Hanukkah: Light in the Midst of Darkness

 Jonathan Bronn | 1 December 2021 

The Hebrew Bible gives endless examples of God speaking to His people. Both the prophets and priests that God raised up and established ensured that the nation of Israel always knew God’s will.  

No matter how sinful or idolatrous the nation became, God always spoke to his people as they needed it. He instructed, corrected, disciplined, guided and comforted them. And he always provided a means of communication with them. 

That was true until the death of the prophet Malachi in approximately 420 BCE. This triggered the closing of the canon of the Hebrew Scriptures and led the way for what we call the ‘Intertestamental Period,’ or what is more commonly known as, the ‘Silent Years.’ This was the period of four hundred years until the advent of the common era. God did not give any new divine revelation to His people within this period. And he did not raise up any new prophets to lead the people in the ways of God, or to reveal God’s sovereign and holy will. It was a time of silence. It was also a time of oppression. During their exile in Babylon, God revealed through His prophet Daniel that Israel would no longer be an independent, self-determining nation. Instead, they would be ruled over by four successive pagan empires, Babylon, Persia, Greece and Rome.   

The story of the feast of Hanukkah takes place halfway through this period of silence, in the time of the great, Greek empire. From 333-331 BCE Alexander the Great, the Greek military ruler took possession of the land of Israel, defeating the Persian rule of that time. The vision Alexander had for his vast empire, stretching from Europe to modern-day India, was the imposing of Greek culture, customs and thought on any conquered people. And by doing so, he sought to unite all humanity under the Greek way of life. 

Long after the death of Alexander the Great in 323 BCE, the different sectors of the Greek empire continued holding the vision of one-nation (Hellenization) in common.  

However, it was under the rule of Antiochus (IV) who labelled himself “Epiphanes,” one hundred and fifty years later, that this vision of Hellenization reached its radical climax for Jewish people, especially in the land of Israel. In the year 167 BCE Antiochus Epiphanes began his reign of terror against the Jewish people.  

First, Antiochus ruthlessly slaughtered ten thousand Jews for no other reason than sheer spite and hate. He then instituted edicts in which he banned any study or reading of Torah, the celebration of the Jewish holidays, the keeping of Kosher laws and the circumcision of one’s child, on the pain of death. Pig meat was force fed to Jews and woman who dared to keep God’s law and circumcise their sons, were thrown off cliffs, with their sons tied to them. 

However, the climax to these atrocities was Antiochus Epiphanes erecting a statue to the Greek god Zeus in the holy temple of the Jewish people in Jerusalem. And he instituted sacrifices to this statue. By doing so, Antiochus utterly desecrated the holy Temple. He made it impossible for the Temple to be a place where the true and holy worship of God could take place.   

This was one of the darkest periods in Jewish history. God had not spoken to His people for over two hundred years. And for those who had remained faithful to God, everything was being destroyed before their eyes.

When we think of the feast of Hanukkah, though, what comes to mind for us in our days? Would we ponder this great darkness? Or do we instead consider the warm lights of the Hanukkiah, the candles we light each of the eight days we celebrate the feast?

For the story of Hanukkah in its ultimate form, is not a story of darkness and defeat. It is, instead, a story of God’s great faithfulness to His people amidst the greatest trials and hardships they faced. For the remainder of the story of Hanukkah is a documentation of the miraculous up-rising of a small number of un-trained Jews, who defeated the highly skilled and trained Greek military. Against all odds God’s people overcame the darkness and evil they faced. 

Jewish tradition tells of a miracle which acts as a symbol of this miracle of the defeat of the Greeks at that time. After the faithful Jews recaptured Jerusalem the first thing, they chose to do was to dedicate the Temple to God again.  After the Temple was cleansed of the pig’s blood and other despicable misuses of the holy site, the priests had to relight the sacred menorah (Lamp stand). In the Torah God had commanded that the lights of the menorah never go out. It was the priest’s holy duty to trim the wicks so that the lights were forever burning. For the light was a symbol of God’s presence in the Temple, his presence amongst his people. No man can see God and live, but the lights of the menorah provided a visible symbol of the truth that could otherwise not be seen. --- that God dwelt in the midst of His people; He was the light that guided them. 

The priests found sacred and dedicated oil that would have been enough to burn for only one day. But this small vial of oil lasted a total of eight days, allowing enough time for enough oil to be made that could ensure the lights never go out. The light, symbolising God’s presence amongst His people, did not go out. 

Even in the times of greatest darkness imaginable, when it seems evil is triumphing over all that is good, we remember that after the Temple was rededicated to the Lord, that the lights of the Temple Menorah did not go out. God was always with those who were faithful to Him and who feared His name. Even in the middle of this great ‘period of silence’ the story of Hanukkah gives us a picture of God’s presence and faithfulness and grace to His people, even then.  

How much more should those of us who now know Yeshua as our Messiah hope in the great faithfulness of God. For even when it appears the darkness is overcoming the light and God is silent amidst it all, we are able to look to the cross. It is here we can forever see and be assured of God’s infinite love and grace and faithfulness toward us. And no matter what we go through we can cling to Him based on this truth. 

So, we celebrate Hanukkah as a deeply significant feast in our calendars. I personally think it is my favourite of all the Jewish feasts. Being brought up in a Messianic Jewish home, I grew up celebrating Hanukkah with my family every year. I loved the food we would make, the latkes and doughnuts. I loved how we would illustrate the story in the unique way we would re-tell it each year. And I loved the time spent with family and friends. But the more I have learnt about this feast, and the more I have studied its history, the more I have come to appreciate and value the deep spiritual significance it contains. And how much it points to the love and grace and faithfulness of God to His people.