Hanukkah: Dedication and Light

Our theme for 2024 was “Possessing the Land”

Welcome to the last Sunday of the year!

What ground have you taken in your life?

We still have one Sunday left after Christmas.

We have been celebrating the holidays and seasons, trying to be in the moment, taking possession of the time that we are in.

Hanukkah began at Sundown on December 25, just as we were wrapping up our Christmas celebration, the Jewish festival was beginning.

We have celebrated the seven Biblical feasts which were commanded by God and celebrated by Jesus and all of the Apostles.

Hanukkah is not one of those feasts - but it was celebrated by Jesus and the Apostles.

It originated in the time between the testaments.

After Alexander the Great conquered most of the Mediterranean World the territories were divided among his generals who also fought each other.

Antiochus IV also called Epiphanies was on a military crusade to take over Egypt when he was basically told to “knock it off” by the Greek Senate.

He responded by throwing a kind of tantrum which included going up into Judea and conducting mass slaughter of the Jews.

He hated the Jews and their worship of YHWH.

When he found that could not prevent them from worshipping by making threats, he defiled the Temple and stopped the daily sacrifice.

This led to the Jews organizing a resistance militia led by Judas Maccabees, also known as “the hammer”

Over a period of some years, they were able to inflict heavy enough casualties to cause the Seleucid army to withdraw and eventually they regained control of the Temple as well.

It was a real test of resilience because for all the casualties they inflicted, the Jews suffered heavy losses as well.

It was not a matter of superior numbers or strength. The Jews were clearly the underdogs in every way.

It came down to who really cared more about their cause and was willing to suffer longer - the Jews won that contest.

Hannukah commemorates the rededication of the temple.

The festival only appears once in the Bible:

John 10:22–24 ESV

22 At that time the Feast of Dedication took place at Jerusalem. It was winter, 23 and Jesus was walking in the temple, in the colonnade of Solomon. 24 So the Jews gathered around him and said to him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.”

Jesus was in Jerusalem for the feast of dedication - that is Hanukkah, it means “dedication.”

It has also been called the festival of lights, because the story is that they only had enough oil for a day, but it lasted for eight days.

It was a miracle of light that marked the dedication of the temple!

The Jews in Jesus’s day thought that this would be a good time for Jesus to reveal himself as the Messiah.

After all, many of their messianic expectations were modeled after Judas Maccabees - they were looking for another hammer!

Jesus responded by talking to them in another parable about the “good shepherd” - not the “great hammer”.

Jesus did, in fact, embody all that Hanukkah symbolizes in terms of dedication and of light.

Jesus would embody the violence and bloodshed of the story as well, only not in the way that they thought.

He would literally embody the sacrifice of thousands of freedom fighters with his own battered body and the endurance of suffering public humiliation on a Roman cross.

Yes, Hanukkah was more about Jesus than the Jews of his day, or any day since, have realized.

It’s all about dedication and light.

We are going to look at these themes in the Bible.

But we are also going to look at the account of the Maccabees to see what they learned and how Jesus embodied that message.

Illuminate with Christ's Light

2 Maccabees 1:7–9 NRSV

7 In the reign of Demetrius, in the one hundred sixty-ninth year, we Jews wrote to you, in the critical distress that came upon us in those years after Jason and his company revolted from the holy land and the kingdom 8 and burned the gate and shed innocent blood. We prayed to the Lord and were heard, and we offered sacrifice and grain offering, and we lit the lamps and set out the loaves. 9 And now see that you keep the festival of booths in the month of Chislev, in the one hundred eighty-eighth year.

It says in Maccabees that they lit the lamps in the temple. Elsewhere in the Talmud, it tells the story of the miracle of the oil.

They were celebrating the feast of tabernacles (or booths) which is normally celebrated in the fall at the end of the harvest.

But because of the war and the Temple being desecrated they are celebrating the feast at what is really their first opportunity in many years.

The feast of tabernacles is an eight day celebration and while the feast of dedication is a separate festival, there are some aspects of tabernacles that are carried over into the feast of dedication, like the eight days, the rich foods and the joy of celebration.

Hanukkah commemorates a miracle.

The miracle of the oil celebrated at Hanukkah refers to a legendary event that occurred during the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem after its desecration by Syrian forces.

According to tradition, when the Maccabees reclaimed and purified the Temple, they found only enough ritually pure oil to keep the menorah (the temple lamp) burning for one day.

Miraculously, this small amount of oil lasted for eight days, allowing time for new oil to be prepared.

Because of this miracle commemorated during the festival of Hanukkah, it is also known as the Festival of Lights celebrated by lighting candles in a special eight-branched candelabrum called a hanukkiyah.

The temple menorah has seven branches, but this one has eight to remind us of the miracle of the oil lasting for eight days.

They typically light an additional candle each day for the eight days of the feast.

In biblical symbolism the number seven represents completion - the number eight represents a new beginning.

