Let your Light Shine

Hanukkah (Chanukkah) is the Feast of Dedication or Festival of Lights. It commemorates a miracle which took place several thousand years ago, in the period between the writing of the two Testaments. At that time Israel was ruled by a cruel Syrian king, Antiochus Epiphanes. He tried to make the Jewish people easier to rule by neutralizing their Jewishness. He commanded them to worship in a Greek manner as the Syrians did, and forbad Jewish customs such as circumcision and Sabbath observance. They could not study Torah nor teach their children to do so. Pagan altars were built in every town in Israel. Antiochus placed a statue of Zeus in the Temple in Jerusalem and had pigs, a ritually unclean animal, sacrificed on its altar to desecrate it. He insisted that all Jews show allegiance to him by worshipping idols rather than the true God of Israel.

Though many Jews, under pressure, did begin to assimilate, the priest Matthias and his five sons flatly refused. A rebellion began, led by Matthias’ son Judah Maccabee.* Amazingly, within three years, his guerilla warriors began defeating the much bigger Syrian army.

In 164 BCE, Jerusalem was retaken and the Temple cleansed. The priests made plans to rededicate the Temple but when they went to light the giant menorah in the Temple, there was only 1 jar of the purified oil. They were commanded by God never to let the light go out, but this was only enough oil for one day. The process for preparing the pure olive oil was meticulous and time-consuming, much longer than one day. In faith, the priests lit the menorah anyway and were amazed when instead of burning one day, it burned for eight, allowing the priests enough time to prepare more oil for the menorah. 

So at this season Hanukkah celebrates a miracle for the Jewish people, but it teaches us much more than that. Hanukkah celebrates the saving and keeping power of God! God took their small fire of devotion, their insufficient strength and conquered armies with it. God Himself brought light back into His sanctuary. We too are asked not to fear, but to trust in our God, who is more than able to save and restore. We can look around us and despair, or can choose to trust in our God, whose keeping power is inexhaustible. That is why families today celebrate Hanukkah by lighting the Hanukkiah. This special menorah stands as a powerful symbol of a simple truth: light increases when it is spread. With each passing night, a new candle is lit, building on the brightness already shining.

As candles are lit in homes throughout Israel and around the world, we’re reminded that this celebration is not only about remembering a miracle from long ago, but also about recognizing the God Who continues to preserve His people even when the world around them feels out of control. It is about believing that God can take what seems small, fragile, or insufficient and make it more than enough.

God fill us afresh with your spirit, that Your light would shine through us into the darkness and grow, until that day when the knowledge of the glory of God will cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea (Hab 2:14).  Draw those we know to Jesus, the Light of the World and our great King. Joyous holiday! Maranatha!

This year Hanukkah begins at sundown on December 14. Light some candles, dispel some darkness! 

*More may be read about the Maccabees in the works of Josephus and in the deuterocanonical books of I and II Maccabees.