JD: Hanukkah is a very important holy day is it not?
SH: Hanukkah is considered a minor Feast.
JD: Steve, would you give us a brief story of what Antiochus Epiphanies did and what brought about ultimately there in the Temple, the abomination of desolation in thus Hanukkah?
SH: Antiochus Epiphanies, he was actually going to Egypt and he came through the land of Israel. He decided he would continue Alexander’s desire to hellenized all of the area. And so when he got to Jerusalem he stopped the sacrifices. He desecrated the Temple and actually sacrificed a pig on the alter and then sent his soldiers throughout the area to make sure that the leaders in the local areas all hellenized.
One of the places that his soldiers went to was located north east of Jerusalem called Modiin. There was a family there called the Maccabees family. Mattathias refused to compromise and only would believe in the one true God. What took place is Mattathias and his sons overtook those soldiers, killed them and then fled to the mountains. Over a three year period between 168 bc. 165 bc they arrived at the Temple it had been totally polluted but they rededicated the Temple. After defeating Antiochus’s army and re-establishing the Temple they found a small cruise of oil filled with the high priestly seal. That 24 hour cruise of oil served for eight days enough time to have more kosher oil to keep the menorah burning all the time.
And Jimmy you know very well that in John 10 the only place that Hanukkah or in this case the Feast of Dedication is mentioned we know that Jesus Himself celebrated Hanukkah. It tells us so in John 10. It says He was at Jerusalem the Feast of Dedication and it was winter. It is the 25th of the Hebrew month of Kislev. They celebrate the first day of Hanukkah and it runs eight days. It’s a wonderful time.
JD: Steve Herzig with the story of the Jewish holy days of Hanukkah.
We report this information because it is setting the stage for Bible prophecy to be fulfilled.
Steve’s rehearsal of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah is a reminder of how the Lord protected the Jewish people once again. At the same time this date, Kislev 25 or December the 25th is how we as Christians got our date for the birth of Jesus Christ. This Jewish tragedy turned into the glorious date of the first coming of Jesus Christ.
