The Miracle of the
Oil
The story of Chanukah begins in 167 B.C. while Jerusalem was
ruled by the Greek Empire. King Antiochus the 4th forced the Jews to reject
their religion and to worship the Greek gods instead. As a result, the Jews
began a revolt, Judas Macabeus being the leader. Chanukah celebrates the rededication
of the temple in
Jerusalem , after 3 years of fighting against
the Greeks (Chanukah in Hebrew means
"dedication").
Chanukah also commemorates
the miracle of the oil cruse: According to tradition, after cleaning up the
temple, the Maccabees found a very small amount of oil, just enough to light the Menorah for one day. Miraculously, the small cruse of oil that was found, lasted
for 8 days, which is why the Chanukah celebration lasts 8
days.
When is Chanukah
celebrated?
The first evening of Chanukah starts after the sunset of the 24th day of the Hebrew month of
Kislev (which takes place sometime in December). That is the date in which the Jewish army of Judas Macabeus and his
brothers finished cleansing the temple of the Greek
sculptures.
(from Jews For Jesus
Blog)
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Today when we think
of the celebration of Chanukah we think of festive eating, family gatherings,
games and simple presents. However, the real meaning of the word,
Chanukah, is "dedication". Not just the dedication of the
temple after it's cleansing, but the tremendous sacrifice of dedicated lives it
cost to route the enemies of
Israel to restore temple worship of
the one true God.
Father God
thought it worthy of the great miracle of the multiplication of the oil to bring
forth light. The people knew that it would take eight days to consecrate a new
reserve of the precious oil to light the temple's menorah and there was only
enough for one day. This lamp was known as the Ner Tamid, or the Eternal Light, and God
had commanded them not to let it burn out. He saw their dedication to keep this
command. He heard their prayers as they bowed their heart to Him in
repentance.
Yahweh saw
the dedication of the army to route the darkness of Pagan worship in the
temple of
Yahweh . He remembered that
in the beginning of the world the first words spoken into His creation were,
"Let there be light". I believe that He blessed His words anew and
multiplied it the way Jesus was to do later when He fed the multitudes.
In Chapter
10 of the gospel of John we see that Jesus is in the temple during the Feast of
the Dedication of Lights and there announces that He and the Father are one. In
John Chapter 8 He announces that He is "THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD".
Like the feasts of the Lord which have their fulfillment in Him, so too did this
celebration point to their Messiah. Not only at His first coming but will
have a further fulfillment at the end when, as written in Revelation 22
v.5,....,"There will be no
more night, and they will not need any light from lamps or the sun because the Lord God will shine on them."
In the sermon on the mount Jesus says that we are the light of the world and that we
should let our light shine so that men may see our good works and glorify the
Father.
It is
interesting that this festival includes a special prayer thanking God for the
Miracle done for the ancestors. The
faith of most Jews include miracles but usually only those done in the
past.
But we need
miracles today.
Are we
living "dedicated" lives to
the Lord Jesus? Let us live as lights before this present generation of Jews
that they may come to know THE LIGHT OF
THE WORLD, YESHUA, JESUS. Then they will be able to experience for
themselves, present day miracles as they walk with their
Messiah!
Chanukah in 2008 will start on the sunset
of Sunday, the 21st of December and will continue for 8 days until Monday, the
29th of December. We hope you will join us at sunset on each of
these evenings as the Jewish day begins, to celebrate the one who is THE
LIGHT OF THE WORLD, YESHUA. If you do not have a 9 branch Menorah just light a candle at your dinner table. Join with Jews who are celebrating this
miracle of old and pray for them to find their Messiah this year.
from the desk of Robert
& Annette Stagmer, Revelation 22
Alliance
