Today we will continue on with Part III, of my 4-part series on why we don't do Christmas and what we do celebrate at this time of year. If you haven't caught my first two posts, I warmly invite you to take a peek:
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Yes, We Celebrate Hanukkah!
Before I move on with Hanukkah, I would just like to reiterate that just because we no longer celebrate Christmas, we still love our extended family and friends.
Love is Key
I can't stress enough that what I share, I share in love. I think it's always important to impart truth -- God commands it, but to do it with a heart of love. Not in a show-offy manner; yet one must not compromise and need not apologize when it comes to the issues of sin and obedience. One must always do so with a level of wisdom, knowledge, understanding, discernment, and maturity (something I see a shortage of in some circles).
A Brief (do I do anything brief?) Hanukkah 101:
First of all, I've heard there are 16+ spellings for Hanukkah, and it seems like there is no one right or wrong way to spell it. The most accepted spellings are "Hanukkah", "Chanukah", and "Chanukkah", it all depends on your transliteration. I happen to prefer to use the first spelling, maybe because it's easier for me to remember for some reason, but more correctly, the word Chanukah shares the same root as the Hebrew word "CHiNUKH", meaning "education." Just as the Maccabees fought & died for the sake of Torah truth (remember "Torah" means "instruction"), so we must wage war within ourselves, educating ourselves through studying the entire Word of God, rededicating ourselves by the washing of the Word, and standing fully committed, enabling us to resist assimilation into this corrupt world.
The "cleansing of the Temple" is a matter of the heart. ♥
The "cleansing of the Temple" is a matter of the heart. ♥
"Hanukkah/Chanukah" is Hebrew for "Dedication" and marks an eight-day celebration (Kislev 25 - Tevet 3 (during our Nov-Dec)) that commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple after a small group of Jewish believers miraculously defeated the forces of assimilation into the Greek/pagan world. Hanukkah is somewhat comparable to our Independence Day, representing a great victory of faith through God's providential love and protection over Hellenistic & humanistic belief.
The True History: The Feast of Dedication
The history of Hanukkah begins many years after the captivity & dissimulation of the Houses of Israel and Judah with the reign of Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), a student of the renowned pagan Greek philosopher Aristotle. Al was a militant king who conquered Syria, Egypt, & Babylonia to defeat the mighty Persian Empire in 333 BC and who promoted a Hellenistic culture, but was fairly lenient towards the Jews. After his death in 323 BC and a series of civil wars, the Greek world divided into four separate powers. One of those powers, the evil Syrian king Antiochus IV Epiphanes (Epiphanes means "God (Zeus the sky god) made manifest") (perhaps the 5th king of Revelation 17:10) began to openly persecute the Jews in 167 BC. He decreed that the study of Torah, observance of Shabbat, holidays, circumcision, and offering sacrifices in the Temple were punishable by death and murdered some 40,000 resistors. Many Jews fled and hid in the wilderness & caves and many died martyrs. Pagan alters were soon erected throughout Judea; Antiochus even appointed a Hellenistic "High Priest" to the Temple and desecrated the alter by requiring pigs to be sacrificed on it. (The Jews referred Antiochus not as Epiphanes, but Epimanes "the madman").
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| Al the Great |
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| Antiochus IV |
Btw, "Maccabee" was not the surname of Judah and his brothers, "son of Mattathias" was. "Maccabee" was the warrior nickname of Judah and is the acronym (m.k.b.i) for the Hebrew words Mi Kamocha ba-elim Adonai: "Who is like you, O LORD, among the gods?" (Exodus 15:11); or else was derived from the Hebrew word for "hammer" (makevet), indicating his ferocity in battle.
The Probably Not-So True History: The Festival of Lights
According to later (c. 500 AD) Rabbinical Legend/Tradition, at the time of rededication of the Temple there was very little oil left that had not been defiled by the Greeks, in fact, only enough to last one day! It would take eight days to prepare a fresh supply of oil for the Temple menorah to keep the menorah burning continually. Miraculously, the little bit of sanctified oil burned for eight days -- the time needed to prepare a fresh batch. An eight-day festival was declared to commemorate the miracle, known as Chanukah, "Dedication" or Festival of Lights.Now being the Hanukkah "oil miracle" is only mentioned a couple of times in the Talmud (oral rabbinic law) and by a few extra-biblical sources such as historian Josephus, scholars have come to doubt if the 8-day oil legend is true. I've heard three good explanations...
