Holofernes versus Judith (History continues)

See my last blog entry for the background. Holofernes had conquered all the other nations and now tightening his grip on Judah. Judah had only 5 days of water supply left.

Judith was a widow in Judah, albeit, a rich one. When the leaders of Judah did not know how to deal with Holofernes, Judith volunteered to save the Jews with her own plan.

When Judith had finished her prayer to the God of Israel... she took off the sackcloth and her widow's clothes, took a bath, and put on rich perfumes.  She brushed her hair, tied a ribbon around it, and dressed herself in the fine clothes she used to wear on joyful occasions when her husband Manasseh was still alive... Judith gave her slave woman a leather bag of wine and a jar of oil to carry.  She filled a bag with roasted barley cakes of dried figs, and several loaves of bread baked according to Jewish food laws...

As the two women walked through the valley, an Assyrian patrol met them.  They arrested Judith and questioned her, "What is your nationality?  Where did you come from and where are you going?"

"I am a Hebrew." she answered, "but I am running away from the Israelites because God is going to let  you destroy them. I am on my way to see Holofernes, the general of your army, to give him some reliable information..."

By and by, Holofernes' bodyguard and his personal servants came out and led Judith into the tent.

By and by, Judith remained with Holofernes for 3 days. On the fourth day of Judith's stay in the camp, Holofernes gave a banquet for his highest ranking officers... Holofernes was so charmed by Judith that he drank more wine than he had ever drunk at one time in his whole life...Judith was left alone in the tent with Holofernes who was lying drunk on his bed...All the guests and servants were now gone, and Judith and Holofernes were alone in the tent.

Judith stood by Holofernes's bed and prayed silently, "O Lord, God Almighty, help me with what I am about to do for the glory of Jerusalem.  Now is the time to rescue your chosen people and to help me carry out my plan to destroy the enemies who are threatening us."  Judith went to the bedpost by Holofernes' head and took down his sword.  She came closer, seized Holofernes by the hair of his head, and said, O Lord, God of Israel, give me strength now."  Then Judith raised the sword and struck him twice in the neck as hard as she could, chopping off his head.  (Apocrypha Book of Judith chapter 11 to 13).

If you like to know the happy ending, please read the Book of Judith. 

God Bless You.  And Happy Chinese New Year of the Rooster. 28 Jan 2017

Before Alexander The Great there was Holofernes The Feared

Holofernes was the commander of King Nebuchadnezzar's army.  This story happened around 200 years before Alexander The Great.

Just as the king had ordered, Holofernes chose 120,000 of the best infantrymen and 12,000 of the best mounted archers and arranged them in battle formation.  He also took along a very large number of camels, donkeys, and mules to carry the equipment, as well as many sheep, cattle, and goats for food, Every soldier received plenty of rations and a large payment of gold and silver from the royal treasury. Then Holofernes and his entire army set out, advancing ahead of King Nebuchadnezzar...

Three days after they had left the city of Nineveh, they reached the plains around Bectileth near the mountains north of Cilicia, where they set up camp.  From there Holofernes advanced into the hill country with his entire army, his infantry, cavalry, and chariots.  He totally destroyed the countries of Libya and Lydia, then plundered all the people of Rassis and the Ishmaelites who lived on the edge of the desert, south of the land of the Chelleans.

Then Holofernes crossed the Euphrates River and marched through the land of Mesopotamia, completely destroying all the walled towns along the Abron River as far as the sea.  He seized the territory of Cilicia, killing everyone who resisted him, and went as far as the southern borders of the land of Japheth, near Arabia.  He surrounded the Midianites, burned down their tents, and slaughtered their sheep.

Holofernes went down into the plains around Damascus during the wheat harvest, burned all the fields, slaughtered the flocks and herds, looted the towns, devastated the entire countryside, and killed all the young men.  Panic seized all the people who lived along the Mediterranean Sea, and they shook with fear.  Everyone in the towns of Tyre, Sidon, Sur, Ocina, Jamnia, Ashdod, and Ashkelon was terrified.  (Apocrypha Book of Judith chapter 2)

All other nations sent peace delegations to King Nebuchadnezzar and offered to surrender to be the King's slaves.

By and by, Holofernes arrived at the doorsteps of Judah.

If you like to know how the people of Judah defended themselves from Holofernes, see the next blog entry...

How They Desecrated The Temple of God

The Apocrypha is a set of 12 books found in the Jewish 'old testament', but not the Christian Old Testament. I enjoy reading them very much.  In 2 Maccabees 5,6, we can learn how much the Jewish people suffered.

Antiochus took 135,000 pounds of silver from the Temple and hurried off to Antioch...Antiochus hated the Jews so much that he sent an army of 22,000 mercenary troops from Mysia to Jerusalem under the command of a man named Apollonius, with orders to kill every man in the city and to sell the women and boys as slaves... 2 Mac 5: 21-24.

Not long after that, the king sent an elderly Athenian to force the Jews to abandon their religion and the customs of their ancestors. He was also to defile their Temple by dedicating it to the Olympian god Zeus. The temple on Mount Gerizim was to be officially named "Temple of Zeus the God of Hospitality," as the people who lived there had requested.
The oppression was harsh and almost intolerable. Gentiles filled the Temple with drinking parties and all sorts of immorality.  They even had intercourse with prostitutes there.  Forbidden objects were brought into the Temple, and the altar was covered with detestable sacrifices prohibited by our law.  It was impossible to observe the Sabbath, to celebrate any of the traditional festivals, or even so much as to admit to being a Jew. Each month when the king's birthday was celebrated, the Jews were compelled by brute force to eat the intestines of sacrificial animals. Then, during the festival in honor of the wine god Dionysus, they were required to wear ivy wreaths on their heads and march in procession...It was easy to see that hard times were ahead. For example, two women were arrested for having their babies circumcised.  They were paraded around the city with their babies hung from their breasts, then they were thrown down from the city wall.  On another occasion, Philip was told that some Jews had gathered in a nearby cave to observe the Sabbath in secret. Philip attacked and burned them all alive... 2 Mac 6:1-11

So all through history, it was never easy to be God's people.  Thank God we are not persecuted as Christians in Singapore.