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Post by Abdicate on Dec 2, 2018 14:34:14 GMT -5
Jesus is the light of men (John 1:4) and John was the witness of the Light (John 1:7 ). How very appropriate for Mary to go and be with John's mother Elisabeth in her sixth month and she herself being overshadowed by the Holy Spirit, conceived during the Festival of Lights! To further this wonder, this feast is also called the Feast of Dedication, where even Jesus participated by going to the temple one winter, John 10:22. Since Jesus is the Word of God, this is when God "Dedicated" His Son to us like authors do in books where they dedicate their work to the reader!
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Post by Giller on Dec 2, 2018 18:00:29 GMT -5
Ya my friend celebrates Hanukkah, and I know that it has something to do with the re dedication of the temple, and it is true that Jesus did attend this celebration, at least one time, which is recorded.
It is not one of God's feasts days, but it is not wrong to celebrate it either.
It is not commanded by God to celebrate, but neither is it wrong.
My friend had us one year to come celebrate it with him and we did, it was very interesting, and you can learn stuff from it.
But we do not usually celebrate it, we only did so that one time so far.
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Cletus
Senior Member
Posts: 2,517
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Post by Cletus on Dec 2, 2018 19:30:41 GMT -5
in the picture there are 9 candles. do the numbers of candles or lights hold significance?
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Post by Abdicate on Dec 2, 2018 19:42:40 GMT -5
in the picture there are 9 candles. do the numbers of candles or lights hold significance? As the story goes, after the desecration of the temple by Antiochus, when the Maccabees brothers regained access to the temple, they wanted to "purify" the temple by burning the ritual oil in the temple menorah (7 candlesticks) for 8 days, but there was only enough oil to light the menorah for only one day, and it took 8 days to make fresh oil. Yet the lamp stayed lit for all 8 days (a miracle). Hence the 8 branches and the one that lit the others for a total of 9 branches.
Hanukkah means dedication, as in to dedicate. It's not a real festival as so stated, but because of its proximity to Christmas, it's celebrated (commercially too).
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Post by John on Dec 3, 2018 5:42:15 GMT -5
I have never celebrated Hanukkah or felt any reason to. Does anyone here actually celebrate it, and if so, how does one celebrate Hanukkah? For a Christian, what is the significance of celebrating the dedication of the Jewish temple? Hanukkah is something I have never looked into. I know very little about it.
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Post by frienduff on Dec 3, 2018 15:19:52 GMT -5
We celebrate it every day . JESUS IS the temple . OH heavenly jersualem . Raise those hands and praise the Lord . And watch out , something is going on IN ISRALE , specifically in Jerusalem . MASSIVE DECEPTOIN . the anti Christ will stand . We ought to be telling our jewish neighbors , NO need to sacrifice sheep and bulls , WE GOT a messiah who done sacrificed himself . IF a gentile rejects GOD is he saved . IF a jew rejects their own GOD is he saved . REJECT JESUS and one DONE REJECTED GOD . I am at all out war against that wicked man HAGGIE and his lies . YES his lies . JOHN HAGGIE THE LORD REBUKE YOU , THE LORD REBUKE YOU .
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PG4Him
Senior Member
Essay Moderator
Posts: 3,570
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Post by PG4Him on Dec 3, 2018 15:43:22 GMT -5
Hanukkah celebrates the period of Jewish history between the OT and NT. There is no particular reason for a (Gentile) Christian to celebrate it. Folks are free to celebrate it if they wish, though.
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Post by Abdicate on Dec 4, 2018 17:41:23 GMT -5
I have never celebrated Hanukkah or felt any reason to. Does anyone here actually celebrate it, and if so, how does one celebrate Hanukkah? For a Christian, what is the significance of celebrating the dedication of the Jewish temple? Hanukkah is something I have never looked into. I know very little about it.
I look at it like this (and no I don't light any candles or "celebrate" it). God did a miracle for them to show that even though they sinned, He was still there beckoning them to come to Him. I point out how it's mentioned in the word of God and how it's a symbol of God dedicating His Son to us, beckoning all of us to turn to the Light. The "Last Supper" was Passover and how God passes over the punishment of sin via the Blood of His Son (literally painting a cross on every Jewish door in Egypt), the burial of Jesus was the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Dead Bread) since the Bread Life was dead, and Resurrection was the Feast of Firstfruits, then you have Pentecost where one the exact same day (6 Sivan) the Ten Commandments were given and the Holy Spirit was given. Coming is the Feast of Trumpets (Head of the Year - New Year - the Rapture in my opinion), the Day of Atonement when Jesus restores a Man (Himself) to reconcile us to the Father physically, and finally, His birthday, Feast of Tabernacles when He abides with us for 1000 years on the earth and forever more on the Eighth Day. Knowing the appointed times (which is the translation of "seasons" in Genesis) are His times since the foundation of the earth.
