The Alliance That No Prophet Approved

In 1 Maccabees 8, Judas Maccabeus sends envoys to Rome to negotiate a formal alliance. The chapter opens with an extended eulogy of the Romans—their military strength, their reliability toward allies, their unusual political system of a senate that elects a single leader for only one year at a time. The author clearly admires Rome: "Yet for all this, not one of them has put on a crown or worn purple as a mark of pride." The Jewish people, newly independent after driving out the Greeks, see Rome as a powerful friend who can help secure their fragile freedom. The proposal pleases the Roman senate, and a treaty is struck on bronze tablets.

What a Prophet Would Have Said

Father Mike draws attention to something that is easy to miss: throughout the Books of Kings and Chronicles, whenever Israel or Judah considered forming a military alliance with a foreign power, the prophets consistently condemned it. Isaiah told Judah not to trust Egypt. Jeremiah warned against relying on Babylon. The prophetic message was always the same—trust in the Lord alone, not in the strength of other nations.