23 November, 2021
💎 “Then came Hanukkah; it was winter in Jerusalem. Yeshua was walking in the Temple around Solomon’s Colonnade. Then the Judean leaders surrounded Him, saying, “How long will You hold us in suspense? If You are the Messiah, tell us outright!” (Jhn 10:22-24, TLV)
💎 “As a result of the anguish of His soul, He will see it and be satisfied by His knowledge. The Righteous One, My Servant will make many righteous and He will bear their iniquities.” (Isa 53:11, TLV)
Hanukkah, also known as the Feast of Lights and Feast of Dedication, is a Jewish holiday in winter commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple after the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire. During that time, the Jewish people could only find the purified oil enough for one day. However, it took eight days to reproduce the purified oil. Miraculously, the purified oil which was intended to be used for only one day lasted for eight days until the supply of new purified oil arrived! In 2021, Hanukkah begins in the evening of Sunday, 28 November and ends before the nightfall of Monday, 6 December.
Hanukkah (חנכה) is the Hebrew word for “consecration” or “dedication”. In John 10:22, Yeshua also went up to the Temple to celebrate the Feast of Dedication. He spent time teaching the crowd and answering their questions about His messiahship (v24). He said, “I and the Father are one…I am God’s Son… believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”
The greatest work that Yeshua has accomplished is sacrificing Himself as the perfect atonement on the cross. Through what He experienced, out of the terrible travail of soul, He carried the burden of all our iniquities. Yeshua looked death in the face and did not flinch, He embraced the company of the lowest, and He took on His own shoulders the sin of the many. His sacrifices and dedication in obedience to the Father light up the world, so we no longer have to live in darkness!
🙏 Dear Heavenly Father, when the Jewish people around the world celebrate Hanukkah in this season, we pray that the Holy Spirit will enlighten their hearts to have personal encounters with Yeshua. Please open up their minds to connect the works that Yeshua has done with His messiahship. Remove all the veils and open their eyes to recognise Yeshua as their Jewish Messiah. Please send us and many spirit-filled believers to give powerful testimonies among our family, friends, neighbours and colleagues, and we long to see Your great light shine upon each one of us! In the Name of Yeshua we pray and bless You, Amen.