The Maccabees, Our Contemporaries

[27] And Mathathias cried out in the city with a loud voice, saying: Every one that hath zeal for the law, and maintaineth the testament, let him follow me. [28] So he, and his sons fled into the mountains, and left all that they had in the city. [29] Then many that sought after judgment, and justice, went down into the desert: [30] And they abode there, they and their children, and their wives, and their cattle: because afflictions increased upon them.

1 Maccabees  2: 27-29

Endless “modern” lessons can be gleaned from First and Second Maccabees:

1. How hard it is for a regular force to crush a guerilla resistance.
2. Wars of national liberation are like a hurricane in the history of a people, incredibly destructive, creative and powerful.
3. There is nothing new about culture wars.
4. The State and fervidly religious people co-exist poorly.
5. All crusades, especially victorious ones, are subject to secular corruption.
6. Domestic strife and foreign intervention often walk hand in hand.
7. In the Maccabees we see the limitations of a messianic movement which embraces the sword.
8. That strife in what we call the Middle East is the normal state of affairs in that portion of the globe.
9. That assimilation to a secular zeitgeist is a grave danger for any religion.
10. God is not on the side of the biggest battalions, but religious fervor is a force multiplier.