Chanukah and Its Pagan Tradtions

Joseph F. Dumond

Isa 6:9-12 And He said, Go, and tell this people, You hear indeed, but do not understand; and seeing you see, but do not know. Make the heart of this people fat, and make their ears heavy, and shut their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn back, and be healed. Then I said, Lord, how long? And He answered, Until the cities are wasted without inhabitant, and the houses without man, and the land laid waste, a desolation, and until Jehovah has moved men far away, and the desolation in the midst of the land is great.
Published: Dec 5, 2008

News Letter 5844-038
7th day of the Ninth month 5844 years after creation

 

December 6, 2008

Shabbat Shalom Brethren,

Have you looked at the map lately? I am blown away at just how far this web site has reached in just two years. Brethren I am not bragging about this to show how smart I am. Those of you who have talked to me already know I am about as smart as brick.

No this is the work of Yahweh. This gospel shall be preached in all the world for a witness and then the end shall come. What other group is teaching the message contained in the Jubilee? Tell me, just one if you can? Look on the map page and then scroll down and see just how many countries have come to this web site just since July of this year. Then look at what countries are coming. Look at India and look at Iran and Saudi Arabia, and look at the Philippines and the other Asian countries. Then look at just how many are from the USA. It is an awesome and fearsome sight.

Yahweh has taken this dumb stick of a ditch digger and used him to share this Jubilee message around the world for about $5000 dollars in total cost. And we have only received about $550 in donations. This is such a tremendous miracle. My IT guy is totally amazed at what has happened. And we are now on one small radio station, KMLS-FM 101.9 with a growing audience.

When you go to any of the other messianic web sites, just look at the hit counter on each one and compare it to what is going on here. After just two years we now have 250,000 hits. Yahweh is doing something here. Will you help? Will you add those emails of your friends and family to the list? Will you tell them to watch the DVD and get ready? Will you pray that I am ready to do what Yahweh wants when He opens the next door? Please do, because I feel so unprepared for the things I am already doing.

Much of this growth is also because of those of you who have told others and have shared this with friends and family and assemblies. But we are not even close to being done as yet. There is still much more to do.

This past summer I told you to look at the charts in this article https://sightedmoon.com/sightedmoon_2015/?page_id=262 having already shown them to you in March on the DVD. I have now updated the chart which is at the bottom of that article. There are so many new people to this News letter I think it would be good if you all go a review this short article having already watched the DVD and to consider just how serious things are. Consider the words depression, inflation, hyper inflation, and famine and pestilence, and consider your family and make preparations now while you have time, and a job and money to do so. Look at how much has to be paid back in comparison to the 1929 crash.

At this time of year many are getting ready for the holidays of this season. Great traditions but few ever check out the meaning of these days. So many of us come to this way of life, the Nazarene way, and are so glad to be walking according to Torah. But almost all of us bring our luggage from our previous religious group and add it to what we now have learned from Torah. It sometimes hard to let go of false and harmful traditions.

Last week we showed you the truth about the lighting of candles and how it is not commanded in the scriptures to do. It is not a commandment. I received one very upset email about this information and I then challenged that person to prove to me from scriptures where we are commanded to light candles for Shabbat. The silence is deafening.

I also heard from a Jewish family who have lit candles on Shabbat all their lives. They agreed with me that there is no such commandment to light the candles and after checking, they too found out that it was an Egyptian and Babylonian tradition to light candles in order to worship Nimrod. The lighting of candles and fires and lights at this time of year are all done to worship Nimrod.

Very soon many will begin to celebrate the Chanukah season. For many of us who have come out of pagan Christian teachings we want to do what the Torah says to do. Many assume that the Jews have it all right because they are Jewish, and there for it is OK to do as they do.

 

Last week I told you the following;

When I was a Catholic and then learned of the truth as taught by the World Wide Church of God, I was shocked at how easily I had been deceived for my whole life. When the World Wide Church of God broke apart in the1990’ I swore to myself I would not be deceived again. It was at this time that I began to earnestly check out each new understanding as I came across them.

I had heard how many had jumped from pagan Christianity into Judaism. After all the Jews kept Torah right? It has been many years of study, but the answer is no, the Jews do not keep Torah. They may in fact keep it a little more than the Catholics.

This is why I search out each and every aspect of those things that others say we must do. Can I find it in scriptures? If I can, can others? It must be obvious to everyone once it is shown to them. And it must be found in scriptures. If not then why do you do it?

I have shown you in the articles on this web site where Judaism has postponed the fall Holy Days. There is no justification for this in any of the Torah. So why did they do it? I have also shown you where Sivan six is not in accord with Torah concerning the keeping of Pentecost. This is due to a misunderstanding of scriptures.

On the other hand we have also shown you where the keeping of Christmas and Easter and Lent are also not in the scriptures and are nothing more than pagan traditions that were adopted and used to worship the Messiah.

Brethren I am not condemning those who are still doing those things that Yahweh never commanded us to do. They are deceived. 1Jo 5:19 We know that we are of God, and the whole world lies under the sway of the wicked one.

Re 12:9 So the great dragon was cast out, that serpent of old, called the Devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was cast to the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.

Please read this again. The whole world is deceived. It does not say the whole world except the Jews. No, I am not anti-Semitic, nor am I anti Catholic. I have people I care for in both groups. I am against false man made traditions that keep you from keeping the Torah as Yahweh has given us in His book. I am in favor of every one keeping Torah, and not adding to it or taking away from it. The Jews Add to it and the Catholics and other Christian groups take stuff away from Torah.

