rejoicing to the struggling Jews. He left as heir to his throne a boy
nine years of age; but though he had made his friend Philip guardian of
his son and regent of his kingdom, his lieutenant at Antioch, Lysias,
also claimed the guardianship and the regency. These rival claims of
course led to civil wars between Lysias and Philip, in consequence of
which the Jews were comparatively unmolested, and had leisure to
organize their forces, fortify their strongholds, and prepare for
complete independence. Among other things, Judas Maccabaeus attacked the
citadel or tower on Mount Zion, overlooking the Temple, in which a large
garrison of the enemy had long been stationed, and which was a perpetual
menace. The attack or siege of this strong fortress alarmed the heathen,
who made complaint to the young king, called Eupator, or more probably
to the regent Lysias, who sent an overwhelming army into Judaea,
consisting of one hundred thousand foot, twenty thousand horse, and
thirty-two elephants. But Judas did not hesitate to give battle to this
great force, and again gained a victory. It was won, however, at the
expense of his brother Eleazer. Seeing one of the elephants armed with
royal armor, he supposed that it carried the king himself; and
heroically forcing his way through the ranks of the enemy, he slipped
under the elephant, and gave the beast a mortal wound, so that it fell
to the ground, crushing to death the courageous Maccabaeus,--for the
brothers of Judas, worthy compatriots and fellow-soldiers with him, were
also called by his special name; and although the family name was Asmon,
they are famous as "the Maccabees."
This battle however was not decisive. Lysias advanced to Jerusalem and
laid siege to it. But hearing that Philip had succeeded in gaining
authority at Antioch, he made peace with Judas, and hastily returned to
his capital, where he found Philip master of the city. Although he
recovered his capital, it was only for a short time, since Demetrius,
son of Seleucus, who had been sojourning at Rome, returned to the palace
of his ancestors, and slaying both Lysias and the young king, reigned in
their stead.
With this king the Jews were soon involved in war. Evil-minded men,
hostile to Judas (for in such unsettled times treachery was everywhere),
went to Antioch with their complaints, headed by Alcimus, who wished to
be high-priest, and inflamed the anger of King Demetrius. The new
monarch sent one of his ablest generals, called Bacchides, with an army
to chastise the Jews and reinstate Alcimus, who had been ejected from
his high office. This wicked high-priest overran the country with the
forces of Bacchides, who had returned to Antioch, but did not prevail;
so the king sent Nicanor, already experienced in this Jewish war, with a
still larger army against Judas. The gallant Maccabaeus, however, gained
a great victory, and slew Nicanor himself. This battle gave another rest
for a time to the afflicted land of Judah.
Meanwhile Judas, fearing that the Syrian forces would ultimately
overpower him, sent an embassy to Rome to invoke protection. It was a
long journey in those times. A century and a half later it took Saint
Paul six months to make it. The conquests of the Romans were known
throughout the East, and better known than the policy they pursued of
devouring the countries that sought their protection when it suited
their convenience. At this time, 162 B.C., Italy was subdued, Spain had
been added to the empire, Macedonia was conquered, Syria was threatened,
and Carthage was soon to fall. The Senate was then the ruling power at
Rome, and was in the height of its dignity, not controlled by either
generals or demagogues. The Senate received with favor the Jewish
ambassadors, and promised their protection. Had Judas known what that
protection meant, he would have been the last man to seek it.
Nor did the treaty of alliance with Rome save Judaea from the continued
hostilities of Syria. Demetrius sent Bacchides with another army, which
encamped against Jerusalem, where Judas had only eight hundred men to
resist an army of twenty thousand foot and two thousand horse. We infer
that his forces had dwindled away by perpetual contests. His heart of
hope was now well-nigh broken, but his lion courage remained. Against
the solicitation of his companions in war he resolved to fight;
gallantly and stubbornly contested the field from morning to night, and
at last, hemmed in between two wings of the Syrian foe, fell in
the battle.
