Click here to see more pics of our 2005 Hanukkah celebration.
Later this month our family will be celebrating Hanukkah for the 7th year in a row... It has become a most blessed time of remembrance for our family, as we celebrate this Feast of Dedication.
Jesus, the Light of the World
Bringing of Light, the festival of Hanukah is held in December. On each of the eight evenings of Hanukkah, candles are placed into the menorah from right to left, with the center "Shamash"* (servant) candle and the right most candle being used the first night. The candles are lit left to right, as the Shamash candle is lit first, then all other candles. It is tradition to light the candles before the festive meal each night.
It is the Shamash candle I want to talk about. The central candle - The Shamash - The Servant - Reminds us of Yeshua in that He said of Himself:
"The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve...(Mat 20:28).
As the Shamash is the only true source of light for all the candles so to is Yeshua the only true source of light in our lives. We see in John 1:9
There was the true light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man.
For Messianic Believers the imagery is rich: Yeshua, the "light of the world" (Jn 8:12), came as a servant (Mk 10:45) to give light to everyone (Jn 1:4-5), so that we might become lights to others (Mt 5:14).
~ excerpted from; Hanukkah
The angel answered her, The Ruach HaKodesh will come over you,the power of Ha 'Elyon will cover you, Therefore the holy child born to you will be called the Son of God.
Luke 1:35
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. All things came to be through Him, and without Him nothing made had being. In Him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not suppressed it.. .
~John 1.1-5
With careful examination of the Hebrew Scriptures (the Bible), we will find strong evidence that Yeshua (Jesus) the Messiah was born during the Festival of Sukkot (Tabernacles). John 1:14 says that
“the Word became flesh and tabernacled among us”.
The word “tabernacle” is the same Greek word that the Septuagint uses to translate “Sukkah” in the Torah (“teaching”, or the 5 Books of Moses). If Yeshua was born on Sukkot as the Scriptures seem to indicate, then there is another important and wonderful message revealed in this fact: The normal human gestation period from conception to birth is 40 weeks, (sometimes it may be 38 and at other times as much as 42), but 40 is normal. If we take the first day of Sukkot as Yeshua’s birthday, and we count backwards 40 weeks - 280 days - we arrive at the 2nd day of Tevet (which can fall either in early or late December), which is the last day of the Festival of Hanukkah! What an incredible Gospel message for mankind! Perhaps as Miryam the mother of Yeshua lit all 8 of the Hanukkah lamps, the words that the angel Gavri’el (Gabriel) had spoken to her came to pass,
“Shalom, favored lady! Adonai (the LORD) is with you!” ... “Don’t be afraid Miryam (Mary), for you have found favor with God. Look! You will become pregnant, you will give birth to a son, and you are to name him Yeshua (Jesus). He will be great, he will be called the Son of Ha ‘Elyon (the Most High), Adonai, God, will give him the throne of his forefather David; and he will rule the House of Ya’akov (Jacob) forever -- there will be no end to his Kingdom.”
~ Luke 1:28-33
What more appropriate time could there be for the light of the world to be conceived, than on the Festival of Lights? A note about this message: This message is taken from the teachings of First Fruits of Zion Torah Club on the Hanukkah commentary tape for 2001.
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HAPPY HANUKKAH!
This December we shall celebrate Hanukkah, the Festival of Lights, together as a family, for the 7th year in a row. It’s been a most blessed journey for our family, and today, I am overjoyed to be able to say that this holiday has truly become our own, complete with all of the warm nuances that come from years of cherished memories and from the meaningful associations of a family tradition deeply rooted in the history of our Faith, and of our forefathers' Faith before us... in their willingness to stand up against impossible odds that they may worship the One True God only, in the way that He ascribed. Hanukkah is the miraculous tale continued, of the history of God's people, the enemy's ploys to wipe them out, and Adonai's protection over Israel.
During Hanukkah, we remember His faithfulness to the covenantal promises He'd made to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, our forefathers, who anticipated the arrival of their Messiah, our High King ~ Jesus, the Son of David, whose arrival would not have even been possible, if not for the great courage and commitment to God of those whose story is the makings of Hanukkah. Thus, this has become our family's favorite holiday, one we cherish more each year we celebrate our own re-dedication to Adonai, and more importantly, His redemption of us. But, it hasn’t always been so…
In Hebrew, “Hanukkah” means “dedication.” It is not one of the seven Feasts given by the Lord in Leviticus. The only time Hanukkah is mentioned in Scripture is in John chapter 10 where Jesus Himself, having made a special pilgrimage to Jerusalem, to the Temple, celebrates the Feast of Dedication*.
