Jesus and Hanukkah
Jesus, or Yeshua (as He was known throughout His life) of Nazareth was raised in an observant Jewish family in a culture where the Torah was the National Constitution, and thus, was taught the observance of the Feast of Dedication. But about 175 years before the birth of Jesus, the Syrian empire ruled over the land of Israel.
Hanukkah is a preview of Christ's dedication of the Ezekiel Temple – His throne on earth!
TimeLine
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199 BC
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Selucid Greeks conquer Israel
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168 BC
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Desecration of Temple; Greek decrees against
Judaism
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167 BC
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Matitiyahu begins revolt against the Greeks
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166 BC
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Jewish War against Greeks
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165 BC
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Temple recaptured; Miracle of oil occurs.
The Holy Temple was rededicated on the 25th of the Jewish month of Kislev. |
The Background
Three years prior to Hanukkah, Antiochus IV, the Seleucid (Syrian) king, defiled the Temple by erecting an idol to Baal Shamen (the Canaanite counterpart for the Greek god Zeus), sacrificing a pig on the altar in the Temple and proclaiming himself to be a god. Antiochus IV, was a tyrant.
Antiochus IV (175-164 BC), was the 8th ruler of the Seleucid empire. He gave himself the surname "Epiphanes" which means "the visible god" (that he and Jupiter were identical). He acted as though he really were Jupiter and the people called him "Epimanes" meaning "the madman".
He was violently bitter against the Jews, and was determined to exterminate them and their religion. He devastated Jerusalem in 168 BC, defiled the Temple, erected an altar to Jupiter, prohibited Temple worship, forbade circumcision on pain of death, sold thousands of Jewish families into slavery, destroyed all copies of Scripture that could be found, and slaughtered everyone discovered in possession of such copies, and resorted to every conceivable torture to force Jews to renounce their religion. This led to the Maccabaean revolt, one of the most heroic feats in history. The Antiochus bust discovery is important in the study of Biblical archaeology, it reveals an image of the man who was mentioned in the Book of Daniel.
He sought to suppress all the Jewish laws. Thousands of Jews were killed. Even, some of the coins he minted had his features on the face of Zeus along with the words "Theos Epiphanes" meaning "the god manifest." In a plot to undermine the strength of the Jewish family and morality, Antiochus decreed that any Jewish maiden who was to be married had to first spend the night with the local governor or commander.
All Jewish worship was forbidden. The scrolls were confiscated and burned. Honoring the Sabbath, circumcision and the dietary laws were prohibited under penalty of death. Antiochus conspired to depose and later assassinate the righteous high priest, Yochanan. Antiochus’ henchmen ordered 90-year-old rabbi Eliezer to eat pork as an example to his followers. He refused and was put to death. And he then sent troops from village to village with a statue of himself, ordering people to bow down to it.
The Syrians, under the command of Holofernes, laid siege to the town of Bethulia. While the town elders discussed a plan to surrender when their food supply ran out, a young and beautiful widow, Yehudit, the daughter of Yochanan the high priest, told the people to maintain faith in their God. She told them she had a plan they would have to accept on faith.
….to be continued
In Christ,
Playwright Janet Irene Thomas
Founder/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
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