MOURNING OF MORDECAI AND THE JEWS.

[Page 31.]

STORIES OF THE
Wars of the Jews

FROM THE BABYLONISH CAPTIVITY,
TO THE DESTRUCTION OF JERUSALEM BY TITUS.

BY

A. L. O. E.

With Forty-Four Illustrations.

London:
T. NELSON AND SONS, PATERNOSTER ROW.
EDINBURGH; AND NEW YORK.

1900

Preface.

The works which I have chiefly consulted in compiling the following sketch, have been (in addition to the Holy Scriptures) the books of the Apocrypha, [Josephus]’ Wars of the Jews, the elaborate writings of Prideaux, and a small volume on the history of the Hebrews, published some years ago in India.

There is no history more fraught with interest, or conveying more important lessons, than that of God’s chosen nation. There are no annals which display instances of more heroic courage, faith, and self-devotion,—alas! of darker apostasy and crime,—than those of the descendants of Abraham.

May the reader rise from the perusal of this brief sketch with a deeper sense of the mercy and justice of God, as revealed in His dealings towards His people; and a fervent prayer for the hastening of that day when the Lord’s gracious promise shall be fulfilled:—

“I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and of supplications; and they shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for Him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for Him, as one that is in bitterness for his first-born. I am returned unto Zion, and will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem: and Jerusalem shall be called, A city of truth; and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, The holy mountain.”

A. L. O. E.

Introduction.

FOR the sins of His people the Lord had stricken Jerusalem, and given up Judea into the hands of the heathen. The judgments of God had first fallen on the kingdom of the ten tribes; as they had been foremost in the sin of idolatry, so they had first met its awful punishment. Shalmaneser, king of Assyria, had attacked Samaria (724 b.c.), and after a siege of nearly three years had taken the city, and carried Israel into captivity, with Hoshea its king.

The punishment of the kingdom of Judah had been for some time deferred. While such monarchs as the pious Hezekiah and the faithful Josiah had sat on the throne of their ancestor David, God’s mercy had guarded Jerusalem from her foes; but since the time of these virtuous rulers, tyrants had arisen, who set not God before their eyes; princes and people had combined to break the laws of the Almighty, and despise the counsel of the Most High. The vine which the Lord had brought from Egypt, and had planted and watered with such tender care, had brought forth the wild grapes of rebellion and idolatry. The mandate had not gone forth, “Cut it down, why cumbereth it the ground?” but the Lord had said in His anger, “I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; and break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down. And I will lay it waste” (Isa. v. 5, 6). In 606 b.c., Nebuchadnezzar carried captive to Babylon some of the most illustrious of the children of Judah, and subjected Jehoiakim their king to his power. In 599 b.c., the Assyrian monarch besieged and took Jerusalem, then under the sway of Jehoiachin, and led into bondage that prince and the chief of his people. In 588 b.c., the work of retribution was completed. Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, was taken, a miserable, blinded prisoner, to Assyria; the temple and palaces of Jerusalem were given to the flames, her walls were razed to the ground, and the mourning exiles from Judea, by the waters of Babylon, hung their harps on the willows, and wept.

But though the Lord chastened his people, they were not given over to destruction. At the period at which the following sketch of Jewish history commences, that prophecy which had, seventy years before, been uttered by the inspired Jeremiah was on the point of fulfilment: “Thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform My good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end” (Jer. xxix. 10, 11). As a mighty despot had been the instrument, in God’s hand, to chastise a rebellious race, so another powerful monarch was now appointed by Providence to raise the fallen, to restore the exiles; as a “shepherd,” to gather together the dispersed flock of the Lord.

Contents.

STORIES FROM
JEWISH HISTORY.

CHAPTER I.
THE RETURN FROM BABYLON.

The Decree of Cyrus—First Caravan Starts—Foundation of the Temple Laid—Samaritans Oppose—Ezra Heads the Second Caravan—Ezra Reforms Abuses.

In the first year of the reign of Cyrus, the Lord stirred up the spirit of that king, probably through the influence of the aged Daniel, to issue throughout his vast dominions the following proclamation:—

“Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The Lord God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and He hath charged me to build Him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah. Who is there among you of all His people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the Lord God of Israel (He is the God), which is in Jerusalem. And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.”

Great was the joy of the faithful Jews, who throughout their long captivity had been waiting and watching for the fulfilment of the prophecies made to their fathers, when at length the prospect opened to them of return to their beloved country. Doubtless they recalled the prophecies of Jeremiah and Isaiah, and especially that one, uttered by the latter above one hundred and seventy years previously, in which the Lord called their deliverer by his name, saying of “Cyrus, he is my shepherd, and shall perform all my pleasure: even saying to Jerusalem, Thou shalt be built; and to the temple, Thy foundation shall be laid.”

The proclamation of the king sounded through the land like a trumpet-call, to gather together the exiles of Judea, and large numbers hastened to Babylon to make preparations for their journey. It was a second Exodus, a second release from foreign bondage, to seek the land of promise. But it was not by the whole of the children of the captivity that the opportunity of returning to Judea was embraced with patriotic zeal. Ruined dwellings and wasted plains, a city without temple and without walls, offered few attractions to such as regarded the country of strangers as a home. Many shrank from the hardships of the journey, and the dangers which they must expect to encounter; many who had formed ties in Babylonia, felt bound by them to that land. The Jewish exiles were an emblem of those who, in all ages of the world, hear the call of conscience and religion. While some turn their faces towards a heavenly Zion, willing to leave all, and suffer all here, so that they may but find an inheritance above, the greatest number prefer present comforts to future blessings; their hearts cling to the pleasures of the world; they are too fearful, too busy, too rich, or too gay, to cast in their lot with the people of God.

LAVER.

CANDLESTICK.

The first return caravan was organized and directed by Zerubbabel, the grandson of King Jehoiachin, and by Jeshua, a grandson of the last high priest, Jozadak. The number of those who joined them was about 50,000, including above 7000 servants of both sexes. Before they departed, Cyrus caused to be restored to them the most valuable of the sacred utensils which had been carried away from Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar; thousands of vessels of silver and gold were now again to be devoted to the service of the sanctuary. Zerubbabel was also intrusted with large contributions towards the expense of rebuilding the temple, from the Jews who remained in Babylonia.

Many and sad must have been the partings when that vast caravan set out on its journey to the Holy Land! The voice of blessing and of prayer was heard, as those who stayed behind exchanged their last words of friendship with those who were ready to depart. Anxious and loving eyes watched the long line of pilgrims, with their laden asses and camels, slowly disappearing in the distance; and the hopes and prayers of their brethren followed the brave band who first returned to the home of their fathers.

ALTAR OF BURNT-OFFERING.

On reaching Palestine the caravan repaired at once to Jerusalem, which was found in a state of ruin and desolation. Before the travellers separated to seek habitations for themselves, they raised a large sum by voluntary contributions towards the rebuilding of the temple. They then employed themselves in securing dwellings for their families; and at the ensuing feast of tabernacles again repaired to Jerusalem, where sacrifices were offered on an [altar] erected on the ruins of the temple. After this the people applied themselves zealously to the necessary preparations for the restoration of that edifice. In a year from the departure from Babylon these preparations were sufficiently advanced to allow of the great work being commenced, and the foundations of the [second temple] were laid amidst the noise of [trumpets, cymbals, and shouting]! But many of the priests and aged men, whose hair had grown white during the captivity—those who had seen the temple of Solomon when it stood in its glory and beauty—wept with a loud voice at the mournful recollection of the past, 535 b.c.

CYMBALS AND TRUMPETS.

While the work proceeded, the Samaritans manifested a desire to aid in it, and to claim a community of worship in the [new temple] to be erected to the Lord. Their offers were declined by the Jews; and the people of the land, irritated by the refusal, did all in their power to weaken their hands, and hinder them from proceeding with the building. An unscrupulous use of money and influence amongst the officers of government, enabled these adversaries of the Jews to raise such obstructions that the work was at length altogether suspended. For about fifteen long years the faith and the patience of the people of Judah were thus tried. They gradually lost heart for the work, and were disposed to believe that the set time for it had not yet arrived. The zeal of many waxed cold; and, absorbed in the care of providing for their own security and comfort, the Jews were in danger of forgetting the sacred duty which they had at first so earnestly sought to perform.

