Context No. 3981 of 4322 · 2 Maccabees

2 Maccabees 12:10-16: in context

10Now when they had drawn off nine furlongs from there, as they marched against Timotheus, an army of Arabians attacked him, no fewer than five thousand infantry and five hundred cavalry. 11And when a hard battle had been fought, and Judas and his company, by the help of God, had good success, the nomads being overcome implored Judas to grant them friendship, promising to give him livestock, and to help his people in all other ways. 12So Judas, thinking that they would indeed be profitable in many things, agreed to live in peace with them; and receiving pledges of friendship they departed to their tents. 13He also attacked a certain city, strong and fenced with earthworks and walls, and inhabited by a mixed multitude of various nations. It was named Caspin. 14Those who were within, trusting in the strength of the walls and their store of provisions, behaved themselves rudely toward Judas and those who were with him, railing, and furthermore blaspheming and speaking impious words. 15But Judas and his company, calling upon the great Sovereign of the world, who without rams and cunning engines of war hurled down Jericho in the times of Joshua, rushed wildly against the wall. 16Having taken the city by the will of God, they made unspeakable slaughter, so much that the adjoining lake, which was two furlongs broad, appeared to be filled with the deluge of blood.

As Judas Maccabaeus faces a fortified city whose defenders mock and blaspheme, trusting in their strong walls, he does not first reckon up his siege engines. Instead he and his men call upon the great Sovereign of the world, the God who, without battering rams or war machines, threw down the walls of Jericho in the days of Joshua.

Their confidence was not in their military hardware but in the God who had toppled a city by his own power. Two things stand out, apart from the harsh realities of ancient warfare, which we read soberly. Judas remembered God's past acts and drew courage from them; the God who had thrown down Jericho was the same God he served, and that memory shaped his prayer. And he understood that victory comes not by superior weapons but as God grants it. There is a principle here beyond the battlefield. When we face obstacles that seem fortified against us, our confidence need not rest on the strength of our own resources, which may be small, but on the God who has shown, again and again, that he can accomplish what no human means could.

When I face an obstacle that seems fortified against me, do I rest my confidence on the strength of my own resources, or on the God who has shown that he can accomplish what no human means could achieve?

Sources

2 Maccabees 12:15: "Judas and his company, calling upon the great Sovereign of the world, who without rams and cunning engines of war hurled down Jericho... rushed wildly against the wall."
2 Maccabees 12:11: "When a hard battle had been fought, and Judas and his company, by the help of God, had good success."
2 Maccabees 12:16: "Having taken the city by the will of God."