Sh’ma - recite together….
*
16 November 2013 ~~ 13 Kislev 5774
Living Hanukkah – The Feast of Dedication - what that means for Torah Observant Believers
I have been doing a lot of reading this week....
I read about GMOs and the poison this is.... many countries in the world are banning them... and the USA keeps right on pushing them!
I read about the ads for obamacare - and how they degrade young people and imply their lives are about getting birth control so they can have premarital sex.
I read about how the USA is trying to make laws that will get rid of the small farmers.
I read about how we are now going to start getting our chicken from China - you know - the most chemically poisoned land in the world. This will not only hurt chicken farmers in the United States...
But China - the place that uses the bodies of dead humans in all sorts of things. This means that if you eat chicken from China (and know that if you are eating out - it will be the cheapest chicken they can get - unless the TELL YOU where it is from)....
...you now MUST assume that there is ground dead human in the chicken feed - so you are eating chickens who eat ground up dead human bodies.
i am not kidding...
I am not trying to be gross - i am trying to make it clear to you what is going on in this world.
Vegetarianism is getting better all the time...
You see in eating Kosher - you don’t eat blood...
but YHWH also said you don’t mix seed and seed is DNA ... and that is what you get when you consume any body part... DNA...of another person....
I also read about Qatar is is now building a nice ‘city center’ in Washington DC. - that would translate as - The Muslim Brotherhood is building a city center in the capitol of the United States of America.
I could go on.... but you get the idea...
I know that you all are much are much more aware of what is really going on in the world than most people - because we talk about it...
All that mess considered... Y’shua said in Mattityahu 24:33 cjb p 1255
“...when you see all these things, you are to know that t he time is near, right at the door.”
And one of the things we know is that HE gives us the Word - the things of the past to announce what is to come...
We need to be aware what is going on because we need to know what is safe to eat and do ... like if nobody explains to us what is in a vaccine... or flu shot etc... we wouldn’t know that they are poison ...
but we need to not FOCUS on the mess....
We need to focus on YHWH and His Word.
This is essential to maintaining hope in the world - even among paganism and in the end of days with the spirit of anti-Messiah running rampant....
We know that the moedim / feasts of YHWH - are prophecies of what was to come and what is coming...
We are studying B’re’shiyt now and we are learning that the first chapters of the Torah - B’re’shiyt 1-6 are the seed - the prophecy of what is to come in the end of days....
and so
I offer you an understanding of what Hanukkah is…
and you might just be as awe-struck as I, at how it relates to not just the times we live in now, but to each of our very lives.
*** *** ***
They say that there are “400 years of silence” between the Tanakh and the Brit Chadashah.
And they say that during that time – there was no revelation from YHWH that we know of.
=The prophetic voice of Isra’el was silent.
BUT – prophetic silence does not mean that YWHW had forgotten His people.
Much happened in those 400 years of Hebrew history:
- The development of the 2nd Temple system which we know was all messed up.
- The rise of the Sadducees and Pharisees
- The domination by Rome
-And much persecution
- And perhaps the most important thing… the events that gave occasion to the Hebrew holiday of Hanukkah.
**
The word“Hanukkah” means = dedication.
This holiday is named “Hanukkah” or “Dedication” because it celebrates the rededication of the Temple to YHWH after it was desecrated by pagan gentiles.
It is also known as the “Festival of Lights” ... we will learn why as we go.
Hanukkah is an 8 day Feast which occurs in the beginning of winter.
It starts on the Hebrew calendar on the 25th day of Kislev, the 9th Hebrew month.
This year it begins at sunset Nov 27 and ends at nightfall Dec 5
Hanukkah is not a Biblical commanded Festival found in Lev 23.
However, according to the text of Yochanan (John) 10:22, the “feast of dedication” is Hanukkah - Y’shua kept and celebrated this festival.
Yochanan 10:22 cjb p 1344
“Then came Hanukkah in Yerushalayim. It was winter 23 and Y’shua was walking around inside the Temple area, in Shlomo’s Colonnade.”