Hanukkah is a story of religious persecution and standing up for worshiping the One True God, Adonai. Yeshua also warned His disciples that the things that happened in the story of Hanukkah would happen again (Mark 13.13-16, Matthew 24.15-18). His disciples had to understand the story of Hanukkah to understand what He was saying. Therefore, I think this should matter to us...
"But the people who know their God will display strength and take action."
~ Daniel 11.32
The story of Hanukkah was prophesied by Daniel in Daniel 11.21-33, concerning the sack of Jerusalem, and the "abomination of desolation", which was that the Jerusalem Temple was converted by Antiochus into a Temple of Zeus, with swine being sacrificed on the altar, and Jews being forbidden from circumcision, Sabbath observance, kosher diets, and the study of Torah.
First Fruits of Zion has put together a wonderful anthology on Hanukkah and the Disciples of Yeshua called Light in the Darkness which we bought this year, and it does an excellent job of laying out the historical account of the events leading up to the re-dedication of the temple, the first Hanukkah, as recorded in 1 Maccabees alongside the prophecy in Daniel. Here, I'll give you a brief synopsis;
"He will be succeeded by a contemptible person who has not been given the honor of royalty. He will invade the kingdom when its people feel secure, and he will seize it through intrigue." -Daniel 11.21
"At the time appointed he shall return, and come toward the south; but it shall not be as the former, or as the latter. For the ships of Chittim shall come against him: therefore he shall be grieved, and return, and have indignation against the holy covenant: so shall he do; he shall even return, and have intelligence with them that forsake the holy covenant." - Daniel 11.29-30
~ see 1 Maccabees 1.20-25
"And the forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. But the people who know their God will display strength and take action." - Daniel 11.31-32
"Let everyone who is zealous for the Torah and who stands by the covenant follow after me!" 1 Maccabees 2.27-28
Hanukkah was the first festival that our family celebrated together, as we began to study our Hebrew roots. It has been the only one we've consistently kept every year, complete with traditional/ceremonial fanfare, and our kids consider it their favorite! It's so full of rich meaning, reflection and heritage to both Jews and us Gentile branches, who have been grafted in.
I believe that Jesus most certainly kept it as well!
Here's another interesting excerpt from FFOZ's Light in the Darkness, chapter 2 "Hanukkah and the Redeemed, Why Should Hanukkah Matter to Me?" by D. Thomas Lancaster:
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Given that Hanukkah is a historically Jewish festival and that its celebration is not a mitzvah (commandment) of the Torah, why would believers in Yeshua celebrate it? Obviously Jewish believers may have a cultural affinity for the festival, but is there any real biblical significance? Is there any reason non-Jews might want to incorporate the celebration of Hanukkah into their homes? There is a reason, and it's not just cultural. Yeshua kept Hanukkah.
This chapter will show the biblical basis for Hanukkah as prophesied in the book of Daniel, and it will explore the reason why Yeshua found the festival important enough to merit a special trip to the Temple.
(emphasis mine) The Master keeps the Feast of Hanukkah[i]At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the Temple in the portico of Solomon. ~ John 10.22-23 In the tenth chapter of the book of John, we find Yeshua at the Temple in Jerusalem during the festival of Hanukkah. This requires some investigation. We would not expect to find Him in Jerusalem at that time of year. Usually He is stomping around the Galilee with His disciples. Ordinarily He is only in Jerusalem for the three pilgrimage festivals of Pesach, Shavuot, and Sukkot. It is a surprise to see Him in Jerusalem at Hanukkah.
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The chapter goes on to explain the significance, which is fascinating... even where He was - the eastern collonade, "Solomon's Porch" is signigicant! But this post has probably already gotten too long, and I can't type out the whole chapter here! LOL You'll just have to get the book for the rest!
I think that Hanukkah, this Feast of Dedication, was important to Him (Yeshua), and I think that it should be important to us as well. What a magnificent journey of discovery this feast alone has led our family on over the years, so many blessings it's brought!
