Chanukkah Hannukah - Feast Days 2024

This transcription is about the history and celebration of Hanukkah. It discusses the origins of Hanukkah and how it is celebrated today. The teaching covers topics such as the connection between Hanukkah and the Messiah Yeshua, as well as its connection to the end times. The transcription also provides tips and tricks for celebrating Hanukkah and suggests further resources for learning about the holiday. It mentions the story of Alexander the Great and how his empire was divided after his death. It concludes with a discussion of the Seleucid Empire's takeover of Israel and the events leading up to Hanukkah. You've heard about Hanukkah. What is it? Is it something that only Jews do? Where did it come from and should we celebrate it today? And if we did celebrate it today, how would we go about celebrating it? Well all of that plus more, even connection with our Messiah Yeshua and connection with the end times, all coming up in this story of Hanukkah on this edition of God Honest Truth. So this teaching is going to be all about the feast day of Hanukkah. Hanukkah, Hanukkah, how do you spell it? I don't think there's really a right way unless you do it in Hebrew, but in English there's multiple ways. As long as it comes out sounding the same, hey, go for it. But this year Hanukkah is going to be starting on December 25th at sunset and goes through January 2nd at sunset. And the purpose of this teaching or this drash is going to be able to inform you about where Hanukkah came from, give you the information on how to celebrate it, and then at the end be able to make a decision on whether or not you yourself want to celebrate it with your family and loved ones or go to some congregation that's actually celebrating Hanukkah. Now like always, you can find the notes for this teaching on our website at GodHonestTruth.com. Simply go there and you'll be able to find the post on the main page, especially if you go soon after this teaching, within a week of this teaching. If not, you can always do a search or go down below and click on the convenient link that'll take you directly to that article post where it will have the on-demand video that you see here. It will have the draw slides that we used during this teaching. It'll also have the notes that we took for this episode and the transcript as well if that happens to be of any benefit for you. Like I said, you can go to GodHonestTruth.com directly or click on the link that's provided in the description and that should be there for you whether you are watching on a video platform or listening on an audio podcast platform. Should be there nonetheless. So tonight's objectives with this teaching is going to be, number one, learn about some of the history leading up to the story of Hanukkah itself. Some of the back story will kind of get you the foundation of where Hanukkah comes into the scene in history. Then we're going to go over the Hanukkah story itself. Now there's a lot of information that goes into the Hanukkah story. We're not going to have time to get into all of it. If you would like to learn about the entire Hanukkah story, there are plenty of lengthy documentaries out there about Hanukkah. You can also go to the Apocrypha, look in the first and second books of Maccabees and read about the story of Hanukkah there as well. We're also going to be examining some connections between Yeshua and Hanukkah and also some things that are connected between Hanukkah and the end times. We're going to be looking at some things regarding Hanukkah to keep in mind and some interesting things to note. Circumstantial though they may be, but they're still interesting all the same. We're going to go over some practices of celebrating Hanukkah so that if you and your family or your loved ones would like to celebrate Hanukkah, hey, we've got some tips and tricks for you. So make sure to stay tuned for that and as always, make sure to have your notebook handy and ready. Just a word of warning real quick, some of the content that is going to be spoken about during this teaching may not be suitable for all viewers. If you're a family, you decide for you like always and there's not going to be any graphic images and there's not going to be any profanity used, but some of the stories and some of the events that are told for the story of Hanukkah are pretty disturbing or could be to certain age groups. So just keep that in mind as we go forward with this teaching about Hanukkah. A little bit of the back story and the foundation and the events leading up to the story of Hanukkah. If we look in the book of Daniel, Daniel 7, I'm sorry, Daniel chapter 7, verses 2-3 and verse 6, Daniel spoke and said, I was looking in my vision by night and saw the four winds of the heavens stirring up the great sea and four great beasts came up from the sea different from one another. And speaking of the third, he says, after this, I looked and saw another like a leopard, which had on its back four wings of a bird. The beast also had four heads and wool was given to it. Now the third beast that we're going to be getting into tonight, that's going to be most relevant for the story of Hanukkah. Now these four different beasts from what most people who study prophecy and end time stuff agree on. The first beast, the one with the lion and the eagle's wings, generally represents Babylon. That gets into the story of Corinth, things like that, but moving on in history and we get up to the second beast, which is the bear, generally accepted as representing Persia. The third beast, which is the one as relevant for our story tonight, is going to be the one with the, that looks like a leopard that had four wings and four heads. This beast generally is accepted to represent the Greeks. And finally, the fourth beast in Daniel's vision or Daniel's prophecy was the beast that had ten horns and an