"It happened also that seven brothers were arrested with their mother. The king had them scourged and flogged to force them to eat the flesh of a pig which was prohibited by the law.
More than all of them, their mother ought to be admired and remembered. She saw her seven sons die in a single day. But she endured it even with joy for she had put her hope in the LORD. Full of a noble sense of honor, she encouraged each one of them in the language of their ancestors. Her woman's heart was moved by manly courage, so she told them:
'I wonder how you were born of me; it was not I who gave you breath and life, nor I who ordered the matter of your body. The Creator of the world who formed man in the beginning and ordered the unfolding of all creation shall in HIS mercy, give you back breath and life, since you now despise them for love of HIS laws.'
Antiochus thought that she was making fun of him and suspected that she had insulted him. As the youngest was still alive, the king tried to win him over not only with his words, but even promised to make him rich and happy, if he would abandon the traditions of his ancestors. He would make him his Friend and appoint him to a high position in the kingdom. But as the young man did not pay him any attention, the king ordered the mother to be brought in. He urged her to advise her son in order to save his life. After being asked twice by the king, she agreed to persuade her son. She bent over him and fooled the cruel tyrant by saying in her ancestral language:
'My son, have pity on me. For nine months I carried you in my womb and suckled you for three years; I raised you up and educated you until this day. I ask you now, my son, that when you see the heavens, the earth and all that is in it, you know that GOD made all this from nothing, and the human race as well. Do not fear these executioners, but make yourself worthy of your brothers--accept death that you may again meet your brothers in the time of mercy.'
When she finished speaking, the young man said, 'What are you waiting for? I do not obey king's order but the precepts of the law given by Moses to our ancestors. And you who have devised such tortures against the Hebrews, shall not escape the hands of GOD.'" - 2 Maccabees 7:1. 20-31
(In relating the martyrdom of these seven brothers, whose names are unknown, the author places on their lips a declaration of their faith in immortality. This is the most valuable message of the book.
In the previous centuries, GOD's promises were for the people as a whole. The believer only hoped for the life and prosperity of his race.
Here, we have a giant step in the faith: the resurrection of individuals. It is not only the hope for survival of the spirit, or the soul: the believer thinks he will be raised as a person to meet GOD. In Ezekiel 37, in the vision of the dry bones, GOD was promising to raise HIS people who had died. Here, every person hopes to rise, body and soul, to share the happiness that GOD promised and will give on the final day.
If martyrs are not raised, how would GOD achieve justice?)
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