The eight days was a carry-over from the feast of tabernacles, but it connects the themes of dedication and light with a new beginning.

The use of oil in traditional Hanukkah foods, such as potato latkes (pancakes) and soofganiyot (doughnuts), also recalls this miracle.

I guess people feel the need to consume a lot of oily food during Hanukkah to make sure they stay lit like the lamps in the temple?

Jesus is the light.

God provided the oil to keep the lamps lit.

Jesus said that he is the light.

John 8:12 ESV

12 Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

He is the miraculous light that shines even when we do not have enough in ourselves to keep burning.

God is the source of light and Jesus is the embodiment of that light.

In Revelation, John has a vision of the heavenly city and, guess what, not temple and no lights!

Revelation 21:22–25 ESV

22 And I saw no temple in the city, for its temple is the Lord God the Almighty and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 By its light will the nations walk, and the kings of the earth will bring their glory into it, 25 and its gates will never be shut by day—and there will be no night there.

Why? They don’t need a representation of God’s presence, they have God himself!

It’s kinda like why there are no American embassies in America. You don’t need an embassy - you are here!

They wanted Jesus to reveal himself at the feast of dedication and he did reveal himself, but not in the way that they could recognize.

He is the light!

Do you want to see a miracle of light?

Look no further. Ask the Holy Spirit (who is also represented by oil) to illuminate Jesus to you.

After his resurrection, Jesus’ disciples had their eyes opened and they saw that the Old Testament scriptures were really about him.

They understood that He didn’t come to conquer but to die, and that by his death and resurrection he would conquer sin, death and darkness forever!

Yes, those things still exist, but they have not power over him - and they have no power over us.

Shine as Beacons

Matthew 5:14–16 ESV

14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. 15 Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. 16 In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.

Jesus said that he is the light of the world, but he also says that you are the light of the world.

In the eternal city in Revelation we are not going to need any light besides Jesus.

But we are not there yet.

We are called to be visible lights.

Why did they put a lampstand in the temple?

Very simply because it is dark in there.

At least on this side of the curtain it is dark.

In the holy of holies where the shekinah glory of God dwells, there was said to be a radiant glow of His manifest presence.

But that is on God’s side - on the other side of the curtain where we come to present our offerings and to make our intercession it is still dark without a lampstand.

Do you remember when we talked about the vision of the lampstand by the prophet Zechariah?

Zechariah 4:1–3 ESV

1 And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. 2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” I said, “I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. 3 And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left.”

It is a vision of a lampstand like the one in the temple which represents the continual light of the presence of God with His people.

There is a central bowl at the top of the lampstand which is feeding oil to all of the seven lamps with seven wicks each.

This lampstand has seven branches with seven lights on each branch (7 times 7).

The multiplied sevens are symbolic of God’s ultimate purpose - His eventual victory and restoration of all things.

It is a picture of God’s people as lights but God’s Spirit as the oil or the source that flows to the individual lights.

In Revelation the churches are symbolized as lampstands.

Revelation 1:20 ESV

20 As for the mystery of the seven stars that you saw in my right hand, and the seven golden lampstands, the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.

That’s right, the lampstand doesn’t just represent God, it represents God’s people, corporately and individually.

When you think about the miracle of the oil being multiplied, just think of yourself as one of those lamps and know that God can miraculously give you what you need to shine for him.

His part is to supply the oil, your part is to dedicate yourself to Him.

Our response is our dedication.

What is dedication?

To dedicate is to set something apart as special or holy.

It is to devote yourself to a person or a cause.

Dedication speaks to the motivation of why you do what you do.

If a person is highly motivated, we even say that they are “dedicated.”

Hanukkah literally means dedication - they were rededicating the temple because it has been defiled.

By defiled, it means that the Seleucid army not only broke the rules by coming in to the temple, but they intentionally did everything you are not supposed to do in the temple.

They shed innocent blood in and around the temple.

They sacrificed a pig on the altar.

That last part was just to add insult to injury.

How do you come back from something like that?

There needs to be a re-dedication, a literal “reset.”

That, after a lot of intense clean-up.

1 Maccabees 4:42–49 NRSV

42 He chose blameless priests devoted to the law, 43 and they cleansed the sanctuary and removed the defiled stones to an unclean place. 44 They deliberated what to do about the altar of burnt offering, which had been profaned. 45 And they thought it best to tear it down, so that it would not be a lasting shame to them that the Gentiles had defiled it. So they tore down the altar, 46 and stored the stones in a convenient place on the temple hill until a prophet should come to tell what to do with them. 47 Then they took unhewn stones, as the law directs, and built a new altar like the former one. 48 They also rebuilt the sanctuary and the interior of the temple, and consecrated the courts. 49 They made new holy vessels, and brought the lampstand, the altar of incense, and the table into the temple.

Re-dedication meant literally dismantling the altar - taking it apart stone by stone.

Taking those stones out to a safe place until God shows you what to do with them.