iron teeth. This is generally accepted to represent Rome, which came after the Greeks, and of course the Greeks idolized, I'm sorry, the Romans, idolized the Greeks, but still they're separate cultures, civilizations, different fields of study, but tonight we're going to be focusing on that third beast, which is represented by the leopard and is generally accepted to as representing the Greeks. Speaking of the Greeks, that leads us up to our next point of Alexander the Great. Alexander the Great was a Macedonian Greek, which was I think north of Athens, more the commonly known areas that you would think of when you think of Greece, but he was a prince of Macedonia or a prince of the Greeks and his tutor as such was the one and only Aristotle. So he had very good upbringing, very good education, very good training that brought him up into his adulthood. He became king at the age of 20. Now can you imagine being the ruler of an entire nation, such as it was back then, at the age of 20 that early on? I mean, I can't, things have changed definitely, but still it's rather young in my opinion, but once his father died, King Philip, he became king at the age of 20. He united the Greek city-states that were around him all in an attempt to go against Persia, which they despised at that time. Alexander the Great and most of the Greeks really did not like the Persians, but by the age of his death, he was 32, so he only reigned for 12 years, but in that short time he was able to conquer much of what was known as, I'm sorry, much of the known world at the time. It was vast, it was huge in comparison to anything that had come before it. On your screen here, if you're watching on video, you can see the territory that Alexander was able to conquer in 12 short years. Now in our previous video, in our Godhead series, we went over the term worship and what worship was, and we brought up a little bit about Alexander the Great in that study. Now, it wasn't all military beat-downs, that's how he conquered his land. Sometimes it was through diplomacy, various things like that, but in just 12 short years he was able to conquer the vast majority of the known world at that time. However, when he died at the age of 32, there was no one that was picked to be a successor and take over his empire, no one single person anyways. As such, his empire was divided into four different regions amongst four of his generals. His general Cassander ended up with Macedonia and Greece, where they started out from all those years ago. His general Lysimachus ended up with Thrace and Asia Minor. His general Ptolemy ended up with Egypt, Israel, Cyprus, and nearby Asia Minor. So, he's got a pretty good swath of land. But Seleucus ended up with the India Territory, Syria, Iraq, Iran, and various other places in the Middle East. So, he had a fairly large swath as well. And Seleucus is the lineage we're going to be looking at for our story tonight. Seleucus and those who were born to him, his progeny, was later known as the Seleucid Empire. So, when you look into history or learn about history and they talk about the Seleucid Empire, this is who they're talking about. Now you can see that Ptolemy, even though he got Egypt, he also got Israel. So, why would we talk about Seleucus if it was Ptolemy that ended up with Israel? Well, this is because time went on. And it wasn't the original generals in the original territories that led up to the events of Hanukkah. Eventually, over time, these different territories and peoples went at war with one another and they conquered and lost various lands. And pretty soon the Seleucid Empire came down south and ended up with the territory of Israel and Jerusalem. Such a thing is actually, in my opinion, told of in another chapter of the book of Daniel. Daniel chapter 11, verses 29 and 31 through 32. At the appointed time he, speaking of the king in the north, shall return and go toward the south, that it shall not be like the former or the latter. And strong ones shall arise from him and profane the set-apart place, the strongholds, and shall take away that which is continual, and set up the abomination that lays waste. And by flatteries he shall profane those who do wrong against the covenant. But the people who know their Elohim shall be strong and shall act. Now this prophecy fits very well with the story of Hanukkah, talking about the king in the north, Seleucid Empire, coming down, taking over, setting up an abomination. And certain people going along with this wicked ruler. But that some people, those who know Yahweh, those who are steadfast in their faith, will be strong and they will act. So keep all that in mind as we go forward in this teaching on the story of Hanukkah. Now like I said, we're talking about the lineage of Seleucus and he had many heirs, many descendants. There we go. We've had Seleucus Nicator, Antiochus Soter, Antiochus Theos. But on down through the line, the one we're going to be focusing on is that eighth one, that last one. His name is Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He's going to be one of the central figures in the story of Hanukkah. Now Antiochus Epiphanes was a very interesting character. He was very wicked as you'll be seeing in the story. But interesting all the same. His original name was Mithridates. And Mithridates actually means given by Mithra. If you studied anything at all in religious realm as it pertains to Christianity and early Christianity especially in the first, second, third, et cetera centuries, Mithra worship was very prominent in the area. And just so it happens, Antiochus was probably a worshiper of Mithras until later on in life if not all throughout his life. But his original name, Mithridates, means given by Mithras. Epiphanes, the name he eventually took, means God-manifest. That's one he chose for himself. He chose a name that means God-manifest, trying to