What is "Hanukkah" all about? did Yeshua (Jesus) celebrate it?

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BenAvraham

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2015
839
254
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#1
GENESIS 41:1-44:17.................2 CHRONICLES 7:1-11.......JOHN 10:22-33

A SPECIAL HANUKKAH PARASHA, (yet making a connection with this week's Parasha, "Miketz"

We start out with the dreams of Yosef, but where does Hanukkah come in? well, later it does, it leads up to it, sort of.. Dreams and visions are 2 ways in which G-d speaks to us, other than through the Torah and the Ruach HaKodesh, (Holy Spirit) I am sure we have all had dreams, many times, we can't remember them when we awake, but other times we do,
Yosef was in the right place at the right time, even though he might not have realized it Adonai was in control, prison seemed gloomy, yet there in prison, G-d used Yosef. Had he not been in the prison he would not have been able to interpret the dreams of the baker and cup bearer,, and had he not done those things, Pharaoh would not have heard of Yosef.
Sometimes, G-d gives dreams to heathen rulers, for a specific purpose, in this case, to save the world of famine, thus, Joseph came to the palace at the right time, there was darkness before the light, storm before the calm, an inmate before vice-King of Egypt. His role was to save the then known world of future starvation. Yosef was a type of Messiah, who saved the world of physical starvation, while Messiah Yeshua saved the world of spiritual starvation, Yosef saved physical lives, while Yeshua saved Spiritual lives,
Daniel also received a special revelation, when we go to the book of Daniel, chapter 8 we see that G-d reveals things that would happen about 500 years later, the vision of the goat and horns, the vision revealed the arrival of Alexander the Great, the broken horn, would be his death at the young age of 30, the 4 horns, the 4 kingdoms that would follow Alexander and gain power, besides Greece we have Rome, Persia, and Babylon, from Greece, we see the arrival of the Seleucid Empire, a Greek-Syrian power that would produce the tyrant “Antiochus Epiphanes, He stopped all worship of Adonai, proclaimed himself “Zeus Incarnate” put to death anyone who would dare study Torah, he sacrificed pigs in the temple,
This tyrant had to be stopped, and the high Priest Mattathias had the chutzpah to do it, He and his 5 sons, John Jonathan, Judah, Simon, and Eleazar went to war against Antiochus, a war of about 10,000 soldiers under Mattathias, and when he died, passing the command to Judah, against 100,000 soldiers and more under Antichus, just like the Revolutionary war in 1776, some 10,000 troops under Gen Washington, against many more thousands of crack, professional British troops, yet the colonists won, and we gained independence from Britain, 3 years later, Judah and his troops drove Antichus out of Jerusalem, that was the “Great Miracle that Happened There (Nes, Gadol, Haya, Sham) but it was G-d who gave the victory, not by the might of man, but by “HaYad HaShem” The Hand of God, (through the perseverance of Judah and his gallant men)
He entered the temple and found it in shambles, the Holy furniture gone/stolen by Antichus, the temple bloodied by swine blood, a statue of Zeus, Well, Judah set to work washing, cleaning up the temple, took down the statue of Zeus, he found the stolen items, and returned them to the temple, set up the Menorah and lit it. Now was the time for celebration, it would be just like in good Old King Solomon's time, and now we come to 2 Chronicles 7:1-11 ____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ _______________________2 CHRONICLES 7:1-11

King Solomon finishes the temple, and gives a two week party to celebrate, I mean, enough roast beef and lamb chops to feed all of Israel, 22,000 bulls, and 120,000 sheep, and probably bread, wine, figs, etc. A week of festivity, and then, the dedication (Hanukkah) 7 days during the Feast of Tabernacles, (Sukkot) in the 7th month, the culmination was on the 8th day, Shemini Atzeret, and afterwards, Solomon sent everyone home.
Judah the Maccabee knew this, as he studied scripture under his father, Mattathias. So, just as old King Solomon celebrated the dedication of the temple for 8 days, he would also, do the same thing, for 8 days in the month of December, (he could not do it in October, during Sukkot because he had not yet won the war against Antichus at that time)
So now we have it, 8 lights, 8 days, to commemorate the dedication of the temple again to the service of YHVH, just as it was done in the days of old King Solomon.
____________________________________________ ____________________________________________ ________________
JOHN 10:22-33

Yeshua is in temple and walking along Solomon's promenade during the time of Hanukkah, he also celebrated Hanukkah, and was confronted by his fellow Jews, “Are you or are you not Messiah?” was the question, It is just like seeing a magician pulling a rabbit out of a hat, making doves come out of a cane, and many other tricks, and still ask, “hey. Are you a magician?” Many still had hard hearts, Yeshua said plainly, “I have done so many things, that only the Messiah can do, and yet you still do not believe!” What else can the Messiah do? And even today, the works of Messiah are recorded in Torah, and in the Brit Hadasha, and still, many still do not believe. “I and the Father are ONE (Echad) not three gods, ONE God, revealed in three forms, the Father (Av) the Son (Ben) and the Holy Spirit (Ruach HaKodesh) will you believe? Just as the woman of Samaria believed?



JACOB BEN AVRAHAM
 

Joidevivre

Senior Member
Jul 15, 2014
3,838
271
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#2
It is called the Festival of Lights, and we are not obligated to keep this or any other Jewish festival.

