in his realm under the Hellenistic way of life and religion.

 

In Israel two parties developed. The Orthodox party wanted to be ruled by the Ptolemies in Egypt. This was the lesser of two evils because Hellenism deified natures, set up temples with many false gods and promoted immorality in the worship of these gods.  The progressives saw no advantage in sticking to the faith of their fathers and saw only the economic and social benefits of embracing the Hellenistic way of life and religion.  They thus desired rule by the Syrians -

those allied with the madman. The result was intrigue, assassination and internal strife that lasted for centuries.

 

Antiochus, suffering defeat at the hands of the Egyptians (who were supported by the Romans), ransacked Jerusalem and even attacked and desecrated the temple. A statue of Zeus was set upon the holy altar. He later sacrificed a pig, the most unclean animal to Jews, on that altar. He poured its broth over the holy scrolls and cut them to pieces and burned them. He even outlawed Judaism on pain of death. Sabbath could not be kept. Dietary laws were to be abandoned. Circumcision could not be performed. Entire families were put to death and babies and women were mercilessly killed.

 

How would God’s people react? How would they survive? How would they go forward?

 

* The apocrypha are a set of non-biblical books written between 200BC and 100AD. They present us with a valuable source of history.

 

Prayer:

Write down your prayer points in the space provided. Use today’s reading to help you get ideas.

 

Adoration:

 

 

Confession:

 

 

Thanks:

 

 

Supplication:

¥ Pray that God would raise up believers who are willing to stand firm on His Word and not to compromise on the Word or their application of the Word. Pray that a spirit of conviction would sweep through your church and the churches of this land.

¥ Pray that we would also see a spirit of generosity in our churches so that God would be glorified as we are revealed to be Jesus’ disciples and so that the churches can effectively reach out to the poor and needy.

 

My Additional Prayer Points.

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