The heroic career of Judas Maccabaeus was ended. He had done marvellous
things. He had for six years resisted and often defeated overwhelming
forces; he had fought more battles than David; he had kept the enemy at
bay while his prostrate country arose from the dust; he had put to
flight and slain tens of thousands of the heathen; he had recovered and
fortified Jerusalem, and restored the Temple worship; he had trained his
people to be warlike and heroic. At last he was slain only when his
followers were scattered by successive calamities. He bore the brunt of
six years' successful war against the most powerful monarchy in Asia,
bent on the extermination of his countrymen. And amid all his labors he
had kept the Law, being revered for his virtues as much as for his
heroism. Not a single crime sullied his glorious name. And when he fell
at last, exhausted, the nation lamented him as David mourned for
Jonathan, saying, "How is the valiant fallen!" A greater hero than he
never adorned an age of heroism. Judas was not only a mighty captain,
but a wise statesman,--so revered, that, according to Josephus, in his
closing years he was made high-priest also, thus uniting in his person
both spiritual and temporal authority. It was a very small country that
he ruled, but it is in small countries that genius is often most fully
developed, either for war or for peace. We know but little of his
private life. He had no time for what the world calls pleasures; his
life was rough, full of dangers and embarrassments. His only aim seems
to have been to shake off the Syrian yoke that oppressed his native
land, to redeem the holy places of the nation from the pollutions of the
obscene rites of heathenism, and to restore the worship of Jehovah
according to the consecrated ritual established in the Mosaic Law.
The death of Judas was of course followed by great disorders and
universal despondency. His mantle fell on his brother Jonathan, who
became the leader of the scattered forces of the Jews. He also prevailed
over Bacchides in several engagements, so that the Syrian leader
returned to Antioch, and the Jews had rest for two years. Jonathan was
now clothed with honor and dignity, wore a purple garment and other
emblems of high rank, and was almost an acknowledged sovereign. He
improved his opportunities and fortified Jerusalem. But his prosperous
career was cut short by treachery. He was enticed by the Syrian general,
even when he had an army of forty thousand men,--so largely had the
forces of Judaea increased,--into Ptolemais with a few followers, under
blandishing promises, and slain.
Simon was now the only remaining son of Mattathias; and on him devolved
the high-priesthood, as well as the executive duties of supreme ruler.
He wisely devoted himself to the internal affairs of the State which he
ruled. He fortified Joppa, the only port of Judaea, reduced hostile
cities, and made himself master of the famous fortress of Mount Zion, so
long held in threatening vicinity by the Syrians, which he not only
levelled with the ground, but also razed the summit of the hill on which
it stood, so that it should no longer overlook the Temple area. The
Temple became not only the Sanctuary, but also one of the strongest
fortresses in the world. At a later period it held out for some time
against the army of Titus, even after Jerusalem itself had fallen.
Simon executed the laws with rigorous impartiality, repaired the Temple,
restored the sacred vessels, and secured general peace, order, and
security. Even the lands desolated by the wasting wars with several
successive Syrian monarchs again rejoiced in fertility. Every man sat
under his own vine and fig-tree in safety. The friendly alliance with
Rome was renewed by a present to that greedy republic of a golden
shield, weighing one thousand pounds, and worth fifty talents, thus
showing how much wealth had increased under Judas and his brothers. Even
the ambassadors of the Syrian monarch were astonished at the splendor of
Simon's palace, and at the riches of the Temple, again restored, not in
the glory of Solomon, but in a magnifience of which few temples could
boast,--the pride once more of the now prosperous Jews, who had by
their persistent bravery earned their independence. In the year 143
B.C., the Jews began a new epoch in their history, after twenty-three
years of almost incessant warfare.
Yet Simon was destined, like his brothers, to end his days by violence.
He also, together with two of his sons, was treacherously murdered by
his son-in-law Ptolemy, who aspired to the exalted office of
high-priest, leaving his son John Hyrcanus to reign in his stead, in the
year 136 B.C. The rule of the Maccabees,--the five sons of
Mattathias,--lasted thirty years. They were the founders of the Asmonean
princes, who ruled both as kings and high-priests.
With the death of Simon, the last remaining son of Mattathias, this
lecture properly should end; yet a rapid glance at the Jewish nation,
under the rule of the Asmonean princes and the Idumaean Herod, may not
be uninteresting.
John Hyrcanus, the first of the Asmonean kings, was an able sovereign,
and reigned twenty-nine years. He threw off the Syrian yoke, and the
Jewish kingdom maintained its independence until it fell under the Roman
sway. His most memorable feat was the destruction of the Samaritan
Temple on Mount Gerizim, which had been an eye-sore to the people of
Jerusalem for two hundred years. He then subdued Idumaea, and compelled
the people of that country to adopt the Jewish religion. He maintained a
strict alliance with the Romans, and became master of Samaria and of
Galilee, which were incorporated with his kingdom, so that the ancient
limits of the kingdom of David were nearly restored. He built the castle
of Baris on a rock within the fortifications that surrounded the hill of
the Temple, which afterward was known as the tower of Antonia.
