bested. What matters is not human forces or the size of one’s army, but the help that comes from God. In 1 Maccabees God does not expressly tell the Jews what his plans are: the outcome of their actions done in the name of the Lord will reveal his intentions to them. God’s plans are already revealed in the Law and the Prophets, but when situations arise in which they need to ascertain his will, they wait for a prophet to come and tell them—for example, about what to do with the stones of the defiled