Context No. 2604 of 4322 · 1 Maccabees

1 Maccabees 3:38-53: in context

38Lysias chose Ptolemy the son of Dorymenes, Nicanor, and Gorgias, mighty men of the king’s friends; 39and with them, he sent forty thousand infantry and seven thousand cavalry to go into the land of Judah and to destroy it, according to the word of the king. 40They set out with all their army, and came and encamped near Emmaus in the plain country. 41The merchants of the country heard of their fame, and took silver and gold in large quantities, and fetters, and came into the camp to take the children of Israel for slaves. Forces of Syria and of the land of the Philistines joined with them. 42Judas and his kindred saw that evils were multiplied, and that the forces were encamping in their borders. They learned about the king’s words which he had commanded, to destroy the people and make an end of them. 43Then they each said to his neighbor, “Let’s repair the ruins of our people. Let’s fight for our people and the holy place.” 44The congregation was gathered together, that they might be ready for battle, and that they might pray and ask for mercy and compassion. 45Jerusalem was without inhabitant like a wilderness. There was none of her offspring who went in or went out. The sanctuary was trampled down. Children of foreigners were in the citadel. The Gentiles lived there. Joy was taken away from Jacob, and the pipe and the harp ceased. 46They gathered themselves together, and came to Mizpeh, near Jerusalem; for in Mizpeh there used to be a place of prayer for Israel. 47They fasted that day, put on sackcloth, put ashes on their heads, tore their clothes, 48and opened the book of the law, to learn about the things for which the Gentiles consulted the images of their idols. 49They brought the priests’ garments, the first fruits, and the tithes. They stirred up the Nazarites, who had accomplished their days. 50They cried aloud toward heaven, saying, “What should we do with these men? Where should we carry them away? 51Your holy place is trampled down and profaned. Your priests mourn in humiliation. 52Behold, the Gentiles are assembled together against us to destroy us. You know what things they imagine against us. 53How will we be able to stand against them, unless you help us?”

A large army is sent to destroy Judah, and so confident are the enemies of victory that slave traders come to the camp ahead of time, silver and shackles in hand, ready to buy the Israelites as slaves before a blow is struck. Outnumbered and marked for extinction, Judas and his people do not first draw up a battle plan. They gather at Mizpah, fast, put on sackcloth, open the book of the law, and cry out to heaven: how will we be able to stand against them, unless you help us?

Notice the order of their response. The threat is overwhelming, the enemy already counting its profits, and the Maccabees' first move is to their knees and to the Scriptures, not to their strategy. How will we stand unless you help us is the honest prayer of the outnumbered, and it is the right one. They do not pretend they can win on their own strength, and they do not despair; they lay the impossible odds before God and ask for help. Faith facing a crisis does not skip the fasting and the crying out to get straight to the fighting.

When I face an overwhelming threat, is my first move to God in prayer and his word, or do I rush to my own plans and skip the crying out?

Sources

1 Maccabees 3:44: The congregation was gathered together, that they might be ready for battle, and that they might pray and ask for mercy and compassion.
1 Maccabees 3:48: opened the book of the law, to learn about the things for which the Gentiles consulted the images of their idols.
1 Maccabees 3:53: How will we be able to stand against them, unless you help us?