Dedicate yourself!

Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it. Proverbs 22:6

This is a study on Chanukkah. Or Hanukkah (the English spelling of Hebrew words is nothing to stress over, apparently). It's that time of year when Christians (and pagans) celebrate Christmas and Jews celebrate Hanukkah. Back when I was ignorant I used to think that Hanukkah was just something the Jews cooked up to match Christmas so they wouldn't feel left out of the end of year festive feeling. But I digress. You're probably wondering what that verse from Proverbs has to do with Chanukkah. Hanukkah. Whatever.

I'll get to that.

Hanukkah is also known as the "Festival of Lights", or the "Feast of the re-dedication of the Temple". It's not a Biblical feast or high holiday as per Leviticus, in other words it wasn't a feast ordained by YHWH to Moses. However, it is mentioned in the Bible and in fact Yeshua attended the feast, mentioned in John 10 v22. It is Biblically verified. In fact, a study of Hanukkah is a journey of Biblical cross-referencing taking you from the early Kings to Daniel to Ezra and Nehemiah. It's a real trip, and I will try to skim over some of it here.


It centers around the Jewish temple. The first one was built by Solomon, evidence of which is constantly being dug up around the Temple Mount in Israel today. We find this in 1 Kings 6 through to 8, where Solomon dedicates the Temple. This Temple was destroyed by the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar in around 590 BC, these events being outlined in 2 Kings 25. The same events are mentioned elsewhere, with extra details added, in 2 Chronicles 36, and Jeremiah 52. Basically, Jeremiah tried to warn the kings of Israel at the time not to rebel against the Babylonian king. They ignored him, and got hammered. They kept doing this until Nezzer got so jacked off with it all he decimated Jerusalem and the Temple.

Then we find the man of whom no evil is spoken, and one of the most amazing careers in the Bible besides Joseph; the prophet Daniel. Daniel oversaw a few regime changes in Babylon, one of the final ones being the famous King Cyrus. In an incredible series of events, Cyrus was supernaturally lead to not only allow the captive Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, he sponsored them to do so. The Jewish historian Josephus tells us that an elderly Daniel greeted Babylon's new king Cyrus by handing him a scroll from Isaiah, written over a century earlier, which mentioned him by name, namely Isaiah 44:27-28, and 45:7.

Who says to the deep, 'Be dry! And I will dry up your rivers';
Who says of Cyrus, '[He is] My shepherd, And he shall perform all My pleasure, Saying to Jerusalem, "You shall be built," And to the temple, "Your foundation shall be laid."

And Isaiah 45:1
Thus saith the LORD to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have holden, to subdue nations before him; and I will loose the loins of kings, to open before him the two leaved gates; and the gates shall not be shut;

You see, Cyrus dammed the river Euphrates to lower the water levels to get under Babylon's rather impressive defenses. Then he just strolled in through the main gates without a fight. This old prophecy clearly got his attention, as it would. It called him by name.

The famous Cylinder of Cyrus (British Museum), containing references to him allowing conquered tribes to return to their homelands and preserve their cultures

So the Jews returned and rebuilt their Temple, although not without incident, but that's another story. They even took back the spoils which Nebuchadnezzer had ransacked. This is all outlined in the book of Ezra. In Daniel 9, a tour de force of Messianic prophecy, Daniel is informed by the Angel Gabriel that Jerusalem and it's walls would also be rebuilt. These events came to pass, described in the book of Nehemiah.

Jump forward to around 168 BC under the Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes IV. This nasty piece of work almost succeeded in destroying Judaism, but YHWH wouldn't have it. Besides burning copies of the Torah, making public Torah reading punishable by death, and so on, he drew the final straw by sacrficing a sow in the holy Temple, and erecting a statue of Zeus there.

The son of a Jewish priest by the name of Judah Maccabee ("the Hammer") inspired a national revolt, and they overthrew the Syrian despot and his empire. They were then able to re-dedicate the Temple, destroying all the defiled articles and replacing them. This was done on the 25th Kislev, 164 BC. This is the celebration of Chanukkah.

Hanukkah in Melbourne

Note, the Jewish communities do not celebrate their military victories. They are celebrating the regaining of the holy Temple.

