1 Maccabees 6:14-27: a reflection

14Then he called for Philip, one of his friends, and set him over all his kingdom. 15He gave him his crown, his robe, and his signet ring, so that he could guide Antiochus his son, and nourish him up that he might be king. 16Then King Antiochus died there in the one hundred forty-ninth year. 17When Lysias learned that the king was dead, he set up Antiochus his son to reign, whom he had nourished up being young, and he called his name Eupator. 18Those who were in the citadel kept hemming Israel in around the sanctuary, and always sought to harm them and to strengthen the Gentiles. 19Judas planned to destroy them, and called all the people together to besiege them. 20They were gathered together, and besieged them in the one hundred fiftieth year, and he made mounds to shoot from, and engines of war. 21Some of those who were hemmed in came out, and some of the ungodly men of Israel were joined to them. 22They went to the king, and said, “How long will you not execute judgment, and avenge our kindred? 23We were willing to serve your father and to live by his words, and to follow his commandments. 24Because of this, the children of our people besieged the citadel and were alienated from us; but as many of us as they could catch, they killed, and plundered our inheritances. 25Not against us only did they stretch out their hand, but also against all their borders. 26Behold, they are encamped this day against the citadel at Jerusalem to take it. They have fortified the sanctuary and Bethsura. 27If you don’t quickly prevent them, they will do greater things than these, and you won’t be able to control them.

This passage records the death of Antiochus, the king who had brought terrible suffering on God's people, desecrating the temple and trying to stamp out their faith. He dies far from home, handing his crown to a guardian for his young son, and the kingdom passes into new hands. The persecutor who had seemed so formidable, who had ravaged the people of God, comes to his end like any other man. His power did not save him from death.

The passage goes on to describe the ongoing conflict, the besieged citadel, the complaints brought before the new king, the endless churn of political and military struggle. But the quiet fact at the center is the death of Antiochus. The oppressor who had loomed so large over God's people is simply gone, and the world moves on without him. However great and threatening a persecutor may seem, he is mortal, and his time is limited.

There is a steadying truth here for those who suffer under, or are frightened by, some person or power that seems too great to oppose. Antiochus terrorized God's people, but he died, and God's people endured beyond him. The proud oppressors of every age come to their end; their power is not permanent, however overwhelming it seems in the moment. Do not fix your fear on any earthly power. It will pass, and God, and his people, will outlast it. Set your hope on the God whose kingdom has no end.

Lord, the king who terrorized your people died like any other man, and your people endured beyond him. When I am frightened by some person or power that seems too great to oppose, remind me that the proud oppressors of every age come to their end. Their power is not permanent. Fix my hope not on any earthly power but on you, whose kingdom has no end, and who outlasts every enemy. Amen.