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Why Christians Should Celebrate Chanukah

HighBeamMinistry.com

“Then the male goat acted even more arrogantly, but when he became powerful, the large horn was broken. Four conspicuous horns came up in its place, pointing toward the four winds of heaven. From one of them a little horn emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land (Israel, author). It grew as high as the heavenly army, made some of the army and some of the stars fall to the earth, and trampled them. It acted arrogantly even against the Prince of the heavenly army; it revoked his regular sacrifice and overthrew the place of his sanctuary. In the rebellion, the army was given up, together with the regular sacrifice. The horn threw truth to the ground and was successful in what it did.” (Daniel 8:8-12)

 

“While (Gabriel) was speaking to me, I fell into a deep sleep, with my face to the ground. Then he touched me, made me stand up, and said, “I am here to tell you what will happen at the conclusion of the time of wrath, because it refers to the appointed time of the end.” (Daniel 8:18-19)

 

“So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand)…” (Matthew 24:15)

 

As I write this, Jews and some Christians around the world are celebrating the first day of Chanukah. This feast is not one of the original Feasts of the Lord (Unleavened Bread, Passover, First Fruits, Weeks [a.k.a. Pentecost], Trumpets, the Day of Atonement, and Tabernacles) that we find mandated in the Torah (Genesis-Deuteronomy). Chanukah was instituted after a horrific time of spiritual darkness and persecution, which came to a close through a glorious victory by a guerrilla army of Jews versus the fading Greek Empire c. 168-164 B.C.

 

Most Christians don’t know about Chanukah because its origins lie in the intertestamental period between the Book of Malachi (written sometime between 440 and 400 B.C.) and the Gospels’ record of Jesus’ life in the early first century A.D. Yet we do have a record of it in the Apocrypha, those books that aren’t included in the official scriptures, depending on your Christian tradition. I’m of the persuasion that the Apocrypha is not on the level of the inspired scriptures. However, the Apocrypha is an excellent source of historical information and gives us insights into the mindset of the Jews during the intertestamental period. The story of Chanukah and the events that led up to its institution are found in 1 and 2 Maccabees.

 

The story of Chanukah is one of religious freedom, persecution, perseverance under suffering, God’s deliverance from all enemies, dedication and rededication (Chanukah comes from the Hebrew chanak, “to dedicate”), worship, and miracles. Like the Feasts of Passover and Esther, Chanukah commemorates a historical event. Recalling the story explains what happened and serves as the basis for lessons about trusting God in the midst of persecution and deliverance.

 

I’m reminded of the joke Jews tell about the theme of their national celebrations, including the Feasts: “They tried to kill us. We won. Let’s eat.”

 

Yup, sounds about right.

 

Anyway, my point is that Christians would do well to learn about Chanukah and start celebrating it for its historical lessons and prophetic elements. Not to mention that our Rabbi, Lord, and example, Jesus, celebrated it (John 10:22-39), as did the entire first-century Jewish believers.

 

Daniel prophesied about the events that would lead up to the creation of Chanukah. In Daniel 8, Gabriel the angel brings a message to Daniel about the clash of two empires – the Medo-Persians (a ram with two horns) and the Greeks (a goat with one horn that breaks and is replaced by four horns). Alexander the Great (the single horn, 336-323 B.C.) arose and took down the Medo-Persians. After Alexander’s untimely death at age 33, the Greek empire was divided into four regions—Syria (the Seleucid family), Macedonia, Thrace, and Egypt (the Ptolemaic family).

 

The Seleucids and the Ptolemies brawled back and forth between Syria and Egypt. As they battled, their armies fought back and forth across the land of Israel. Eventually, a really rotten Seleucid leader, Antiochus IV Epiphanes (“god manifest” – yes, he thought this highly of himself), ruled over the Jews for a time. Daniel prophesied of him. “From one of them a little horn (Antiochus IV) emerged and grew extensively toward the south and the east and toward the beautiful land (Israel). It grew as high as the heavenly army, made some of the army and some of the stars fall to the earth, and trampled them (defeating the Jewish forces). It acted arrogantly even against the Prince of the heavenly army (God); it revoked his regular sacrifice and overthrew the place of his sanctuary (the Temple). In the rebellion, the army was given up, together with the regular sacrifice. The horn threw truth to the ground and was successful in what it did” (Daniel 8:9-12).

 

For a time, Antiochus’s power was unstoppable. During his vicious reign, Antiochus IV forbade the Jews from circumcising their infant boys and studying the Torah. He sacrificed a pig in God’s holy Temple and erected a statue to a pagan god, Zeus, within the Temple precincts. Any Jew who refused to accept living like a Greek faced the death penalty.

