Yet another reason is gratitude.  Yes gratitude – to the brave Jewish people who gave up their lives so that the worship of the one true God would not be wiped out.  You see they were martyrs – they died for their faith, sometimes in terrible, brutal ways –rather than turn their backs on the commandments of the true and living God.  And so they died for our faith too, because it is through these courageous Jewish people that God brought Jesus into the world to save us all.   In the book of Romans God tells us that we are grafted into the root of the faith of the Jewish people when we come to believe in Messiah Jesus – so in a sense those Jewish people who died so long ago (about 166 BC) were our adopted ancestors!

So as we light the candles, we can be thankful that these martyrs died to help give us our Savior and our faith.  God is happy when we acknowledge and are grateful for what others have done for us. 

Each night of Hanukkah we will look at a passage of scripture on God’s “Light” and think about what it means to us.  You might want to get a little notebook and record your own thoughts – what God is speaking in your own heart about the verses.  Then you will have your own Hanukkah journal so to speak and you can add to it from year to year.

Here is the scripture for the first night:

Isaiah 60:19

The sun shall be no more

your light by day,

nor for brightness shall the moon

give you light;

but the Lord will be your everlasting light,

   and your God will be your glory.

The sun and moon are natural lights.  We use them to see and make our way around in the natural world.  That is what God intended.  But God has another kind of light for us.  He showed us a picture of this light in the Holy Place of the Tabernacle (later the Temple).  The Holy Place was completely closed off to daylight by thick coverings.  But inside it was a wonderful light called the Menorah – the seven branched oil lamp that God himself designed.  (Incidentally it is this very Temple Menorah that so miraculously burned for eight days during the re-Dedication of the Temple that forms the center of our celebration at Hanukkah – remember it means dedication.)  The light from this Menorah lit up the Holy Place of God just like his Holy Spirit lights up the inside of believers now – remember we are called the temple of God in the New Testament.  As we read God’s Word and hide it inside us, the Holy Spirit of God will give us revelation as to what this Word means to us.  You have a menorah inside of you – God’s revelation light operating in your life by the power of the Holy Spirit.   As you seek this light and walk by it, it will keep you from danger and sin.  And you yourself will begin to glow with the light of God as you become like him through obedience.  God will be your glory (through the Holy Spirit) as the scripture above says.  As you Dedicate yourself to the Word of God and seek the illuminating revelation of the Holy Spirit, you  will shine like a light in this world.

So those are my thoughts.  What are yours?  Share and/or record what the Holy Spirit is telling you right now.  Then end by praying this prayer or one of your own.

Father of Light, I want to shine with Jesus’ light.  Help me to hide your word in my heart and to hear the voice of your Holy Spirit telling me how to obey it and what it means to me today.  I love you Lord and want you to fill me with your light.

In Jesus name, Amen.

Hanukkah – Night Two

“For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord.  Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord.  Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.

                                                                        Ephesians 5: 8-11 (NIV)

Last night we talked about having the light of God within us as believers in Jesus (Yeshua) the Christ (Messiah).  That light will shine out and be a witness to others as we walk in obedience to the Lord.  Then others may be drawn to ask us about “what is the hope within us” and we can also speak a witness to Christ.

It is recommended that a Hannukah menorah be placed in the window of your home during Hanukkah.  It is thought in Judaism that those who have strayed from their Jewish faith might see its light and be drawn back to God.  And so it is with the menorah within us.  As we live out the life of God, it is visible to others.

Praise be to God!

“Do everything without complaining or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a crooked and depraved generation, in which you shine like stars in the universe as you hold out the word of life – in order that I may boast on the day of Christ that I did not run or labor for nothing.”

                                                                        Philippians 2: 14-16 (NIV)

Pray:

Lord, let me be a child of light always, doing what is pleasing to you in every circumstance.

Hanukkah – Night Three

“This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you:  God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.  If we claim to have fellowship with him yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live by the truth.  But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin.  If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us.  If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.

                                                                        1 John 1: 5-9 (NIV)

Look at the “shamash” candle on your Hanukkah menorah.  It is the one in the middle and usually is set apart from, or raised up higher than, the eight surrounding candles.  The shamash candle should always be lit first and then used to light the other candles.  You see “shamash” means “servant” in Hebrew and the servant candle brings light to all the rest. 

Isn’t this a picture of Jesus!  He was the perfect light who came down from heaven to serve us.  He didn’t have to come – he wanted to.  He came to serve us in many ways, but most of all he was the “suffering servant” who was “obedient even unto death” so he could purchase our pardon from sin with his blood and then purify us with his own righteousness.  He came down – even as the servant candle “comes down” from its perch to bend over and serve the other candles.  And in this serving – wow what a miracle here! – he lights us up with his own light!   Halleluia!

A fun thing to do on Hanukkah – play “Shamash for a day!”  Everyone writes down several ideas of things to do to serve one another.  Write each on a separate piece of paper and put them all in a shoebox (you can decorate it if you like).  Each day family members take turns being the shamash.  Pull out at least one idea and do it the following day.  Some ideas:  make someone else’s bed,  share a special treat, do a chore you haven’t been asked to do (or – hehehe – do the chores you are supposed to do without being reminded!)  share a Bible verse, pray especially for the needs of others in your family,  write a note to each one in your family telling something you appreciate about them.  Etc. Etc.  You’ll have ideas of your own.

Pray:

Jesus, please make me desire to be a servant like you, and then help me be your servant too, as I serve others in love.

Hanukkah – Night Four

“When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, ‘I am the light of the world.  Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.’”

                                                                        John 8: 12 (NIV)

How good to know that we don’t have to walk in darkness.  Jesus lights up the spiritual darkness that we once walked in.  That is cause for celebration!   And Hanukkah is a time for celebrating.  Traditionally Jewish people sing and dance as part of their celebration.  Do you know any good praise songs?  Sing some with your family or put on music and sing to that – even dance in celebration.

