Is There Any Christian Meaning in Hanukkah?

Thanksgiving begins a series of holidays in the cooler months for North America and Americans have an opportunity to get in touch with their heritage. Thanksgiving reminds us of the goodness of God as He brought oppressed people to a free land and a people so different from them who set aside differences and joined with them to celebrate the provision of the Lord after bringing them through the most difficult winter of their lives. Hanukkah celebrates how God took an oppressed people and gave them victory through military revolt, and how He blessed their re-dedication of the temple where they worshiped Him by miraculously making only one day’s worth of oil last for eight days. Now those are really narrow explanations of Hanukkah and Thanksgiving holidays, but you get the idea.

God ordained feasts similar to Hanukkah to commemorate different events in history for His people to help them take time to remember His miracles and share the stories with their children after them. Hanukkah began as a celebration and tradition brought about by thankful hearts in the interim period between the old and new testaments in the Bible.

God is a God of celebration and calls on us to remember. His purposes are always to restore people to Him and remind them of His faithfulness that they would remember to seek and follow Him.

Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. ~ Deuteronomy 4:9

December also holds the holiday where we celebrate the gift of Jesus. Like Hanukkah, it was another holiday brought about by man, but meant to honor God. It’s always valuable to reflect on God’s miracles. We should use every chance we get to remind our children of His good gifts.

For me, the mark of a good holiday is one that has meaning and allows me to thank my Father in Heaven for His blessings and provision. Most holidays that don’t make room for praise and worship are ones we don’t celebrate here at the Bee household. Even the Fourth of July can be dedicated to the Lord if you delve a little into the history of our nation.

I love Thanksgiving (celebrating God’s provision and blessing in hardship). I love Christmas (celebrating God’s empathy and compassion, and his great eternal plan to redeem mankind with the world’s most undeserved gift).

And most recently, after doing a little soul searching and research of my own, I have come to believe that Christians can and should embrace Hanukkah, and many other biblical feasts.

Let me digress a little here to explain why…

Originally, only God’s chosen people were invited into the Kingdom if they would keep His commands. The commands were difficult and tedious, yet purposeful. As time went on, traditions of men through different rabbinical schools and sects were added to these laws to create and even more difficult task out of salvation.

And yet it was God’s plan all along to open the doors of the “wedding feast” to the gentiles…

But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them, and became partaker with them of the root and of the richness of the olive tree; don’t boast against the branches. But if you boast, it is not you who support the root, but the root supports you. – Romans 11:17,18

Christ is foreshadowed in all of the feasts of God.

Every celebration of victory in God for the Jews is similar to victory in Christ and the freedom in Christ that now gives us all victory. We are grafted in as brothers, the wild and the natural olive branches together.

Christians throughout time have shared the bitterness of persecution and mockery for their faith. We have worshiped the same God… and now that Christ has risen, the only difference we have with our Jewish brothers and sisters is our understanding that the messiah which was foretold has indeed come.

As I light the menorah I remind my children about the miracles of God… those of long ago and those that have happened recently in our own family. We take part in the age-old command to teach our children in Deuteronomy. We teach them about our gratitude for God grafting us in to the olive tree. We teach them about the oil and wine that didn’t run out – for the widow who Elijah helped, for the guests at the Canaanite wedding, and the Maccabees of Hanukkah fame.

We talk about how miracles STILL HAPPEN today.

In teaching our children, and then reminding them year after year, of God’s fame and wonders, we invite His blessing as we continually re-dedicate ourselves to Him. This is the entire goal of Advent as well – so therefore Hanukkah and Advent go hand in hand. In fact, last night, we caught up on three days of Advent as the Hanukkah candles burned down after saying our blessing.

Interestingly, enough, even Jesus celebrated Hanukkah:

The One about Whom Christmas is about celebrated Hanukkah. John 10:22 says there was a feast of dedication during the winter. This was about the 15th day of December (or 25th day of Chisleu). The word for dedication used here literally means “renewal”, or “re-dedication”. The Hebrew word for rededication is “hanaka”. Interestingly, the Greek word is “anakaino”, which sounds like Hanukkah if you think about it. Anyway, John 10:22 is the only time is appears in the scriptures, and the Lord Jesus Christ was involved.