From this apathy they were roused in the second year of the reign of Darius Hystaspes, by the stirring words of the prophet Haggai. “Is it time,” he exclaimed to the people, “for you to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste? Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider your ways. Go up to the mountain, and bring wood, and build the house; and I will take pleasure in it, and I will be glorified, saith the Lord.”

THE SECOND TEMPLE.

The call was not uttered in vain. Filled with fresh zeal, Zerubbabel, Jeshua, and the people hastened to resume the work of building, 520 b.c. Amidst the difficulties and discouragements which beset them, they were still cheered by animating messages delivered to them by Haggai. The [temple gradually rose], far inferior, indeed, in splendour to that erected in the days of Israel’s great king, when gold was abundant, and silver so plentiful that it was counted as the stones of the earth; but a gracious promise was given that the glory of the latter house should excel that of the first, for the desire of all nations should come to it, the presence of the Messiah should honour it, “and in this place will I give peace,”[1] said the Lord of hosts to his people.

The renewal of the work roused afresh the opposition of the adversaries of the Jews. Tatnai, the Syrian governor, sternly demanded of the builders by whose command they were re-erecting the ruined walls of their temple. The Jews pleaded the authority of the decree of Cyrus, and Tatnai referred the question to King Darius for decision. The result was happy, for after some search the decree in favour of the Jews was discovered. It not only authorized the erection of the temple, but directed the local government to afford assistance and supplies. These supplies the Jews had not hitherto ventured to claim, but Darius commanded that they should be given. Under the impulse thus imparted, the work proceeded with spirit, and four years afterwards it was completed, 516 b.c. The dedication was celebrated with great solemnity and joy; and the people flocked to the courts of the Lord, to perform again with thanksgiving and rejoicing the rites of their holy faith.

The Jews were now restored to their own land, but they were under tribute to the Persians, and subject to the general control of the princes of that people. They were allowed the free exercise of their religion and laws, and were ruled by a governor of their own nation, or by the [high priest] when no such governor was appointed. With regard to religion, the fearful lesson taught by the desolation of the land, the destruction of the temple, and the captivity of the people, had greatly cured the Jews of that tendency to idolatry which had brought on them such misery and ruin. But the inherent corruption of the human heart, restrained in one point, broke out in others; there are few more humbling lessons of man’s infirmity and the sinfulness of his nature, than may be gathered from the history of the Jews.

It does not appear that the people suffered further molestation during the long reign of Darius; and his son and successor, Xerxes, seems to have regarded them with favour. This monarch was succeeded, in 464 b.c., by Artaxerxes Longimanus, in whose reign the Jews proceeded to rebuild Jerusalem on a regular plan, and to surround it with a wall, as will appear in a following chapter.

Zerubbabel and Jeshua, the first leaders in the restoration, had by this time been gathered to their fathers, and confusion and disorder were spreading widely amongst the Jews at Jerusalem. Light was the danger which they had encountered from the enmity of the people of the land, compared with that which they now experienced from too close alliances with them. Many broke the laws of their God by marrying heathen wives; some even of the princes and of the priests were guilty of this act of disobedience. A reformer was urgently needed, who should have wisdom to judge and firmness to act; and such a reformer was found in Ezra the priest, who headed the second large body of exiles, who returned from Babylonia to Judea, 457 b.c.

Armed with the authority of the Persian king, and intrusted with large offerings to the temple, including valuable contributions from the monarch himself, Ezra prepared for his journey. The bank of the river Ahava was the gathering-place for the people. There Ezra pitched his tent, and there he proclaimed a solemn fast, that the travellers might unite in supplication to the Almighty for protection on their dangerous way. As the band of pilgrims bound for Jerusalem included tender women and helpless children, and was ill provided for defence against an enemy in the probable event of an attack, some thoughts were entertained of requesting a military escort from the king. But Ezra had declared before Artaxerxes his firm faith in the power and goodness of God, and the noble-minded Jew shrank from making a petition which might seem to imply distrust of the Almighty’s providential care. Ezra would not lean on an arm of flesh, but with prayer and fasting he committed himself and his people to the protection of the Most High.

In safety the second body of exiles returned to the holy city. Having deposited in the temple the treasures with which he had been intrusted, Ezra applied himself with earnest zeal to the arduous work of reformation. The discoveries made by him of the guilt and corruption prevailing amongst God’s chosen people, filled Ezra with grief and shame. He felt that the greatest of evils is sin; the greatest of dangers, that of forfeiting the protection of the Almighty by trespassing against him. In deep sorrow of heart Ezra rent his garments, and, falling on his knees, with tears confessed before the Lord the sins of those whom divine mercy had restored to their land. “O my God, I am ashamed, I blush to lift up my eyes to thee!” exclaimed the leader of the backsliding Jews; “for our iniquities are increased over our head, and our transgression is grown up unto the heavens!”

The blessing of the Lord whom he supplicated rested upon the efforts of Ezra to bring back the erring to the paths of righteousness. With repentance and weeping the Jews returned to their God; order was again restored; and the heathen wives were put away.

Let us now retrace a little the course of history, to consider some events of great interest and importance which occurred at the court of Persia, between the periods of the return of the first and second bands of exiles to the land of Judea.

CHAPTER II.
THE HISTORY OF ESTHER.

The Jewish Maiden—The Conspiracy Discovered—Haman’s Plot—A Mourning Nation—The Golden Sceptre—The Queen’s Banquet.

Artaxerxes,[2] or, as he is termed in the Scriptures, Ahasuerus, sat on the throne of Persia. Lord of the widest kingdom which then existed upon earth—a kingdom which extended from India to Ethiopia, and comprised a hundred and twenty-seven provinces—the will of the monarch was the law to which many nations were constrained to bow. Ahasuerus possessed neither the wisdom nor the self-command requisite in one to whom power so vast is intrusted. He chose for his chief favourite and minister Haman, an Amalekite, a man of unbounded cruelty and pride, and dismissed his own queen for venturing to disobey a capricious command given to her by her husband, when he was probably under the influence of wine.

In choosing another partner of his state to fill the place of the dethroned Queen Vashti, the despot sought for no higher qualification than that of personal attractions. But the Almighty Disposer of events guided the choice of the monarch.

SITE OF SHUSHAN OR SUSA.

In the palace of Shushan was a certain Jew, named Mordecai, of the tribe of Benjamin. With a father’s care he had reared [Esther], a young orphan maiden, a relative of his own. The Jewess was possessed of exquisite beauty; amongst the fair she was the fairest; Ahasuerus saw her, loved her, and raised the beauteous captive to the rank of the queen of Persia.

Her elevation appears to have had no effect in changing the character of this daughter of Abraham. In the palace of Ahasuerus, surrounded by luxury and pomp, Esther preserved her faith to the God of her fathers, though by the charge of Mordecai she kept her nation and kindred secret from the king. While placed in a position far above that of her early benefactor, the young queen still rendered to Mordecai the dutiful obedience of a daughter. Through her the Jew made known to Ahasuerus a secret plot to assassinate him, which had been made by two of his chamberlains. The conspirators suffered the punishment of death, but he to whose timely warning the king owed the preservation of his life, sat day after day in the gate of the royal palace, unrewarded and neglected.

Through this gate passed Haman, the proud favourite of the Persian monarch. As he moved on with a stately step amongst the courtiers and servants of the king, every head, save one, was bowed down before him—all did him obeisance save one! That one was Mordecai, the bold, un-compromising Jew, who scorned to pay any mark of respect to him who was the enemy of his faith—to him who belonged to the guilty tribe doomed by a just God to destruction.

QUEEN ESTHER.

Haman was not a man to forgive that which he looked upon as an insult. Boiling with rage, he determined that not only should Mordecai expiate his offence with his life, but that the whole of his race should be swept away by one act of indiscriminate vengeance. The arbitrary temper of Ahasuerus, and his blind confidence in his wicked minister, too well seconded the bloody designs of Haman. This unprincipled favourite succeeded in obtaining from the despot a decree for the extermination of the Jewish people throughout all of his extensive dominions. Neither age nor sex were to be spared; the babe was to be slaughtered in the arms of its mother, and the spoil of the murdered victims was to be the prey of the merciless Haman! A time was actually fixed upon by lot for the perpetration of the horrible massacre, but, by the providence of God, the lot fell upon a distant day. Their consciences untroubled by a sense of their enormous guilt, Ahasuerus and Haman sat down to feast and to drink, while all [Shushan] was startled by the fearful decree that was to destroy a peaceful nation from the face of the earth!

