Hanukkah is one of the most misunderstood of all Holy Days. For believers, it is often ignored as being “a Jewish feast” or not of G-d. Nothing could be further from the truth. As I explained in the Light article: “Light” — Or in Hebrew — represents the presence of G-d. It represents His Sh’kenah Glory (the visible presence of G-d). Our Messiah is the Sh’kenah of G-d, His visible presence given to the world to show us the way to live and the way to Him.
Many would be surprised to know that the Messiah himself participated in Hanukkah (also called the Feast of Light or Dedication): It was the Feast of Hanukkah at Yerushalayim. It was winter, and Yeshua (Jesus-The Messiah) was walking in the temple, in Shlomo’s porch [Solomons Porch]. The Yehudim (Judeans) therefore came around him and said to him, “How long will you hold us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” Yeshua answered them, “I told you, and you don’t believe. The works that I do in my Father’s name, these testify about me. But you don’t believe, because you are not of my sheep, as I told you. My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me. I give eternal life to them. They will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one [the same essence] — John 10:22-42.
Here is the Light of G-d, Messiah Himself, in Jerusalem celebrating Hanukkah, the Feast of G-d’s Light!
Without the events of Hanukkah, there would be no Messiah. Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Jewish people over the forces of Antiochus, a Greek-Syrian ruler whose empire descended from Alexander the Great. Alexander looked favorably on the Jewish people and allowed them to continue to worship the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. However, Antiochus was determined to wipe out the worship of G-d and instead replace the true G-d with the false gods of Greece. He forbade the studying of Torah and also prohibited keeping kosher, circumcision, and keeping Shabbat. He forced the eating of unclean meats (pork) and idol worship. The Messiah and Paul both use Antiochus as a picture of the coming anti-Messiah (anti-Christ). Historical records tell of women being mutilated and their babies killed for having them circumcised. This man was truly evil.
A G-dly priest named Mathias and his sons refused to eat pork and worship the idols Antiochus’ men set up. Mathias cried, “Those who are for G-d and Torah, follow me.” He began a three-year struggle to free Israel from the Greek-Syrians. The successful struggle led to the freedom of both Israel and the Temple. When the Jews returned to the Temple, they found that pigs had been slaughtered on the altar and that the Menorahs (the oil lamps in the Temple) had been destroyed. The Temple was cleansed and the Menorah re-forged. When only one day’s worth of oil (which takes 7 days to make) was found, the Menorah or “Light of G-d” was rekindled in faith. The oil, by the power of G-d, burned for 8 days, allowing more oil to be made; thus the miracle of Hanukkah!
We all must acknowledge, to our shame, that some groups who call themselves believers have done the very acts of Antiochus. My family lived through the Spanish Inquisition. There, traditional Jews were exiled, but Messianic Jews were tortured and killed because we refused to stop following: the G-d of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, keeping His Torah, keeping kosher, circumcising our sons, and keeping Shabbat. Many who served Hitler called themselves believers. Even today, some criticize us because we keep G-d’s commands and keep Shabbat and the Holy Days.
Hanukkah was also a celebration of Sukkot, as the Greek-Syrians had banned keeping Sukkot during their reign. Sukkot is a feast that is commanded even in Messiah’s millennial reign (the 1000-year kingdom on earth). The command is not only to Jews but to Gentiles also! As written in Zechariah 14:16-19:
And it shall come to pass, [that] every one that is left of all the nations which came against Jerusalem shall even go up from year to year to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, and to keep the feast of tabernacles. And it shall be, [that] whoso will not come up of [all] the families of the earth unto Jerusalem to worship the King, the LORD of hosts, even upon them shall be no rain. And if the family of Egypt go not up, and come not, that [have] no [rain]; there shall be the plague, wherewith the LORD will smite the heathen that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles. This shall be the punishment of Egypt, and the punishment of all nations that come not up to keep the feast of tabernacles.
Sukkot is when G-d dwells with His people. Many Messianic Jews believe Messiah was born at Sukkot, and there is considerable evidence to support this claim. The day Christians celebrate Messiah’s birthday may in fact be the original celebration of the day the Ruach HaKodesh (the Breath or Spirit of G-d) came to Miryam (Mary) and created the miracle of Messiah’s earthly body.
So without Hanukkah, the Jewish people would have ceased to exist, and Messiah could not have come to live a perfectly Torah-observant life and die to redeem us. So Hanukkah is not “just for Jews” but for everyone who calls upon the G-d of Israel and His Messiah!
