Hanukkah is the winter Jewish feast celebrated in late November or late December of our calendar and starting on 25 Kislev in the Hebrew calendar and lasting for eight days until 2 Tevet. Hanukkah is also known as the feast of dedication and the festival of lights. Jesus celebrated Hanukkah. (John 10:22-23 ¶ And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.
23 And Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s porch.) This is the only time Hanukkah is mentioned in scripture.
Hanukkah is not one of the seven feasts ordained by God that the Israelites were required to celebrate. Hanukkah was added later just like the feast of Purim by the rabbis. Just because it was added later does not minimize it and it still points the Jews to Jesus just like all of the other Jewish feasts. Hanukkah is not considered a major religious feast by the Jews and is often celebrated by all Jews today including secular Jews.
The Syrians as part of the Seleucid Empire had conquered Israel and tried to force Hellenization on the Jews. They tried to make them more Greek like in culture, religion, and language. Antiochus IV Epiphanes launched a major attack against the Jews in 168 BC (or 167 BC). Jewish practices were banned such as circumcision, worshipping on the sabbath, and sacrifices, and Jerusalem was under direct control of the Seleucid Empire and Syrian king. Antiochus desecrated the temple in Jerusalem by sacrificing a pig on the altar to the Greek god Zeus and pouring the pig broth on scrolls. Pigs were unclean animals to Jews and this defiled the temple. His order said the Jews could only sacrifice pigs in the temple. The antichrist will desecrate the third temple during the great tribulation maybe in a similar fashion. Daniel 11:31 seems to point to both the future desecration of the temple by the antichrist as well as the past desecration by Antiochus. Verse 32 which says “the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits” may refer to the Maccabees and their recapture and cleansing of the temple and hint at the future Hanukkah. (Daniel 11:31-32 And arms shall stand on his part, and they shall pollute the sanctuary of strength, and shall take away the daily sacrifice, and they shall place the abomination that maketh desolate.
32 And such as do wickedly against the covenant shall he corrupt by flatteries: but the people that do know their God shall be strong, and do exploits.) Mattathias Maccabee a priest and his five sons led a group of Jews in rebellion against the invaders for having desecrated the temple of God. His followers became known as the Maccabees and the story of their revolt and Hanukkah is found in the apocryphal books of I and II Maccabees. These books are not scripture, but rather Jewish historical books. The Maccabees were able to recapture the temple after three years and after cleansing the temple they rededicated it on 25 Kislev 165 BC (or 164 BC) exactly three years after the desecration of the temple led by Judas Maccabees the son of Mattathias who had died. This is what Hanukkah celebrates today. They only had enough oil for one day for the menorah which was supposed to burn continually in the temple as it represented the eternal light of God. God provided a miracle and the one day supply of oil burned for eight days, long enough for them to produce new oil. Hanukkah is actually more than just the oil. The Jews had been fighting for three years and had been unable to celebrate the feast of tabernacles. This feast would have been the most recent on the Jewish calendar. Hanukkah was really to be a sort of celebration of the feast of tabernacles as a second celebration in recognition of God providing them victory over their enemies. Tradition says that the date of 25 Kislev was chosen since it was on this date that a miracle was said to have happened when Nehemiah relighted the altar fire and this date was chosen in remembrance of that event as well. These accounts are from I and II Maccabees which as I said say this new feast was really meant to be a delayed celebration of the feast of tabernacles which is why Hanukkah is also eight days long and has many similarities with the lighted menorah and such. I believe this is one reason for the name festival of lights for Hanukkah. The miracle of the oil is not mentioned in I or II Maccabees and some say it was added later to deceive the Romans so they would not fear another revolt, but I believe it happened. Notice how the food eaten on Hanukkah is fried in oil representative of this miracle oil.
Jews have a joyous time during Hanukkah. They sing Hanukkah songs and eat special foods such as latkes which are potato pancakes fried in oil and sufganiyot which are jelly donuts fried in oil. Notice the oil as this connection will be seen later. The children often play a game called dreidel. A dreidel is a four sided top with a Hebrew letter on each side that forms the acrostic which says “A Great Miracle Happened Here.” The children play the game remembering how God saved the Jewish people from destruction. A special menorah with nine branches or candlesticks known as a hanukiyah is used for Hanukkah in place of the normal seven candlestick menorah. The number nine means the fruit of the Spirit. The center candlestick is raised higher above the four on each side of it and is known as the shamash or servant candle. The servant candle is lit first on the first night and is then used to light one candle. Each night another candle is lit by the servant candle until all eight are lit by day eight. Praises are sung while lighting the candles. Psalm 30 is recited on 25 Kislev along with the Torah, the first five books of scripture. (Psalm 119:105 (NUN). Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.) Psalm 30 has the superscription (A Psalm and Song at the dedication of the house of David.) The house of David referred to here is Solomon’s temple with the true temple of Jesus coming from the seed of David. It is said the 25 of Kislev and the five books equal 30, the number of the psalm. The Jews do not understand the real meaning. The number 25 means forgiveness of sins and five means grace. The number 30 means the blood of Christ and dedication. It is because of the shed blood of Jesus and by his grace that we can be redeemed or dedicated as a child of God. Just as the temple was cleansed from defilement, Jesus cleanses us from sin. (I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.) The giving of gifts was originally never a part of Hanukkah, but today some people do give small gifts to the children though not a lot or expensive ones the way people often do on Christmas.
