And then…

Judas took over as our captain, just as Father told him to. We fought many battles, so valiantly and fiercely that the enemy began to fear us. So Judas played the part. He put on armor and flashed a huge sword, so that he looked like a giant! And the enemy believed it. We began calling him “The Lion.”

We always knelt in prayer before heading to battle, and we always cheered and smiled on our way back. YHVH was with us and no one could stop us.

Apollonius, a great wicked leader, thought he could take us, so he brought a huge army to meet us. Judas led us in prayer on our knees as usual.

“Behold our affliction, take up our grievance and redeem us speedily for Your name’s sake with love. For You are a powerful Redeemer. Blessed are You, YHVH, the Redeemer of Israel.”

The shofar sounded and we began to run right at the enemy army. We managed to kill some of them, but most of them ran away like little chickens! We chased them till we got tired of it, and then came back to help Judas collect items left by the enemy.

“Look! Apollonius’s sword! YHVH gives the victory!” Judas shouted as he raised the sword above his head. He felt like David when Goliath fell. It was a handsome sword with beautiful detailing in gold on the scabbard, and the leaf shaped blade was made from carefully forged steel. Needless to say, he fought with that sword for the rest of his days.

I was helping Simeon collect armor from a fallen enemy soldier, when someone called out, “One of the men is injured! Could we get some help here?” One of our men, injured? Simeon and I went over to help.

Sure enough, one of our men was sitting against a rock, with a fair amount of blood coming out of his leg.

“What’s your name, young man?”

“Samuel.”

“What happened, Samuel?”

“It’s embarrassing, really. I tripped on some sticks while we were chasing the enemy, and I gashed my leg on a branch.” The last part was barely above a whisper.

Simeon let out a long hearty laugh, and I couldn’t help but join him.

Simeon put his hand gently on Samuel’s leg, looked up to heaven, and began to pray.

“Heal us, YHVH, and we will be healed. Save us, and we will be saved, for you are our praise. Restore Samuel’s leg to wholeness, and remove his clumsiness with the pain. Blessed are you, YHVH, who heals Israel.”

I instructed him to keep it clean, and Simeon and I chuckled again as we walked away. Poor guy, getting injured out of pure excitement!

We then traveled near Bethhoron, where another leader, Seron, thought it in his best interest to fight us. He got together a huge army. We got a bit nervous, because many of our men had stayed behind to stock supplies and rest for a short time. We only had a very small group ready to fight. The men went to Judas, fearful and worried.

“How can we take on such a huge army? We are so few!”

Judas raised his voice so everyone could hear.

“With YHVH, it doesn’t matter if we are a lot or a few. He still gives us the strength and victory. The enemy is proud and wicked and ready to destroy us and our families. But we fight for the Torah! We fight for our lives! YHVH will destroy them. Do not be afraid!”

Suddenly he sprung up like a cat ready to pounce, and ran at the enemy. We all followed and, within ten minutes, the victory was ours! Shouts of praise rose up to heaven.

But before long, news that another army, greater than the last, was headed our way. This time, Antiochus Epiphanies himself was sending half his army, with horses and elephants and a huge number of soldiers.

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