Hanukkah or Chanukah is the Festival of Dedication that Jesus celebrated with His family and it’s all about miracles. John even spoke about it in John 10:22-40. In that section of Scripture Jesus pointed to the miracles He was able to perform that proved He was the Messiah. He said “the works I do in My Father’s name testify about Me”.
The story of Hanukkah centers around the miracle of oil at the re-dedication of the Temple less than two hundred years before the time of Jesus around 165BC. The Jewish people regained control of the temple from Antiochus IV Epiphanes. It had been desecrated and was in need of repair and rededication. The people of God wanted to rededicate it quickly and light the menorah. The problem was that there was only one jar of oil remaining. That would only last a day and it would be another 8 days to have more made properly. Still, they decided to use it and light the menorah. To their astonishment the menorah remained lit for the entire 8 days on that one jar of oil! A miracle!
This has to be one of my favorite Biblical holidays. Everyone in my family has their own Hanukkiah. It’s a menorah with 9 branches instead of 7 like the one in the temple. There is a “servant candle” in the middle with 4 candles on each side of it. The servant candle is used to light all the others each of the 8 nights. Just like the menorah in the temple, the center branch feeds all the other branches connected to it. Think of the story of the Vine and the Branches in John 15:1-17.
For nightly readings visit the Jewish Voice or Hebrew 4 Christians websites.
Theresa Haigler 