portray himself as a god that has been manifested here on earth. Yeah, a little bit arrogant, don't you think? He was also the first Seleucid king to use divine designations on coins. We'll look at that in just a minute, but he uses a very similar theme to that God-manifest. He was also the first of the Seleucid kings to enforce Hellenization and violently. Now before that, even all the way back to Alexander the Great, once he conquered a territory, that territory would be like a client state. They were allowed to conduct themselves as they had before, continue with their previous religious worship, things like that, as long as they kept the peace, as long as they paid their taxes, didn't rise up in rebellion, everything was good. But not so with Antiochus Epiphanes. When he came on the scene and he was in charge of Jerusalem and other territories, he forced the Greek way of life on those who were under his rule. And this was all the way down to Jerusalem. Some of his contemporaries, those who were alive at the time, they called him Epimenes instead of Epiphanes. Epimenes actually means the mad one. Now taking into account everything the Greeks did back then, if you ever studied Greek culture, it was fairly messed up. And if those people are calling Antiochus the mad one, you know he's done something wrong because the Greek way of life was not good at all. Put it that way. Here is a picture of some of the coins he had minted in his honor and the backside of that coin on the screen there, over on the left, you can see where it says Thales Epiphanes. And going back to that whole name that he chose for himself, Antiochus Epiphanes. Very very conceited. So that brings us up to our story of Hanukkah. We've got the back story, why the area of Israel and Jerusalem was under foreign occupation. We've got the players on the scene, Antiochus and the Greeks, so now we get up to the story of Hanukkah. The story of Hanukkah is contained within the books of the Maccabees, especially 1st and 2nd Maccabees to be specific. You won't find it in a standard Protestant list of books in your Bible. So why is that? Is Maccabees even part of the Bible? Should it be in the Bible? Why is it not in the noun? Well that gets into a whole other can of worms that we're not going to get into tonight, but let it be sufficient to say that the books of Maccabees were included in the canon list of the Septuagint, of the Vulgate, and was actually a part of the original King James 1611 version. A lot of people don't know that, but what we now refer to as the Apocrypha was a part of the 1611 King James. Even to this day, various sections of Christianity, we'll put it that way, still consider the books of Maccabees to be canon. Different groups like the Roman Catholic Church, who considers 1st and 2nd Maccabees to be canon, the Eastern Orthodox Church, which includes 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Maccabees as part of their canon, and the Georgian Orthodox Church, which includes 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Maccabees as part of their official canon. Now from what I understand, there are actually six books of Maccabees. Some are more disputed than others, and from what I can tell, only 1st and 2nd were actually authentic, and others were trying to play off the other books, but anyways, in the standard Protestant canon list, you won't find Maccabees, but in other groups around the world within Christianity, you will find it as part of their canon list, and even back in history, you'll find it as part of the official Bible canon list. Now as far as us here at God Honest Truth, we do not currently hold the books of Maccabees to be canon, as part of the Bible. We do hold it to contain important historical information, such as what we're going to cover tonight with the story of Hanukkah, but we do not consider it to be Biblical canon. However, we're not going to tell you what you should believe about these various books. You do your own research, do your own study, and decide for yourself. But getting into the story of Hanukkah, from the books of Maccabees, 1st Maccabees chapter 1 verses 20-24. 21 And Antiochus, after that he had smitten Egypt, returned in the hundred and forty and third year, and went up against Israel and Jerusalem with a great multitude, and entered presumptuously into the sanctuary, and took the golden altar, and the candlestick of the light, and all that pertained thereto, and the table of the shewbread, and the cups to pour withal, and the bowls, and the golden censers, and the veils, and the crowns, and the adorning of gold, which was on the face of the temple, and he scaled it all off, and he took the silver, and the gold, and the precious vessels, and he took the hidden treasures which he found, and when he had taken all, he went away into his own land, and he made a great slaughter, and spake very presumptuously." So when Antiochus the 4th Epiphanes came in, he ransacked the place. He went into the temple, he did abominations upon the altar, he erected a statue of Zeus even within the temple and various other places around Israel, and he commanded worship of these false gods like Zeus and others. He forbid the worship and the following of Torah. So it was a very tumultuous time, a very evil time that the Judeans were going through at this point in history. However, not every one of them succumbed or went along with this Hellenization. And when Antiochus came in, as you saw from the last passage we just read, he ran off with everything he could get his hands on. All the precious vessels, all the gold and silver he could get, everything that was nailed down and then probably some things that even weren't nailed down. Yeah, I got that backwards, I just realized that, but anyways. But anyways, he came in, he ransacked the place, and he forced Hellenization on everyone. Very very bad. It was actually