And when people come out of Judaism or Christianity they often jump right over into the other ditch with just as much confusion. But it feels different they are excited about the changes.
But scriptures say in 1Th 5:21 Test all things; hold fast what is good.

They also say in Deuteronomy 12:1 “These are the statutes and judgments which you shall be careful to observe in the land which the Lord God of your fathers is giving you to possess, all the days that you live on the earth. 2 You shall utterly destroy all the places where the nations which you shall dispossess served their gods, on the high mountains and on the hills and under every green tree. 3 And you shall destroy their altars, break their sacred pillars, and burn their wooden images with fire; you shall cut down the carved images of their gods and destroy their names from that place. 4 You shall not worship the Lord your God with such things.

Deuteronomy 12:28 Observe and obey all these words which I command you, that it may go well with you and your children after you forever, when you do what is good and right in the sight of the Lord your God. 29 “When the Lord your God cuts off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess, and you displace them and dwell in their land, 30 take heed to yourself that you are not ensnared to follow them, after they are destroyed from before you, and that you do not inquire after their gods, saying, ‘How did these nations serve their gods? I also will do likewise.’ 31 You shall not worship the Lord your God in that way; for every abomination to the Lord which He hates they have done to their gods; for they burn even their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. 32 Whatever I command you, be careful to observe it; you shall not add to it nor take away from it.

We are also admonished or warned in Deuteronomy 30:15 “See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, 16 in that I command you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes, and His judgments, that you may live and multiply; and the Lord your God will bless you in the land which you go to possess. 17 But if your heart turns away so that you do not hear, and are drawn away, and worship other gods and serve them, 18 I announce to you today that you shall surely perish; you shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over the Jordan to go in and possess. 19 I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; therefore choose life, that both you and your descendants may live; 20 that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey His voice, and that you may cling to Him, for He is your life and the length of your days; and that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, to give them.”

Let us examine the Yearly Celebration of Chanukah and see if it stands up to the commands of Torah. We begin with the story as told each year during this time.

http://www.chabad.org/holidays/chanukah/article_cdo/aid/600513/jewish/Under-Syrian-Rule.htm

Under Syrian Rule

More than 2000 years ago there was a time when the land of Israel was part of the Syrian-Greek Empire, dominated by Syrian rulers of the dynasty of the Seleucids.

In order to relate the story that led up to Chanukah, we shall start with Antiochus III, the King of Syria, who reigned from 3538 to 3574 (222-186 B.C.E.). He had waged war with King Ptolemy of Egypt over the possession of the Land of Israel. Antiochus III was victorious and the Land of Israel was annexed to his empire. At the beginning of his reign he was favorably disposed toward the Jews and accorded them some privileges. Later on, however, when he was beaten by the Romans and compelled to pay heavy taxes, the burden fell upon the various peoples of his empire who were forced to furnish the heavy gold that was required of him by the Romans. When Antiochus died, his son Seleucus IV took over, and further oppressed the Jews.

Added to the troubles from the outside were the grave perils that threatened Judaism from within. The influence of the Hellenists (people who accepted idol-worship and the Syrian way of life) was increasing. Yochanan, the High Priest, foresaw the danger to Judaism from the penetration of Syrian-Greek influence into the Holy Land. For, in contrast to the ideal of outward beauty held by the Greeks and Syrians, Judaism emphasizes truth and moral purity, as commanded by G-d in the holy Torah. The Jewish people could never give up their faith in G-d and accept the idol-worship of the Syrians.

Yochanan was therefore opposed to any attempt on the part of the Jewish Hellenists to introduce Greek and Syrian customs into the land. The Hellenists hated him. One of them told the King’s commissioner that in the treasury of the Temple there was a great deal of wealth.

The wealth in the treasury consisted of the contributions of “half a shekel” made by all adult Jews annually. That was given for the purpose of the sacrifices on the altar, as well as for fixing and improving the Temple building. Another part of the treasury consisted of orphans” funds which were deposited for them until they became of age. Seleucus needed money in order to pay the Romans. He sent his minister Helyodros to take the money from the treasury of the Temple. In vain did Yochanan, the High Priest, beg him not to do it. Helyodros did not listen and entered the gate of the Temple. But suddenly, he became pale with fright. The next moment he fainted and fell to the ground. After Helyodros came to, he did not dare enter again.
The Madman

A short time later, Seleucus was killed and his brother Antiochus IV began to reign over Syria (in 3586 – 174 B.C.E.). He was a tyrant of a rash and impetuous nature, contemptuous of religion and of the feelings of others. He was called “Epiphanes,” meaning “the gods’ beloved.” Several of the Syrian rulers received similar titles. But a historian of his time, Polebius, gave him the epithet Epimanes (“madman”), a title more suitable to the character of this harsh and cruel king.

Desiring to unify his kingdom through the medium of a common religion and culture, Antiochus tried to root out the individualism of the Jews by suppressing all the Jewish Laws. He removed the righteous High Priest, Yochanan, from the Temple in Jerusalem, and in his place installed Yochanan’s brother Joshua, who loved to call himself by the Greek name of Jason. For he was a member of the Hellenist party, and he used his high office to spread more and more of the Greek customs among the priesthood.

