-Please Read this FIRST- On this site we prefer to use the actual Name of
our loving Heavenly Father as it was written in the Word, and thus you will note that we will use the Four Letter “Memorial Name” of 
- YHVH, which is pronounced as YaHVaH or YaHWaH. In addition we will also use our Heavenly Father’s
attribute/title, which is Elohim
rather than “God,” which sadly is the
name of a pagan god. In addition we also love to use the actual and real Name of our beloved Messiah
which is 
- Yahushua or Yahshua in short, for this is
our Saviours original Hebrew Name as given to Him at birth in Lukas - Luke 1:31.
This was the only Name ever used when He was on the earth by His family,
disciples and His followers OVER THE centuries, even until today! However, it
was changed to a foreign name by the founder of the new “pagan church of Rome.”
Occasionally, we may also use other Hebrew or Greek names as well as different
words in our studies for certain common words used are from pagan backgrounds
and thus are not suitable. All names will be translated when they are FIRST
used in a study or at various times as needed for clarity. There is a full
explanation of YHVH’s blessed “Memorial Name” as well as the wonderful
blessed Name of our Messiah and Saviour, thus please read … “The Memorial Name.”
The Prophetic Feasts of YHVH
With
the Ministries Elder & Teacher
Chanukah
We have come to know this feast as … “The Eighth Feast” …
The Number of … Salvation
& Life!
Also
known in the Brit Chadashah (New Testament) as …
“The Feast of Dedication”
or “The Feast of Lights”
See Yochanan - John 10:22
“Then came the Feast of Dedication (Chunukah
- Lights) at Jerusalem.
It was winter and Yahushua was in the temple walking in Solomon's Colonnade.” Yochanan
- John
10:22-23.
As you have seen
two lamp stands in the image above, let me commence with the Chanukah Menorah
– Candelabra … we might well ask “How many branches does
it have?” If we look at the one seen that is alight the answer would
be, Eight - or is it Nine?
We all know that
the actual Menorah that stood in the Temple,
as the one that can be seen on the small ceramic plate on the left in the image
had seven branches, and the reason for this difference beloved you will
discover later in this study, is for a very special reason. The Chanukah
Menorah is symbolic of a very special feast and it has a great significance!
He
who is the true “Shamash” said
“I
AM the LIGHT of the World”
In this
study we will look Yahushua who is in the HEART of the
“Feast of Chanukah”
But for now let us
look at all Nine Branches of the Chanukah Menorah and I commence with the first
light
Interesting significance of the eight lights:
The First Light = Pure Light
Bereshis - Genesis 1:3-4 describes the
creation of the first light:
“Elohim
said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light. And Elohim saw
that the light was good; and Elohim separated the light from the darkness.”
The Second Light = YHVH Elohim, the Source
of all Light
Shemos - Exodus
13:21-22 reveals that Elohim is the source of Israel's
light:
“And YHVH
was going before them in a pillar of cloud by day to lead them on the way, and
in a pillar of fire by night to give them light, that they might travel by day
and by night. He did not take away the pillar of cloud by day, nor the pillar of fire by night, from before the people.”
The Third Light =
YHVH is our Light
King Dovid reminds us in Tehillim - Psalm 27:1 and
Tehillim - Psalm 18:28 that Elohim Himself is the source of our own individual
light:
“YHVH is my
light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? YHVH is the defence of my life; whom
shall I dread? For You light my lamp, YHVH my Elohim
illumines my darkness.”
The Fourth Light =
the Light from the Word of Elohim
Tehillim - Psalm
119:105 and 119:130 describe the light that comes from Elohim’s Word:
“Your word
is a lamp to my feet, and a light to my path. The unfolding of Your Word gives
light; it gives understanding to the simple.”
The
Fifth Light = Yahushua is the Light of the World
Messiah Yahushua
is the shining light of the world:
“In Him was
life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness,
and the darkness did not comprehend it.” Yochannan
- John
1:4-5.
As
Messiah Yahushua was in the Temple in Jerusalem
watching the Chanukah lights, He declared:
“I am the
light of the world; he who follows Me shall not walk
in the darkness, but shall have the light of life.” Yochannan
- John
8:12.
