Tonight we will light the final candle on our Hanukkiah. All day, Ive been pondering, What did I learn new this Hanukkah? As always, I was impressed by the bravery of Judah Maccabee and his sons, who stood up for right in the face of death. Our prayer as we lit the candles each night (adopted from Nehemiah Gordon) was: Blessed are you, YHWH our God, King of the Universe, who sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us, Be careful to observe only that which I enjoined upon you. Neither add to it nor take away from it (Deuteronomy 12:32). On this night we remember the First Hanukkah, where the people of God were commanded: Do not say the name of YHWH. Do not celebrate Shabbat. Do not circumcise your sons. You must eat the pig offered to Appollo, and You must have a street-side altar in front of your house. These are the regulations which come from the Greeks, and we defy those regulations, whether they come from the heathens or any false teachers. We want to celebrate the miracle of those who defeated the Enemy in the power and name of the Creator. Although, like the Maccabees, we live in the wilderness, we pray and dedicate our Hanukkah to the rebuilding of the Temple again and the new dedication of the altar in the place where He chose to place His name forever. Amen. --- Ive also been giving a lot of thought to the fact that my body is also a temple of the Most High, a dwelling place for His Holy Spirit. As such, He asks me to be clean and holy in my daily life. Yeshua said, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12). He also said to Nicodemus, This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God (John 3:18-21). When I remember that Yeshua is the light and that He wants me to be a light to all those around me (to let my light so shine before men), I am learning to cleanse and dedicate my temple. I cleanse out all evil and unclean things (see Leviticus 11 and 19), and I consecrate my life for His use and service (see Romans 12:1-2). This kind of introspection is hard. It hurts to uncover sin in my heart and home. Its hard to let go of things that are near and dear, even if they come from when I walked in ignorance and unbelief. However, when I kick the darkness out, His light shines in. His glory is seen. His radiance comes out. So heres a song for this final day: https://youtube/watch?v=QjrNhi36vLU
Posted on: Thu, 25 Dec 2014 22:00:28 +0000
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