2 Maccabees 8:8-20: a reflection

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.

A commander named Nicanor marches against the Jewish people with a large army, so confident of victory that he plans to sell his captives as slaves in advance, to pay off a debt. He treats human beings as goods to be traded, not reckoning, as the writer pointedly notes, with the judgment of God that would overtake him. His arrogance is built on forgetting that there is a God who sees and defends the oppressed.

Judas gathers his small band and, rather than boasting in their numbers or weapons, points them to God. Our enemies, he says, trust in their arms and their daring, but we trust in the God who is able at a nod to cast down those who come against us. He reminds them of past deliverances, times when God saved his people against overwhelming odds. And the people, even as some are afraid and flee, cry out to God to rescue those already sold into slavery. Their hope is not in their strength but in God's.

Two truths meet in this account. First, those who treat others as mere goods to be used, forgetting the God who defends the oppressed, are storing up judgment, however confident they seem. God is not indifferent to the exploited. Second, when you face overwhelming odds, the example to follow is Judas: do not trust in your own resources but in the God who has delivered his people before and can do it again. Cry out to him for those who are oppressed, and trust him rather than the strength of the enemy.

Lord, the proud commander treated people as goods to be sold, forgetting that you see and defend the oppressed. Thank you that you are not indifferent to the exploited. When I face overwhelming odds, teach me to trust not in my own resources but in you, who have delivered your people before. Make me one who cries out to you for the oppressed and rests in your power to save. Amen.