Here are my thoughts for this year on the LIGHT of Hanukkah:
This year we have a very special Hanukkah as it began on Christmas Night! This doesn’t happen very often, five times since 1900, according to an article on Time.com, the years being 1910, 1921, 1959, and 2005. As Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Light for Jewish people and Messianic Believers and Christmas is known as the Birthday celebration of Jesus in Christianity, the Light of the World has come, it is fitting to come together as believers in the God of Abraham, Issac & Jacob and be the light we are commanded to be as we celebrate Light together.
The people living in darkness have seen a great light; upon those living in the land that lies
in the shadow of death, light has dawned. You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy;
they rejoice in your presence as if rejoicing at harvest time…For a child is born to us, a son is given to us; dominion will rest on his shoulders, and he will be given the name-
Pele-Yo‘etz El Gibbor
Avi-‘Ad Sar-Shalom
[Wonder of a Counselor, Mighty God,
Father of Eternity, Prince of Peace],
-in order to extend the dominion and perpetuate the peace of the throne and kingdom of David,
to secure it and sustain it through justice and righteousness henceforth and forever.
The zeal of Adonai-Tzva’ot will accomplish this. Isaiah 9:1-2a, 5-6 (2-3a, 6-7)
“In the same way, let your light shine before people, so that they may see the good things you do and praise your Father in Heaven.” Matthew(Mattai) 5:16
“In him was life, and the life was the Light of mankind. The Light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not suppressed it.” John (Yochanan) 1:4-5
Sometimes being or bringing the Light is hard, it is even confusing at times as we try to make sense of what is happening around us, God knew this would be so even from the beginning so before He made life on Earth, He made Light, and Light overcomes the confusion, the void, the chaos that surrounds us, if we choose to let the Light shine through us. Be the Light.
“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was unformed and void, darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God hovered over the surface of the water. Then God said, ‘Let there be Light.’” Genesis (Beresheet) 1:1-3
Hanukkah is about standing firm in God in the face of evil. Most of us are too young to really have been affected by WW2 and the Holocaust, we know it happened as there are many evidences and places of remembrance left to point to it. Most of us have never met a survivor of this horrific time, but have witnessed their testimonies, seen their tattoos, read books or watched movies about it. Until October 7th (Simchat Torah) 2023, we just remembered and said ‘Never Again’, then another horrific event happened that shook Israel and the sane world. Since then, there has been an enormous leap of Anti-Semetism throughout the world, it seems like the darkness is taking over, but in this focus of evil, we see small flickers of Light where one person or a small group of people stand against the raging darkness and stand firm, like the Maccabees of old standing against the Greek Empire. These people are my heroes standing and proclaiming the truth in a sea of lies. May we choose to stand with Israel and our Jewish neighbors in our communities.
“Adonai is my Light and Salvation; whom do I need to fear? Adonai is the Stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?” Psalm (Tehillim) 27:1
“Commit your way to Adonai; trust in Him and He will act. He will make your vindication shine forth like light, the justice of your cause like the noonday sun.” Psalm (Tehillim) 37:5-6
Hanukkah is not about presents, although we do give good gifts to those we love as God himself has given us gifts;
“Every good act of giving and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father who made the heavenly Lights; with him, there is neither variation nor darkness caused by turning.” James (Yaacov)1:17
As the Miracles of Hanukkah are remembered this year, let us remember to continue to pray for the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) and for the Hostages still being held captive and for the Hope of Israel to be revealed.
“For not by their own swords did they conquer the land, nor did their own arm give them victory; rather, it was your right hand, your arm and the light of your face; because you favored them.” Psalm (Tehillim) 44:4 (3)
“Adonai, God of armies, restore us! Make your face shine, and we will be saved..” Psalm(Tehillim) 80:20 (19)
”I pray that he will give light to the eyes of your hearts, so that you will understand the hope to which he has called you, what rich glories there are in the inheritance he has promised his people...” Eph 1:18
Last but not least, this Hanukkah/Christmas remember that;
“ For you used to be darkness; but now, united with the Lord, you are light. Live like children of light, for the fruit of the light is in every kind of goodness, rightness, and truth — try to determine what will please the Lord. Have nothing to do with the deeds produced by darkness, but instead expose them, for it is shameful even to speak of the things these people do in secret. But everything exposed to the light is revealed clearly for what it is, since anything revealed is a light. This is why it says,
“Get up, sleeper! Arise from the dead, and the Messiah will shine on you!”
Therefore, pay careful attention to how you conduct your life — live wisely, not unwisely. Use your time well, for these are evil days. So don’t be foolish, but try to understand what the will of the Lord is.” Eph 5:8
*Pele - candle 1
Yo’etz - candle 2
El - candle 3
Gibbor - candle 4
Avi - candle 5
Ad - candle 6
Sar - candle 7
Shalom - candle 8
(All scripture references from the CJB Bible version, numbers in (*) are for other versions)
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