1 Maccabees 10:7-14: a reflection

7Jonathan came to Jerusalem, and read the letter in the hearing of all the people, and of those who were in the citadel. 8They were very afraid when they heard that the king had given him authority to gather together an army. 9Those in the citadel released the hostages to Jonathan, and he restored them to their parents. 10Jonathan lived in Jerusalem and began to build and renew the city. 11He commanded those who did the work to build the walls and encircle Mount Zion with square stones for defense; and they did so. 12The foreigners who were in the strongholds which Bacchides had built fled away. 13Each man left his place and departed into his own land. 14Only at Bethsura, there were left some of those who had forsaken the law and the commandments, for it was a place of refuge to them.

With authority granted him at last, Jonathan comes to Jerusalem and sets to work, not on conquest, but on rebuilding. He begins to build and restore the city, commanding the workers to rebuild the walls and fortify Mount Zion with squared stones. The enemies who had held the strongholds flee; the city long battered begins to be restored. After years of war and desecration, the work turns to rebuilding what had been ruined.

Notice the shift from destruction to restoration. For a long time the story had been one of oppression, desecration, and battle. Now, with a measure of freedom won, the energy turns to rebuilding, to restoring the walls, fortifying the holy places, making the ruined city whole again. There is a season for resisting and fighting, and there is a season for the patient, constructive work of rebuilding what has been broken down.

There is encouragement here for the rebuilding seasons of our own lives. After a period of struggle, loss, or damage, whether to our circumstances, our relationships, or our own souls, there comes a time for the work of restoration, of patiently rebuilding what was broken. It is often slow, unglamorous, stone-by-stone work, but it is God's work, the restoring of what was ruined. If you are in a season of rebuilding, take heart. The God who is in the business of restoration is with you in the patient work of building back what was broken down. Set to the rebuilding, stone by stone.

Lord, after years of war and desecration, Jonathan turned to the patient work of rebuilding the ruined city, stone by stone. When I am in a season of rebuilding, after struggle, loss, or damage to my circumstances, relationships, or soul, give me heart for the patient, unglamorous work of restoration. You are a God who restores what was ruined. Be with me in the slow work of building back what was broken down, and let me trust that the rebuilding is your work too.