When Mordecai heard of the king’s commandment, he rent his clothes, and put on sackcloth with ashes, and went out into the midst of the city, and cried with a loud and bitter cry. And in every province into which the king’s decree came, there was great mourning amongst the Jews, and fasting, and weeping, and wailing; and many lay in sackcloth and ashes. Esther heard of the deep [distress of Mordecai], though, secluded as she was in the royal apartments, she seems not to have been fully aware of its cause. She sent Hatach, the king’s chamberlain, to Mordecai, and received through him a copy of the dreadful decree, and a charge to go herself to the despot, and make supplication for her persecuted people.

This message threw the young queen into great perplexity and distress. For thirty days the capricious monarch had expressed no wish to see her, and to enter unbidden into his presence exposed any intruder to the penalty of death, unless the monarch should extend his golden sceptre in token of pardon and grace. Through the medium of Hatach, Esther communicated her difficulties and fears to Mordecai. But to the resolute spirit of the Jew but one path appeared open to his adopted daughter, and that was the path of duty. Whatever might be the difficulty, she must brave it; whatever might be the danger, she must dare it! He reminded Esther that it was probably for this very purpose that she had been raised to share the throne of Ahasuerus.

The reply of the queen showed her piety and her obedience, and her resolution at all hazards to intercede for her nation. She besought Mordecai to gather together all the Jews that were then in [Shushan], that they might plead for her with that Almighty Ruler in whose hand are the hearts of kings. She promised that at the end of three days, which she would herself devote to solemn prayer, she would appear before Ahasuerus, concluding her message with the touching words, “And if I perish, I perish!”

The third day arrived, and the trembling [Esther prepared to redeem her promise]. She put on her royal apparel, the rich garments and glittering jewels whose splendour seemed a mockery of the fear and sorrow of her whom they adorned. And so Esther ventured into the presence of the despot, not armed with great natural courage, but leaning on that invisible Protector who can give strength to the weak and heroism to the fearful. Ahasuerus beheld his beauteous queen, and all his affection towards her revived: he held out his golden sceptre, and perceiving that no light motive could have induced her to brave the peril of death, “What wilt thou, Queen Esther?” he cried; “and what is thy request? It shall be given to thee to the half of the kingdom.”

ESTHER APPEARING BEFORE KING AHASUERUS.

Notwithstanding the relief which the young Jewess experienced at the first peril being happily past, she was not yet prepared to disclose the secret of her race, hitherto carefully concealed. She confined herself to a request that the king and Haman should that day attend a banquet which she had prepared.

The request was instantly granted; the monarch and his favourite appeared at the feast; and again Ahasuerus gave a gracious promise to his queen—“What is thy request? even to the half of the kingdom it shall be performed.” Again Esther sought a brief delay. She entreated her lord to come with Haman to another banquet on the morrow, and promised that she then would declare the subject of her anxious desires.

Haman left the presence of the queen glad, and with a joyful heart. Honoured as no other subject had been honoured, the spirit of the Amalekite was lifted up with pride. He approached the gate at which Mordecai still sat. Surely now the firmness of the Jew will give way; he will yield reverence at last to one who has so fearfully shown his disposition to revenge, and his power to gratify it. No! Mordecai stoops not, and the tyrant passes on, full of rage against one whom he may kill, but whom he cannot conquer.

On what a slight thread hangs human happiness, when such a breath can destroy it! Haman had all that the world could give, but one evil passion, like a viper in the breast, poisoned in a moment every spring of enjoyment. He went to his home a miserable man—so miserable, that he was constrained to publish to others what was humiliating to himself. Haman called for his friends, and Zeresh his wife, and told them of the glory of his riches, the multitude of his children, the favour of his sovereign, and the repeated invitations with which Esther the queen had honoured him; closing all with this striking confession of the vanity of earthly greatness—“Yet all this availeth me nothing, so long as I see Mordecai the Jew sitting at the gate of the king!”

Zeresh appeared a meet counsellor for so unprincipled a man as her husband. She and her friends assured Haman that the object of his hate could be easily destroyed, without waiting for the day appointed for the massacre. “Let a gallows be made fifty cubits high,” said they, “and tomorrow speak thou unto the king that Mordecai may be hanged thereon; then go thou merrily unto the banquet.”

The wicked counsel pleased Haman, and he caused the gallows at once to be made.

CHAPTER III.
CONTINUATION OF THE HISTORY OF ESTHER.

Persian Records—Malice Defeated—Pleading of Esther—Punishment of Haman—Triumph of the Jews.

That night King Ahasuerus could not sleep. Those peaceful slumbers which the meanest of his subjects could enjoy, fled from the eyelids of the monarch. It does not appear, however, that the rest of the despot was destroyed by any thought of the thousands of innocent families doomed by his caprice to destruction. Unable to obtain sleep, the king ordered that the book of records should be brought and read before him; and as he listened to the account of the events of his reign, the conspiracy of his servants, and the means by which the dangerous plot had been discovered, were brought to the remembrance of the monarch.

“What honour and dignity hath been done to Mordecai?” said the king.

“There is nothing done for him,” was the reply.

“Who is in the court?” asked Ahasuerus.

“Behold, Haman standeth in the court,” answered his servants.

“Let him come in,” said the king.

Now Haman had come into the outer court to procure from his master an order to hang Mordecai on the lofty gallows which had been erected. Full of his evil design, he presented himself before the king.

“What shall be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour?” said Ahasuerus, addressing his favourite.

Now Haman thought in his heart, “To whom would the king delight to do honour more than to myself?” and eager to obtain the most distinguished mark of royal favour, to which his ambitious, presumptuous heart could aspire, Haman replied to his lord, “Let the royal apparel be brought which the king useth to wear, and the horse that the king rideth upon, and the crown royal which is set upon his head: and let this apparel and horse be delivered to one of the king’s most noble princes, that they may array the man withal that the king delighteth to honour, and bring him on horseback through the street of the city, and proclaim before him, ‘Thus shall it be done to the man whom the king delighteth to honour.’”

THE BOOK OF RECORDS.

Then Ahasuerus said to Haman, “Make haste, take the apparel and the horse, as thou hast said, and do even so to Mordecai the Jew. Let nothing fail of all that thou hast spoken.”

What must have been the feelings of Haman on receiving this most unexpected command, which he dared not for an instant dispute! What must have been the torment of his soul when he led through the city his intended victim, crowned and royally apparelled, and proclaimed aloud to wondering crowds, that the despised and persecuted Jew was one whom the king delighted to honour! Doubtless Mordecai received this singular reward as a token of good from the King of kings, as a sign that his prayers had been heard by Him who can give beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness.

His hateful commission executed, Haman hurried back to his home, mourning and with his face covered. He found little consolation there from those who on the preceding day had encouraged him in the path of crime. “If Mordecai be of the seed of the Jews, before whom thou hast begun to fall,” said Zeresh and her friends unto Haman, “thou shalt not prevail against him, but shall surely fall before him.”

And while they were yet talking to Haman, the king’s chamberlains arrived, and hastened to bring him to the banquet, to which he had been invited by the queen.

Then at the feast Esther at length made known to Ahasuerus the grief that weighed upon her heart, and pleaded with earnest eloquence for her own life and the lives of her nation; “For we are sold,” she exclaimed, “I and my people, to be destroyed, to be slain, to perish!”

“Who is he,” cried the astonished king, “that durst presume in his heart to do so?”

Then Esther replied, “The adversary and enemy is this wicked Haman.”

The king’s indignation knew no bounds. Thoughtlessly he had signed the decree, little dreaming that it could possibly compromise the safety even of his [beloved Esther]! Haman saw the rising anger of his master, and, in an agony of terror, made supplication for his life to the queen. But he who had shown no mercy found none in his hour of need. Those who had not dared to oppose him in his power, were now eager to hasten his downfall. One of the chamberlains who was present told the incensed monarch of the gallows fifty cubits high, erected by Haman for Mordecai.

“Hang him thereon!” cried the king. The just command was instantly obeyed, and the wretched Haman was cut off in his wicked career by the very death which he had designed for another!

