|
|
HISTORY'S
CURRENTS
THE MACCABEES
Prior
to 332 B.C. the Jewish people were part of the Persian Empire.
In 332 B.C. the area of Palestine and its Jewish inhabitants
were added to the empire of Alexander the Great. The Greek
(or Hellenistic) culture with its many gods, various philosophies,
unique ideas about government, and Greek games, placed an
enormous challenge before the Jewish people and traditions.
The Hellenistic influence caused a major division in Jewish
religion and culture, producing the New Testament Pharisee
and Sadducee factions. The Greek Empire of Alexander was
divided upon his early death, and Judea eventually became
part of the Seleucid Empire. The Seleucid Empire was administered
from Syria and was Greek in tradition and culture.
The Hellenistic culture spread among the wealthy Jews as
they traded and worked with their Greek conquers and administrators.
They adopted ideas from Greek philosophy and Hellenistic
religion. They built gymnasiums to practice for the Greek
games and even 'made themselves uncircumcised' in order
to perform the games in the nude as the Greeks did.
In order to force the Jewish people to become more Greek,
the Seleucid ruler Antiochus IV degreed that the Jewish
people were to end their distinctive practices including
the Sabbath, circumcision and their 'Kosher' diet. They
had to give up their holy Torah, and above all, they had
to worship Zeus, the other Greek gods, and Antiochus IV
himself. He eventually placed statues of the Greek gods
in the Temple in Jerusalem. To the Jewish people this was
the ultimate sacrilege. A revolt began which lasted from
175 B.C. until 164 B.C. The result was an independent Jewish
state.
The leader of the revolt was Judas, a son of Mattathias,
and a descendent of Aaron and the priestly family named
Hasmonean. He was given the title Maccabee, the hammer,
by the people and writers in Judea for his victories over
the Seleucid armies. In 164 the forces of Judas Maccabaeus
took the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and began to cleanse it
of the Seleucid defilement. Much of the light for the cleansing
of the Temple came from a sacred menorah and a bottle of
holy lamp oil found in the
Temple. The Jewish festival Hanukah (festival of lights)
celebrates this event.
The family of Judas Maccabaeus, the Hasmoneaons, ruled the
independent Jewish State until it became a protectorate
of Rome in 63 B.C. The Jewish rulers of the New Testament,
Herod the Great and Herod Antipas were related to the Hasmoneaon
line by marriage. Herod the Great built the great palace-fortress
of Masada. Masada was the last stronghold of Jewish rebels
against Rome in 73 A.D. Masada was defended until the Roman
legions breached the walls, and then the defenders committed
mass
suicide.
The Maccabees created the last independent Jewish State
until the 20th Century when the United Nations voted to
create Israel in 1948. The Maccabean heritage includes Hanukah,
the Maccabean Games (Olympic style games held in Israel),
and Masada. Officers in the Israeli Army are commissioned
on Masada and vow that 'Masada will never fall again.' More
information about the Maccabees and the Maccabean Revolt
can be found in I & II Maccabees, which are supplementary
books to the Bible covering the years between 180 B.C. and
60 B.C. The Jewish scholar and historian, Josephus, covered
the Maccabean and Hasmoneaon periods in his book Antiquities.
History's currents, or current history? You decide!
|
