Hanukkah…
What comes to your mind when you hear this word? Gift giving? Decorating? Candle lighting? A “Jewish” Christmas? — I hope not!
What should come to mind is victory over the enemy. I won’t go into the entire story here of the victory of the Maccabees, as you can read about it in 1st and 2nd Maccabees. But what I will go into is that the story of Hanukkah is not just about victory, but more importantly, the actions taken after victory has been won. The Maccabees did not stop with defeating the enemy. They did not stop at tearing down and removing those things that defiled the Temple. But only until they ‘re-dedicated’ what had been defiled, does the story of Hanukkah really come to life.
Messiah Yahushua, during the time of Hanukkah in John chapter 9, healed a man that was born blind. It wasn’t until the blind man went to wash in the pool, that the enemy called blindness was defeated. And what happened after that? The man believed in the Master Yahushua, the Son of Elohim, and bowed to him; he became dedicated to the One who had opened His eyes. He saw the Light of the World!
The word Hanukkah has a much deeper meaning than simply, ‘dedication’. Yes, the Temple was re-dedicated after the defilement left by the presence of the statue of Zeus, but quite interestingly the word comes from the root word ‘chanak’ meaning “narrow”. It also means to “train up” and “discipline”. Yes, the root word of Hanukkah is connected to Proverbs 22:6 which says, “Train up a child in the way he should go, even when he is old he turns not away from it.” We are to “dedicate” our children to Yahuweh by disciplining them in the narrow way that leads to life. In doing so, we bring our children up to be fit vessels, ready to stand in service of the King.
Hanukkah is not strictly about remembering the victory of the Maccabees in times past, nor is it strictly about the future victory that THE HAMMER, Yahushua Messiah, will gain as He delivers the final blow to the wicked, “breaking them with a rod of iron, and dashing them to pieces like a potter’s vessel.” No, Hanukkah is about living in victory over the enemy right now! It is about walking out our dedication to the Master now, because we have been set free from the enemy of death and we have been cleansed from all defilement of sin. The light of Messiah within us will never shine out if we keep our temples in a state of pollution and defilement. Our belief in Yahushua brought our initial cleansing, but our dedication in our obedience to Him is what keeps us cleansed.
Hanukkah, in the past, foreshadowed the future light of Messiah and His coming Kingdom, yet it also became our template for living a dedicated life now, free from the slavery of the defiled culture of the kingdom of darkness.
We must submit to Yahuweh’s training and discipline if we are to walk along the narrow way that leads to life. Being dedicated to Yahuweh is only made possible by the product of Messiah Yahushua’s victory over sin and death. Messiah paved the way for us to be re-dedicated and set-apart to the Creator of the universe. He sent His Father’s Spirit to help us remain dedicated and to keep ourselves from being defiled once again. This is the greatest gift of all – to be given a second chance. Now, it is up to us. Shall we allow the light of His presence to grow dim within us? Shall we allow the god of Zeus to be re-erected within our temples again? What is it that defiles us? What is it that prevents our temples from operating in a manner worthy of service to the King of Kings? Is it not hatred, unforgiveness, compromise, gluttony or even the exaltation of our own selves as gods?
This Hanukkah, that begins tonight at sundown, lets remember what brother Maccabee (from the House of Judah) did. Lets remember what Yahushua Messiah (from the House of Judah) did. But most importantly, lets take action in our own lives because of what they did. Freedom from death means absolutely nothing if we continue living a lifestyle where we refuse to give up slavery to the sin that defiles us. To serve sin is the guarantee that we will receive back what we were once delivered from; death.
If our wicks are not trimmed and cut, our light will continue to grow dimmer. And without the oil of the Spirit, our lights are guaranteed to go out. We will never be able to clean up the defilement and the garbage that exists in the ‘secret places’ of our temples, without a light to search them out.
On this Hanukkah, yes..we remember the great things that have been done for our deliverance and freedom; yet without living out that deliverance in our everyday lives…what Messiah Yahushua did in becoming our light, we will eventually extinguish by our own passion to live in the dark.
“Search me, O El, and know my heart; try me, and know my thoughts; and see if an idolatrous way is in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” — Psalm 139:23-24
Enjoy this celebration of Hanukkah!
Enjoy living in the Light!
Enjoy having the freedom to serve the Master!
Love,
Derek and Rivkah