Here's another digression in this tangled spaghetti of inter-related Bible cross references, and one which should be very important to us: Yeshua has a private little discussion with some disciples who were curious about how to identify the "end times" in Matthew 24. In verse 15-16 He says:

"Therefore when you see the 'abomination of desolation', spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place" (whoever reads, let him understand), "then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains...

In other words, that's when things will start to get ugly, at the occurrence of this "event" spoken of by the prophet Daniel. It was yet future. Yet the only thing regarded as truly abominable by Jews, the desecration of the holy place, had happened in 168 BC. This was a "dress rehearsal", so they could be absolutely sure about what YHWH was telling them.

Some will argue that the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD qualifies as most of the "end times" events Yeshua discussed in Matthew 24 and the book of Revelation. These arguments obviously have merit but we cannot escape the fact that in 70 AD Titus Vespasian simply destroyed the Temple. He didn't have time to go offending his victims by desecrating their most holy place with an abomination as spoken of by the prophet Daniel. This may sound like a triviality but I happen to think Yeshua did not speak trivialities. The Roman Legions burned the Temple to the ground, dismantled every stone and made off with the golden ornaments. No room for pagan niceties.

The Arch of Titus in Rome depicts the sacking of Jerusalem in 70AD, here showing the soldiers carrying off the Menorah

The point is, there are several connections we need to make to this festival which, although not ordained by YHWH amongst the Levitical feasts, is clearly intended as a pointer to some vital issues for us as Christians.

So what has the Proverbs verse at the head of this post got to do with Chanukkah?

For "train up" the Hebrew word is "chanak", upon which "Chanukkah" is built. It doesn't only mean teach. It means "to dedicate, inaugurate". Think about the purpose of Chanukh- to clean out the defilement, rid of all abominations, refurbish with new furniture, then celebrate the newness!

Yep, Chanukkah has a lot to do with us Gentiles. Merry Christmas!


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TORAH: Abolished, replaced or fulfilled?

As most of you homies know, this is my bent: Grace and Law. Without trying to sound too wordy I happen to believe we Christians have them in nervous tension when we should be recognising the harmony.

For those who don't know, Torah is the first five books of the "OT" and means "law, direction, instruction". You may now go and sit in the corner.

Here's a creative little anecdote which asks of us a question which, at some point in our faith walk, needs answering. I give a very big hat-tip to Judah Himango for his work on this, I happen to think it's brilliant. I've added my own spin in parts.

Imagine you are unfortunate enough to land yourself in front of a religious court, say, approximately similar to the one Yeshua stood in front of. They are accusing you of publically speaking against the Torah and consider this to be a crime warranting a serious punishment.

Firstly, is the accusation true? If so, does it matter? Judah takes it up:

... you think back to all those times you chided your Jewish friends, “God doesn’t care whether we keep that old ugly Law anymore, so don’t worry, share this Easter ham dinner with me.”

You remember the times you told people how Jesus is all about grace, and not at all about law or those people who try to be saved by works. “Nobody can follow the law perfectly, so I’m not even gonna try!” was your old mantra.

Quietly in your mind you concede that, yes, I have spoken against the Torah, but it’s because Jesus abolished it. Paul said so.

You flip over to Acts 6 and 7, remembering the story of Stephen, a man in the same predicament as yourself. You begin to read aloud the 2 millennia-old charges against Stephen...

One foolish Jew from the council responds, “What was Stephen’s defense? How did he justify his speaking against Torah?”

You read on to discover Stephen didn’t actually speak against Torah. To your surprise, Stephen recites the Torah to his accusers, upholding it as righteous, and even chides his accusers for not keeping the Torah.

Whoops.

Regaining your composure, you sheepishly respond, “Stephen’s defense was reciting the Torah and upholding it. He ended his defense by chiding his accusers for disobeying the Torah.

But you see, foolish Jews, I am not like Stephen.”

Embarrassed by your self-prosecution, you search your thoughts and remember the same thing was spoken against Paul. Ah, yes! Paul! A Christian theologian’s favorite apostle! We can show how Paul put the Torah down low and and still defended himself!

