Jerusalem of Gold
Mashiach Hidden in Chanukah
This study shows more of God's Heart. To show us how He is hiding in between His Jewish and Christian people, and revealing Who He fully is - as we continue to "find each other" - Jew and Gentile - in faith in Jesus/Yeshua. The main question is, Is Chanukah in the Bible, did Jesus observe Chanukah, and if so, what is He trying to tell us?
A very quick intro to Chanukah historically: In 165 B.C.E., the Jewish Maccabees (a priestly family) managed to drive the Syrian army out of Jerusalem and reclaim their temple. It took a generation though, from father to sons. The temple then had to be re-dedicated, since the Syrians had desecrated it as a temple to the false idol and 'god' Zeus. When the Jews prepared to re-dedicate the temple by relighting the "Eternal Flame," they had just enough consecrated oil to burn for one day, but the oil miraculously lasted for eight days until new oil arrived. The "Eternal Flame" refers to God commands that the fire in the Temple never go out (Lev 6.13). To this day, in every Synagogue in the world, there is a light that burns all the time - the eternal flame. (In some modern Synagogues it is an electric "flame").
Chanukah is a testament of God's Supernatural Light being victorious over darkness. What - or rather Who - does that sound like, to the Christian heart? This is why the Jewish people light candles or oil in a menorah for the eight days of Chanukkah, adding one candle each day.
Chanukah means "Dedication"(חֲנֻכָּה) because the Jewish people lit the oil in faith to 're-dedicate' the Temple to the LORD God of Israel, cleansing it from Hellenistic influences. Even when they didn't have enough in the 'natural'. In the Jewish faith, Chanukah is also affectionately called The Festival of Lights חַג הָאוּרִים and a Time of Miracles.
Chanukah comes from the Biblical root Chanach meaning to dedicate morally and religiously to a Deity.
During the eight nights of Chanukah, the Jewish people light the Chanukah Menorah (or Chanukiah for short). It looks like this:
This is a traditional design. The range of modern designs are beautiful, often made of Jerusalem stone and fused glass.
So, Chanukah is an EIGHT DAY MIRACLE.
Eight in the Bible means "separation for holiness". For example,
- there were eight people saved in the Ark (Genesis 7.7),
- the glory of the LORD at Sinai descended on the people of Israel on the eighth day (Leviticus 9: 1-24).
- Offerings to cleanse were made on the eighth day (Leviticus 22.27).
- The Feast of Tabernacles (the Marriage Feast) is eight days long. For "Yeshua Hidden in Tabernacles" click here.
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"And when eight days to circumcise Him were fulfilled, then His name was called Yeshua/Jesus, which He had been called by the angel before He was conceived in the womb." (Luke 2:21)
Whenever the LORD God brings patterns He is trying to show us something about Himself, hidden in plain sight. "You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13). During Chanukah, we light the Chanukah Menorah with a candle for each of the eight nights. But, if you look at the picture, you many have noticed that it has nine candles, not eight! There is an incredible prophetic reason for this "extra" ninth candle, which I will explain shortly.
Some years ago I was gazing at the lights of the Chanukiah in the quiet with the God of the Universe, and I decided to ask Him a question. I said: "There's more to it, isn't there? It's not just about a miracle in my ancestral past is it? What is the Messianic prophetic hidden meaning of the eight days? Because You, Yeshua (Jesus), are hidden in everything that is ancient and Biblical. Where are You?" This is what I believe He taught me: "Each light of the Chanukah Menorah represents one of My Appointed Times given on Mount Sinai. Learn more about them. Leviticus 23." I turned to Leviticus 23 and there they were - the Feasts of the LORD. These are the Feasts the Jewish people build our calendar, yearly rhythms and worship times around - this Heaven-given Prophetic Time-clock.
Yet, He calls them His Feasts, not Jewish Feasts. Which means they are open to all. My experience of non-Jewish believers who love exploring the Hebraic and the Jewish roots of the Christian faith, are usually some of the humblest, most awake, people I have the pleasure of knowing. His Holy Spirit is moving a massive number of Christians to want to learn more about the LORD's Feasts in these times. From Leviticus 23, His Appointed Times are:
1) Passover HE DIED.
2) Feast of Unleavened Bread HE WAS BURIED. Jesus/Yeshua said He was the Bread of Life but without Sin, without Leaven. He was born in Beit Lechem, which means "House of Bread" in Hebrew.
3) First Fruits HE ROSE AGAIN. Jesus/Yeshua clearly calls Himself the First Fruits among many brothers (1 Corinthians 15.20.)
