Discussion Questions

David Bercot emphasizes that Alexander “had a definite mission to bring Greek learning and culture to the whole known world”; how does that description of Alexander’s “civilizing” vision help you think about God’s providence in using pagan empires to prepare for the New Testament world (for example, the spread of Koine Greek)? JumpstartAnother way to ask: If Alexander spread Greek language and culture, how might that show God using non-Christian empires to prepare the world for the New Testament (like making Koine Greek common)?

The lesson highlights that Ptolemy II invited Jewish scribes to translate the Scriptures into Greek, producing the Septuagint—the Bible used by many Jews, quoted by New Testament writers, and used by early Christians; what does that history suggest about how God intends Scripture to be accessible across languages and cultures, and what assumptions does it challenge about “God’s Word” being tied to a single sacred language? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does the Septuagint’s story say about God wanting Scripture to be understood in many languages, not just one “holy” language?

Bercot confronts an evangelical suspicion of 1 Maccabees by calling it respected history (even by secular historians), read by early Christians, included in Luther’s Bible and the 1611 KJV “for edification”; what does your reaction to his argument reveal about how you decide what sources you trust in studying God’s people and church history? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How does your response to Bercot’s defense of 1 Maccabees show what kinds of sources you trust when learning about God’s people and church history?

Antiochus IV’s attempt to “Hellenize the Jews” included banning circumcision, outlawing Torah-obedience, turning the temple into a temple of Zeus, and sacrificing a pig on the altar; what does this episode expose about the non-negotiables of covenant faithfulness, and what parallels do you see today where cultural “unity” pressures Christians to treat obedience as optional? JumpstartAnother way to ask: When Antiochus tried to force Jews to break God’s commands, what does that teach about what believers can’t compromise on, and where do you see similar pressure today?

In the 1 Maccabees quote, some Jews “preferred to die rather than to be defiled with unclean food,” while many others “went along with these changes and even promoted them”; what do you think made compromise seem reasonable to “perhaps most” of the Jews, and where might similar motivations (comfort, safety, social acceptance) be influencing modern Christians? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Why might compromise have seemed smart or safe to many Jews, and how do comfort, fear, or wanting approval push Christians to compromise today?

Matathias refuses the king’s incentives (“silver and gold and many gifts”) and then kills the Jew who sacrifices on the pagan altar, with the text comparing him to Phinehas; how should a serious Christian wrestle with this portrait of “zeal for the law”—what part feels admirable, what part feels morally troubling, and what does that tension reveal about how God works through flawed people in violent times? JumpstartAnother way to ask: In Matathias’s story, what seems brave and what seems wrong about his violent “zeal for the law,” and what does that tension teach about God working through flawed people in harsh times?

Judas Maccabeus initially fights with a deep confidence in God despite being outnumbered, yet later “made a terrible mistake” by allying with Rome—something Bercot compares to believers who have seen answered prayer but later revert to human means; where are you most tempted to substitute alliances, leverage, or political power for trust in God, and how would you recognize that drift early? JumpstartAnother way to ask: Where are you tempted to rely on political power, influence, or strategic partnerships instead of trusting God, and what early signs would show you’re drifting that way?

The lesson notes that John Hyrcanus destroyed the Samaritan temple on Mount Gerizim and forced Idumeans to be circumcised and adopt Judaism; how does this forced-conversion expansion complicate the way you view “God’s people” by Jesus’ day (especially in Galilee and Idumea), and what does it suggest about the dangers of using religious identity as a tool of national power? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How do forced conversions and expansion under John Hyrcanus change how you see “God’s people” in Jesus’ day, and what dangers come from using religion to gain national power?

Bercot traces the Hasidim into Pharisees and Essenes, describing the Pharisees as opposing a “worldly and secularized” priesthood while the Sadducees were an aristocratic party of wealthy priests allied with rulers; how do these origins help explain why those groups appear the way they do in the Gospels, and what modern church dynamics (money, influence, institutional loyalty) seem closer to Sadducees or Pharisees? JumpstartAnother way to ask: How do the Pharisees’ and Sadducees’ origins help explain how they act in the Gospels, and what church patterns today look more like chasing influence and money or like strict separation?

The moral collapse of the Hasmonean rulers culminates in Alexander Jannaeus crucifying 800 Pharisees, slaughtering their families, and feasting with concubines, followed by brothers (Hyrcanus II and Aristobulus II) fighting until Rome intervenes and Pompey takes Jerusalem; what does this narrative suggest about God’s judgment and restraint—allowing internal selfishness to hand His people over to a foreign power—and where might similar “self-inflicted captivity” be happening in modern Christianity through ambition, factionalism, and reliance on worldly protectors? JumpstartAnother way to ask: What does the Hasmoneans’ violence and infighting leading to Rome taking Jerusalem teach about God letting His people suffer the results of their own selfishness, and where do you see similar self-made damage in Christianity today?