We are now only days away from the beginning of a festival ordained by Adonai, one that Yeshua himself celebrated. No, I’m not talking about Christmas.
Christmas is not remotely located anywhere near the time of Yeshua’s birthday; it is a holiday converted from a celebration of the Roman god, Mithras, and most of the “traditional” holiday celebrations most unsuspecting Christians associate with the messiah are actually symbols that come straight from a celebration of Mithras himself, not Yeshua.
No, I’m talking about Hanukkah. The festival of lights. And one of my favorite of Adonai’s ordained festival periods.
Why?
It’s simple. Most folks think Hanukkah is all about a candle that burned for eight days when there was only oil enough for one day. But that’s just a tiny symbol of what the holiday truly means.
Hanukkah has its origins in the Greek occupation of Jerusalem; the Greeks were trying to force the Jews to compromise their culture, to cast aside their Adonai-ordained traditions, feasts and festivals and celebrate the times the Greeks wanted them to. In fact, the Greeks even offered the Jews a chance to “adapt” the Greek holidays to the Jewish culture a bit to make the transition smoother.
They refused to compromise the truth of Adonai; a war broke out over it, led by the tribe of the Maccabees, and for a time, they were victorious over the Greeks. Even though the Romans soon followed, it is an important holiday that teaches the primacy of not compromising G-d’s truth in order to fit in with the world.
When you consider what Christians have done with Christmas, it’s a bit sad how opposite the path of Christianity has taken in standing for the truth of G-d. Christians believe they have the messiah; but they lack much. They are like the woman who looks in makeup mirrors one moment and forgets what she looks like the next, to paraphrase Yeshua.