Even though it is not a Biblically commanded Feast / Appointed Time of YHWH...
Hanukkah is the most historically documented of all Hebrew holidays
**
Now before we go any further I want to talk about gifts….
The Misconception of Hanukah exchange gifts
While it is true that Hebrews exchange gifts on Hanukkah, it is a misconception that Hanukah is the "Jewish Christmas."
In fact, the custom of gift giving originated from the Hebrew practice of "tzedakah," or charity.
The Talmud instructs every Hebrew to light a candle on Hanukah, and those that cannot afford a candle are required to go "knocking on doors" until they have raised enough money for a candle.
The Talmud also instructs Hebrews to give charity to those in need and to preserve their dignity at the same time.
It is said that the custom of giving Hanukah gelt arose from the need to shelter poor people from the shame of begging.
What a concept - give and do not humiliate the one you are giving to!!
Holidays preserve the memory of significant events, and traditions continue the practice of cherished values.
Hanukah is a time for family, celebration and joy -- and also a time for remembering the reasons for celebrating.
The light of the Hanukkah candles is a reminder of past miracles, and the promises of YHWH yet ahead.
….So yes, it is okay to give gifts...
..... but it is more about helping those who have need.
The FOCUS is what YHWH has done and what HE promises…
…NOT “what you get/give!”
Hanukkah is not “the Jewish or even the Hebrew Christmas”.
There is nothing in Hebrew that relates or coincides or can even be compared to the pagan holiday of christmas.
I am sorry.
Not sorry to tell you that - but sorry for you to hear that...
When i was living christian... loving and serving the Living God - to the best that I knew how... i was focused on HIM... at least i thought i was...
and there was beautiful lights and nice gifts and warm scents and great meals, and wonderful music....and oh my the wonderful family time....
The difficulty for me - is not the giving up of a pagan holiday - but the wonderful family time that we shared at that time... and now having to learn how to do it the BIBLE way.... and that is very difficult when many in the family don’t want any part of the BIBLE way - they want to keep the pagan way...because they don’t really understand. THAT is the hard part!!
** ** **
That said…
I want to first say that it is amazing to me – what HE has shown me in this study of how to “live Hanukkah”!
For a long time now YHWH clearly is teaching us about His call to us to be “kadosh” - “holy” to be “set apart”…
I want you to remember this as I speak about Hanukkah.
Kodosh - Holy - set apart
**
The Apocrypha books of 1st and 2nd Maccabees are the earliest record of Hanukkah.
(These books aren’t a part of our Bible – but they are a good recording of history
and more importantly they were part of the Torah that Y’shua read!)
THE STORY OF HANUKKAH IN THE BOOK OF MACCABEES
In 1st Maccabees 1:41-64 it is written:
"Moreover king Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom, that all should be one people. And every one should leave his laws: so all the heathen agreed according to the commandment of the king.
Yea, many also of the Israelites consented to his religion, and sacrificed unto idols and profaned the Sabbath.
For the king had sent letters by messengers unto Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that they should follow the strange laws of the land. (strange laws = YHWH’s laws)
And forbid burnt offerings, and sacrifice, and drink offerings, in the temple; and that they should profane the Sabbaths and festival days.
And pollute the sanctuary and holy people.
Set up altars, and groves, and chapels of idols, and sacrifice swine's flesh, and unclean beasts.
That they should also leave their children uncircumcised and make their souls abominable with all manner of uncleanness and profanation.
To the end they might forget the law, and change all the ordinances.
And whosoever would not do according to the commandment of the king, he said, he should die. In the selfsame manner wrote he to his whole kingdom and appointed overseers over all the people, commanding the cities of Judah to sacrifice, city by city.
The many of the people were gathered unto them, to wit every one that forsook the law, and so they committed evils in the land.
And drove the Israelites into secret places, even where-so-ever they could flee for succor.
Now the fifteenth day of the month Kislev, in the hundred forty and fifth year, they set up the abomination of desolation upon the altar, and built idol altars throughout the cities of Judah on every side; and burnt incense at the doors of their houses, and in the streets.