against the law to keep the commandments of the Torah. First Maccabees chapter 1 verses 41 through 43. And King Antiochus wrote to his whole kingdom that all should be one people and that each should forsake his own law. And all the nations agreed according to the word of the king. And many of Israel consented to his worship and sacrificed to the idols and profaned the Sabbath. So even though he's coming into the land of Israel, the people who are supposed to be following Yahweh, supposed to be keeping the Torah and the precepts commanded in the Torah, some of them went along with Antiochus and what he was forcing everyone to do. Very sad that people would lose their faith like that. And various stories in the Hanukkah story, in the history of Hanukkah, tells of mothers who following Torah would circumcise their children and then those children would be killed and their dead bodies hung around the necks of their mothers. Some of these mothers would be pushed off of rooftops for following Torah. Some of the men even, if they would not follow what the Greeks were telling them to do, such as eating pork or profaning the Sabbath, they would be killed, sometimes on the spot, because they would not go along with this elimination. Now some of the Jews actually did go along with it. Like I said before, Antiochus even profaned the temple in grotesque and horrid ways. First Maccabees chapter 1, verses 54-57 And on the fifteenth day of Kislev, in the hundred and fortieth and fifth year, they built an abomination of desolation upon the altar, and in the cities of Judah on every side they built idol altars, and at the doors of the houses and in the streets they burnt incense, and they rent in pieces the books of the law which they found, and set them on fire. And wheresoever was found with any a book of the covenant, and if any consented to the law, the king's sentence delivered him to death. So even being found with a Torah was punishable by death, much less following the Torah and what Yahweh has commanded us to do. First Maccabees chapter 1, verses 59-63 And on the fifth and twentieth day of the month they sacrificed upon the idol altar which was upon the altar of God, and the women that had circumcised their children they put to death according to the commandment, and they hanged their babes around their necks, and destroyed their houses and them that had circumcised them. And many in Israel were fully resolved and confirmed in themselves not to eat any unclean thing. And they chose to die that they might not be defiled with the meat, and that they might not profane the holy covenant, and they died. So some of these people that were in Judea, some of the Judeans, did not go along with what the Greeks were selling. They stood fast in their faith, they stood fast in their conviction, they held to Torah, and as a result they were killed for it. And they knew they were probably going to die because of this, but it's all the same. They held to their faith, which is something we should all do in times of adversity. And sometimes it's hard. I understand that. The pressures of the world can get to you, but you've got to stand fast and you've got to hold to faith. And some of the stories that come out of the story of Hanukkah and the history of Hanukkah tell of how the Greeks would even go into the temple, and on the altar of incense they would sacrifice a pig, of all things, one of the unclean meats that's mentioned in the Torah. They sacrificed a pig upon the altar of incense, they put a statue of Zeus in the temple. All sorts of things to profane the holy temple of Yahweh that Solomon had built. Absolutely disgusting. And even though some of the Judeans went along, I'm sorry, stood up against the Greeks and what the Greeks were forcing them to do, even at the point of death, some of the Judeans did not. The Jews were weak in their faith and they went along for, well, pretty much to save their own lives because they did not have the strength to continue in the faith. First Maccabees chapter 1 verses 13 through 15. And certain of the Judeans were forward herein and went to the king, and he gave them license to do after the ordinances of the Gentiles, and they built a place of exercise in Jerusalem according to the laws of the Gentiles. And they made themselves uncircumcised and forsook the holy covenant and joined themselves to the Gentiles and sold themselves to do evil. So, Solomon went along with the Greeks to save their own skin. They even went so far as to uncircumcise themselves. I don't know how that is accomplished, but even back before modern medical understanding, they were able to do that, and they did. Sad, sad, sad when people forsake Yahweh just to go along with the crowd and to save their own skin. It reminds me of what Yeshua said, of those who would forsake their own lives for His purpose that they would be raised in the last day to glory. These Judeans, these particular ones, did not do that. And those who lose faith, it's bound to happen in every period in history, in every demographic. Some people will and do lose faith in the midst of controversy, and the Apostle Paul actually warns us about such things in 2 Peter 3, verse 17. You then, beloved ones, being forewarned, watch, lest you also fall from your own steadfastness, being led away with the delusion of the lawless. Who are the lawless in this story? Definitely the Greeks, because they did not like the Torah, they did not keep the Torah. They actually made it punishable by death to keep the Torah. So they were definitely lawless. They were definitely Torah-less. In our own days, we should not fall into the delusion of the lawless, those in our world who do not keep and follow the Torah, those who are without Torah, who are Torah-less, those who are law-less. But back during the time of Hanukkah, even though some people went away with those who were lawless, the