Holiness & Hanukkah

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Ryan White

If you would like to view my Bio information, please CLICK HERE. If you would like to contact me, please email me at RootedinTorah@gmail.com. Also, if you are interested in me speaking at your local congregation, please contact me via the same email address.

5 thoughts on “Holiness & Hanukkah”

  1. Thank you Ryan!

    It has been a real blessing to study this topic along with you. What a bounty!!!

    Also, wanted to mention you might want to rectify page 37 of the slide presentation, it reads 2 Maccabbes 2:18 and the verse you are referring to is found in 2 Maccabbes ONE:18.

    Thank you again for such a wonderful tour of the Word and history…so timely!

    Shalom!!!

  2. Hi Ryan,

    The post over at 119 is over 32 pages long. Here is some of the information regarding their thoughts on Hanukkah:

    “Kislev 24 is mentioned FOUR times in the second chapters, verses 10, 15, 18 and 20. Twice it is emphasized that “from THIS DAY FORWARD I will bless you,” and twice Haggai gets a special Word from Yehovah, on this very day. You have to read the whole chapter to get the context, but the message is basically that Yehovah will “SHAKE the heavens and the earth and ALL NATIONS,” overthrowing their power, anoint the chosen one (symbolized in that day by Zerubbabel), and essentially make Jerusalem the new world capital. For the DETAILS you need to go back, of course, to Isaiah, Jeremiah, and Micah in particular, as they set forth the entire agenda to which Haggai only briefly alludes.

    This message is addressed to the two “messiahs,” the Priest and the “King” or Governor, Joshua and Zerubbabel, respectively (2:4-5). They become “signifiers” of things to come. They are not the final anointed ones, and Zechariah picks this up in his visions, especially chapters 4 and 6. These symbolic figures, as well as the promised presence of the Holy Spirit (see 2:5 and Zech 4:6!), are the guarantee that Yehovah will bring about these promises.

    Notice, Zechariah begins getting his visions and messages in the 8th month of that same year (Zech 1:1), or mid-November. He has EIGHT night visions, they are all quite difficult to follow, but prophetically important in forecasting the redemptive future. There is much more detail in Zechariah, but the two, Haggai and Zechariah, should be read in tandem, as one explains the other. Now, note carefully, Kislev 24 is not specifically mentioned in Zechariah, but it is alluded to in chapter 4:8-10. It is the famous “day of small things,” that one might be led to “despise,” because after all, this tiny little remnant of Judah, beginning to lay the foundation of a nondescript temple, under the mighty thumb of the Persian empire, was hardly even worthy of the name of a city-state, much less a world kingdom, and yet had HOPES and DREAMS and promises of world dominion!

    So, what about Kislev 24? It seems to have a three-fold meaning. First, in the time of Haggai and Zechariah, it was the day MARKED for the promise that the redemption would ultimately come about, not by power, nor by might, but by the Spirit of Yehovah–but “in its time.” Second, subsequently though history, this day seems to be one upon which key events take place, perhaps only a few of which have been recognized down through history. And finally, it might well turn out that on some Kislev 24 in the future, that date will serve as a “countdown marker” for the unfolding of the mysterious 1260/1290/1335/2300 days of Daniel’s visions, which interested Sir Isaac Newton so much.

    During the period of the Maccabees, when Syrian ruler Antiochus IV unleashed his great persecution against the Jews of Judea/Palestine, it was on Kislev 24 that the enemy was defeated and the Temple freed from its desecration. That is why the festival of Chanukah is celebrated beginning at sundown, at the end of Kislev 24. In other words, it is NOT so much Chanukah that is important, as its marker date: Kislev 24. It seems to become a kind of banner date in history that marks any kind of “signal” of future redemption.

    Fast forward to December 9, 1917. General Allenby, leading the British forces (remember Lawrence of Arabia), liberates Jerusalem for the first time in centuries from Turkish/Muslim rule. The date on the Jewish calendar–you guessed it: Kislev 24! That evening the Jewish soldiers in the British army celebrated Chanukah and went to the Wall in openness and freedom. The Torah reading that week was Mikketz (Gen 41), where JOSEPH is raised to power and saves Judah. And the Haphtorah reading, for the special Sabbath of Chanukah, as it is today, is the fascinating Zechariah 2:14-4:7! Note how it begins: “I have returned to Zion,” which seems to be the essential meaning of THIS DAY.

    It is doubtful that Allenby was aware, during the heat of the battle, of even Chanukah, but certainly he knew nothing of Kislev 24.

    One might conclude then, from these indications, that on some Kislev 24, at some year “on our days and in our time” (whether past or future), people will come to recognize that Haggai’s “shaking” did indeed begin. It does not seem likely that time has quite yet come, but every year at this time one’s thoughts go to this date, given such an important designation by Haggai and Zechariah.

  3. Hi Ryan,

    Thanks for posting!

    I liked the part where you mentioned that it takes 8 days for the altar to be initiated, a baby boy is ‘initiated’ on the 8th day, and mankind will be initiated for 8 (1,000 year) days.

    And your remarks regarding salvation/holiness and having Yah’s Spirit / being undefiled provoked further researched. It’s very interesting to go to Leviticus 17-end and look at what YHVH calls Himself in each section, regarding being holy or set-apart and what He commands in regard to how He introduces Himself. After going through those verses, it made me wonder about the 10 virgins, which our group discussed yesterday.

    We were trying to re-look at the parable in a Hebraic context. (Not sure if we did a good job or not.) All the virgins had oil when the announcement was made (the tribulation starting), but some soon ran out because they didn’t have enough. If the torah is the light and the oil is the Holy Spirit, then they ran out of the Holy Spirit?? Hmmmm, but if it’s the Spirit who writes torah on our hearts, and if we are to be more holy then we need to do what He considers Holy……….the things He says in Leviticus……..specifically in the sections that He says make us Holy (Sabbath, eating clean, etc.)

    IFFFFF this is the case, then is it that some virgins are more ‘sanctified’ (holy) than the others?

    (On a side question, where is the bride in this parable?)

    See, you never know what kind of discussions your teaching might piggy-back, no, dove-tail (LOL) onto.

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