Hanukkah -Keren Pryor

For with You is the fountain of life;

in Your light do we see light. (Psalm 36:9)

There is something very special about the gentle

radiance of the dancing Hanukkah lights. Even as we

gaze at the flickering flames knowing that the candles will

burn down each night, we also know that they will be

relit the following night until they reach their full glory on

the eighth day. During this often gloomy, dark, and cold

winter season, the growing brilliance of the lights of the

Hanukkah menorah is a warm encouragement. The eight candles are lit in ascending order each night

by the ninth, which is usually set apart in some way from the others and is called the shamash – the

servant candle.

We can compare the nine candles to the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5:22, joy, peace,

patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control – all lit by the ‘fruit’ of love! As

we meditate on these qualities each night the lights become a glowing reminder of the increasing work

of the Holy Spirit in our lives.

The military miracle remembered at Hanukkah (also called the Feast of Dedication, see John

10:23-24) is the victory of a small band of Jewish fighters, called Maccabees, who for the sake of the

sanctity of the Name of the God of Israel would not bow the knee in worship to the Hellenistic Caesargod.

Instead they resisted and overcame the mighty Syrian army. Consequently, on the 25th of Kislev,

165 B.C.E., they were able to cleanse and rededicate the desecrated Temple in Jerusalem and restore

within it the light of God’s presence and holiness. They also regained the freedom to live their lives in

obedience to His Word, thereby exalting Him as their King.

When re-consecrating the Holy Temple, the Maccabees relit the menorah using the one remaining

cruse of anointed oil, and it miraculously kept burning for eight days until fresh oil could be pressed.

This reminds us that the oil of the Spirit is inexhaustible. If we draw upon the Spirit of the Lord as the

source of our strength our light will continue to shine brightly for the Father’s glory.

Indeed the Father’s steadfast and mighty love sustains us each day and enables the maturing of the

fruit of the Spirit in our lives. It is this growing newness of life within that provides strength in our own

personal battles of life. The work of the Spirit steadily transforms us in the image of the Light of Life –

Yeshua, the Son of God, whose radiance broke into this world at His miraculous birth.

The humble Hanukkah lights also stir in us the realization that it is not the grand, external

workings of God that are the greatest miracles but the quiet, inner transformation of a shining soul that

gradually grows from “glory to glory” in its reflection of Messiah. As we “see” more of Him and learn

of Him, through the Lamp of the Word (Proverbs 6:23; Psalm 119:105), and walk in God’s ways in the

power of the Holy Spirit He has given us (John 14:26), we gain victory over the idolatries of the word

and the lusts of our flesh. We learn to become in truth the person our Father created us to be, and we

are released more and more into faithful, joyful service of the One who is Holy and worthy to be

praised. Le’ma’an Sh’mo! For His Name’s sake!

Source: Magazine Name, January 1, 2006