RAPTURE CODE
CHANUKAH! or HANUKKAH
In the book of Daniel, I
found one of the most unusual chapters in the
Bible. In chapter 10, Daniel has been
fasting and praying for 21 days, and an angel
appears to him. Gabriel tells Daniel that
from the day he began praying, God sent a message,
but a supernatural being over Persia withstood him
for 21 days, and he could not get through.
So Michael, the archangel, came to help him.
Finally, Gabriel got to Daniel to give him the
prophecy! I think this one of the spookiest
chapters in the Bible, akin to Revelation
12. This event is an historical example of
the spiritual warfare Paul described in Ephesians
6.
So, I wondered..."What was this incredible
prophecy that God had to send two angels to get to
Daniel? What did Satan NOT want Daniel to
understand?"
Well...keep reading! The next chapters,
Daniel 11-12, give prophetic details about battles
between the divisions of the Greek empire,
specifically the Ptolemies of Egypt south of
Israel versus the Selucids of Syria north of
Israel. These prophecies are so detailed and
historically accurate, that Bible critics reject
that Daniel wrote them. What do these
prophecies concern? Well, in one word....CHANUKAH!
Understanding prophecy is important to Bible
believers because the LORD said telling the end
from the beginning proves that He is the true God
(Isaiah 46:9-10). Maybe there is more to this
Chanukah than we Christians realize.
Let's leave
Daniel and fast forward to Yeshua's last day of
freedom. He is leaving the Temple for the
last time, and His disciples are marveling at the
magnificence of Herod's Temple. (It took 85
years to complete this Temple, and at this point
it had been under construction for 46 years (John
2:20)). Yeshua's prophecy that the day would come
that "not one stone would be left upon another"
(Matthew 24:1-2) was fulfilled by Roman's capture
of Jerusalem and destruction of the Temple in 70
AD.
Surprised at Yeshua's prophecy, the disciples ask
two questions:
1. When will this happen?
2. What will be the sign of
your coming and the end of the age?
Yeshua explains several signs of His
coming. Among the signs is a very important
sign: "So when you see standing in the holy
place 'the abomination that causes desolation,'
spoken of through the prophet Daniel-let the
reader understand-then let those who are in Judea
flee to the mountains" (Matthew
24:15-16). Note, this is the only
time He said "Let the reader understand"...And my
question is: DO YOU
UNDERSTAND??
|
Coin minted by Antiochus. "Belonging to
King Antiochus, Manifestation of God." |
Yeshua is
referring to the prophecy the angel gave Daniel in
11:31 and again in 12:11, where God warned Israel
that an evil king from the North would desecrate
the Temple in Jerusalem. This prophecy was
fulfilled on Kislev (approximately December) 25,
168 BC when Antiochus Epiphanes set up a statue of
Zeus (with Antiochus' face) in the Temple,
desecrated the Holy Place, sacrificed a pig on
God's holy altar, and demanded that the Jews
worship him as god. Antiochus outlawed the
following:
1. Observing the Sabbath and
the Feasts of the LORD;
2. Observing the New Moon or the
Hebrew months, which marked the Holy Days God
commanded;
3. Circumcising sons;
4. Eating Kosher food (Greek
soldiers forced Jews to eat pigs sacrificed to
idols or die!); and
5. Studying the Torah, God's
Word.
A handful of
righteous Jews, determined to obey God at any
cost, rebelled against King Antiochus and defeated
the mighty Greek army, against insurmountable
odds. Three years later, on Kislev 25, 165
BC, the Jews recaptured Jerusalem and dedicated
the Temple. Jewish history says that only
one vial of sanctified oil was found in the ruins,
only enough to light the Menorah (Temple lamp
stand) for one day; but miraculously, the oil
lasted eight days, long enough to dedicate the
Temple as God commanded Moses. The Hebrew
word for "Dedication" is Chanukah.