It was less easy to revoke the murderous order which had already been proclaimed, by reason of that law of the Medes and Persians, which made royal decrees irrevocable. But Ahasuerus did all that he could do to counteract the evil effects of his own sinful compliance. A decree was published throughout the land, permitting the Jews to defend themselves against any enemy that might dare to attack them. The result was the complete triumph of the persecuted race over all whom hatred induced to attempt to execute the king’s first decree. Mordecai was raised to high power, and his fame spread throughout all the provinces; the Jews had rest, and peace, and favour; and an annual feast was appointed in commemoration of the great deliverance which the Lord had wrought for his people, through the instrumentality of a feeble woman!

CHAPTER IV
THE JEWS UNDER NEHEMIAH.

Nehemiah’s Petition—Building the Wall—Reading of the Scriptures—Nehemiah Reforms Abuses.

Many years had passed since the events recorded in the last chapter had taken place. Ahasuerus was dead, and Artaxerxes his son reigned on the throne of Persia. Ezra had for about ten years been pursuing his labours at Jerusalem, when the Lord raised up another leader for his people in the [court of Shushan].

Nehemiah, one of the Jewish exiles, held the responsible office of cup-bearer to King Artaxerxes. He was a devout servant of God, and an earnest and devoted patriot. Amidst the splendours of a royal palace, his thoughts recurred often to his suffering brethren at Jerusalem, and ardently did he desire the prosperity of the city of David.

PERSIAN CUP-BEARER.

These feelings were kindled into a warmer glow by the report which Nehemiah received from some of his countrymen who had returned from Judea. From them he heard that the remnant of the people that were left in Zion were in great affliction and reproach; that the wall of Jerusalem lay in ruins; that its gates had been burned with fire; and that aid from their brethren beyond the Euphrates was urgently needed by the Jews in the city.

This aid Nehemiah was anxious to give, but felt apprehensive of difficulties in the way; not the difficulty of quitting the pleasures and luxuries of the magnificent palace in which he held so honourable a place, but that of obtaining the consent of his royal master to his departure for the land of Judea. It is said that the nearest way to reach any heart is through Heaven; such had been the experience of Esther, such now was the experience of Nehemiah. Fervently and humbly he entreated the Lord to give him favour in the sight of the king.

The anxiety which oppressed the noble Jew, expressed itself in his countenance, when, in accordance with his office, he placed the wine-cup in the hand of Artaxerxes. The king noticed his servant’s look of depression, and inquired its cause.

“Let the king live for ever,” replied Nehemiah; “why should not my countenance be sad, when the city, the place of my father’s sepulchres, lieth waste, and the gates thereof are consumed with fire?”

Then said the king to him, “For what dost thou make request?”

Nehemiah silently lifted up his heart in prayer ere he made his reply to the monarch:—“If it please the king, and if thy servant have found favour in thy sight, that thou wouldest send me unto Judah, unto the city of my father’s sepulchres, that I may build it.”

Artaxerxes received the petition with favour. He not only permitted the departure of Nehemiah, but provided for him an escort, and gave him letters to the officers of government on the other side of the Euphrates, 457 b.c. It is from the year in which the Persian monarch issued his decree, permitting the rebuilding of Jerusalem, that is dated the commencement of the weeks of prophetic years, at the close of which the Lord Jesus was crucified (Dan. ix. 25).

Nehemiah soon found, on his arrival at Jerusalem, that his position there would be one of great difficulty, requiring both judgment and courage. The enemies of the Jews, especially Sanballat the Horonite, and Tobiah the Ammonite, were possessed of power, cunning, and the most determined resolution to prevent the rebuilding of the ruined wall.

It was in the stillness of night that a single horseman, accompanied by a few attendants on foot, passed out through the gate of the valley. Thoughtfully he rode on where in ancient and happier times the bulwarks of Jerusalem had stood. He gazed sorrowfully on the blackened ruins over which the Assyrian conquerors had passed. But it was not to mourn in unavailing woe over the desolation of his country that Nehemiah made that midnight survey. That which was ruined he resolved to repair, and, with the blessing of God, to encircle the city once more with a protecting wall.

By his words, and yet more by his example, Nehemiah animated his countrymen to exertion. The circuit of Jerusalem was portioned out to the most zealous of the people, and each in his own division set heartily to work. In vain Sanballat and Tobiah tried to discourage the builders by representing their patriotic efforts as rebellion against Persia. In vain, time after time, they endeavoured to entice Nehemiah into a village, that they might deprive the Jews of him who was the life and soul of their undertaking. “I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down,” was Nehemiah’s answer to their insidious proposals. A yet deeper snare was laid. Nehemiah was warned of a plot to assassinate him, and was urged to fly to the temple. But again the brave leader’s self-devotion defeated the schemes of his enemies. “Should such a man as I flee?” he exclaimed; “and who is he that being as I am, would go into the temple to save his life?”

The adversaries tried the effect of mockery and scorn. As they viewed the unceasing labours of the builders, “Will they,” cried Sanballat, “revive the stones out of the rubbish that is burned?” “If a fox come up,” rejoined the insolent Tobiah, “he shall even break down their stone wall.” But notwithstanding this hatred and scorn, the wall rose higher and higher. Then the bitter adversaries of the Jews resolved to use weapons more formidable than words, and conspired to attack the builders. The peril was great, but Nehemiah and his followers were equal to the occasion. A watch was kept both by night and by day; they that builded the wall, and they that bare burdens, each with one hand wrought in the work, and with the other grasped a weapon for defence. Nehemiah, ever on the watch against the foe, changed not his garments, but lay down night after night in his daily attire, prepared to start up at the first sound of danger. He kept a trumpeter at his side, and said to the nobles and the people, “The work is great and large, and we are separated one far from another; in what place therefore that ye hear the sound of the trumpet, resort ye thither unto us: our God shall fight for us!”

ANCIENT BUILDING TOOLS.

By the indefatigable exertions of these devoted men, in the short space of fifty-two days the wall was completed. The enemies were cast down and discouraged, for they perceived that this work was of God.

And so, in the midst of a world that despises and hates them, God’s people, through all generations, pursue the work that is given them to do; with one hand, as it were, armed to fight against besetting sins and inward corruptions, the other busily engaged in works of piety and love. He that will not fight, is unworthy to labour; he that will not labour is unprepared to fight. It is they who, through faith, conquer sin and self, that are found most zealous in every good work.

The liberality of Nehemiah was equal to his activity and courage. With free hospitality he daily entertained at his own table a hundred and fifty of the Jews. This, and other expenses, Nehemiah defrayed from his own purse, refusing to draw from the people even the allowances due to his office. This generous conduct strengthened his influence, and enabled him with more boldness to denounce and crush a hateful system of usury which prevailed at this time amongst the richer Jews, who took advantage of the wants of their brethren, to take from them their lands, and even their freedom. Nehemiah induced his countrymen to enter into a solemn covenant with the Lord—a covenant to obey all the law, to refrain from marriages with the heathen, to bring due offerings to the temple, and to keep the Sabbath holy.

A reverence was shown for the Scriptures, which was one of the most encouraging signs of reviving religion. A pulpit of wood was erected in one of the streets of Jerusalem, and from this, from morning till noonday, Ezra the priest read aloud from the book of the law of Moses. The multitude of listeners was immense; all the people gathered themselves together as one man to hearken to the word of the Lord. When Ezra opened the book in the sight of this vast crowd, all reverently stood up to listen. When he blessed the Lord the great God, a loud, fervent Amen burst from the dense mass of the people, thousands of hands were lifted up towards heaven, and then the multitudes of Judah bowed their heads and worshipped with their faces to the ground.

After some time spent in labours for his country, Nehemiah returned to the court of Persia, having received only leave of temporary absence. But the disorders which again crept in amongst the backsliding Jews necessitated a second journey to Jerusalem, 434 b.c. Notwithstanding the strict law which forbade the entrance of Ammonites and other heathens into the temple, the high priest Eliashib, being allied to Tobiah, had actually prepared for him a chamber in the courts of the house of the Lord! The Sabbath was by many disregarded; the wine-press was trodden, burdens carried, and merchandise sold on the day that was holy to God. The Levites were neglected, their dues were unpaid, and again some of the Jews had fallen into the grievous sin of intermarrying with idolaters.

Nehemiah suppressed these disorders with a firm and judicious hand, strengthening himself by prayer, and supported in all his difficulties and labours by the consciousness of the presence of that Almighty Being whom he was humbly endeavouring to serve.

CHAPTER V.
ALEXANDER THE GREAT.

Murder of Joshua—A Temple raised on Mount Gerizim—Battle of Issus—Siege of Tyre—The White Robe Procession—Murder of Darius.

