Exile, Return Maccabees

City walls provide

• A sense of security

• A place for trade and commerce

• A reminder of past nomadic life

• A location for religious gatherings

Despite a shortage of oil, the oil miraculously burned for eight days, allowing the Israelites to celebrate the rededication of the Temple marking this festival.

• Hanukkah

• The Feast of Dedication

• Festival of Lights

• Passover

Messages of prophets during and after the Babylonian Exile.

• Messages of comfort and hope, alluding to a new, everlasting kingdom and of the Messiah.

• Messages of despair and abandonment, emphasizing the end of the covenant.

• Messages of war and destruction, predicting the fall of Jerusalem.

• Messages of prosperity and success, encouraging the people to rebuild immediately.

Fidelity to the law is:

• An expression of love for God

• A sign of obedience to authority

• A method of achieving personal success

• A way to avoid punishment

Antiochus IV/Epiphanes tried to take the identity of the Israelites away by

• Tearing down the walls of the city (1 Maccabees 1:31)

• Outlawing Israel’s sacrifices (1 Maccabees 1:44-45)

• Forbidding the reading of the Torah (1 Maccabees 1:56)

• Burning the scrolls of the Prophets (1 Maccabees 1:60-61)

The prophets emerged to continue to call the people of God by three messages:

• 1. Repentance for sins (before the Babylonian Exile)

• 2. Comfort and hope (during & after the Babylonian Exile)

• 3. Alluded to a new, everlasting kingdom and the Messiah.

• 4. A call for military strength against oppressors.

Global world power during the Maccabean Revolt

• Greece

• Rome

• Egypt

• Persia

Major Prophets

• Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel

• Matthew, Mark, Luke, John

• Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers

• Psalms, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Song of Solomon

Rebuilder of the Temple and duration.

• Zerubbabel, 20 years

• Solomon, 10 years

• Herod, 30 years

• Nehemiah, 15 years

Leader of the Maccabean Revolt

• Judas Maccabeus

• Simon Bar Kokhba

• Herod the Great

• Antiochus IV Epiphanes