And when they had rent in pieces the books of the law which they found, they burnt them with fire.
And whosoever was found with any committed to the law, the king's commandment was, that they would put him to death. Thus did they by their authority unto the Israelites every month, to as many as were found in the cities.
Now the five and twentieth day of the month they did sacrifice upon the idol altar, which was upon the altar of God. At which time according to the commandment they put to death certain women, that had caused their children to be circumcised. And they hanged their infants about their necks, and rifled their houses and slew them that had circumcised them.
Howbeit many in Israel were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves not to eat any unclean thing. Wherefore the rather to die, that they might not be defiled with meats, and that they might not profane the holy covenant: so then they died. and there was very great wrath upon Israel"
** ** ** **
Does any of this sound familiar to you???
Maybe we didn’t really get the picture here…. So let me share a couple other stories…
Eleazar, a 90 year old scribe was brought before Antiochus and commanded to eat pig. He refused to defile himself and to break the law of YHWH… so the short story is the soldiers beat him mercilessly until he died.
Another story is of a woman and her 7 sons… they were arrested and ordered to eat pig…One by one the sons were tortured and when they refused to comply – were boiled alive…. Finally the mother was killed as well.
This was COMMON at this time.
So…the miracle of Hanukkah is like the miracle of Purim –when Hadasah/Esther saved her people.
It’s the kind of miracle we see in our world today – people not willing to compromise the emet/truth of the God of Avraham – Yitz’chak – and Ya’akov…. Recognizing that it is not only about Messiah –but about His instructions (Torah)….and keeping them!
The miracle of Hanukkah is the preservation of God’s people - Isra’el, and preparing His people for the days of Messiah....
.... very possibly our days.
Because of the events we celebrate in Hanukkah, there was a people called Isra’el for Messiah to be born into,
and because of the events we celebrate in Hanukkah, there were covenant promises of YHWH that were and will be fulfilled.
*
Throughout history great empires have risen and fallen.
The Israelite prophet, Daniel, spoke of four kingdoms succeeding one another.
- Babylon fell even while Daniel was living there.
- The Medes and Persians arose and Persia covered almost the whole earth.
- Greece came later with the sudden and overwhelming conquests of Alexander as Daniel describes in his eleventh chapter.
Daniel 11:3-4 cjb p 1114
This is talking about Alexander the Great
Daniel 11:21-28
This is talking about Antiochus Epiphanies
But then ... it talks about what will happen...
Daniel 11: 31-32
Daniel said that Alexander would be a mighty king with great dominion. But his kingdom would be broken four ways very soon after it arose. And two of the four parts of the Alexandrian legacy were the Ptolemies of Egypt and the Seleucids of Babylon and Syria.
In between them geographically were the people of Judah, those who had returned from exile in Babylon and dwelt with a rebuilt Temple.
Daniel prophesied these things... and then…
The year was 336 BC and the winds of change were blowing across Europe.
This was a time that would change the world forever.
Darius the Third had just become king of the Medes and the Persians. At the same time, an even more significant king, Alexander, rose to power over a small Greek state.
Alexander, a young 20 year old, was a brilliant military commander. Soon his tiny Greek city state of Macedonia began to spread its power throughout the known world.
Even the massive, powerful kingdom of the Medes and the Persians could not stand against Alexander. –
- By the time he was thirty years old, he had conquered the entire known world --
down to Egypt, as far east as India, and all of Europe.
Another important piece of information is……Alexander the Great
was a student of Aristotle, who taught him the Greek culture.
Alexander’s goal was to spread his Greek culture, Hellenizing the entire world.
Before Alexander the Great died in Babylon, he divided his kingdom among four of his commanders.
These would become the four horns of the male goat in Daniel 8:8.
- North = Selucus = central Turkey, Syria, Iran, Central Asia
- South = Ptolemy = Egypt and N. Africa
- West = Cassander = Greece, south eastern Turkey
- East = Lysimachus = Western Turkey
*
Then….
In 171 BC, just as we read Daniel had prophesied in Daniel 8:21-28, a very interesting and notorious person rose on the scene of
history: Antiochus Epiphanies.