We now lose the sure guidance of the sacred writings, and must pursue our way by the dimmer light of uninspired history. “The two books of the Maccabees,” writes Dr. Gray, “were certainly composed after the succession of prophets had ceased among the Jews.” Of the first book he observes, “It was probably written by a contemporary author, who had witnessed in part the scenes which he so minutely and graphically describes;” and of the second book, which contains the account of Heliodoros and the martyrdom of the seven brethren, this writer remarks, “The fathers in general cite the book as a useful history, but not as of authority in points of doctrine.”

After the time of Nehemiah, Judea ceased to form a distinct government, and was joined to the satrapy of Syria. Its internal government was, however, in the hands of its own high priests, and the civil power thus annexed to this office made it an object of great ambition, and unhappily gave rise to disgraceful contests.

On the death of Eliashib, 413 b.c., his son Joiada or Judas succeeded to the dignity of high priest. After he also had been removed by death, a wicked dispute arose between two of his sons, Johanan and Joshua, as to which should fill the sacred office. Johanan, like another Cain, slew Joshua in the [inner court of the temple], and the holy place was polluted with blood shed by a brother’s hand.

Bagoses, the satrap of Syria, hearing of this horrible crime, came to Jerusalem to take account of it. On his going into the temple to examine the spot where Joshua had been killed, the priests would have hindered his entrance, as no Gentile was permitted to cross the sacred threshold.

“What! am I not more pure than the dead carcass of him whom ye have slain in the temple?” exclaimed the indignant satrap; and after rebuking the Jews for suffering the house of their God to be thus defiled, he imposed upon them, as a punishment, a heavy tax upon the lambs that were offered in sacrifice.

The nation at this time had fallen into a grievous state of coldness and formality in religion. The priesthood were worldly and corrupted, and looked upon the services of the temple as a weariness, unwilling to perform even the smallest without some earthly reward. But there were yet faithful ones left in the land—those who feared the Lord, and spake often to each other, and feared the name of the Holy One of Israel. “They shall be Mine,” said the Lord by the prophet Micah, “in that day when I make up My jewels, and I will spare them as a man spareth his own son that serveth him.”

Of such appears to have been the next high priest, Jaddua, who succeeded his father, Johanan, 341 b.c. This faithful servant of God endeavoured to follow in the steps of Nehemiah, expelling his own brother Manasses for marrying the daughter of Sanballat, the Cuthite governor of Samaria. Manasses then repaired to his wife’s father, and the Samaritans availed themselves of the presence of a member of the pontifical family to erect a temple of their own upon the Mount Gerizim, of which Manasses was made high priest. This measure greatly widened the breach between the Jews and the Samaritans; the rivalry of the two nations increased the bitter antipathy which had long existed between them.

The period at length arrived when the Jews were to exchange the yoke of Persia for that of another foreign nation. The winged leopard of Grecia, beheld in vision by Daniel, was now to follow the Assyrian lion and the bear of Persia; the kingdom of brass, as the prophet had foretold to Nebuchadnezzar, was to succeed to the kingdom of silver. [Alexander the Great], king of Macedon, at the head of his Greeks, in a great [victory at Issus] crushed the power of the Persian Darius, which he afterwards completely destroyed.

The conqueror marched into Syria after his victory, summoned its various nations to yield submission, and laid siege to the [city of Tyre], a place of great strength and importance, 332 b.c.

TYRE.

ALEXANDER THE GREAT.

Tyre was a stronghold of superstition and idolatry. Celebrated for her commerce, her merchants were princes, her traffickers the honourable of the earth. But the destruction of this idolatrous city had been foretold centuries previously, both by the prophets Isaiah and Ezekiel. “I will cast thee to the ground, I will bring thee to ashes upon the earth, in the sight of all them that behold thee,” had been the message of the Lord while yet Tyre stood in her strength and beauty, with no one to make her afraid. And now the prophecy was literally though unconsciously fulfilled by Alexander. With extreme difficulty, but with a perseverance which overcame every obstacle, the great Macedonian seized upon the mighty city. He mercilessly burned it to the ground, and destroyed or enslaved its people. In vain had the Tyrians called upon their idols, prayed to the deaf ears that could not hear, sought help of the hands that could not save! Eight thousand of the unfortunate citizens fell in the sack of the town, and were buried beneath its ashes; and two thousand were barbarously crucified by order of the stern Alexander.

BATTLE OF ISSUS.

And now the conqueror, flushed with success, turned his march towards Jerusalem. Terror and alarm spread through that city. The Jews, faithful in their allegiance to Persia, had refused to supply the enemy of King Darius with the provisions which he had demanded for the sustenance of his army. This had greatly irritated Alexander, whose spirit was little able to brook such opposition to his despotic will. As soon as the ruin of Tyre was complete, the fierce conqueror therefore advanced upon Jerusalem, with intention to punish its people for daring to disobey his commands.

In the extremity of their danger, Jaddua and his countrymen threw themselves on the protection of their God. They implored his succour in their distress, and their prayers were heard and answered.

In a vision of the night Jaddua was directed to go out and meet Alexander dressed in the gorgeous robes of his office, and attended by a company of the priests, and all the people in white garments. They were not to draw the sword or lift the spear, but go forth to the destroyer of Tyre with no protection but that of the invisible arm of Jehovah stretched out to defend them. Jaddua obeyed the command, and on the next day left Jerusalem in the manner directed.

The white-robed procession slowly mounted a hill which commanded a prospect of the country around them. Doubtless many a heart trembled, and many a cheek grew pale with fear, when a cloud of dust in the distance showed the approach of the terrible foe! Alexander’s army drew nearer and nearer, the sunlight flashing from their weapons. Would not these weapons soon be dimmed in the blood of their unarmed, unresisting victims?

Once more the Lord showed his irresistible power over the hearts of men. No sooner did Alexander see the high priest, followed by the people, advancing towards him, than, as if struck by sudden awe, he hastened forward to meet the procession, and, to the astonishment of his own troops, did obeisance to the venerable Jaddua. While all stood amazed at this most unexpected conduct on the part of the offended conqueror, Parmenio, who was one of his friends, ventured to ask him the reason of it, and to inquire why he, whom every one adored, should pay such adoration to a Jew.

Alexander answered that it was not to him, but to the God whom Jaddua served, that he paid adoration; for that when he had been in Macedonia, meditating the war against Persia, which had been since so successfully begun, he had beheld in a dream this very high priest arrayed in such a dress as that which he now wore, who bade him pass boldly into Persia, promising that God should be his guide, and bestow upon him victory and success. Then turning to the high priest Jaddua, Alexander cordially embraced him, and entered Jerusalem in his company, where the proud conqueror of Persia offered sacrifices to the God of Jacob.

Jaddua having shown to Alexander the prophecies in which his triumphs were predicted, the king of Macedon left Jerusalem assured of that success which followed his arms. He called the Jews together before his departure, and graciously bade them ask of him whatever they might desire. They petitioned that they might be permitted the free exercise of their religion and laws, and be exempted from taxes every seventh year, during which they neither sowed nor reaped, but left the land to enjoy her Sabbaths, according to the commandment of God.

To all this Alexander graciously acceded; but when similar petitions were offered by the Samaritans, who had merited well of the Macedonian monarch, by sending the supplies which the Jews had refused, Alexander returned a courteous but evasive reply, deferring compliance till, at some future period, he should have leisure fully to inform himself on the subject of their demands.

Alexander then pursued his victorious career. Darius, after a defeat at Arbela, fled towards Bactria, but was traitorously murdered by Bessus, one of his own nobles. Alexander reached the summit of power and pride. But he who was the lord of many nations was the slave of his own sinful passions: Alexander conquered his outward foes, but not the more dangerous ones within. Intoxicated with vainglory, he fancied himself to be more than man. Addicted to intemperance, in a drunken revel he killed his own friend Clitus, and by his wild excesses shortened his own existence. This extraordinary man died in the prime of his days and the zenith of his power, 323 b.c., leaving the vast empire which his prowess had subdued to be split into various kingdoms, and to be made the object of fearful strife and bloodshed amongst his contending generals.

CHAPTER VI.
JUDEA UNDER THE YOKE OF EGYPT.

Jerusalem Taken—The Soothsayer and the Archer—Profanity of Ptolemy Philopater—Persecution of the Jews—Judea Wrested from Egypt.

