CHAPTER XXXI.
THE FALLING AWAY.
Though Jerusalem was almost wild with joy--and, indeed, so utterly had theGreek army disappeared that deliverance was complete for the time--Judas'sheart was full of sad forebodings. Demetrius, he knew, had a steadfastnessof purpose which augured ill for the future. He was not a madman likeEpiphanes, nor a child like Eupator; but a cool-headed, resolute man, whohad seen something of the world, and would carry out his plans with bothperseverance and skill. Would he sit down under the defeats which he hadreceived and recognize Jewish independence? Judas thought it unlikely. Thevengeance might be laid aside, but it would be sure to come. Could he hopeto repeat these victories again and again? Once before he had been reducedto the greatest straits, and had only escaped by an unexpected change inthe purpose of the young Antiochus. Could he look for anything somarvellous again? Only one plan appeared to him to be possible, and helost no time in calling a council of his principal followers andannouncing it to them. It was certain, he told them, that there would beanother war, and a war that would last for years, if only the Jewishpeople could hold out so long. "We warriors may endure it, and if theworst come to the worst, we can but fall on the field of battle. But whatof the old and the weak? What of the women and children? And then we arenot united. Our foes are of our own household. We have to fight not onlyagainst the Greek, but against the Jew also. And even in this assemblythere are some," he went on, with an emphasis which could not be mistaken,"who speak evil of me behind my back. What, then, shall we do? Speak, anyone who has counsel to give."
The appeal was met with silence, and the speaker continued, "You havenothing to advise. Listen, therefore, to my counsel, and resist it not inhaste because it seems strange. There is a nation that, rising from abeginning small as ours, has now made for itself a great dominion. Theyare stern to their enemies, but they are just and faithful to theirfriends. Like Israel in the earlier and better days, they have no king torule them after his own pleasure, but an assembly that weighs every plancarefully and wisely. And in battle they cannot be resisted. Have youheard of such a people?"
One or two voices answered with the word "Rome."
"You have said well," he said; "it is of the Romans that I have beenspeaking. Let us make alliance with them. We shall be, as it were, anoutpost for them against the King of Syria, against whom they have foughtalready, and, doubtless, will fight again. And they will be a protectionto us. And with the Romans on our side, we need fear the Greeks no more."
One or two of the council were in Judas's secret. Others had guessed, moreor less correctly, what he was intending, but on most the announcement ofhis intention fell like a thunderbolt. For a few moments there was thepause of intense astonishment. Then followed a burst of indignation, inwhich, of course, the Chasidim led the way.
"Say not," cried one of their chief speakers, "the Romans are like toIsrael because they have no king. Did not Samuel say to the people, whenthey fell away from their faith because of Nahash the Ammonite, and wouldhave a king after the manner of the heathen round about, 'The Lord yourGod is your King.' And shall we, knowing that the Lord Jehovah is the Kingof the Jews, reject Him from reigning over us, and choose us for rulers anassembly of some three hundred idolaters. Will you set these men of sin tobe lords over the City of God?"
"Nay," replied Judas, "you speak unadvisedly and rashly. We shall have ourown rulers. We shall worship after our own way. The Romans will help us inwar; and we shall help them as we only can. Did not David make friendshipand alliance with Hiram, King of Tyre, and did not Solomon, in whose reignwas peace, make that friendship and alliance yet closer?"
The Chasidim replied, quoting the prophets and denunciations of theEgyptian alliance. "Even that accursed Rabshakeh," they said, "spoke thetruth, when he said that Pharaoh, King of Egypt, was a bruised reed whichwill go into a man's hand and pierce it, if he lean upon it. So shall itbe with thee, if thou lean upon Rome."
The war of words raged long and furiously. The Chasidim had the best ofthe argument, but to the majority of the council the prospect of a settledpeace was irresistibly alluring. And the influence of Judas, too, wasoverpowering. By a large majority it was decided to send to Rome,Eupolemus, the son of John, and Jason, the son of Eleazar,(27) envoys whohad been selected for the mission by Judas himself.
When the resolution had been passed the council broke up, and the Chasidimdispersed with dark looks and saddened hearts. The next few days passed inuncertainty and gloom. No news had come from Antioch as to the movementsor intentions of the King. But there was little doubt as to what he woulddo. Whatever they might try to believe in their secret hearts they couldnot but own that when the opportunity came Demetrius would deal them ablow into which he would put all his strength.
And how would that blow be met? Would they be able to escape it, or parryit, or stand up against it? The Chasidim, the Ironsides, the men who hadbeen the stay and strength of Judas's armies, who had followed him tovictory at Beth-zur, at Beth-horon, at Adasa, were miserably dejected. Theembassy to Rome had broken their spirits. The issue, before so simple tothese stern souls, narrow, perhaps, in their range of vision, but of aclear and single eye, was now confused. While they fought for the Lordagainst the gods of the heathen, they could confidently expect that Hewould show Himself greater than all gods, and this faith had made themirresistible. But now, if Jew and Roman were to fight side by side, withwhat confidence could they call upon the Lord of Hosts? Was He the Lord of_that_ host, in whose ranks were ranged the battalions of theuncircumcised?
