1 Maccabees 10:67-73: a reflection

67In the one hundred sixty-fifth year, Demetrius, son of Demetrius, came out of Crete into the land of his ancestors. 68When King Alexander heard of it, he grieved exceedingly and returned to Antioch. 69Demetrius appointed Apollonius, who was over Coelesyria, and he gathered together a great army, and encamped against Jamnia, and sent to Jonathan the high priest, saying, 70“You alone lift up yourself against us, but I am ridiculed and in reproach because of you. Why do you assume authority against us in the mountains? 71Now therefore, if you trust in your forces, come down to us into the plain, and let’s match strength with each other there; for the power of the cities is with me. 72Ask and learn who I am, and the rest who help us. They say, ‘Your foot can’t stand before our face; for your ancestors have been put to flight twice in their own land.’ 73Now you won’t be able to withstand the cavalry and such an army as this in the plain, where there is no stone or pebble, or place to flee.”

A rival commander, wanting to intimidate Jonathan into a disadvantageous battle, sends him a taunting message full of boasting. You alone lift yourself up against us, he sneers; why do you claim authority in the mountains? If you trust your forces, come down into the plain and let us test our strength there, for the strength of the cities is with me. And he mocks Jonathan's ancestors and warns that he cannot possibly stand against such an army. It is a message designed to shake Jonathan's confidence and draw him onto the enemy's terms.

Notice the tactic: intimidation through boasting. The rival's message is all confidence and threat, cataloging his own strength, mocking Jonathan's, insisting that resistance is hopeless. It is meant to make Jonathan doubt, to shake him, to draw him into fighting on the enemy's chosen ground where the odds favor the boaster. The whole point of the taunt is to intimidate.

That is a familiar tactic of the forces that oppose us, spiritual and otherwise: intimidation through confident boasting. The enemy of our souls, and the discouragements of life, often come with the same message, cataloging their strength and our weakness, insisting resistance is hopeless, trying to shake our confidence and make us give up before the battle. Do not be intimidated by the boasts and taunts of what opposes you. Confident threats are meant to shake you, but they are not the measure of the outcome. Our confidence is not in comparing our forces to the enemy's, but in the God who is with us. Stand firm, and do not let the boasting shake you.

Lord, Jonathan's rival tried to intimidate him with confident boasts, cataloging his own strength and insisting resistance was hopeless. When the forces that oppose me, spiritual or otherwise, come with the same intimidation, cataloging my weakness and their strength, keep me from being shaken. Remind me that boastful threats are not the measure of the outcome, and that my confidence is not in comparing forces but in you, who are with me. Help me stand firm, and not let the boasting of the enemy shake my trust in you.