Do not take on the culture and celebration of Hanukkah until you have read and understand the books of the Maccabees.

I want you all to know I learned all of what is in the following list without ever lighting a candle or spinning a dreidel or eating gelt or latkes or fried foods, without singing songs or having parties. I learned it without a synagogue or congregation. I probably did indulge in a jelly donut along the way.

ALL of these traditions were added hundreds of years after the events of Maccabees. None of these traditions change or enhance the historical event or its significance. No one in either the days of the Maccabees or in several decades following those events indulged in any of these traditions. They simply recounted the events and their significance.

They remembered the sin that brought this judgment to them, the judgment of losing independence and of losing the central gathering point, the uniting site of the covenant peoples, the dwelling place of their covenant Beloved. They remembered that they lost their covenant privileges and rights because they refused to do their covenant responsibilities, number one being to not be affiliated with idolatry in any way. They had ceased to be a people holy to YHVH and had become profaned.

So He profaned the “house” built for His adoration, the gathering place of the people for His glory. He caused it to become desolate, abandoned….by HIM. It became uninhabitable…for Him…and for them…because they did not keep the mountain of His abode holy. This is an incredibly important point to learn!! YHVH’s judgements are just. What you sow you shall reap. Israel had abandoned Him, so He abandoned them. All except the remnant, a remnant YHVH Himself promised would always be preserved.

The Maccabees are that faithful remnant who fought for His honor, His covenant love. Their battle begins in their own community, as YHVH has proclaimed that judgment begins in His house, Israel. The Maccabees, like the Levites in the days of the wilderness, slaughtered the idolators and the unfaithful among Israel. THEN the battle turned to the pagan nations. During Hanukkah, Messianic hope has always run high in this commemoration, hoping for the day of the great deliverance promised by the prophets. The great irony of John 10 is that Israel gathered to commemorate thier hope for Messiah, and He was there! And the leadership of the people missed Him completely because they were hoping for political and revolutionary deliverance from Rome. And therein is so much more to ponder. And THIS IS THE REASON we know Messiah was there in commemoration of the great deliverance of one aided by YHVH to restore what was critical to Israel.

He came as the Messiah they desired, but they were not ready to receive Him. As in the days of the Maccabees, only a remnant recognized what was happening spiritually.

What I learned from the Maccabees.
I learned the gospel and how the covenant-faithful of Israel understood it.
I learned what faith is and what it is not.
I learned what faith in YHVH and His covenant demands of His covenanted people, unto death.
I learned courage for truth.
I learned about separating the holy and the profane. We do not mix the holy and profane.
I learned about the human capacity for depravity, without conscience.
I learned about the persecution of the righteous people.
I learned the profound danger of assimilation, that assimilation brings wrath and condemnation and devastating loss.
I learned about Hellenism and how it still influences and plagues us today.
I learned the difference in the mindsets of Hebrew thinking and Greek thinking, and how Greek thinking is antichrist.
I learned historical context for Scripture and in Yeshua’s teachings.
I learned understanding of Biblical prophecy, in particular the prophecies of Daniel and in the prophecies of Messiah in the gospels.
I learned what the abomination of desolation is.
I learned what the abomination is.
I learned what the desolation was.
I learned that Messiah prophesies the return of these events, and that the prophecies are multi-layered.
I learned for the first time what apostasy truly is. It is not what I had been taught.
I learned to critically and clearly identify the anti-Messiah. This was astounding to me.
I learned that my greatest spiritual enemy is not outside of me, but rather in how and in what I think and believe to be true.
I learned the subtle strategies of enemies.
I learned how humanity will always covet godhood as long as we have this flesh.
I learned to fight for truth and the holy covenant of grace.
I learned about cleansing and rededication.
I learned that Israel is the central focus of the gospel.
I learned many will criticize and blaspheme, slander and malign, even murder what they do not understand, to their own harm.
I learned that many are called but few are chosen, and only a remnant of those chosen are faithful to persevere unto the end.
I learned that even a great spiritual victory can be lost within a generation.
I learned the long-suffering of YHVH, the mercy of YHVH, the righteous judgment of YHVH.
I learned that the front line of our spiritual battle might not be against the “Greeks”, but against those in our own household.
I learned that from a few good men YHVH can raise up an unstoppable army against overwhelming odds of survival.

Learning about the feast of Dedication, in winter, changed my life. Let this sink in…the rededication of all things to YHVH…in winter. Winter is significant. It is a dangerous season for the holy people. Do not take on the culture and celebration of Hanukkah until you have read and understand the books of the Maccabees. It is fundamentally not about dreidles, gelt, a legend of oil and menorrahs, or eating fried foods. It is not about the survival of a race or nationality. It is not about human heroism. It is about truth, not tradition. It is about counting the cost of the privilege of the covenant. It is about being a people holy to YHVH, a people for His glory, a covenant that is the gospel and a priceless gift, a faith that survives to the end. It is about the separation of the holy and the profane, separation of sheep and goats. And yes, it is about being a light to the world in a dark and cold season. It is graphic and hard to read, and it will make you cry, and hopefully it will draw you to repent of loving comfort and peace (when there is no peace) and the indulgence of your flesh, to repent of holding on to ignorance, complacency, indifference and sin in the hope you might survive the coming abomination of desolation. No matter how many may have tried to pollute this commemoration, the events themselves stand as testimony of YHVH’s covenant with His faithful remnant. He honored those who honored Him.

By Wendy Lopez