the stronghold

November 18, 2015

Yahweh will help defeat the wicked (Ps 94:16-90:23)

“Who rises up for me against the wicked?

Who stands up for me against evildoers?

If Yahweh had not been my help,

My soul would soon have lived

In the land of silence.

When I thought.

‘My foot slips,’

Your steadfast love held me up.

Yahweh!

When the cares of my heart are many,

Your consolations cheer my soul.

Can wicked rulers be allied with you?

Who are those who contrive mischief by statute?

They band together against the life of the righteous.

They condemn the innocent to death.

But Yahweh has become my stronghold.

Yahweh is my God.

Yahweh is the rock of my refuge.

He will repay them for their iniquity.

He will wipe them out for their wickedness.

Yahweh!

Our God will wipe them out.”

This psalm concludes with the psalmist not worried. Yahweh has already helped him, keeping him from falling. He has risen up against the wicked and the evildoers. He was the consolation of his heart. The evildoers and the wicked joined together to condemn the innocent. However, his God, Yahweh, had repaid them because of their wickedness. They will be wiped out because Yahweh is the rock of his refuge, the stronghold for this psalmist.

August 14, 2015

Yahweh protects the oppressed (Ps 9:9-9:10)

“Yahweh is a stronghold for the oppressed.

He is a stronghold in times of trouble.

Those who know your name put their trust in you.

Yahweh!

You have not forsaken those who seek you.”

Yahweh is the stronghold or fort for those who are being oppressed. This was especially true in times of trouble. Anyone who put their trust in Yahweh would not be forsaken. Yahweh rewarded those who trusted in him.

May 4, 2015

The king agrees to a peace treaty (1 Macc 6:60-6:63)

“The speech of Lysias pleased the king and the commanders. He sent an offer of peace to the Jews. They accepted it. So the king and the commanders gave them their oath. On these conditions, the Jews evacuated the stronghold. But when the king entered Mount Zion, he saw what a strong fortress the place was. He broke the oath he had sworn. He gave orders to tear down the wall all around. Then he departed with haste as he returned to Antioch. There he found Philip in control of the city. However, he fought against him. Then he took the city by force.”

The speech of Lysias pleased the 10 year old king and the commanders. They wanted to give the Jews a peace offer that was accepted. They gave an oath, but when they got into the city, they broke their oath and tore down the walls around the city. Then they departed to Antioch where Philip had control of the city. However, Antiochus V and Lysias fought against Philip and took the city back by force. Obviously Lysias was the main force behind the 10 year old King Antiochus V.

April 30, 2015

The attack on Dathema (1 Macc 5:29-5:34)

“They went all the way to the stronghold of Dathema. At dawn, they looked out and saw a large company that could not be counted, carrying ladders and engines of war to capture the stronghold. They were attacking the Jews within it. Judas saw that the battle had begun. The cry of the town went up to heaven with trumpets and loud shouts. Judas said to the men of his forces.

‘Fight today for your kindred’

Then he came up behind them in three companies. They sounded their trumpets. They cried aloud in prayer. When the army of Timothy realized that it was Maccabeus, they fled before him. He had dealt them a heavy blow. As many as eight thousand of them fell that day.”

Next Judas Maccabeus and his men went back to the stronghold of Dathema, where many of the Jews were at as was indicated earlier in this chapter. It must not have been that far from Bozrah since it only took one night to get there. However, when they arrived, the place was under attack by that wicked Timothy and his army. Judas Maccabeus called his troops to fight for their relatives. When Timothy and his group realized that Judas Maccabeus was attacking them, they fled with a loss of about 8,000 men.

April 29, 2015

The letter from Gilead (1 Macc 5:9-5:13)

“The gentiles in Gilead gathered together against the Israelites who lived in their territory. They planned to destroy them. However, they fled to the stronghold of Dathema. They sent to Judas and his brothers a letter which said.

‘The gentiles around us have gathered together against us

To destroy us.

They are preparing to come

And capture the stronghold

To which we have fled.

Timothy is leading their forces.

Now then come and rescue us from their hands.

Many of us have fallen.

All our kindred who were in the land of Tob have been killed.

The enemy has captured their wives, children, and goods.

They have destroyed about a thousand persons there.’”

The Jews who were in Gilead, which is on the east side of the border in the old Gad territory, were having troubles with the gentiles also. The gentiles there were planning to destroy them. They fled to a stronghold in Dathema in Gilead where they sent a letter to Judas and his brothers. They said that the gentiles had gathered around them to destroy them. They mentioned that the leader of the group against them was Timothy, which is the same name as the guy in charge of the Ammonites. We might assume that this group is also Ammonites. Nearby, about 13 miles southeast of Sea of Galilee was the land of Tob, where 1,000 Jewish people had been killed there. This was near the land of Ammon