The Thanksgiving holiday this year coincides with the first day of the Jewish festival of Chanukah (or Hanukkah). I like this coincidence. I was never quite sure what the Festival of Chanukah was about, something about lights, a war, a menorah, a miracle. It was all pretty fuzzy until a few years ago. A hundred and sixty years before Jesus was born, the Greeks tried to force the Jews to give up the distinguishing marks of their religion and their people and to become more like the Greeks (be Hellenized). It became fatal to study Torah, keep kosher, circumcise children. Jews were cruelly tortured and executed for doing any of these things. They were forced to eat pig, or die. Mothers and infants were both killed if a child was found to be circumcised. Many Jews cooperated, but many also gave their lives for their faith. One day the kings representative tried to convince a priest named Mattathias to sacrifice a pig. He refused, but a Hellenizing Jew stepped up to do it for him. In the tradition of Phinehas (Numbers 25:7) Mathias executed him on the spot and killed the kings men. He and his sons then called everyone who was zealous for the Lord and for Torah to join them in fighting the powerful Greek armies. His son Judah (or Judas) had much success, was nicknamed Judas The Maccabee (Judas The Hammer) and after 3 years he recaptured and rededicated the temple. The Jews celebrated for 8 days in the spirit of the last Biblical festival they had missed, the 8 day Feast of Tabernacles. That is a brief of the story behind the story and you can read it in detail in the books of 1st and 2nd Maccabees. There is also a tradition that dates back to at least the Talmud, a tradition that I am unsure if it is true or not. It is said that the Greeks had defiled the consecrated oil that was used to light the Menorah in the Temple. Only one undefiled vial was found with the seal of the High Priest on it. On the first day of dedication they lit the Menorah, but there was only enough oil to burn for one day. It took 7 more days for more oil to be purified and consecrated, but that one days worth of oil burned for 8 full days. And so it is said in Israel during Chanukah, A great miracle happened here. Outside the land, Jews say, A great miracle happened there. I like to celebrate several things at Chanukah. First I want to celebrate those Jews that were faithful to their God and faith, that refused to let the Jewish faith die and the Torah be destroyed. If they had not resisted, Antiochus Epiphanies may well have wiped the Scriptures from the earth. Those faithful Jews were the fathers of men like Huss and Jerome. I think of Hannah who was tortured and killed after watching her sons suffer the same fate and many other Jews that refused to deny their God and their faith. Second I like to celebrate the re-dedication of the Jewish Temple. This festival was known in Jesus time as The Feast of Dedication and is so noted in John 10:22-39. Jesus was in the Temple, 3 days journey from His field of ministry (the Galilee) and at that time identified Himself as the Messiah. Why was He so far from home in the winter? Some say it was to observe Chanukah. Third, maybe the Menorah tradition is true, maybe not. I still enjoy the traditions built around it. These traditions help to tie me to Gods chosen people with whom He will establish His New Covenant. God refers to the Jews as His little man (...Google Little Man of the Eye) and He says He will never fail to love them. It is my honor and privilege to bind myself to them in every way I can, that does not deny my faith in Jesus and to show Gods love for His little man (the apple of His eye), to celebrate their positive history (as also I sigh and cry with them for their failures). There are some very interesting Jewish traditions that accompany the Jewish festivals that fit very well with those that have faith in Jesus. For example, the tall candlestick holds a special candle, the Shamash or Servant. This reminds me of Isaiah 53, the Suffering Servant. He is the Light of the world and lights us so we might be as He said, the light of the world. We like to light our Hanukiahs (Chanukah Menorahs). jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm biblegateway/passage/?search=1+Maccabees+1&version=GNT The 4 books of the Maccabees are not considered by most to be Scripture and are not included by most Protestant denominations or Jews as part of the Scriptural cannon. I do not suggest it should be used to form doctrine, but the first 2 are useful as historical books. Maccabees 3 and 4 are considered less reliable.
Posted on: Sat, 23 Nov 2013 21:48:37 +0000
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