Greeks, there were some who kept the faith, who stood fast even in the face of death, and this eventually came to a boiling point and the revolt started, and this is the whole story of Hanukkah right here. 1 Maccabees 2, verses 17-25, And the king's officers answered and spake to Mattathias, saying, Thou art a ruler and an honorable and great man in this city, and strengthened with sons and brethren. Now therefore, come thou first and do the commandment of the king, as all the nations have done, and the men of Judah, and they that remain in Jerusalem. And thou and thy house shall be in the number of the king's friends, and thou and thy sons shall be honored with silver and gold and many gifts. And Mattathias answered and said with a loud voice, If all the nations that are in the house of the king's dominion, hearken unto him to fall away each one from the worship of his fathers, and have made choice to follow his commandment. Yet will I and my sons and my brethren walk in the covenant of our fathers. Heaven forbid that we should forsake the law and the ordinances. We will not hearken to the king's words to go aside from our worship, on the right hand or on the left. And when he had left speaking these words, there came a Jew in the sight of all to sacrifice on the altar which was at Nodine, according to the king's commandment. And Mattathias saw it, and his zeal was kindled, and his reins trembled, and he shewed forth his wrath according to judgment, and ran and flew him upon the altar. And the king's officer, who compelled men to sacrifice, he killed at that time and pulled down the altar." So one of these Greek officials is coming up to Mattathias, who is a leader amongst his community. And this Greek official is telling him, hey, just come and do like we're telling you, and you'll be a friend of the king, you'll have silver and gold, and a great place of honor. And Mattathias ain't having none of it. He says, nope. Even though some of these other people will do that, we're standing fast, we're keeping the faith. And then when another Judean comes up, after Mattathias is done talking about all this, this other Judean does a sacrifice on this altar that was erected by the Greeks. It enraged Mattathias, and Mattathias killed him because he was forsaking Yahweh and the commandment. And as such, this is the beginning of the Tasmanian Revolt and the story of Hanukkah, how the Judeans eventually defeated the Greek occupation and won their independence and won their freedom. Now, after Mattathias started this revolt, him and his sons went on to engage in guerrilla warfare around the area. Back in that time, the Judeans who were rebelling during the story of Hanukkah were small in number. Someone compared it one time as being like the National Guard of New Jersey going up against the entire United States military. They were extremely outnumbered. They were outmanned. They definitely did not have the weapons and technology that the Greeks had. But they knew the terrain, and most importantly, they kept the faith in Yahweh and in the Torah. And as such, Yahweh brought a great miracle there in the land of Israel in making them victorious against this overwhelming force of the Greeks. Now, it wasn't long after the beginning of this revolt that Mattathias died and his son Judah actually took over command and finished up the revolt, leading them to victory. But that's the story of Hanukkah. And that, well, we back up. After they won their freedom, after they defeated the Greek occupation, they actually went back and started cleaning up Jerusalem and especially the temple. They went up and took out all the altars. They broke them down, destroyed them. They cleaned up the temple, and then they rededicated the temple to Yahweh. And this lasted for eight nights. We'll get into that number here in just a little bit as to specifically why it was eight. But that is where the story of Hanukkah comes from. And the word Hanukkah actually itself means dedication or even rededication, depending on the context it's being used. Here with Judah Maccabee and the revolt, this would, in my opinion, refer to a rededication of the temple after it had been profaned and then cleaned up, sanctified, and then rededicated. But that's the story of Hanukkah. So now you know where Hanukkah came from, so let's move into a little bit of connection between Yeshua and Hanukkah itself. Now we only actually have one instance, or one mention, of Hanukkah in the B'rith Hadashah. John chapter 10, verses 22 through 23. At that time, the Hanukkah came to be in Yerushalayim, and it was winter. And Yeshua was walking in the set-apart place in the porch of Shlomo. Now in various translations, it will be translated in various ways. For instance, instead of at the time of Hanukkah, the King James, the ESV, has at the time of dedication. Scriptures 2009, which we use here at God on His truth, the Tree of Life version, etc., they use the word Hanukkah. The Gethsemane translation, 20th century translation, uses rededication. And interestingly enough, the Etheridge translation actually uses the word renovation. At that time, the renovation came to be, which kind of, in my opinion, leads you off course to what was actually happening. But anyways, that's the only mention we have of Hanukkah in the B'rith Hadashah. So you're saying, big deal, Hanukkah was happening at that time, it's only mentioned once, and Yeshua actually happened to be there in the vicinity. So what? Well, think about it like this, Yeshua, during His ministry, where was He most of the time? He wasn't in the temple most of the time. He was out in the streets, and He was especially out in the countryside at the lakes, at the fishing spots. He was up on mountains. He was walking through the villages. He was teaching, He was healing, performing miracles, all this good stuff. He was hardly ever at the temple except