4) Shavu'ot (Feast of Weeks). Shavu'ot is always 50 days after Passover (Shavu'ot was changed to the word fifty in Greek, Pentecost.) THE HOLY SPIRIT CAME on Shavu'ot. SHAVU’OT IS ALSO CALLED THE FIRST HARVEST in the Jewish faith. On Shavu'ot in the New Testament the first harvest of over 3000 believers occured (Acts 2.41). And amazingly, in the Jewish faith still to this day we count 50 days from First Fruits to the Spring Harvest of Shavu'ot. It's called Counting the Omer. So the Jewish disciples were probably not as surprised as the church thinks they were that something BIG happened on the 50th day! Because 50 days are always counted. The first church was mostly Jewish, so they were sitting praying and counting the Omer down to the exact day God The Holy Spirit turned up!
These four are the Spring Feasts: Prophetically these show us what Yeshua the Messiah has already done.
5) Feast of Trumpets THE TRUMPET WILL SOUND. This stands for a REDEMPTION, WARNING, CALLING WORKERS IN FROM THE HARVEST. It is also used in the Old Testament to move the congregation on, to break camp and "go home to a place they haven't been before!
6) Day of Atonement THE DAY OF REPENTANCE AND ASKING FORGIVENESS BEFORE THE HIGH PRIEST. THE ONLY DAY IN THE JEWISH YEAR WHEN JEWISH PEOPLE SAY THE NAME OF YHVH. Yeshua is called Our High Priest and He atoned for our sins. It is through Him that we as Believers can become familiar with the awesome Holiness of YHVH and then in His Grace say His Name like He's our Father
7) Feast of Tabernacles THE WEDDING FEAST. The Hebrew for "dwell with us" is literally "TABERNACLED WITH US". At the end of the Feast of Tabernacles there is a Jewish Dance called the BRIDEGROOM OF THE TORAH! Who calls Himself our Bridegroom in the New Testament? Yet there's an actual dance named after Him as the Bridegroom today and through the centuries in the Jewish faith! It is also the day on which the Jewish people finish reading the Torah and begin again - Jewish people literally understand this to mean the end of one age and the beginning of another! Sounds familiar doesn't it?!
These three are the Autumn Feasts: Prophetically these show us what Jesus/Yeshua is coming back to do.
8) Shabbat – this binds the Spring feasts to the Autumn Feasts through the seasons, bringing a rhythm of regular REST between the two as we wait for our eternal rest. Shabbat is a bit like a weekly reminder of the promise that one day we will rest for eternity in the True Shabbat Bridegroom Presence. We even sometimes sing a Jewish song called Lecha Dodi on Shabbat which in English reads: "Come my beloved to greet the Bride, Sabbath Presence, we welcome You!" Who that is referring to?!
So the first powerhouse of revelation is that the eight nights of light in Chanukah show that Yeshua/Jesus is the fulfilled Prophetic message in each of the eight appointed times. To understand the appointed times is to understand the God of the Bible more through a Hebraic, not Hellenistic lens, which helps the church from becoming deceived with false 'gods' and personalities, and unites her with her fellow Jewish Bride of Yeshua.
Yet this chasm between us arose precisely as the prophet Daniel foresaw. He said the spirit of the anti-christ would do three things:
1) speak words against the Most High,
2) try to wear out the saints and
3) CHANGE THE APPOINTED TIMES (Daniel 7. 25).
This is why both sides of the One New Man (Jew and Gentile) haven't understood each other for so many centuries. But that is changing in these end times and it's beautiful. The Jewish people are witnessing about Yeshua through the Appointed Times without realising it every year, through all generations. The church doesn't fully realise this either yet, but the Bride will come to see it together. It is impossible to separate the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from the LORD Yeshua, or by contrast to separate Jesus from the LORD God of Israel. Each side has tried to do this to its detriment.
So, why – if there are eight Appointed Biblical Times and eight nights of Chanukah – are there nine candles on the Chanukah Menorah? It is because we do not light the Chanukah Menorah with a match. Each night, we first light the ninth candle, and then we light each Feast candle with the ninth candle. The ninth candle is what brings the LIGHT. So, what does this ninth candle mean?
In Hebrew the ninth candle is called Ha Shamash. הַשָּׁמַ֖שׁ
It means "The Servant".
It comes from the Biblical Hebrew root: to minister שְׁמַשׁ (sh'mash)
Philippians 2:5-7 The Mind of Christ
(Isaiah52:13–15)
Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.
Isaiah 52: 13-15 The Servant Exalted
(Philippians 2:5–11)
Behold, My Servant will prosper; He will be raised and lifted up and highly exalted. Just as many were appalled at Him — His appearance was disfigured beyond that of any man, and His form was marred beyond human likeness — so He will sprinkle many nations. Kings will shut their mouths because of Him. For they will see what they have not been told, and they will understand what they have not heard."