So, you may be wondering, how did we come to be interested in learning more of this sacred Day of Remembrance, Dedication, and Light? Well, from the time Chris and I had married and begun a home of our own, our main focus and purpose in all of our celebrations has always been a deep desire to extol our Lord Jesus, and for our lives to revolve around His Truths alone, that we may be His living epistles, worshiping Him in spirit and in truth.We had a Christmas tree for the first two or three years of our marriage… And then one Spring, as I was working on painting props for a Mother's Day production at our church, I met Donna… who eventually became a dear friend and mentor to me. Somehow we got to talking about the origins of various holiday trappings and traditions. At the time, all I had was questions (and this was in my pre-internet, ie; infinite library days). She shared her “file” with me, which was jam packed with years worth of research, articles and Bible studies she’d compiled and collected on the history of Christmas and Easter, as well as a bit on the Biblical Holidays (which I'd never hardly noticed before). Chris and I read, talked, read some more, prayed a lot and considered…
We both felt strongly led of the Spirit to put away everything that wasn’t directly related to Him in our lives and celebrations. The idea of celebrating these Biblical Holidays was like a breath of fresh air... in spite of how awkward it all felt initially. And we didn’t really feel comfortable simply contriving “Christian” symbolisms to tag onto various traditional items, just for the sake of keeping them - our Christmas and Easter celebrations, which we were realizing with regret were merely mans’ traditions, resulting from centuries of the Church's rejection of all things Hebraic.
So, yes, Hanukkah filled a very felt *vacancy* in a meaningful way. We determined to replace our Christmas tree with a nativity scene, but even then, it just wasn’t the same for us, knowing what we now knew…about the convoluted historical background of Christmas. I realize that this doesn't bother some of you, and that's fine. But it's always bothered us. And then, there's the materialistic/ consumerism side of it, and we just longed for something more, celebratory substance if you will... which the Biblical Holidays have more than provided! They're such intricately powerful pictures of His Plan of Redemption, and after the first few years of *newness*, they've now become an integral part of our family's celebration of our Messiah, times set aside for celebrating our Messiah, guarding His Moedim, and remembering His Promises fulfilled, and those yet to come! Also, it's become a time of deeper study and searching in His Word for us. We've felt like we've come home...
Chris and I are now just so thankful God’s led us the way that He has. But there was quite awhile when I'd even begun to resent our new-found knowledge, and the turmoil and confusion that I perceived it had brought to us and our holiday seasons, especially as we tried to relate to others Believers over the years, as we were assimilating so much new information, which others often just didn't seem interested in learning more about, or would outrightly tell me they weren't "ready for". It has certainly been an emotionally trying journey for me… And we've spent alot of years just sort of *under the radar* at our various church homes, happily learning as the Holy Spirit has led us, and sharing as He'd open doors...and praying for others', that they would come to know His glorious Plan of Redemption in the brighter light which a Hebraic understanding of the His very Hebraic Word lends... context, context!;-)
We never did do Santa before anyways, and from the start really wanted Jesus to be the emphasis of our Christmas celebrations, so that was a non-issue. But I wrestled with the Lord (and with Chris), “Wasn’t this enough?”
It was before our discovery of the Biblical holydays that we began to actually think about the whys and wherefores of what we and others were doing concerning our celebations, and where these customs came from, studying the history and traditions of Christmas, rather than just doing them because everyone else was, we were a bit disillusioned to say the least. After doing away with everything that we didn’t feel led of the Spirit to keep in place, we… Well, we basicly found that we were left just hanging onto alot of Roman Catholic traditions by hanging on to celebrating Christmas on 12/25 at all. How I struggled with it all then... To be quite honest, I still do at times.
I'll find myself getting in a funk come the end of October if I allow my sights to get on the wrong *things*, and what others are doing, rather than simply rejoicing in my Lord, and what He's called us to do. I've learned that during these times of weakness, I especially need like-minded fellowship (even if it merely be online). It has really been such a lesson in obedience for me. I remember wondering that first year,
What to do Lord, when everyone else around us is celebrating this holiday with such gusto, in Your Name even? How to balance these new found truths and convictions without isolating other believers? How to honor others at church in our children’s eyes without confusing them (and ourselves?!), and most importantly without violalting our own consciences, Your Truth as You've revealed it to us? And how to not let this become an oppressive thing to our children, a sense of loss or envy felt? Lord, You must lead us…
About that time, as I stuggled with discouragement and and a sometimes overwhelming sense of being total loners, is when our most Faithful Father orchestrated for us to meet a wonderful man, Robert VanderMaten, our SS teacher at our church then, who further encouraged us in what has now become one of my/our favorite endeavors- studying the Hebraic roots of our faith. We began to go through a verse by verse study of the book of Genesis under his tutelage. He shared Biblical/historical truths with us that we'd never heard of. It’s like God just swung open the windows of heaven, and revelation upon mind boggling, beautiful revelation He began to lay at our feet.
