Christians and Jews believe in ONE God, the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob (Israel). Just like Paul said in 1 Cor. 8:6, Eph. 4:6, and 1 Tim 2:5. And as we learn about the revolt of the Maccabees we see what God did for His chosen ones, Israel. One old Levite priest and his five sons, Judas, Simon, John, Eleazer, and Jonathan and a bunch of Jews from the village of Modi'in (pronounced Moe Deen) flee to the hills and begin a revolution against the powerful Greek Seleucid kingdom of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. It is as if Puerto Rico invaded the USA landing their forces at Miami Beach and conquering us in four years. Impossible. But, God has already told us time and time again,
"Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?" (Jer 32:27)
Lord said to Sarah in Abraham's tent, "Is anything too difficult for the LORD? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah will have a son." (Gen 18:14)
The Egyptians had enslaved all the Hebrews and were murdering the baby boys of the Hebrews; God delivered these powerless slaves from the most powerful nation on earth at the time. And God does it again in the time of the Maccabees.
We as Christians should not be surprised. Chanukah is not about a rabbinic story of some so called miracle of the oil jar. No way! It is a celebration of God, the only God, who is the all powerful one and is King of kings and God of gods and the Lord of lords.
But now. This awesome celebration remembering what God did for Israel, is used by God Himself to teach His disciples 2000 years ago of His return. Once again we will see another connection Jesus makes between the events of the Maccabean revolt, the remembrance of Chanukah, and His return.
Here's a link that reviews the revolt of the Maccabees and the 1st celebration of the feast of Dedication or Chanukah חֲנֻכָּה - click here for a great synopsis of the revolt and the first Chanukah
Rev. Ferret - who is this guy? What's his background? Why should I listen to him? Check his background at this link -click here for the teacher's background
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