““You shall command the people of Israel that they bring to you pure beaten olive oil for the light, that a lamp may regularly be set up to burn. In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons shall tend it from evening to morning before the Lord. It shall be a statute forever to be observed throughout their generations by the people of Israel.”
Exodus 27:20-21 ESV
““You shall make a lampstand of pure gold. The lampstand shall be made of hammered work: its base, its stem, its cups, its calyxes, and its flowers shall be of one piece with it.”
Exodus 25:31 ESV
And thus the observance began, because God instructed His servant Moses to keep an Eternal Flame lit outside the veil in the Tabernacle of the Lord. It took over one hundred pounds of pure gold (worth millions in today’s market) to make the lamp stand and its tools for the tabernacle of the Lord. This lamp stand gave light day and night in the Tabernacle of the Lord. This light pierced the dark because the Tabernacle had no windows. The light of this lamp stand symbolized the coming Messiah who is THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD.
Around 167 BC the mighty Seleucid nation invaded Judea and tried to impose their Grecian way of life onto the Jewish nation. The Seleucid king, Antiocus Epiphanes, was so bold as to march into the Temple of God in Jerusalem and set up a statue of Zeus. He told the children of Israel to worship this god, then on their sacrificial altar Antiochus slaughtered pigs. This was an abomination for this Jewish ethnicity. They worshiped THE ONE TRUE GOD OF HEAVEN AND EARTH AND HIM ALONE. Their Temple, where they came to worship ADONAI, had been desecrated.
But for one family from a priestly line, the Maccabees, who chose to go against the grain and rise up against this Grecian king and his power trip. It took 3 long years but the Maccabees gained control of the Temple and Antiocus Epiphanes decided it was too much to hellenize (to make them Greek in thought, in life, and in religion) this people group, and he went back to Greece.
The Maccabees then rededicated the Temple of God and set up worship as was ordained in the commands of God given to Moses. Now we finally come to the history of Hanukkah. They discovered they only had one day supply of the purifying oil used to light the Lamp stand of God, but it’s the miracle of Hanukkah, the oil lasted 8 days, long enough for another batch to be made according to the word of God.
That my friends is the abridged version of Hanukkah and why the children of Israel celebrate it year after year and throughout the centuries. Hanukkah simply means DEDICATION. The celebration is also referred as the FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS, and Jesus, THE LIGHT WHO GIVES LIGHT TO ALL MANKIND, celebrated it. JESUS IS THE ETERNAL FLAME OF GOD.
“At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.”
John 10:22-23 ESV
Tonight after our Hanukkah candles have been lit I think of that word DEDICATION. The Maccabees wanted to rededicate the Temple and cleanse it after it had been desecrated. People may wonder why my husband and I choose to observe this feast and light the Advent candles. We choose to use these customs because they help us prepare our hearts for the TRUE MEANING OF CHRISTMAS.
There is a line in the Christmas Carol “Joy to the world.” “Let every heart prepare Him room.” Observing these ordinances prepare our hearts to make room for THE TRUE REASON FOR THIS SEASON.
Every time I light a candle, every time I read a verse, every time I hear a Hanukkah blessing I am reminded of THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD – JESUS AND HE IS THE GREATEST GIFT EVER GIVEN AND HE IS COMING AGAIN. During Advent I look for the coming of the KING OF KINGS AND LORD OF LORDS.
I love the poem by Christina Rossetti, “My gift.” I wonder, “What can I dedicate to Jesus. All I can give Him and all He desires is my heart.”
Presenting my grandson Zeke Jones reciting “My Gift,” by Christina Rossetti.