Beth Elohim Messianic Synagogue

The Significance of Chanukkah: beyond tradition and legend

During the week before Shavu’ot, sometime between 7 and 5 B.C.E. Zacharias stood before the altar of incense. He was a Levite in the priestly lineage of Abijah. To him, this was spring, the weekly tour of duty in the Temple, the seventh course (week), along with the other members of Abijah’s family. It was not the seventh week since the beginning of the Levitical New Year, on Nisan 1 in the spring. All Levites were required to serve in the Temple during the spring and fall festivals of Pesach, Shavu’ot, and Sukkot, in order to minister to the multitudes that came to Jerusalem as the Torah requires for all male Israelites above the age of bar mitzvah. The 8 days festival of Pesach occurred in the third week, so the seventh week course of Abijah was the eighth week after the Spring New Years.
By the casting of lots, it was the duty of Zacharias to sprinkle incense on the golden altar before the Temple of G-d for the week. The crowds at the Temple were growing as early arrivals to the upcoming Spring Festival of Shavu’ot, the following week on the sixth day of Sivan, were beginning to gather. During the Shavu’ot celebration, the theme of the festival was focused on the giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.
Suddenly, Zacharias met face-to face with an awesome glory reflected by the Archangel Gabriel. Gabriel is the signet Archangel for Israel. He was instructed to bring direct messages from G-d as he sat on His celestial throne known by the sages as the sixth heaven called Makon.
Zacharias was brought up in a vision to what the sages call the second heaven where divine messages are sent by G-d. Here Zacharias met G-d’s emissary. This is the same place where Elijah, Daniel, and John were taken in vision as they were given the hidden messages of the L-rd.
Zacharias was told that his wife Elizabeth (Elisheva) who was also from the tribe of Levi and barren, that she would be blessed with a son. This son would be a specially chosen one as a messenger of G-d and named Elijah “mantle” and a great prophet of Israel. Although Zacharias may have wanted to run home and tell Elizabeth of what was to come, he had to stay at the temple and finish his priestly duties. This would be another two days until Shavu’ot on Sivan 6 and 7 was completed. So, the first day that John the Baptist (Yochanan ben Zacharias) could have been conceived would have been the 8th of Sivan, closest to the end of May. Zacharias was not able to speak because he had not believed what Gabriel told him and he would be unable to speak until “ the day these things take place” ( Luke 1:20).
The people were waiting for Zacharias to appear to minister to them and wondered why he took so long in the Temple. When he appeared to them and they saw that he could not speak, they realized he had had a vision in the Temple. He communicated with the people by using signs.
Once Zacharias returned home, his wife conceived, and she remained in seclusion for five months. She praised G-d for allowing her to become pregnant. She did not share the news with anyone during that time. Yet in the sixth month after conceiving the future John the Baptist, near the end of October, Gabriel once again delivered a message from the celestial throne of G-d in the sixth heaven. Once again, Gabriel brought a message but this time to Miryam, a young virgin living in Nazareth. She was engaged to Yosef from the house of David, from the tribe of Judah. Miryam was a relative of Elisheva. So, she was at least of one lineage of the tribe of Levi. The lineage identified in both Yosef and Miryam is consistent with the requirements of the One who would become the Messiah (Yahshua). He was born without sin because the sin gene is inherited from the male. He came from the priestly line and as Ya’akov “saw” in blessing the tribe of Judah, he stated “The scepter will not pass from Y’hudah, nor the ruler’s staff from between his legs, until he comes to whom [obedience] belongs; and it is he whom the peoples will obey. Tying his donkey to the vine, his donkey’s colt to the choice grapevine, he washes his clothes in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. His eyes will be darker than wine, his teeth whiter than milk” (Gen. 49:10-12).
Gabriel, now speaking to Miryam in the sixth month of Elisheva’s pregnancy, would place the date of this visit in December. Miryam was not pregnant at the time of Gabriel’s visit as evidenced by the following scriptures: Like 1;30; 2:21; 1:28-35. As a confirmatory statement, we have Luke 1:36-7: “Now indeed, Elizabeth (Elisheva) your relative has also conceived a son in her old age; and this is now the sixth month for her who was called barren. ‘For with G-d nothing is be impossible.’”
If the time for the first conceivable date for John’s conception was the 8th of Sivan, and the archangel Gabriel came to Miryam on the 6th month of Elisheva’s pregnancy, the 8th of Kislev, then within 1-2 weeks from this date would be the time when the “Power of the Highest” would “overshadow” Miryam. This would be the most appropriate time and the most appropriate Jewish celebration festival for this miraculous conception would have been the second day of Chanukkah, the 25th of Kislev (the month of December) which is also called the “miracle of Light.” Unfortunately, our Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform brethren do not recognize the profound significance of this special time, nor the prophetic significance of the “miracle of Light” which infers the conception of Yahshua as the Light of the world!
