Hanakkuh: Feast of Dedication

This year Hanukkah the Feast of Dedication a.k.a. the Festival of Lights, begins on Christmas day at sundown. It lasts for 8 days.

In 175 BC, Antiochus IV came to power. He was a Greek king of the Seleucid Empire. He chose for himself the name Antiochus Epiphanes, which means “god manifest.” He began to persecute the Jews in earnest. He outlawed Jewish religious practices (including the observance of kosher food laws) and ordered the worship of the Greek god Zeus, a.k.a. the pagan god Baal.

Today our government has outlawed Christian religious practices such as praying on a sidewalk for unborn babies and ministering to children who have gender dysphoria. We are ordered to worship the goddess Ishtar and Baphomet indirectly through transgender ideology, as they seek to sexually indoctrinate our children. The Woke agenda is based on Luciferian ideology. I call this Wokaferian, a pagan religion which defies and violates the Word of God. This is not being cruel, mean or judgmental; the ones who want to mutilate the bodies and minds of our children are cruel and mean. Unfortunately, the majority of the people who have come under the woke banner (the rainbow flag) do not realize who they are worshipping; Lucifer. God loves everyone, we love everyone but everyone is subject to God’s righteousness. We speak the Truth in love as a warning to those who would otherwise suffer under the wrath of God.

Antiochus’ ultimate act of desecration, precipitating the Maccabean Revolt, was to sacrifice a pig to Zeus a.k.a. Baal, in the temple in Jerusalem in 167 BC. Faithful Jewish opposition had been an undercurrent all along, but Antiochus’ overt act of desecration brought it to the surface, and the result was the Maccabean Revolt. Mattathias, a Jewish priest, led the organized resistance along with his five sons: John Gaddi, Simon Thassi, Eleazar Avaran, Jonathan Apphus, and Judas Maccabeus (Maccabeus comes from the Hebrew word for “hammer”).

Mattathias started the rebellion by preventing a Jew from sacrificing to a pagan god and then killing an officer of the king. Mattathias escaped with his family to the hills where he was joined by many other faithful Jews. From there, they conducted guerilla warfare against the Seleucids, but much of their wrath was also directed against fellow Jews who had embraced Greek culture (Hellenized Jews). The rebels tore down pagan altars, circumcised boys (a Jewish tradition that then under Antiochus was punishable by death), and forced Hellenized Jews to become “outlaws” with no rights or legal protection. Upon Mattathias’ death in 166 BC, his son Judas Maccabeus took command of the rebellion. Judas saw himself as a leader like Moses, Joshua, and Gideon. https://www.gotquestions.org/Maccabean-Revolt.html

The Temple was cleansed from the pagan defilement and in 164 BC the decision was made to rededicate the Temple. Unfortunately, there was only enough holy olive oil to light the golden lampstand (the menorah) for one day, but the dedication was to last 8 days. The decision was made to light the menorah and it miraculously burned for 8 days!

John 10:22-23 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.

Over 2000 years ago the Light of the World stepped into the Temple to celebrate the Festival of Lights. Once inside, Jesus said His sheep know His voice, they follow Him, and are protected by His Father God. We the sheep are God’s family, and just as Jesus is the Light of the World, we too carry that same light. We are children of light! Eph 5:8 For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.

Walking in the light; being transparent, open and honest. Doing good works causing others to glorify our Father in Heaven. The light of Jesus comes from His glory that is in us. His glory is increasing and so is our brightness. Light is also symbolic of the truth. Walking in the light is walking in righteousness.

Matt 5:14-16 "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. 16 Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.”
America is called “The City on a Hill” referring to this Scripture.

We are that lampstand filled with anointing oil, shining the glory of Jesus. Rev 1:20 The mystery of the seven stars which you saw in My right hand, and the seven golden lampstands: The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands which you saw are the seven churches.

In the original Tabernacle of Moses, the lampstand had seven lamps and is a paradigm of the light that is inside of us, we are the temple or tabernacle for the Spirit of God. Together we bring our light and form the lampstand. We work with the seven stars who are the seven angels. We are a family of light!

Isa 58:8,9 Then your light shall break forth like the morning, Your healing shall spring forth speedily, And your righteousness shall go before you; The glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. 9 Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, 'Here I am.' This is priceless; amidst the trouble hearing God’s voice and comfort. Like Jesus said, “My sheep hear My Voice and follow Me…and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father’s hand.”

Isa 58:10-11 …Then your light shall dawn in the darkness, And your darkness shall be as the noonday. 11 The Lord will guide you continually, And satisfy your soul in drought, And strengthen your bones;

Isa 58:12 Those from among you Shall build the old waste places; You shall raise up the foundations of many generations; And you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, The Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.

Isa 60:1-3 Arise, shine; For your light has come! And the glory of the Lord is risen upon you. 2 For behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, And deep darkness the people; But the Lord will arise over you, And His glory will be seen upon you.
3 The Gentiles shall come to your light, And kings to the brightness of your rising.

The Greatest Light is the Morning Star
2 Peter 1:19 And so we have the prophetic word confirmed, which you do well to heed as a light that shines in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts;

Jesus is the Word of God
John 1:1-13 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5 And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

6 There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. 7 This man came for a witness, to bear witness of the Light, that all through him might believe. 8 He was not that Light, but was sent to bear witness of that Light. 9 That was the true Light which gives light to every man coming into the world.

10 He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world did not know Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. 12 But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: 13 who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.

Hanukkah means “dedication.” It is through being dedicated to the Word of God (Jesus) that we shine bright with His Morning Star Authority! Dedicated means a person devoted to a task or purpose; having single-minder loyalty or integrity. Are you dedicated to Jesus Christ and the Word of God, or are you a “pretender?”