1 Maccabees 9:50-53. The Greeks are in control of Jerusalem, and Bacchides has been put in charge of the Jewish lands. Here he returns to Jerusalem after going out with a large force to try to defeat Jonathan and his fighters, but Jonathan and his men have escaped. Upon Bacchides' return to Jerusalem, he builds strong cities throughout Judea, with fortresses in many of them and high walls, and gates, and bars. He places garrisons in each of these cities "to harass Israel." He also fortifies other cities and the citadel, stationing troops there and provisioning them with stores of food. Finally, he takes the sons of the leaders of the land as hostages, keeping them under guard in Jerusalem.

Bacchides may be powerful and may have the might of Greece behind him, but he is scared. He is scared of Jonathan and his tenacious, motley crew of fighters. And he is right to be scared! Jonathan has God on his side, so none of Bacchides' power or provisions will ultimately matter much; he will be defeated.

It is always this way in this world. In any troubled time we must look to see who is truly fighting on God's side, that is the group that will prevail (and the group we should be supporting). In many worldly conflicts (such as the Russia/Ukraine conflict right now), it seems none of the "big players" are truly fighting on God's side, but there are always people under the radar, like Jonathan, who are doing what they can in service of God. Those are the people who will ultimately win.

If we do not know who the "good guys" are in any conflict, we simply must pray, and trust that God is working in everything, and will bring about His desired end. But in any conflict where there is a large powerful force that is antithetical to God, like the Greeks here, and a small resistance that is devoted to God, like Jonathan and his men, then the small resistance will win, every time. That is not to say that they will not suffer many defeats and setbacks, though, they will. This that is how God hones us, his resistance fighters.