Yes, Daniel's prophecy had been fulfilled in 165
BC, but in Matthew, Yeshua used that prophecy to
teach that it would happen again before He
came "in the clouds of heaven with power and great
glory" (Matthew 24:30).
The Apostle Paul also referred to this future
event when warning about the one we call the
Antichrist: "Let no one in any way deceive you,
for it will not come unless the apostasy comes
first, and the man of lawlessness is revealed, the
son of destruction, who opposes and exalts
himself above every so-called god or object of
worship, so that he takes his seat in the temple
of God, displaying himself as being God"
(2 Thessalonians 2:3-4). The issue of
worshiping the Dragon (Satan) and the beast
(antichrist) is repeated numerous times in
Revelation 13.
But weren't these prophecies fulfilled by Titus
and the Romans in 70 AD? Yes...and no.
Yes, it did happen by the Romans. But it WILL
HAPPEN AGAIN BEFORE MESSIAH LITERALLY COMES IN THE
CLOUDS!
Jewish rabbis teach a principle to understand
prophecy: "Here now but not yet." That
is, God teaches His people prophecy by repeating
patterns in Israel's history. For example,
the plagues in Exodus will be repeated in the Last
Days before the Messianic Age. The life of Joseph
is prophetic of Messiah ben Yosef, a Messiah like
Joseph.
So, yes, the prophecy given by Daniel, Yeshua,
and Paul has happened...but it will happen again,
in the Last Days before Messiah comes in great
glory.
Could it be that Satan does not want Christians
to understand and prepare for the ultimate
fulfillment of this prophecy? Could that be
why we get so busy celebrating Christmas and
overlook Chanukah, a day of great prophetic
significance?
This event was so important to Yeshua that the
Gospels record in John 10:22-23: "At that time the
Feast of the Dedication [Hebrew=Chanukah]
took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Jesus
was walking in the temple in the portico of
Solomon." It was at Chanukah that He declared "I
and the Father are one" (John 10:30).
Did you catch that? YESHUA CELEBRATED
CHANUKAH!
If the Jews had not resisted the Syrian Greeks,
would God's Word, the Temple, and the righteous
Jews have ceased to exist? If Antiochus had
succeeded, is it possible that Messiah Yeshua
might not have been born? Could this
prophecy and historical event be more important
than we have thought?
And what about our mortal temples? Our
bodies? Have we allowed our temples to
become defiled by disobedience to God's
instructions? What better time to consecrate our
temple to God!
I encourage you to study more about Chanukah,
because it is prophecy of the Last Days, the days
in which we live. Chanukah IS
important to God!
Celebrating
Chanukah
Traditionally, during Chanukah eight candles are
lit, over an eight-day period, and food cooked in
oil is enjoyed. Children play a game called
Dreidel with a spinning top with Hebrew initials
that stand for "A Great Miracle Happened
Here." This game commemorates the Jewish
children who would study the Torah in secret, and
when Greek soldiers came near, would hide the
Torah scroll and pretend to play games. The most
important part is to recount the miracle that God
worked in saving the Jewish people.
Learn
more about Chanukah
"The Messiah in Hanukkah" by Robin
Sampson. http://biblicalholidays.com/Hanukkah/messiah_in_hanukkah.htm
"Chanukah - Dedicated Against Assimilation" by
John Parsons,
http://www.hebrew4christians.com/Holidays/Winter_Holidays/Chanukah/chanukah.html
Feasts of the Lord - excellent book by
Marvin Rosenthal and Kevin Howard.
"Hanukah" by Emmanuel Messianic
Jewish Congregation, Clarksville, MD,
http://www.godwithus.org/holidays/hanukkah.html
"Chanukah" by Penei.org, Eugene, Oregon.
http://penei.org/holidays-chanukah.shtml
"Chanukah" by Hallel
Fellowship, Santa Rosa, CA;
http://hallel.info/appointments-with-god/chanukah/
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