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HANUKKAH

BY Rev. WillemJ.J. Glashouwer

The Hebrew word ‘Hanukkah’ means ‘consecration’. This festival commemorates the cleansing and reconsecration of the second Temple in the year 165 B.C., after the Maccabees’ rebellion against the Syrian occupiers who had desecrated the temple. It begins on 25 Kislev (sometime in December) and lasts for 8 days.

Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but it is referred to in the New Testament, in John 10:22, where it is called ‘the Festival of Dedication’. The Lord Jesus celebrated this feast. John 10:22-23 “...Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the Temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade...”

There are no Biblical sources covering the time between the Old and New Testaments. For that period of time one has to rely on extra-Biblical sources. There were no more prophets in Israel after the Minor Prophets, and the writing of Biblical history only begins again around 50 A.D., when the New Testament started to be written. This inter-testamentary period lasted for some 400 years, from 350 B.C. to 50 A.D. We find the story behind Hanukkah in the Apocryphal books of the Bible, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and in the writings of the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus.

In 168 B.C. the Hellenistic Syrians dominated the Jewish land. They wanted to force Greek – Hellenistic – culture upon all their subjects. This was a mixture of Greek and Eastern cultures and had to become the new world culture. Hellenism achieved great influence, especially in higher circles. Temples for Zeus, the paramount god, were built throughout the Middle East, as well as grammar schools in the Greek mould. The Greek language was imported. Many chose Greek names and celebrated Hellenistic festivals. This was the instrument used to force the system of the Greek-Hellenistic, humanist culture upon the Jews.

The Jewish religion was a thorn in the flesh of the Syrian rulers, of course. Their policy therefore aimed at luring the Jews away from their traditions and their belief in God. Zeus, the paramount Greek god (the Sun-god!), not the God of Israel, had to be worshipped. A section of the Jewish people, the elite in particular, went along with all this and became assimilated to a great extent.

There was a strong opposition movement, however. This opposition erupted under the new Syrian king Antiochus IV. He called himself ‘Epiphanes’ (the illustrious), but many gave him the nickname ‘Epimanes’, which means ‘destroyer’ or ‘idiot/fool’. He desecrated the Temple by having pigs sacrificed there. He also had an image erected there, for the paramount god, Zeus. He stole everything from the sanctuary that was holy and precious: the altar of incense, the candlestick with the seven lamps, the golden bowls, etc.

Antiochus forbade the study of God’s Word, the keeping of the Sabbath and the dietary laws, circumcision and all the other regulations of the Jews. Everyone who was caught observing a Jewish custom was condemned to death. Thousands of Jews died because they remained faithful to the commandments their God had given them. We read about this in 1 Maccabees 1:56-63. This says, among other things: ‘Women who had had their children circumcised were put to death, in keeping with the decree. The parents were killed in their houses and the children hanged. But many in Israel were determined and resolved in their hearts not to eat anything unclean; they preferred to die rather than to be defiled with unclean food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die.’

Antiochus gave the people the choice: either Greek idol worship and Hellenistic thinking and life, or reject these and die. Some Jews abandoned their faith in God because they were afraid, but a very great multitude of Jewish martyrs kept the faith and had to pay for the faithfulness with a terrible death.

But God had not forgotten His people. He sent men who stood in the breach for His sanctity and who were able to lead the people in a rebellion against the cruel ruler. When the king’s envoys came to a small place near Jerusalem called Modein, they tried unsuccessfully to persuade an old priest called Mattathias to offer sacrifices of pigs to Zeus. 1 Maccabees 2:23 et seq. recounts how another Jew goes to the pagan altar to perform the sacrifice when Mattathias continues to refuse to do so. ‘When Mattathias saw him, he was filled with zeal; his heart was moved and his just fury was aroused; he sprang forward and killed him upon the altar.’

This act of opposition was the starting signal for a guerrilla war in 168 B.C., for which he took the initiative, together with his five sons. The first phase of this war against the occupation army lasted for three years. Mattathias was already an old man and he died shortly after the start of the struggle. His five sons took over the leadership. The third son, Judah, was appointed as commander in chief. Judah won one victory after another and he was given the nickname ‘Maccabeus’, which means ‘hammer blow’.