And then bringing in new stones and putting them together into a new altar.

It kinda reminds me of the process of rededicating our lives to God.

Ephesians 4:20–24 NLT

20 But that isn’t what you learned about Christ. 21 Since you have heard about Jesus and have learned the truth that comes from him, 22 throw off your old sinful nature and your former way of life, which is corrupted by lust and deception. 23 Instead, let the Spirit renew your thoughts and attitudes. 24 Put on your new nature, created to be like God—truly righteous and holy.

That may mean dismantling an old structure - an old altar - or a particular way of thinking.

You take it apart piece by piece or stone by stone.

You might have to set some of those things aside until God shows you what to do with them.

Some parts of you old way of thinking may need to be totally destroyed.

Other parts may have some redeemable purpose.

God will show you in time.

Do you want to shine as a light for God? Then do the work of dedication.

Dedication and light - they go together.

The feast of dedication is also the festival of lights.

You can’t have one without the other.

God will supply the oil, you do the work of dedication.

However, there is another component to dedication.

Dedicate through Sacrifice

Temple worship consists of sacrifice.

The temple was defiled by an inappropriate sacrifice.

They offered to God something that He never asked for and doesn’t want.

Pigs were considered unclean animals, not fit for human consumption, certainly not as an offering.

We defile ourselves whenever we disobey God.

That is what the prophet Samuel told King Saul.

1 Samuel 15:22 NLT

22 But Samuel replied, “What is more pleasing to the Lord: your burnt offerings and sacrifices or your obedience to his voice? Listen! Obedience is better than sacrifice, and submission is better than offering the fat of rams.

These are the stones that need to be removed.

Or perhaps it is how we need to sort through the stones that have been removed.

Am I doing this out of obedience, or am I trying to make God do what I want?

Dedication means offering a sacrifice - but what kind of sacrifice does God want?

Offer the sacrifice of praise.

This is what the rededication sacrifice looked like at the time of the Maccabees.

1 Maccabees 4:54–56 NRSV

54 At the very season and on the very day that the Gentiles had profaned it, it was dedicated with songs and harps and lutes and cymbals. 55 All the people fell on their faces and worshiped and blessed Heaven, who had prospered them. 56 So they celebrated the dedication of the altar for eight days, and joyfully offered burnt offerings; they offered a sacrifice of well-being and a thanksgiving offering.

Yes, there was animal sacrifice - which means meat and feasting!

But what is most notable about this account is the music and the worship.

It was not just the singing, but the posture of the people - on their faces before the Lord.

This tells you that, not only did the ritual sacrifice occur, but there was an attitude and an atmosphere that was distinctly worshipful.

We have a service every Sunday.

It is an act of dedication just to come to church.

For some people, that is their sacrifice - their act of dedication to God.

That’s a good start, but I believe that God is really interested in the attitude and the posture that we come with.

We don’t slaughter animals as an act of worship, we offer the sacrifice of our praise.

It is not an animal that goes onto the altar; we bring ourselves and place ourselves on the altar when we praise and worship the Lord.

Offer the sacrifice of yourself.

Romans 12:1 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.

The good new is that we don’t have to die to offer ourselves as a sacrifice.

Jesus died for us on the cross, so we don’t have to.

But we do die in the sense that we don’t live anymore, just to please ourselves.

Galatians 2:20 ESV

20 I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.

We are a living sacrifice - a person who lives for Jesus.

We live a life that reflects our devotion to God.

This ties in with the sacrifice of praise, because praise was never about just singing songs.

Psalm 50:23 CEV

23 The sacrifice that honors me is a thankful heart. Obey me, and I, your God, will show my power to save.

The sacrifice is really about obedience.

When we live lives of obedience to God, that is our sacrifice of dedication.

And that is also how we shine as lights in the world.

Hebrews 13:15–16 ESV

15 Through him then let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name. 16 Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.

It all goes together; Jesus, dedication and light.

Hanukkah may not be a biblically mandated feast, but it is a very biblical feast!

As we think of Hanukkah, lets not just celebrate the rededication of the temple - let’s rededicate ourselves to God’s service.

Let’s not just remember the miracle of the oil, remember that His Spirit fills you so that you can shine as a light to this world.

Maybe you don’t really celebrate Hanukkah?

But you can celebrate Jesus who is the focus of our dedication and the source of our light.

Questions for reflection:

Do you need a miracle today? Maybe you don’t think you have what it takes to get through the next week. Let’s pray that God who multiplies the oil and who fed five thousand with a boys lunch will multiply whatever you have to be more than sufficient, even abundant!

Let us rededicate ourselves in this season. What are you putting off and putting on? Do you have any altars that need to be dismantled? Are there stones that you need God to show you what to do with? Let’s pray that God will also put new stones in place as we devote ourselves to him.

How does your life reflect the themes of dedication and light? Are you a living sacrifice to God? Are you living your life in obedience to Him? Are you shining as a light for Jesus?