Essay On The Maccabean Revolt

Judas Maccabeus was a legendary Jewish figure whom God used to free His people from the persecution of the Seleucid Empire. Judas lead the revolt against the Seleucids, called the Maccabean Revolt, from 167 to 160 B.C. He fought incredibly heroic battles, had admirable faith in God, and developed the traditional Jewish holiday, Hanukkah. Even in the face of daunting obstacles, Judas never failed to call upon God and trust in Him with his life. , The Maccabean Revolt all began with Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was on a conquering rampage when he took Israel under his authority in 332 B.C. Alexander reigned for twelve years before he divided his kingdom between the Ptolemies and Seleucids, which were the names of his most trusted generals. Once Alexander died, the Ptolemies and Seleucids became adversaries and the Ptolemies ruled over Israel. The Ptolemies were set on converting the Jews to their religion, Hellenism, which is almost the same as Humanism. They attempted to convince the Jews by introducing sports, art, drama, and Hellenistic education. Some Jews, especially teenagers, were drawn in; others, called the Hasidim,

Judas would not withdraw from fighting until he had complete political freedom as well as military. Judas made the first treaty between the Roman Republic and the Jews ever recorded. However, this did not stop Demetrius from sending out a massive army of 20,000 soldiers against Judas. The rest of Judas’s army fled, but Judas Maccabeus fought to the last with those who were still loyal to him. He died in 160 B.C. in the Battle of Elasa and was buried with his father in Modi’in. The revolt, however, was not yet over; Judas’s brothers, Jonathan and Simon, took up leadership of the revolt until their people were completely