The story of Chanukah is one of my all-time favorites. It is the story of the few prevailing against the many because of God’s mighty power.
In 167 B.C. the Greco-Syrian emperor Antiochus IV sought to obliterate the Jewish people. He silenced religious freedom, prohibited the study of the Torah, religious rights, kosher dietary laws, Sabbath observance and the practice of Judaism itself. Any violation of Antiochus’s mandates meant certain death. A remnant of Jews led by Judah Maccabee and his company of Jewish warriors defeated the emperor’s oppression. Jerusalem was recaptured, and the temple was rededicated to God. God preserved His people from complete destruction even though an evil regime sought to destroy His people. When the temple was recaptured and rededicated by the Jewish people, the priest had to light the special menorah with sacred oil. There was enough oil for only one night, but miraculously, the menorah stayed lit for eight nights!
The message of the Chanukah miracle is clear and very much applicable today. God will find a way, use a remnant of his people who will not bow their knee to the enemy, and defeat him.
This is why my family and I, as well as millions of Jewish people around the world will celebrate God’s miracle working power during the eight days of Chanukah between November 28 and December 6 this year.
200 years after that first Chanukah, God sent his son as a miracle working fulfillment to his plan. Just as in 167 B.C., His plan was to see the temple of the Lord restored and rededicated. His desire today is to see the temple of our soul dedicated and restored to Yeshua.
The Messiah, Yeshua was miraculously born to bring salvation to the world. Just as the temple was defiled and corrupted so are our souls without Yeshua’s saving grace. This time of year is amazing to celebrate the transforming power that lives in us through Yeshua our messiah. Take this season to dedicate yourself, your family, your business and your passions to the Lord so that his miracle working power can come to pass in your life.