The Maccabees conquer Jerusalem in the year 165 B.C., exactly 3 years after the desecration of the Temple. The men are shocked when they see the decrepit state of the holy city and the temple. Maccabees 4:38-40: ‘They found the sanctuary desolate, the altar desecrated, the gates burnt, weeds growing in the courts as in a forest or on some mountain, and the priests' chambers demolished. Then they tore their clothes and made great lamentation; they sprinkled their heads with ashes and fell with their faces to the ground. And when the signal was given with trumpets, they cried out to Heaven.’

However, these men who mourned for Zion and Jerusalem did not rest on their laurels. Judah selected a few priests, who cleansed the sanctuary, threw down the pagan altar, and built a new altar according to the requirements of the law. They sanctified the forecourts as well and thus made every part of the Temple fit again for God’s service.

When everything was ready it was decided to reconsecrate the Temple and the altar. The day chosen for this was the 25th of the ninth Jewish month, Kislev, which corresponds approximately with our month of December. This was precisely the same day of the year on which the Temple had been desecrated, three years earlier. The ceremony for this reconsecration lasted eight days. Maccabees 4:56: ‘For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar and joyfully offered holocausts and sacrifices of deliverance and praise… There was great joy among the people now that the disgrace of the Gentiles was removed.’

Flavius Josephus called Hanukkah, the reconsecration of the Temple, the Festival of Light. We read about this in the Antiquities of the Jews 12,325: ‘Since that time we celebrate this feast, which we call ‘the Festival of Light’, to which we give this name, I think, because we achieved the right to celebrate it at a time when we had not counted upon doing so.’

The Festival of Light was not only a military victory; it also has a deep spiritual significance. The Jews celebrate this feast because they are able to serve the true God once again. That is what it is about. He, not the pagan gods, must sit on the throne. We, as Christians, celebrate the Festival of Light, Christmas, because the true light of the world is born. The Lord Jesus has come to save the world. By the sacrifice He made for our sins we may also belong to the true God, the God of Israel.

(Rev. Willem J.J. Glashouwer is the President of Christians for Israel International)


