More than a century before Christ was born in Bethlehem of Judea, a Hebrew patriarch and his family became famous for their stalwart obedience to the Law of God. Their stand for God was unlike later Jewish rebellions, such as the Bar Kokhba revolt (A.D.132–136), which was a futile attempt by Christ-rejecting Jewish leaders to overthrow the Roman occupation by seeking a political and military deliverance. Rather, the earlier Maccabean resistance to Greek paganism (167–141 B.C.) was motivated by faithful obedience to God and anticipation of the true Messiah of Israel.

To read about this notable patriarch, let’s begin at the year 167 B.C. An Israelite priest named Mattathias ben Johanan was summoned to make a pagan sacrifice. His small village of Modi’in was located in the foothills that rise up from the Sharon Plain into the Judean hill country. The Hebrew father and priest of his village had long known that eventually he would be forced to make a difficult and monumental decision.

These were dark days for Israel. For many centuries, the prophets of Israel had been prophesying that judgment would fall upon the land because of the sins of God’s people. Indeed, the Assyrians had laid waste to the northern kingdom, and then the Babylonians had conquered the southern kingdom and the city of Jerusalem in 586 B.C.

As prophesied by Daniel the prophet, the Babylonians had been replaced by the Medo-Persian Empire, which in turn had been conquered by the Greeks. The Greek Empire had split apart after the death of Alexander the Great, and the Ptolemies of Egypt had warred against the Seleucids to the north.

The aforementioned village of Modi’in nestled in the Judean mountain foothills had largely escaped the devastation of these conquests. Babylonian soldiers had come into the region centuries before and butchered and pillaged their way through the area. Other roving bands had also swept through from time to time. But the Judean hills had not experienced the total devastation of other regions.

In these isolated villages, the reforms introduced by Ezra and Nehemiah had largely stayed in place in spite of the passage of time. According to Daniel 11:32, it was prophesied of a faithful remnant who “know their God” and would “be strong, and do exploits.” Small groups of families scattered throughout the countryside had remained loyal to Jehovah and prayed for the coming of the Messiah of Israel.

One such family was the priest and his house in the village of Modi’in. Mattathias, his wife, and their five sons diligently sought to worship Jehovah after the manner of their fathers. But recently, this endeavor had become more and more difficult. A Seleucid ruler, Antiochus IV, had come to power in 175 B.C. and had taken it upon himself to bring Judea into the orb of Greek culture and ideology.

When the Jews of Jerusalem resisted his pagan innovations, Antiochus had dispatched the Greek general Apollonius to quell the revolt. The Seleucids had entered Jerusalem in overwhelming force, butchered those segments of the population that had resisted, and then polluted the Temple built by Ezra. Their desecration was to sacrifice a pig upon the altar and dedicate the Temple of Jehovah to the Greek god Zeus instead! This event occurred around the year 170 B.C. The Greeks fortified the citadel north of the Temple and then forced the Jews to take part in their pagan rituals.

These tumultuous events in Jerusalem had not directly touched Mattathias ben Johanan and his family, but Apollonius had begun sending officers and groups of soldiers into the villages scattered in the hills. One such party had now come to the village of Modi’in. A general named Apelles erected a pagan altar and presented a pig to be sacrificed to Zeus. The general called on the village priest, Mattathias ben Johanan, to make the pagan sacrifice.

The heroic priest, clad in the garments of his Aaronic priesthood, stood as still as a statue, his long beard flowing in the wind as he looked defiantly at the Greek officer who had called upon him to deny his God. Mattathias’s five sons, all young men in the prime of youthful strength, stood quietly by their father’s side. One of the Jewish men in the village, a Hellenist (Greek sympathizer) who had long urged Mattathias to compromise just a bit, stepped forward to perform the sacrifice instead.

No longer could Mattathias stand by silently. It was one thing for a pagan to offer a pagan sacrifice; however, it was entirely different for a descendent of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to sacrifice an unclean pig on a pagan altar!

Filled with righteous zeal for the commandments of the true and living God, Mattathias drew his sacrificial knife and cried out the ancient battle cry of Moses: “Who is on the LORD’s side?” (Exodus 32:26). Rushing forward, he plunged his dagger into the breast of the traitorous Hebrew who had dared to forsake the Most High. Then, turning to the astonished Greek commander Apelles, the priest plunged his bloody knife into the belly of the invader.

As the Greek soldiers drew their swords to avenge the death of their leader, they rushed upon the Hebrew priest. Immediately, Mattathias was surrounded by five young men— his own sons! With upraised clubs and sharp daggers, their weapons made fatal contact with the enemy! The sons slew every single Greek soldier in the village, then they disappeared into the hills. The Maccabean revolt had begun.

The firm and heroic sense of justice in the heart of Mattathias soon was noised abroad throughout the hills of Judea. Men of like faith and courage rallied to the banner of this heroic family. When the aged Mattathias died, his sons carried on the task.

One of the sons, Judas, was appointed by his father to train men and lead them in battle to free the city of Jerusalem. It was an overwhelming task. The Hebrews were without arms, without money, and without training. But by the power of a righteous God Who loves righteousness and hates iniquity, the Maccabees prevailed, just as the Lord had foretold to the prophet in Daniel 11:21–39.

In a few short years, Mattathias’s son Judas had routed four Greek armies and had earned an enduring place in the annals of military history by his bold, decisive guerilla tactics. Following the example of Hebrew warriors such as Joshua, Caleb, Gideon, Jephthah, and David, Judas and his band moved as lightning strikes among the hills, vanquishing every force sent against them. They used ambush, deception, night surprise attacks, and lightning raids to discomfit the Seleucid forces. Judas earned the name Judah the Maccabee, meaning “the hammer” in his native Hebrew language. This name (the Maccabees) was soon adopted and used to identify the entire family.

The war was a bitter one, and one of the sons of Mattathias was killed when a Greek war elephant trampled him. But this family, assured of the justice of their cause, battled on. Finally, in 164 B.C., only three years after the revolt had begun, Judah and his forces succeeded in liberating the city of Jerusalem from Greek rule.

In their rededication of the Temple, the Lord purportedly performed a remarkable miracle when one day’s supply of oil burned on the menorah for eight days. Every year, this event is remembered at the Feast of Hanukkah, also known as the Feast of Dedication. This feast is mentioned in John 10:22, when Jesus was in Jerusalem in the winter during that celebration time.

Rather than seeking merely a political victory as later Jewish revolts would do in future rebellions, the Maccabees sought obedience and spiritual purity first and foremost. Sadly, the descendants of the Maccabees compromised with paganism to stay in power in the decades after the cleansing of the Temple, and these “Herodians” were among those who rejected their true Messiah when He came.

Talmudic Judaism has added a huge array of man-made additions to the festival of Hanukkah, but these additions should not mar the splendid historical record of the Maccabee family’s obedience.

It is very probable that the writer of Hebrews, commenting on the men and women of faith throughout the silent years of the intertestamental period, was thinking specifically of the Maccabees when he wrote these words: “Who through faith subdued kingdoms, wrought righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, Quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, waxed valiant in fight, turned to flight the armies of the aliens” (Hebrews 11:33–34).

Sources and Further Reference:

Ussher, James. The Annals of the World. Green Forest, AR: Master Books, 2003.

Josephus, Flavius. Jewish Antiquities. Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Publications, 1999.