In the first division of Alexander’s empire, Syria devolved to Laomedon, and Egypt to [Ptolemy Soter]. Between them a war arose, and its result was that all the provinces of Laomedon submitted to Ptolemy. The Jews alone, faithful to the oath which they had taken to the defeated ruler, refused to bend to the conqueror. Ptolemy marched against Jerusalem, which, being now strongly fortified, might have held out against him, but that the Jews, from a scrupulous regard to the sanctity of the Sabbath, would not at this period defend themselves on that holy day, 320 b.c. Ptolemy did not treat the Jews with great severity; for, though he sent a large number of them into Egypt, it was rather as colonists than bondsmen.

PTOLEMY SOTER.

The son and successor of this king was a great patron of learning, and spared no expense in procuring curious books for his famous library in Alexandria. He caused the Hebrew Scriptures to be rendered into Greek; and this important translation still exists under the name of the Septuagint, from the tradition that seventy persons were employed in completing it.

Not only did Ptolemy avail himself of the services of the Jews as regarded literature—some of them were also enlisted in the army of the Egyptian ruler. An anecdote is related of one who had the courage openly to reprove the superstition of the idolatrous soldiery amongst whom he was serving.

This man, whose name was Mosullum, was noted for his valour, and famous for his singular skill in archery. As, on one occasion, he was travelling towards the Red Sea with his companions, a certain soothsayer, who accompanied the band, commanded an instant halt. Mosullum demanded his reason for the delay.

“Look ye,” answered the foreteller of events; “behold that bird before us. If that bird stands, ye are to stand; if he rises and flies on, go forward; if the bird takes his flight the contrary way, you must all return back again.”

The Jew, without speaking another word, fitted an arrow to the string, and let fly at the bird, which, the next moment, fell fluttering in death to the ground. Furious indignation was instantly excited amongst the superstitious beholders against the author of so daring an act. But Mosullum opposed calm reason to the folly of those who put faith in omens. “How could that poor creature,” said he, “pretend to foreshow us our fortune, that knew nothing of its own? If this bird could have foretold good or evil to come, it would have kept out of this place for fear of being slain by the arrow of Mosullum the Jew.”

Onias, the first high priest at Jerusalem, having died, 300 b.c., was succeeded by Simon his son, who, from the holiness of his life and the righteousness of his actions, was surnamed Simon the Just. This good man completed the canon of the Scriptures; and the Old Testament, as it has been handed down to us, was in its perfect form received by the Jews. Simon died 291 b.c., and Onias succeeded to the high priesthood.

Egypt, to which, as has been seen, Judea was at this period subject, was ruled by a succession of sovereigns, who all bore the title of Ptolemy.

PTOLEMY EUERGETES.

A remarkable instance of the reverence with which the monarchs to whom the Jews were tributary often regarded the religion which those Jews professed, was shown by [Ptolemy Euergetes], in the year 245 b.c. On returning from a successful expedition, this king of a most idolatrous nation chose to take his way through Jerusalem, and there render thanks to the God of Israel for the victories he had obtained over Syria. We thus see that the light of truth, confided to the Jews, shed a partial radiance over the nations by which they were surrounded.

A young Jew, named Joseph, nephew of the high priest Onias, rose high in the favour of [Ptolemy Euergetes]. He was admitted to the office of receiver-general in the provinces of Cœle-Syria, Phœnicia, Judea, and Samaria; and, like his great countryman of the same name, acquitted himself with such wisdom and prudence, that he won and kept for many years the confidence of the king of Egypt.

In 216 b.c., Simon, second high priest of that name, succeeded his father Onias, who had been a weak and covetous old man, intent upon nothing so much as amassing treasure for himself. It was well that one of a nobler character had now entered upon so important an office, for a time of great difficulty was near, when the Jews would especially require courage and strong faith in their leader.

PTOLEMY PHILOPATER.

Ptolemy Philopater mounted the throne of his father. This young man was stained with the darkest crimes: he was the murderer of his mother and his brother, and subsequently proved himself a barbarous persecutor. He, however, appeared disposed in the earlier part of his reign, to render, as his father had done, honour to the great God of Israel. He visited Jerusalem, offered sacrifices to the Lord, and presented valuable gifts to the temple. Perhaps the conscience of this wicked prince was not altogether silent, and he thought by his oblations to appease that great Being who is of purer eyes than to behold iniquity.

But [Ptolemy] was not contented with viewing the outside of the [beautiful temple] raised to Jehovah; he was resolved to visit the sanctuary, to tread that Holy of holies into which none but the [high priest] was permitted to enter, and that only on the day of atonement. This raised an outcry all through the city. Simon opposed the entrance of the profane king into the holy temple; he declared to him the law which forbade it; but Ptolemy was disposed to regard no law but that of his own capricious will. Disregarding the expostulations of the high priest, and the distress and horror expressed in the countenances of the Levites, he pressed into the inner court, and was about to enter the sanctuary, when the wicked king was suddenly struck with such a terror and confusion of mind, that he was utterly unable to proceed, and he was carried half dead out of the place which an invisible Power protected.

Rage and hatred swelled in the heart of the disappointed monarch. He had been conquered by fear, and he now sought to cover his mortification by revenge upon the worshippers of the omnipotent Jehovah. On his return to his capital—[Alexandria]—Ptolemy at once degraded all the Jews, who were living there in great numbers, and commanded that each should be branded with the mark of an ivy-leaf—the badge of Bacchus the god of wine, whom this miserable idolater worshipped. All who refused to receive this disgraceful mark were ordered to be put to death; but such as sacrificed to the false gods were to enjoy equal privileges with the Macedonians, the original founders of the city. Of the many thousands of Jews who were in Alexandria, only three hundred persons were found base enough to forsake their God to win the favour of the king.

Enraged at the firmness of the majority, Ptolemy resolved to punish not only the Jews in Alexandria, but those who dwelt in any part of his dominions. He sent orders that all who were in Egypt should be sent to the capital in chains. There, it is said, that a great multitude of victims being thus gathered together, the tyrant shut them up in the hippodrome, a large place without the city used for horse-races and games, and appointed a certain day in which they were all to be destroyed by elephants.

Crowds assembled on this day to witness the horrible spectacle; but the king had sat up so late on the previous night at a drunken revel, that he slept on that morning beyond the hour which had been fixed upon for the show. Nothing could be done in his absence: the massacre was deferred till the morrow; and again on the morrow a similar cause occasioned a similar delay. During all this time the Jews, shut up in the hippodrome, ceased not by earnest, humble prayer to implore that mercy from God which they could not hope for from the tyrant.

On the third day the king took his seat to behold the fearful execution. Multitudes hastened with barbarous eagerness to the spot, to see their unhappy fellow-creatures torn limb from limb, for no other crime than that of holding fast their holy faith. The huge elephants were brought forth, maddened with frankincense and wine, that they might with more rage execute the king’s vengeance upon his innocent subjects.

ALEXANDRIA

ANTIOCHUS THE GREAT.

But no sooner were the fierce animals let loose, than, neglecting their intended victims, they broke bounds, and furiously rushed upon the crowds assembled to view the execution! The air was filled with loud shrieks and cries, the multitudes fled in dismay; but many were trampled under foot, many were destroyed by the savage elephants. Ptolemy, a witness of the terrible scene, dared no longer oppose his puny strength to the irresistible power of Israel’s God; he dared no longer persecute the Jews, who were so manifestly protected by Heaven. He revoked all his decrees against them, and loaded them with favours and gifts, 216 b.c.

The tyrant Philopater died, 205 b.c., while yet in the prime of his manhood; and as his title devolved on a little child, [Antiochus the Great], king of Syria, soon succeeded in wresting Judea and other provinces from the Egyptian crown. The Jews by no means regretted this change of masters. They willingly rendered up their strongholds to Antiochus; and on his advancing to Jerusalem, the priests and elders went forth in procession to meet him, and received him with gladness. They had little reason, indeed, to uphold the cause of their Egyptian tyrants.

CHAPTER VII.
JUDEA UNDER THE YOKE OF SYRIA.

The Bright Horseman—The Temple Profaned—The Image of Jupiter—The Mother and her Seven Sons.

Antiochus the Great died, 187 b.c., and Seleucus Philopater succeeded. It is during the reign of this monarch that some remarkable events are said to have occurred, as related in the book of the Maccabees.

