1 Maccabees 7:8-11. This is the passage immediately prior to the one I wrote about in There is No Truth or Justice in Them. King Demetrius has taken power in the surrounding areas and he sends Bacchides, his friend and "the ungodly Alcimus, whom he made high priest; and he commanded them to take vengeance on the sons of Israel." So they march into the land of Judah with a large force and send "peaceable but treacherous words" to Judas and his brothers. But the Maccabee Brothers "paid in no attention to their words, for they saw they had come with a great force."

We saw in my prior post how the scribes who trusted Alcimus as a priest were dealt with - they were slaughtered. So Judas and his brothers have made the right decision. It wasn't even really a decision, honestly, they just didn't pay attention to the people that they knew were lying to them. They could see right through the lies and the treachery. There was no need for even discuss what to do - they knew to just ignore the lying words and prepare for battle.

In my prior post I wrote about how our current leaders are like the treacherous Alcimus. They are deceiving us for their own purposes and to our great detriment - there is no truth or justice in them. In this passage, therefore, I totally relate to Judas and his brothers! I knew that we were being deceived pretty early on in this mess. I knew to start forming small groups who could also see the deception, in order to have support and to begin preparing for what is coming.

We will combat this evil, just as Judas did. It will be difficult, but we know who wins in the end.