CHANUKAH

Chanukah is a historical feast of Israel. It is not found among the seven biblical feasts of Redemption (Lev. 23), however it is a feast which celebrates the redemption of Israel from their enemy’s hands.

Chanukah is a Hebrew word that means “Dedication”. It is a feast that celebrates the rededication of the Temple, after being desecrated by the enemy.

This feast is also known as the “Feast of Lights”. It celebrates the miracle of light defeating darkness.

In short, Chanukah is a feast of miracles. We celebrate God’s triumph even around negative circumstances that seemed impossible to overcome.

HISTORY

The history of Chanukah takes place in the “intertestamental period”; that is, in that 400 year period between the Old and the New Testament.

In the New Testament, we see a reference to this feast when Jesus went to Jerusalem to celebrate it. Remember that Jesus lived in Galilee, but he would go up to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts.

(John 10:22-23) At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, (23) and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon.

In the world’s history books, it is written that the Greek and Roman culture “illuminated” the world. But for Israel’s history it is the opposite. The period of Greek influence is the one that is considered as the period of obscurantism. From the Hebrew perspective, light comes from the Word of God, and anything that opposes it is “darkness”. This conflict of perspectives is the central theme of Chanukah.

HISTORICAL BACKGROUND

In his eagerness to rule the world, Alexander the Great conquered a great part of the civilized world, from Greece until India and Egypt, including the land of Israel. His conquest was not only military, but also cultural. He wanted to Hellenize the whole world.

Hellenize = Making others adopt the culture of Ancient Greece. 

The Greeks were not only military conquerors, but also cultural. Wherever they went, they would leave their cultural influence. They considered themselves superior to all the other people, whom they considered uncivilized. They didn’t see themselves as conquerors, but as persecutors and even saviors.

When Alexander died, his empire was divided between the generals who served him. Israel and Syria were left in charge of the general Seleucus, who was in charge of dispersing the Greek culture in that region.

Almost all of the towns were easily adapted to the Hellenic culture, but in Israel they didn’t find any cultural emptiness. On the contrary, they found themselves with people that had a more advanced culture, with a well defined philosophy of life and an education superior to the rest of the peoples. At first, the Jews received the Greeks with open arms, since both cultures loved knowledge and wisdom. But with time, it was made evident that both ways of thinking were not compatible with each other’s essence, instead they clashed. The differences were not only contrasting, they were insurmountable.

The effect of this convergence of thoughts was that some Jews were Hellenized, while others, faithful to their beliefs, had conflicts with the conquerors.

GREEK VS HEBREW MENTALITY

Let’s see some examples of the contrasts of mindsets between Jews and Greeks.

* SUPREMACY AND SOVEREIGNTY

Greeks> For them, man was the center of everything. He is sovereign and controls his life and his surroundings. He does everything thinking about his own wellbeing.

Hebrews> They think that God is in control of everything. Man is a partner with God, but he is subordinate to Him and must submit to the divine order.

* GOD

Greeks> Are polytheists. They had many gods, for each activity. The Greek gods were made in the image of man, and have their same passions and weaknesses.

Hebrews> Man is made in the image of God; therefore, they must act like He does.

* INTERNAL VS EXTERNAL

Greeks> They place a lot of emphasis on the external. They get carried away with appearances. They invest a lot on external beauty.

Hebrews> They place an emphasis on the internal. They value education, moral and spiritual values more than physical appearance.

* FAITH

Greeks> They place their faith on human reason and intellect. They think that human reason has the answer to everything. For them, the reality is only what they can see and prove. “See it to believe it”

Hebrews> They place their faith in God. They think that the answer to everything is in God, and they know that human reason is limited. They acknowledge a spiritual reality that is over the physical reality.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen” (Hebrews 11:1)

INTERNAL CONFLICT

The conflict between the Greek and the Hebrew mentality not only came from the conquerors. There was also an internal conflict, a tension between the Hellenized Jews and the ones who wanted to stay loyal to tradition.

Today we can also see a similar conflict in the church. There is a division between the ones who want to adapt to the world and the ones who want to stay faithful to the Biblical principles.

The Hellenized Jews asked for help from the king of Syria, Antiochus IV. They requested him to intervene in their country, thinking that they wanted to “modernize” the nation of Israel. However, what they managed to do was to cause more division.

In the beginning, Hellenization was purely voluntary, but it later became mandatory because so many remained faithful to their beliefs. In the end, the Jews that refused to get Hellenized were persecuted and even tortured.

In that time, the king Antiochus gave a decree in which many of the issues in which the Greeks and the Hebrews clashed were prohibited.

• They forbade the study of Torah
• They forbade the Shabbat rest
• They forbade celebrating the New Moons and the keeping of the Hebrew calendar
• They forbade circumcisions
• They forced the brides­-to-be to spend a night with the Greek general before the wedding

This intervention by Antiochus IV led them to a military war between the Greeks and the Jewish people, and finally in the desecration of the Temple in Jerusalem - known as the “abomination of desolation”.

The king named himself “Antiochus Epiphanies”, which means “God Manifest”. He thought of himself as god and was determined to destroy all worship to the God of Israel. He was convinced that to be able to rule over the Jewish people he had to destroy their religion and their culture. He invaded the Temple in Jerusalem and turned it into a temple to the god Zeus (II Maccabees 6:1-2).

This is a prophetic shadow of what will also happen in the last days, since those who do not submit to the world’s system and to the Antichrist will be persecuted. In those days the “abomination of desolation” will happen all over again (Dan. 11:31, 12:11).

(Matthew 24:9-22) Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. (10) And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. (11) And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. (12) And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold. (13) But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (14) And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (15) “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), (16) then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. (17) Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, (18) and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. (19) And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! (20) Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. (21) For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be. (22) And if those days had not been cut short, no human being would be saved. But for the sake of the elect those days will be cut short.

The feast of Chanukah not only looks at the historical past, but also at the prophetical future.

This year, Chanukah will be celebrated starting on the evening of December 6 and ending on the evening of December 14.