Simon, a Benjamite, having been appointed governor of the temple, some disputes arose between him and Onias, who was high priest at the time. Finding that he was unable to prevail against him whom the Jews regarded as their lawful chief, Simon fled to Apollonius, the governor of Cœle-Syria and Palestine, under King Seleucus, and informed him that great treasures were laid up in the [temple at Jerusalem]. This account, as was probably intended, excited the cupidity of the king, and Heliodoros his treasurer was despatched to seize upon the coveted wealth.

Heliodoros arrived at Jerusalem, and was courteously received by Onias. The treasurer declared to him the purpose of his journey, and asked him whether the report were true that much gold was to be found in the temple.

Onias replied that there was indeed money laid up there for the relief of widows and orphans, but earnestly expostulated against any attempt to carry away from the temple the treasure committed to his trust.

Heliodoros had, however, received the positive commands of the king, and was resolved to carry them into execution.

The high priest was in the deepest distress; and his horror and indignation at the intended robbery and sacrilege were shared by the priests and the people. Women, girded with sackcloth, mourned in the streets; the priests prostrated themselves before the altar—all, lifting up their hands, implored the Lord to keep safe and sure that intrusted treasure which they were themselves unable to defend.

HELIODOROS DRIVEN FROM THE TEMPLE.

Then, as is related, there appeared before Heliodoros[3] a horse, on which sat a terrible rider, arrayed in bright armour of glittering gold; and beside him glorious beings, who, with scourges, sorely chastised the mortal who had dared to profane the sanctity of the temple. Overpowered by the vision, [Heliodoros] fell to the ground, thick darkness seemed to surround him, and he was carried, fainting and almost dying, from the treasury which he had impiously entered.

ANTIOCHUS EPIPHANES.

Seleucus was succeeded, in 175 b.c., by his brother [Antiochus Epiphanes], one of the most base and cruel tyrants that ever disgraced a throne. As soon as he was settled in the kingdom, Jason, the unworthy brother of Onias, by underhand means contrived not only to induce the monarch to let him supplant his brother, but to banish Onias to Antioch, where this good man was subsequently murdered.

Jason was now high priest, and the use which he made of his power was such as might have been expected from his treacherous mode of obtaining it. Honour, patriotism, religion were all sacrificed to his desire to retain the favour of the king. He erected a gymnasium for games, after the fashion of the Greeks, whom he sought in all things to imitate. Jason did all in his power to induce his countrymen to abandon the customs of their fathers, to break their covenant with God, and to conform to the manners of the heathen. The services of the temple were abandoned, and corruption spread amongst the people.

Retribution soon overtook the wicked Jason, and as he had meted to another it was measured to him again. His brother Menelaus supplanted him in the same manner that he had supplanted Onias, and succeeded to his title and his power, more than emulating him in his impiety and guilt.

Jason was not disposed easily to yield up his ill-acquired dignity. Taking recourse to arms, in 171 b.c., he marched with a thousand men against his own city, took possession of Jerusalem, drove Menelaus to seek shelter in its castle, and committed great cruelties on such of the citizens as he deemed the partizans of his brother.

The just chastisements of the Almighty were now descending upon his backsliding people. [Antiochus] hearing of what had occurred, and deeming that the whole Jewish nation had revolted, hastened to Jerusalem with his forces, and slew in the devoted city no fewer than four thousand persons. As many were sold as slaves. Conducted by the impious Menelaus, [Antiochus] forced his way into the temple, plundered it of vast treasures, and polluted the altar of God by offering on it a sow, which was held in abomination by the Jews. Well might the miserable descendants of Abraham think that the Almighty whom they had forsaken, had utterly forsaken them now; that His mercy had left them for ever; and that, after so many deliverances, they were finally given up for their sins to destruction.

But there were yet amongst the Jews those who clung to the faith of their fathers, and rested with earnest hope on the promises given through the prophets. Jerusalem still was the guardian of the light of Truth in a world that lay in darkness, and neither the powers of earth nor hell could prevail to quench it.

IMAGE OF JUPITER.

Dark and fearful, indeed, was the cloud of tribulation which rested upon Jerusalem. Antiochus, not contented with his late fearful cruelties, sent Apollonius, his general, to wreak yet further vengeance on the city of David. After having slain great multitudes of the people, and sent away ten thousand captives, Apollonius plundered the town, set it on fire, and demolished the wall. The daily sacrifices ceased in the temple; Jerusalem was deserted. Officers were appointed to compel the miserable Jews to sacrifice to idols. The Samaritans consented to receive an image of the false god [Jupiter] into their temple on Mount Gerizim; and another, to the horror of all true children of Abraham, was placed in the temple of Jerusalem!

In this period of awful trial, glorious saints and noble martyrs were found ready rather to suffer unto death than to deny the God whom they adored. Such a spirit of devotion as that which had supported Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, when the fiery furnace glowed before them, animated still the faithful servants of the Lord.

An example of noble constancy was given by Eleazar, an aged scribe, who was urged by his persecutors to break the law of Moses. The noble old man was scourged to death, bravely enduring to the end.

A mother and her seven sons were brought before Antiochus, and threatened with the most fearful tortures should they disobey his unlawful commands. One and all this devoted family preferred death to apostasy. The mother, with refined cruelty, was made to witness the dying agonies of her sons. Far from weakening their courage by tears and lamentations, the Jewish matron exhorted her children to keep faithful to their God, cheering them in that awful hour by hopes of a joyful resurrection. Faith and strength from above supported these glorious martyrs. One of the young men exclaimed, as he stretched forth his hands for the torture, “These I had from Heaven, and for His laws I despise them, and from Him I hope to receive them again!” One after another, six of the sons closed their eyes in death, committing their souls to their Creator. One only, the youngest, remained, and even the tyrant appears to have been touched with some compassion for his tender years, for he promised the youth with oaths to make him a rich and happy man, if he would turn from the laws of his fathers. When the young Jew refused to hearken to his offers, the king bade the mother, already bereaved of so many children, use her endeavours to save the last by counselling submission and obedience.

But she, strong in faith, addressed her son in the Hebrew language, conjuring him, even by his love to her who had borne him, to endure any amount of suffering rather than sin. “Fear not this tormentor,” she cried; “but being worthy of thy brethren, take thy death, that I may receive thee again in mercy with thy brethren.”

While his mother was yet speaking these words, the noble youth turned to the executioners. “Whom wait ye for?” he exclaimed; “I will not obey the king’s commandment, but I will obey the commandments of the law that was given unto our fathers by Moses. And thou,” he continued, looking at the tyrant, “shalt not escape the hands of God. For we suffer because of our sins; and though the living God be angry with us a little while for our chastening and correction, yet shall He be at one with His servants. But thou, O godless man! be not lifted up without a cause, or puffed up with uncertain hopes, lifting up thy hand against the servants of God, for thou hast not yet escaped the judgment of Almighty God, who seeth all things. For our brethren who now have suffered a short pain, are dead under God’s covenant of everlasting life; but thou, through the judgment of God, shall receive just punishment for thy pride. But I, as my brethren, offer up my body and life for the laws of my fathers, beseeching God that He would speedily be merciful unto my nation.”

The tyrant, enraged at the fearless words of the youth, put him to death by tortures more dreadful even than those that his brothers had endured; and then the devoted mother, faithful unto death, and under a trial more terrible than death, followed her glorious sons by the same brief and bloody path, to the haven of eternal rest prepared for those who, like them, count God’s service as dearer than life.

The dying prayer of the young martyr had been heard. The Lord was preparing a deliverance for his persecuted people.

The Jews, quiet and peaceful as they had shown themselves to be under the sway of their rulers—Assyrian, Persian, and Egyptian—had at length been goaded beyond their power of endurance; or rather, the Almighty having compassion on their sufferings, was pleased again, as in the days of old, to raise up for them mighty deliverers.

CHAPTER VIII.
VICTORIES OF JUDAS MACCABEUS.

Rising of the Jews—Martyrs to the Law—Apollonius Defeated—Seron Defeated—Lycias Defeated—The Temple Cleansed—Death of Epiphanes—Siege of Bethsura—Exploit of Eleazar—The Temple Besieged.

The noble family of the Asmoneans, so called from Asmoneus, one of its ancestors, was amongst the most distinguished in Judea, and dwelt at this period in the town of Modin. At the head of this family was Mattathias, the father of five noble sons, Joanan, Simon, Eleazar, Jonathan, and the illustrious Judas, surnamed Maccabeus.