YHVH promised
that Simeon,
a righteous old man, that he would not die until he would see the Messiah.
When Yahushua was yet an infant, and taken to the Temple, Simeon knew that this babe would become,
He who would be called “the light” of Israel,
and the Nations, and declared:
“My eyes
have seen Your (YHVH’s) salvation, which You
(YHVH) have prepared in the presence of all peoples, a
light of revelation to the Gentiles, and the glory of your people Israel.”
Lukas
- Luke
2:30-32.
The
Word also declares.
“Light shall
shine out of darkness,” is the one who has shone in our hearts to give
the light of the knowledge of the glory of Elohim in the face of
Messiah.” 2 Corinthians 4:6.
The Sixth Light =
the believers in Messiah are a source of Light to the World
After we come to
know Messiah, we are called to be a source of light for the world, King Messiah
tells us in Mattityahu - Matthew 5:14-16:
“You are the
light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a
lamp, and put it under a bowl, but on the lamp stand; and it gives light to all
who are in the house. Let your light shine before men in such a way that they
may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven.”
The Seventh Light =
Restored Israel to be a Light
The prophet Isaiah
spoke of the future glory of a restored Israel:
“Arise,
shine; for your light has come, and the glory of YHVH has risen upon you
… And nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of
your rising.” Yeshayahu - Isaiah 60:1-3.
The Eighth Light = The Light of the New Jerusalem
Revelation
21:22-27 gives us a description of our glorious eternal dwelling place in the
New Jerusalem:
“And I saw
no temple in it, for YHVH Elohim, the Almighty, and the Lamb, are its temple.
And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon to shine upon it, for the
glory of Elohim has illumined it, and its lamp is the Lamb. And the nations
shall walk by its light, and the kings of the earth shall bring their glory
into it. And in the daytime (for there shall be no night there) its gates shall
never be closed; and they shall bring the glory and the honour of the nations
into it; and nothing unclean and no one who practices abomination and lying,
shall ever come into it, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb's
book of life.”
How
to Light the Chanukah Lights:
The Idea is that
on every day you add an extra candle to the lampstand,
starting from the right. Thus on day one you will have the Shamash in the middle, or wherever your lampstand has it, and then a candle on the far right. The
next day you will have two candles on the far right, and this continues until
on the eighth night you will have eight new candles, and the Shamash all alight. On every night the
candles must burn out completely and not be saved and reused for the next day!
Thus, first light
the Shamash,
then take it from its seat and light the candle on the far right first and
continue to the left if there are more candles, then return the Shamash to its place and say a suitable
blessing. Suitable Messianic blessings are available from us.
Beloved, Chanukah,
the “Feast of Dedication” is indeed a Scriptural feast and it has
so much to offer the faithful in Messiah. We know from the Word that our Lord
Yahushua Himself acknowledged and celebrated it as did His disciples and His
followers for three hundred or so years until the time of Constantine who commenced
to wipe out the Messianic communities with new laws and worse still, death!
For those who have
read the Passover study, you will know what eight means scripturally a
“New Beginning” – “LIFE” for “Yahushua is
the Door, the Way, the Truth and the Life!”
The Ninth Light = The Shamash – the only movable light
We have finally
come to the one that is called the “Shamash” although it is in fact
the most important of all the lights, and in a way it should have been
mentioned at the very beginning. But I decided to leave it towards the end, for
every great story should always have a great finaly,
just as the faithful will finally end up in the eternal Kingdom
of Elohim!
Beloved,
each year at this very special feast of Chanukah and on each of the eight
nights, the Children of Israel and the faithful in Yahushua always first light
the “Shamash”
before any other light. For it will be the Shamash
that will be used to light all the other lights for the main lights must not be
lit by the hand of man. We may ask ourselves why? Friends, there is a very
special reason for this and I believe that within this act alone there lies a
great revelation!
Israel fully understands that all men, all mankind have sinned and
therefore we are not fit to approach the most Holy place, which the Menorah
lights represent. WE have learned from the Feast of weeks and the two loaves of
bread that had to contain leaven, representing sin, that even those who are
saved, still have some sin in them, and will always have some, until that day when
“we are changed in a twinkling of an eye.” Therefore there is a
need of a “Shamash,”
or a worthy pure “Servant” who
takes the sin of man upon Himself to purify it with fire and then present it
before YaHVaH Elohim,
blessed be His Sanctified Name.
