First Night of Chanukah

In the period between the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, In the second century B.C.E., Antiochus Epiphanes ruled the Seleucid Empire, which included Judea. He insisted that those within his jurisdiction adopt Greek culture and worship his pagan gods. He banned Jewish practices, burned the Torah and violently punished – even unto death – Jewish people who did not comply. He took over the Temple in Jerusalem and defiled it with statues of Greek gods, particularly Zeus, whom he claimed to be the incarnate image of. In a deliberate insult to the Jewish faith, Antiochus sacrificed pigs – an unclean animal according to God’s Law – on the Temple altar. 

The Temple had been made utterly impure, and a family of priests had had enough. Aged Matthias refused to worship false gods. Upon his death, his son Judah advanced the rebellion to fight for their faith. Vastly outnumbered and without nearly their enemy’s resources, the Maccabees fought and defeated Antiochus Epiphanes’ armies. They took back the Temple in Jerusalem, and the priests set their eyes on cleansing and rededicating it. Thus, one of Chanukah’s themes is purity.

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The Temple was the dwelling place of the Most Holy God. It had to be pure because the Lord is absolutely pure. He provided explicit instructions for creating every detail of the Temple elements. Even the oil to keep the menorah burning had to be pure. After their victory, the priests could only find one jar of oil for the Temple with an intact seal of purity, enough to keep the menorah burning for just one day. It would take them eight days to acquire more purified oil, but when the time came to rededicate the Temple, the priests lit the lampstand anyway, and God did the rest. The oil lasted the entire eight days until more oil was ready.

When we think about our own purity, we quickly realize we don’t have enough. Sin has tainted each one of us. “There is no one righteous, not even one,” the apostle Paul writes in Romans 3:10 as he refers to Psalm 14. We could never be pure enough to be in God’s presence. That’s why the Messiah came. Because of Yeshua’s pure sacrifice, we have fellowship with the God of Israel. We who believe in Jesus the Messiah stand before the pure God in a position He views as righteous, having exchanged our guilt for Jesus’ righteousness. We are clothed with Yeshua’s purity.

And yet, in our experience, we are continually being purified daily as we allow the Holy Spirit to rule in our lives and conform us to the image of Messiah. Proverbs 25:4 discusses how impurities, called dross, rise to the top when silver is heated beyond its melting point. When the dross is removed, the silver is pure and fit for the metalsmith to mold and use. Likewise, when we let the Holy Spirit expose and remove our impurities, we become moldable, better suited for the Lord’s purposes and the good works He has planned for us to do for Him (Ephesians 2:10).

Tonight, as we light the first Chanukah candle, may we be thankful for the purity of Messiah covering us and enabling us to enjoy the salvation and presence of the Lord. May we determine to let our impurities rise to our awareness so the Lord can remove them, purifying us for His glory.