December 16, 2019

A NOBLE EXAMPLE

2 Maccabees 6:24-28

“For to pretend such things,” he said, “is not worthy of our time of life, lest many of the young should suppose that Eleazar in his ninetieth year has gone over to a foreign religion, and because of my pretense for the sake of living a brief moment longer, they should be led astray through me, while I earn only pollution and defilement in my old age. For even if for the present I should avoid the punishment of men, yet whether I live or die, I shall not escape the hands of the Almighty. Therefore by manfully giving up my life now, I will show myself worthy of my old age, and leave to the young a noble example of how to die a good death willingly and bravely for the venerable and holy laws.”

After he said this, he went straight to the rack,

Personal Challenge

The days of the Maccabees was a very dark time for the nation of Israel. Israel has been oppressed and occupied by the Hellenists for quite some time now. The Maccabees have risen up from the ranks of Israel and started rebelling against these oppressors who are trying to wipe out their religious beliefs and their worship of their God, JAHWEH. Eleazar, a 90-year-old Maccabean, has been chosen by the Hellenists to publicly reject his God by eating forbidden food. The punishment for not doing this will be death on the rack. Surely, at the age of 90, he has nothing to lose by submitting? However, he knows that it is more important to show the young men coming up behind him the integrity of living a life for God than submitting to the threat of death. Would I do the same? This passage is his final statement of His love for his God and the importance of giving your all for Him. And then he walks up to the rack to give his life as a noble example. Glory be to God in all things.