7 things you've always wanted to know about Hanukkah....by Sam Gordon
When I think of Hanukkah, I think of a thriller – it’s the kind of tale that leaves you breathless; I mean, it has everything woven into it – the bottom line is, the underdog stands up to a big bully and teaches him a lesson; hey, this is sitting on the edge of your seat stuff – it’s a real page turner. Someone called it, an eight-day party in praise of God. 
And that’s good ... for it shines the spotlight where it should be – it focuses our attention on the God of our fathers, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Here is the awesome God, the God of the Covenant, the God who keeps all his promises – this unforgettable incident tells me one more time that God’s reputation is untarnished.
It’s a celebration ... sure it is! No wonder they sing: O Hanukkah, O Hanukkah / a festival of joy / a holiday, a jolly day / for every girl and boy. Spin the whirling dreydls / all week long / eat the sizzling latkes / sing a happy song! The plain fact is, yes, there is something to get excited about, something to celebrate. It’s the kind of thing Yeshua did when he was growing up! I wonder how he felt as the candles were lit?
I want us to look at this festival of lights from a different angle – you will know that there are eight candles on the hanukkiah, plus the shamash, the servant candle – that’s nine lights in total.
1. Hanukkah speaks of dark days in the past!
Let me give you a wee bit of history ... it all happened away back, over 160 years before the birth of Yeshua. The big bully was none other than Antiochus IV – he’s often called Antiochus Epiphanes; this thug had a big head, he saw himself as God – hence the name! That said, others labelled him Antiochus Epimanes, the madman! He was a vicious and brutal despot, an evil man – he was cruel, harsh, and savage.
Basically, he wanted to rule the world, he wanted to run the entire show – it didn’t all go according to plan! He met his match when he tried to conquer Egypt, for Rome was one step ahead of him, and he failed. He headed back north to Syria with his tail between his legs. On his way, he stopped in Jerusalem and vented his fury on the Jewish people.
Houses were burned, the ancient walls were breached, people were brutalised, the temple was ransacked – to add fuel to the fire, he erected an idol of Zeus on the holy altar. Then he offered a pig on the altar – he was going from bad to worse; this was the abomination of desolation – he sprinkled its blood in the Holy of Holies and poured its broth over the holy scrolls!
It was horrendous – unthinkable. Imagine the shock and the trauma of the Jewish people in that day! That said, all that happened back then was prophesied by Daniel in chapter 8 of his book, you read verses 1-12 and see how it all fits together. Again, it’s a classic case of the sovereignty of God in the affairs of man.
2. Hanukkah speaks of people who made a difference!
His days are numbered. God has earmarked a day for his downfall. However, until then, he will be prosperous and eminently successful.
We often wonder, can one person make a difference? Well, in the purposes of God, they certainly can. In the providence of God, sometimes that is all it takes!
I think back to Abraham – he obeyed God and a new race of people was born; Joseph met the needs of his own people in a time of severe famine; Moses led two million plus Israelites across the Red Sea to freedom; Joshua conquered a hostile country and Gideon raised an unlikely army ... and so we could go on! One man can make a ginormous difference! I reckon you can influence your world for Yeshua, you can impact your generation for Yeshua!
And that’s what happened back in the bad ol’ days of Antiochus ... people were filled with terror, they were hunted down like animals, many paid the supreme sacrifice and laid down their lives. There is the most moving story of the 90-year-old scribe Eleazer; there is another story that speaks of the phenomenal courage of a woman named Hannah and her seven sons. It seems to me the writer in Hebrews 11:38 had folks like this in mind when he concludes: ‘the world was not worthy of them.’
Then there was a grey haired man – an old priest from the village of Modin, by the name of Mattathias. He had five sons. He refused to toe the party line when they told him to offer a pig – he dug in his heels and slew the Syrian officer. Then he killed the apostate Jewish priest ... his five boys rallied round and they finished off all the rest. That’s how the revolt began! Again, it proves what one man with steely conviction can achieve and accomplish.
We need men like that today – men of grit and gumption, men who stand up for what is right and who don’t flinch when faced with a mega challenge. We read about these brave folks in Daniel 11:32 where it declares that ‘the people who know their God will firmly resist [the oppressor], they shall be strong and carry out great exploits.’
3. Hanukkah speaks of the need for cleansing.
When the old man eventually died, his son Judah led from the front – he was known as Judah the Maccabee – that referred to the hammer-like blows he dealt the enemy! As they say, he hammered them day after day. Basically, they were guerrilla fighters – but after three years they defeated the auld enemy.
