Chapter 11

Hanukkah

חֲנֻכָּה

Hanukkah · KHAH-noo-kah

Key 11: Light in the Darkness

At a Glance

Meaning: Dedication; also called the Feast of Dedication and the Festival of Lights
When: 25 Kislev, for eight days
Duration: Eight days
Key Scriptures: John 10:22-39; Daniel 11:31-32

Preparing live dates...

Dates follow Israel observance, with times at Jerusalem astronomical sunset.

What Scripture Says

John 10:22-23 (NKJV)

"Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch."

John is the only biblical writer to name this feast. Jesus was in the Temple courts during Hanukkah.

Daniel 11:31-32 (NKJV)

"but the people who know their God shall be strong, and carry out great exploits."

Daniel foresaw a ruler who would defile the sanctuary, take away the daily sacrifices, and set up the abomination of desolation (Daniel 11:31). Many Jewish and Christian interpreters have seen Antiochus IV in this prophecy, at least as a first fulfillment; others, including Seventh-day Adventists, apply it to later powers. Daniel promised that those who knew their God would stand firm.

Matthew 24:15 (NKJV)

"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation,' spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place"

Jesus spoke of Daniel's prophecy as still to be fulfilled in the future, showing that it reached beyond the events of Hanukkah.

1 Maccabees 4:52-59

The book of 1 Maccabees records that on the twenty-fifth day of Kislev, three years after the Temple was defiled, Judah Maccabee and his brothers rededicated the altar with songs, harps, and cymbals, celebrated for eight days, and decreed that the days of dedication be kept every year. 1 and 2 Maccabees are part of the Apocrypha and are not in the Protestant canon.

In the Tabernacle and Temple

In 167 BC the Seleucid king Antiochus IV Epiphanes outlawed the practice of Judaism, set up a pagan altar on the altar of burnt offering in the Temple, and offered sacrifices there (1 Maccabees 1:41-64). A priest named Mattathias and his sons, led by Judah Maccabee, began a revolt. In 164 BC they recaptured Jerusalem, cleansed the Temple, built a new altar, relit the lampstand, and rededicated the house of God (1 Maccabees 4:36-59).

2 Maccabees records that the eight days were celebrated like the Feast of Tabernacles, because the people had been unable to keep Tabernacles while the Temple was defiled (2 Maccabees 10:6-8).

In the Days of Jesus of Nazareth

During Hanukkah, Jesus walked in Solomon's Porch, and the people surrounded Him and said, "If You are the Christ, tell us plainly" (John 10:24). He answered that His works bore witness to Him and declared, "I and My Father are one" (John 10:30).

At the feast that celebrated the consecration of the Temple, Jesus spoke of Himself as the One "whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world" (John 10:36). Earlier in John's Gospel He had spoken of His own body as a temple: "Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up" (John 2:19-21).

Jewish Observance Today

Hanukkah lasts eight nights, beginning on the evening that starts 25 Kislev. It is a minor festival in Jewish law, but one of the most beloved, coming in the long nights of winter.

Lighting the hanukkiah
A nine-branched lampstand is lit each night, adding one light until all eight burn on the last night. The ninth, the shamash or servant candle, lights the others.
In the window
The lights are placed in a window or doorway to proclaim the miracle to everyone who passes by.
The oil
The Talmud tells of a single jar of pure oil, enough for one day, that burned for eight. The story comes from later rabbinic tradition; the books of Maccabees do not mention it.
Hallel
Psalms of praise (Psalms 113-118) are recited each morning.
Foods fried in oil
Latkes (potato pancakes) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts) recall the oil.
The dreidel
Children play with a spinning top marked with Hebrew letters standing for "A great miracle happened there"; in Israel, "here."

Fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth

Each connection is labeled: what the New Testament states directly, and what Christians interpret from the patterns of Scripture.

At the Feast of Dedication

Stated in the New Testament

Jesus was in the Temple at the Feast of Dedication (John 10:22-23), where He declared, "I and My Father are one" (John 10:30).

Sanctified and Sent

Stated in the New Testament

Jesus called Himself the One "whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world" (John 10:36). To sanctify is to set apart and consecrate, the very idea of dedication.

The Light of the World

Stated in the New TestamentTheological interpretation

Jesus said, "I am the light of the world" (John 8:12; 9:5). Many Christians connect the lights of Hanukkah with Him. That link is an interpretation, since John does not tie the saying to this feast.

The True Temple

Theological interpretation

Hanukkah celebrates a rededicated building. Jesus spoke of His body as the temple (John 2:19-21), and Paul writes, "For you are the temple of the living God" (2 Corinthians 6:16). Many see the true dedication in Christ and in His people.

The Servant Light

Theological interpretation

Some Christians see the shamash, the servant candle that lights all the others, as a picture of Jesus: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). This is a devotional interpretation.

The Key to Humanity

Light in the Darkness

Hanukkah remembers a time when faith in the God of Israel was outlawed, the Temple defiled, and the light of the lampstand put out. A small group refused to bow, and the light was relit. It comes in the darkest season of the year, and each night the light grows. For every human being who has felt that darkness is winning, Hanukkah says it is not. John wrote of Jesus, "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:5). Hanukkah is the final key: the light of God cannot be put out, and He calls His people to carry it into the world (Matthew 5:14-16).

Seventh-day Adventist View

Seventh-day Adventists do not observe Hanukkah. In Adventist interpretation, the prophecies of Daniel 8 and 11 reach beyond Antiochus IV to later powers and to the time of the end.

Hebrew Words to Know

חֲנֻכָּה

Hanukkah

Dedication.

חֲנֻכִּיָּה

Hanukkiah

The nine-branched Hanukkah lampstand.

מְנוֹרָה

Menorah

A lampstand; the seven-branched lampstand of the Tabernacle and Temple (Exodus 25:31-37).

שַׁמָּשׁ

Shamash

Servant; the candle that lights the others.

נֵס

Nes

A miracle or sign.

Questions for Reflection

1.
Hanukkah honors people who stayed faithful when it cost them everything. Where is your faith being pressured right now?
2.
The lights were placed in the window for others to see. How is God calling you to let your light be seen (Matthew 5:16)?
3.
Jesus called Himself the One the Father sanctified and sent. What would it mean to see your own life as dedicated to God?

See Jesus in all the feasts