A time to Rededicate Ourselves ~ Ganeida

As Hanukkah comes to an end it is a good time to pause & reflect upon the New Testament applications of an Old Testament Festival.

Briefly Hanukkah remembers the rededication of the temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by Antioches Epiphanes, who sacrificed a pig [an unclean animal] on the temple altar & declared himself a god.  In response the Maccabees rose up in revolt, overthrew Antioches, purified the temple & resumed their worship of the one true God.  However when they went to light the Temple Menorah they found all but one vial of the temple oil, which lasted for just 24 hours, had been desecrated, yet this oil miraculously burnt for 8 days until more oil could be prepared.

That is the bare bones of the story. Why should we, as New Testament believers, give any heed to Hanukkah? I will give you 3 reasons:

1.     Jesus did. John 10:22

2.   2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.

3.  Like the other festivals it is prophetic in nature & gives us insights into the character of Jesus.

Hanukkah is known by @ least 3 other names: the Feast of Dedication; Festival of Lights; or Feast of the Maccabees. Each of these names throws a different prophetic light on the festival.

Hanukkah is a story of conflict.  Its roots are in the divide between liberal theology, which is prepared to compromise with the world, & those who clung stubbornly to the Truth of God’s word. It is the story of the ongoing conflict between good & evil, the love of God & the hatred of satan.

 It is an uncomfortable place.  We don’t like the uncomfortable places but God never flinches from them. Matthew 10, starting @ v34 says:

“Don’t imagine that I came to bring peace to the earth! I came not to bring peace, but a sword.

‘I have come to set a man against his father,
    a daughter against her mother,
and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law.    Your enemies will be right in your own household!’

“If you love your father or mother more than you love me, you are not worthy of being mine; or if you love your son or daughter more than me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine. If you cling to your life, you will lose it; but if you give up your life for me, you will find it.

Hanukkah reminds us that the Truth costs. God’s word will always bring us into conflict with the world.  The world says there are no absolutes; accept all; tolerate all; include all. Scripture says My word is Truth [John17:17] ~ an absolute; Therefore, come out from among unbelievers, and separate yourselves from them, says the LORD. Don't touch their filthy things, and I will welcome you [2Corinthians6:17] ~ intolerance;  "You must be holy because I am holy." [1Peter 1:16]~ exclusion.

This does NOT make a believer a better human being. Its point is to divide. As there will be a division between the believer & the unbeliever in the end  Matthew 25:46 And they will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous will go into eternal life," so there is meant to be a difference between the believer & the unbeliever in this world & it will bring us into conflict ~ even into conflict with those of our own household! That is not a comfortable place to be ~ & because we are human we look for ways to squirm around this, to compromise without compromising & it cannot be done!

Jesus has been there. We are told in John 7:5 For even his brothers didn't believe in him. In fact  in Mark 3 Jesus issues yet another uncomfortable statement as His mother & brothers sought to speak with Him: For whoever does the will of God is My brother and sister and mother.”…

Do not ever make the mistake of thinking the Love of God negates the justice of God.  It is not so.  Grace & mercy are extended to those who accept the conditions of the cross: repentance from sin & the Lordship of Christ. God loves the sinner, yes, but forgiveness only comes by way of the cross.  There are no shortcuts.  There are no alternatives.  There are not many paths. Jesus said: "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me. John 14:6 He loved us enough to make a way back into right relationship with Him [John 3:16] but the choice to accept the offer or not is ours.

The conflict resulted in the cross but there you will find a most amazing revelation. In the Original temple there was the outer court; there was the inner court & there was the Holy of Holies wherein the Spirit of God dwelt. Within the Holy of Holies lay the Ark of the Covenant between 2 cherubim & the covering was known as the Mercy Seat.

The new covenant is through the shed blood of Christ on the cross but here is the thing. When the Romans erected their crosses they would put a short seat on them where the suffering man could lift himself up & gain a short respite from the slow suffocation that was crucifixion.  That seat was known as the Mercy Seat.

Hanukkah reminds us of the one Great central question in life: John 10:22...

 It was now winter, and Jesus was in Jerusalem at the time of Hanukkah, the Festival of Dedication. He was in the Temple, walking through the section known as Solomon’s Colonnade.  The people surrounded him and asked, “How long are you going to keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.”

Is Jesus the Messiah, the Christ, or not? Each man must decide in his own heart the truth of the matter.  If Jesus is the Christ then there is a God, there is an afterlife, there is a judgement & there will be rewards & punishment. In that day the veil of deception that satan has thrown over this world will be removed & we will all be without excuse.

C.S. Lewis put it this way:  "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic--on the level with a man who says he is a poached egg--or he would be the devil of hell. You must take your choice. Either this was, and is, the Son of God, or else a madman or something worse. You can shut him up for a fool or you can fall at his feet and call him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about his being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us.

One of the things that delights me about God, because I was a B.A in literature before I was anything else, is how God consistently ties His symbolism together.  Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights. Many families who celebrate Hanukkah have a menorah for each person in the family & each night a candle is lit until on the 8^th & final night all 8 candles are lit ~ yet there are 9 candles on a Hanukkah menorah.  The 9^th candle is known as the Shamash candle or the servant candle. This is the first candle lit each night & it is from the Shamash candle that all the other candles are lit.

Now we know that we are now the Temple for the Holy Spirit & Christ is the servant King who sent His Holy Spirit to dwell with us.  It is from Christ that the new birth comes.  It is through His empowering of us through His Holy Spirit that we are sealed unto the day of redemption & it is this seal that identifies us to all the spiritual powers & authorities as belonging to Christ. As the Hanukkah candles receive life from the Shamash so too do we receive life from Christ, who is the light of the world.

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.” John 8:12

Finally Hanukkah is known as the Feast of Dedication. Antiochnes Epiphanes desecrated the temple at Jerusalem in the worst possible way, so much so that the altar was torn down & the stones taken away. A new altar was built of unhewn stones.

At Hanukkah we remember we are now the new Temple for the Holy Spirit because now God dwells with men through His very Spirit. Yet like the old temple we allow ourselves to be defiled by the things of this world: 1 John2:16 For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.

We need to rededicate ourselves, allowing Christ to cleanse us of all unrighteousness, & to fill us anew with the oil of His Holy Spirit that we may indeed be the Light of the World as Jesus called us to be in Matthew 5:14.

Philippians 2:15 puts it this way:  Live clean, innocent lives as children of God, shining like bright lights in a world full of crooked and perverse people.

Hanukkah is not obsolete. Each candle reminds us of a covenant promise from the first given to Adam in the garden that from his seed would come one to bruise satan’s head to the last that looks forward to the everlasting union of Christ with His church. 

Revelation 22.5

And there will be no night there--no need for lamps or sun--for the Lord God will shine on them. And they will reign forever and ever.

Hebrews 3:7~8

That is why the Holy Spirit says, "Today when you hear his voice, don't harden your hearts as Israel did when they rebelled, when they tested me in the wilderness.

Rather be like the people of Acts 2.

So let everyone in Israel know for certain that God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, to be both Lord and Messiah!”

Peter’s words pierced their hearts, and they said to him and to the other apostles, “Brothers, what should we do?”

Peter replied, “Each of you must repent of your sins and turn to God, and be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. Then you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. This promise is to you, and to your children, and even to the Gentiles—all who have been called by the Lord our God.”

 So as we prepare to come to communion I suggest we take a quiet moment with the Holy Spirit to rededicate ourselves to God, under the sonship of Jesus Christ & through the empowerment of the Holy Spirit.