Context No. 4069 of 4322 · 2 Maccabees

2 Maccabees 11:22-26: in context

22And the king’s letter contained these words: “King Antiochus to his brother Lysias, greetings. 23Seeing that our father passed to the gods having the wish that the subjects of his kingdom should be undisturbed and give themselves to the care of their own affairs, 24we, having heard that the Jews do not consent to our father’s purpose to turn them to the customs of the Greeks, but choose rather their own way of living, and make request that the customs of their law be allowed to them— 25choosing therefore that this nation also should be free from disturbance, we determine that their temple is to be restored to them, and that they live according to the customs that were in the days of their ancestors. 26You will therefore do well to send messengers to them and give them the right hand of friendship, that they, knowing our mind, may be of good heart, and gladly occupy themselves with the conduct of their own affairs.”

This passage records a royal letter in which King Antiochus, the very dynasty that had persecuted the Jews and tried to force them to abandon their law, now grants them the right to live according to their ancestral customs and to have their temple restored to them. The persecutors' own decree gives back the freedom to worship that they had tried to crush.

There is a testimony here to God's providence and to the fruit of faithful endurance. The Jews had suffered greatly for refusing to abandon their faith; they had held on through persecution rather than submit to a foreign way of life forced upon them. And now, in God's providence, even the power that had opposed them is turned to grant them freedom, their temple restored, their law honored. What their enemies had tried to take by force is given back by decree. God is able, in his time, to turn even the hearts of those in power, granting his people the freedom to serve him, often through the very authorities who once opposed them. Faithful endurance is not in vain.

When I am under pressure to abandon what is right, do I hold on faithfully, trusting that God is able, in his time, to bring relief and vindication, even through the very powers that once opposed his people?

Sources

2 Maccabees 11:24-25: "The Jews... choose rather their own way of living... we determine that their temple is to be restored to them, and that they live according to the customs that were in the days of their ancestors."
2 Maccabees 11:23: "Having the wish that the subjects of his kingdom should be undisturbed and give themselves to the care of their own affairs."
Proverbs 21:1: "The king's heart is in the LORD's hand like the watercourses. He turns it wherever he desires."