THE ATTACK ON THE SCRIPTURES
[Illustration: (drop cap B) A Greek Warrior]
But troubled times came again to Jerusalem. The great empires of
Babylon and Assyria had passed away for ever, exactly as the prophets
of Israel had foretold; but new powers had arisen in the world, and the
great nations fought together so constantly that all the smaller
countries, and with them the Kingdom of Judah, changed hands very often.
At last Alexander the Great managed to make himself master of all the
countries of the then-known world. Alexander was an even greater
conqueror than Nebuchadnezzar had been. He did not treat the Jews
unkindly; he neither interfered with their religion nor took treasure
from their temple.
Yet while Alexander did God's people no outward injury, his influence
and example led them astray.
For Alexander was a Greek, and the Greeks, although at this time the
cleverest people in the whole world, were a heathen nation, and as such
did many foolish and wicked things. Alexander himself offered
sacrifice to Venus, Jupiter, and Bacchus (the pretended god of wine and
strong drink[1]), and to many other gods of man's invention.
Never again would God's chosen people willingly worship false gods;
their troubles had cured them once for all of that sin.
But although they knew the Greek religion to be untrue, they began
greatly to admire the Greeks themselves, and to take their opinion
about many things.
'Who can build like these Greeks?' they will have said. 'Who can carve
such beautiful statues, or paint such beautiful pictures? Every one
knows that their poetry is the finest in the world, and that their
books are the wisest and pleasantest to read; and then, how well they
train their young people! The lads of Greece are the strongest
wrestlers and the swiftest runners in the world!'
All this was quite true; but the Jews forgot that mere cleverness does
not make a man or woman good, and that the fear of God is the beginning
of all true wisdom. Many people forget this even to-day.
So the Jews began to give their children Greek names, and to send them
to Greek schools, and, what was worse, they put Greek books into their
hands instead of the Bible.
Slowly but surely this unholy 'leaven' entered the people's life, and
influenced their thoughts. But, in spite of all, many Jewish men and
women remained faithful to God; they kept His laws, and read in His
Book daily, looking always for the coming Saviour, the Messiah, who
would rule and redeem His people.
As the years passed the fashion for Greek ideas and ways grew stronger
in Jerusalem, until at last even the High Priest himself[2] began to
encourage the people to neglect the services and sacrifices of the
Temple, that they might go to heathen sports and games.
The Greeks were very fond of foot-races and wrestling-matches, and they
held large athletic meetings two or three times a year; but no one who
believed in God should have gone near those meetings, for the Grecian
games were always held in honour of some heathen god or goddess.
[Illustration: FIG. 1.--COIN OF ALEXANDER THE GREAT, WITH PORTRAIT OF
HIMSELF AND FIGURE OF JUPITER, THE FALSE GOD HE WORSHIPPED.
FIG. 2.--COIN OF ANTIOCHUS, THE WICKED KING. PORTRAIT OF HIMSELF, AND
FIGURE OF VENUS, ONE OF THE FALSE GODS HE TRIED TO FORCE THE JEWS TO
BELIEVE IN]
When Alexander died he left his vast empire to be divided among his
generals, just as Napoleon did centuries later with his conquests. The
descendant of one of these generals was named Antiochus, and he began
to reign over Syria, which included the country of Judah, a hundred and
seventy years before the birth of Christ. He was known as Antiochus
IV, and was a selfish and cruel ruler.
Although indifferent to his own heathen religion, he set himself to
destroy all other forms of faith. 'I am king; all my subjects shall
think as I do,' he said. He was told that the Jews believed in only
one God, but he cried with a scornful laugh, 'Yes, but I will soon
alter that!'
Before this there had been trouble between Antiochus and the people of
Jerusalem, and he thought to himself, 'I must break down their old
ideas and force them to disobey the laws of Moses, as they call them;
above all, I must utterly destroy their Book. The Book of their Law
once gone, they will be easy enough to manage.'
