Then the noble woman laughed the tyrant to
scorn. "Have pity on me, my son," she began; but it was not by saving
his life, but by losing it, that she bade him show pity on her, so that
she might receive him again with his brethren. He made a still fuller
confession than the rest--he was slain by a still more savage torture;
and then his mother, blessing God, died gloriously like her sons. Others
fled, and lived in the mountains, lurking in caves, and feeding on wild
roots and herbs. Of such St. Paul says, "They were tempted, were slain
with the sword; they wandered about in sheep-skins and goat-skins, being
destitute, afflicted, tormented: of whom the world was not worthy."
LESSON XVIII.
THE MACCABEES.
"In that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all
people; all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in
pieces."--_Zechariah_, xii. 3.
Never was there a time when God left Himself without a witness; and in
these darkest times of the Jewish history, He raised up a defender of
His Name. There was a small town, named Modin, near the sea shore,
whither a Greek officer called Apelles was sent to force the people into
idolatry.
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