From : Biblicism.wordpress.com, “The Significance of Hanukkah“

Another difference in celebrating Hanukkah as a Christian is turning away from the militaristic view of the holiday. I’ve read some articles that say Christianity and Judaism are incompatible with their views of Hanukkah:

But because of what I believe, I have to put it out there that if you really look at the meanings of the holidays, there is a fundamental cognitive dissonance that can’t be reconciled. Specifically: the entire point of Hanukkah is to celebrate people who died rather than practice any religion other than Judaism. And to celebrate that AND a holiday that celebrates the birth of someone who Christians believe is the son of God does not make sense… The miracles are those lights of people’s Jewish identities, fighting against the darkness of the rest of the world that threatens to consume them.

When we light the hanukkiah, we do it in our windows, to show the world that we are proud to be Jewish and nothing else. We celebrate who we are. We celebrate that despite thousands of years of persecution and hatred, we are still here. We are going to teach our children who we are and they will in turn teach it to theirs. We are heirs to a priceless legacy of history.

~ Jordana

I totally empathize with Jews like Jordana who still suffer persecution from those that hate them. If she were to look closely in the newspaper, she might discover how Christians are suffering the same fate in this day and age as we together serve the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. We also would rather die than not worship Him. We are much more connected than many give pause to consider. And now, with Christ’s birth, death, and resurrection, we are ALL “heirs to a priceless legacy of history” – but not just history… a future in heaven.

Jews who celebrate Hanukkah as a military victory and a defiance that was blessed by God are celebrating VICTORY – the answer to a prayer – God saying YES. But the God of Hanukkah is is still God when the answer is NO. God doesn’t always answer prayers the way you want. That doesn’t mean he’s not God. The hanukkiah are lights  in the DARKNESS. God is a “Light” that continues to shine on His people even when He is silent (as in the period of time between both Old and New Testaments when Hanukkah began).

We should be willing to worship Him even when He says NO. There won’t always be victory in every battle, but the war will be won in the end. That’s another really important lesson to teach to your kids, who will undoubtedly come upon a difficulty or tragedy in their lifetime that they must trust God to bring them through.

That cold my daughter had last week during Thanksgiving is finally catching up to me, and possibly the two year old… even though we prayed to not get sick, washed our hands, took our vitamins, and tried to keep away from sister’s germs as much as possible. I’m sharing in her misfortune, and it looks like it might make its way through our entire family. God allows hardship for His own reasons and we must learn to trust Him even in the battles we don’t win.

Celebrations like Hanukkah and other Biblical feasts are great ways to remind yourself and your children of the true character of God and the history of what all He has done. Throughout scripture we see that sometimes His answer was a resounding NO… or just silence – which is no by default.

The most notable was the NO He had for His own Son. I’m sure that throughout the history of unfavorable answers to prayers, it was the time saying no was the hardest for Him to bear.

Then He (Jesus) said to them, “My soul is overwhelmed with sorrow to the point of death. Stay here and keep watch with me.” Going a little farther, He fell with His face to the ground and prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as You will.” ~ Matthew 26:38-39

That no was hard to swallow… but through it, all of humanity found a pure sacrifice for our sins. Death was defeated. Through God saying NO to Jesus before he hung on the cross, He said YES to all humanity.

Which brings me back to Hanukkah… and Christmas… and Easter… and Passover… and so many other biblical feasts – foreshadowing Christ and God’s redemptive plan for His children.

Yeah, that’s you; His child. You and me both.

There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. ~ Galatians 3:28

Oh, yeah, and John 3:16… which you should already know by heart…

So Hanukkah is not just a story of success for a faraway kindgom of Jews which I may or may not be related to by bloodline. {Chances are, I might be – but that’s another story all-together.} I may not be Jewish, but I’m just glad to be eating crumbs at the master’s table. How about you?

The real miracle “of lights” was the star shining above Bethlehem, and the savior born to once and for all atone for mankind if they would only repent and put their faith in Him. He is oil that doesn’t go out. He is living water. He’s the Light of the World…

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this. ~ Isaiah 9:6-7

There’s something we can all share, no matter who we are. The miracle extends to God’s children across the earth in every tribe and nation. The doors of the temple have been opened and we have a new high priest: a Jewish Carpenter from Nazareth; the incarnate Son of God.

Hanukkah flames remind me that we are all the “lights” in His Kingdom now – grafted in together as believers in a God who performs miracles and loves us enough to give Himself even to birth in a dirty manger and death on a cruel cross… so that we can celebrate eternal life with Him.

Those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. ~ Daniel 12:3

This year that slips away with each day on the December calendar and our very lives are just a vapor compared to eternity that He promises those who seek Him. One day we will be a burned out candle; a trail of smoke in the annals of history. The true Light of the World will never darken or go out. The real Hanukkah miracle is that there’s no need for oil when Jesus is the Light of your life.

In Him,

Heather

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