for special occasions, stuff like Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, things like that. So here, we see Yeshua coming to the temple at the time of Hanukkah. So what does that tell you in that aspect? Also, it is not recorded anywhere that Yeshua spoke out against the celebration of Hanukkah. And Yeshua had zero qualms about speaking up against things that were being done wrong or incorrectly or things that shouldn't be done. He was constantly coming against the Pharisees, calling them hypocrites and brood of adders for elevating their traditions over the word of Yahweh, over the Torah. Once again, we don't see any condemnation of Hanukkah from Yeshua. So that's another thing to take into consideration. But anything more than that would be circumstantial speculation and whatnot. Take that for what it is, decide for yourself. But there is a prophetic connection between Yeshua and Hanukkah and the story of Hanukkah especially. For instance, in the end times, the Antichrist will come forth and will face great tribulations. Now Antiochus IV Epiphanes was a foreshadowing or a type of the Antichrist. As such, Yeshua from the tribe of Judah in the end will come and defeat the Antichrist. Just like Judah Maccabee came and defeated the Greeks, defeated Antiochus, the foreshadowing of the Antichrist. And the New Temple, the New Earth and the New Jerusalem, when they come down, they will be dedicated here on Earth for us in the Kingdom of Heaven, dedicated. Just like Hanukkah, where the temple that was standing was rededicated. And like I said, Hanukkah can mean either dedication or rededication. So if you're an eschatological studier or a buff in prophecy or the end times, these are some things to keep in mind when you're thinking about the end times and when you're thinking about the story of Hanukkah. With that in mind, make sure to put that down in your notes especially so when you're studying the end times and prophecy, you'll be able to remember that and put it all together with other things that you may learn about the end times. But some interesting things to learn about, to keep in mind, to take note of as it comes in with the story of Hanukkah and some of the things that surround Hanukkah, some of the tales about this whole season. Did the Hanukkah story actually happen? Some who are anti-Christian, some of those who are anti-Jewish even, say that Hanukkah never happened. This is a made up story. Well, yeah, actually it is a real story. It's historical fact that Alexander the Great conquered the whole territory and eventually Antiochus IV, because of that, was in control of Jerusalem and the Judeans revolted and won their freedom against Antiochus and the Greeks. Historical fact, it actually did happen. Let's look at 1 Maccabees chapter 4 verses 56 and 59. And they kept the dedication of the altar eight days and burnt offerings with gladness and sacrificed a sacrifice of deliverance and praise. And Judas and his brothers and the whole congregation of Israel ordained that the days of the dedication of the altar should be kept in their seasons from year to year by the space of eight days from the five and twentieth day of the month, Kislev, with gladness and joy. Now here you can see they celebrated this victory for eight days, but why eight days? The common story that's told nowadays about Hanukkah is about the miracle of the oil. And that goes something like when they went to rededicate the temple, the menorah that is to be standing and burning at all times within the temple, they went to relight it, but they only had enough of the oil for the menorah to last for one day. So they went ahead, they filled up the menorah and they lit it and miraculously it lasted for eight days until they were able to make more of this oil for the menorah. However, you don't find that recounting of this menorah miracle in the books of Maccabees. Even when we read the account from Josephus, he doesn't tell about this story of the oil in his recounting. Josephus, the Jewish ward, quote, Now Judah celebrated the festival of the restoration of the sacrifices of the temple for eight days and omitted no sort of pleasures thereon, but he feasted them upon very rich and splendid sacrifices and he honored God and delighted them by hymns and psalms. Nay, they were so very glad at the revival of their customs when after a long time of intermission they unexpectedly had regained the freedom of their worship, that they made it a law for their posterity that they should keep a festival on account of the restoration of their temple worship for eight days. And from that time to this, we celebrate this festival and call it light. I suppose the reason was because this liberty beyond our hopes appeared to us and that thence was the name given to that festival, end quote. So even Josephus writing back at the end of the first century, maybe beginning of the second century, even he's not recounting the miracle of the oil. We actually get a little bit of a clue from the books of Maccabees himself, in fact 2nd Maccabees, as to why the festival lasted for eight days, 2nd Maccabees chapter 10, verses 5-8. Now on the same day that the sanctuary was profaned by aliens, upon that very day did it come to pass that the cleansing of the sanctuary was made, even on the five and twentieth day of the same month, which is Kislev. And they kept eight days with gladness in the manner of the feast of tabernacles, remembering how that not long afore during the feast of tabernacles, they were wandering in the mountains and in the caves after the manner of wild beasts, wherefore bearing wands wreathed with leaves and fair bows and palms also, they offered up hymns of thanksgiving to him that had prosperously brought to pass the cleansing of his own place. They ordained also with a common statute and decree for all the nation of the Jews that they should keep these