There is another day, 9 Av, where since the spies gave an evil report of the Land of Israel, that the Jews have suffered greatly over the millenia on the exact same day. Here’s a mathematical impossibility: God told Israel through Moses that the 9th of Av (Jewish month) would be a continual time of mourning for them. - The first (29 July 587 BC) and second (4 Aug 70 AD) temples were destroyed on 9 Av;
- Jerusalem was plowed under with salt on 9 Av (25 July 71 AD);
- the last resistance of Israel to the Romans was destroyed on 9 Av (5 Aug 135 AD);
- Pope Urban II began the teaching evil towards the Jews igniting the first Crusades in the month of Av throughout France;
- England expelled the Jews on 9 Av (18 July 1290 AD);
- France expelled the Jews on 10 Av (22 July 1306 AD);
- Spain expelled the Jews on 8 Av (31 July 1492);
- World War I France to Germany and Germany to Russia declared war on 9 Av (1 August 1914);
- three days earlier Russia expelled the Jews on 6 Av (29 July 1914 remember "Fiddler on the Roof");
- the Germans began a systematic liquidation of the Ghetto on 8 Av (22 July 1942);
- In response to their treatment, a revolt occur in the Ghetto and on 9 Av (10 August 1943) the Germans "cleansed" the Ghetto – no more Jews in Warsaw…
There are other evils that happened on this singular day.
So the point, to me, in just regonizing Hanukkah is that it is the Festival of Lights and according to my calculation, the time of Mary's conception of the Light of the world Who is dedicated to us by the Father.
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Cletus
Senior Member
Posts: 2,517
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Post by Cletus on Dec 4, 2018 18:32:29 GMT -5
my only interest i have about jewish holidays is to learn. i have heard a good many preachers speak on a season of so and so... and the upcoming or jewish holiday that was going on was the same theme. i find that the jewish holidays often coincide to whats God is doing in my heart at that time... so in a sense i do celebrate. I have noticed a very reliable pattern in this... in my heart and what preachers are preaching on and jewish holidays themes. so i do not dismiss them as just a Jewish thing. God always on time... isnt He... and its always in His time... isnt it?
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Post by justinadams on Dec 5, 2018 6:04:01 GMT -5
I have never celebrated Hanukkah or felt any reason to. Does anyone here actually celebrate it, and if so, how does one celebrate Hanukkah? For a Christian, what is the significance of celebrating the dedication of the Jewish temple? Hanukkah is something I have never looked into. I know very little about it.
I look at it like this (and no I don't light any candles or "celebrate" it). God did a miracle for them to show that even though they sinned, He was still there beckoning them to come to Him. I point out how it's mentioned in the word of God and how it's a symbol of God dedicating His Son to us, beckoning all of us to turn to the Light. The "Last Supper" was Passover and how God passes over the punishment of sin via the Blood of His Son (literally painting a cross on every Jewish door in Egypt), the burial of Jesus was the Feast of Unleavened Bread (Dead Bread) since the Bread Life was dead, and Resurrection was the Feast of Firstfruits, then you have Pentecost where one the exact same day (6 Sivan) the Ten Commandments were given and the Holy Spirit was given. Coming is the Feast of Trumpets (Head of the Year - New Year - the Rapture in my opinion), the Day of Atonement when Jesus restores a Man (Himself) to reconcile us to the Father physically, and finally, His birthday, Feast of Tabernacles when He abides with us for 1000 years on the earth and forever more on the Eighth Day. Knowing the appointed times (which is the translation of "seasons" in Genesis) are His times since the foundation of the earth.
There is another day, 9 Av, where since the spies gave an evil report of the Land of Israel, that the Jews have suffered greatly over the millenia on the exact same day. Here’s a mathematical impossibility: God told Israel through Moses that the 9th of Av (Jewish month) would be a continual time of mourning for them. - The first (29 July 587 BC) and second (4 Aug 70 AD) temples were destroyed on 9 Av;
- Jerusalem was plowed under with salt on 9 Av (25 July 71 AD);
- the last resistance of Israel to the Romans was destroyed on 9 Av (5 Aug 135 AD);
- Pope Urban II began the teaching evil towards the Jews igniting the first Crusades in the month of Av throughout France;
- England expelled the Jews on 9 Av (18 July 1290 AD);
- France expelled the Jews on 10 Av (22 July 1306 AD);
- Spain expelled the Jews on 8 Av (31 July 1492);
- World War I France to Germany and Germany to Russia declared war on 9 Av (1 August 1914);
- three days earlier Russia expelled the Jews on 6 Av (29 July 1914 remember "Fiddler on the Roof");
- the Germans began a systematic liquidation of the Ghetto on 8 Av (22 July 1942);
- In response to their treatment, a revolt occur in the Ghetto and on 9 Av (10 August 1943) the Germans "cleansed" the Ghetto – no more Jews in Warsaw…
There are other evils that happened on this singular day.
So the point, to me, in just regonizing Hanukkah is that it is the Festival of Lights and according to my calculation, the time of Mary's conception of the Light of the world Who is dedicated to us by the Father.