But as Christians, we can celebrate the “Festival of Lights” as we rededicate our lives to Christ and acknowledge Him as the perfect and true light of this world. We can be reminded of Jesus' words to us that we are to be lights in the world now.
 
Jul 27, 2011
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#3
“Jesus was a Jew … everyone knows that, don't they?” asks Howard Jacobson, writing for The Guardian in 2002.[SUP]1[/SUP] The answer, as Jacobson goes on to point out, is not a simple yes or no. Jesus’ parents were certainly Jewish as they “did everything required by the Law of the Lord” (Lk. 2:39). His extended family, likewise, were observant (Lk. 1:6). However, there are many—both Christians and Jews—who actively or passively reject Jesus’ Jewishness. Many, seemingly without knowing that they are doing it, use “Christ” as if it were Jesus’ last name instead of a title actually meaning “Jesus the Messiah.”
So, was Jesus a Jew, and if he was, does it matter? During the winter holiday season many Christians prepare to celebrate the birth of a Jewish Messiah who also turned out to be the Savior of the world. They celebrate the birth of a man whose earthly ministry overwhelmingly encompassed Jews. His disciples were all Jewish. He observed Jewish Law and the Feasts (Jn. 2:13; 5:1; 7:2, 10; 10:22; Lk. 22:14-15), and with his last breath he spoke words from the Hebrew Scriptures.
Most, if not all, of what we know about Jesus is found in the Gospels, which narrate what happened for theological reasons. The Gospel writers transmit the “Jesus traditions” they observed with a view of meeting the spiritual needs of their audience. They are not exhaustive histories or comprehensive biographies of Jesus. Their purpose was not to satisfy intellectual curiosity, but rather to disciple the readers by bringing them selected episodes from the life of Jesus. Thus, the Gospels teach us today by showing us the theological and existential implications of the reliable words and deeds of Jesus.[SUP]2[/SUP]
For example, the use of the Old Testament in the Gospel of Matthew shows us that the author viewed the ethical standards (Matt. 3:15; 5:17-20), historical patterns (Matt. 2:15, 18) and prophetic oracles of Israel (Matt. 2:6; 3:3) as filled with ultimate significance through the career and teachings of Jesus.[SUP]3[/SUP]
 
Jul 27, 2011
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#4
It is as Craig Keener,Professor at Asbury Theological Seminary, states, “The Gospels offer countless examples affirming Jesus’ Jewish identity. The tradition about Jesus observing Hanukkah is merely one of these, but it is one that invites our attention at this season.”[SUP]4[/SUP] In John 10 we encounter one of these “Jesus traditions.”
John, just like Matthew, saw specific theological implications in the incidents he reported. Keener notes, “His Gospel connects Jesus’ mission with features of each of the festivals: He appears as the foundation stone from which living water would flow, a hope specifically celebrated at the Festival of Tabernacles [and in] John's Hanukkah passage … [which] depicts Jesus as consecrated or dedicated to God the way this festival celebrated the altar's rededication (cf. 10:36; elsewhere this Gospel connects Jesus with the temple).”
Hanukkah is a powerful story of God interceding on behalf of His people and showing His faithful loving kindness. When Antiochus Epiphanes, also known in Jewish history as “Antiochus the Madman”, persecuted the Jewish people and desired that they worship the Greek gods and give up their Jewish identity, the Jews revolted. As they were rededicating the Temple after an un-kosher sacrifice was made, the oil, which was only enough for one day lasted for eight.
Jewish followers of Jesus see Hanukkah as time to celebrate another gift of God to our people (and the whole world!)--Jesus the Jewish Messiah. During Hanukkah we celebrate how God provided light in the Temple for eight nights. However, how appropriate it is to also remember the Light of the World, through whom we have the Light of Life (Jn. 8:12). If God had not intervened during the first Hanukkah, a Jewish virgin would not have given birth to a child who would be raised as a Jew to fulfill God's will for His life – to be the atonement for our sins. Hanukkah is a demonstration of God's unfolding plan of redemption, which Christians and some Jews celebrate at Christmas.
 

BenAvraham

Senior Member
Aug 30, 2015
839
254
63
#6
yeRe: What is "Hanukkah" all about? did Yeshua (Jesus) celebrate it?

It is called the Festival of Lights, and we are not obligated to keep this or any other Jewish festival.

But as Christians, we can celebrate the “Festival of Lights” as we rededicate our lives to Christ and acknowledge Him as the perfect and true light of this world. We can be reminded of Jesus' words to us that we are to be lights in the world now.
Yes, we are free to celebrate or not to, that is our choice as believers in Messiah Yeshua, and YES, Yeshua is our LIGHT, He also says YE ARE THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD, But our light comes by HIM, just as the candles of the Menorah are lit from the middle one, which represents Yeshua,
 

Angela53510

Senior Member
Jan 24, 2011
11,783
2,947
113
#7
I remember talking with an observant Jewish man around 1986 about Hanakkah. My understanding was that it was a very minor celebration in the Jewish religion. He agreed with me totally and said that the only reason it gets any attention at all, is because it is so close to Christmas, and Jewish parents now use this to "bribe" their children to not celebrate Christmas.

I am not saying that it is not celebrated, but in the grand scheme of the Jewish festivals, this one is not unimportant.

As Christians, we are not under any obligation to celebrate Jewish festivals nor the Jewish Sabbath. I personally do not, although my wish is that all Jews would come to know Jesus as the Messiah.