The Oil

The Oil

Growing up, I remember hearing about Hanukkah. However, I didn’t really know anything about it, other than that it was a Jewish holiday and they got a present everyday for 8 days. In my mind, I just thought this was how culturally they celebrated Christmas. If I had questions about it, I don’t think I would have known what questions to even ask. Earlier this summer, I was reading a book called “Rediscovering Israel” by… you could probably guess, Kristi McLelland. (I know ya’ll are probably tired of hearing about her and Marty Solomon, but they are just the two that I have access to in learning things, and I trust them. And that’s kinda hard to find these days.) Anyway, when I read this section on the story of Hanukah, it moved me to tears. She tells this story so well and with such richness that I just knew I wanted to share it with you guys. It’s a tad lengthy, but I promise it’s worth the read and I’ll add some of my own take aways at the end.

• Please know, I’m not trying to plagiarize here. I just want to give an excerpt because it meant to much too me. I highly encourage you to read this book. Click here for the amazon link to buy it yourself.

Ok, without further ado, here is “The Story of Hanukkah”… Where my history buffs at?!? You are going to love this:

“In the biblical book of Daniel, there is a prophecy about an event called the abomination of desolation. Daniel predicts the occurrence of an event that is so dreadful, the results will be utter devastation. The Jewish people say this prophecy was first fulfilled during the intertestamental period. Because the Jews hold a more cynical view of time, prophecies have a way of repeating generationally. They say the second time this prophecy was fulfilled, the second abomination of desolation, occurred in AD 70, when Titus and the Romans, sacked the temple and burned it to the ground.

Let’s now focus on the first abomination of desolation, which takes place during the intertestamental period. This atrocity propelled the events that result in the annual celebration of Hanukkah. Many Christians tend to think that Hanukkah is the Jewish version of Christmas, because both share the month of December and gifts are exchanged.” (Sound familiar?) “But Hanukkah and Christmas are not related. Hanukkah is older than Christmas— it predates Jesus‘s birth! When Jesus lived upon and walked the earth 2,000 years ago, He celebrated Hanukkah. He knew this Jewish festival well.

The story of Hanukkah, anchored in history, provides one of the most beautiful displays of the Jewish people as a culture of celebration. The Greeks conquer the world with the sword and then infect it with Hellenism through the establishment of poleis.” (Hellenism is moral relativism—“if it tastes good, eat it. If it feels good, do it. If you want to try it, knock yourself out.”) (Poleis is another name cities that were built and revolved around Hellenism) “The world bites down hard on this culture of entertainment. Alexander the Great dies during the intertestamental period. Because he has no heir, upon his death, the kingdom of Greece is handed down to four of his military generals, who are each given a portion. Two of the four generals are significant to us here because they come to the lands of the biblical story.

“One is a man named Ptolemy. A famous woman comes from the Ptolmies — we often think of her as an Egyptian because she ruled over Egypt, but she is actually Greek. Historically, she is known by her title, Cleopatra VII. This famous Cleopatra was a lover of Marc Anthony.” (This book also shares a really fun connection in relation to these two within the Christmas story that I may share next week.)

“Our focus here will be on a general named Seleucus.” (These names are crazy!) “He overseas what comes to be known as the Seleucid Empire, which is still Greek, though it is located across much of the Middle East. The Seleucids take control of the lands of the Jews from the Ptolemies and force the Jewish people to become Hellenized, whether they want to embrace the Grecian way of living or not. The Seleucids are opposed to the Jewish people keeping their national identity and religious autonomy or being a kingdom of celebration in the midst of a kingdom of entertainment.

The abomination of desolation occurs through a Seleucid king named Antiochus Epiphanes IV. Antiochus hates the Jews. From the moment he takes over, he aggravates, frustrates, and persecutes them, coercing them to abandon their Jewish ways and become Hellenistic.

Antiochus Epiphanes IV first forbids the Torah. To take out of people group, take away their sacred writings. Antiochus confiscates copies of the Torah and, when possible, burns them. Next, he outlaws the Jewish feast, Antiochus prohibits the Jews from celebrating their annual rhythms and festivals. Then he bands the Sabbath, requiring the Jewish people to work on their day of rest. Circumcision of Jewish males is forbidden. Antiochus Epiphanes IV is evil— so much so that he is named Epimanes, meaning ‘the mad one.’ Can you fill the collision of culture?

