based on sermon notes by Stuart Rothberg
Happy Hanukkah! If you don’t spit a little when you say the word, “Hanukkah,” you are not quite saying it correctly. As we enter December and all the holidays involved, you may have some questions about what Hanukkah is and why it is celebrated. It just so happens that we have a wonderful teaching pastor who has many answers about this holiday that will be celebrated beginning the evening of Sunday, December 6 and will go through the evening of Monday, December 14, 2015. The date coincides with 25 Kislev on the Hebrew calendar.
Hanukkah lasts for eight days. It is a festival of light and celebrates the triumph of light over darkness, of purity over adulteration, of spirituality over materialism. It is not found in the Old Testament. You will have to look in history books to find its origin.
This story starts in 323 B.C., after the death of Alexander the Great. He had captured most of the known world and spread Greek culture, religion, and language throughout the world. Alexander became commander at age 25 and died at age 33 with no heirs. When he died, his kingdom was divided among four of his generals. One general controlled a large area of land to the north of Israel known as Syria. Another had control of Egypt to the south of Israel. These two generals went to war against each other with Israel caught in the middle. Since there was not one government, the people of Israel did not know whom they belonged to, whom to be loyal to, or even whom to pay taxes to. Two Jewish political parties arose; one favored the Egyptian rule and the other favored the Syrian rule.
Around 175 B.C., Syrian leader Antiochus IV came on the scene. He was a tyrant in every sense of the word. In fact, he thought he was god in the flesh and referred to himself as Antiochus Theos Epiphanes, which means, “Antiochus, the visible god.”
Antiochus went to war against Egypt and had some success in bringing Egypt under Syrian control. However, Rome intervened and his choice was to back down or face war with Rome. Antiochus left Egypt frustrated and humiliated. He made his way back to Syria. On the way, he stopped in Jerusalem and had a pig killed on the altar at the Temple. If this were not enough, he had his soldiers carry a statue of the chief Syrian god, Zeus, into the Holy of Holies. He demanded that the Jewish people bow down to the statue. Those who refused were killed.
In a small village northwest of Jerusalem, a priest named Mattathias and his five sons rebelled against Antiochus. The oldest son, Judah, later became known as the “Hammer of the Maccabee.” Under his leadership, the Maccabees led a guerrilla-style war and after a three-year struggle, they succeeded in driving the Syrian army out of the Promised Land.
Once the Syrian army was deposed, the Maccabees turned their attention to the Holy of Holies which had been desecrated. The altar and Temple were cleansed. The first Hanukkah, or “dedication” took place after the cleansing on the 25th of Kislev, the ninth month in the Hebrew calendar (corresponding to December) in 164 B.C.
The eight-day festival of light continues to this day. At the heart of the festival is the nightly menorah lighting. The lighting of the menorah came from that first Hanukkah when the Holy Temple was rededicated to God. The story is that when they sought to light the Temple’s menorah, they found only a single cruse of olive oil that had escaped contamination by the Greeks. The one-day supply miraculously burned for eight days, until new oil could be prepared under conditions of the purity ritual. That is the reason for the eight-day celebration and lighting of the candles each night.
There are several customs, games, songs, and food that add to the celebration including a ban on mourning and sadness! Some of the customs include eating foods fried in oil such as latkes, which are similar to potato pancakes and sufganiot, or doughnuts. One of the more popular games includes the dreidel. A dreidel is a four-sided top with the Hebrew letters nun, gimmel, hei, and shin on each side. The acronym means, “a great miracle happened there.”
Hanukkah also includes the giving of gifts each night of Hanukkah. They are not elaborate gifts such as those that are often given at Christmas today. Also given at this time are gifts to charity collected in boxes. The boxes can be ornate or simple. In particular, gifts are given to charities for the blind because they cannot see the Hanukkah lights.
In the New Testament, John 10:22-23 mentioned the Feast of the Dedication in Jerusalem. Jesus went to Jerusalem, the Temple, for the purpose of observing the Feast of Dedication, or Hanukkah. Although Jesus was observing this festival of the dedication of the Temple, His ministry and focus were on a dedicated people.
The Menorah is styled after the seven-branched candelabra in the first and second temples. But the Hanukkah menorah has nine branches. Why nine? The holiday lasts eight days to commemorate what legend says was a miracle from God. But God, it is said, provided light for eight days, hence, the eight candles; one for each of the eight days of the holiday. The ninth candle is set apart from the others. It is higher than the rest. It is the Shammas or “Servant” candle. This “Servant Candle” could be a reminder of Jesus according to Mark 10:45, “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
Although not intended to point to Jesus, it is a wonderful symbol of Jesus, this candle that enlightens the others. Jesus is the light of the world. He was born and lived among us so that we would be enlightened about our sin and His merciful willingness to forgive it and become the sacrifice to pay for our sins.
Jesus, at around the time of Hanukkah, said this in John 8:12, “I am the light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.”
Jesus is indeed the Light of the World.