God is pleased when we make a joyful noise unto him.   Others won’t understand why you are celebrating God (see the verse below) but don’t let that stop you. 

“In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.”

                                                                        John 1: 4-5

Father, help me to celebrate you with my life and make me a light in the darkness

Hanukkah – Night Five

Hanukkah’s theme is all about  a miracle of God.  It happened right there in Jerusalem when the Maccabees overthrew the rule of Antiochus and the menorah miraculously burned for eight days on one day’s supple of oil to re-dedicate the Temple.  During The Feast of Hanukkah, Jesus spoke of his own miracles while he walked in an area of  the Temple in Jerusalem.  Turn in your Bibles tonight and read this passage that tells what He said to them:

John 10: 22-42

Now think about what Jesus said about himself and think about your own relationship to Him and reaction to His working – or wanting to work! – in your own life.  Here is what one person had to say about his passage:

“Jesus wanted the people of his day to see His miracles and believe in Him as a result.  His miracles point to his divine and messianic identity.  In this way Yeshua personifies the message of Hanukkah:  God actively involved in the affairs of his people.  Hanukkah reminds us that God is a God of miracles, not just of concept and religious ideals.  He has broken through into human history and continues to do so today.  All of us who know Yeshua can speak of God’s working in our lives (Gilman 1995).” Quoted in Biblical Holidays, p.389      

                                                                                 Scarlata and Pierce      

Oh God, be ever more active in our lives today we pray.

Hanukkah – Night Six

Psalm 119:105

Your word is a lamp to my feet

and a light to my path.

Psalm 119:130

The unfolding of your words gives light;

it imparts understanding to the simple.

Proverbs 6:23

For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light,

and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life,

These verses show us how important the Word of God is to our everyday “walk”of life. We can use the Word of God just as we would a flashlight or lantern to guide us in the darkness.  First of all it shows us the right path instead of all the paths that the world and other people are trying to get us to walk in.  And then, it will even show us our particular steps to walk in on that path.  The Word will be our guide so that we do not take a false path or a false step in that path.  And it can help us return if we do get out of the path of life. 

 Also these verses show us that without the Word we don’t really have true understanding.  God’s Word shows us things that we would not have understood otherwise, and so we are able to act and speak the way God would want us to and not according to our own understanding.

God’s ways are not our ways and we need His Light to penetrate us and lead us.  We talked about this somewhat on our first night.  As we prayerfully read the Word of God, our Holy Spirit menorah will bring revelation light to us to give us understanding and show us our path.  God is so good that He doesn’t leave us without this Light and then even provides the power (by the Holy Spirit within us) to do these things which are not easy us, because part of our soul has not yet leaned to submit to godly ways. 

Pray that the Holy Spirit fill you up more and more so that you become more and more like Him and are able to walk in His ways with JOY!

Hanukkah – Night Seven

Matthew 6: 22-23 (NKJ)

   The lamp of the body is the eye.  If  therefore  your eye is good, your whole body will be  full of light. But if your eye is bad, your whole body will be full of darkness.  If therefore the light that is in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

You can read many interpretations of this verse, but let us look at a “Jewish roots” interpretation.  In the Jewish culture having a “good eye” meant that you were a generous person.  In other words, you just love being a person who gives.  Having a “bad eye” on the other hand meant that you were a stingy, greedy person who only gave grudgingly what he felt like he “had to give”. 

It is interesting that in the Hanukkah traditions, there is one associated with money.  No one can say for sure where it came from.  Some say that, because Torah study was forbidden in the days of wicked king Antiochus, there came to be a tradition of giving money so that children would have the means to go to a school where they could study Torah (meaning the Scriptures in our understanding).  

At any rate, in this scripture Jesus equates having a generous spirit with being full of light.  Let us always remember to be generous with our money and our time and our talent whenever and wherever Jesus directs us to be.

Pray for the Holy Spirit to impart to us the generosity of God Himself and the discernment to know where and when to give.

Hanukkah – Night Eight

John 12:35-36

So Jesus said to them, "The light is among you for a little while longer. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you. The one who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going.  36While you have the light, believe in the light, that you may become sons of light."

When Jesus had said these things, he departed and hid himself from them. 

Tonight I am going to quote a paragraph from Matthew Henry’s Commentary.  The English he uses is a little bit dated, but I think you can understand it.  You can discuss what you think he means and look up the other scriptures he refers to if you like.

“Jesus Christ is the light of the world.  One of the Rabbis saith, Light is the name of the Messiah, as it is written, (Daniel 2: 22), and Light dwelleth with him.   God is light, and Christ is the image of the invisible God; God of gods, Light of lights.  He was expected to be a light to enlighten the Gentiles (Luke 2:32), and so the light of the world, and not of the Jewish church only.  The visible light of the world is the sun, and Christ is the Sun of righteousness.  One sun enlightens the whole world, so does one Christ, and there needs no more.  Christ in calling himself the light expresses,

1.) What he is in himself – most excellent and glorious.   2.) What he is to the world – the fountain of light, enlightening every man.  What a dungeon would the world be without the sun!  So would it be without Christ by whom light came into the world (John 3 :19). 

Are we becoming sons of light?  This is the last night of this year’s Festival of Light, but let us not forget to keep on becoming “sons of light”  who  “shine like stars” in this world of darkness.  And may our celebration of the birth of the Light of the world be even more meaningful this year!

 Pray that God would seal into our hearts, and bring to our remembrance as we need them, the things that we have learned and heard from God in these past eight Days of Light.  May we, as God’s Temple, be re-dedicated to Him in this season.