Chanukkah (fwd)

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Forwarded with permission from another list:

From: Lon Mendelsohn <LDMCC@CUNYVM.CUNY.EDU>
Subject:      Chanukkah

This being the week in which Chanukkah is celebrated this year
(18-25 December), I thought I would post the following summary of
the holiday.

Chanukkah is a celebration of the events described in 1 Maccabees
1-4, in which the Jewish people fought and overcame Antiochus
Epiphanes, a Greek ruler who tried to destroy Judaism as a religion
by forcing the Jews to become Pagans.  It should also be noted that
these events were prophesied in Daniel 8.  Most interpreters
understand the "little horn" of vv. 9-14 to be Antiochus Epiphanes.
Chanukkah is also mentioned briefly in the New Testament (John
10:22; Chanukkah means Dedication).

The most evil thing that Antiochus was to enter the Temple and
defile it, as described in 1 Macc.1:54:

     Now on the fifteenth day of Chislev, in the one hundred
     and forty-fifth year, they erected a desolating sacrilege
     upon the altar of burnt offering.

While not explicitly stated, the tradition is that he set up an
image of himself in the Holy of Holies and sacrificed a pig on the
altar of burnt offering.  Additionally, he destroyed the scrolls of
the Law wherever he could find them, and anyone found in possession
of a scroll of the law was put to death.  Antiochus was assisted in
this program by the fact that many Jews at that time wanted to
forsake the Law and follow Gentile customs.

Chanukkah celebrates the victory of the Jewish forces over the
pagans and the subsequent cleansing and re-dedication of the
Temple.  The word "Chanukkah" means dedication.  This is described
in 1 Macc. 4:42-58.  Verse 56 describes how the Jews celebrated the
re-dedication for eight days.  Another tradition states that when
the Jews won the Temple back from the Gentiles, they found only a
very small quantity of the sacred oil for burning in the Temple
lamps, enough to last only one day, yet that small quantity of oil
lasted for eight days while fresh oil was being made.

In recent years, some Jewish families have started giving gifts on
Chanukkah.  This is not part of the traditional celebration, and
was probably begun out of a desire to be more like the surrounding
Christian culture, in which gift-giving is the norm for that season
of the year.  Since Chanukkah has to do with Jews who resisted the
external pressures that were being placed upon them by the
surrounding Gentile culture, this practice of giving Chanukkah
gifts stands in opposition to what the holiday is really about.

The significance of this holiday for believers in Jesus is that
ultimately, God will stand behind His people and grant them victory
in their struggle against evil, regardless of the odds against
them.  Such victory may not be granted in this life, but God will
always prevail.  An additional significant point is the need for us
to resist the pressures which our culture places on us to live
according to its standards rather than God's (Rom.12:1-2).

In an eschatological context, Antiochus Epiphanes is understood to
be a type of the antichrist, his persecution of the Jews to be a
type of the great tribulation, and the victory of the Jews to be a
type of Christ's victorious return at the end of the age.  This is
clear from Jesus' Olivet discourse as recorded in Matthew 24.

I will also post a passage from 1 Macc. 2:15-28,42-48, which
describes how the resistance movement began:

     Then the king's officers who were enforcing the apostasy
     came to the city of Modein to make them offer sacrifice.
     Many from Israel came to them, and Mattathias and his
     sons were assembled.  Then the King's officers spoke to
     Mattathias as follows: "You are a leader, honored and
     great in this city, and supported by sons and brothers.
     Now be the first to come and do what the king commands,
     as all the Gentiles and the men of Judah and those that
     are left in Jerusalem have done.  Then you and your sons
     will be numbered among the friends of the king, and you
     and your sons will be honored with silver and gold and
     many gifts."

     But Mattathias answered and said in a loud voice: "Even
     if all the nations that live under the rule of the king
     obey him, and have chosen to do his commandments,
     departing each from the religion of his fathers, yet I
     and my sons and my brothers will live by the covenant of
     our fathers.  Far be it from us to desert the law and the
     ordinances.  We will not obey the king's words by turning
     aside from our religion to the right hand or to the
     left."

     When he had finished speaking these words, a Jew came
     forth in the sight of all to offer sacrifice upon the
     altar in Modein, according to the king's command.  When
     Mattathias saw it, he burned with zeal and his heart was
     stirred.  He gave vent to righteous anger; he ran and
     killed him upon the altar.  At the same time he killed
     the king's officer who was forcing them to sacrifice, and
     he tore down the altar.  Thus he burned with zeal for the
     law, as Phineas did against Zimri the son of Salu.

     Then Mattathias cried out in the city with a loud voice,
     saying: "Let every one who is zealous for the law and
     supports the covenant come out with me!"  And he and his
     sons fled to the hills and left all that they had in the
     city.

     Then there united with them a company of Hasideans <pious
     ones>, mighty warriors of Israel, every one who offered
     himself willingly for the law.  And all who became
     fugitives to escape their troubles joined them and
     reinforced them.  They organized an army, and struck down
     sinners in their anger and lawless men in their wrath;
     the survivors fled to the Gentiles for safety.  And
     Mattathias and his friends went about and tore down the
     altars; they forcibly circumcised all the uncircumcised
     boys that they found within the borders of Israel.  They
     hunted down the arrogant men, and the work prospered in
     their hands.  They rescued the law out of the hands of
     the Gentiles and kings, and they never let the sinner
     gain the upper hand.

Additionally, here is a prayer which would be inserted into prayers
which an observant Jew would recite after every meal:

     We thank You for the miracles, for the redemption,for the
     mighty deeds, for the deliverances, and for the wars that
     You performed for our fathers in those days at this
     season:

     In the days of Mattathias, son of John the High Priest,
     the Hasmonean and his sons, when the evil Greek kingdom
     rose up against Your people Israel to make them forget
     Your Torah and to turn them away from the statutes of
     Your will-- You, in Your abundant mercy stood by them in
     their time of distress, You defended their cause, You
     judged their grievances, You avenged them.  You delivered
     the mighty into the hands of the weak, many into the
     hands of the few, defiled people into the hands of the
     undefiled, the wicked into the hands of the righteous,
     and insolent sinners into the hands of diligent students
     of Your Torah.  And You made yourself a great and
     sanctified name in Your world.  And for Your people,
     Israel, You performed a great deliverance and redemption
     unto this very day.  Afterwards, Your sons entered the
     Holy of Holies of Your Abode, cleaned Your Temple,
     purified Your Sanctuary, and kindled lights in the
     Courtyard of Your Sanctuary and designated these eight
     days of Chanukkah to thank and praise Your great Name.

==================================================================
Loren D. Mendelsohn              Chief of Public Services
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