Martyrdom Of The Seven Brothers

 "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.

One of them, speaking on behalf of all, said, 'What do you want to find out from us?  We are prepared to die right now rather than break the law of our ancestors.'

At the moment of his last breath, he said, 'Murderer, you now dismiss us from life, but the king of the world will raise us up.  HE will give us eternal life since we die for HIS laws.'

After this, they punished the third.  He stuck his tongue out when asked to, bravely stretched forth his hands, and even had the courage to say: 'I have received these limbs from GOD, but for love of HIS laws I now consider them as nothing.  For I hope to recover them from GOD.'  The king and his court were touched by the courage of this young man, so unconcerned about his own sufferings.

When this one was dead, they subjected the fourth to the same torture.  At the point of death, he cried out, 'I would rather die at the hands of mortals and wait for the promises of GOD who will raise us up; you, however, shall have no part in the resurrection of life.'" - 2 Maccabees 7:1-2. 9-14 

(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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