{"id":2845,"date":"2023-04-23T19:05:54","date_gmt":"2023-04-23T19:05:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/elbespurling.com\/salvation\/?page_id=2845"},"modified":"2025-11-11T01:45:18","modified_gmt":"2025-11-11T01:45:18","slug":"04-independence","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/elbespurling.com\/salvation\/?page_id=2845","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 4: Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Chapter 4<\/mark><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Independence<\/mark><\/h1>\n\n\n\n
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The Independent Kingdom of Judah<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of Jonathan Maccabee being recognized as high priest and leader of Judah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Judas\u2019s brother Jonathan Maccabee carried on the fight, leading the battle against the Seleucids who were now almost entirely distracted by both civil war and the Parthian invasion, and could devote very few resources to suppressing the Jews. As a result, a round of peace talks ended favorably for Jonathan who was now recognized by the Seleucids as high priest of the Jews in 153 BCE.1<\/a><\/sup>Grainger J.D. (2012). The Wars of the Maccabees. Casemate Publishers.<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of Maccabean forces destroying the sacred Temple of Dagon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

He then immediately undertook a more thorough campaign to root out the \u201cgodless and apostates\u201d from the land of Judah. In addition, he ordered his forces to visit destruction on the Temple of the god Dagon in the neighboring and longtime rival city Ashkelon.2<\/a><\/sup>Grainger J.D. (2012). The Wars of the Maccabees. Casemate Publishers.<\/span> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Six years later, however, with a switch of leadership among the Seleucids, war broke out again. In 145 BCE, the Seleucids invited Jonathan to another peace conference, but it was a trap. Though Jonathan arrived protected by 1,000 bodyguards, they were all slaughtered, and Jonathan was taken prisoner, used as a bargaining chip, and eventually executed.3<\/a><\/sup>Grainger J.D. (2012). The Wars of the Maccabees. Casemate Publishers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Territory of Judah at the time it became an independent state<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

His brother Simon then assumed the high priesthood and leadership of the Judahites under the stipulation \u201cuntil there should arise a faithful prophet\u201d4<\/a><\/sup>1 Maccabees 14:41<\/a>. The Bible Apocrypha. King James Version.<\/span>\u2014a phrase expressing the imminent expectation of a holy messiah to lead the people. Though his reign was brief, Simon Maccabee successfully established the first independent Judahite monarchy in over 400 years. After a delegation was sent to Rome, the Republic\u2014whose control over the Mediterranean now additionally spread to Southern Greece as well as Carthage in North Africa\u2014voted to recognize the legitimacy of the new dynasty.5<\/a><\/sup>Grainger J.D. (2012). The Wars of the Maccabees. Casemate Publishers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Map showing the extent of the rapidly expanding Roman Republic at the time Judah won its independence<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of the forced circumcision of the Idumaeans<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The agenda of the Maccabean rebels in their struggles against the Seleucids should not be mistaken for such modern notions as \u201creligious freedom\u201d or \u201can end to tyranny\u201d. The Maccabees regularly used terror tactics against their own people, rooting out religious moderates and those who would adopt Greek ways.6<\/a><\/sup>Grainger J.D. (2012). The Wars of the Maccabees. Casemate Publishers.<\/span> Over the next century, the Maccabean kings waged continuous campaigns of conquest, expanding the borders of the kingdom to incorporate Galilee in the north\u2014whose population at the time was only minority Jewish\u2014Idumea in the south, and several lands across the Jordan River to the east and north. The inhabitants of these areas were often subject to slaughter, being sold into slavery, or forced conversion to Judaism, including forced circumcision of all males. In their campaign against the Samaritan Israelites, their capital city of Samaria was burned, and the Temple of Yahweh they had constructed atop the holy mountain of Gerizim was assaulted and razed to the ground.7<\/a><\/sup>Grainger J.D. (2012). The Wars of the Maccabees. Casemate Publishers.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Artist depiction of the martyrdom of the mother with seven sons<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The books of 1 and 2 Maccabees were composed during this time, each telling the history of the rebellion against the Seleucids from a different viewpoint. Whereas 1 Maccabees is a notably secular account that does not even mention God,8<\/a><\/sup>Schwartz, D.R. (2022). 