The gifts of God: May he open your heart to his law and his commandments, and may he bring peace

The Second Book of Maccabees is set during the Hellenistic period in the Middle East, beginning with Alexander the Great's conquest of Asia to the height of the Roman Empire in the region.
This book begins with a letter asking for God's blessings in the face of the Hellenistic oppression that pretended to impose its own Gods and customs on the holy land. Many successors of Alexander the Great, such as Antiochus IV Epiphanes, had shown little tolerance towards religious minorities, being this King a staunch enemy of the Jews. It is in this context of religious persecution that the Maccabees dynasty arose with great success in the holy land, being its last representative Herod who ruled in the time of Jesus.
The letter that begins the second book of the Maccabees shows us the importance of God's gifts, the law of Moses is necessary, but it is also true that men must have a well-disposed heart to follow his commandments.
With a language very similar to the teachings of the New Testament, the letter shows us how wisdom and the fear of God (constancy, firmness, devotion, equanimity, stability) are the basis of any law, these gifts are the good land on which the relationship with God is founded, thus explains this spiritual truth the writer of the book when he addressed the letter to his brothers in Egypt:
"May God do good to you, and may he remember his covenant with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob, his faithful servants. May he give you all a heart to worship him and to do his will with a strong heart and a willing spirit. May he open your heart to his law and his commandments, and may he bring peace. May he hear your prayers and be reconciled to you, and may he not forsake you in time of evil. We are now praying for you here" 2 Maccabees 1:2-6.

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