Day 282: Antiochus Desecrates the Temple (2026)

Fr. Mike Schmitz (0:04)

Hi, my name is Fr. Mike Schmitz, and you're listening to The Bible in a Year podcast, where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a Year podcast is brought to you by Ascension. Using The Great Adventure Bible Timeline, we'll read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds, and how we fit into that story today. It is day 282 We have departed from the time of the exile, the time of the return, and now we are in the Maccabean revolt, that time period. A number of books that the majority of people who are part of this, y'all who are part of this Bible in a Year community, maybe have never read, but the Orthodox Church and the Catholic Church believe these books to be part of the canon. They're called the Deuterocanonical books. We talked a little bit about them when we read the book of Judith and Baruch and Tobit and some of the parts of Daniel and Esther that were not necessarily in the Protestant translations of the Bible. And so here we are. We have these books that are just really incredible. They are inspired, again, considered inspired from the very beginning of Christianity. I mean, it worked out. The Bible was really codified in maybe, say, 350, 398 with the different Council of Rome, the Council of Carthage in 398 And then when it was challenged in the 1500s, the Council of Trent said, okay, these 73 books, including these books in the Septuagint. Now, one of the reasons why, well, we'll get into it later on, but we're in great company right now. In Day 282, we're reading 1 Maccabees, Chapter 1, which is actually quite a long chapter. All these chapters in Maccabees are a bit longer. So settle in and enjoy this story. It's remarkable, it's incredible, it's dramatic. It's phenomenal, it's courageous. And also Sirach Chapter 1, 2 and 3 We're also reading Proverbs 21 verses 29 to 31 As always, the Bible translation I'm reading from is the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition. I'm using The Great Adventure Bible from Ascension. If you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan, you can visit ascensionpress.com/bible in a year. You can also subscribe to this podcast by clicking on subscribe and receiving daily episodes and daily updates. As I said, it is the first day, Day 282 of the Maccabean Revolt. And so enjoy the story. The story is remarkable. First Maccabees is what we're doing for the next number of days. And then afterwards, the second Maccabees, they're kind of the same story told in different ways. Kind of a little bit like numbers in Deuteronomy were more or less the same story told in different ways, but we'll get there when we get there. Today, we're reading Maccabees chapter 1, Sirach chapter 1, 2 and 3, and Proverbs 21 verses 29 through 31

The first book of the Maccabees, chapter 1, Alexander the Great.

After Alexander son of Philip the Macedonian, who came from the land of Khitim, had defeated Darius, king of the Persians and the Medes, he succeeded him as king. He had previously become king of Greece. He fought many battles, conquered strongholds, and put to death the kings of the earth. He advanced to the ends of the earth and plundered many nations. When the earth became quiet before him, he was exalted, and his heart was lifted up. He gathered a very strong army and ruled over countries, nations, and princes, and they became tributary to him. After this, he fell sick and perceived that he was dying. So he summoned his most honored officers, who had been brought up with him from youth, and divided his kingdom among them while he was still alive. And after Alexander had reigned twelve years, he died. Then his officers began to rule, each in his own place. They all put on crowns after his death, and so did their sons after them for many years. And they caused many evils on the earth.

Antiochus Epiphanes and the Renegade Jews.

From them came forth a sinful root, Antiochus Epiphanes, son of Antiochus the King. He had been a hostage in Rome. He began to reign in the one hundred and thirty-seventh year of the kingdom of the Greeks. In those days, lawless men came forth from Israel and misled many, saying, Let us go and make a covenant with the Gentiles round about us, for since we separated from them, many evils have come upon us. This proposal pleased them, and some of the people eagerly went to the king. He authorized them to observe the ordinances of the Gentiles, so they built a gymnasium in Jerusalem according to Gentile custom, and removed the marks of circumcision and abandoned the Holy Covenant. They joined with the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil.