Happy Hanukkah

Hanukkah, which is the Hebrew word for "Dedication" should embolden us to the miracle of a small band of righteous Jews who refused to assimilate into paganism. Without fear of death they fought against and defeated a much larger, better trained and equipped army of Antiochus Epiphanes.

The real meaning of Hanukkah is not lighting candles and or giving out presents to one another. Instead it should be a day that we dedicate (Hanukkah) ourselves by resisting mediocrity and compromise in the face of social and religious pressure, while expecting the miracle of victory against the odds of defeat.

Today, we as believers in the God of Israel, face as much danger of having our light taken away with what might seem small and insignificant compromises. The spirit of Antiochus Epiphanes is as much alive today as it was in the days of the Maccabees. Though subtlety infused throughout the past two thousand years, bits and pieces of paganism have sullied our white garments of righteousness by which we must repent and return to God.

Passover, Unleavened bread, Firstfruits, Pentecost, Day of Trumpets, Day of Atonement and Feast of Tabernacles are God's seven "Feast Days" that are holy and prophetic and have as much relevance in our walk with Yeshua (Jesus) as praying and fasting. The doctrines that came out of the council of Nicaea in 325 A.D. attempted to abolish the God of Israel's holiness as much as the efforts by Antiochus, who abolished the Torah. This same mind set will emerge when the antichrist, who is identified as "The man of lawlessness" (without Torah) rises to power. If the antichrist doesn't love the Torah how can we who say we belong to Yeshua (Jesus) not love the Torah. Let me illustrate my point with this question. If you were an employee at Walmart and came to work wearing a Safeway vest, would Walmart believe you were a faithful employee?

God is not calling us to fight in the physical sense, for our warfare is spiritual. We must put on the whole armor of God in order to fight against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. We can do this by living by faith apart from the works of the Torah, but learning and studying ALL the Bible and obeying God's commandments because we love Him. God loves us with His whole heart, mind and strength. All He asks from us is to return the favor and love our neighbor with the same passion--if that is possible--that He loves us. If we do this we will have fulfilled the whole Torah, for all of the commandments of God hinge on loving God and our neighbor.

If we adhere to God's way and not man's way, we will not stumble. Otherwise He may take the Menorah light from our temple (body) if we don't Hanukkah (dedicate) ourselves to Him and overcome the passions of this world. Though, like the Maccabees, our number may be small, our God is big. Even to Elijah's surprise, God had reserved 7,000 people who would not bow to Baal. God plus one equals a majority. Shalom.