days every year. So here it seems like that the Maccabees, once they had won their freedom and they were rededicating the temple and celebrating, they did it for eight days because of Sukkot. Because right before this, right before they rededicated the temple, they were actually in the wilderness and missed Sukkot, in a sense. They were still in the wilderness and probably had temporary shelters, but they had actually missed Sukkot and being able to go to the temple like they're supposed to. So that's more than likely why this festival lasts for eight days, is because of Sukkot. Also, if you remember, when we went over the Dossier on Solomon, when the original temple was built and dedicated, they celebrated the dedication, the initial dedication of the temple for seven days and then also they celebrated Sukkot along with that. It was like an entire two-week affair at the initial dedication. So even the initial dedication along with the rededication in the story of Hanukkah coincides a lot with Sukkot. So that's more than likely why the festival of Sukkot, I'm sorry, the festival of Hanukkah is eight days long. We don't actually end up finding the story of the miracle of the oil until much later on until like the second century of the common area and what's called the Scroll of Antiochus. And to read a portion from that quote, and they sought pure olive oil with which to light the menorah, but they found only one little vessel sealed with the seal of the high priest and they knew it to be pure and it contained but sufficient oil for one day. But the God of heaven, who caused his presence to dwell in the sanctuary, gave his blessing and it sufficed to light the menorah eight days. Therefore did the sons of the Hasmonei, together with the Israelites, ordain that these eight days be ever celebrated as days of joy and feasting along with the festivals ordained in the Torah, that candles be lit to commemorate the victory they achieved through the God of heaven, that it be forbidden to mourn or to decree a fast day during this period except such as may have been established previously, and it was further ordained to pray and thank God. So this is the first time we actually see the story of the menorah miracle and it's hundreds of years after the time of Hanukkah, the original historical point of Hanukkah. So did this miracle of oil actually happen? Maybe or maybe not. On one hand, think about it. If Yahweh can part this great Red Sea, if Yahweh can make the sun stand still for Joshua and do all these wonderful and miraculous things, it would be nothing to make one day's worth of oil last for eight days. So it's definitely possible, but it could also be why they call it the Feast of Lights, too, because we don't get why they call it the Feast of Lights in the story in Maccabees, just the relation and connection to Sukkot. However, if it actually did happen, why was it not included in the books of Maccabees and why didn't Josephus ever recount the telling as well? Why did it take up until the second century of the Common Era before we get any mention of this miracle of the oil? Maybe it did happen, maybe it didn't happen. Either way, the story of Hanukkah is the story of a great and miraculous working of Yahweh through his faithful against overwhelming odds. That is the biggest point of Hanukkah, to keep the faith, stay true to Yahweh, and stay true to the Torah. Now some other things to consider real quick. For those of us who have come to the understanding of Yeshua, we've been born again, we go through the Brit HaShah, in addition to the Tanakh, is it wrong to celebrate Hanukkah? After all, Hanukkah actually and truly is a Jewish holiday. Passover is not a Jewish holiday, it's one of Yahweh's holidays, or Miladim. Sukkot is not a Jewish holiday, it's one of Yahweh's Miladim, but Hanukkah truly is a Jewish holiday. Because at that point in history, the Northern Kingdom had already been dispersed and all that was left was the Southern Kingdom of Judea. Hanukkah being a Judean holiday, should we celebrate it now? Is it wrong to celebrate it? Consider this, when we think about holidays and what to do, what to celebrate, we have to think about, A, is it in the scriptures? B, does it go against the scriptures? And C, does it come from pagan forces? In regards to Hanukkah, no, it's not in the standard canon of books in the scriptures. From that perspective, we'll say, no, it's not in scripture. Does it go against scripture? I don't see anything that would go against scripture. Does it come from pagan forces? No, certainly not, it does not come from pagan forces. In that respect, I would say, no, it is not wrong to celebrate Hanukkah. It's a celebration of the miraculous workings of Yahweh for his faithful. So, it's relevant to us today, even. In that aspect, it's a good thing to celebrate Hanukkah. However, keep in mind, Hanukkah is not a Moedim. Call it a feast day if you like, but it's not one of the Moedim that is prescribed in the Torah. It's not Passover, it's not Shavuot, it's not Yom Teruah, it's not Sukkot, it's not Yom Kippurim. We're not required, scripturally, to keep it. But we have the option to keep it because it doesn't go against scripture and it's not from pagan sources. And it's actually a celebration of Yahweh. So, that leads us to another question. How is it that celebrating Hanukkah is any different than from those who celebrate things like Christmas and Easter? Well, it should be pretty self-evident at this point. Think about the things we went over just now. When we do things, consider, is it in scripture, does it go against scripture, and or does it come from pagan sources? Christmas, you can find in scripture in the book of Jeremiah, chapter 10, but it's in a pagan context where the heathens are doing Christmas. Does it go against scripture? Yeah, Christmas goes against scripture because it tells us not to do