So he sent one of his generals to Jerusalem, and bade him take an army
of soldiers and 'speak peaceable words unto them; but all this was
deceit.'[3]
The orders of Antiochus were obeyed; the Jews suspected nothing, and
the soldiers kept quiet until the Sabbath day.
But while the Jews were at prayer, and unable to defend themselves, the
treacherous Greeks 'fell suddenly upon the city, and smote it very
sore, and destroyed much people of Israel.' Then these wicked men
built a strong castle on the hill of Zion, so overlooking the entrance
to the Temple that no one could come in or go out without the knowledge
and consent of the governor of the castle.
But this was only the beginning of sorrows. Soon the dreadful orders
of the heathen king were cried through the streets of Jerusalem:
'It is the will of Antiochus the king that all the people throughout
his whole empire shall worship the same gods as himself, and shall
declare that his religion alone is true. Death to all those who
disobey.'
The Jews looked at one another in utter dismay, for they knew well that
Antiochus had power to keep his word.
'No more burnt offerings may be made to the God of the Jews in the
Temple. I forbid the keeping of the Sabbath. The Jews' law declares
the flesh of swine to be unclean. I command that on the altar of the
Jewish God, in His Temple at Jerusalem, a sow be offered in honour of
my god Jupiter. The Priests themselves shall be forced to eat of it.
'As for the Books of their Law, destroy them utterly; let not a word
remain in the whole land. Publish this order against the Book; and if,
after my will has been declared, any man is found to have a copy in his
possession, let him be put to death.'
Horrible as it seems, all these wicked commands were carried out. A
sow was slaughtered on the altar, and an image of Jupiter set up in
God's Holy Temple. More cruel than all, the Book of the Law was torn
and trodden underfoot.
Throughout Jerusalem and all the cities of Palestine bands of soldiers
went everywhere searching for copies of the Scriptures. Torn to
fragments, burnt with fire, often, alas! drenched with the life-blood
of those who loved them, now, indeed, the Books of the Bible were in
terrible danger, for the most powerful king of the fierce heathen world
was fighting directly against them!
'_O God, the heathen are come into Thine inheritance; Thy holy Temple
have they defiled; they have laid Jerusalem on heaps.... The blood of
Thy servants have they shed like water round about Jerusalem; and there
was none to bury them._' (Psalm lxxix.)
So the cry went up from those faithful hearts who still dared to serve
the true God.
The altar--the Temple itself--was now defiled, made 'unclean'; the Book
of the Law had been torn to fragments; but His people could still cry
to the Lord, and He heard.
They did not obey the wicked heathen king; and the stories of their
courage thrill our hearts as we read them, for they show us what those
saints of old suffered rather than deny their God.
'_They were stoned, they were sawn asunder, were tempted, were slain
with the sword: they wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins; being
destitute, afflicted, tormented; (of whom the world was not worthy)._'
(Hebrews xi. 37, 38.)
It was of these times especially that the writer of Hebrews was
thinking when he penned those words.
Seven young men, the sons of one woman, were with their mother brought
before the king's officer--or, as some say, before the king
himself--for refusing to break the laws of God.
They were cruelly beaten, but one of them cried:
'What wouldst thou ask of us? We are ready to die, rather than to
transgress the laws of our fathers!'
The torturers thereupon seized the brave fellow, and so cruelly
tormented him that he died, his mother and brothers being forced to
look on.
But though their faces grew pale as death, and they quivered with
anguish to see their loved one suffer, they gazed steadfastly at each
other.
'The Lord looketh upon us, the Lord God hath comfort in us,' they said.
Then the second son was taken, and before he died he cried with a loud
voice, looking his heathen judge full in the face:
'Thou, like a fury, takest us out of this present life, but the King of
the world shall raise us up, who have died for His laws, unto life
everlasting!'
But when it came to the turn of the youngest son even the heathen judge
was anxious to spare him, and he promised the lad honour and great
riches if he would but turn from his faith.