- It has been suggested that perhaps the oil miracle was made up by a later rabbi to account for the eight-day festival since Jewish war victories were not allowed at that time.
- Additionally, the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) may have really been a later celebration of Sukkot, which the Hasmoneans did not have a chance to celebrate during their warfare with the Syrians.
- Or perhaps because the Maccabean dynasty (forefathers of the Sadducees) eventually became entirely corrupt, and the Talmud (which grew out of Pharisaic tradition) did not want to draw much attention to them, therefore the Talmud's statements (recorded centuries after the Maccabean rebellion) focus on the miracle of the oil rather than the Maccabean resistance.
Oy, who knows? God is certainly big enough to preform such a miracle with the oil, but given the account doesn't pop up until much later, one wonders. Some try to connect a few verses in the Bible with the oil miracle, but it's a stretch imho. One thing is for certain, God did preform a miracle in delivering His people from the great wickedness at that time. And that is a historical fact!
So, Why Do WE Celebrate Hanukkah?
Good question... it was a long time ago in another country and God doesn't command it, right?
True. It's purely optional.
But we have chosen to celebrate it for several reasons....
First and foremost, it's Biblical!!!
True, the Father doesn't command it as He does the seven Biblical Feasts of the LORD in Leviticus 23, but it is in the Bible... Jesus was at the Feast of Dedication at least once as we find in John 10:22-23:
"And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter. And Yahshua [Jesus] walked in the temple in Solomon's porch."
Note: I often hear people say that Jesus "Celebrated" the Feast of Dedication, but let's be careful... is that what the Scriptures say? No, they do not say that! John tells us that Jesus was there, at that time, on the porch of the Temple in Jerusalem. Whether he actually went in to the festivities the Bible doesn't state. Jesus was never what we call a "party animal". He preformed his first earthly miracle at a wedding feast, and of course there's the Passover Feast, but we must be careful not to read into Scripture what simply wasn't stated.
One thing we do know is that He was there, at least on the porch. Jesus liked to be where crowds gathered and crowds gathered wherever Jesus went. His very purpose on earth was that He came for the lost. He was always teaching... in everything He said and did; not partying. We also know that Jesus, being Jewish (not to mention knowing all things), knew all about the Feasts of the LORD and I'm sure was very familiar with the Feast of Dedication as well... and just two chapters earlier we find in John 8:12:
"Then spake Yehshua [Jesus] again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life."
Now isn't that interesting, the throngs were about to celebrate "The Festival of Lights" and here Jesus is telling them that HE is the LIGHT OF THE WORLD!
What's more... Jesus could have easily condemned the Feast of Dedication right there and then if He so chose, but He did not. Rather, He used it as a teaching opportunity. This is far different from what we find about Christmas, since Christmas and the celebration of His birthday are never mentioned in the Bible, but rather the rebuking of adopting pagan ways to worship Him. (See my Part II post for more on this)
But wait, there's more...
A think a true believer in the Messiah Yahshua (the LORD Jesus Christ) would have a hard time not seeing all the beautiful parallels and prophecies in the Spring & Fall Feasts of the LORD. Likewise, with the Feast of Dedication.
In the Book of Daniel we seem to have a dual prophesy of the events leading up to the Feast of Dedication paralleled with End Time events...
- Daniel 8:5-8 First there is a male goat with a notable horn - Alexander the Great was the first king of the Greek Empire and was very great.
- Daniel 8:8-9 The great horn was broken and 4 notable ones come out - Alexander the Great dies and the kingdom is divided between his four generals.
- Daniel 8:9 The 4th little horn became exceedingly great and has authority over "the Glorious Land" (Israel). - the Seleucid king Antiochus "Epiphanes" c. 175-163 BC
- Daniel 8:10-14 Antiochus greatly magnifies himself, casts down the righteous souls, removes the daily sacrifices, and defiled the Temple in Jerusalem itself. This event is known as the "abomination of desolation" that was decreed to occur 2,300 days into Antiochus' reign. Obviously this "horn" also refers to a future world leader called the "Antichrist" who will attempt to "assimilate" all of humanity into a "New World Order".