Joshua or Jason was later replaced by another man, Menelaus, who had promised the king that he would bring in more money than Jason did. When Yochanan, the former High Priest, protested against the spread of the Hellenists” influence in the Holy Temple, the ruling High Priest hired murderers to assassinate him.

Antiochus was at that time engaged in a successful war against Egypt. But messengers from Rome arrived and commanded him to stop the war, and he had to yield. Meanwhile, in Jerusalem, a rumor spread that a serious accident had befallen Antiochus. Thinking that he was dead, the people rebelled against Menelaus. The treacherous High Priest fled together with his friends.

 

The Martyrs

Antiochus returned from Egypt enraged by Roman interference with his ambitions. When he heard what had taken place in Jerusalem, he ordered his army to fall upon the Jews. Thousands of Jews were killed. Antiochus then enacted a series of harsh decrees against the Jews. Jewish worship was forbidden; the scrolls of the Law were confiscated and burned. Sabbath rest, circumcision and the dietary laws were prohibited under penalty of death. Even one of the respected elders of that generation, Rabbi Eliezer, a man of 90, was ordered by the servants of Antiochus to eat pork so that others would do the same. When he refused they suggested to him that he pick up the meat to his lips to appear to be eating. But Rabbi Eliezer refused to do even that and was put to death.

There were thousands of others who likewise sacrificed their lives. The famous story of Hannah and her seven children happened at that time.

Antiochus’s men went from town to town and from village to village to force the inhabitants to worship pagan gods. Only one refuge area remained and that was the hills of Judea with their caves. But even there did the Syrians pursue the faithful Jews, and many a Jew died a martyr’s death.

 

Mattityahu

One day the henchmen of Antiochus arrived in the village of Modin where Mattityahu, the old priest, lived. The Syrian officer built an altar in the marketplace of the village and demanded that Mattityahu offer sacrifices to the Greek gods. Mattityahu replied, “I, my sons and my brothers are determined to remain loyal to the covenant which our G-d made with our ancestors!”

Thereupon, a Hellenistic Jew approached the altar to offer a sacrifice. Mattityahu grabbed his sword and killed him, and his sons and friends fell upon the Syrian officers and men. They killed many of them and chased the rest away. They then destroyed the altar.

Mattityahu knew that Antiochus would be enraged when he heard what had happened. He would certainly send an expedition to punish him and his followers. Mattityahu, therefore, left the village of Modin and fled together with his sons and friends to the hills of Judea.

All loyal and courageous Jews joined them. They formed legions and from time to time they left their hiding places to fall upon enemy detachments and outposts, and to destroy the pagan altars that were built by order of Antiochus.

 

The Maccabees

Before his death, Mattityahu called his sons together and urged them to continue to fight in defense of G d’s Torah. He asked them to follow the counsel of their brother Shimon the Wise. In waging warfare, he said, their leader should be Judah the Strong. Judah was called “Maccabee,” a word composed of the initial letters of the four Hebrew words Mi Kamocha Ba’eilim Hashem, “Who is like You, O G-d.”

Antiochus sent his General Apolonius to wipe out Yehuda and his followers, the Maccabees. Though greater in number and equipment than their adversaries, the Syrians were defeated by the Maccabees. Antiochus sent out another expedition which also was defeated. He realized that only by sending a powerful army could he hope to defeat Judah and his brave fighting men.

An army consisting of more than 40,000 men swept the land under the leadership of two commanders, Nicanor and Gorgiash. When Judah and his brothers heard of that, they exclaimed: “Let us fight unto death in defense of our souls and our Temple!” The people assembled in Mitzpah, where Samuel, the prophet of old, had offered prayers to G-d. After a series of battles the war was won.

The Dedication

Now the Maccabees returned to Jerusalem to liberate it. They entered the Temple and cleared it of the idols placed there by the Syrian vandals. Judah and his followers built a new altar, which he dedicated on the twenty-fifth of the month of Kislev, in the year 3622.

Since the golden Menorah had been stolen by the Syrians, the Maccabees now made one of cheaper metal. When they wanted to light it, they found only a small cruse of pure olive oil bearing the seal of the High Priest Yochanan. It was sufficient to light only for one day. By a miracle of G-d, it continued to burn for eight days, till new oil was made available. That miracle proved that G-d had again taken His people under His protection. In memory of this, our sages appointed these eight days for annual thanksgiving and for lighting candles.

{Notice it was our Sages that appointed these eight days.}

 

After Chanukah

The brightness of the first Chanukah light had dwindled down. But the holy fires on the altar burnt again in the Beit Hamikdash, from morning to morning, as prescribed by the Law. The priests were again busily officiating in the old customary ways, and day in, day out they prepared the offerings. Order and peace seemed established.

The Jewish farmer longed to return to his land after two years of hardship, privation and danger in the victorious Jewish army. It was high time to break the ground and to till the soil, if the barley was to grow and ripen in time for “Omer-offering” on Passover. The Jewish farmers had left their ploughs to rally about the heroic Chashmonaim. The first victories had drawn even the hesitant into the ranks of the enthusiastic Jewish rebels, led by the sons of Mattityahu.

Farmers had forsaken their land, merchants and tradesmen their stores and shops. Even Torah students had emerged from the four walls of the Bet Hamidrash to join the fight against the oppressors.

But the songs of victory, which had filled the reclaimed Holy Temple with praise and gratitude for the merciful G-d, had ceased. The goal of the battle seemed reached, and Torah again was supreme law in Israel.