On his death, 105 B.C., Hyrcanus was succeeded by his son
Aristobulus,--a weak and wicked prince, who assassinated his brother,
and starved to death his mother in a dungeon. The next king of the
Asmonean line, Alexander Jannaeus, was brave, but unsuccessful, and died
after an unquiet and turbulent reign of twenty-seven years, 77 B.C. His
widow, Alexandra, ruled as regent with great tact and energy for nine
years, and was succeeded by her son Hyrcanus II. This feeble and
unfortunate prince had to contend with the intrigues and violence of his
more able but unscrupulous brother, Aristobulus, who sought to steal his
sceptre, and who at one time even drove him from his kingdom. Hyrcanus
put himself under the protection of the Romans. They came as arbiters;
they remained as masters. It was when Judaea was under the nominal rule
of Hyrcanus II., driven hither and thither by his enemies, and when his
capital was in their hands, that Pompey, triumphant over the armies of
the East, took Jerusalem after a desperate resistance, entered the
Temple, and even penetrated to the Holy of Holies. To his credit he left
untouched the treasures accumulated in the Temple, but he demolished the
walls of the city and imposed a tribute. Judaea was now virtually under
the dominion of the Romans, although the sovereignty of Hyrcanus was not
completely taken away. On the fall of Pompey, Crassus the triumvir
plundered the Temple of ten thousand talents, as was estimated, and the
fate of Judaea, during the memorable civil war of which Caesar was the
hero and victor, hung in trembling suspense. I will not enumerate the
contentions, the deeds of violence, the acts of treachery, and the
strife of rival parties which marked the tumultuous period in Judaea
while Caesar and Pompey were contending for the sovereignty of the
world. These came to an end at last by the dethronement of the last of
the Asmonean princes, and the accession of the Idumaean Herod by the aid
of Antony (40 B.C.).
Herod, called the Great, was the last independent sovereign of
Palestine. He was the son of Antipater, a noble Idumaean, who had
ingratiated himself in the favor of Hyrcanus II., high-priest and
sovereign, and who ruled as the prime minister of this feeble and
incapable prince. By rendering some service to Caesar, Antipater was
made procurator of Judaea, and appointed his son Herod to the government
of Galilee, where he developed remarkable administrative talents. Soon
after, he was raised by Sextus Caesar to the military command of
Coele-Syria. After the battle of Philippi, Herod secured the favor of
Antony by an enormous bribe, as he had that of Cassius on the death of
Caesar, and was made one of the tetrarchs of the province. In the
meantime his father, Alexander, was poisoned at Jerusalem, and
Antigonus, son of Aristobulus, who had gained ascendency, cut off the
ears of Hyrcanus, and not only deprived him of the office of
high-priest, but usurped his authority. Herod himself proceeded to Rome,
and was successful in his intrigues, being by the favor of Antony made
king of Judaea. But a severe contest was before him, since Antigonus was
resolved to defend his crown. With the aid of the Romans, Herod, after a
war of three years, subdued his rival and put him to death, together
with every member of the Sanhedrim but two. His power was cemented by
his marriage with Mariamne, the beautiful sister of Aristobulus, whom he
made high-priest.
The Asmonean princes were now, by the death of Antigonus, reduced to
Aristobulus and the aged Hyrcanus, both of whom were murdered by the
suspicious tyrant who had triumphed over so many enemies. In a fit of
jealousy Herod even caused the execution of his beautiful wife, whom he
passionately loved, as he had already destroyed her grandfather, father,
brother, and uncle. Supported by Augustus, whom he had managed to
conciliate after the death of Antony, Herod reigned with undisputed
authority over even an increase of territory. He doubtless reigned with
great ability, tyrant and murderer as he was, and detested by the Jews
as an Idumaean. He reigned in a state of magnificence unknown to the
Asmonean princes. He built a new and magnificent palace on the hill of
Zion, and rebuilt the fortress of Baris, which he called Antonia in
honor of his friend and patron, Antony. He also erected strong citadels
in different cities of his kingdom, and rebuilt Samaria; he founded
Caesarea and colonized it with Greeks, so that it became a great
maritime city, rivalling Tyre in magnificence and strength. But Herod's
greatest work, by which he hoped to ingratiate himself in the favor of
the Jews, was the rebuilding of the Temple on a scale of unexampled
magnificence. He was also very liberal in the distribution of corn
during a severe famine. He was in such high favor with Augustus by his
presents and his devotion to the imperial interests, that, next to
Agrippa, he was the emperor's greatest favorite. His two sons by
Mariamne were educated at Rome with great care, and were lodged in the
palace of the Emperor.