- A 3-yr. (or so) campaign culminated in the cleansing and rededication of the Temple.
- The Messiah is victor and there is a great Feast!
Another reason we celebrate Hanukkah is that we LOVE Israel!
We rejoice with those that rejoice in the victory God has provided!
Another reason we celebrate Hanukkah is that we identify with Israel!
We R Israel!
I'm not sure why most of us want to classify ourselves as "Gentiles". If you are like me, I was always taught or assumed that if a person is a Believer and not a Jew, then they must be a Gentile. That was the two choices. But it doesn't take long, if one really studies their Bible, to notice that the word "Gentile" is not a positive word -- it's always in the same category as "Pagan" or "Heathen". I don't know about you, but that's not what I want to call myself.
We are grafted in! (not replacing Israel) And if one studies the Bible in that light, that we ARE Israel, the words in our Bibles take on a whole new beautiful/personal meaning. There's ONE faith, ONE, hope, ONE baptism, ONE God & Father, ONE Law -- not two, one for the Jew and one for the Gentile. When I think about Romans 11 (the Grafting-in chapter), I can't help but think of the children's chorus, "Father Abraham" -- perhaps that simple little song has more Biblical truth than a lot of our grown-up "worship" songs of today.
Remember, not all those that left Egypt in the Exodus (chapter 12) were born of Jacob's family. It may sound kinda silly, but I've always liked to think that if I had lived at that time & place, I would have been joining with the Israelites. I think the problem lies in that some confuse the terms "Israel" with "Jews", they think both words are synonymous (I use too), but not true. Remember there are two houses of Israel, Ephraim and the tribes with him became known as Israel or Ephraim, the Northern Kingdom. Judah and the tribes with him became known as Judah, the Southern Kingdom, or the Jews. Occasionally both tribes are referred to together as "Israel". Ephraim became the first born and it was prophesied that he would multiply and become the multitude of nations (Gentiles) that Abraham was told about in Genesis 48:19. The phrase "multitude of nations" can just as accurately be translated as "fullness of the Gentiles" (Romans 11:25) when it is noted that all Israel shall be saved when the "fullness of the Gentiles" have come in (Ephraim = Fullness of the Gentiles). The term, "Jew", is often referred to as all Israelites, but in reality it is only those from the Tribe of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, who has the scepter & leadership -- a protector of the Law. So actually, most of those of Israel are not "Jews".
"There in neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Messiah Yahshua. And if ye be Messiah's then are ye Abraham's see and heirs according to the promise."
Galatians 3:28-29
Both Jew & Greek/Gentile are lost and headed for eternal damnation unless they put their faith in Messiah Yahshua (Jesus Christ). That's the way it's always been (since the time of Genesis) and always will be..."by faith..." (Hebrews 11).
We celebrate Hanukkah because it's FUN!
It's often said that if you take something away, especially with young children, you should have something to put in it's place. Now, that's not why we celebrate Hanukkah. Yes, we removed Christmas from our home, but we don't have little children that need a replacement holiday. In fact, I think our children (ages 17 & 20) were ready to ditch Christmas a year or two ago as we have been celebrating Hanukkah for a while now and found Hanukkah much more fun than Christmas, and of course, I'm all for the Biblical aspects of it.
Hanukkah is not a Kosher Christmas!
One must be careful not to carry over the pagan customs to yet another holiday that should be all about the Light of the World! That's why we left Christmas!
Hanukkah is so much better!
Hanukkah is NOT Jesus' birthday (I believe Jesus was likely born during Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, when God chose to "tabernacle" with us (Immanuel), meaning that He would have been conceived nine months earlier, during the season of Hanukkah), then the time of the Feast of Dedication would also commemorate the miracle of the Incarnation!
So there is much to celebrate!
Well, I have gone on way to long! Sorry for the delay in this post, but between my mother being rushed to the hospital with congestive heart failure, our celebration of Hanukkah, family gatherings, and birthdays, I'm just now getting back to the ole routine.