One man, though, realized that the time for a return to normal living had not yet come. Israel could not yet afford to relax; it would have to stand ready and prepare to carry on the fight against the overwhelming odds of the enemy. This man was Yehuda Maccabi. His name was upon everyone’s lips and in every Jewish heart. He was admired as a hero, as a man with the heart of a lion and the simple piety of a child; as the one whose mighty armies fought and conquered, yet who never failed to pray to G-d, the Master of all battles, before he entered the fray.

It was not the spirited warrior’s joy that made Yehuda Maccabi stay in camp. His heart, too, longed to return to his former peaceful life, to Modin, the quiet town of priests, which held the grave of his adored father. Bloodshed and battle meant a hard and unwanted profession for the men of Judea, who preferred peace to strife. Yet this was no time for relenting. Not only had he to stay, but with all the persuasion of his magnetic personality he had to hold back his comrades-at-arms. His own reasoning and his two wise brothers, Shimon and Yonatan, told him that only the first phase of this war of liberation had passed. Hard and desperate times were yet to come. Clever enemies merely needed an extended lull to prepare new assaults with more troops and better equipment. And there were enemies all about Judea, besides the defeated Syrians. The neighboring countries begrudged the dazzling victories of the small Jewish armies. They would much rather have seen the people of Judea oppressed and humiliated, than armed and spirited, a threat to their own lands. Whence had come the sudden source of strength, courage and fortitude? What was there in this nation that made history in proud seclusion and isolation from other nations? Old hatred was revived. The descendants of Edom, the Idumenas, the Ammonites, the Philistens and Phoenicians, they all revived their ancient jealousies.

Messengers arrived from Gilead. The pagan people joined forces to destroy Judea. From Galilee came the bad news of similar evil intentions and active preparations in Ptolomais, Tyre and Zidon. The messengers found Yehuda Maccabi already at work. Fortifications had to be thrown up around Zion. Towers, walls, battlements and moat had to be constructed opposite the fort stil held by their worst enemies, the Hellenistic Jews, under the leadership of the false priest Menelaos. These hated everything Jewish, and lived in the hope of the return of the Syrian masters. Yehuda Maccabi prepared Jerusalem against them and against imminent assault by the troops of Antiochus. Under his supervision the Jewish people worked feverishly to refill their arsenals and turn the whole country into a stronghold.

Once this most important task was accomplished, Yehuda Maccabi led his freshly trained troops to the aid of the regions and villages harassed by the spiteful neighbors of Judea. He drove the Idumeans from Hebron, which they had annexed, and he punished the people who had acted with hostility towards the Jewish settlers. Then he led his army across the Jordan River against the Ammonites. Their capital fell before the furious onslaught of the Jewish troops, and so did their fortress, Yaeser. Yehuda’s brother Shimon led an army north to aid the plagued Jews of Galilee. He defeated the enemy and cleared the Jewish land. At his urging, a great many of the Jewish settlers who had fled to Jerusalem, returned to rebuild in safety what had been destroyed during the years of weakness. Yehuda Maccabi and Yonatan joined forces and marched agianst Gilead, where they were met with the toughest resistance. By Shavuot, this campaign was successfully concluded.

Judea was again free, and all parts captured by the neighboring nation had been recovered. Celebrations and festivity transformed Jerusalem and the Holy Temple, hardly half a year after the victories over the Syrian armies. The Jewish people expressed their joy and gratitude to G-d in the form of psalms and offerings. For He had restored glory and liberty to the Jewish land.

Having now read the Chanukah story I then went to Wikipedia to find more information. I was looking for this miracle of Chanukah. Where the oil lasted for 8 days, but I can not find it written in the book of Maccabees. Where does this story come from?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah

Hanukkah (Hebrew: חנוכה‎, alt. Chanukah), also known as the Festival of Lights, is an eight-day Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem at the time of the Maccabean Revolt of the 2nd century BCE. Hanukkah is observed for eight nights, starting on the 25th day of Kislev according to the Hebrew calendar, and may occur from late November to late December on the Gregorian calendar.

The festival is observed by the kindling of the lights of a special candelabrum, the Menorah or Hanukiah, one light on each night of the holiday, progressing to eight on the final night. An extra light called a shamash, (Hebrew: “guard” or “servant”) is also lit each night, and is given a distinct location, usually higher or lower than the others. The purpose of the extra light is to adhere to the prohibition, specified in the Talmud (Tracate Shabbat 21b-23a), against using the Hanukkah lights for anything other than publicizing and meditating on the Hanukkah story. (The shamash is used to light the other lights.)

Hanukkah is mentioned in the deuterocanonical or apocrypha books of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. 1 Maccabees states: “For eight days they celebrated the rededication of the altar. Then Judah and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the rededication…should be observed…every year…for eight days. (1 Mac.4:56-59)” According to 2 Maccabees, “the Jews celebrated joyfully for eight days as on the feast of Booths.”

