Hanukkah

Is it okay for the church or Christians to celebrate Hanukkah? It is not in the list of festivals that we find in Leviticus 23. Michael Rydelnick of Moody Bible Institute gave us an insight into that. (This might be considered a “guest lecturer” day, after referring to Warren Wiersby and Ravi Zacharias in previous posts.)
(http://reflectionsfromjim.blogspot.com/2017/01/saul-and-samuels-ghost.html
http://reflectionsfromjim.blogspot.com/2017/01/witnesses-and-doves.html )

But that is okay. I can vouch for these guys. (Smiley face) Hanukkah is actually from 165 BC. The Seleucid king, Antiochus IV, or Epiphanes, was defeated by the Maccabees who recaptured Jerusalem. They purified the Temple and rededicated it. Hanukkah is the Jewish word for "dedication." The celebration was inaugurated following the miraculous events accompanying this cleasnsing.

It is interesting to note that this was predicted in Daniel 8:11 and beyond. Verse 25 says that the king will die, but without human causes. (Check it out on Google.) These specific and precise  prophesies have led to some claiming that Daniel 8 and 12 were inserted after the fact by some scribe, or that the entire book was written after 200 BC. (Daniel was written about 550 BC.)

This late date is dubious on many levels, but one that I will just outline here is that eight manuscripts of Daniel were recovered in the Qumran scrolls. (Dead Sea.) The community was destroyed in AD 68. So if Daniel had been written less than 100 years earlier, would the scholars in Qumran have considered them part of the Scriptures? That seems dubious. But I digress.

So Daniel predicts that the insolent king (Old Testament antichrist) would be defeated. This led to the celebration that continues even until today. Interestingly, there are two holidays in the Jewish calendar that are not in the Leviticus list. The feast of Purim, as described in Esther 9 is the other.

But, even if these are legitimate Jewish holidays, what do they have to do with the church? Recall the meaning of Hanukkah, “dedication.” Michael Rydelnik asked, “What would Jesus do?” That sounds good.

John 10:22 notes that Jesus went to the feast of dedication and it was winter. (Verse 23) So if Jesus celebrated Hanukkah, it stands to reason that it cannot hurt for anyone else to participate. And it falls on the 25th of the month that corresponds to November-December of our calendar. So if often corresponds to the Christmas season.

Is it okay for the church or Christians to celebrate Hanukkah? Heck yes!

Historical Note: Epiphanes was not the first, nor the last to attempt to eradicate the Jews. You can begin in Egypt with Pharaoh. Then a bunch of kings in the wilderness, culminating with Balaak. Haman, in Babylon gave it a try. Antiochus took his shot followed by Herod at Jesus’ birth. Through the centuries multiple attempts were made and failed. One notable one was “Andophus” Hitler. (Just embellished that for effect.) Hussein tried recently and more voices from the Middle East call for that every day.

As Dr. Phil would say, “How’s that workin’ for you?” Hanukkah is a current reminder that pigs don’t fly. (Sorry for the porcine metaphor, but the futile efforts continue.)

An ultimate attack will follow, as discussed in Ezekiel and Revelation. It is also destined to fail. Hanukkah merely looks forward to these impending failures as well.

Happy Hanukkah.