הַשָּׁמַ֖שׁ (The Servant) also shares its root with the word "Sun": שֶׁמֶשׁ (shemesh)
וְזָרְחָה לָכֶם יִרְאֵי שְׁמִי, שֶׁמֶשׁ צְדָקָה, וּמַרְפֵּא, בִּכְנָפֶיהָ
“But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings,
(Malachi 3:20 in original Hebrew Bible, Malachi 4:2 in the English)
Malachi 4: The Day of the LORD
(Zephaniah1:7–18; 1 Thessalonians5:1–11; 2 Peter3:8–13)
“For behold, the day is coming, burning like a furnace, when all the arrogant and every evildoer will be stubble; the day is coming when I will set them ablaze,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Not a root or branch will be left to them.” “But for you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in (its) His wings, and you will go out and leap like calves from the stall. Then you will trample the wicked, for they will be ashes under the soles of your feet on the day I am preparing,” says the LORD of Hosts. “Remember the law of My servant Moses, the statutes and ordinances I commanded him for all Israel at Horeb. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and awesome Day of the LORD. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.” (I believe the fathers and children here are referring to the Jewish people and the Gentile church, as in the One New Man is Ephesians 2.)
Ephesians 2:11-18 One in Christ
(Philippians2:1–4)
Therefore remember that formerly you who are Gentiles in the flesh and called uncircumcised by the so-called circumcision (that done in the body by human hands)— remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility by abolishing in His flesh the law of commandments and decrees. He did this to create in Himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace and reconciling both of them to God in one body through the cross, by which He extinguished their hostility. He came and preached peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near. For through Him we both have access to the Father by one Spirit."
So, to sumarise, on the Feast of Dedication - Chanukah - Yeshua literally lights up the Feasts with Himself. He reveals more of Who He is through our understanding of each of the eight Appointed Times listed above. He called Himself the Light of the World and He meant it! He shows each appointed time, from Passover to Tabernacles, is about Himself, the Jewish Messiah. The Hebrew word for light ('or') means "shine" and "peace & relief from trouble". Yeshua is our Light that makes us shine at times and is our peace & relief from trouble.
SO, IS CHANUKAH IN THE BIBLE AND DID JESUS (YESHUA) OBSERVE IT? THE ANSWER TO BOTH IS YES. Jesus/Yeshua actually went into the Temple on CHANUKAH in John 10. 22 - 39:
Jesus at the Feast of Dedication
At that time the Feast of Dedication took place in Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was walking in the temple courtscin Solomon’s Colonnade. So the Jews gathered around Him and demanded, “How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.” “I already told you,” Jesus replied,“but you did not believe. The works I do in My Father’s nme testify on My behalf. But because you are not My sheep, you refuse to believe. My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.”
Here He is walking into the Temple on Chanukah, because:
- He is the Sanctified Oil of the Temple (Messiah in Hebrew means One anointed with Oil)
- He is the Eternal Flame of the Temple
- He is the Re-dedication of all our hearts, souls and bodies to God, impossible both in the phyiscal temple and inour spiritual temple, without a Supernatural Act of God on our behalf
- He is the One Who separates us for Holiness
- He is our Cleansing
- He is all our Miracles
- He is the Servant King
- and He is the One Who Lights up all the Appointed Times with His Eternal Meaning and Light of Revelation.
On Chanukah the Jewish people say a blessing immediately after lighting the candles. The blessing is called "The One Who Works Miracles!" (she'asah nissim).
He is bringing His Light of Revelation of Who He is to His church and to His People, the God of the Old and New Testament as One.He is "hiding in plain sight" as the Sevant Messiah in every Chanukah Menorah in every Jewish home in every country during this time. Please pray for the Jewish people in Israel and throughout the world during Chanukah, that they would know the LORD loves them more than words. Please pray for the church. Because, during Chanukah, each person in the Jewish home has their own Chanukah Menorah. Just like each person must have their own Light of Salvation, you cannot use someone else's. We also place the Chanukah Menorah in our windows facing outwards, it must be the right way round to someone looking in at our light. The Light of our Salvation needs to also make sense to someone looking in at our lives. The Jewish peope traditionally are commanded to "gaze into the Light" of the Chanukah Menorah. Just as Yeshua commands us to Keep our Eyes fixed on Him. To gaze at Him through His Word. And lastly, we are commanded not to use this special light for our own mundane purposes. We, as believers, must try not to use Yeshua to our own ends. Our relationship with Him is to be intimate but never casual, secure but never mundane.
I pray this message encourages and strengthens us all.
I pray His Light lights up our lives in a Continuous Time of Miracles for His children.
Peace, love and hiddenness in Yeshua.
Have a rejoicing Chanukah!
חַג חֲנוּכָּה שַׂמֵחַ
NB: Chanukah is not one of the 8 appointed times (feasts) given to Moses on Mount Sinai in Leviticus. Chanukah was prophesied by Daniel in 8: 9-14 and like other important times – such as Purim/Feast of Esther – the Jewish people keep these times of remembrance as well as the 8 appointed times.