Herod's latter days however were clouded by the intrigues of his court,
by treason and conspiracies, in consequence of which his sons, favorites
with the people on account of their accomplishments and their Asmonean
blood, were executed by the suspicious and savage despot. Antipater,
another son, by his first wife, whom he had chosen as his successor,
conspired against his life, and the proof of his guilt was so clear that
he also was summarily executed. In addition to these troubles Herod was
tormented by remorse for the execution of the murdered Mariamne. He was
the victim of jealousy, suspicion, and wrath. One of his last acts was
the order to destroy the infants in the vicinity of Jerusalem in the
vain hope of destroying the predicted Messiah,--him who should be "born
king of the Jews." He died of a loathsome and excruciating disease, in
his seventieth year, having reigned nearly forty years. His kingdom, by
his will, was divided between the children of his later wife, a
Samaritan woman,--the eldest of whom, Archelaus, became monarch of
Judea; and the second, Antipas, became tetrarch of Galilee. The former
married the widow of his half-brother Alexander, who was executed; and
the latter married Herodias, wife of Philip, also his half-brother.
Archelaus ruled Judaea with such injustice and cruelty, that, after
nine years, he was summoned to Rome and exiled to Vienne in Gaul, and
Judaea became a Roman province under the prefecture of Syria. The
supreme judicial authority was exercised by the Jewish Sanhedrim, the
great ecclesiastical and civil council, composed of seventy-one persons
presided over by the high-priest. The Sanhedrim, under the name of chief
priests, scribes, and elders of the people, now took the lead in all
public transactions pertaining to the internal administration of the
province, being inferior only to the tribunal of the governor, who
resided in Caesarea.
Meanwhile the long expectation of the Jews, especially during the reign
of Herod, of a promised Deliverer, was fulfilled, and one claiming to be
the Messiah appeared,--not a temporal prince and mighty hero of war, a
greater Judas Maccabaeus, as the Jews had supposed, but a helpless
infant, born in a manger, and brought up as a peasant-carpenter. Yet he
it was who should found a spiritual kingdom never to be destroyed, going
on from conquering to conquer, until the whole world shall be subdued.
With the advent of Jesus of Nazareth, in which we see the fulfilment of
all the promises made to the chosen people from Abraham to Isaiah,
Jewish history loses its chief interest. The mission of the Hebrew
nation seems to stand accomplished; the conception of one, holy,
spiritual God was kept alive in the world until, in "the fulness of
time," the mighty Romans subdued and united all lands under one rule,
drawing them nearer together by great highroads; the flexible Greek
language gave all peoples a common tongue, in which already the Hebrew
Scriptures had been familiarized among scholars; the life and teachings
of Jesus entered with vital power into the heart and brain of those
devoted followers who recognized him as the Christ,--the revelator of
the universal fatherhood of the One true God; and thenceforward
Christianity becomes the great spiritual power of the world.
SAINT PAUL.
DIED, ABOUT 67 A.D.
THE SPREAD OF CHRISTIANITY.
The Scriptures say but little of the life of Saul from the time he was
a student, at the age of fifteen, at the feet of Gamaliel, one of the
most learned rabbis of the Jewish Sanhedrim at Jerusalem, until he
appeared at the martyrdom of Stephen, when about thirty years of age.
Saul, as he was originally named, was born at Tarsus, a city of Cilicia,
about the fourth year of our era. His father was a Jew, a pharisee, and
a man of respectable social position. In some way not explained, he was
able to transmit to his son the rights of Roman citizenship,--a valuable
inheritance, as it proved. He took great pains in the education of his
gifted son, who early gave promise of great talents and attainments in
rabbinical lore, and who gained also some knowledge, although probably
not a very deep one, of the Greek language and literature. Saul's great
peculiarity as a young man was his extreme pharisaism,--devotion to the
Jewish Law in all its minuteness of ceremonial rites. We gather from his
own confessions that at that period, when he was engrossed in the study
of the Jewish scriptures and religious institutions, he was narrow and
intolerant, and zealous almost to fanaticism to perpetuate ritualistic
conventionalities and the exclusiveness of his sect. He was austere and
conscientious, but his conscience was unenlightened. He exhibited
nothing of that large-hearted charity and breadth of mind for which he
was afterward distinguished; he was in fact a bitter persecutor of those
who professed the religion of Jesus, which he detested as an innovation.