Antiochus was the king of the Syrian empire just north of Israel.
Antiochus Epiphanies was a harsh, cruel, ruthless man.
He was called "the madman”.
Antiochus believed he was a god -- in fact he had changed his name to --- Antiochus Theos Epiphanies
because he felt everyone should know that he was ----"Antiochus the visible god."
It was Antiochus' ambition to have a one world power in which he was the king of a Hellenistic world.
Now this is important… Notice I said his ambition was to have a one world power….
He spread the following three basic concepts of Hellenism throughout the world:
(1)the deification of nature -- that means that God was in everything,
(2) a pantheism of mythological gods and
(3) Hellenism, which promoted widespread immorality.
Clearly these same spirits are moving across the world today, with an abundance of support from:
-the New Age movement,
-from the Green movement
-from the media,
-and most disappointedly – the emergent Christian church.
Do you see the pattern here??..
… what was = is prophecy of what is to come…
....or rather – do you see what was and is here now and developing…?
Do you know the time that you live in?
We have to know - so we are prepared and so we can live as kadosh as possible for YHWH.
*
Okay… back to the story….
As part of his attempt to rule the world, Antiochus Epiphanies signed a peace treaty with Isra’el.
*
(Side note – What do we know about the prophecy of the end times and the peace treaty??
We know - it will NOT be honored!!)
*
A brother of the high priest of Isra’el, Joshua (who changed his name to the Greek name Jason) offered Antiochus a peace treaty that gave Antiochus power to rule over Isra’el --in return for protecting Isra’el.
The treaty also offered Antiochus money in return for making Jason high priest in Isra’el.
Jason also promised to build a temple dedicated to the Greek God Phallus
and a gymnasium in Jerusalem
-which would be dedicated to Greek athletics
- and which would be a recruitment center.
Citizens of Israel and of the world could come to the gymnasium and sign up to become citizens of Antioch in alliance with the Greek world government.
(Now remember we said gymnasium… this is important.)
Antiochus accepted the peace treaty, And Jason became high priest in Isra’el
Antiochus marched off to Egypt to expand his empire.
As he marched into Egypt, Antiochus was successful with his armies in conquering the Egyptian kingdom south of Israel.
As he was winning a big battle, a message was sent through a messenger from the Senate in Rome that said : "Give up Egypt or Rome will invade and attack Syria."
Antiochus tried to stall and tried to negotiate out of it.
The messenger took out a sword and drew a circle with it in the sand around Antiochus and said "you may not leave the circle until you give your answer to Caesar."
(We have talked in the past, about the witchcraft of circle drawings and declarations made regarding this practice coming into the Christian church with that whole circle drawing book!!!)
Antiochus was forced to make a decision -- he chose to back down and give up Egypt, which made him very angry.
In his wrath, Antiochus marched up from Egypt through Isra’el.
Then an infuriating bit of information was shared with Antiochus....
“THE PEACE TREATY WAS BROKEN”
Jason had lost his high priesthood and was fighting to get it back.
In addition, Jason had received the incorrect message that Antiochus Epiphanies was dead.
So -- Jason was now fighting to take over the kingdom. This word got back to Antiochus.
Imagine how Antiochus Epiphanies responded after just having lost Egypt and now finding that people in Jerusalem were fighting over his kingdom, thinking he was dead in Egypt.
He was so angry that he ordered his lead commander to destroy Jerusalem.
History records that they did just that.
They killed thousands of Jews and took many of them into slavery.
They hacked and knocked over the porticoes in the Temple.
They robbed many of the Temple vessels.
On Kislev 25 in the year 168 BC, Antiochus marched into the Temple and built a statue in the outer courtyard to the god Zeus, the chief god in the Greek pantheon /god.
**(Interesting that the christian term for the Messiah is “hayzeus” isn’t it?)
ANTIOCHUS made the face of the statue of Zeus look like himself.
Then he sacrificed a pig to this statue.
