1 Maccabees 15:22-31: a reflection

22He wrote the same things to King Demetrius, to Attalus, to Arathes, to Arsaces, 23to all the countries, to Sampsames, to the Spartans, to Delos, to Myndos, to Sicyon, to Caria, to Samos, to Pamphylia, to Lycia, to Halicarnassus, to Rhodes, to Phaselis, to Cos, to Side, to Aradus, Gortyna, Cnidus, Cyprus, and Cyrene. 24They also wrote this copy to Simon the high priest. 25But King Antiochus encamped against Dor the second day, bringing his forces up to it continually, and making engines of war; and he shut up Tryphon from going in or out. 26Simon sent him two thousand chosen men to fight on his side, with silver, gold, and instruments of war in abundance. 27He would not receive them, but nullified all the covenants which he had made with him before, and was estranged from him. 28He sent to him Athenobius, one of his friends, to confer with him, saying, “You hold possession of Joppa, Gazara, and the citadel that is in Jerusalem, cities of my kingdom. 29You have devastated their territory, and done great harm in the land, and control many places in my kingdom. 30Now therefore hand over the cities which you have taken, and the tributes of the places which you have taken control of outside of the borders of Judea; 31or else give me for them five hundred talents of silver; and for the harm that you have done, and the tributes of the cities, another five hundred talents. Otherwise we will come and subdue you.”

This passage shows the insatiable nature of greed and broken faith in a hostile king, who nullifies the covenants he had made and keeps escalating his demands, never satisfied. King Antiochus nullified all the covenants which he had made with Simon before, the account says, and demanded the cities, and tribute, and then more, five hundred talents of silver, and another five hundred, or else, he threatened, we will come and subdue you. Having broken his word, the king kept demanding more and more, escalating his claims, never satisfied, backing his greed with threats. His greed was insatiable, and his faith easily broken when it suited his ambition. This is a sobering picture of the insatiability of greed and the ease of broken faith. Greed is insatiable, always demanding more. Broken faith and escalating demands mark unchecked greed. Greed keeps demanding more and is never satisfied. Ambition easily breaks faith and grasps for more.

Notice the two traits joined in this king: broken faith and insatiable greed. He had made covenants with Simon, given his word; but when it suited his ambition, he nullified them, broke his word without scruple. And his demands were insatiable: he demanded cities, then tribute, then five hundred talents, then another five hundred, always more, never satisfied, backing each demand with the threat of force. His greed had no limit; whatever he gained, he wanted more. This is a sobering picture of what unchecked greed and ambition look like. Greed, by its nature, is insatiable; it is never satisfied, always wanting more, never reaching a point of enough. And greed easily breaks faith, discarding commitments and honesty when they stand in the way of getting more. This warns us about the nature of greed in our own hearts. If we let greed take hold, it will never be satisfied; the more we gain, the more we will want, and we may find ourselves, like this king, breaking faith and grasping for more without end. The remedy is not more, which greed can never get enough of, but contentment, which is satisfied with what is enough. We do well to guard against the insatiable spirit of greed and to cultivate contentment instead. Greed is never satisfied; guard against its insatiable spirit. Contentment, not more, is the remedy for greed. Unchecked greed breaks faith and grasps endlessly. Do not let greed take hold; cultivate contentment with enough.

That is worth taking to heart, for greed is insatiable, never satisfied and always demanding more, and easily breaks faith, so that we do well to guard against it and cultivate contentment. We can let greed take hold, always wanting more, never satisfied; but this king shows where such greed leads, to broken faith and endless escalating demands, never enough. Greed is never satisfied. Do not let greed take hold of your heart; guard against its insatiable spirit, and cultivate contentment with what is enough. Guard against the insatiable spirit of greed, which is never satisfied and always demands more, and cultivate contentment instead, as this passage shows a hostile king who nullified the covenants he had made and kept escalating his demands, demanding cities, then tribute, then five hundred talents and another five hundred, backing his greed with threats and never satisfied; for his greed was insatiable and his faith easily broken when it suited his ambition, joining broken faith and endless grasping, which is a sobering picture of what unchecked greed looks like, since greed by its nature is never satisfied but always wants more and never reaches a point of enough, and easily breaks faith, discarding commitments and honesty when they stand in the way of getting more, which warns us about the nature of greed in our own hearts, since if we let greed take hold it will never be satisfied, the more we gain the more we will want, and we may find ourselves breaking faith and grasping endlessly, so that the remedy is not more, which greed can never get enough of, but contentment, which is satisfied with what is enough, and we do well to guard against the insatiable spirit of greed and cultivate contentment instead.

Lord, this passage shows the insatiable nature of greed and broken faith in a hostile king, who nullifies the covenants he had made and keeps escalating his demands, never satisfied. King Antiochus nullified all the covenants which he had made with Simon before, the account says, and demanded the cities, and tribute, and then more, five hundred talents of silver, and another five hundred, or else, he threatened, we will come and subdue you. Having broken his word, the king kept demanding more and more, escalating his claims, never satisfied, backing his greed with threats. His greed was insatiable, and his faith easily broken when it suited his ambition. This is a sobering picture of the insatiability of greed. Show me the two traits joined in this king: broken faith and insatiable greed. He had given his word; but when it suited his ambition, he nullified his covenants without scruple. And his demands were insatiable: he demanded cities, then tribute, then more and more, always wanting more, never satisfied. His greed had no limit. This is a sobering picture of what unchecked greed and ambition look like. Greed, by its nature, is insatiable; it is never satisfied, always wanting more, never reaching a point of enough. And greed easily breaks faith, discarding commitments and honesty when they stand in the way of getting more. This warns me about the nature of greed in my own heart. If I let greed take hold, it will never be satisfied; the more I gain, the more I will want. The remedy is not more, which greed can never get enough of, but contentment, which is satisfied with what is enough. Take that to my heart, for greed is insatiable and easily breaks faith, and I do well to guard against it and cultivate contentment. Keep me from letting greed take hold of my heart, always wanting more; help me guard against its insatiable spirit, Lord, and cultivate contentment with what is enough, rather than grasping endlessly and breaking faith as this king did.