Some left the leader whom they now regarded as unfaithful to his trust,and departed to distant villages, hanging up the swords which they weresteadfastly resolved not to draw side by side with the heathen. Others, inwhom the military instinct of discipline, or the personal attachment toJudas, as the general who had led them so often to victory, were so strongas to overpower all other considerations, remained with him. Nothing couldtake them from his side, but they went with heavy hearts and with anoutlook on the future that was almost hopeless.
Meanwhile the embassy started. What the answer of the Romans would beJudas did not doubt. They would rejoice to secure the alliance of a peoplewho could lend them aid so useful. But would the answer come in time tosave the city and the Temple from the wrath of Demetrius?
And indeed that wrath did not linger. Within a month Bacchides was on hisway from Antioch with a force of twenty thousand foot and two thousandhorse. The renegade Alcimus accompanied him, and was to be reinstated inhis high-priesthood. Their line of march was through Galilee. On their waythey took the fortified town of Masaloth, and put the garrison to thesword. It was about the time of the Passover feast that the invadersreached Jerusalem. There was some talk about attacking it; but Alcimus wasurgent in resisting the proposal. "The King's quarrel," he said, "is withJudas, who is the cause of all this mischief, and Judas is not here. Andthe King has commanded that I should be replaced in my office; but whatshall my office profit me if there be no city for me to govern, nor Templein which I am to minister?" Bacchides yielded to these representations,and leaving the city unhurt marched to Beeroth (a few miles north-east ofJerusalem) and there pitched his camp.
Among the patriots there was such doubt and dismay as had never been feltfrom the day when the aged Mattathias struck the first blow for freedom,not even in that dark hour when Judas and his famine-stricken followerswere about to make their desperate sally from the Temple fortress. It wasnot that they were fighting against overwhelming odds, for they had facedas great before; it was that they had lost their unquestioning faith intheir leader.
"Ah!" said Micah to Azariah, when they were discussing the matter for thetwentieth time--and indeed it was almost the only subject of their talk--"Ihave seen these heathen from near at hand--I say it with shame--and I knowwhat they are better than you, better than Judas, who is so good that hecan scarcely believe that other men are bad. 'He that toucheth pitch
shallbe defiled,' says Jesus, the son of Sirach, and though our captain isgreater than other men, in this matter he is but as they are. What madnessdrove him to meddle with the accursed thing? God forgive me if I speakevil of the ruler of my people, but I must say that which is in my heart."
"Nay," said Azariah, still loyal to his great-hearted chief, though he toohad doubts which he had to crush down by sheer force of will--"nay, you gotoo far. Did not Jehoshaphat, the servant of the Lord, make alliance withthe children of Edom when he fought against Mesha, the King of Moab?"
"But the children of Edom," answered Micah, "were akin to our people; butas for these Romans, they are utterly unclean. O, brother, I have oftenthought whether, as a faithful servant of the Law, I could remain anylonger with the captain."
"You will not leave us?" cried Azariah--"it only wants that, and I shall beready to fall on my own sword."
"No; I shall not go. If I am wrong the Lord pardon me; but I cannot gowhen so many are falling away. Yet if these Romans come--then I shalldepart."
"They will not come--at least before the battle. Judas knows it, and ittroubles him. As for me, I know not. But this I know, that he is theservant of the Lord, and I will follow him to the death. Nevertheless Icry day and night unto the God of Israel that He will not suffer Hisservants to be found fighting in the ranks of them that know Him not."
There were the same doubts among the faithful in the city. The agedShemaiah had been in the Temple all day, assisting at the sacrifices whichwere being offered, and the prayers which were being put up for thesuccess of Judas and his army. All night the services would be continued;but the old man was utterly worn out, and he had been led back by one ofthe Levites to Seraiah's house.
"Father," said Ruth, "do you think that our prayers are heard? I know thatGod does not vouchsafe the visible signs of His presence in His Temple asHe did in the days of old, and that He does not touch with fire fromheaven the sacrifice that He accepts. But yet He sometimes seems toanswer, and we feel in our hearts that He will give us what we ask. Has itbeen so to-day with you, father?"
There was a touching eagerness in her manner, as she put the question. NotMiriam, not Deborah, had loved their country with a sincerer passion thandid she; and then she had a husband and a brother in the camp, and sheknew that before another sun had set, their fate and the fate of theircountry would be decided.
The priest shook his head. "My daughter," he said, "I can give you nocomfort, for no comfort has been given to me. My heart was cold within mewhile I prayed, for I could not forget that the servant of the Lord hadtouched the accursed thing when he sought the alliance of the Romans."
"O sir," broke in Huldah, who had been eagerly listening, "he did not doit for his own gain or advancement. He did but seek the peace of Israel."
"Daughter," said the old man, solemnly, "there are that cry 'Peace!Peace!' when there is no peace; and that is no peace which can be got onlyby unlawful dealing with the heathen. It is God, and God only, that cangive this blessing to His people. And He has greater blessings in storethan this. Does Judas seek to be honoured and to make us honoured by thenations round about? If he would be in truth the servant of the Lord lethim rather be content with the lot of which Isaiah the prophet speaks: 'Heis despised and rejected of men; a man of sorrows and acquainted withgrief.' So only shall he make many righteous; so only shall he be exaltedof God. This is the lot of the chosen people: not to live at ease amongthe nations."
The Hammer: A Story of the Maccabean Times Page 33