Hanukkah

I have the privilege of  facilitating a Tuesday morning and a Thursday evening ladies Bible study group with the name of WOW. I have learned so much from these  "Women Of Worth". Their dedication to and the love of studying the scriptures is very inspiring and makes me have to stay on my toes and learn more and more to keep up with these warriors of the Word of God.

Tonight we finished up our latest study. It was on the Feasts of the Bible. I have to say that this has been one of my favorite studies. I loved the history behind all of the feasts. I loved being reminded of how God brought His people out of captivity and kept them safe through the many dangers in the desert. I loved being reminded that even if we stray from the path God has set before us He can and will bring us back with love, traditions, and even the calendar.

The last feast we discussed tonight was the "Feast of Dedication" which is more commonly known as Hanukkah. Now this feast was not one that was set with the other feasts in the laws that were handed down. This feast came about as the temple needed to be purified after the Maccabees defeated  Antiochus IV and took it back. It was in about 165 BC. Pigs had been sacrificed on the alter and a statue 
of Zeus had been placed in the Holy of Holy's. Jewish worship could not begin again in the temple until cleansing took place.

The Maccabees discovered that almost all of the ritual olive oil had been profaned. They found only a single container that was still sealed by the High Priest, with enough oil to keep the menorah in the Temple lit for a single day. They were so anxious to begin worship again that they did not want to wait until they could make more consecrated olive oil. This process took eight days, so they used the one day's worth of oil having faith that God would keep the flames going until the purified oil could be finished. He did just that and the Feast of Hanukkah was born.

We can find this feast mentioned in the new Testament in John......

John 10:22

The Message (MSG)

22-24 They were celebrating Hanukkah just then in Jerusalem. It was winter. Jesus was strolling in the Temple across Solomon’s Porch. The Jews, circling him, said, “How long are you going to keep us guessing? If you’re the Messiah, tell us straight out.”

John 10:22

King James Version (KJV)

22 And it was at Jerusalem the feast of the dedication, and it was winter.

Since this feast was in the winter it is celebrated close to Christmas. As we were discussing the closeness of these two traditions a questions was given tonight. What if the Jews had not defeated the Greeks? What if the Jews had eventually been assimilated into the Greek lifestyle? Would Jesus still have come from this nation? Would we even have Christmas? Something to think about.

But the wonderful thing is we do have Christmas.  The Jews do have Hanukkah. We all have a God that is so dedicated to His people that He would give up living in Holiness, for a time, and let Himself be given for us, so that we can have the chance to be purified ourselves.

So the next time you see a Menorah, even as a Christian, maybe you should say a little prayer, thanking God for His never ending love, dedication and especially Jesus!!!!

Blessings!

Divine Appointment

Isn't it amazing how God works to put you in the right place at the right time?

That is what happened to Rodney and Riley and me. We are here in Michigan with all of Rodney's immediate family on a little reunion. It is great having us all be here together as that hasn't happened in a while. But yesterday, Rodney and I decided, would be a good day to set off on our own, to do a little sight seeing and shopping.

It was a beautiful day! We had a wonderful time being together. Riley made out like a bandit because we found an amazing music store. You can imagine how his face lit up when we first walked in. We thought that this had to be the highlight of the day but we changed our mind a little later.

There is a huge Christmas store in the area that we thought we might go to to get a head start on holiday shopping. We accidentally drove passed the East entrance so we headed to the West one. As we were walking in, a receptionist handed us a map to the store. (The building is quite large). As we took it you could see her eyes light up as she looked at Riley. She could hardly hold herself back as she started talking to him.

Now anybody that knows Riley knows that he just doesn't talk to strangers, and he held true to form this time. She didn't seem to mind. You could tell that she just wanted to hug him. He smiled at her and then he and Daddy walked on into the store.  She put her hand on my arm and said she'd like to tell me a story.

Here is what she told me.......

"I had a younger brother with Down syndrome. He was the light of my mother's life". I believe she called him Ollie. "We lost him to pneumonia a while back. While he was in the ICU my mother, sister and I were standing around his bed watching his monitor. As the rhythm became slower and slower a beautiful woman, that almost glowed, came into the room. She headed straight to his bed and put her hands on his feet. As she stood there she said, "You are going to be OK now, Ollie"! As she spoke Ollie took his last breath and she disappeared". As this woman was telling me this story she was smiling so big. She continued. "God gave us a gift that night. The gift of realizing that Ollie was happy and healthy now and that he was with our Lord. We knew that we had nothing to fear for him, anymore"

As I stood there crying like a baby she gave me a hug and said. " I lost my mother shortly after that but you know, I have peace about that too. I think God knew that she felt she needed to be there to take care of Ollie". She then said, "I hope you understand the peace and hope that God can give you too"! 

As she said that this verse came to mind.....

Romans 15:13

English Standard Version (ESV)

13 May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope

I assured her that I totally did understand that peace. I couldn't thank her enough for the gift of her story.  The story that gave assurance of an eternal life that is filled with peace and hope for all. 

God is so good at putting everyone where they need to be, all the time. He knew that this woman needed to see our son and tell her sweet, sweet story. He also knew how much hearing it would mean to me, and then, Rodney as I repeated it!!

I hope you find a gentle hope with this wonderful story too!!!!!

Blessings!!