Hanukkah, a Festival of Light and Dedication

by Joseph Gray, Canadian Director

Here is an interesting Bible trivia question: Where in the canonical books of the Bible (Protestant and Jewish canon) do we find reference to the Feast of Hanukkah?
Many people will quickly jump to the Hebrew Bible assuming that they will find the reference to Hanukkah there. Although the full account of the story of Hanukkah may be found in the Apocryphal Books of Maccabees (accepted in the Catholic canon of the Bible), there is no reference to the Feast of Hanukkah in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament). The reason for this is that the events of Hanukkah take place at a relatively later date, during the inter-testamental period; the Maccabean revolt and the events celebrated at Hanukkah took place about 166 BCE.

So, apart from the Books of Maccabees in the Apocrypha, is there a reference to Hanukkah in the Protestant or Jewish Canon? The answer is yes. Surprisingly, this reference may be found in the B’rit Hadashah (New Testament). In John 10: 22-23a we read, “At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the temple.” Hanukkah in Hebrew means dedication. By the time of Yeshua (Jesus) Jewish people celebrated this joyous winter festival of dedication and light.

It is certainly appropriate that Yeshua, a fully observant Jew, would be in Jerusalem to celebrate the Festival of Hanukkah. Many of the miraculous events Hanukkah commemorates took place in the city of Jerusalem a mere 130 years before His time on earth.

Hanukkah celebrates the victory of the Maccabees and their small band of Jewish freedom fighters over the Syrian Greek army and the tyrannical king, Antiochus IV. Antiochus had desecrated the holy Temple in Jerusalem by offering pagan sacrifices there. He also outlawed the practices of Judaism and the study of Torah (the Law). Jews who violated his harsh edicts were cruelly tortured and murdered.

After defeating the powerful armies of King Antiochus, the Maccabees and their followers set about cleaning up and rededicating the temple in Jerusalem, preparing it for renewed worship. Unfortunately they found only a small supply of sacred olive oil. This amount of holy oil would be enough to light the menorah (lamp stand) in the Temple for only one day. It would take eight more days to prepare new oil for the Temple menorahs. The great miracle of Hanukkah is that the tiny measure of oil burned for those eight days until the new supply of oil could be prepared.


According to one ancient rabbinical account, when the Temple was rededicated at the time of the Maccabees, a new altar was built. The desecrated stones from the former altar were set aside; they were unfit for sacred sacrifice. However, because they had been intended and used for sacred purpose, they could not simply be discarded. The leaders were unsure what to do with these stones, so they were set aside in the hope that, when the Messiah came, He would tell them what to do with them.

How appropriate it is that John tells us it was the Feast of Dedication (Hanukkah) and Yeshua was in the temple. Yeshua, the long awaited Messiah of Israel and the True Light of the world appears in Jerusalem, in the temple, during this festival that celebrates the miracle of light! Truly, He came to cleanse our earthly temples and to fill them with the glory of God.


Yeshua said, “I am the Light of the world; whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life” (John 8:12).

At this joyous season of light, may you know the light of the Messiah Jesus and the joy of walking in Him.

Purim and Yom Kippur?

by Joseph Gray, Canadian Director

Purim has always been one of my favourite Jewish holidays. The story of Purim centres on a young Jewish girl, Esther. God raised her up though a series of dramatic twists and turns to become Queen of Persia and then used her to help save the Jewish people from almost certain destruction at the hand of the wicked Persian Prime Minister, Haman. The powerful drama of the story of Esther captures the imagination each time it is told.


At Purim, we gather to read the Book of Esther and celebrate with seasonal treats. For example, Hamantaschen is a sweet pastry baked especially at Purim that is meant to look like a three-cornered hat (Haman’s hat). Purim is a time of joyous masquerade and fun. Children are encouraged to raucously join in the fun by grinding their groggers (toy noise-makers) to drown out the name of wicked Haman.

For all this fun and festivity, is there a more serious meaning to the feast of Purim?

Rabbi Joseph Karo, a medieval Jewish scholar and mystic, once wrote a treatise noting a parallel between Purim and Yom Kippur. This seems incredibly strange considering that Yom Kippur (the Day of Atonement) and Purim are so completely different in their mood and tone. Yom Kippur is probably the most sombre and serious of all the Jewish festivals, a day of fasting and repentance. Purim, on the other hand, is a day of joyous celebration. As we remember how God used Esther to save Israel from destruction, our celebrations take on a near comical tone. What could these two festivals possibly have in common?

Rabbi Karo noticed the similarities in the Hebrew names of these two holidays. “Yom ha Kippurim” (the Day of Atonement), he wrote, sounds interestingly like the Lord was saying that the Day of Atonement was “a day like Purim.” Although on the surface we know that the name Purim comes from the Persian word for “lots” (lots were drawn by Haman to determine his planned date for the destruction of the Jewish people), is Rabbi Karo’s theory too farfetched?

Let me suggest an interesting connection. We read in the Torah that on Yom Kippur the High Priest would enter into the Temple and then the Holy of Holies to make sacrifice and intercession for his own sins and for the sins of the people of Israel. It was as if God in His gracious mercy provided this vehicle, this action if you will, to expiate Israel’s sins. Purim, on the other hand, shows the gracious redeeming and saving action of our God on Israel’s behalf with little or no participation on the part of His people (no priests, no temple). In the story of Purim, God used a powerless Jewish girl (Esther), her praying uncle (Mordecai) and a Gentile King (Achashverosh), to save His people Israel from destruction. He saved both the righteous and the unrighteous among Israel. God saved Israel simply because He is the faithful, merciful God of the covenant.

In the Brit Hadashah (The Renewed Covenant), Rabbi Sha’ul writes, “He [God] made Him Who had no sin [Yeshua], to be sin for us so that in Him we might become the righteous of God.” Rabbi Sha’ul was drawing directly from the promises he had studied in the Prophet Isaiah: “He was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment which brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed” (Isaiah 53:5).

As we celebrate with joy at Purim, we again recognize God’s amazing love. The Jewish people did nothing to merit or earn God’s miraculous rescue at Purim. God saved us because He loves Israel and is faithful to His covenantal promises (even when we are faithless). Even greater is the miracle of Israel’s future total national redemption to which Purim points. As Rabbi Sha’ul once wrote, “In this way all Israel will be saved” (Romans 11:26). May that day of Messiah’s coming return be soon.

Have a wonderful Purim!