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Chanukah Celebration
We will be celebrating Chanukah slightly early this year, this Friday night the 20th of December. Our final meeting for 2019. We will remember what God has done.
Please invite your friends.
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“I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12)
Shalom Friends,
As we will be celebrating Chanukah soon, I thought it would be good to do a little study on this festival.
We first read about Chanukah in John 10:22-39, where we see that Yeshua celebrated Chanukah. The feast is not mentioned in the Older Testament, for it, was instituted by Judah Maccabee in 164 B.C.E. It marks the rededication (chanukah) of the temple, after it had been defiled by Antiochus Epiphanes, when pigs were sacrificed on the temple’s altar. We note that this feast celebrates the deliverance from evil and a dedication to God.
John 10:22-24 “At that time the Feast of Dedication (Chanukah) took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.” I find the way that John records this rather interesting, for Chanukah is always in winter and Solomon’s colonnade was a part of the temple which was only in Jerusalem. Why does John emphasise the fact that it is winter and that Yeshua is in the temple, and specifically in Solomon’s colonnade?
I believe he highlights that it is winter in order to emphasize that Yeshua is the Light of the world (John 1:9; John 8:12; John 9:5). This feast is also called the Festival of Lights for in each Jewish home, then and now, candles are lit. Today we use a special 9-branched menorah on each of the eight nights of Chanukah. Light and darkness are recurring themes in John’s Gospel, as he compares Yeshua as the Light, in contrast to the darkness of unbelief. This comes out plainly in John 10:24 “So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Yeshua had demonstrated that He was the Messiah and had told them plainly time and time again, yet most of the Jews,(John means the Jewish leadership), did not believe Him. Sadly this is still true today. The majority of Jewish people do not believe. And that is why we pray that God may open their eyes and that they may turn to the Light. We, like John the baptist, need to be witnesses to the true light, Yeshua, who can gives light to everyone who believes.
Now the location comes into play. It is interesting that they are in Solomon’s Colonnade, given the name Solomon means “peace” or “man of peace.” And here is the Prince of Peace before them.
After the Maccabees had cleansed the Temple they removed the defiled altar. While the story recorded in 1 Maccabees 4 is not part of the Biblical story, it does tell us about the history. In 1 Maccabees 4:43-47 we see that “they cleansed the sanctuary and removed the defiled stones to an unclean place. They deliberated what to do about the altar of burnt offering, which had been profaned. And they thought it best to tear it down, lest it bring reproach upon them, for the Gentiles had defiled it. So they tore down the altar, and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple mount until there should come a prophet to tell what to do with them. Then they took unhewn stones, as the law directs, and built a new altar like the former one.”
They were waiting for a prophet to tell them what to do with the defiled stones and now walking amongst them was Yeshua, the Prophet like Moses (Deuteronomy 18:15-18). We who are in Messiah are compared to living stones. 1 Peter 2:5 says “you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Messiah Yeshua.” You and I are now dedicated by Yeshua to serve in holiness in His Temple because He has cleansed and purified us.
In Acts 3:1-11 we read that Peter and Paul healed a lame man while walking in Solomon’s colonnade. Also, the early believers met in Solomon's colonnade (Acts 5:12). This is where they started to spread the True Light to the world. Similarly, we should let our light shine before men, and that is a serious challenge.
The Jewish leaders asked Yeshua if He was the Messiah. Will you help in sharing the Gospel to the Jewish people? Please pray that we are walking in the Light of the Lord, so that the things we plan, and that we may have His seal of approval.
Shalom & Blessings in Messiah Yeshua, the True Light
Paul
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Next Meeting:
Paul will be teaching on Chanukah this Friday the 20th of December
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We will be meeting at our venue at 32 Horace Street St Ives at 7:30 pm. Please don't bring something to eat for after the discussion. We are being blessed with catering for the evening!
Thank you again to all who support our ministry in prayer and financially, electronically or directly at our meetings. May the LORD bless you all for your generosity.
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