HANUKKAH

Brief History

At Hanukkah, Jews commemorate the victory of the Maccabees over the Greek/Syrian forces of King Antiochus in the year 165 B.C.E. That regime sought to impose paganism on the Jewish people. They put a pagan idol, Zeus, in the Temple, and forced Jews to eat non-kosher food. This was the first time that enemies of the Jewish people were trying to destroy them spiritually, rather than physically. Hanukkah commemorated the cleansing of the Temple under Maccabees after lAntiochus Epiphanes had defiled it by sacrificing a pig on the altar of burnt offering.

The festival was celebrated towards the end of December. This year’s will be celebrated from the evenings of Thursday, 7 December 2023 – Friday 15 December 2023. Begins at sundown on Thursday, December 7, 2023, and ends the evening of Friday, December 15, 2023 (8 nights). Hanukkah means dedication and is a holiday that honors and celebrates one of the first recorded fights for religious freedom and the success of this fight.  

The First 

The first Hanukkah came during a very dark time in the history of Israel, one in which the ‘light’ [the Menorah] of God’s presence among his people was in jeopardy of disappearing entirely. It would take a miracle for the light to continue to shine and would take a rededication in the hearts of the entire Jewish nation to love and worship God above all.

When Alexander the Great conquered Syria, Egypt, and Israel, he allowed each area under his control to continue observing their own religions and to enjoy a certain amount of freedom. But a little over 100 years later a man named Antiochus Epiphanes rose to power and he oppressed the Jewish people. He outlawed all Jewish religious rites, massacring Jews who refused to bow. He installed a Hellenistic (Greek-influenced) High Priest.

Antiochus offered pigs, unclean sacrifices on the Temple altar. He was driven by a passion to assimilate by forcing the Jewish people into his own world view. Everyone was ordered to worship Zeus as the supreme god. He even stamped his own face on the coins with the epithet ‘god manifest’.

While the Jewish people did not at first know how to respond, eventually a small band of pious Jews led guerilla warfare against the Syrian army. Their leaders were Matityahu and his son Judah Maccabee, or ‘The Hammer’ as he was known. Antiochus sent an army, but the Maccabees supernaturally succeeded in driving the foreigners from their land. When they arrived at the Holy Temple, it was devastated and defiled. They cleansed the Temple and re-dedicated it on the 25th day of Kislev on the Jewish calendar, which is in winter.

The Miracle of Light

From oral tradition, it has been written in the Talmud that as they came to relight the Temple Menorah (the seven-branched lampstand), they searched for the special holy oil to light it but they were able to find only one small jar of oil-bearing the required seal of purity by the High Priest. Miraculously, the small jar of oil burned for eight days, during which a new supply of oil could be made. From then on, Jews around the world have observed a holiday of lighting candles for eight days in honor of this historic victory. This is how Hanukkah became known as the Festival of Lights.  

Hanukkah in the New Testament

In Matthew, while answering his disciples’ questions about the end of the age and his Second Coming, Jesus revealed that Hanukkah is going to happen again. A man called the antichrist [false messiah or the beast out of the sea… Revelation 13] will force the world to assimilate to his world view, put his image on every human being and force them to acknowledge him as a God. Jesus said, “And pray that your flight may not be in winter or on the Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been since the beginning of the world until this time, no, nor ever shall be”… Matthew 24:20-21

In the early morning of the 28th day of September 2023, I had just woken up at about 3 am. when I heard, “Hanukkah”! From John 10:22, Jesus seemed to be walking at the Temple courts on the day of Hanukkah… NIV… then came the Feast of Hanukkah at Jerusalem. It was winter. Hanukkah means to consecrate, sanctify or to dedicate (separate and set apart for holy use.

The Temple or palace was dedicated to the King of kings. Solomon and the people prepared to worship Him. Dedication also means setting apart a place, an object or a person for an exclusive purpose. The Temple had been set apart by Solomon… 1 Kings 8:63; 2 Chronicles 7:4-5… Then the king and all the people offered sacrifices before the Lord. King Solomon offered a sacrifice of 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the people dedicated God’s house. 

The purpose of dedicating the King’s House was to set it apart as a place to worship the King. Today, our bodies are the King’s Palace or Home because the Governor of the Kingdom of God, the Holy Spirit lives there… 2 Corinthians 6:16. This dedication shows us that we should rededicate ourselves this time to carry out the King’s Will [special purpose or plan] of the end time… Ephesians 1:11, 12.

What does the King wants from us

The world looks very dark right now [at 8 pm as at now]. There is a spirit that seems to be squeezing and forcing believers to assimilate with the world. But God is raising up a new remnant of passionate and resilient believers who are resisting it. They are igniting a fresh wind and fresh fire within their hearts to worship and surrender their whole lives to the only God who is worthy. I believe He is calling us to re-dedicate, re-fine, revive and re-burn our hearts and lives to Him in this season.

Psalm 30, which is read on Hanukkah, begins, “A song. For the dedication of the temple. Of David.” The word used in the verse for ‘dedication’ is Hanukkah. However, David never dedicated a Temple. It was his son Solomon who built the Temple and dedicated it. David wrote this psalm for future Temple dedications. However, it could also be that David meant this psalm for himself. David had just healed from an acute illness when he penned this psalm. 

Apostle John saw the Menorah twice, Revelation 4:5, “…and in front of the throne seven blazing torches burned, which are the seven Spirits of God [the sevenfold Holy Spirit]”. And 5:6, “…and with seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God [the sevenfold Holy Spirit]”. The 7-fold Holy Spirit [the Menorah] is the four river stream I have spoken about in the past blogs. Please recap to be able to understand these things the Lord keep speaking about. 

The Menorah (the seven-branched lampstand) is the one that gave light to the priest in the Terbernacle. And this is the same One the Jews light up at the Feast of Hanukkah as they re-dedicated the Temple. For the Lord to speak to me about Hanukkah, it means that the saints have a rededication to do – to re-dedicated our lives again to Jesus by allowing the Holy Spirit to ignite our spirits. Then the River will begin to flow once again in preparation for the return of Christ for the Church. 

Come Lord Jesus!