Not only did he offer the pig as a sacrifice, he took the blood from the pig and he sprinkled it in the Holy of Holies.
He poured its broth on the Holy Scrolls before cutting them to pieces and burning them.
Then he ordered his men to make the Temple a shrine to Zeus.
Next he came up with a new law, which he spread throughout the land.
This new law abolished all the religious practices of Isra’el.
Antiochus abolished the Hebrew sacrifices, allowing only the pig, an unclean animal to be sacrificed.
He also abolished circumcision.
(Remember I told you to remember gymnasiums….. I know that nobody likes to talk about circumcision… but remember this…it is very important as well!)
If a Torah scroll was found in a house, the entire family would be put to death.
Did you hear this??
.....If you were found with a Torah – not just YOU, but your entire family would be killed!!!
All the dietary instruction of Torah had to be abandoned.
If anyone was found eating "Kosher," they and their family would be killed.
This new law spread throughout Isra’el and was accepted by many apostate priests.
The news spread from town to town and Isra’el began to become poisoned as men and women bowed to Baal in this and accepted this new law.
*
Consequently …All around Judah - the world was changing.
(All around us now - things are changing...)
Hellenism was the fashion.
Cities built hippodromes for public chariot races and horse races.
Stadiums - gymnasiums --- were built for games and the fashion was for athletes to participate without clothes. (competing naked is another important thing to remember!)
Races, wrestling, and other games entertained the people of the cities.
The city was called a polis and there were libraries, courts, temples, and places for discussion and learning.
Then there was Judah.....Judah was a “backwards” sort of place
and for the most part the Hebrew people wanted nothing to do with Olympian Zeus, the nude games, and the Greek way of life.
But among the leaders, there were compromisers, = people who wanted to see the old traditions disappear.
Circumcision, they said, was barbaric.
They said it was embarrassing for Hebrew young men to participate in nude games where all could see their circumcisions.
Some even had unreliable and dangerous surgeries to try and reverse their circumcision!!!
And many wanted to see the end of Torah study and the end of Hebrew and Aramaic writing and conversation.
The common-Greek was growing to be the world language, and was the language of “sophistication”.
(Remember that this is what happened BEFORE the birth of Y’shua and the talmidim we read about in the B’rit Chadashah!!!)
**
Life was beyond hard if you were Torah observant… if you served the God of Avraham – Yitz’chak – and Ya’akov!
So - many Hebrews took the easy way out and tried to “go Greek”.
Others understood that assimilation and elimination of Hebrew worship, sacrifices and traditions would be the destruction of Judaism itself...making God a liar!
*
We already established that the Hebrew people faced persecution!!!
Antiochus’ heavily armed soldiers were sent out to force people to worship the king and make sacrifices (pigs) on the holy altars in the synagogues of smaller towns....
This was the “abomination” that Daniel spoke of.
The penalty for resistance was death.
**
Antiochus’ actions foreshadowed
- Constantine’s Nicean Council
- The Christian church’s attitude
- Hitler’s axiom ( a premise so real that it has to be accepted as truth) toward the Jews:
First: “You can’t live among us as Jews.”
Then: “You can’t live among us.”
Finally: “You can’t live.”
- And now – we are somewhere back in this…. For not just “Jews”…but for all Torah observant people… the one’s who are set apart from the culture of the world….
Are you hearing what I am saying??
The enemy has always had the same agenda –
== to destroy YHWH’s set-a-part ones.
To destroy Torah!
**
Then….in 167 BC Antiochus’ soldiers came to Modi’in – a city about 17 miles outside Jerusalem, to force Greek worship on an influential Jewish family led by Matathias and his 5 sons.
The soldiers set up an altar and a statue to Zeus in Modi'in for all the people to see.
The commander brought all the people of the town together, and commanded them all to sacrifice a pig so they could become world citizens of Antioch.
They wanted the priest in the community to do this – b/c if the leader did it… the people would likely follow….
Mattathias, an old priest, was enraged by this abomination!
