Darren Huckey - Eight Lights: A Hanukkah Devotional for Followers of Yeshua

Discover (Introduction to Hanukkah)9

Celebrate (How to Celebrate Hanukkah) 16

Reflect (Devotionals for the Eight Nights) 21

Night One21

Night Two25

Night Three29

Night Four33

Night Five37

Night Six41

Night Seven45

Night Eight51

Remember (1 Maccabees) 55

Chapter one

Discover

An Introduction to Hanukkah

Do you believe in miracles? The chorus of a popular Hanukkah song asks this question. Why? Because Hanukkah is a remembrance and celebration of miracles. They are miracles that were done on behalf of the Jewish nation more than two thousand years ago. But why do we celebrate these miracles every year even after two thousand years? Because the Almighty knows that humans are a selectively forgetful people. We tend to forget the kindnesses that were lavished on us, while clinging to the hurts and the pains inflicted on us by others. Therefore, we need a cycle of reminders to bring to the forefront of our lives the goodness that the Merciful One has shown us. We celebrate each of the biblical festivals as a reminder of Who God is, what He has done for us and what He will do in the future.

Although Hanukkahinstituted a few hundred years prior to the New Testament periodis technically not one of the biblical holy days, we can learn a great deal about our faith, our Creator and our Messiah from this yearly festival. Tonight we begin an eight day remembrance of the redemption of Israel through the hand of the Maccabees, servants of the God of Israel, in the days just prior to the coming of our Master. There is a lesson to be learned from the lights of each night of Hanukkah. May our ears hear and our hearts be awakened to the lessons of these Eight Lights.

What Is Hanukkah?

Lets get this straight from the beginning: Hanukkah is not the Jewish version of Christmas. In fact, the celebration of Hanukkah precedes the institution of Christmas by several hundred years. Nevertheless, Hanukkah has increasingly been commercialized and exploited by materialistic elements of Western culture in a way very similar to that of Christmas. This, however, is the extent of the commonalities between the two holidays. Hanukkah is the yearly celebration that remembers Gods redemption of Israel from the hand of her pagan oppressors. In a nutshell, the story of Hanukkah goes like this

Nearly two hundred years before the time of our Master, the Syrian-Greek armies invaded and plundered Israel, particularly the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. They ransacked the Temple and converted it into a pagan temple for their god, Zeus. Following on the heels of this event, the practice of Judaism was outlawed and the Jews were forbidden to participate in their religion in any way. They were forced to forsake the covenant God had made with them and to assimilate into Greek culture. What did this mean? They were no longer able to read and study the Torah. They were forbidden to observe the Holy Sabbath or celebrate the biblical feasts. They were forbidden to circumcise their children (on pain of death). They were forced to eat swine and to offer sacrifices to the idols of pagan gods. The Greeks would not tolerate a people who had any semblance of holiness. The Jews were forced to look like, act like and worship like the rest of the nations around them.

Eventually, a priestly family (the Hasmoneans)initiated by their father, Mathathiasrose up against their oppressors because of their zeal to keep the covenant of the Lord. Eventually Mathathias passed away, leaving his son Judah (or Judas) to lead the resistance. Judah became a mighty military commander who waged a fierce war on the pagan armies. He relied upon the mercies of God for his military strength and humbly led his small armies to victory against the powerful Greek armies who often outnumbered them ten to one or greater.

After pushing out the Greeks from Judea, Judah led the people in the enormous project of restoring the Holy Temple, which culminated in a rededication of the Holy House on the twenty-fifth of the Hebrew month of Kislev. This dedication ceremony lasted eight days:

And they kept the dedication of the altar eight days, and they offered burnt offerings with joy, and sacrifices of salvation, and of praise (1 Maccabees 4:56)

From that time forward, beginning on the anniversary of the rededication, the Israelites resolved to observe yearly an eight day feast in memorial of this event:

And Judah, and his brethren, and all the church of Israel decreed, that the day of the dedication of the altar should be kept in its season from year to year for eight days, from the five and twentieth day of the month of Kislev, with joy and gladness. (1 Maccabees 4:59)

This is where we get the word Hanukkah. Hanukkah means dedication. Hanukkah is also known as the Feast of Dedication and the Festival of Lights, which are the main themes that permeate the Hanukkah story. God delivered the Israelites out of the hand of their oppressors in a miraculous way, and Hanukkah is a yearly reminder of the miracle of that deliverance.

There is another miracle associated with Hanukkah that is not recorded in the book of Maccabees. According to the Talmud (b. Shabbat 21b), when the priests went to kindle the lights of the Temple menorah, only one small flask of oil was found. Even though it was enough to last only one day, they decided to use it. Miraculously, it lasted eight days long enough for new, Temple-grade, pure olive oil to be made.

Hanukkah is a time to remember everything that makes Gods people unique, holy, and distinct from the world. It is a time to shake ourselves from our slumber and the comfortable trappings of assimilation. Hanukkah is a time to say no to the world and yes to our Heavenly Father. Hanukkah is a time to shine forth the light of our Messiah.

Yeshua and Hanukkah

Followers of Yeshua know him as the Light of the World. John says, In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (John 1:45). He also says that he was the true light, which gives light to everyone (John 1:9). Yeshua says something similar about himself as well. He says, I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life (John 8:12). He is not hesitant to share the fact that he is the beacon of the Fathers light shining brightly into this world.