 

Eventually, a small family started the fight against the ruling Greeks in the town of Modi’in, just to the west of Jerusalem, and the war was on. The Maccabee Revolt lasted from 167-160 B.C. “In three years, the Maccabees cleared the way back to the Temple Mount, which they reclaimed. They cleaned the Temple and dismantled the defiled altar and constructed a new one in its place. Three years to the day after Antiochus’ mad rampage (Kislev 25, 165 BCE), the Maccabees held a dedication (hanukkah) of the Temple with proper sacrifice, rekindling of the golden menorah, and eight days of celebration and praise to God. [Proper] Jewish worship had been reestablished” (myjewishlearning.com).

 

Amazing! Daniel prophesied about the rotten king Antiochus IV, and it happened about 365 years later. But what’s most amazing about Daniel’s prophecy, the message from Gabriel, is that it not only applied to Antiochus IV, but also to the end of the age, just before Jesus returns. How do we know that?

 

Words and context, dear reader.

 

After receiving the vision, Daniel wonders what it meant. “I heard a human voice calling from the middle of the Ulai: ‘Gabriel, explain the vision to this man’” (Daniel 8:16). A human-like voice tells Gabriel to explain it to Daniel. That means what we’re about to read is plain to understand.

 

Here it comes: “So he approached where I was standing; when he came near, I was terrified and fell facedown. ‘Son of man,’ he said to me, ‘understand that the vision refers to the time of the end’” (8:17, italics author). More specifically, “and said, ‘I am here to tell you what will happen at the conclusion of the time of wrath, because it refers to the appointed time of the end” (8:19, italics author).

 

First, in Hebrew, “time of the end” is “l’et qets” (l’eht-kates), and “appointed time of the end” is “l’moed qets” (l’moh’ehd kates). Secondly, “The time of wrath” linked to “the appointed time of the end” explicitly refers to the End Times just before the Day of the Lord, when Jesus returns.

 

What’s especially curious is that Daniel gets a repeat of Gabriel’s message in Daniel 10 about the same thing – the fight between Persia and Greece, the battles between the two Greek families, and the rise of an evil Greek ruler who will persecute the Jews.

 

But here’s the context of Daniel 10: “Now I have come to help you understand what will happen to your people in the last days, for the vision refers to those days” (10:14). The “last days” designation is key. In Hebrew, it’s “b’acharit ha-yamim” (b’ah-chah-reet’ ha-yah-meem’). In Jewish End Time theology, acharit ha-yamim refers to the very end of human dominion on earth and the beginning of God’s reign through His Messiah. In our Christian understanding, this refers to Jesus’ return to establish His Millennial Kingdom.

 

So, while the event unfolding before Daniel’s eyes was something that would happen 365 years down the road, that’s just a picture of the main event to come in the far future. If we’re indeed approaching the End Times, that means Daniel nailed it more than 2,365 years in advance.

 

But Daniel isn’t alone in his prophecy. Jesus actually backs him up. “This good news of the kingdom will be proclaimed in all the world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come. (This is the idea of the acharit ha-yamim.) Also, “‘So when you see the abomination of desolation, spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place” (let the reader understand)” (Matthew 24:14-15). The abomination of desolation refers to when Antiochus IV defiled the Temple.

 

There it is. Daniel and Jesus refer to the same event. Daniel refers to two identical events, one in the near future and one in the far future, at the end of the age, both of which cause great persecution of God’s people and end with their triumph over their enemies with God’s help. Jesus refers to the same two events: one fulfilled, and the other as the fulfillment of Daniel’s prototype, resulting in the same persecution and deliverance scenario.

 

If the Jews needed to remain steadfast in faithfulness to God during Antiochus IV’s persecution and defeat, then it would behoove all of God’s people, the physical descendants of Abraham (Jews) and the spiritual descendants of Abraham (believing Jews and Gentiles) to be prepared for extreme persecution, perseverance, death, and deliverance in the acharit ha-yamim, the End Times.

 

Why should Christians learn about and celebrate Chanukah? Learning about what happened previously helps us to prepare for what’s to come. Don’t the scriptures teach us, “These things happened to them as examples, and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the ages have come” (1 Corinthians 10:11, italics author).

 

Even now, we see radicalized Islam marching through the Middle East and infusing itself into traditionally Christian Western cultures, demanding that all peoples, especially the Saturday (Jews) and Sunday (Christians) people, submit to Allah. At this point, and this is just speculation, I expect to see Islam gather increasingly zealous adherents in a drive for global domination, hand in hand with the power-hungry political Left, which Islam will ultimately turn on and attack. Watch for a Muslim to rise and follow Antiochus’ pattern. If that scenario happens, the lessons we’ve learned from the Chanukah story alongside our Bible will be crucial to many believers’ perseverance while we await our King.

 

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Shining the Light of God’s Truth on the Road Ahead

 

Pastor Jay Christianson

The Truth Barista, Frothy Thoughts

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