Readings:
1 Maccabees 15-16
Revelation 6

1 Maccabees 15-16

As was often the case in the ancient near East, and especially when concerning the Jews, Antiochus VII at first offers friendship and peace to Simon, but for some unknown reason he turns on him when Simon send troops to aid him in the siege of a coastal town. This leads to renewed warfare between the Seleucid kingdom and the Jews, with Simon’s sons Judas and John leading the army in place of their aged father.

Simon and a few of his sons are eventually tricked and murdered at a banquet, and he’s succeeded by his son John as high priest and commander. This John will be known to history as John Hyrcanus, but will be known in Jewish literature as John the High Priest. The book of first Maccabees ends with John taking the place of his father as high priest, but from history we know he went on to secure the newly reborn kingdom of Judah and lead a reign of relative peace and prosperity.

Revelation 6

This part of the book contains three sets of seven judements that are meted out on Israel first and then the Roman Empire as a whole. These follow the calamities that Jesus said would come before the destruction of the temple in his Olivet discourse from the synoptic gospels. They also closely mirror, in a magnified way, the seven fold curse that would be brought on by the violation of the covenant (Leviticus 26).

The first seven judgments are the seal judgments, followed by the trumpets and bowls. All are a consequence of the rejection of the messiah and the spilling the blood of the saints.

The first four seals unleash the four horsemen of the apocalypse, representing war, famine, pestilence and death. These horsemen reflect the horsemen from Ezekiel and bring the same curses that plagued Israel at time of their exile.

The fifth seal reveals the souls of martyrs that are under the altar in heaven. This symbolizes the blood of sacrifices that are poured at the base of the altar, showing that martyrs have their lives as sacrifices. They cry out not for revenge but for justice to be done.

They pray, not out of hatred for their enemies, but out of love for justice. Being near the Judge, they agree with him and pray for the coming judgment, in which the reign of sin shall be destroyed and their lifeless bodies raised.

Saint Bede

The sixth seal is several cosmological signs that could symbolize the end of the universe or could be symbolic language about the upheaval that happened during the first Jewish revolt that led to the destruction of Jerusalem. Some say the stars falling from the sky was language meant to represent the walls of the temple coming down because inside there were stars painted on the ceiling. Many of these cosmological signs were part of the Olivet discourse.

The “kings and great men“ who are in terror and trying to hide shows that the calamities will fall on all men of every rank. Usually the rich could shield themselves from the plight of the poor, but this destruction will be across the board and spare no person. The cry for the rocks to fall on them is an echo of Hosea when the people of Samaria cried out during the destruction of Israel.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
2 Maccabees 1-2
Revelation 7