How do the battles lead to sanctuary restoration?

Gorgias takes five thousand men and a thousand of the best horsemen out by night, guided by men from the castle, to strike the Jewish camp suddenly. Judas hears and rises with the valiant men to attack the king’s forces at Emmaus while the army is dispersed. The edition explains divisions separated from one another. Gorgias finds nobody in Judas’s camp and seeks them in the mountains, saying they flee. At daybreak Judas appears in the plain with three thousand men described as without armour or swords; the edition qualifies this as lacking such equipment as they wished. They see the strong, protected Gentile camp and horsemen surrounding it, all trained to war. Judas urges courage, recalling deliverance at the Red Sea from Pharao’s army, and calls for prayer that God remember his covenant and destroy this army. He says the nations will know Israel’s redeemer. Trumpets sound and battle begins; the Gentiles flee. Pursuit reaches Gezeron and the plains of Idumea, Azotus and Jamnia, with three thousand slain.

Returning from pursuit, Judas forbids greed for spoils because war remains: Gorgias’s army is near in the mountain. He commands them to stand against the enemy before taking spoils in safety. While he speaks, a division appears from the mountain, sees the fleeing army and smoke from the burning camp, and fears. Seeing Judas ready for battle, they flee into the strangers’ country. Judas returns to the camp to collect gold, silver, blue silk, sea purple and riches. Returning, they sing and bless heaven for goodness and enduring mercy, and Israel has great salvation that day.

Escaping strangers tell Lysias what happened. He is astonished and discouraged because things did not befall Israel as he wished or the king commanded. The following year he gathers sixty thousand chosen men and five thousand horsemen to subdue them. The admitted text places the camp at Bethoron. Judas meets him with ten thousand men and prays, recalling the giant given into David’s hand and the strangers’ army into the hands of Jonathan, Saul’s son, and his armourbearer. He asks God to deliver the army to Israel, bring shame on its strength, fill it with fear, overthrow it by the sword and receive hymns from those who know his name. Five thousand of Lysias’s army fall in battle. Seeing Israel’s boldness and readiness to live or die valiantly, Lysias goes to Antioch to gather more men for another return.

Judas and his brothers propose going to cleanse and repair the holy places. The army reaches Mount Sion and sees the sanctuary desolate, altar profaned, gates burned, shrubs like a forest in the courts and chambers ruined. They rend garments, lament, cast ashes on their heads, fall on their faces, sound trumpets and cry to heaven. Judas appoints men to fight those in the castle while cleansing proceeds and chooses priests without blemish whose will is set upon God’s law. They remove defiled stones to an unclean place. Considering the profaned altar of holocausts, they decide to pull it down lest its defilement remain a reproach. They store its stones in a convenient place on the temple mountain until a prophet should answer concerning them. They take whole stones according to law and build an altar like the former one, rebuild the holy places and temple interior, sanctify the courts and make new holy vessels. They bring the candlestick, incense altar and table into the temple, place incense, light lamps, put loaves on the table and hang veils, finishing their works.

Before morning on the twenty-fifth of Casleu, the ninth month in year 148, they offer sacrifice according to law on the new altar. On the same day it had been defiled, it is dedicated with songs, harps, lutes and cymbals. The people fall on their faces and bless heaven for prospering them. They celebrate eight days with holocausts, sacrifices of salvation and praise, adorn the front with gold crowns and escutcheons, renew gates and chambers and put doors on them. Great joy accompanies the removal of Gentile reproach. Judas, his brothers and all the church of Israel decree an annual eight-day dedication beginning on the twenty-fifth of Casleu. They build high walls and strong towers around Mount Sion, station a garrison against renewed Gentile profanation and fortify Bethsura as defense toward Idumea. The castle threat remains during restoration; no scouts, storage chamber or complete territorial clearance is supplied.