The version of the story in 1 Maccabees, on the other hand, states that an eight day celebration of songs and sacrifices was proclaimed upon rededication of the altar, and makes no mention of the miracle of the oil. A number of historians believe that the reason for the eight day celebration was that the first Hanukkah was in effect a belated celebration of the festivals of Sukkot and Shemini Atzeret. During the war the Jews were not able to celebrate Sukkot/Shemini Atzeret properly; the combined festivals also last eight days, and the Sukkot festivities featured the lighting of lamps in the Temple (Suk.v. 2-4). The historian Josephus ( Jewish Antiquities xii. 7) mentions the eight-day festival and its customs, but does not tell us the origin of the eight day lighting custom. Given that his audience was Hellenized Romans, perhaps his silence on the origin of the eight-day custom is due to its miraculous nature. In any event, he does report that lights were kindled in the household and the popular name of the festival was, therefore the “Festival of Lights” (“And from that time to this we celebrate this festival, and call it Lights”).

This brethren is of great interest. I hope you noted it well. In the book of Maccabees there is no mention of the oil burning for 8 nights. It does say in I Maccabees 4:50 Then they burned incense on the altar and lighted the lamps on the lamp stand, and these illuminated the temple. It was Judah and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel that decreed that the days of the rededication…should be observed…every year…for eight days.

This event was decreed by Judah and his brothers and all of Judah at this time, as Israel had gone into captivity and was long gone way back in 723 BC. The events of this Chanukah are around 160 BC.

Then I noted the source of this information. When we use those books in what is called the Apocrypha we do so with caution. They are not inspired books.

http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/discoverthebook/11595779/

The Apocrypha

There are about 13 recognized books in what is known as the Apocrypha. During the years of growth the Greek culture enjoyed in Palestine, many books were written by the Jews. These books were never considered as Scriptures by Christ or the Apostles. The early church saw lessons that were profitable in some of these books. However, there is such a mixed character about these books, they have always been treated with care by the church. The great Bible teacher Harry Ironside explains the difference. “But all of these were written ere the voice of prophecy was suspended; all the books now in our Bibles, and none other, were in the Bible loved, quoted and honored by the apostles, and endorsed as divinely-given by the Lord Jesus. He expressly refers to “Daniel the prophet,” and “the sign of the prophet Jonah,” in language that admits of no doubt as to the high plane on which He placed their writings. But in the Maccabean age and later there were other books of instructive character, making no claim of inspiration, which the Jews have always valued, and which the early Christians sometimes read in their meetings for the sake of the lessons they contained, though with no thought of putting them on a level with the Hebrew Scriptures or the Greek New Testament.”

13. First Maccabees is the historical annals recounting the wars of the Jews from the death of Alexander the Great to the pontificate of Simon the brother of Judas Maccabeus. Most current knowledge of the Jewish wars of independence traces from this book. The unknown author carries along the story with such drama and action that the whole book is quite moving. Quite evident is the author’s desire to exalt the God who forgives, defends and restores His people as they return to Him in faith. As one who loved Israel’s God , the writer makes no claim to being inspired of God to record this book.

14. Second Maccabees is far less valuable. There is a great deal of legendary material woven into the historical record. The Roman church especially esteems this book for its reference in 12:43-45 of a sin-offering for the dead. If this event happened it is not Scriptural for anyone to follow such an improper act for anothers salvation.

15. 3rd Maccabees is an incomplete book filled with more of the unacceptable legendary matters.

16. 4th Maccabees, doesn’t even make it into the Apocrypha by the Council of Trent. It is basically no more than a lengthy, religious novel.

Then I noted in the following notes that the story of the relighting of the menorah was a story that came from the miracle of the lighting of the Altar in Nehemiah’s day. I am unable to find this in the book of Nehemiah.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah#cite_note-9

In the Septuagint and other sources
The story of Hanukkah is alluded to in the book of 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees of the Septuagint but Hanukkah is not specially mentioned; rather, a story similar in character, and obviously older in date, is the one alluded to in 2 Maccabees 1:18 et seq according to which the relighting of the altar fire by Nehemiah was due to a miracle which occurred on the twenty-fifth of Kislev, and which appears to be given as the reason for the selection of the same date for the rededication of the altar by Judah Maccabeus.

The Books of Maccabees are not part of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), but are part of deuterocanonical historical and religious material preserved in the Septuagint.

One of the other problems I have with Chanukah is the menorah. It is made with eight and or nine lamps or candle holders. But in scriptures we are told in Exodus 25:31 “You shall also make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand shall be of hammered work. Its shaft, its branches, its bowls, its ornamental knobs, and flowers shall be of one piece. 32 And six branches shall come out of its sides: three branches of the lampstand out of one side, and three branches of the lampstand out of the other side. 33 Three bowls shall be made like almond blossoms on one branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower, and three bowls made like almond blossoms on the other branch, with an ornamental knob and a flower–and so for the six branches that come out of the lampstand. 34 On the lampstand itself four bowls shall be made like almond blossoms, each with its ornamental knob and flower. 35 And there shall be a knob under the first two branches of the same, a knob under the second two branches of the same, and a knob under the third two branches of the same, according to the six branches that extend from the lampstand. 36 Their knobs and their branches shall be of one piece; all of it shall be one hammered piece of pure gold. 37 You shall make seven lamps for it, and they shall arrange its lamps so that they give light in front of it. 38 And its wick-trimmers and their trays shall be of pure gold. 39 It shall be made of a talent of pure gold, with all these utensils. 40 And see to it that you make them according to the pattern which was shown you on the mountain.

And we again are told that the lamp was made with seven lamps. Ex 37:23 And he made its seven lamps, its wick-trimmers, and its trays of pure gold.