When these guys walked into Jerusalem they couldn’t believe their eyes – the weeds in the temple courtyard were waist high, the gates of the temple were burned, and the idol was still standing. The first thing they did was cleanse the sanctuary – that which defiled it had to be removed. The altar was polluted so they pulled down all the stones and set them to the side. Then they rebuilt the holy altar and, three years to the day, Kislev 25, 164BC, they rededicated the altar to the Lord.
That was true then ... it’s no less true today. All our lives have been tarnished by sin; our bodies are just like that temple and we are guilty of all kinds of sin before a holy God; we have fallen short of God’s high standard; we have messed up when it comes to keeping his law; we have built our own idols of one thing and another – the only way for the slate to be wiped clean is for cleansing to take place.
We need an internal revolution – we need Yeshua to set us free from the shackles of sin, to liberate us from the oppressive grip of sin. We need him to blot out our past and give us a fresh start. Only he can do it! Only his precious blood can cleanse us – there is no other way and there is no other name under heaven whereby we might be reconciled to God.
4. Hanukkah speaks of God’s amazing provision.
This is beautiful ... we read in the Talmud that the Maccabees found only one small cruse of oil in the temple – a small jar of consecrated oil that was used for the perpetual light which always shone in the temple.
Again, this underlines the faithfulness of God – it tells me that our God is a God of miracles. Guess what? It should only have lasted for one day, but the oil kept on burning, and burning, and burning – and it lasted for a full eight days! That speaks volumes – it’s an eloquent tribute to the ability of God. Here is a God who saves his people, a God who delivers and rescues! That’s what redemption is all about!
That explains why Hanukkah is held for eight days and why one candle is lit each day – day one, light one; day two, light another, and so on, until day eight! They burn brightly in Jewish homes all over the world – they send out a signal that God meets the needs of his people in miraculous ways. It seems to me that little is much when God is in it!
He’s always done that – as far back as Abraham and Isaac, right through to the giving of Yeshua on a cross at Calvary. He is Jehovah Jireh ... the God who is on time, the God who is enough, the God who does what no one else is able to do! This is his speciality – and, praise Him, even today, he can meet the deepest need in your heart and life!
5. Hanukkah speaks of dedication.
We suss that from the New Testament and the gospel of John. We read in 10:22 these words: ‘Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Yeshua was in the temple area walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.’ The Feast of Dedication is the same as Hanukkah!
We have already seen something of the incredible dedication of the Maccabees; we have been thrilled and humbled when we reflected on the dedication of God to Israel – he has not forgotten her, he has never failed her, he has not written her out of his long-term agenda; we have caught a glimpse of the awesome dedication of Yeshua ... one perfect man willing to give his life for sinners like you and me, one man willing to die in our place – that surely puts the onus on us to rise to the challenge and be totally sold out to him.
He expects nothing less than total dedication from his followers – he deserves nothing less than 100% from you and me. As Hanukkah approaches, are you and I willing to stand up and be counted? Are we willing to repent of our sin and turn back to God? Says one of old, Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all!
6. Hanukkah speaks of lights shining in a dark world.
There’s no doubt in my mind that Hanukkah is one of the shining moments in Israel’s long history. Yes, the children will play with their dreydls, they will play different games, they will sing and dance, they will eat their latkes and their doughnuts! It’s a fun time ... and rightly so!
The dark night has passed in one sense; that said, there are storm clouds on the horizon; but, during Hanukkah, the lights will be shining bright in the windows of many Jewish homes!
Here’s the challenge we face – Rabbi Paul reminds us in Philippians that we are to shine like lights in an inky black world. We are to glow for God, to burn for God, and so much more when the darkness is deepening all around us.
We know that from what’s happening on a global scale, we see alarming trends all around the world – man is on a downward slope, he’s on a spiral and in real danger of spinning out of control. The signs are all pointing in one direction – the coming again of Yeshua is getting closer every passing day. That means, we are to shine brightly for Yeshua ... we are lights, he is the Light of the World!
7. Hanukkah speaks of Yeshua the Servant.
He is the Light of the World, he said it himself in John 8:12 ... He is the Light of eternity for he’s been around even before Day One – God is light and Yeshua is no different; he is the Light of heaven itself for over there, says John, the Lamb is the light thereof!
Even at this time of year, Yeshua is set before us as a light to the nations ... to a people walking in darkness, the light has appeared! To the darkness of sorrow, he is the light of joy; to the darkness of death, he is the light of life.
You see, each of the eight lights must be lit from the Shamash, the servant candle. The message is obvious, is it not! He’s the only One who can light up our lives; he’s the only One who can bring us out of the darkness of sin into his marvellous light. If we will accept him, his light will burn brightly in us – we will be beacons of his love and power and peace in this troubled world.
My friend, all that we are we owe to Yeshua! The take home message of Hanukkah is this: it’s not about me, it’s all about him: Yeshua is the Light of the World.
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