things in the ways of the heathens, in the ways of the pagans. And does it come from pagan sources? Yeah, obviously. It comes from the winter solstice, worship of Mithra, the various Mordic pagan sources. It's a conglomeration of various pagan sources. So, yeah, that's how Hanukkah is separate and different from Christmas. Same thing goes for Easter. Easter comes from the spring goddess worship at the spring equinox. It comes from pagan sources. You don't find it in scripture. It goes against scripture and it comes from pagan sources. So, just like Christmas, Easter is bad in and of itself as well. In contrast, we have Hanukkah, which is an actual historical event that does not come from pagan sources and celebrates Yahweh. It's not wrong to celebrate Hanukkah. It's optional because it's not one of the Miladims and it's not the same thing as celebrating Christmas and Easter. Some other interesting things to keep in mind and to note. Hanukkah is called the Festival of Light. Keep that in mind. Hanukkah is on the 25th day of Kislev. The 25th word of the Hebrew Bible is Light. So, look in your Hebrew manuscripts, capture the 25th word, and you'll see the word Light. And Yeshua himself calls himself the Light of the World. John 8, verse 12. Therefore, Yeshua spoke to them again, saying, I am the Light of the World. He who follows me shall by no means walk in darkness, but possess the Light of Life. Hanukkah, the Festival of Light. Yeshua, the Light of the World. Another possible connection. The connection between Yeshua and Hanukkah, if we wind this up, and this is all just theoretical and circumstantial, so go with me here. If Yeshua is the Light of the World, and Yeshua was, and the Light of the World was conceived during the Festival of Light, following a 40-week full-term pregnancy, that would bring us up to about the month of Tishrei. What is the month of Tishrei? What's right in the middle of the month of Tishrei? It is Sukkot. That would place Yeshua's birth around the time of Sukkot. Now, other events in Yeshua's life line up with the Moedim, or the Feast Days. He gave himself for us on Passover as our Passover Lamb. He rose on firstfruits as the firstfruits from the dead. He ascended on Shavuot, or what some people call Pentecost. So, there's a lot of connections between the Feast Days and events in Yeshua's life. This is speaking circumstantially, but this could also go along with the Festival of Light in regards to the Light of the World. Decide for yourself, but there's something interesting to think about as well. So, now you've learned about the story of Hanukkah, the events leading up to Hanukkah, what happened during Hanukkah, or at least the historical portion of Hanukkah. You learned about the connection between Hanukkah and the end times, between Yeshua and Hanukkah. Now you're thinking, okay, I want to celebrate it this year. How do I celebrate it? What's involved? All that good stuff. Well, number one, there is a special candlestick that is used for the celebration of Hanukkah. This is called a Hanukkiah. Now, if you're watching on video, if you look there on the left, you see a standard six-branch menorah. It's got the one serpent candle up top and then the six branches on the outside there. On the right, you have what's called a Hanukkiah. And this is a nine-branched menorah, as it were, but it's not actually a menorah because it's got nine branches. And the reason it's got nine is because there's eight, and that's one for each day of Hanukkah. And then the one in the middle is called the shamash, or the servant candle, that's used to light each of the different candles every night. Now, most people have the tradition of lighting one candle on the first night, two candles for the second night, three candles for the third night, and so on and so forth until you get to the eighth night and all the candles are lit. Other traditions have it lighting all the candles on the first night and then only seven candles the second night, six candles the third night, until you get down to none. But most go in increasing order. Choose for yourself how you would like to do. So in summary, Hanukkah means dedication or rededication. Like we said earlier, Hanukkah is not one of the nordeen that's prescribed in the Torah like it is with Passover, Shavuot, Sukkot, etc. So you're not commanded to keep it. You're not obliged to keep it. But you can. It is an optional feast day that you can keep. Just like with the feast day of Purim. Hanukkah is also connected with Daniel's prophecy in the book of Daniel. It's connected with our Messiah Yeshua. It's connected with the end times. We saw how the New Jerusalem and the New Temple would be coming down and being established here on the earth for the Kingdom of Heaven and it would be dedicated to us. Antiochus is a shadow or a foretype of the Christ. Hanukkah remembers and celebrates the amazing and awesome power of Yahweh and the miracle that He brought there during that initial Hanukkah victory. And Hanukkah is still for us today. Because it's the remembrance of the great and miraculous power of Yahweh. And that's just the God honest truth. So thank you for joining us for this teaching on Hanukkah. We hope that you got something out of it. If you learned something new, go down below let us know in the comments what you learned that was new. If we happened to miss something let us know that down below as well. After you get done in the comments make sure to give us a thumbs up or a thumbs down depending on how you like the teaching. Hit that subscribe button, ring the bell for new notifications and hit that share button and share it around with someone that you may know. And one more time, go down below in the description to click on the links for the on demand video, the draw slides and the notes for this particular teaching. 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