The Power of Light

When our souls are kindled by the light of the Messiah, our light grows and shines before men as the Master said it should.

2 Maccabees 10:6-8 "And they kept the eight days with gladness, as in the feast of the tabernacles, remembering that not long before they had held the feast of the tabernacles, when as they wandered in the mountains and dens like beasts.Therefore they bare branches, and fair boughs, and palms also, and sang psalms unto Him that had given them good success in cleansing His place."

The word Hanukkah, or Chanukah, literally means "dedication." It celebrates the Jewish victory over the Greeks. The Greeks had taken over Jerusalem, and had enforced brutal and bloody consequences to those who chose to remain obedient to God and His commands. Under the rule of the wicked king Antiochus, the Greeks sought to uproot the Torah way of life--forbidding Sabbath observance, circumcision, dietary rules, or reading of the Scriptures--and even went so far as to have the Temple defiled by having idols erected on the holy site. A priest named Mattityahu, outraged by what was happening, gathered his sons together to have them fight the Greeks and to reclaim the Holy Temple. No matter how many troops Antiochus sent (at one point it was up to 40,000), he could not overpower the Maccabees. The Maccabees went to Jerusalem to reclaim the holy site and built a new altar. Upon lighting a newly built menorah (the original was stolen by the Syrians), the Maccabees discovered that the oil supply was defiled. They managed to find one vessel that was not defiled bearing the seal of the High Priest Yochanan. However, it would only be enough oil to light the menorah for one day and it would be eight days before a new batch could be made. Legend states that God allowed the oil to burn for eight days and eight nights. We memorialize this event by lighting the Chanukah menorah for eight days--but the heart of the celebration is the miraculous victory that a small band of God's people had over the vast armies of Antiochus IV. Antiochus, by the way, was spoken of in the book of Daniel as placing 'the Abomination of Desolation' in the Temple....so the horrific and then miraculous events of Chanukah are spoken of in our Bibles, in both the Old Testament and the Apostolic writings.

Chanukah symbolizes the power of light and its ability to dispel darkness from the world. As a new flame is kindled each night, the light grows stronger representing our spreading of light to others in the world around us which in turn causes a brighter light to shine. The basic idea is dispelling darkness with the power of light.
A similar theme is found in the Gospel of John when he says, "In him was life, and the life was the light of the sons of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:4-5, my translation). John goes on to say that "the true light which gives light to all mankind was coming to the world" (John 1:9). A rabbinic writer commenting on Genesis chapter 1, has said the following: Rabbi Abba said, 'And light dwells with him' (Daniel 2:22)--this is King Messiah, as it says: 'Rise, shine, for your light has come' (Isaiah 60:1). Just as the Chanukah menorah has a servant candle that in turn lights the individual candles, so too, Messiah is the servant spoken of in Isaiah 53 (this interpretation is seen in the rabbinic writings) who brings the light of God into the world just as John said that this life was the light of the sons of men.

There are so many powerful teachings and themes in this celebration--the power of God to bring victory over insurmountable odds, the fight against compromise, the cleansing and rededicating of our hearts for God--we can't help but pause this time of year to light the candles and remember the Light of the World whose Light now shines in our hearts.

(portions taken from ffoz.org's "Themes of Chanukah")