Readings:
2 Maccabees 7-9
Revelation 10

2 Maccabees 7-9

The story of the woman and her seven sons is gut wrenching and difficult to get through because it’s just a taste of the horrors the people went through in those days when Antiochus decided to wipe out the religion of the Jews. The cruelty it would take to kill a child in front of their mother, while she watched, is unimaginable, then multiply that by seven.

The sons bravely go to their death for a couple reasons, first of all they believe in the resurrection of the dead, that God will raise them up at the last day. This is a belief that was pretty firmly in place by the time of Jesus, but really wasn’t revealed until the latter parts of the Old Testament. The earlier patriarchs believed in an afterlife, but the idea of resurrection hadn’t been revealed or made more clear at that point.

Secondly you can tell she raised her sons right. They were taught the scriptures and to revere and fear God. Had they not been raised in such a way, they surly would have broken after the torture, but every one of them went to their deaths for the sake of doing what is right.

We have to remember that this is about way more than just eating pork. The pork was only symbolic of breaking covenant with God. This is similar to the Japanese authorities making Christians step on an image of the Blessed mother or Jesus. It’s not about the image or even stepping on it, it’s about a publicly visible reputation of your beliefs. It’s apostasy in a clearly visible way. That’s why they all refused, and all died.

Women received their dead by resurrection. Some were tortured, refusing to accept release, that they might rise again to a better life.

Hebrews 11:35

Many people, myself included, believe that the writer of hebrews was referencing this incident when he wrote about people giving up their lives in hope of the resurrection

The narrative shifts over to Judas Maccabee, who is already in open rebellion at this point. He attacks villages that have given allegiance over to the Greeks and their way of living, rejecting the laws of God and their fathers.

So then the local officials and the governor of the neighboring province sends Nicanor to not only suppress the religion, but to just wipe out the entire race of people. This is the same story we read in 1 Maccabees, but it gives more of the background motives and the theological implications of these events.

The account of Antiochus’ slow and painful death in this book is slightly different than in 1 Maccabees. The reasons for this is unknown, but may be because 2 Maccabees is more focused on the “why” rather than the “what” of events during the Maccabean Revolt. How and where he died is far less important to the writer here than the fact that he did die, and he regretted waging war on the Jews on his deathbed.

Revelation 10

This chapter opens with “then” to show that there’s a short interlude between the blowing of the sixth and seventh trumpet, just as there was between the sixth and seventh seals being broken.

John sees an enormous angel descend from heaven with a glorious appearance like the one Daniel seen on the banks of the river. This angel’s voice is like a lion (representing Jesus) and when he opens his mouth seven thunders speak (representing the Holy Spirit) and he swears by “him who lives forever and ever” which is most likely a reference to the Father.

This angel representing the Holy Trinity speaks not on their behalf, but as a conduit for their direct words. Then he swears an oath and Thomas Aquinas had an interesting thought on that,

The angel takes an oath, not because of any defect in himself, as if one could not trust his word, but in order to show that his utterance proceeds from an infallible ordinance of God.

Saint Thomas Aquinas

The little scroll that is handed to him is similar to scrolls in other prophetic visions in the Old Testament. John is being reconfirmed in his role as prophet and being told to prophecy all the things he wills see from this part forward, because no matter how you read the second half of revelation, it’s almost certainly future events. It might be just a few months or years off in John’s lifetime, or if you’re a futurist it’s still even in our future, but it is certainly things to come from where he is standing.

The scroll is sweet and bitter like the one that Ezekiel consumed. It’s sweet because it’s about the final victory and establishing of God’s kingdom, but it’s bitter because of all the suffering that will happen before that is complete.

Tomorrow’s Readings:
2 Maccabees 10-11
Revelation 11