Does “Happy Hanukkah” mean “Merry Christmas”?
Hanukkah – feast of dedication or feast of lights – the feast of renewing
The background of Hanukkah
The temple and city of Jerusalem were taken by Antiochus Epiphanes in the year 167 B.C.
He slew forty thousand Jewish inhabitants
He sold forty thousand more Jews as slaves
He sacrificed a sow on the altar of burnt-offerings, and a broth being made of this, he sprinkled it all over the temple.
He also forced the Jews across the country to sacrifice swine or die
Mattathias and then one of his five sons, Judas Maccabees, led a guerilla warfare to retake Jerusalem and the temple and cleanse it
This is the world into which Christ came
The two miracles of Hanukkah
1. The Maccabees guerillas defeated the Syrians in just three yrs
A small band of warriors vs an army
2. The oil lasted eight days Once they recapture and cleanse the temple they looked for fresh oil to light the lamp, but only found enough for one day – it lasted 8 days