You flip over a few pages to show that this same accusation was made against Paul. You read (it) aloud to the court,

A teacher of the Law responds, “What was Paul’s defense? How did he justify his speaking against the Torah?"

You read on to discover Paul didn’t actually speak against the Torah, and to prove it, even took a Nazirite vow in Jerusalem according to the commandment! Shoot, strike two!

You humbly reply, “Paul’s defense was upholding and practicing the Torah in the sight of the whole community.

But you see, teachers of the Law, I am not like Paul.”

Things are looking down for you, but not to worry, you have an ace up your sleeve. “My dear friends, don’t you know your ancestors accused the Christ of the very thing you accuse me? You put me on trail and repeat history. Yet the Christ is the source of all righteousness!”

One of the dear friends responds, “What was Messiah’s defense? How did he justify speaking against the Torah?”

You read on to discover Messiah didn’t actually speak against the Torah. Instead, he rebuked his accusers for missing the important matters of the Torah!

You respond to the court and concede it: “Messiah upheld the Torah and chided the Pharisees for not keeping the important matters of the Torah.

But you see, dear friends, I am not like Messiah.”

I wish I could leave it there to let the effect of that sink in. (Meaningful pause). But obviously there is a little perspective required here. In Matthew 5:18-48 Yeshua gives a detailed, yet seemingly conflicting analysis of our required attitude to the law, commencing with Whoever therefore breaks one of the least of these commandments, and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven (Matt 5:18).

Yet in Acts 21:25, following Paul's vow, it says As for the Gentile believers, we have written to them our decision that they should abstain from food sacrificed to idols, from blood, from the meat of strangled animals and from sexual immorality.

There's a whole study in that one verse, where the "requirements" for Gentile obedience were made distinct from the Jewish ones. We'll do that at a later time if you're all really good. But the point here is that a choice was available to everyone, Jews and Gentiles. It's just that Jews, whether believers in Yeshua or not, simply cannot consider turning their backs on YHWH's law because they are so incredibly attuned to it. They even find delight in it . Read Psalm 119 and pick up the theme. Here's some cherry pickings:

How happy are those...who live by the Torah of Adonai! (v1)
I rejoice in the way of your instruction (v14)
I find delight in your regulations (v16)
...your instructions are my delight (v24)
For I take pleasure in it (v35)
For Your Torah is my delight (v77)

You get the idea. Either the Psalmist was on some suspicious mushrooms or he really got the idea of Torah.

only someone who takes delight in Torah would build a Sukkah in a boat!

I've digressed slightly but I really wanted to demonstrate the reality that YHWH's law is meant for our good, and nothing else. But here's the thing; we are not "under the law" inasmuch as we are not under the judgements and punishments of the law. We are not subject to these. That's what Yeshua dealt with on the cross.

Check out Leviticus 20. I won't dissect it here but it's all about what makes a person "cut off from their people", i.e. YHWH's people. That includes us now. It deals with the worst of idolatry (Lev 20:1-8) important relationships (v9) sexual immorality (v10-21), and those things which make us unclean (v25-26). The punishments are listed. We read them now with the knowledge that we are spared. But we read the admonitions with the knowledge that they are there to set us apart, sanctified and holy (v 26).

This might sound like a cheap analogy, but the calling is not to simply walk around with a WWJD T-shirt on. It's to ask yourself; "what does my life say about the God who I profess?". That's Torah. Yep, there is a lifetime on the study of this issue. So I will be writing more on this, you betcha.


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THE BIG INTERSECTION

What with all the politics flying around recently the inevitable question of how Christians should vote always comes up. The debate will usually end up over whose preferred nominee is more Christian.

Firstly, try not to care too much. Do we really want to see a Christian in charge, or Christ in charge? Certainly we are without excuse when it comes to being informed about politics and who's policies fit our Christian mould. We have the internet, so we can turn off the TV, stop listening to the news, ABC, SBS, MSNBC, David Letterman and Rove live and instead...get properly informed. But even then, Christians can, will, and should disagree at times, or choose to remain blissfully ignorant of the details (I am quite envious of such people!).