Mattathias boldly refused to offer a pig sacrifice to Zeus and made a rousing speech against pagan worship
and called the Hebrews to solidarity and faith that stands strong…
stands up in the midst of all torture and hell…
and does not shrink back, does not cower, does not give in…
.. A FAITH IN YHWH -THAT DOES NOT COMPROMISE
No matter the cost.
Because he knew if the compromise was made....
.... then the Torah could be destroyed,
and if they didn’t have Torah,
they didn’t have truth... and they didn’t have YHWH.
But a weaker man …..a Hebrew parishioner went forward to sacrifice the pig in compliance with the demand of the pagan invaders.
Mattathias killed the weak-spirited infidel and attacked the soldiers.
His sons got up and joined their father…..
Matathias truly was a priest… whose job it is to teach what is holy and what is not holy… to teach what is clean and what is not clean….
He would not forsake YHWH and His instructions.
He and his sons….tore down the Greek altar
and drove off the soldiers with the battle cry….
….“Whoever is for YHWH, follow me!”
This was the beginning of the Hebrew rebellion.
The Hebrew “rebels” knew they were up against great odds,
Their banner was....
“Who among the mighty is like Thee, o God?”
“Mee Kamocha B’aleem Adonoi!”
The name for the Hebrew heroes of Hanukkah
= The Makabee – comes from using the first letters of these Hebrew words to form “Makabee”. =
Makabee =(“Mee Kamocha B’aleem Adonoi!”)
Matathias’ oldest son was nicknamed “Judah Makabee” = “the hammer”....because he fought so hard.
The battle was difficult for untrained Hebrew farmers - against the well equipped Syrian soldiers.
Daniel 11:32 says: “...the people who know their God will stand firm and prevail!”
Mattathias, his 5 sons, and probably many others….engaged the Greeks in guerrilla warfare to win Isra’el's independence.
Because of their bravery and leadership, the Hebrews miraculously won the war with the Greeks, and regained their freedom to worship the one true God of Israel.
The Temple which was desecrated when Antiochus Epiphanies sacrificed a pig on the altar, was recaptured by the Maccabees and re-dedicated back to YHWH.
**
We celebrate Hanukkah because that commander picked the wrong man out of that crowd -- a man who feared YHWH and that old man STOOD UP.
That commander looked into the crowd and saw a man that had a full head of gray hair.
Standing beside him were five young men. The commander probably recognized the old man's priestly garments and thought "this man looks like the right choice."
The commander looked at the old man and ordered him to come forward. Mattathias walked forward.
In front of all the people of Modi'in, the commander told Mattathias that he would be rewarded, granted great riches and given authority if he would sacrifice the pig on the altar.
Mattathias stood in defiance.
He replied that even if the whole world went along with the commands, Mattathias, his family and his brothers would not obey.
--They would not depart from the instruction of YHWH.
Then out of the crowd stepped an apostate priest, a counterfeit, who agreed to
perform the sacrifice. He walked up to the altar to sacrifice the pig.
Mattathias saw that this apostate priest was ready to offer a pig on the altar.
If he did and the people went along with it, they would all lose the Torah, they would all fall away from the law.
There rose up in Mattathias - a Holy anger.
He took a sword and he slew the false priest.
Then he killed the commander.
His sons simultaneously rose up against the troop of men and slew them all.
And then they fled to the hills ….
Interestingly … because of the persecution….there were already Torah-faithful groups who had given martyrs and formed bands in the wild places of Isra’el.
Mattathias and his sons became the leaders of these groups of Hasidim,( pious ones).
Disappointingly…. - most of the Hebrew community was so far into the process of assimilation into the Greek pagan life….that they were ambivalent about the loss of their faith.
(We see this today!!!)
Consequently,
Mattathias and his sons fought the guerrilla war for three years until they were able to gain enough support to be a serious threat.
Before dying of old age, Mattathias passed the leadership on to his son Judah the Maccabee.
Judah led his forces against a series of Antiochus' troops and defeated them.
Finally, Judah the Maccabee and his forces freed Jerusalem.
On Kislev 25, 165 BCE,
on the third anniversary of its desecration by Antiochus,
Judah the Maccabee reclaimed the temple and rededicated it.
