The Abomination of Desolation

Around 200 years before Jesus was born, Antiochus the III controlled Judea. Antiochus the III was a Seleucid Syrian King. The Seleucid Empire was Hellenistic and observed all of the Greek customs and gods. Antiochus the III was actually viewed favorably by the Jews. He let them live as they wanted and even lowered taxes. His son, however, was the complete opposite. When Antiochus IV rose to power, he invaded Judea and forced to everyone he conquered to worship his gods. Antiochus was actually so crazy that he began calling himself Antiochus Epiphanes which means “God manifest.” He took this title so seriously that he went into the Second Temple and defiled it. He did the worst possible thing you could do called the Abomination of Desolation, which is found in Daniel 11, and he sacrificed pigs on an altar to Zeus inside the Temple.

A Tale Of Two Sons

Antiochus III appeared to be a great man but unfortunately raised a horrible son. In Judea, however, we see a different Father and Son relationship – they are known as Mattathias and Judah Maccabee. Mattathias was a Jewish Priest who took his 5 kids into the wilderness to prepare them. There he started what came to be known as the Maccabean Revolt against Antiochus IV and his army. After Mattathias died, Judah led the guerrilla warfare against the Seleucid Army and would forever be known as Yehudah HaMakabi (Judah The Hammer). Unlike Antiochus IV, Judah followed and obeyed his father. Because of his obedience, Judah’s story ends in victory while Antiochus Epiphanes’ story ends in disgrace.

Reclaiming The Temple

In an effort to reclaim the Temple, Judah Maccabee and his brothers fought against the Syrians and eventually drove them out of Jerusalem. When they were able to get into the Second Temple they began doing what they could to cleanse and purify it. In Exodus 25 and 27, God commands that a gold lamp stand with 6 branches, 3 on both sides, shall burn day and night. However, when the Maccabees entered the defiled temple, they only found enough consecrated oil to light the menorah for one day. Even with only one day’s oil, they knew they needed to light the candle so they could rededicate the Temple to the Lord. Once again, Judah is obedient and relit the menorah with what they had. 

What Is Hanukkah?

By a miracle of God, that small jar of oil was able to keep the menorah lit for not 1 night but 8!  It allowed just enough time for freshly consecrated oil to be used. There was no doubt that God had His hand on his people. Following this miraculous event, the leaders of the day decided that this would become an 8-day festival. It would be a time of thanksgiving, a time of remembrance, and a time of celebrating what God had done. Hanukkah in Hebrew literally means dedication. So because this miraculous event took place at the dedication of the Temple, it seemed right to deem this festival “Chanukkah.” Though it also rightly goes by the name “Festival of Lights.”

Rekindling A Familiar Festival

During the 8 nights of Hanukkah, we light 8 candles. Each night we light the shamash (which is the helper) candle first. Then we begin from right to left. On the first night we light the first candle with the shamash. On the second night we light the first and second candle and so on. What’s interesting here, is that 2 Maccabees records that the original Hanukkah was celebrated in the same manner of Sukkot. Since they were not able to celebrate the Festival of Tabernacles that year, the original Hanukkah appears to serve as a belated celebration to Sukkot. But it gets better. What other temple was also dedicated on Sukkot? We find in 1 Kings 8 that Solomon’s Temple, the original temple, was also dedicated at Sukkot.

Why Do We Eat Fried Foods?

So why do we eat fried foods during Hanukkah? The tradition has somewhat varied stories, however, the short answer is this: Because the menorah used one small jar of oil during those first 8 days, Jews over time began celebrating by eating foods cooked with oil. Just like we celebrate Thanksgiving with a turkey, they celebrated Hanukkah with fried foods. The most common foods eaten during Hanukkah today are sufganiyot, which are jelly-filled donuts, and latkes, which are just small potato pancakes. Of course, this doesn’t stop Jews from eating all things fried during the eight days of Hanukkah. For Americans, most of us aren’t eating healthy from Thanksgiving until the New Year, so Hanukkah fits right in.

Jesus In Hanukkah

The only biblical reference we have to Hanukkah is found in John 10:22. It says this, “Then came the Festival of Dedication at Jerusalem. It was winter, and Jesus was in the temple courts walking in Solomon’s Colonnade.” Hanukkah is a different type of festival in that it’s not one that’s commanded by God to celebrate. I believe Jesus can be found in and fulfills all of the “Lord’s Festivals.” But what about Hanukkah? If we read John 10 a little further we see Jesus make the bold claim, “I and the Father are one.” This is a unique situation because just 150 years earlier another man stood at the Temple claiming to be a god in Antiochus Epiphanes. This time, the One true God stood at the Temple but they could not hear it. Much of John’s writing deals with the “light” so this story fits in well with his narrative. John quotes Jesus in 3:19 saying, “Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” Jesus came into the world to be the Light, the ever sustaining light that would not run out. He was and is Immanuel – God with us. And so now we have a choice: will we choose the Light or will we choose darkness?

Should Christians Celebrate Hanukkah?

I’m a firm believer that Gentiles who follow Jesus should observe the festivals, at least at a basic level. But as I mentioned before, Hanukkah isn’t a Torah-commanded festival. So what do we do with it as Gentile Christians? First of all, I think it’s important that we are familiar with our Jewish roots because it helps us to understand Jesus and the context of Scripture so much better. Secondly, I think it gives us a unique opportunity to build a bridge with our Jewish neighbors. We may not agree on Jesus, but it shouldn’t stop us from showing them what the true Jesus is like. There has been a lot of damage done to the Christian-Jewish relationship over the last 2,000 years and I think celebrating things together will help us build that bridge. Lastly, as Christ-followers, we have the ability to celebrate Hanukkah with a totally different perspective! We can celebrate Hanukkah knowing that the everlasting Light has come into the world, and unlike our menorahs at the end of the night, the Light of Jesus will never go out. As John says in Revelation 22:5, “There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever.”