1 Maccabees: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary. The Anchor Yale Bible. Vol. 41B. New Haven & London: Yale University Press.<\/span> 2 Maccabees was composed so as to glorify Judas and his brothers, and justify Simon and his successor\u2019s unprecedented dual role as both king and high priest.9<\/a><\/sup>Grainger J.D. (2012). The Wars of the Maccabees. Casemate Publishers.<\/span> The latter book also presents the first  known glorifications of religious martyrdom. Most memorably, a story is recounted of a mother who is forced by the Seleucids to watch as, one by one, seven of her sons are fried to death in oil. Each son, before his execution, declares his allegiance to God, willingness to die, and an unshakable belief in the coming resurrection of the dead. Likewise, the mother encourages each son to suffer being tortured to death rather than capitulate and blaspheme Yahweh.10<\/a><\/sup>2 Maccabees 7:1-42<\/a>. The Bible Apocrypha. King James Version.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Religious Sects: The Zadokites<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of Zadok anointing his sons, beginning the long line of Zadokite priests<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Three major religious sects among the Jews came to prominence during the reign of the Maccabees. One which has already been mentioned are the Zadokite priests and their supporters. Though they surely wished for the restoration of their family\u2019s exclusive right to the high priesthood of the Jerusalem Temple, this position was now firmly in the hands of their allies, the Maccabees. Additionally, the next rightful Zadokite would-be heir, Onias IV had left Judah and established a new temple and high priesthood at the Egyptian city of Leontopolis, home to a significant Jewish refugee population. Back in Jerusalem, it would seem that the rest of the Zadokite faction came to some sort of arrangement with the Maccabees. Most likely, in exchange for giving up their claim over the high priesthood and their continuing support for the Maccabean rulers, they were guaranteed dominance of the lower priesthood in the Jerusalem Temple and significant influence as advisors to the king.11<\/a><\/sup>Eisenman, R. (2013). Maccabees, Zadokites, Christians, and Qumran. Grave Distractions Publications.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Coins like this one from 131 BCE which were minted by Maccabean leaders allied with the Zadokites lack any images of living creatures<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By way of clarification: the word for \u201cZadokites\u201d and the word for \u201cSadducees\u201d is the same in Hebrew, so context must be used to determine which group is referred to in ancient texts. It\u2019s an important point because the groups stand diametrically opposed politically and religiously. Whereas the Sadducees\u2014famous for their role in New Testament times\u2014are aristocrats open to foreign influence and who reject the notions of the resurrection, last judgment, coming messiah, etc; the Zadokites are\u2014like the Maccabees\u2014militantly anti-foreign influence and are fanatical believers in all of the various aspects of theology imported into Judaism from Zoroastrianism. Despite it being the traditional modern historical consensus to read the Hebrew word \u201ctsedoqim\u201d as \u201cSadducees\u201d in Maccabean times, it beggars belief that a faction of that worldview could have been the close allies and influencers of the Maccabean rulers as described in ancient texts.12<\/a><\/sup>Eisenman, R. (2013). Maccabees, Zadokites, Christians, and Qumran. Grave Distractions Publications.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Religious Sects: The Essenes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Artist depiction of an Essene community<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Of the various sects that rose to prominence during the Maccabean era, we know the most about a group called The Essenes (\u201cThe Pious\u201d)13<\/a><\/sup>Eisenman, R. (2013). Maccabees, Zadokites, Christians, and Qumran. Grave Distractions Publications.<\/span> because they were written about at length by multiple ancient authors. The Essenes are known today as the community behind the Dead Sea Scrolls, and indeed they seem to have started as communities of exiled Zadokites\u2014or were an offshoot of them.14<\/a><\/sup>F.F. Bruce, Second Thoughts on the Dead Sea Scrolls. Paternoster Press, 1956.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the most salient things we are told about The Essenes\u2014a startling number of which are shared in common with the very earliest Christians, as we will come to see\u2014are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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