Nu 8:2 “Speak to Aaron, and say to him, ‘When you arrange the lamps, the seven lamps shall give light in front of the lampstand.’ ”

Zec 4:2 And he said to me, “What do you see?” So I said, “I am looking, and there is a lampstand of solid gold with a bowl on top of it, and on the stand seven lamps with seven pipes to the seven lamps.

Re 4:5 And from the throne proceeded lightnings, thunderings, and voices. Seven lamps of fire were burning before the throne, which are the seven Spirits of God.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hanukkah#cite_note-9

Blessings over the candles

Typically three blessings (Brachot singular Brachah) are recited during this eight-day festival. On the first night of Hanukkah, Jews recite all three blessings, on all subsequent nights, they recite only the first two. The blessings are said before or after the candles are lit depending on tradition. On the first night of Hanukkah one light (candle, lamp, or electric) is lit on the right side of the Menorah, on the following night a second light is placed to the left of the first candle and so on, proceeding from right to left each night.

Hanukkah

Main article: Hanukkah
Two blessings are recited as the Hanukkah candles are lit. On the first night, the shehecheyanu blessing is said as well (see below).

Blessing for lighting the candles

Main article: Menorah (Hanukkah)

Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav vetzivanu l’hadlik ner (shel) hanuka.

Translation: “Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to light the Hanukkah candle[s].”

Where in scriptures does Yahweh tell us to light the Chanukahcandles???

Blessing for the miracles of Hanukkah

Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha olam, she asa nisim la avoteinu ba yamim ha heim ba z’man ha ze.
Translation: “Blessed are you, LORD, our God, King of the universe, who performed miracles for our ancestors in those days at this time.”

Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur (The High Holy Days)
Main articles: Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

Candle lighting

Transliteration: Barukh ata Adonai Eloheinu melekh ha olam, asher kid’shanu b’mitzvotav v’tzivanu l’hadlik ner shel yom tov.

Translation: “Blessed are You, LORD, our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments and commanded us to light the holiday candle[s].”

Again where are we told to light candles for the Holy Days???

The classical rabbis downplayed the military and nationalistic dimensions of Hanukkah, and some even interpreted the emphasis upon the story of the miracle oil as a diversion away from the struggle with empires that had led to the disastrous downfall of Jerusalem to the Romans.

With the advent of Zionism and the state of Israel, these themes were rapidly reconsidered. In modern Israel, Hanukkah was transformed into a celebration of military strength, a kind of antidote to what was perceived as the idea of the powerless Diaspora Jew that the Zionists felt that the Jews in the State of Israel needed to psychologically overcome.

In North America especially, Hanukkah gained increased importance with many Jewish families in the latter half of the twentieth century, including large numbers of secular Jews, who wanted a Jewish alternative to the Christmas celebrations that often overlap with Hanukkah. Though it was traditional to give “gelt” or money coins to children during Hanukkah, in many families this has changed into gifts in order to prevent Jewish children from feeling left out of the Christmas gift giving.

While Hanukkah traditionally speaking is only a minor Jewish holiday, as indicated by the lack of restrictions on work other than a few minutes after lighting the candles, Hanukkah has taken a place equal to Passover as a symbol of Jewish identity. Both the Israeli and North American versions of Hanukkah emphasize resistance, focusing on some combination of national liberation and religious freedom as the defining meaning of the holiday.

December 22, 2008
• December 12, 2009
• December 2, 2010
• December 21, 2011
• December 9, 2012
• November 28, 2013
• December 17, 2014
• December 7, 2015
• December 25, 2016
• December 13, 2017
• December 3, 2018
• December 23, 2019

So, right here we just read from Wikipedia that Chanukah and Christmas were alternates. Large numbers of secular Jews, who wanted a Jewish alternative to the Christmas celebrations that often overlap with Hanukkah.

If we examine the Christmas story it can be found in the Gospels of the bible. We know the Christmas story to be true and yet most of us who know the pagan origins of it abhor the thought of keeping it. We know Yahshua was born in the fall on Sept 11, 3 BC. See the article Conjunction or Sighted Which? at https://sightedmoon.com/sightedmoon_2015/?page_id=22 This was the Feast of Trumpets not Dec 25.

One of the major themes of the both the Chanukah story and Christmas is the one that permeates around the lighting of lamps or lights. Yahshua is the light as we can read in the following verses;

Mt 5:14 You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden.

Lu 16:8 So the master commended the unjust steward because he had dealt shrewdly. For the sons of this world are more shrewd in their generation than the sons of light.

Joh 8:12 Then Jesus spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.”

Joh 9:5 As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

Joh 11:9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

As we look at this brethren, keep in the mind the sacrifice of the Day of Atonement. There were two goats and one was to be the sacrifice and Atonement ties into the Passover Sacrifice. This represented Yahshua. The other was to have all the sins of the world placed upon it and then it was taken away by the strong man into the wilderness. This one represented Satan.

Compare Revelation 20:1-3 to Leviticus 16

Revelation 20:1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, having the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain in his hand. 2 He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years; 3 and he cast him into the bottomless pit, and shut him up, and set a seal on him, so that he should deceive the nations no more till the thousand years were finished. But after these things he must be released for a little while.