The one time in scripture that Hanukkah is mentioned, Jesus is at the temple preaching. The people want to know if he is the Messiah or not and Jesus tells them I have already told you by my works. Jesus said he and God the Father were one thus saying he was God. (John 10:30 I and my Father are one.) The Jews wanted to stone him. After the temple was cleansed the Jews had placed the contaminated and desecrated stones on the temple mount waiting for the Messiah to come and tell them what to do with them. A new altar had replaced the desecrated altar. The Maccabees believed these stones were holy since they had been used on the altar for sacrifices to God, yet now they were desecrated so they knew they had to be removed from the temple yet they did not want to destroy them due to their original purpose. Therefore they were looking for the Messiah to come and direct them on what to do. This is one reason the Jews were asking Jesus if he was the Messiah and they also wanted the Messiah to overthrow the Romans, but they did not realize that the first coming of Jesus was to bring salvation to man and the second coming would bring judgment and rule of the world. The Jews did not understand this and thought there were going to be two Messiahs and they did not care about salvation from sins, only from the oppression of the Romans. Many people are just like them today not caring about their eternal destiny only their freedom to do what they want today. Jesus tried to point out to the Jews on this feast of the dedication that it was not the temple that needed to be cleansed, but rather our sinful defiled bodies and souls and that is why people need Jesus as their Saviours. Jesus came to earth to dedicate the true temple of God in himself along with the temple which is the body of believers. People once cleansed by Jesus’ blood become a temple of God. (John 2:19 Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.) (I Corinthians 3:16-17 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
17 If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.) Jesus was the true temple that was desecrated when he was crucified on the cross at Calvary. The Maccabees victory was only temporary, but for those who receive Jesus as their Saviour, they will have permanent victory over Satan, sin, and death. This does not mean we will not sin anymore or see physical death, but rather that Satan can never pull us away from Jesus and the everlasting life he has promised us and Satan can never take away our salvation or control us again unless we let him. Just as Hanukkah means dedication, we as Christians should be dedicated to the Lord every day and not just on Sunday. In God’s eyes, partial dedication is the same as a desecrated temple. Children should be dedicated to the Lord and trained in the ways of the Lord. (Proverbs 22:6 Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.)
Jesus can be seen in Hanukkah. I mentioned how Hanukkah is a joyous time for the Jewish people as it should be since it points to Jesus as our salvation. The servant candle that is used to light the other candles represents Jesus. Jesus as God became a servant for us by becoming a man so that he might suffer and die for our sins and be resurrected so that we might have everlasting life. (Isaiah 53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.) (Philippians 2:7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:) (Matthew 20:28 Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.) It is only because Jesus was willing to become a servant for us that we are able to have everlasting life with him. The entire menorah with its lighted candles represents Jesus as the light of the world. (John 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.) True light only comes from Jesus. This will be seen during the new Jerusalem where there is no more sun as Jesus is present and he is the only light we need. (Revelation 21:23 And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light thereof.) Jesus will also be the temple and this one will never be desecrated. (Revelation 21:22 And I saw no temple therein: for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it.) Just as the servant candle is used to light the other candles only Jesus can bring light to individuals. I have mentioned before in other sermons how Jesus as the light of the world was conceived on Hanukkah and was dedicated to the world to be our Saviour thus showing the relevance of the names for this feast of the feast of the dedication as Jesus is dedicated to man and the festival of lights as Jesus is the true light of the world. This shows that God approves of this feast even though it was not originally prescribed by God. Jesus was born on the feast of tabernacles showing the connection with Hanukkah having been conceived on Hanukkah. Every significant event in the life of Jesus was on a Jewish feast as will be all future events in the life of Jesus. I showed how Hanukkah is only mentioned the one time in John. It is not a coincidence that it is not in the old testament as first off the events happened during the silent years between the old and new testaments and also Jesus is revealed openly in the new testament or dedicated to the world as the God-man. I mentioned the nine branches of the special Hanukkah menorah and the meaning of the number nine. The eight branches that are left with four on each side of the servant candle represent the new beginning a person has in Jesus Christ when they are saved. The number 8 means new beginning. (II Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.) The number four means gospel and can be seen by the four branches on the two sides of the servant candle which represents Jesus. It is the gospel that is presented to people that brings people to Jesus for salvation and the new beginning of everlasting life. Let us preach the gospel to a lost and dying world so that others may have a new beginning and a new life with Jesus. (I Corinthians 15:3-4 For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures;
4And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures:) The lights of the menorah shine brightly in the darkness each night, but when daylight comes they are greatly outshone by the sun. This is represented by Jesus as the Sun of righteousness. (Malachi 4:2 ¶ But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye shall go forth, and grow up as calves of the stall.) When night comes again the lit candles bring new hope as they look to their coming Messiah. I do not believe that it is a coincidence that Hanukkah and Christmas are close to the same time. I have mentioned in previous sermons how sometimes Hanukkah and Christmas fall at the same time and that it is possible that in the year that Jesus was conceived on Hanukkah that Christmas that year was also at the same time. Just as Jesus fulfilled Hanukkah an added Jewish feast from the seven ordained by God, he can also fulfill a non-Jewish day in Christmas. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus at Christmas and his conception at Hanukkah the two are interlinked with Hanukkah showing Jesus as the light of the world and Christmas showing Jesus as the bread of life. (John 6:35 And Jesus said unto them, I am the bread of life: he that cometh to me shall never hunger; and he that believeth on me shall never thirst.) (Isaiah 9:2 The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.) Jesus is the light that will bring people out of darkness. Hanukkah points to the fact that Jesus as the Light brings salvation not only to the Jews, but also to Gentiles. (Isaiah 49:6 And he said, It is a light thing that thou shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel: I will also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou mayest be my salvation unto the end of the earth.) May the Jews and all people turn to Jesus today for salvation. Satan brings darkness to his followers, but Jesus brings light. (John 8:12 ¶ Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.) For those who are Christians let us shine brightly and bring forth the light of Jesus to a dark and sinful world. Be a lighthouse and a beacon of light in a world full of darkness.
