- Thu Feb 23, 2017 12:34 pm
#229264
Nicanor was the head of the enemy army of 20,000. Nicanor planned to sell Jews they captured into slavery. Judas Maccabeus was the head of an army of 6,000. He prayed to God that these Jewish slaves would be freed before the two armies confronted each other.
78. 2 Maccabees 8: 12-15 When Judas learned of Nicanor's advance and informed his companions about the approach of the army, the cowardly and those who lacked faith in God's justice deserted and got away. But the others sold everything they had left, and at the same time besought the LORD to deliver those whom the ungodly Nicanor had sold before even meeting them. They begged the LORD to do this, if not for their sake, at least for the sake of the covenants made with their forefathers, and because they themselves bore His holy, glorious Name.
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Once the Maccabees retook their temple, they found documents within the temple. One document tells the fate of the ark of the covenant. Just to summarize, after king Solomon there were 20 successive kings of Judah. The people gradually fell away from worshipping God and keeping His commandments. For many centuries God warned the people through the prophets to turn back to Him or their land would be taken from them and the temple would be destroyed. That did happen. Before it happened the prophet Jeremiah was told by God to remove the ark of the covenant (the holy receptacle containing the tablets of the ten commandments) and hide it. Here is what we know about that event:
2 Maccabees 2: 4-8 The same document also tells how the prophet, following a divine revelation, ordered that the tent and the ark should accompany him and how he went off to the mountain (they say it's Mt. Nebo) which Moses climbed to see God's inheritance. When Jeremiah arrived there, he found a cave in which he put the tent, the ark, and the altar of incense; then he blocked up the entrance. Some of those who followed him came up intending to mark the path, but they could not find it. When Jeremiah heard of this, he reproved them: "This place is to remain unknown until God gathers His people together again and shows them mercy. Then the LORD will disclose these things, and the glory of the LORD will be seen in the cloud, just as it appeared in the time of Moses and when Solomon prayed that the Place (the temple of Jerusalem) might be gloriously sanctified."
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I wonder if one of the secrets of Medjugorje has to do with the ark of the covenant?