On the 24th of Kislev, 167 B.C.E, the menorah was lit in the freshly cleansed Temple of G-d. This was one of the great moments in Jewish history for the forces of Antiochus Epiphanes IV of Syria had been driven from the land of Judaea. It all began when this Hellenistic tyrant used his imperial rule to force those living in his kingdom to convert to Hellenism, also known as the Greek Metrology. Many Jews assimilated into this life as many Jews have assimilated into the secular lifestyle promoted in society today. Yet those who followed the Torah including the Torah observant priests in the temple of Zerubbabel in Jerusalem, refused to observe the Greek customs and Hellenistic religious practices. When the Torah observant Jews refused to stop Sabbath worship, practicing circumcision, and observing the dietary laws, they were threatened with death and the Temple was desecrated. The altar, the vessels, and the menorah were defiled by sacrificing a pig on the altar of the L-rd. Subsequent worship to the Greek god Zeus was instituted. This is known as the Abomination of Desolation that will occur again 3 ½ years into the time of the Tribulation. (See Rev. 12; Mk 13;14; and Daniel 9:27 that links the Antimessiah to Antiochus Epiphanes).
The rumor throughout the land was that a revolt was imminent, and Antiochus immediately ordered troops to the town of Modi’in where the priest Mattathias and his five sons lived. The family revolted. Mattathias was killed and under the leadership of Judah, nicknamed “Maccabee” or “The Hammer, “ they killed the Syrian soldiers and a full- scale guerilla revolt started that resulted in expulsion of Antiochus Epiphanes IV and his forces from Judea.
The Temple was cleaned and repaired and set up according to the commands of G-d to Moshe. A new menorah was constructed as the golden menorah had been taken. The Temple was ready for rededication but according to legend, there was only one cruse of sacred lighting oil available, and it would take another 8 days to prepare new oil. Even so, they chose to light the menorah and trust G-d. The oil is said to have lasted 8 days although it should only have lasted for one day. Therefore, the miracle of light occurred on the ‘second’ day or the 25th of Kislev because there was enough oil for one day, but not the remaining seven days. The feast of dedication was celebrated throughout the land and Chanukkah became one of the festivals in Judaism.
So, the reality of Chanukkah is that Yahshua our Messiah was conceived on the 25th of Kislev as the Light of the World that came from the heavens to earth so that men might be saved from sin. The dedication of the Temple reflects the victory of good over evil that occurred over 2,000 years ago and will occur in its totality at the end of the Millennial reign. The victory of the Maccabees also demonstrates the power of G-d to overcome the odds. A small guerilla force of Torah observant Jews overcame the mighty Antiochus Epiphanes IV and his troops. If there was only one cruse of oil that lasted eight days, may G-d be praised for this miracle as well. For as Gabriel stated, “For with G-d nothing is impossible” (Luke 1:36-7).
On the 25th of Kislev, Elisheva would have been in her sixth month of pregnancy, third trimester, from day 164 to 172 days after conception. Returning to the developing fetus of John the Baptist who was not yet delivered, fifteen and a half weeks after Chanukkah, the Festival of Lights, John was born on the first day of Pesach, on the 273rd -280th day of pregnancy which is a full-term baby. As such, he would have been circumcised on the 8th day of Pesach. As he carried the mantle of Elijah in the 1st century, even today, many Jews set a place for Elijah during the Seder meal.
Exactly six months after Pesach (Nisan 15), the first day of Sukkot began. If Miryam conceived on the 24th of Kislev, the first day of Chanukkah, then on the 25th, cellular division of her ovum began, and the “Miracle of Light” occurred. Two hundred eighty- five days later, on Tishri 15, the first day of Sukkot, Yahshua was born: G-d’s provision; a Divine shelter for those who choose to live in the shadow of His dwelling.
With this historical clarification regarding whether Yahshua was born on Christmas Day or if the Miracle of Light refers to the legend of one cruse of oil lasting eight days, I submit this lesson will realign our understanding of the fallacy that Yahshua was born on Christmas which is a pagan holiday, and that the Miracle of Light refers to the olive oil used in the rededication of the Temple. The reality is that the Light of the World refers to Yahshua who is the Good that will overcome evil when he returns and that there will be no oil needed in the New Jerusalem as there will be no Temple. “For Adonai, G-d of heaven’s armies, is its Temple as is the Lamb. The city has no need for the sun or the moon to shine on it, because -d’s Sh’kinah gives it light, and its lamp is the lamb” (Rev. 21:22-3).
May those who have come out of Christianity let go of old traditions associated with the misunderstanding that Yahshua was born on Christmas day and may our Jewish brethren discover that the Miracle of Light does not refer to an unprovable legend concerning a cruse of oil that lasted for eight days as the focal point of the celebration of Chanukkah. May we take joy and place our praise and celebration where they rightfully belong; to the Light of the World who is the Shamash candle in the menorah and who sheds His light on us that we may share it with a lost world. Amein.
Rabbi Tamah Davis-Hart

Some of the excerpts in this message were obtained from Bibleresearchers.com