His morality being always irreproachable, and his character and zeal
giving him great influence, he was sent to Damascus, with authority to
bring to Jerusalem for trial or punishment those who had embraced the
new faith. He is supposed to have been absent from Jerusalem during the
ministry of our Lord, and probably never saw him who was despised and
rejected of men. We are told that Saul, in the virulence of his
persecuting spirit, consented to the death of Stephen, who was no
ignorant Galilean, but a learned Hellenist; nor is there evidence that
the bitter and relentless young pharisee was touched either by the
eloquence or blameless life or terrible sufferings of the
distinguished martyr.
The next memorable event in the life of Saul--at that time probably a
member of the Jewish Sanhedrim--was his conversion to Christianity, as
sudden and unexpected as it was profound and lasting, while on his way
to Damascus on the errand already mentioned. The sudden light from
heaven which exceeded in brilliancy the torrid midday sun, the voice of
Jesus which came to the trembling persecutor as he lay prostrate on the
ground, the blindness which came upon him--all point to the
supernatural; for he was no inquirer after truth like Luther and
Augustine, but bent on a persistent course of cruel persecution. At once
he is a changed man in his spirit, in his aims, in his entire attitude
toward the followers of the Nazarene. The proud man becomes as docile
and humble as a child; the intolerant zealot for the Law becomes broad
and charitable; and only one purpose animates his whole subsequent
life,--which is to spend his strength, amid perils and difficult labors,
in defence of the doctrines he had spurned. His leading idea now is to
preach salvation, not by pharisaical works by which no man can be
justified, but by faith in the crucified one who was sent into the world
to save it by new teachings and by his death upon the cross. He will go
anywhere in his sublime enthusiasm, among Jews or among Gentiles, to
plant the precious seeds of the new faith in every pagan city which he
can reach.
It is thought by Conybeare and Howson, Farrar and others that the new
convert spent three years in retirement in Arabia, in profound
meditation and communion with God, before the serious labors of his life
began as a preacher and missionary. After his conversion it would seem
that Saul preached the divinity of Christ with so much zeal that the
Jews in Damascus were filled with wrath, and sought to take his life,
and even guarded the gates of the city for fear that he might escape.
The conspiracy being detected, the friends of Saul put him into a basket
made of ropes, and let him down from a window in a house built upon the
city wall, so that he escaped, and thereupon proceeded to Jerusalem to
be indorsed as a Christian brother. He was especially desirous to see
Peter, as the foremost man among the Christians, though James had
greater dignity. Peter received him kindly, though not enthusiastically,
for the remembrance of his relentless persecutions was still fresh in
the minds of the Christians. It was impossible, however, that two such
warmhearted, honest, and enthusiastic men should not love each other,
when the common leading principle of their lives was mutually
understood.
Among the disciples, however, it was only Peter who took Saul cordially
by the hand. The other leaders held aloof; not one so much as spoke to
him. He was regarded with general mistrust; even James, the Lord's
brother, the first bishop of Jerusalem, would hold no communion with
him. At length Joseph, a Levite of Cyprus, afterward called Barnabas,--a
man of large heart, who sold his possessions to give to the
poor,--recognizing Saul's sincerity and superior talents, extended to
him the right hand of fellowship, and later became his companion in the
missionary journeys which he undertook. He used his great influence in
removing the prejudices of the brethren, and Saul henceforth was
admitted to their friendship and confidence.
Saul at first did not venture to preach in Hebrew synagogues, but sought
the synagogue of the Hellenists, in which the voice of Stephen had first
been heard. But his preaching was again cut short by a conspiracy to
murder him, so fierce was the animosity which his conversion had created
among the Jews, and he was compelled to flee. The brethren conducted him
to the little coast village of Caesarea, whence he sailed for his native
city Tarsus, in Cilicia.
How long Saul remained in Tarsus, and what he did there, we do not know.
Not long, probably, for he was sought out by Barnabas as his associate
for missionary work in Antioch. It would seem that on the persecution
which succeeded Stephen's death, many of the disciples fled to various
cities; and among others, to that great capital of the East,--the third
city of the Roman Empire.