I’ve just entered one of my favorite units of 7th grade Bible—the Intertestamental Period. This is the “forgotten” 400 year gap between Malachi and Matthew. This is where we see the rise of Greek cultural influence (the New Testament is written in Greek), the rise of the Jewish parties (Pharisees, Sadducees, Zealots, and Essenes), The rise of the Roman Empire, and the writing of the so-called Old Testament Apocrypha. This is a collection of books and expansions on existing OT books that is included in the Catholic canon but not traditionally in the Protestant canon (how many of you have heard of Tobit, Judith, Maccabees, or Bel and the Dragon?).

Just reading the two books of Maccabees is a fascinating historical journey beginning with the reign of Alexander the Great. The book of 2 Maccabees contains a horrifying account of the torture and execution of several Jews who refused to submit to the Greeks who tried to force them to renounce their faith and eat unclean foods. In one case, a family of brothers are tortured and killed, one-by-one, in front of their mother. As one brother has his tongue cut out and his hands cut off, his mother praises him for his dedication to the Lord. His brother then comes forward to receive his torture by extending his hands and tongue in one of the most courageous gestures I’ve ever read.

I thank God (and I often take for granted) that I live in a time and place where this type of barbaric treatment is unheard of. I often wonder what I would do if faced with certain torture or worse, faced with watching my children undergo the same.