1 Maccabees 2:31. "And it was reported to the king's officers, and to the troops in Jerusalem the city of David, that men who had rejected the king's command had gone down to the hiding places in the wilderness." These men who had gone to hiding places in the wilderness were faithful Jews who took their wives, children, cattle, and belongings and moved away, trying to escape the "evils [which] pressed heavily on them." (1 Maccabees 2:29-30). 

By way of background, Judah at this time was under the rule of the Greek king, Antiochus Epiphanes, "a sinful root" (1 Maccabees 1:10) who was ordering the Jews to make sacrifices and perform other acts in violation of God's law (1 Maccabees 2:15-18). Mattathias, a priest from Jerusalem, had moved to Modein after seeing the "blasphemies being committed in Judah and Jerusalem" (1 Maccabees 2:6-7), but the king's officers eventually came to Modein as well, demanding the same blasphemies. When they did, Mattathias "gave vent to righteous anger" and killed a Jew who was complying and the king's officer who was forcing the sacrifice. (1 Maccabees 2:24-26). He then called others who were zealous for the law to follow him and fled to the hills. (1 Maccabees 2:27-28). Others who had not fled with Mattathias went to the wilderness to live, but they were found there and killed "with their wives and children and cattle, to the number of a thousand persons." (1 Maccabees 2:38). This slaughter inspired Mattathias and his followers to begin the Maccabean revolt (1 Maccabees 2:39-41).

I am slowly learning the unfortunate lesson that we cannot hide from evil, we have to fight it. Seeing the path our country, our world, and our many of our fellow travelers are on in the last several years, I have often been "stirred to righteous anger," but I have been trying my best to suppress it, thinking that was the right thing to do. Maybe that was right at the time, and maybe not, but I do think the times are changing now. There is great evil afoot, claiming many innocent victims. I struggle with how and when to fight this evil, and I must admit that I have been, in my own way, trying to escape to the wilderness. I've been trying to hide myself and those of my family who will listen to me - acknowledging that the evil is there, but convincing myself that if we lay low, it will leave us alone. This passage for today is reminding me that it will not.

God will allow us (I say "us" because I know there are many like me) some periods of relative peace in this battle, but when they come we must use them to survey the battlefield and plan our next move. Like Mattathias, we must realize that evil wants to "destroy us from the earth." (1 Maccabees 2:40), and band together, if not physically, then spiritually. God will show us the battles He wants us to fight, and they will not all be the same, but we will all be fighting together with God on our side. Like the Maccabees, we know we are fighting on the right side, but unlike them, we know who wins. This war has already been won, we're just playing our part now, but we cannot hide from it.