What is Hanukah?

 

As this is written, we are deep into what Christians refer to as “The Christmas Season”.  If you have some basic familiarity with the subject, you may realize that this is roughly the same season which corresponds with the Jewish celebration known as “Hanukah”.  Yes, I realize that some of my potential readers may not care anything about either faith---but if that is you, then this article IS NOT for you.

 

What IS Hanukah?  And what does it have to do with the Christian faith, in the year 2009?  I’m glad you asked!  

 

The Mobile Press Register tries to keep its’ Religion section balanced, which means that they strive to reflect significant holidays for all major religions.  Their article on the first day of Hanukah (which fell, in 2009, on the first Saturday of December) reminded me of the correlation between the Jewish and Christian holidays of this time of year.  I went to a search engine and typed, “What is Hanukah?”  The results brought up an article from The Jerusalem Post.  Please indulge me by reading a small excerpt from their article:

   “As our rabbis taught: Beginning on the 25th of Kislev and extending for eight days one does not eulogize the dead or fast. The reason is that when the Greeks entered the Temple, they desecrated all of the oil. When the Hasmonean dynasty overcame them, they searched but found only one container of oil that was sealed with the seal of the high priest. It contained enough oil for only one day. But a miracle occurred and they were able to keep the light burning for eight days.”

 

Members of the Christian faith have generally ignored the holiday, to the point that most of us don’t even have a clue what it is about.  Does it matter?

I submit to you that IT DOES MATTER! We usually assume that God only cares about really BIG things. Small matters, such as having a small amount of oil last longer than expected are not worthy of our notice —right?

WRONG! I am convinced that our God is still in the business of providing for His people—and especially when the situation involves proper respect / worship of Jehovah. According to the tradition of Hanukah (which is more than tradition---it is accepted history), the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem had been invaded by the Greeks and desecrated, then dedicated to a Greek “god”. The miracle of the oil occurred after the Greeks had been defeated by a Jewish uprising. The first thing that the triumphant Jewish leaders did was to go into the Temple, remove the defiling objects, thoroughly clean the Temple, and restore it for proper worship. Included in the requirements to properly do this was having correctly prepared and properly consecrated oil to burn in the lamps. To us it may seem insignificant—but it was fulfillment of God’s law, and THAT is no small matter to Him! The miracle was evidence that God DID CARE—and that He was still in power.

This legendary miracle became the basis of one of the newer holidays of the Jewish faith. It was established many years after the last book of the Old Testament was written, but is still observed today. Although the official name of the holiday is “Hanukah” (actually Channukah---Hanukah is an Americanized version of the true name), it is more commonly called “The Feast of Lights”.

In recent years, there has been serious debate whether we celebrate Christmas on the correct date, or even in the correct period of the year—but my studies this week have convinced me that we probably DO. Consider with me the prophecy of Isaiah 9, verses 2, 6 & 7

²The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light: they that dwell in the land of the shadow of death, upon them hath the light shined.

⁶For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. ⁷Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even for ever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.

Jesus, Himself declared the fulfillment of this prophecy. Listen to His own words, from the Gospel of John:

John 8:12 ¹² Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

John 9:5 ⁵As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

 

I am firmly convinced that with God, THERE ARE NO ACCIDENTS!  Another example which illustrates this is that the crucifixion—which is the very fulfillment of the Passover—occurred at the beginning of the celebration of the Passover—even though the Jewish leaders had already decided NOT to bring charges against Jesus until AFTER the feast!  Matthew 26:5 reports:  ⁵ But they said, “Not during the feast, lest there be an uproar among the people.”   But this is a subject for another day.   I report it here only to make the point that God cares about timing!

 

Although we Christians have mostly ignored Hanukah, it is absolutely appropriate that WHILE the Jewish people were celebrating the feast of lights, the birth of The Light of the World was announced by a choir of angels!

Do you recall the account of Luke 2? Verses 8-14 tell us,

⁸ Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. ⁹ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. ¹⁰ Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. ¹¹ For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. ¹² And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”

¹³ And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:

¹⁴ “Glory to God in the highest,

And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

This incident didn’t go unnoticed by the common people. Let’s read a few more verses from Luke 2:

¹⁵ So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” ¹⁶ And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. ¹⁷ Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. ¹⁸ And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. ¹⁹ But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. ²⁰ Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.

