As Jewish people around the world mark Hanukkah, or the “Feast of Dedication,” this year, it may look different as hearts are heavy over the conflict in Israel. Hanukkah’s roots actually hearken back to another time of violence in Jerusalem, when the Jewish people were successful in driving out the Greco-Assyrian invaders in 167 B.C. This season is likely to be a time of deeper reflection and hope than that of recent years.
During this time, a group of Greco-Assyrian soldiers marched into the Jewish settlement of Modi’in and demanded that the Priest there, Mattathias, sacrifice a pig to their pagan god, Zeus. Because Mattathias feared the Lord more than the enemy, he refused to sacrifice the pig. A fellow Jewish onlooker, afraid of the Greco-Assyrians’ wrath, volunteered to sacrifice the pig. In response to this, Mattathias drew his sword and killed him.
This Hanukkah season, when Jewish people once again find themselves called to take up arms against their oppressors, we can use this opportunity to speak freedom and liberty in Jesus’ name. And just as the Jewish people in 164 liberated and rededicated the temple, I challenge you in the love of God to dedicate yourselves to Jesus in every area of your life—in the words we speak, the foods we eat, how we spend our time and money, the friendships we have, what we let into our ears and eyes—everything. Let’s live as sons and daughters fully dedicated to the Lord, knowing what our purpose is.
Hanukkah was about the recovery of Jerusalem and the rededication of the Jewish people’s temple. Today, as the gospel name of Yeshua goes forth, Jewish people are being recovered into a relationship with Jesus, even as they fight to defend their land. Let’s pray that the light of Jesus will shine on them during this time and that the conflict will be used to draw them into his fold.
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Rabbi Kirt A. Schneider is an author, evangelist and host of the impactful television and radio program Discovering the Jewish Jesus, available in more than 100 million homes in the U.S. and nearly 200 nations worldwide. After a startling vision of Christ led to his salvation in 1978, Rabbi Schneider dedicated his life to a passionate pursuit of Messiah Jesus and being used by God for His purpose. He is the host of the new Stories of the Messiah podcast on Pray.com, and his new book To Know Him by Name releases from Charisma House on Jan. 2.