This is why there
are eight lights on the Chanukah Menorah (being the number of life and new
beginning, see my Passover study online), and then add the “Shamash”
(meaning servant) makes it nine in total, the Shamash is usually located in
the middle and is traditionally set a little higher, as can be seen in the
picture above, in addition it has to be mobile so it can be taken by whoever is
given the honour of lighting the Chanukah Menorah.
The next question you may ask is this …
“OK, we now know about the Shamash,
but why are there eight lights in this Menorah?”
Of course there is
a very special reason for this as this feast is related to a time after the Temple and Jerusalem had been captured and the Temple
had been badly defiled. Then there was a huge fight by the Hebrews and the city
and temple was retaken under the brave leadership of Judas Maccabee.
Finding that the Temple
had been severely defiled with pigs having been offered to the gods as well as
other vile and hideous things that had occurred there, the temple had to be
completely cleansed and purified from all the filth that had been done by those
pagan evil doers over the years. However, as was told, the priests wanted to
light the temple Menorah as
soon as possible after the cleansing, but they were only able to find one
single jar of pure and undefiled olive oil.
We need to
understand that one jar would be sufficient for the Menorah to remain alight
for just one single day, that is 24 hours. However, it
took the runners eight long days before they could return with fresh supplies
of pure first crush olive oil that was fit for temple use and miraculously
the temple Menorah
burnt for the entire eight days, therefore there are eight lamps on the
Chanukah Menorah, and the “Shamash
– The Servant” was added!
We all know
from the Word that our beloved Saviour fully recognised and observed this feast
and went to the Temple on Chanukah, or the “Feast of Dedication” as it
is also known in Yochanan - John 10:22.
Messiah Yahushua
stated in Mark 10:44-45:
“Whoever wishes to be first among you
shall be the servant of all. For even the Son of Man did not come to be served,
but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.”
However, my
favourite Light is of course the “Shamash.”
This light is the perfect picture of Him who is the “suffering
servant” and of course that is our beloved Saviour Yahushua the
Messiah, who, If we believe, and have repented of our sin and hold fast to His
Word, has cleansed us from our sins for He has presented us before the very
Throne of YaHVaH Elohim and we have been made as white as snow!
Chanukah let’s us know and
understand that YaHVaH Elohim has a
plan in His Word, a plan that leads to the fulfilment of His Word. We need to
understand His plan and become stronger than we have ever been. Our heavenly Father Elohim
needs strong and obedient men and women. And I mean the faithful in Him, those
who reject the pagan ways and who will only use YaHVaH’s and
Yahushua’s actual Names as according to His Word, and not the pagan
substitutions introduced by the pagan church of Rome and her harlot daughters!
Beloved we should understand the
following Scripture, fully knowing all that it entails – read it very carefully! …
“Do not
be yoked together with unbelievers. For what partnership has Messiah
with Belial, or what
has a believer in common with an unbeliever? Or what agreement has the temple
of Elohim
with idols? For we are the temple of Elohim ..." 2 Corinthians
6:14-16a.
As
I said earlier, on the Feast of Chanukah, let us rededicate our temples, our
bodies, which are the temples of the “Ruach (Spirit of) Elohim”
and be strong as faithful followers of Messiah Yahushua, filled with the Ruach HaKodesh, the
Holy Spirit!
This brings us to
the conclusion to the Feasts series and I pray that you will have been blessed
by its content!
Return to The
Feasts INDEX
“Teach
me Your way, O YHVH. I will walk in Your
truth.
UNITE MY HEART TO FEAR YOUR NAME!”
Tehillim
– Psalms 86:11
May YHVH Elohim bless and keep you in
the palm of His hand, in Messiah Yahushua’s loving Name!
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Yahushua said; “No one can come to Me
unless the Father who sent Me draws him, and I will raise him up at the last
day. It is written in the Prophets: They will all be taught by Elohim. Everyone
who listens to the Father and learns from Him comes to Me.
No one has seen the Father except the One who is from Elohim; only He has seen
the Father. I tell you the truth he who believes has everlasting life.” Yochanan (John) 6:43-48.
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