Good post. Far better than the x-mas nonsense from Rome and other pagan rites. I celebrate Hanukkah, and when I had a family we would do the candle thing explaining the reason and method. Yahweh (Yeshua means Yah is Salvation) is always at the center. For Christians that do not know the relevance of Yah's feast days and seasons (not: winter spring summer or fall) they have a great deal to learn. P.s. there is no such person according to Saul (Paul) as a 'gentile Christian'. Yeshua GATHERS all nations because they are all His.
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Post by John on Dec 5, 2018 6:45:52 GMT -5
Neither Christmas or Hanukkah are mentioned as things to be celebrated in the Bible, but I have no problem with those who wish to celebrate either of them.
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Post by Giller on Dec 5, 2018 11:14:06 GMT -5
Ya my friend who celebrates Hanukkah, always uses that celebration to point to Christ in some form, and in the candle stuff, and so on.
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Post by Abdicate on Dec 5, 2018 15:28:01 GMT -5
So I need to correct something about Hanukkah I wrote. The story of the oil being kept lit for eight days is rabbinical legend. However, after defeating the enemy and recovering the Temple, they did celebrated for eight days.
However, upon doing more study on the matter, the historical account (Maccabees meaning hammer) is about a man name Mathias (Matthew) who had five sons. But before I get there, understanding the story is a great tool to witness to Jews. The Jews celebrate Hanukkah (meaning to dedicate) but it appears only in the New Covenant (NT) John 10:22 (Feast of Dedication = Hanukkah) and is not part of the Hebrew scriptures. They treat the books of Maccabees as historical record and not part of the scriptures. Those books account for the events that occurred in Israel during this time between the Hebrew scriptures and the Greek scriptures (i.e. OT and NT).
During the time of the silence of God from Malachi to Matthew, the Jewish society rose up and turned away from the custom of following God and introduced ideas and questioned their beliefs. Sound familiar? This happened in Germany too in 1800's, called The Enlightenment, when they began to question the Luther teachings about God, the bible's validity, and right and wrong, and turned to science. The final outcome was Hitler. In Israel, it became Antiochus Epiphanes (his name meaning, God Manifest - 2 Thessalonians 2:4). What will be the name of our coming evil?
In America, the lawless men uprising began with the abolishment of the word of God and prayer in public schools in the 1960's. Then political correctness came, and then forbidding our beliefs from being spoken. The historical accounts of what happened to Israel during the time of the Maccabees is a warning for the end times. The events of the Maccabees is a blueprint for what's to come (and is happening) right now in Europe and especially the UK where you are forbidden to speak to people about the word of God regarding any sin or anything that might be offensive to other beliefs!
Hanukkah tells us of how the righteous turned from God for the things of the world, and as a result, everyone lost everything. Those things which were holy became profane and those things profane became the norm (e.g. drag queens in preschool, satanic temples in the USA, unspeakables in every show on TV, legalized vices [drugs, sex, open rebellion]).
When Antiochus took the temple, he proceeded to desecrate it and sacrificed a pig there, just as Daniel 12:7 said. He erected a status of Zeus and made it look like himself. The Temple of God became a Temple to Pagans. Unspeakable debauchery occurred and anything resembling Judaism was extinguished. Women were killed if they circumcised their children, anyone found with the scriptures were killed and the scrolls destroyed. This shows the reversal of good to evil and evil are in power with those that follow God become troublemakers and are suppressed. Evil becomes the leaders of cultural change. As they come out of the closet, Christians go into the closet. What was holy is now profane and that which was profane becomes normal. The spirit of arrogance, pride, and blasphemy, which is happening today, and from them shall come the antichrist, all in the name of tolerance. (e.g. Chick-fil-A's declaration of man marries one woman protest.) Notice the "one world government" idea isn't new.
Despite the history of these events that fit perfectly in line with Daniel's prophecies, Jesus reiterated that this was also a future event, Matthew 24:15, and to pay attention to the event. Learn from history. In a nutshell, without the these five sons, the Jews would have ceased to exist. In other words, God rose up an army of faithful to fight and overcome. As the society grew more and more distant from God, these men of God took a stand. Because of Hanukkah, we have Christmas. Antiochus committed the bulk of his forces to wipe out the Jews. No Jews, no Mary and Joseph. No Mary and Joseph, no Jesus. Just like before the birth of Israel, the devil raised up an army against God's people. In the end God will always prevail and this literal ragtag hillbillies rose of to save Israel from extinction. In fact, after defeating the first army, they gathered up their foe's weapons and continued to prevail over every army that was sent. Talk about brier-patch warfare! Take the weapons of the enemy and use it against them...when they come against us, use it to get closer to God, Ephesians 6:16-17. Through God we have our resolve! The Maccabees carried on in the war with joy, Nehemiah 8:10. Jesus is the Hanukkah (Light and Dedication) and we are to be the hammer against evil using the sword of the Spirit. Hanukkah reminds us that we are the lights in darkness, Daniel 12:3 and in the end times, we are the candles in the darkness, Rev 1:12. The light is active agent against the darkness.
Hanukkah is a great example of what the scriptures show will come in the last days. I hope this helps. It certainly did for me.
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