However, and this one is non-negotiable, we must pray for whoever is elected and remember that they are not there without the permission of YHWH (although, that isn't to be taken as an endorsement!).

There have been reams of stuff written on the intersection of faith and politics, because the two inevitably collide somewhere. So, is Jesus a democrat or republican? Is he socialist or capitalist? Left or right?

Hopefully neither. Probably the most used quote on this topic is Matt 25:31-46, the famous "sheep and goats" judgement. It can be as difficult to decipher as the equally famous "Olivet discourse" in the previous chapter (so, are you pre-trib, post-trib, pan-trib, a-millenial, pre-millenial, post-millenial with a touch of part-preterism?) Okay, we'll leave that alone for now.

...for I was hungry and you gave Me food; I was thirsty and you gave Me drink; I was a stranger and you took Me in; I [was] naked and you clothed Me; I was sick and you visited Me; I was in prison and you came to Me.' (Matt 25: 35-36)

and

And the King will answer and say to them, 'Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did [it] to one of the least of these My brethren, you did [it] to Me.' (v 40)

and I can't resist this one;

"Then He will also say to those on the left hand, 'Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels: (v41) There you have it. Verse 41 confirms that those on The Left are going to hell. Study over.

Okay, seriously now... these verses seem fairly clear cut. We must care for the poor and overlooked. The Jesus who admonishes us to care for the poor, the downtrodden, and "the least" is certainly popular both within and without the church. The question is, do those who love the social-justice Jesus do so because it's popular, or because it's scriptural? YHWH sees the intent of the heart.

There are other instructions and actions of Yeshua which support this calling to care for the poor. The most noteable is Luke 18:18-22, where He says to the ruler So when Jesus heard these things, He said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell all that you have and distribute to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me."(v22)

and

And when Jesus saw that he became very sorrowful, He said, "How hard it is for those who have riches to enter the kingdom of God! (v24).

Again, it looks quite simple. If you've got money and don't give it to the poor, you won't be saved.

Well, not quite. Yeshua first challenged him to answer to some commandments, namely: Do not commit adultery, Do not kill, Do not steal, Do not bear false witness, Honour thy father and thy mother. He seemed to pass those ones, but Yeshua knew exactly what the young guy's problem was; he was addicted to wealth. So He saved "Love the Lord thy God" and re-worded it by calling on him to love God more than wealth. Not all of us have that problem. Most, but not all.

But even more challenging that that, is this, the very same Yeshua, in Luke 7:38, Matt 26:7, Mark 14:7 and John 12:3-8- I use John 's account as it's the most telling;

Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's [son], who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?" This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.

But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial. For the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

Apparently 300 denarii was around 1 years' salary to the lower classes. Would you buy Yeshua our Messiah a gift worth over $50,000? Okay, don't answer that. But this does strike a contrast to the "purely social-justice gospel". In the same way, Yeshua's "Blessed are the peacemakers" (Matt 5:9) seems to stand well apart from "Do not think I have come to bring peace, I did not come to bring peace but a sword" (Matt 10:34)



All of these statements must be viewed as part of a whole. I like to call it a "hierarchy of order", although I'm sure there is already a seminary-based term for it (probably ending in the suffix "ology"). It's almost as if YHWH is telling us "This is important, but so is this. They may sound contradictory but between you and Me we will work out how to balance them in your life".

If we didn't view it that way, then we have no choice but to give up to the professional atheist elitists like Richard Dawkins, Christopher Hitchens and other quasi-intellectuals who assure us that YHWH's word is full of contradictions. No. There are no contradictions. There are no abrogations (as with Islam). There is a hierarchy. There is Law, and there is a heart of The Law.

There are those who cite the 6th commandment Thou shalt not kill to oppose military service for Christians. But the wording is Thou shalt not murder (Ex 20:13). This is the same God who endorsed capital punishment and the extermination of many pagan tribes of Canaa, yet who despises the shedding of innocent blood (Deu 19:9-13, Jer 22:3 et al). We'd be fodder for the atheist industry unless we understand the whole picture. It just takes a bit of study and a lot of prayer.