But the youth stepped out before them all, his boyish face as brave as
a man's and his boyish voice as steady.
'Whom wait ye for?' he asked. 'I will obey the Commandments of the Law
that was given unto our fathers by Moses; but thou shalt not escape the
hands of God.
'We suffer for our sins, but our pain is short. See, I offer up my
body and life for the Laws of my fathers, beseeching God to be merciful
to my nation, and that thou at last mayest confess that He alone is
God!'
Last of all, after her sons, the mother died as well.[4]
[Illustration: THE JEWS OF ANTIOCHUS' TIMES COVERED THEIR HOUSES AND
TOMBS WITH HEATHEN GREEK ORNAMENTS THAT THEY MIGHT BE 'IN THE FASHION.'
HERE IS THE CORNICE OF ONE OF THEM, DECORATED IN EXACTLY THE SAME WAY
AS THE GREEK IDOL-TEMPLES]
But the saints of God did not die in vain; their victories over pain
and death fired the hearts that had grown so cold, and awakened the
careless into active life. Those who had forsaken the religion of
their fathers returned by hundreds to God, confessing their sins, and
pleading for pardon.
So the very fierceness of the trial proved a blessing, and the days of
torture were followed by a revival of faith in God, and devotion to His
service.
Now there was an old priest named Mattathias who, with his four sons,
had never listened to the cunning temptations of the heathen Greeks.
All his life he had served God with his whole heart, and had brought up
his sons to follow in his steps. When Mattathias and his sons heard
what was being done at Jerusalem, they clothed themselves in sackcloth
and wept, praying, and fasting continually, beseeching God to forgive
His people, and to put away their sins.
In a little while the king's officers came to the heathen altar at
Modin, the town where the old priest lived.
'Sacrifice to Jupiter, our master's god!' they said. 'Sacrifice, as
all Jews shall be forced to do, or die!'
But the old man looked the Greek straight in the face. 'Though all the
nations in the world obey the king, yet will I and my sons walk in the
covenant of our fathers. God forbid that we should forsake His Law.'
As he spoke a backsliding Jew stepped up to the altar to sacrifice.
The old priest's eyes flashed fire, and in an instant he had struck him
down, and the Greek officer with him.
Quivering with indignation Mattathias then turned to the startled
people: 'Whosoever loves God, let him follow me!'
And he turned and fled swiftly through the streets of the city.
Many followed him at once. Others joined him later in the strong camp
he formed in the mountains, until at last he was at the head of an army.
Wonderful it is to read how, little by little, this army of God's
people drove the heathen from the cities of Judah; how they overturned
the heathen altars, and cast down the images of the false gods; and
how, at last, they came to Jerusalem, cleansed the Temple, and purified
the golden altar from the stains of heathen sacrifices.
Then, tenderly and reverently, they gathered together all that was left
of the copies of their Scriptures, weeping as they saw the poor
fragments, blackened with fire, stained with blood, and scrawled all
over with the horrible figures of heathen gods.
As to-day we read in the clean white pages of our Bible, let us
remember this scene and of the time when those torn and blood-stained
fragments were all that remained to the world.
But, thank God, when all the pieces had been collected together, there
was plenty of material from which to make fresh copies; and no sooner
had peace been restored to the city than the scribes set to work, with
eager, loving care.
The Book had become doubly precious now! Its written words were indeed
sacred, for the blood of martyrs had fallen upon them, and men and
women, and little children, too, had chosen to die by hundreds rather
than to deny them.
[1] With all his cleverness, Alexander, while still quite young, drank
himself to death.
[2] In the days of Joshua, who bought the office of High Priest under
the reign of Antiochus, so many priests took part in the games that the
regularity of the Temple services suffered.
[3] From 'Maccabees,' an old Jewish history, which is sometimes bound
up with our Bible.
[4] This is taken from 'Maccabees.'