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Context No. 4082 of 4322 · 2 Maccabees

Context · Reflection

2 Maccabees 8:8-20: in context

8But when Philip saw the man gaining ground little by little, and increasing more and more in his success, he wrote to Ptolemy, the governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, that he should support the king’s cause. 9Ptolemy quickly appointed Nicanor the son of Patroclus, one of the king’s chief friends, and sent him, in command of no fewer than twenty thousand of all nations, to destroy the whole race of Judea. With him he joined Gorgias also, a captain and one who had experience in matters of war. 10Nicanor resolved by the sale of the captive Jews to make up for the king the tribute of two thousand talents which he was to pay to the Romans. 11Immediately he sent to the cities upon the sea coast, inviting them to buy Jewish slaves, promising to deliver seventy slaves for a talent, not expecting the judgment that was to overtake him from the Almighty. 12News came to Judas concerning Nicanor’s invasion. When he communicated to those who were with him the presence of the army, 13those who were cowardly and distrustful of God’s judgment ran away and left the country. 14Others sold all that they had left, and at the same time implored the Lord to deliver those who had been sold as slaves by the impious Nicanor before he ever met them, 15if not for their own sakes, then for the covenants made with their ancestors, and because he had called them by his holy and glorious name. 16So Maccabaeus gathered his men together, six thousand in number, and exhorted them not to be frightened by the enemy, nor to fear the great multitude of the heathen who came wrongfully against them, but to fight nobly, 17setting before their eyes the outrage that had been lawlessly perpetrated upon the holy place, and the torture of the city that had been turned to mockery, and further the overthrow of the way of life received from their ancestors. 18“For they,” he said, “trust their weapons and daring deeds, but we trust in the almighty God, since he is able at a nod to cast down those who are coming against us, and even the whole world.” 19Moreover, he recounted to them the help given from time to time in the days of their ancestors, both in the days of Sennacherib, when one hundred eighty-five thousand perished, 20and in the land of Babylon, in the battle that was fought against the Gauls, how they came to the battle with eight thousand in all, with four thousand Macedonians, and how, the Macedonians being hard pressed, the six thousand destroyed the hundred and twenty thousand because of the help which they had from heaven, and took a great deal of plunder.

Facing a large invading army sent to destroy them and enslave their people, Judas Maccabaeus gathers his outnumbered men and encourages them, not by boasting of their own strength, but by turning their eyes to God. Our enemies, he says, trust in their weapons and their acts of daring, but we trust in Almighty God, who is able at a nod to cast down those who come against us.

And he reminds them of God's past deliverances, how God had struck down a vast army in Hezekiah's day, building their courage on the memory of what God had done. Here is a clear contrast between two kinds of confidence. The enemy trusted in what they could see and count, their weapons, their numbers, their skill. Judas and his men trusted in the unseen God, who is able to overthrow any force with a word. Their courage came not from their own resources, which were few, but from their God, whose power is not limited by numbers. It is natural to measure our chances by what we can see; but faith looks past the visible to the God who is able to save.

When I face overwhelming odds, do I measure my chances only by my visible resources, or, like Judas, do I put my trust in God, whose power is not limited by numbers, building courage on the memory of what he has done?

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