Happy Hanukkah

Hanukkah (Hebrew meaning “dedication”), also known as the Feast of Dedication or the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by Antiochus Epiphanes in the second century BC. Hanukkah commemorates the miracle of a one-day supply of consecrated oil to light the Temple Menorah lasting eight days, the time required to prepare a fresh supply of oil.

Although not a mo'ed, a Biblically commanded religious festival or Appointed Time of the Lord (Leviticus 23), Hanukkah celebrates the powerful supernatural deliverance of the Jewish people by God. The overriding themes of this holiday are the victory of light over darkness, the faithfulness of God to those who refuse to compromise Biblical truth, and dedication to faithful service and obedience to God.

Hanukkah is referred to in the books of First and Second Maccabees in the Apocrypha, the books written in the 400-year “silence” between the Tanach (Old Testament) and B'rit Hadashah (New Testament). But God was not silent during these years. He was still at work fulfilling His promises and preserving His people. The preservation of the Jewish people and the cleansing and rededication of the Temple were essential for the coming of Messiah Yeshua, the Light of the World, and His sin-atonement sacrifice for salvation.

Yeshua observed the Feast of Dedication and declared: “I am the Light of the world”.

John 10:22-23 –
Then came the Feast of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus [Yeshua] was in the temple area walking in Solomon's Colonnade.

John 8:12 -
When Jesus [Yeshua] spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

King David proclaimed that the Lord is our Light and our Salvation.

Psalm 27:1 -
The Lord is my light and my salvation – whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life – of whom shall I be afraid?

Messiah Yeshua is the Lord, the Light and Salvation. His name, “Yeshua” or “Yehoshua”, means “The Lord is Salvation”.