It is said that they could only find enough oil to light the Temple menorah for one day.
It would take eight more days to prepare new oil.
They lit the menorah, believing that if the light went out – YHWH’s presence would also leave….
But they had been without His presences for three years and could not wait 8 more days!!!
Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days!!!!
The celebration of Hanukkah today focuses on the miracle of the
oil that burned for eight days.
** ** **
Hanukkah is about the time the Hebrew people were almost exterminated.
There was no Haman or Hitler here, but something more subtle.
Even Antiochus was not as much the bad guy as --- the temptation among the Hebrew people to assimilate and adopt the ways and customs of the world!
Did you hear what I just said!! ??
We know from the Israelite prophet Daniel that another Antichous ; the Word calls him Anti-Messiah --- will arise.
In the last days there will be a ruler who also makes decrees against the ways of YHWH.
that spirit has always been on earth since the fall....
we see it strong in those who are building a city center in our nation’s capitol....and yet the popular religion of our day wants to be friends and hold hands with these people.... not even knowing enough to know they hold hands with hasatan and the spirit of the anti-messiah!
People today ARE and WILL CONTINUE to be drawn to the popular culture – the easy route… which is not the PATH or WAY of YHWH…
But YHWH promises that Israel in the last days will be circumcised in heart and will not give in to the wickedness of smooth / easy things. ....
.... Oh … we are back to circumcision!
One Hanukkah – a Feast of Dedication and just before – Y’shua stood up in the Temple and challenged his generation and all generations to come - to a renewal which was far more important than war, kingdoms, and power.
“Who are your shepherds,” he was essentially asking his people, “the kind who rob and steal or the kind who lay down their life for the sheep? = the kind that teach the holy from the profane?”
Y’shua said that his sheep would hear his voice. His sheep would have the eternal life of the last days here and now.
At Hanukkah he declared that he was the good shepherd, the last David, the Messiah who would bring his people home.
But his generation was not ready.
When he declared that he was not only sent by YHWH, but also was YHWH, the people around him wanted to kill him for blasphemy.
Zechariah 4:6 “… Not by force, and not by power, but by my Spirit, says YHWH.”
During the time of Y’shua (in Yochanan /John 10:22), people’s minds were focused on themes of deliverance and rededication, oil and light.
Yochanan (John) 10:22-23 cjb p 1344
“Then came Hanukkah in Yerushalayim. It was winter, 23 and Y’shua was walking around inside the Temple area, in Shlomo’s Colonade.
Yochanan (John) 10:27-28 cjb p 1344 “My sheep listen to my voice, I recognize them, they follow me, 28 and I give them eternal life. They will absolutely never be destroyed, and no one will snatch them from my hands.”
The people listening to Y’shua understood what He was saying...
....they knew what YHWH had promised through the prophet:
Yesha’Yahu (Isaiah) 9:1 cjb p449
“The people living in darkness have seen a great light; upon those living in the land that lies in the shadow of death, light has dawned.”
Mizmor /Psalm 27:1 cjb p 813
“YHWH is my light and my salvation.”
Remember – Y’shua means YHWH is salvation.
Hanukkah is referred to as the “Festival of Lights” = Hag Ha’orim
It was during this season that Y’shua described Himself as the” light of the world”.
Yochanan /John 8:12 cjb p 1340 (remember this is after the feast of Sukkot - coming up on Hanukkah....
Y’shua spoke to them again: ‘I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light which gives life.’”
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The miracle of Hanukkah is the preservation of Isra’el’s people and YHWH’s torah, and the continuation of the covenant promises that YHWH will heal and deliver Isra’el.
The one who heals the people of Israel is Y’shua….
Who is the One who said -- at Hanukkah …..
That He was one with the Father, the one who said that He is the good shepherd of Isra’el who leads His people to circumcised hearts and eternal life.
*And now we come back to circumcision.
=It is about being “set apart”…. Not being like the pagan world.
*When a new Antiochus will arise, as foretold in Daniel, and will greatly trouble Isra’el - again.....
