[Sidenote:  I Macc. 4:52-61] And they arose early in the morning of the twenty-fifth day of the ninth month, which is the month Chislev, in the one hundred and forty-eighth year (165 B.C.) and offered sacrifice according to the law upon the new altar of burnt-offering which they had made.  About the same time and on the same day, in which the heathen had profaned it, was it dedicated again with songs and harps and lutes and with cymbals.  And all the people prostrated themselves and worshipped and gave praise to Heaven, who had given them good success.  And they celebrated the dedication of the altar eight days, and offered burnt-offerings with gladness and sacrificed a sacrifice of deliverance and praise.  And they decorated the front of the temple with crowns of gold and small shields and rededicated the gates and the priests’ chambers and made doors for them.  And great joy reigned among the people, because the reproach of the heathen had been removed.  And Judas and his brothers and the whole congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their seasons from year to year for the period of eight days, from the twenty-fifth day of the month Chislev, with gladness and joy.  At that time also they fortified Mount Zion with high walls and strong towers all round, lest by any chance the heathen should come and tread them down, as they had done before.  And he stationed there a force to keep it, and they fortified Bethsura, that the people might have a stronghold in Idumea.

I. The Character of Judas.  Judas Maccabeus was a man of unquestioned courage.  In the many battles which he fought he was always found at the forefront in the most desperate engagement.  More than that he was able to arouse courage in a people that for centuries had learned only to bow unresistingly before their conquerors.  All the evidence found in the two books of Maccabees indicates that he was inspired by the noblest patriotism.  The motive power in his patriotism was devotion to the law and customs of his race.  In this respect he was a leader supremely acceptable to the Hasideans or Pious, who rallied about his standard.  In any other age or setting his devotion would have seemed but fanaticism.  The situation, however, was extremely critical.  Disloyalty to the law and the distinctive rites of Judaism was treason.  If ever in the world’s history it was justifiable to meet force by force and to unshield the sword in behalf of religion, this certainly was the occasion.  In his military tactics Judas revealed the cunning that characterizes the hunted.  He developed great skill in choosing a strategic position and in launching his followers against a vulnerable point in the enemy’s line.  In this respect he showed himself a disciple of David’s able general Joab.  They were the same tactics that Napoleon employed so effectively in later days and on larger battle-fields.  Judas resembled in many ways Israel’s first king, Saul.  He was impetuous, patriotic, intense, and energetic.  He was especially skilled in leading a sudden attack.  His task also was strikingly similar to that of Israel’s first king, and like Saul in his later days he showed the same inability to organize and hold his followers in a time of comparative peace.