First Victory over Nicanor.

       When Philip noted that Judas was making steady progress little by little and that his successful excursions were becoming ever more frequent, he wrote to Ptolemy, the governor of Coelesyria and Phoenicia, asking for his help in defending the royal interests. Ptolemy immediately appointed Nicanor, the son of Patroclus, one of the king's Chief Friends, and dispatched him in command of at least twenty thousand troops from various nations to exterminate the entire Jewish race. As his associate he appointed Gorgias, a general of considerable military experience in the skills of war. Nicanor's intention was to raise the two thousand talents of tribute owed by the king to the Romans by selling into slavery the Jews who were taken prisoner. Therefore, he immediately notified the coastal cities that he was prepared to sell them Jewish slaves at the rate of ninety slaves for a talent. However, he did not reckon with the judgment from THE ALMIGHTY that was about to overtake him.

       When Judas learned of Nicanor's advance and informed his men about the approach of the enemy's army, those who were cowardly or without faith in the justice of GOD deserted and got away. But the others sold all of their remaining possessions while at the same time beseeching THE LORD for the deliverance of those who had been put up for sale by the godless Nicanor even before he had so much as encountered them--and to do so, if not for their own sake, then at least out of consideration for the covenants made with their ancestors and because they themselves bore HIS sacred and majestic name.

       Maccabeus assembled his forces, who numbered about six thousand, and exhorted them not to succumb to panic when confronted by the enemy, nor to fear the vast horde of Gentiles who were advancing to attack them unjustly, but to fight bravely, keeping ever before their eyes the outrages unlawfully perpetrated by the Gentiles against the holy place and the cruel indignities inflicted on the city as well as the subversion of their ancestral way of life. "They may place their trust in their weapons and their acts of daring," he said, "but we trust in ALMIGHTY GOD who is able with a mere nod to strike down both those who are marching against us and, if necessary, the entire world."

       He then proceeded to remind them of the occasions when divine interventions had aided their ancestors--how, in the time of Sennacherib, one hundred and eighty-five thousand of the enemy forces had perished, and about the occasion of the battle in Babylon with the Galatians when the Jewish forces numbered no more than eight thousand, aided by four thousand Macedonians, and how, when the Macedonians were hard pressed, those eight thousand, with the help received from Heaven, had destroyed one hundred and twenty thousand of the enemy and gathered a great amount of booty. With words such as these he roused their courage and made them ready to die for their laws and their country.

       Then Judas divided his army into four sections, placing his brothers, Simon, Joseph, and Jonathan, in command of one division each and assigning them fifteen hundred men apiece. Next, he appointed Eleazar to read aloud from the holy book, and he gave them the rallying cry, "The help of GOD." Then, taking command of the first division, he joined battle with Nicanor.

       With THE ALMIGHTY as their ally, they slaughtered more than nine thousand of the enemy, wounded and disabled the greater part of Nicanor's army, and put all of them to flight. They also appropriated the money of those who had come to purchase them as slaves. After pursuing the enemy for a considerable time, they were obliged to return because of the lateness of the hour. Since it was the day before the Sabbath, they could not continue their pursuit. After collecting the arms of the enemy and stripping them of their spoils, they observed the Sabbath, offering fervent praise and thanksgiving to THE LORD who had preserved them to witness on that day this manifestation of his compassion. When the Sabbath was over, they distributed some of the spoils to the victims of the persecution and to the widows and orphans. The rest they divided among themselves and their children. After this had been done, they joined in common supplication, beseeching THE MERCIFUL LORD to be fully reconciled with his servants.

2 MACCABEES: chapter 8, verses 8 - 29