Antiochus Epiphanes IV further prevents the Jewish people by dedicating the Temple of Jerusalem to a Greek god. The Jews are almost at their end, but the worst is still to come. The year 168 BC is important in history, Antiochus does the unthinkable and has a pig sacrificed on the altar in the Temple. For the Jew, God lives in His house, in Jerusalem. Pigs are unclean animals to the Jews, so now the Temple is unclean. This disgusting act by Antiochus is the abomination leading to desolation first prophesied by Daniel.

The jewish people are so infuriated, they call an all-out revolt and go to war against the Seleucids. History records this as the Maccabean Revolt, initiated by a man name Mattathias. His third son was Judas Maccabee. Maccabee means ‘hammer’; Judas the hammer was tough guy! The Maccabean Revolt is named after this family who rings the bell of insurrection. The Jewish people rise up and go to war to throw off the Seleucids. They’ve had it with Hellenistic rule and control. The Maccabean Revolt lasts seven years, from 167 BC to 160 BC.

The story of Hanukkah emerges in this uprising. God lives in Jerusalem in His house. There is an oil lamp in the Temple that burns continually known as the menorah. The priests attend to it all day, every day. It is known as the light or lamp of the Lord. For Jews, it signifies God’s presence in the Temple. Think about it like this: If I were to pull up to your house and see that your lights are on, I would assume you are home. So it is with the lamp of the Lord. If it is lit, it is understood that God is in His house, in His Temple, with His people.

Within the Temple complex lay an oil storage area in which the light of the menorah— the seven-branched candelabrum— could remain lit. In Jewish understanding, if the light of the Lord goes out, God is no longer present; His Glory has departed. the Maccabees and Jews need to rededicate the Temple that has been defiled under Seleucid leadership, But unfortunately, they only have enough oil for one night— and it takes seven days to appropriate oil for the lamp stand. Talk about bad timing! Who has a week to wait for God’s Presence to reappear in the midst of war?

The miracle of Hanukkah is that the oil that was only enough for one night lasts for eight days and nights. The lamp of the Lord does not go out! The light of the Lord stays lit, kept a flame by the living God, who is with the Jews in their rebellion against the Seleucids.

The Seleucids are expected to win, but the miraculous presence of the Lord so impacts the outnumbered, outmanned, and out-armored Jewish men that they defy the odds and overcome Antiochus’s regime. The Temple has been desecrated because ‘the mad one’ has sacrificed a pig on the altar in the Holy of Holies. In the midst of the revolt, the Jewish people reclaim and rededicate the house of the Lord after being so moved and motivated by God’s miraculous provision and presence.

Here is where we witnessed the Jewish people as a culture of celebration. When a major event like this goes down in their history, they make a holiday out of it and celebrate it annually. This is how Hanukkah comes to be known as the Festival of Lights. The Jewish people remember the story for eight nights in December every year, setting aside, consecrated time in space to commemorate that the lamp of the Lord did not go out in the Temple, invigorating them to overthrow the Seleucids.

At Hanukkah, a nine-branched candelabrum known as a hanukkiah is used. Eight candles represent Each of the eight nights, and the middle candle, the shamash or ‘helper’ candle, is used to light the others. Hanukkah is a celebration by retelling, remembering, and imagining the story. Jewish parents tell the story to their children the way Christian parents share the Christmas story with their children. Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah every year just as Christmas is celebrated every year. On night one, the Jews gather with family and friends and use the shamash to light the first candle. They tell the story of Hanukkah and eat good food, which is key to any equality celebration! They share their stories of how God’s lamp has never gone out in their lives. Their story becomes our story and celebration. What God did for them He currently does for us.

On night two, the shamash Is used to light the first and second candles, which provides double the light. They eat more good food. They tell and retail the story. They share stories of God‘s provision, of times when He came through. This ritual goes on each night of the eight nights, until all eight candles have been lit.

Several years ago, I hosted Hanukkah for eight straight nights. I had different groups of friends over, told the story, and lit the candles. We sat around, ate good food, and shared our God stories. It was one of the most powerful things I’ve ever done! The consecrated time in the middle of December impacted us all. Christmas is one of the busiest seasons of the year, but these eight nights afforded us time to pause and experience table fellowship together, while remembering and reimagining our God stories.

