"Hanukkah - Part 1"

by James Jacob Prasch

How does the celebration of Hanukkah, a festival NOT found in the Old Testament, provide greater insight into biblical themes such as the Messiah? How is Hanukkah handled in the New Testament?

1. Introduction
2. The Traditional Aspect
3. The Historical Aspect
4. Similarities to Today
5. The Use of Culture and Religion
6. The End Result of Compromise
7. The Maccabees
8. The Defiling of the Temple
9. Keeping the World Out of the Gospel
10. Small Groups

Go to "Hanukkah - Part 2".

This sermon was transcribed from a recording and edited as appropriate for presentation in a published text format more suitable for reading. Purchase the audio version of Hanukkah - Part 1 or Hanukkah - Part 2 from the Moriel online store.

The Maccabees

The apocryphal books of 1 and 2 Maccabees are not included in the biblical Canon. However, they are reliable history books, even if they fall short in the area of divine inspiration. They accurately tell the story of the Jewish people in the Intertestamental period between the Old and the New Testaments. (I recommend you read 1 & 2 Maccabees for a better understanding of my comments.)

The Maccabees were a priestly family that lived in a village called “Modein” outside of Jerusalem. One of them was named Menelaus, a Hebrew who collaborated with the enemy. The Maccabees assassinated Menelaus and one of Antiochus’ officers. They took off to the hills of Judah, an area near Jerusalem known as the Shillah, between Jerusalem and modern Tel Aviv, or between the Sea and Jerusalem. It is interesting that the Antichrist is prophesied to pitch his tents there in the same area, the Shillah.  Another parallel is that both the Antichrist and the Maccabees begin with a small group and get more powerful.

Take note that you had a father and he had five sons. You have Eleazar, Jonathan, Jehuda the Maccabee, and Mathias and two of the five sons were betrayed from within. Again, the Last Days are the same thing – brother will turn against brother, many will fall away and betray each other. (Mk. 13:12)

The first person they killed was not a Seleucid, it was a Jewish collaborator. People in small bands began joining them in a partisan action – guerrilla warfare. And they waged war using guerrilla tactics from the mountains. They would come down, attack the Seleucids, go back, and it would drag on and on. There was much treachery and intrigue. But eventually they wore them out and the Seleucids were defeated.

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Scripture taken from the New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation.

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