Leviticus 16: 1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron, when they offered profane fire before the Lord, and died; 2 and the Lord said to Moses: “Tell Aaron your brother not to come at just any time into the Holy Place inside the veil, before the mercy seat which is on the ark, lest he die; for I will appear in the cloud above the mercy seat. 3 Thus Aaron shall come into the Holy Place: with the blood of a young bull as a sin offering, and of a ram as a burnt offering. 4 He shall put the holy linen tunic and the linen trousers on his body; he shall be girded with a linen sash, and with the linen turban he shall be attired. These are holy garments. Therefore he shall wash his body in water, and put them on.
5 And he shall take from the congregation of the children of Israel two kids of the goats as a sin offering, and one ram as a burnt offering. 6 “Aaron shall offer the bull as a sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house. 7 He shall take the two goats and present them before the Lord at the door of the tabernacle of meeting. 8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat. 9 And Aaron shall bring the goat on which the Lord’s lot fell, and offer it as a sin offering. 10 But the goat on which the lot fell to be the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the Lord, to make atonement upon it, and to let it go as the scapegoat into the wilderness. 11 “And Aaron shall bring the bull of the sin offering, which is for himself, and make atonement for himself and for his house, and shall kill the bull as the sin offering which is for himself. 12 Then he shall take a censer full of burning coals of fire from the altar before the Lord, with his hands full of sweet incense beaten fine, and bring it inside the veil. 13 And he shall put the incense on the fire before the Lord, that the cloud of incense may cover the mercy seat that is on the Testimony, lest he die. 14 He shall take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the mercy seat on the east side; and before the mercy seat he shall sprinkle some of the blood with his finger seven times.
15 “Then he shall kill the goat of the sin offering, which is for the people, bring its blood inside the veil, do with that blood as he did with the blood of the bull, and sprinkle it on the mercy seat and before the mercy seat. 16 So he shall make atonement for the Holy Place, because of the uncleanness of the children of Israel, and because of their transgressions, for all their sins; and so he shall do for the tabernacle of meeting which remains among them in the midst of their uncleanness. 17 There shall be no man in the tabernacle of meeting when he goes in to make atonement in the Holy Place, until he comes out, that he may make atonement for himself, for his household, and for all the assembly of Israel. 18 And he shall go out to the altar that is before the Lord, and make atonement for it, and shall take some of the blood of the bull and some of the blood of the goat, and put it on the horns of the altar all around. 19 Then he shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times, cleanse it, and consecrate it from the uncleanness of the children of Israel.
20 “And when he has made an end of atoning for the Holy Place, the tabernacle of meeting, and the altar, he shall bring the live goat. 21 Aaron shall lay both his hands on the head of the live goat, confess over it all the iniquities of the children of Israel, and all their transgressions, concerning all their sins, putting them on the head of the goat, and shall send it away into the wilderness by the hand of a suitable man. 22 The goat shall bear on itself all their iniquities to an uninhabited land; and he shall release the goat in the wilderness. 23 “Then Aaron shall come into the tabernacle of meeting, shall take off the linen garments which he put on when he went into the Holy Place, and shall leave them there. 24 And he shall wash his body with water in a holy place, put on his garments, come out and offer his burnt offering and the burnt offering of the people, and make atonement for himself and for the people. 25 The fat of the sin offering he shall burn on the altar. 26 And he who released the goat as the scapegoat shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp. 27 The bull for the sin offering and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp. And they shall burn in the fire their skins, their flesh, and their offal. 28 Then he who burns them shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward he may come into the camp.
29 “This shall be a statute forever for you: In the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, you shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, whether a native of your own country or a stranger who dwells among you. 30 For on that day the priest shall make atonement for you, to cleanse you, that you may be clean from all your sins before the Lord. 31 It is a sabbath of solemn rest for you, and you shall afflict your souls. It is a statute forever. 32 And the priest, who is anointed and consecrated to minister as priest in his father’s place, shall make atonement, and put on the linen clothes, the holy garments; 33 then he shall make atonement for the Holy Sanctuary, and he shall make atonement for the tabernacle of meeting and for the altar, and he shall make atonement for the priests and for all the people of the assembly. 34 This shall be an everlasting statute for you, to make atonement for the children of Israel, for all their sins, once a year.” And he did as the Lord commanded Moses.

It says in verse 8 Then Aaron shall cast lots for the two goats: one lot for the Lord and the other lot for the scapegoat.

The reason he had to cast lots was because the two goats looked alike and only Yahweh could decide which one was which.

Similarly Satan is constantly trying to look like Yahshua and to deceive us. Mt 24:24 For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.

Christmas and Chanukah are such deceptions which are masked to look like they are good things to celebrate. Last week we read about how Satan does this. So once again lets review some the important point I showed you last week.

From http://www.biblebelievers.org.au/2bab027.htm
SECTION V.

From Alexander Hislops Two Babylons

LAMPS AND WAX-CANDLES.

Another peculiarity of the Papal worship is the use of lamps and wax-candles. If the Madonna and child are set up in a niche, they must have a lamp to burn before them; if mass is to be celebrated, though in broad daylight, there must be wax-candles lighted on the altar; if a grand procession is to be formed, it cannot be through and complete without lighted tapers to grace the goodly show. The use of these lamps and tapers comes from the same source as all the rest of the Papal superstition. That which caused the “Heart,” when it became an emblem of the incarnate Son, to be represented as a heart on fire, required also that burning lamps and lighted candles should form part of the worship of that Son; for so, according to the established rites of Zoroaster, was the sun-god worshipped. * When every Egyptian on the same night was required to light a lamp before his house in the open air, this was an act of homage to the sun, that had veiled its glory by enshrouding itself in a human form. * When the Yezidis of Koordistan, that this day, once a year celebrate their festival of “burning lamps,” that, too, is to the honour of Sheikh Shems, or the Sun. * Now, what on these high occasions was done on a grand scale was also done on a smaller scale, in the individual acts of worship to their god, by the lighting of lamps and tapers before the favourite divinity.

