Just Two Centuries Before The Birth Of Jesus Christ, Isreal Was Nearly Lost

Men of God...The Maccabees - Forgotten Heroes of Israel
This is an epic tale of war, heroism, treachery, and tragedy. It is from a time when God and religion were the center of existence for all men and women. This is a story of a woman and the strength she gave her seven sons. It is the story of an old man who realized manhood and wisdom meet in old age.

It is the story of a man and his five sons who left everything and sacrificed their lives to restore God’s laws. But mostly it is a tale of the power of faith and prayer – of God’s hand in man’s work. The story of the family known as the Maccabees took place in the 2nd century before the birth of Christ,

when the children of Israel were being persecuted by the Gentiles. Out of one family rose up a father and his five sons to lead the Jews to victory over the persecutors and to restore the Temple that had been profaned by them. One of the Maccabees brothers, Judas, was surnamed Machebeus – that is, the hammer – and thus the family takes on his name – as God’s Hammer against the enemies of His people.

Link (here)

More on Judas Maccabeus and the Maccabees

Judas Maccabeus in Wiki (here)
Judah Maccabeus in the Jewish Encyclopaedia (here)
The Hasmonean Revolt Against Seleucid Rule (here)
Father Pierre-Jean de Smet, S.J. preaches to the Indians about the Maccabees (here)
I Maccabees (here) and II Maccabees (here)
The Maccabees and The Lord of the Rings: Boston College's Peter Kreeft (here)