HANUKKAH BY Rev. WillemJ.J. Glashouwer The Hebrew word ‘Hanukkah’ means ‘consecration’. This festival commemorates the cleansing and reconsecration of the second Temple in the year 165 B.C., after the Maccabees’ rebellion against the Syrian occupiers who had desecrated the temple. It begins on 25 Kislev (sometime in December) and lasts for 8 days. Hanukkah is not mentioned in the Old Testament, but it is referred to in the New Testament, in John 10:22, where it is called ‘the Festival of Dedication’. The Lord Jesus celebrated this feast. John 10:22-23 “...Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the Temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade...” There are no Biblical sources covering the time between the Old and New Testaments. For that period of time one has to rely on extra-Biblical sources. There were no more prophets in Israel after the Minor Prophets, and the writing of Biblical history only begins again around 50 A.D., when the New Testament started to be written. This inter-testamentary period lasted for some 400 years, from 350 B.C. to 50 A.D. We find the story behind Hanukkah in the Apocryphal books of the Bible, 1 and 2 Maccabees, and in the writings of the Jewish historian, Flavius Josephus. In 168 B.C. the Hellenistic Syrians dominated the Jewish land. They wanted to force Greek – Hellenistic – culture upon all their subjects. This was a mixture of Greek and Eastern cultures and had to become the new world culture. Hellenism achieved great influence, especially in higher circles. Temples for Zeus, the paramount god, were built throughout the Middle East, as well as grammar schools in the Greek mould. The Greek language was imported. Many chose Greek names and celebrated Hellenistic festivals. This was the instrument used to force the system of the Greek-Hellenistic, humanist culture upon the Jews. The Jewish religion was a thorn in the flesh of the Syrian rulers, of course. Their policy therefore aimed at luring the Jews away from their traditions and their belief in God. Zeus, the paramount Greek god (the Sun-god!), not the God of Israel, had to be worshipped. A section of the Jewish people, the elite in particular, went along with all this and became assimilated to a great extent. There was a strong opposition movement, however. This opposition erupted under the new Syrian king Antiochus IV. He called himself ‘Epiphanes’ (the illustrious), but many gave him the nickname ‘Epimanes’, which means ‘destroyer’ or ‘idiot/fool’. He desecrated the Temple by having pigs sacrificed there. He also had an image erected there, for the paramount god, Zeus. He stole everything from the sanctuary that was holy and precious: the altar of incense, the candlestick with the seven lamps, the golden bowls, etc. Antiochus forbade the study of God’s Word, the keeping of the Sabbath and the dietary laws, circumcision and all the other regulations of the Jews. Everyone who was caught observing a Jewish custom was condemned to death. Thousands of Jews died because they remained faithful to the commandments their God had given them. We read about this in 1 Maccabees 1:56-63. This says, among other things: ‘Women who had had their children circumcised were put to death, in keeping with the decree. The parents were killed in their houses and the children hanged. But many in Israel were determined and resolved in their hearts not to eat anything unclean; they preferred to die rather than to be defiled with unclean food or to profane the holy covenant; and they did die.’ Antiochus gave the people the choice: either Greek idol worship and Hellenistic thinking and life, or reject these and die. Some Jews abandoned their faith in God because they were afraid, but a very great multitude of Jewish martyrs kept the faith and had to pay for the faithfulness with a terrible death. But God had not forgotten His people. He sent men who stood in the breach for His sanctity and who were able to lead the people in a rebellion against the cruel ruler. When the king’s envoys came to a small place near Jerusalem called Modein, they tried unsuccessfully to persuade an old priest called Mattathias to offer sacrifices of pigs to Zeus. 1 Maccabees 2:23 et seq. recounts how another Jew goes to the pagan altar to perform the sacrifice when Mattathias continues to refuse to do so. ‘When Mattathias saw him, he was filled with zeal; his heart was moved and his just fury was aroused; he sprang forward and killed him upon the altar.’ This act of opposition was the starting signal for a guerrilla war in 168 B.C., for which he took the initiative, together with his five sons. The first phase of this war against the occupation army lasted for three years. Mattathias was already an old man and he died shortly after the start of the struggle. His five sons took over the leadership. The third son, Judah, was appointed as commander in chief. Judah won one victory after another and he was given the nickname ‘Maccabeus’, which means ‘hammer blow’. The Maccabees conquer Jerusalem in the year 165 B.C., exactly 3 years after the desecration of the Temple. The men are shocked when they see the decrepit state of the holy city and the temple. Maccabees 4:38-40: ‘They found the sanctuary desolate, the altar desecrated, the gates burnt, weeds growing in the courts as in a forest or on some mountain, and the priests' chambers demolished. Then they tore their clothes and made great lamentation; they sprinkled their heads with ashes and fell with their faces to the ground. And when the signal was given with trumpets, they cried out to Heaven.’ However, these men who mourned for Zion and Jerusalem did not rest on their laurels. Judah selected a few priests, who cleansed the sanctuary, threw down the pagan altar, and built a new altar according to the requirements of the law. They sanctified the forecourts as well and thus made every part of the Temple fit again for God’s service. When everything was ready it was decided to reconsecrate the Temple and the altar. The day chosen for this was the 25th of the ninth Jewish month, Kislev, which corresponds approximately with our month of December. This was precisely the same day of the year on which the Temple had been desecrated, three years earlier. The ceremony for this reconsecration lasted eight days. Maccabees 4:56: ‘For eight days they celebrated the dedication of the altar and joyfully offered holocausts and sacrifices of deliverance and praise… There was great joy among the people now that the disgrace of the Gentiles was removed.’ Flavius Josephus called Hanukkah, the reconsecration of the Temple, the Festival of Light. We read about this in the Antiquities of the Jews 12,325: ‘Since that time we celebrate this feast, which we call ‘the Festival of Light’, to which we give this name, I think, because we achieved the right to celebrate it at a time when we had not counted upon doing so.’ The Festival of Light was not only a military victory; it also has a deep spiritual significance. The Jews celebrate this feast because they are able to serve the true God once again. That is what it is about. He, not the pagan gods, must sit on the throne. We, as Christians, celebrate the Festival of Light, Christmas, because the true light of the world is born. The Lord Jesus has come to save the world. By the sacrifice He made for our sins we may also belong to the true God, the God of Israel. (Rev. Willem J.J. Glashouwer is the President of Christians for Israel International)