I am not suggesting we should become Jewish; that’s not my point at all. I’m saying we as a Christian people we need to come together and share a table and stories. I encourage you to consider hosting your own Hanukkah celebration. Invite your family and friends over to enjoy great food and experience the story of Hanukkah. Light your hanukkiah. Tell Stories of when the light of the Lord did not go out in your lives, when you experienced the living God moving, breathing, and acting on your behalf. This is the story of Hanukkah, anchored in the intertestamental period.

When God looks at us, may He find us to be a people of celebration, a people who want to actively know Him and participate with Him in seeing His kingdom come. We don’t want to follow the Greek way by living for ourselves. We believe that the highest ethic, the highest ideal, the way of Jesus, is anchored in giving our lives away because we know that God is giving them back to us in manifold fashion. We can afford to love God and love our neighbor because we are not orphans. We don’t have to scrounge to provide, to strive and strain for ourselves. We’re not just a saved people, we are a kept people. This is caused for celebration.

We want the Lord to be with us in the same way He was with the Jews during the intertestamental period. There has been a ribbon in every generation who hold fast to the way of the Lord. When God looks upon us, may He see that we are a part of that remnant.”

Whew! Ok, I hope you have made it this far, because I think this story is beautiful and one of my favorite things about it, is that it comes during a time known as the “silent years”. The intertestamental period is known as that little white page in our Bibles that separates the Old Testament and the New Testament. The reason it’s known as the “silent years” is because we have no written word from God during that time frame. However, I do not believe in any way, shape, or form that God was “silent” during those years. I think the Lord speaks in many different ways and the Hanukkah story I think proves that.

I often tell the Lord “I can do anything as long as You keep talking.” He can whisper one word to my heart and it changes everything about my day, my demeanor, and sometimes it even changes the direction of my life. This week, without even thinking about this story, I wrote down in my journal, “I can do anything as long as I have Your presence.”

Moses experience this in Exodus 33. I would very much encourage you to go read this story. But to paraphrase, the Lord told Moses to go into the Promised Land without Him. He would send an angel ahead of them instead, but they were to go on without Him. Moses said no. He told the Lord that if He wasn’t going with them, he didn’t want to go at all.

I don’t know if you’ve experienced this, but His Presence changes things. Once you get a taste of life in His Presence, it changes you. You seem to care less about things you once revolved your whole life around. You have less fear, because you know the Creator of the Universe is with you, literally. You really believe Him and see His ways as best and you want to follow these ways so much, because it’s where He is. Beauty is only found in His original intention, rather than worldly pleasures. Life, honestly, just seems pointless without His Presence, because you realize you were made to live life with Him. You want to partner with Him because you trust Him… you really, really trust Him. You want to love Him fully, because you can feel His love.

There is such Gospel beauty in this story. The beauty of Hanukkah is that it points to the greater battle won. Sin, death, darkness, and Hellenistic ways are still very much apart of our world today, but they have been defeated. The Oil of the presence of God is still burning today, because of Jesus and what He did for us on the cross. We as His people are the Temple of His Spirit. (1 Corinthians 6:19) The Holy Spirit is called our Helper and He will be present with us forever. (John 14:15-31) Jesus called Himself the Light of the World as long as He was still in the world. (John 9:5) He also, called us the light of the world. (Matthew 4:14) The only way this is possible is if His Light now lives in us. We are carries of His Light. We are carries of His Presence. Not lit by our own doing, but by the shamash, the Helper Himself.

My prayer is that this story, encourages you to remember the moment when He first lit your candle. The moment when you became a carrier of His Presence and it began to change you. I pray that the story of Hanukkah would spur us all on, not only to carry His light well, but to trust Him as the Oil that keeps us going, when all odds are against us. When the darkness seems to be overtaking the world. When sin seems to have the upper hand. When Hellenism has infiltrated our culture. When our own brokenness knocks us down and hopelessness invades our own hearts. He is the Oil that keeps us burning. He is the Oil that inspires us. We can do anything, go through anything, as long as the Oil of His Presence is our source.

For you encouragement this week, I want to end with these verses in Psalm 18:28-30

“For it is You who light my lamp; the Lord my God lightens my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop, and by my God I can leap over a wall. This God— His way is perfect; the Word of the Lord proves true; His is a shield for all those who take refuge in Him.”