SUMMARY
God promises to stir up Zion’s sons against Greece, and give victory.
ANALYSIS
Looking toward the intertestamental periodThe time period from the book of Malachi in the Old Testament to the opening of the book of Matthew in the New (about 400 years) is regarded as the intertestamental period. During this period some of the books of the Apocrypha like Tobit and..., presumably this section is discussing the Hasmonean/Maccabean Jewish revolt against the Seleucid Greeks, especially against the draconian measures of Antiochus IV, a Greek ruler who persecuted the Jews in Judea and defiled the TempleThe Jerusalem temple, unlike the tabernacle, was a permanent structure, although (like the tabernacle) it was a place of worship and religious activity. On one occasion Jesus felt such activity was unacceptable and, as reported in all four Gospels, drove from the temple those engaged... in Jerusalem. The Hasmoneans were victorious and rededicated the Temple in 164 B.C.E., a victory and rededication that is celebrated each year at the festival of Hanukkah. While the Hasmoneans were in power for a time, their rule devolved into infighting, which ultimately ushered in the Romans and their puppet kings, the HerodiansThe Herodians were a public political party favorable to Herod the Great, who ruled in Palestine when Jesus was born. Later, in opposition to Jesus, they were allied with Herod Antipas, who ruled at the time of Jesus' death..
