The Hanukkah Story

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The Jewish Temple was overtaken in 168 B.C.E. by Syrian-Greek soldiers and was dedicated to the worship of the god Zeus. The Jewish people were very distraught over this, but many were afraid to fight back. To make matters worse, in 167 B.C.E. the Syrian-Greek emperor Antiochus made a law to punish by death those who observed Judaism an ordered all the Jews to worship to Greek gods.  Greek soldiers gathered whole villages of Jewish people together and forcibly had them bow before idols and eat the flesh of a pig – both of these practices were forbidden for Jews.

A group of committed Jewish believers called the Maccabees rebelled and eventually retook their land from the Greeks and regained control. They returned to the Temple in Jerusalem but it had been spiritually defiled by being used for the worship of idols and  the sacrifice of swine on the altars. The committed Jews were committedto purify the Temple but the ritual for purification involved burning ritual oil in the Temple’s menorah for eight days. Unfortunately, they could only find only one day's worth of the holy oil left in the Temple. They went ahead and lit the menorah anyway and to their surprise the small amount of oil lasted the full eight days.

This is the miracle of the Hanukkah oil. It is celebrated every year when Jews light a special menorah known as a hanukkiyah for eight days. One candle is lit on the first night of Hanukkah, two on the second, and so on, until eight candles are lit.

There is a perpetual message hidden in the celebration.  Jesus is the Light of the World (John 1) and came to purify us from our sin. His Light is eternal and His Oil (Holy Spirit) will never run out.

Celebrate the Light of the World.