Rededicate

Jews around the world this week are celebrating the festival we know as Hanukkah. You may say “But i am Christian” and will shut this out; but what if there is a tie in between the two? But first, let’s take a few moments to talk about what this celebration is about. We would have to start back in Daniel 2:39 which states "After you, another kingdom will arise, inferior to yours. Next, a third kingdom, one of bronze, will rule over the whole earth." I love world History because it actually proves the Bible's accuracy. This 3rd kingdom is actually Greece. But how come we don't really hear a lot about Greece in the Bible; well to answer, they ruled during the inter-testament part of the Bible (between the last OT \ first NT Books). And now we're ready.

So what is Hanukkah all about? Well, it is a celebration that commemorates the rededication of the 2nd Jewish Temple after years of the Grecian Empire defiling it. A man named Judah Maccabee, along with other men, fought off the oppression from the Greek Hellenistic emperor Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus ransacked the Temple in Jerusalem and desecrated it by slaughtering a pig on the altar. He also went against a city called Modi’in and ransacked it for their leader standing up against Greek empire. At the end of the revolt, the Temple was rededicated to the Lord, but there was a problem; there was only oil enough for the lampstand to be lit for one night. But the miracle is that the lampstand stayed lit for 8 nights, thus this is Hanukkah.

So not to complicate anything further, there is a lessonn in this story for us Chritsians, and Jews, alike today. Well, first, just take a look at the word Hanukkah. what many do not know is that it's actualy 2 words in one. You have "Ha" which is "The" and then “Chaukah” which is the word for dedication. Judah Macabee had a strong zeal for the things of God; including His Temple and people He was so passionate that he spent about 7 years fighting for this cause. So if Judah were here he would ask us these 3 questions: 1)In what are you dedicating your time to? 2)In whom are you dedicating your time in? and 3)Does the awnser from the first 2 questions make sense?. If we are dedicating our time and passion in something that does not have any worth, we will never get that time back. It’s time to rededicate our focus, time, and passion on the one thing that counts; the Presence of God, because anything other than it; it worthless.