Pieces of this puzzle began to fall more and more into place for us as we continued to study, and further understand the Messianic implications of the Biblical Holidays. Each year, the Lord has taken us a bit deeper in our understanding of Him and His Plan as shown forth in these prophetic feasts. What a journey of fascinating discovery we're on! Truly, He doesn’t take something from us without replacing it with something of immensely greater value and beauty. I now realize that what had initially felt like loss and confusion was simply my own emotional reactions to my Father's answering my prayers that He draw me closer into Him... showing me His Wisdom, His Truths, His Story. I was experiencing growth pains as He was stretching and shaking us and our lives up, letting everything that was/is not of Him fall. away. which initially created quite a stir, and emotional refuse I could hardly see through, and choked on a bit.
Please understand that we’re not the least bit offended by other Believers’ celebrating our Lord's birth on Christmas, and we have never “boycotted” Christmas per se. I'm not saying that you should just right now drop what and how your family celebrates our Lord. I do believe it's something that you should seek clarity and Truth in though, and pray about together. I am saying that you should seek understanding, and obey Him as He leads you. I am sharing our own personal journey, in hopes that it may encourage some others on the same journey. You have to seek the Lord, and follow His Spirit's leading you, as He reveals Himself to you in His Word. You must also learn a deeper humility, and patience for others. And for the record, we’ve even continued to graciously attend family holiday celebrations.
We do like to decorate our house extravagantly for Hanukkah, with lights (it is the Festival of Lights, and we are celebrating Him, the Light of the World afterall!), Nativity scenes (as we’re celebrating our Lord’s very conception on Hanukkah, which is a VERY pro-life message, and not coincidental I don’t think either, as according to Hebraic thought, conception is truly when life begins, and when our Saviour entered this world!) and LOTS of candles and hanukkiahs! The kids enjoy hanging favorite ornaments we've kept on our strings of lights. We also like to bake hanukkah cookies, and make gingerbread man cookies (which is a winter thing for us).
Five years ago, I began writing our annual newsletter, which we send out with our holiday (Hanukkah) greeting cards. I've kept copies for ourselves as well, and these have become valuable family records which I do plan to put into our albums soon. We exchange gifts every night of Hanukkah (some of which are simply love letters to eachother, or hand-made), and do continue to send gifts out to loved ones, as we're financially able. We enjoy egg nog every holiday, starting around Thanksgiving, since it's a seasonal treat... We even hosted the big family "holiday" dinner (Christmas to them, Hanukkah for us) at our house a few years ago… and felt alright with this, since it was an opportunity to see and witness to extended family members that we'd never see otherwise, have them in our house even!
No one even seemed to really notice that there was no Christmas tree, but we did get to share about our Lord's faithfulness to His people who love and obey His Word, as commemorated during Hanukkah, when a few people curiously made mention of our Hanukkiah. We also shared of the likelihood that our Messiah's miraculous conception also most likely took place during this Festival of Light. Friends and family usually were/are fascinated by the story, and wondered over having never heard it before. Hanukkah has simply taken precedence in our house, and it has been a most naturally gradual and blessed progression. Just today, N and T gleefully exclaimed that Hanukkah is their favorite holiday.
But, we still feel like we’re only beginning to get a basic grasp of it, and I cannot express to you enough the powerful object lesson that Hanukkah and its RICH, REAL history have been to our kids, ourselves and those who we’ve shared this with over these past few years. The first couple of years were SO overwhelming, and even stressful as I’ve had many silly emotional ties to work through concerning letting go of the Christmas tree thing, and dealing with how to deal with family and friends in a way that was both edifying to them and my Lord - yet not compromising of our own convictions.
This has been so revealing to me, as I’d always assumed I was doing all of that Christmas stuff for Him, for Jesus… But now, here I was, being led of Him to move beyond this holiday to another destination, to come out of my comfort zone, and to embrace this new Holy Day of Remembrance, that at the time seemed so foreign to me... and I struggled… due to my fear of men… and my love for comfortable things that I knew and adored, warm fuzzies I didn’t want to let go of.
However, now we’ve come to a place, I believe, by the leading of the Spirit, where we aren’t offended in the least by the way others are celebrating the birth of our Savior (this is how we explain it to our young kids right now-that other Christians are celebrating Christmas, and doing things differently t
Who knew? LOL
As we drove down a winding country road the other day, my son proclaimed to me, with satisfied air, of how glad he is that Fall is just around the corner. "It's my favorite season!" he announced jubilantly. "Oh, mine too!" I agreed, "for so very many reasons."
