More on Hanukah

The origin of the celebration of Hanukkah dates to around 165 B.C. Way back in 336 B.C. Alexander the Great conquered the Persian Empire which been ruling over Judea. Alexander treated the Jews in his empire with respect, allowing them to continue their worship in the temple at Jerusalem and promising he would not interfere with their religious practices.

After the death of Alexander the Great, the empire was divided between the Ptolemies in Egypt and the Seleucids in Syria. These two kingdoms battled over the territory of Judea, because it was strategically located as a gateway between the continents of Africa and Asia. Around 165 B.C. the Judean territory was under the rulership of the Seleucid king Antiochus Epiphanes. A major objective of his rule was to transform the Jewish culture into a Hellenic or Greek culture. He wanted to make Israel like the rest of the “modern” Greek world. He outlawed:

1.Sacrifice in the Temple. Antiochus placed a statue of Zeus in the temple and sacrificed a pig on the altar of the Lord.

2. Observation of the Sabbath. Observation of the Sabbath recognizes and acknowledges God as the Creator of the world which went against the Greek belief that the world was uncreated and eternal

3. Circumcision, the sign of the covenant between the Jews and God, was antithetical to the Greek ideal of the human body as the “ultimate expression of perfection in nature.” Many Hellenized Jews worked hard to hide their circumcision from Greeks in the baths and gymnasiums who believed it desecrated the “perfection” of the body.

Earlier attempts to wipe out the Jews were recorded in Exodus when Pharoah ordered all the male Jewish babies killed at birth, and in the book of Esther when Haman plotted to have all the Jews exterminated. This attempt at eliminating the Jewish race was different. Antiochus Epiphanes did not want to kill the Jews. This was a war against the Jewish worldview, an attempt to eliminate the true God and true worship from their culture. Had the plan succeeded the Jewish religion would have been eliminated and the temple of the Lord destroyed before the promised Savior could have presented himself at the temple, as promised in the Old Testament.

Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come, says the Lord Almighty. Malachi 3:1

Many Jews consented to the new laws. Judean schools began teaching Greek philosophy. The biblical culture of Israel was being eliminated in a short period of time. A small band of rebels under Judas Maccabaeus decided to take a stand for God and His Word. “Whoever is for God and His Law, follow me!, he cried. The Maccabees put their trust in God and managed to defeat the Greeks and expel them from Jerusalem. This was indeed a great miracle.

The temple was cleansed from the desecration of idols and unclean animals. It was rededicated on the 25th of Kislev 165 B.C. When it came time to relight the Menorah only a small amount of pure oil could be found. The High Priest decided to light the Menorah anyway and according to tradition the menorah remained lit with that small amount of oil for eight days, until new purified oil could be brought in to the temple. This is why Jews today light the Menorah during the celebration of the dedication of the Temple. The Hebrew word Hanukkah means dedication.

After reading the story of Hanukkah I am struck by its relevance for believers today. The war against biblical culture is in full swing. The enemy is after: 1. our worship, 2. our recognition of God as Creator of the universe. 3. Our covenant relationship with the Father God. The “modern culture” worships the body and strives for perfection of the body.