Maccabees - Betrayals and Promises
As we arrive in 1 Maccabees 11, Jonathan Maccabeus has made himself alliances with King Alexander of Greece and King Ptolemy of Egypt.
Ptolemy violates his promise to Alexander and invades Syria. He takes back Cleopatra and weds her to deposed King Demetrius, whom he puts back on the throne as his puppet.
Jonathan is stuck between his old enemy Demetrius and a deceptive ally, Ptolemy. As Jonathan deployed forces to protect his borders, Ptolemy asks to meet Jonathan, as they are still allegedly friends.
Jonathan shows some Tactical Wisdom here. He picks a spot just outside where he crushed Apollonius. He had his mean stack the dead bodies of Apollonius' army along the road and met with Ptolemy in the ruins. Ptolemy's party had to walk along the road lined with bodies. When meeting with a party you are unsure of, project strength and do it away from your safe location. Secure the meeting site and have a way out.
Ptolemy and Alexander eventually met in battle and Alexander fled. He sought refuge with Zabdiel the Arab in Arabia, thinking he was hiding with a friend. Zabdiel cut off Alexander's head and sent it to Ptolemy. The lesson here is to choose your allies carefully.
While Ptolemy was happy, he died three days later, and King Demetrius seized power over his lands.
When Jonathan heard this, he assembled a force and again set siege to the Greek garrison in the Citadel in Jerusalem. Demetrius met with Jonathan and poured gifts on him, offering an alliance and self-rule for Jerusalem and Judah. He offered to remove all taxes and troops. Jonathan accepted.
A Greek commander named Trypho met with some Arab leaders and formed an insurgency with Antiochus, Alexander's son, as it's figurehead. The key here is another Tactical Wisdom lesson that is confirmed in Resistance to Tyranny by Joseph Martino - Establish both a military and a political organization with clear leaders.
This insurgency led to the King being trapped in a city and he sent to Jonathan for aid, as the Jewish warriors were known to be outstanding. A 3000-man force sent by Jonathan seized the city King Demetrius was trapped in and rescued him from the palace there.
Despite Jonathan saving him, he went back on his word to Jonathan (never trust the government, right?). Jonathan then withheld aid, and Trypho routed the King's forces and forced the King to flee.
When Antiochus took the throne, he realized that he didn't want to fight Jonathan, so he confirmed him as High-Priest and a Friend of the King. Jonathan then began a campaign for King Antiochus against Demetrius.
When Jonathan approached Demetrius' forces, he avoided an ambush that they had set. Tactical Wisdom - ALWAYS be aware of the opportunity for ambush and watch for it via terrain analysis and scouting, like Jonathan.
After a long battle, Jonathan was victorious and pursued Demetrius as far as Kadesh.
The biggest takeaways today are to project strength when meeting with other parties, not trusting completely any agreements made, and being very careful of who you trust. Always watch for the ambush.
Until next time....