The lighting of Candles was done once a year on the same night in honour of the sun. The burning of lamps. In Babylon, this practice had been exceedingly prevalent. This was where Judah was taken during their captivity. In Pagan Rome, the same practice was observed. And Rome is where the Catholic Church was and is set up to this day.

The wax-candle was, in fact, a hieroglyphic, like so many other things which we have already seen, and was intended to exhibit the Babylonian god in one of the essential characters of the Great Mediator.

The classic reader may remember that one of the gods of primeval antiquity was called Ouranos, * that is, “The Enlightener.” In this very character was Nimrod worshipped when he was deified. As the Sun-god he was regarded not only as the illuminator of the material world, but as the enlightener of the souls of men, for he was recognised as the revealer of “goodness and truth.”

Traditionally, a yule log was burned in the fireplace on Christmas Eve and during the night as the log’s embers died, there appeared in the room, as if by magic, a Christmas tree surrounded by gifts. The yule log represented the sun-god Nimrod and the Christmas tree represented himself resurrected as his own son Tammuz.”

From http://groups.msn.com/TheGoodWitchesGuidetoPaganismandWicca/yule.msnw

The Winter Solstice marks the beginning of Yule. It occurs when the place you live (northern hemisphere or southern hemisphere) is furthest away from the Sun. It is the shortest day of the year. After this day the hours of daylight start to increase as we start our journey again round the sun. Therefore the Winter Solstice is ‘the birth of the sun’. Christians adopted this festival to suit their own beliefs, the birth of the Son of God. At the Solstice the Goddess gives birth to a son, the God. The Winter Solstice has long been viewed as a time of divine births.

Mithras was said to have been born at this time. The Christians simply adopted it for their use in 273 C.E. (Common Era).

Yule is a time of the greatest darkness and is the shortest day of the year. Earlier peoples noticed such phenomena and supplicated the forces of Nature to lengthen the days and shorten the nights. Wiccans sometimes celebrate Yule just before dawn, then watch the Sun rise as a fitting finale to their efforts. Since the God is also the Sun, this marks the point of the year when the Sun is reborn as well. Thus, the Wicca light fires or candles to welcome the Sun’s returning light. Yule is the remnant of early rituals celebrated to hurry the end of winter and the bounty of spring, when food was once again readily available. To contemporary Wiccans it is a reminder that the ultimate product of death is rebirth, a comforting thought in these days of unrest.

It is from all this information that I conclude that the celebrations around Dec 25th whether called Christmas or the Yule Log or Chanukah or the lighting of candles for a religious ceremony all relate back to the death and rebirth of Nimrod and his Mysterious Babylonian Mystery religion. This is why I avoid them like the plague.

But many will argue John 10:22 Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter. 23 And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon’s porch.

Let me rephrase this statement and you can put your name into it.

Now it was Christmas time in Jerusalem and it was the winter solstice. And You walked through the mall on your way to your synagogue. Does this statement mean that you kept Christmas because you were at the mall at the same time as this event took place? If not then why do you suppose that Yahshua kept the Feast of Dedication. It merely marks the time Yahshua was at the temple. Not that He kept it or approved of it.

Again Brethren, if you can find it written in Lev 23 , then I will keep it with my whole heart. But you can not find it written there. It is written in an apocryphal book and we are told to keep it by men. Not one place has Yahweh told us to keep this as a holiday. He does tell us not to worship Him as the heathen did to their gods, by the burning of a Yule log to bring on the sun and enlighten the world, which is another symbol of the candle lighting ceremony used at this time of year.

So if Yahweh has never commanded it even though the Rabbis would have you believe He did, then why do you do it? Is it written in Lev 23, if not then why are you doing it?

May Yahweh’s truth shine down on you and you see the false doctrines you have been led to follow.

Shalom
Joseph F Dumond
www.sightedmoon.com
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4 Comments

  1. Jonathan

    ?The author throws out the baby with the bath water. Instead of taking the good from the tradition and leaving the bad, he chunks the whole thing in the garbage. There are several examples of early Israel and the patriarchs having good traditions. Traditions is not inherently negative. So the tradition of Hanukkah can be good or bad. The fundamental meaning of it, “rededication” is of course good.
    Taking it a step further, yes the traditions of Christmas are pagan. But not all. Is the tradition of honoring the birth of God’s son good or bad? So the? fundamental meaning of the tradition is good. All other things associated with it aren’t.
    You don’t hear many people – if anyone – from the Messianic or Torah-circles calling Hanukkah a holy day as if it was one of the Sabbaths. As long as we acknowledge it as a good tradition, that’s what’s important.

    Reply
  2. Mike

    Shalom brother, yes the Messianic movement has baggage, we need to be set free, good study, will check more of your site, Mike

    Reply
  3. Ingrid Bryant

    Great Study. Thank you for the Clarity.

    Reply
  4. Cindy

    You lost all credibility when you used Wikipedia as your source.

    Reply

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