..... it will be Y’shua who comes to deliver His people.
In the meantime, we are the Hasidei Y’shua, = the pious ones of Y’shua,
....who stand firm in faithfulness to YHWH’s ways
and who do not compromise – no matter what.
The ones who are set apart – will shine…
Daniel 12: 3 cjb p 1116
“But those who can discern will shine like the brightness of the heaven’s dome and those who turn away to righteousness like the stars forever and ever.”
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A future Hanukkah is described in 2 Thessalonians 2: 3-8 cjb p 1478
Sha’ul /Paul writes about the second coming of Y’shua:
1 .Many will turn away from YHWH (as some Hebrews did who followed Antiochus’ Hellenism).
2. The anti-Messiah will put himself above YHWH (as Antiochus Epiphanies did).
- But YHWH will destroy him with the “brightness /glory of His coming”...
…..we can all think of the promise of this victory when we gaze at the lights of our Hanukkah menorah.
- YHWH will usher in His millennial kingdom with the overthrow of the “lawless one” in a miraculous way.
-This is a miracle to think about when we retell the Hanukkah story!
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WHAT WE MUST LEARN:
That the Hanukkah story is a lesson for today.
Much of the same things promoted by Antiochus are prominent in our world today.
The deifying of nature -- that God is in everything and everything is part of God; the promotion
and acceptance of many gods;
and the acceptance of widespread immorality are all very much a part of our culture today.
We must come out from the culture that seeks to entangle us and to assimilate us.
One like Antiochus stands ruling in our culture and our time.
We must come out from that culture, be different - Kadosh – set apart and fear YHWH!!!
Are you getting this??
Do you see what YHWH is showing us in a time when we can look at changes in our world and easily be in fear?????
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In Conclusion we need to know about Hannukah
- Hanukah warns us that in the last days- a false-Messiah in Hitgalut/Revelation 13:1-10; and the second beast as the Abomination and Desolation Hitgalut /Revelation 13:11-18
- Hanukah warns us that we are to be ready to stand firm should persecution or the great Tribulation arise in our life. (Mark 13:13-16; Mattityahu 24:15-18)
- Hanukah reminds not to assimilate into the system of this world and that our bodies are temple Ruach HaKodesh (Romans 12:1-2 ; I Corin. 6:19)
- Hanukah teach us to be vigilant and not be deceived, knowing the fallen away must come first then that man of sin be revealed (2 Thess.b 2:3, 8-12)
- Hanukah teaches us that Y’shua is the way, the door, He is the Good Shepherd, we find security in him, He and the Father are one. Yochanan (John) 10:9, 11, 30
- Hanukah teaches us that Y’shua is the light of the world ...in Him there is no darkness -- Yochanan 8:12 "I am the light of the world; whoever follows me will never walk in darkness but will have the light which gives life.”
- Hanukkah teaches us that Y’shua is the Sh’mash who would light up our life.
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So in summation….
Turn on the lights!!
Turn on the lights to revelatory understanding that YHWH has called you to be set apart…kadosh!
Turn on the lights to – He showed us in history… that the enemy has tried and tried to destroy the set apart ones….
Turn on the lights to – we can NOT live like the culture/world around us!!
Turn on the lights and recognize that set apart is no longer Christian!
Turn on the lights to Y’shua calling us to serve YHWH – in the midst of an ungodly culture…. No matter what.
Turn on the lights and recognize that this means....
... – no holds barred, no stopping, no giving up, no luke-warmness… no sometimes or sort of’s…
....BUT choosing to walk in the TRUTH of the whole Book – to understand who HE is and who He says that we are ...
..... and actually sh’ma – this… walk in it… no matter what the cost!
Barukh atah YHWH Eloheinu Melekh ha-Olam,
asher kidushanu b'Y’shua, asher bismo madlikim
anachnu ner shell Hanukah.
Blessed art Thou , O YHWH Eloheinu, King of the Universe,
who has sanctified us in Y’shua,
in whose Name we light the Hanukah lights
AMEIN!