In my next and final post of this series, I will share just what we did this past Hanukkah in celebration of
the Light of the World!
love, jane
We R Israel!
I'm not sure why most of us want to classify ourselves as "Gentiles". If you are like me, I was always taught or assumed that if a person is a Believer and not a Jew, then they must be a Gentile. That was the two choices. But it doesn't take long, if one really studies their Bible, to notice that the word "Gentile" is not a positive word -- it's always in the same category as "Pagan" or "Heathen". I don't know about you, but that's not what I want to call myself.
We are grafted in! (not replacing Israel) And if one studies the Bible in that light, that we ARE Israel, the words in our Bibles take on a whole new beautiful/personal meaning. There's ONE faith, ONE, hope, ONE baptism, ONE God & Father, ONE Law -- not two, one for the Jew and one for the Gentile. When I think about Romans 11 (the Grafting-in chapter), I can't help but think of the children's chorus, "Father Abraham" -- perhaps that simple little song has more Biblical truth than a lot of our grown-up "worship" songs of today.
Remember, not all those that left Egypt in the Exodus (chapter 12) were born of Jacob's family. It may sound kinda silly, but I've always liked to think that if I had lived at that time & place, I would have been joining with the Israelites. I think the problem lies in that some confuse the terms "Israel" with "Jews", they think both words are synonymous (I use too), but not true. Remember there are two houses of Israel, Ephraim and the tribes with him became known as Israel or Ephraim, the Northern Kingdom. Judah and the tribes with him became known as Judah, the Southern Kingdom, or the Jews. Occasionally both tribes are referred to together as "Israel". Ephraim became the first born and it was prophesied that he would multiply and become the multitude of nations (Gentiles) that Abraham was told about in Genesis 48:19. The phrase "multitude of nations" can just as accurately be translated as "fullness of the Gentiles" (Romans 11:25) when it is noted that all Israel shall be saved when the "fullness of the Gentiles" have come in (Ephraim = Fullness of the Gentiles). The term, "Jew", is often referred to as all Israelites, but in reality it is only those from the Tribe of Judah, the Southern Kingdom, who has the scepter & leadership -- a protector of the Law. So actually, most of those of Israel are not "Jews".
"There in neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Messiah Yahshua. And if ye be Messiah's then are ye Abraham's see and heirs according to the promise."
Galatians 3:28-29
Both Jew & Greek/Gentile are lost and headed for eternal damnation unless they put their faith in Messiah Yahshua (Jesus Christ). That's the way it's always been (since the time of Genesis) and always will be..."by faith..." (Hebrews 11).
We celebrate Hanukkah because it's FUN!
It's often said that if you take something away, especially with young children, you should have something to put in it's place. Now, that's not why we celebrate Hanukkah. Yes, we removed Christmas from our home, but we don't have little children that need a replacement holiday. In fact, I think our children (ages 17 & 20) were ready to ditch Christmas a year or two ago as we have been celebrating Hanukkah for a while now and found Hanukkah much more fun than Christmas, and of course, I'm all for the Biblical aspects of it.
Hanukkah is not a Kosher Christmas!
One must be careful not to carry over the pagan customs to yet another holiday that should be all about the Light of the World! That's why we left Christmas!
Hanukkah is so much better!
Hanukkah is NOT Jesus' birthday (I believe Jesus was likely born during Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles, when God chose to "tabernacle" with us (Immanuel), meaning that He would have been conceived nine months earlier, during the season of Hanukkah), then the time of the Feast of Dedication would also commemorate the miracle of the Incarnation!
So there is much to celebrate!
Well, I have gone on way to long! Sorry for the delay in this post, but between my mother being rushed to the hospital with congestive heart failure, our celebration of Hanukkah, family gatherings, and birthdays, I'm just now getting back to the ole routine.
In my next and final post of this series, I will share just what we did this past Hanukkah in celebration of
the Light of the World!
love, jane
Great series of posts, Jane! I can't wait to read the next one!
ReplyDeleteThanks Donna for your kind words. So good to hear from you, I know you haven't posted in a while and I'm glad to see you are still here. ♥ Have a blessed week/Shabbat. I hope all is well with you and yours.
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