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Shalom! Happy Hanukkah! I made a vlog last year about Hanukkah but I wanted to elaborate some more this time. I personally think every Believer should observe Hanukkah. If you want to see the other vlogs I did on Hanukkah, you can check out under November or December 2007 link and find “Happy Hanukkah”. Last year, the commenters had a big discussion and I created, “Bits of Christmas”. You can check that out if you want.

 Hanukkah is also known as “Feast of Dedication” and “Festival of Lights” It is mentioned in the Bible. John 10:22.

“Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter and Jesus was walking in the area of Solomon’s Porch.” -John 10:22-23.

Let us go back in time and imagine Jesus walking in Solomon’s porch. It was winter time. The temple is very beautiful and it has a lot of details and it was destroyed when the Babylions took over. The book of Ezra, Haggai, Zechariah, and Nehemiah talks about the destruction of the Temple.

The Macabee’s were a group of soliders who wanted to take back the temple and they fought against the Syrian-Greeks. This was before Jesus was born. This is just a historical event, proven to be true by other documents. The concept of this war reminds me of Boston Tea Party. A small group of people stirred up a war against a large group of soliders. Daniel 8 is a prophecy of this event, the Macabee’s war against the Syrian-Greek. In that chapter, there are a lot of symbols. Goats and rams, small and big horns, the small horns represent the Macabees and the large horn represents the Syrian-Greek armies. An interesting fact here: Kislev 25 is the beginning day of Hanukkah according to the Jewish calendar. This is the same date as the foundation of God’s temple that was laid by Solomon.

“From this day on, from this twenty-fourth day of the ninth month, give careful thought to the day when the fuondation of the Lord’s temple was laid. Give careful thought…: -Haggai 2:18 (Kislev is the ninth month.)

WHen the temple was won, it was very messy, destroyed, and out of order. only one jar of oil was found. This oil is to light the temple’s menorah. The jar they found was only good for one day but because of a miracle, the oil stayed lit for 8 days so that more oil could be prepared and that the temple could be rededicated.

Now, let’s go back to Jesus’ time, John 10:22. It was the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) and it was winter. Jesus was walking in Solomon’s porch. The Jews asked Jesus, “How long will you keep us in suspense?” (John 10:22-30) This is the very time, day, and moment that the Jews wanted to know if Jesus is really the Messiah. It was also the very time that Jesus annoucned to the world that he is, indeed, the Messiah. Jesus uses the miracle of the holiday to His life. “Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me.” -John 10:25

The Jews believed God had given them a miracle and that is allowing the oil to stay lit for 8 days so that they could rededicate the Temple and worship God. Jesus tells them that the miracles He does in the Father’s name speak outloud that He is THE Messiah. He is also THE light of the world. The Festival of Lights.

“Jesus spoke again to the people, he 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

We can live in victory and be glad– the Messiah has arrived. Let’s celebrate the Festival of Lights! When we believe that Yahushua is the Messiah, we rededicate our lives to God. It is a joyful time–this is a Feast of Dedication. It’s a good time to rededicate your mind, body and soul to God.

There are 8 nights and this is how I do it with my family. I do not think there is a right or wrong on how Hanukkah is celebrated but I like enriching my children with history, bible stories, truth, and applying to their lives.

The first and second night, we talk about the history of the Macabees. Pure History. We read from children books and we cover the miracle of the oil being lit for 8 days. HANUKKAH.

On the third, fourth, and fifth night we talk about the oil being a miracle and the greatest miracle EVER–the birth of Yahushua– the Messiah. We talk about how the Messiah is the light of the world and we also cover the story about John the Baptist and how he paved the way for people to reconnect to God. Jesus has completed the task and made way for us to reconnect and have a relationship with God. We read from Luke chapter 1 and 2. We also use children books that talk about the birth of the Messiah.  THE FESTIVAL OF LIGHT

On the sixth, seventh, and eighth night we talk about our relationship with God and how our bodies are the Temple of God and how we can keep it holy. You can read that in 1 Corinthains 3:16-17 and Ephesians 2:21. FEAST OF DEDICATION

“Don’t you know that you yourselves are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit lives in you? If anyone destroys God’s temple, God will destroy him; for God’s temple is sacred, and you are that temple.” -1 Corinthians 3:16-17

We also decorate our house with lights of different colors and we place icicle lights on the rooftop–for wintertime. White lights for purity, blue lights for the color of Israel and also we decorate with the Star of David and many menorahs. The tallest on the menorah represents the Messiah, the LIGHT of the world and it lights the others.  hanukkah parties to share the stories we learn and we cook different food and desserts that are commonly used during this season. Every night our children get one gift. They start off small and get bigger and bigger as the nights go. Let’s say, for example, one child will be getting an IPOD. The first night they get the headphones. The second night, they get the cover for the ipod. The third night they get the actual IPOD. For other children, they can get a neat and cool pen the first night, then the second night a headband, and so on.

Hanukkah is a beautiful holiday when we see how the Messiah is parelleled in it. I enjoy this holiday a lot.

Have a blessed Hanukkah!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, December 17th, 2008 at 11:29 am and is filed under Links. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.