OK—if these things really happened—why didn’t the crowds who were celebrating the feast of lights in Jerusalem make a hasty trip to Bethlehem —which was only a few miles away— and see the new king for themselves?

We should remember that the scriptures report an unusual situation which no doubt disrupted the normal life of everyone. Luke 2:1-3 reports: ¹And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. ² This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. ³ So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.

Because of this unreasonable demand of the government, many of the folks who would normally have been in Jerusalem were required to be somewhere else. Many who would normally NOT have been in Jerusalem WERE there. The usual pattern of life had been disrupted.

Another contributing factor may that the religious people were so busy with celebrating their religious holiday that they didn’t have time to pay attention to the “common” people—such as the shepherds—who were the ones to whom the announcement was made! In fact, the shepherds would have been ceremonially prohibited from participating in the formal religious activities, unless they first completed rather elaborate "cleansing" rituals, and they were likely not favored by respectful attention from the religious leaders. After all, if this event were really what the shepherds claimed that it was, why was the announcement not made first to the leaders of the faith, and why was it not made first at the temple?

I base my speculation on my own experiences as a Christian leader---Maybe the religious leaders were so obsessed with their planned religious celebrations that they didn’t really have time for God, or for anything which might disrupt their plans! Why didn’t the angels come first to the Temple? Just a thought—maybe they DID—and nobody noticed!

Let me suggest something else to consider: a major portion of our worldly celebration of the season involves decorating with the use of lights— and this occurs at a date which closely parallels the Jewish celebration of the “Feast of Lights”— even though most people who are participating in this tradition know nothing about the Jewish feast, and never give a thought to the fact that Christmas celebrates the birth of the one who called Himself “The Light of the World”.

Consider the frenzied secular celebrations of the season— advertisers work overtime to persuade us that we can’t live without the latest and greatest versions of the same stuff which they have been selling for years. Shopping frenzy seems to grip nearly everyone. Those who are financially unable to participate are themselves in a sort of frenzy— characterized by depression and discouragement. Rather than counting blessings, the downtrodden often seem driven into deeper despair. THEIR perspective is, to say the least, lacking in light. Happily, one of the Christian traditions of the season is to share good things with those who are less fortunate. Doing so brings a little light to those whose lives may seem very dark and depressing.

 

We should never assume that events happen “by accident”. If it is true (and it IS) that timing is everything, then it is important for us to realize that God is never surprised by developments. He isn’t sitting up in heaven somewhere, wringing His hands and trying to figure out how to deal with our latest foibles. Rather, EVERYTHING which occurs is already known by God. He doesn’t necessarily CAUSE every choice—but He foreknows, because He is outside of time—and HE IS STILL IN CONTROL.

As we celebrate Christmas, let’s be reminded of the reason for the scriptures which reveal the coming of God’s Son Jesus Christ—whose very title “Christ” means “The anointed One” or “The Messiah”. The best known scriptural account of the events which we celebrate is found in the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 1:1-4 Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright 1996 by Tyndale Charitable Trust. All rights reserved.

1 Most honorable Theophilus:

Many people have written accounts about the events that took place among us. ²They used as their source material the reports circulating among us from the early disciples and other eyewitnesses of what God has done in fulfillment of his promises. ³Having carefully investigated all of these accounts from the beginning, I have decided to write a careful summary for you, ⁴to reassure you of the truth of all you were taught.

This guy, “Luke”, who wrote the second gospel, was a well educated man. As a matter of fact, he was a physician, and he spent several years traveling with the apostle Paul, probably for the purpose of looking out for Paul’s health. Luke saw that the traditions which sprang up around Jesus were becoming confusing, so he set out to relieve the confusion. He wrote a very well reasoned, orderly history of the birth of the church, beginning with the birth of the Lord. (Luke and Acts were both written by Luke, and are really a single story. We should keep in mind the background of the author. Luke KNEW that some of what he recorded was not “normal”. He understood how things work. EVERY DETAIL that is recorded matters. It is there for a reason. Luke had investigated the reports. He believed them. He reports that WE can believe them.

Getting back to the original premise of this article: Hanukah, the Jewish festival of lights, approximately coincides with the Christian celebration of Christmas. It is no accident that the birth of our Lord Jesus—who is THE LIGHT OF THE WORLD—is celebrated at the time of the Jewish celebration of “The Feast of Lights”.

Note: All scripture references, unless otherwise identified, are from The Holy Bible, New King James Version Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc.

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