Mazel tov! Hanukkah is here!
Many may not appreciate the true meaning of this holiday. The festival of lights? Sure, the temple oil burned for eight days – so what, right?
It goes deeper than that, though. For me, my favorite thing about Hanukkah is the aspect of it known as the Feast of Dedication. It is a time to rededicate ourselves to HaShem, as well as his promised Messiah – the Messiah Yeshua.
See, at the time of the Maccabees, there was pressure on all Israel to bow to Greek gods and integrate their Judaism to fit in to Greek society. Boldly, the Maccabees stood up and refused to change how they worshiped the L-RD to fit in with and mirror the way others worshiped their false gods. It was a victory for staying true to haShem that kept the doorway open for Messiah’s appearance.
Unfortunately, once history moved beyond the first century of the Common Era, the Messianic movement lost its way, divorced itself from its Jewish roots, adopted anti-Judaic replacement theology, and, most importantly – when the pressure came to change worship of Messiah Yeshua in spirit and in truth to better fit in to Roman society, Christianity willingly abandoned the truth of the L-RD in exchange for celebrating the birth of Mithras – deciding that it was enough to change Mithras’ name to Jesus.
I’m not so sure Yeshua the Messiah approves. To say the least.
That’s why we’re celebrating Hanukkah in our house, and have ever since we got married; if it was good enough for Messiah Yeshua, it’s good enough for us.
Tags: hanukkah