MACABEES

A small band of guerilla fighters supernaturally defeat the King of Syria and all his resources

MESSIAH

Baby Y'shua (Jesus) supernaturally survives despite Herod's death warrant on all boys his age: "Now when they had departed, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying, 'Arise, take the young Child and His mother, flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word; for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him'" (Matthew 2:13).

EPIPHANES

Antiochus falsely claimed to be Epiphanes, God incarnate

IMMANUEL

Y'shua truly is God incarnate: "Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign: Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a Son, and shall call His name Immanuel" (Isaiah 7:14).

TEMPLE CLEANSED

• The Temple had to be cleansed before it could be used for worship
• The Temple had been defiled by an unholy sacrifice
• Even after the cleansing of the Temple, the Hanukkah story tells us we did not have enough oil to properly dedicate God's house; He had to provide it supernaturally
• The desire to worship God became the basis for this joyous holiday

TEMPLE COMPLETED

• Jesus came into the world so that we could be cleansed and each become a Temple wherein God is worshiped: "…For you are the temple of the living God. As God has said: 'I will dwell in them and walk among them. I will be their God, and they shall be My people'" (2 Corinthians 6:16).
• Jesus came in order to cleanse what was defiled through His holy sacrifice: "how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God?" (Hebrews 9:14)
• Even when we are cleansed by Jesus' sacrifice, we do not have enough spiritual power to live a life dedicated to God; He provides it supernaturally through His Spirit: "Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?" (1 Corinthians 3:16)
• The desire to worship God is the basis for this joyous holiday

LIGHT OF MENORAH

The shamash or servant candle brings light to the rest of the candles on the Hanukkiah

LIGHT OF MESSIAH

Jesus, the Light of the World, gives His light to all who will receive it: "…I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life" (John 8:12).

FRIED FOOD

In Israel it is traditional to eat special donuts because fried foods remind us of the oil needed to dedicate the Temple.

In the United States, many of us grew up with latkes (fried potato pancakes). We know one person whose wife prefers not to deal with the lingering fragrance of the fried onions, oil, etc. so they order green onion pancakes from the local Chinese eatery.

FILL IN THE BLANK

You guys can probably answer this one better than we can. If you have some really interesting sounding traditional foods drop us a line and maybe we'll mention them in next December's newsletter!