Let's go back to John 12:3-8. The poor you will always have with you. This was not giving us permission to keep poor people poor. Much like "I have come not to bring peace but a sword" was not a licence to go out and kill people who don't accept Jesus. It was a statement of fact and prophetic reality, seen by the all-seeing creator of time and space, who knows the end from the beginning (Isa 46:10). Mark's gospel elaborates on Yeshua's words:

For you have the poor with you always, and whenever you wish you may do them good; but Me you do not have always. (Mark 14:7) Indeed.

But you have to love John's Gospel. He wrote long after the fact, after having time to reflect on his memories. From the opening line of his gospel you can see he was a mystic, finding Messiah in every aspect of YHWH's first testament and finding meaning in so many seemingly trivial aspects of the Saviour's life, seeing connections between every detail. That's why I like to do the same.

So, note that in John's account, unlike the other gospel writers, he tells us who complained about the extravagance of the woman anointing Yeshua's feet: Judas.

Judas was the Zealot. He was a Judean, who considered himself more sophisticated than those Galilean hillbillies. He was one of many who looked to Messiah to overthrow the Roman occupation after turning everyone back to YHWH through signs and wonders. Foremost in his mind was the reality of the injustice of their Roman rulers over his kinsfolk. You might say he was heavily into social justice.

And Yochanan (John) was considerate enough to tell us that This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; See the problem here? It looks like Judas was complaining about the very area in which he had weakness.

You see, if it was up to us, we'd pick whatever "social cause" fits our pre-existent prejudices and hide behind Jesus to justify it. That's why He gave us Torah. Not so that we can get on a power trip and stone the first person we know has commited adultery, but to learn YHWH's heart for a situation and understand how it directs us to conduct our lives.

Besides, the "social justice Jesus" does not always render a solution for all of life's challenges or callings. If we limit "the least of these" to simply the materially poor, then we limit Yeshua to a saviour who only cares about the materially poor. I don't think Yeshua was in the least bit interested in material wealth. The only kind of poverty He was concerned with was spiritual poverty. The only kind of oppression He cared about was those oppressed by sin. Which is....all of us, regardless of class or circumstance.



I can't resist quoting the "What would Jesus Do?" cult here. Not many people actually know the answer to that question in their respective situations. I don't either, but I can give you a clue: Jesus was a Torah Observant Jew. If you want to know WWJD, start by learning the Torah.




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YESHUA’S BIRTHDAY- When and where? I mean really?

I promise to have something on this blog to offend everybody. Here's something which might be a real challenge. Sure, everybody knows Jesus wasn't born December 25th. But how much are we prepared to acknowledge?

Starting with John the Baptist

It all starts with the official end to the "Old Testament" (I prefer to call it the "first Testament"), Yochanan the Immerser. Luke 1 explains that his Dad Zacheriah’s priesthood was in the “course of Abijah” (Luke 1:5). 1 Chronicles 24:10 explains that the course of Abijah is the eighth week of the Hebrew year. But before we count 8 weeks into the Hebrew year, which puts it around the beginning of the third Hebrew month of Sivan, there’s a couple of curve balls:

Deut 16:16 specifies that all males are to attend the Temple for a week for each of the festivals Pesach, Shavout, and Sukkah. The Rabbis took this to mean that all 24 Levitical Priests from the surrounding districts attended the temple as per Deut 16:16 as well as their normal course of priesthood as per 1 Chronicles 24:10. This would have put Zak’s priestly term into the tenth week of the year (two weeks already added due to Pesach and Shavout). Counted from the first month of the religious year, Nisan (Ex 12:2) this would put Zak’s term at around the 10th of Sivan.

In Luke 1:13 Zak was burning incense and offering prayers for the people (Ps 141:12) when the angel appeared and said “your prayer has been heard”. What prayer? According to Rabbinical tradition, all priests would have prayed that Elijah would come, according to Malachi 4:5. Let’s have a quick look at that:

Elijah came?