Deeply did Mattathias mourn over the oppression of his people, and the desecration of the altar of his God; and he heard with emotions of indignation that the king’s officers had come to his own town, to compel all to sacrifice to the gods of the heathen.

Mattathias being a person of great influence, the emissaries of Antiochus spared no pains to induce him, by many promises, to give an example of submission. But the brave old Jew answered with a loud voice, “Though all the nations that are under the king’s dominion obey him, and fall away every one from the religion of his fathers, yet will I and my sons walk in the covenant. God forbid that we should forsake the law and the ordinances! We will not hearken to the king’s words, to go either to the right hand or the left.”

When Mattathias had concluded his declaration, there came a renegade Jew, in the sight of all, to sacrifice at the altar at Modin. Filled with indignation and inflamed with zeal, Mattathias, like another Phinehas, rushed forward and slew him on the altar; then turning on the commissioner, him he also slew, and pulled down the altar to the ground!

This was indeed drawing the sword and throwing away the scabbard! Mattathias exclaimed, “Who is zealous for the law and maintaineth the covenant, let him follow me!” and leaving all that he possessed, he fled into the mountains with his sons, where they were joined by numbers of the faithful and brave, who were ready, like themselves, to yield up their lives rather than their faith.

A touching example of obedience to the law of God was given by a large band of Jews who, with their wives and little ones, had tied into the wilderness to escape the persecutions of the king. The fugitives were pursued, and the forces of Antiochus came up to them at a place where they had taken refuge in a cave. Philip, the leader of the soldiers, endeavoured to induce the Jews to come forth and make submission, but this they firmly refused to do. He then attacked them, and the day being the Sabbath, the Jews, scrupulously observant of the law which commands that day to be kept holy, neither stopped up the mouth of their cave nor raised a weapon against their foes. “Let us die all in our innocence,” they exclaimed; and thus all—men, women, and children—were slain unresisting by the Syrians.

Mattathias and his followers were greatly grieved on receiving tidings of this cruel massacre. In full debate, after due deliberation, they came to the decision that self-defence is lawful on the Sabbath; and that, if attacked by the foe on that day, they would fight for their lives and their laws.

Mattathias, and the brave Jews whom he had gathered around him, now leaving their fastnesses in the mountains, went to various cities of Judea, throwing down the idol altars, and driving the enemy before them. But the aged hero was soon worn out by the fatigues of warfare. He felt that the time of his departure was drawing nigh, and gathering his five sons around him, Mattathias gave them his dying exhortation.

He reminded them of the saints of old, whose faith had been crowned with success; he bade them give their lives for the covenant of God, and remember that they who trusted in Him never should be overcome. He appointed Judas, his third son, to be the leader, and Simon the counsellor of the patriots; and so, bestowing on his children his parting blessing, Mattathias yielded up his soul to his God. Truly the hoary head is a crown of glory, when it is found in the way of righteousness.

Then Judas, called Maccabeus from the motto on his standard, “Who is like unto Thee amongst the gods, O Jehovah!” (the initials of which in Hebrew form the word Maccabi), succeeded to the authority of his father. There appear to have been no petty jealousies between the noble sons of a glorious sire; they were united by a better tie than even that of blood—fellowship in a holy cause.

Judas proved himself a bold and able commander, a hero treading in the steps of Joshua, Gideon, and David. With a force not exceeding six thousand men, he took the field against the large, well-disciplined armies of Antiochus, commanded by warriors of renown.

His first great triumph was gained over Apollonius, whose sword the victor wore to the end of his life. Judas then made head against Seron, a prince of Syria, who came to attack him with a mighty host. Maccabeus was then commanding a mere handful of men, and some of his companions, disheartened at the fearful disparity of numbers, came to their chief and said, “How shall we be able, being so few, to fight against so great a multitude and so strong, seeing we are ready to faint with fasting?”

“With the God of heaven,” replied the hero, “it is all one to deliver with a great multitude or a small company; for the victory standeth not in the multitude of a host, but strength cometh from Heaven. We fight for our laws and our lives, wherefore, the Lord himself will overthrow these men before our face!”

The result of the battle was the complete triumph of the Jews, who overcame and pursued their enemies.

This victory made the name of Judas renowned through all the neighbouring states, and it was speedily followed by others. Army after army was sent against him, and fled in broken masses before the conquering sword of him who trusted in the strength of the Omnipotent.

One of these engagements was with Lycias, a nobleman who acted as regent of Syria during the absence of its king. Lycias, with a force of sixty-five thousand choice infantry and five thousand horsemen, was met by Judas Maccabeus at the head of ten thousand men. When the Jewish leader beheld the immense host before him, before he closed in battle, he had recourse to the powerful weapon of prayer.

“Blessed art Thou, O Saviour of Israel!” he cried, “who didst quell the violence of the mighty man by the hand of Thy servant David, and gavest the host of strangers into the hands of Jonathan, the son of Saul, and his armour-bearer! Shut up this army in the hand of Thy people Israel, and let them be confounded in their power. Cast them down with the sword of them that love Thee, and let all that know Thy name praise Thee with thanksgiving.”

The supplications of Judas were heard. The Lord God of Israel fought for His people, and the vast Syrian host fled in confusion before them.

Then said Judas and his brethren, “Behold, our enemies are discomfited; let us go up to cleanse and dedicate the sanctuary.”

With what joy and thanksgiving must the valiant deliverers have been welcomed in Jerusalem, which they had freed from the oppressor! Judas and his band of heroes proceeded at once to the temple; but when they saw the sanctuary desolate, the altar profaned, the gates burned down, and herbage growing in the courts once trod by the feet of so many worshippers, they rent their clothes, and cast ashes on their heads, and fell with their faces to the ground.

But Judas, like Nehemiah, did not content himself with lamentations over the desolation which he saw—he zealously set himself to repair and to reform. He chose priests of blameless lives to cleanse the polluted sanctuary, pull down the altar which the heathen had profaned, and build up another in its place. He also appointed warriors to fight against the Syrian garrison, which still held a fortress which had been erected by Apollonius to overlook the temple. New holy vessels were made for the sanctuary, the lamps again were lighted and sacrifices offered, and, with joy and exultation, songs of praise, and the music of harps and cymbals, the conquerors returned thanks for victory in the temple of the Lord of hosts.

By the command of Judas Maccabeus, high walls, strengthened with towers, were raised around the sacred building, to protect it from future attack, and a garrison was appointed to guard it, 164 b.c.

When Antiochus, who was on his way from Ecbatana to Babylonia, heard how the Jews had defeated Lycias, recovered the [temple of Jerusalem], pulled down his idols, thrown their altars to the ground, and restored the pure worship of Jehovah, he was enraged to the utmost pitch of fury. He commanded his charioteer to double his speed, that he might the sooner arrive in Judea to execute a fearful revenge. He threatened to make Jerusalem one vast grave for the nation that had dared to defy his power.

But the tyrant’s hour was come. He was now, according to the prophetic words of the young martyr whom he had slain, to receive the just punishment of his pride. [Antiochus Epiphanes] was smitten with a most horrible and loathsome disease. Yet, hatred struggling against physical pain, he endeavoured to pursue his course, till his chariot being overturned, the king was so sorely injured by the fall, that it was necessary to carry him in a litter to Tabœ, a town on the confines of Persia and Babylonia.

Here the miserable tyrant endured tortures more intolerable than any that he himself had inflicted, and was forced openly to acknowledge them to be God’s retribution for his impiety and cruelty. His reason at length gave way beneath them, spectres appeared to haunt him, and this enemy of God and of his people expired at length in the greatest agonies both of body and mind.

Meanwhile Judas gained victory after victory. He defeated the people of Edom, Bean, and Ammon; took Gazer, with the towns belonging to it; won a great triumph over a vast host, under a leader named Timotheus; and subdued the cities of the country of Galaad. He smote Hebron, and passed through Samaria; turned to Azotus, in the land of the Philistines; and when he had levelled their altars, and burned their carved images with fire, he returned back in triumph to Judea.

Antiochus had been succeeded by his son of the same name, to which was added that of Eupator. The king being too young to assume the reins of power, Lycias took the government into his own hands. The regent raised an enormous army to crush the forces of Judas. A hundred thousand foot soldiers, twenty thousand horse, thirty war elephants, and three hundred chariots were gathered together, and headed by the young monarch in person, who laid siege to the town of Bethsura.