There was a belief that Eliyahu (Elijah) would return to herald the coming of Messiah: Malachi 4:5, Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD. Of course, we would recognise this to be prior to the second advent of Messiah. “Great and dreadful day of the LORD (Adonai)” denotes judgement, not the sacrifice and redemption. How do we know this? Well, because of history, but also because Yeshua confirms it:

Remember when Yeshua read from Isaiah 61 in the synagogue (Luke 4:18-19) "The Spirit of the Lord GOD is upon Me, Because the LORD has anointed Me To preach good tidings to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives, And the opening of the prison to [those who are] bound; To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD,” and then BAM! He stopped right there, in the middle of a sentence, saying “Today this Scripture is fulfilled in your hearing." If you go to the verse in Isaiah, you see the rest of the sentence reads: “And the day of vengeance of our God”; Yeshua was implying that only the first part of that sentence was being fulfilled.

Also, in Matthew 17:10-13, the disciples ask “Why do the Torah teachers say Elijah must come first?” and Yeshua confirms that he had, in John the Baptiser. This is important, as it eludes to a strong Rabbinical tradition that Elijah would come at Passover. This tradition is held today, in every Jewish home celebrating the Passover Seder, they leave a chair empty for Elijah, and sometimes the kids are told to run to the door and wait for him.

Well folks, perhaps he did come at Passover!

Back to Zak in the Temple: The angel told him his son would be in the spirit and power of Elijah (Luke 1:17). Since Luke 1:23 & 24 tells us that at the end of his course (Abijah) he went home and presumably, um, re- consummated their marriage this would put the conception of John at the feast of Shavout (Pentecost) which is the second week of Sivan. It was possibly a little later since Levitical Laws regarding women’s purity (Lev 12:2) meant Zak and Liz may have abstained for a week after his Temple service. Adding 9 months to this would put John’s birthday at Passover.

Mary’s Angel

Next up, Miriam (Mary) gets her visitation in the sixth month of Liz’s pregnancy (Luke 1: 26). This would put it around the 25th of Kislev which, interestingly enough, is Chanukah, the feast of the rededication of the Temple which, like Sukkah, is also called The Festival of Lights. The Light of the World was conceived during the festival of lights! If we accept this, then counting 9 months beyond that we arrive at Tishrei 15th, the first day of the Feast of Sukkot. Apparently, according to early Rabbinical tradition, Miriam’s dialogue with Gabriel is part of Sukkot prayers. Further to this, the words "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace on whom His favour rests" also appear in very early Jewish Sukkot prayers, which is what the angels said to the shepherds in Luke 2:14. Oh yes, they also said they were bringing tidings of great joy. One of the names of Sukkot is the "Festival of Great Joy".

It also means that Yeshua was circumcised on the 8th day, as per Lev 12:1-3. The eighth day of Sukkot is called Simchat Torah, or “rejoicing in Torah”. In Luke 2:25, when Yeshua was brought to the Temple for circumcision, both Simeon and Anna rejoiced greatly in what they had seen. Yeshua, after all, is the fulfilment of Torah. (Rom 10:4)

So what is Sukkot?

You shall dwell in booths for 7 days, all who are native Israelites will dwell in booths. That your generations may know that I made the children of Israel to dwell in booths, when I brought them out of the land of Egypt: I am Adonai. (Lev 23:42-43)

“Sukkot” means “booths”, specifically a temporary dwelling. Like all the festivals it has several layers of meaning, historical (Lev 23:43), agricultural (v 39) and spiritual (v 36-38). Historically it is to commemorate their wandering in the wilderness and dwelling in tents, whilst God provided for them. As distinct from Yom Kippur five days earlier, it is a time of great joy and celebration. Today, it’s a great time to be in Israel and many Christians go during Sukkot. Much like secular people decorate for Christmas, secular as well as religious Israelis build booths in their yards, or balconies, rudimentary in nature with nothing but branches and leaves for roofs, so you can see the stars, as per YHWH’s instructions.

The lights and strip heater may be a little too luxurious for the point of it, but who am I to judge..!

Like all the holy feasts it is prophetic on so many levels. And like all holy feasts, traditions or embellishments were added which may not have been specifically ordained, but were faithful to the meaning of the feast and some of which also point towards Yeshua the Messiah. For example, during the (so-called) silent years between the first and second testaments, the Jews developed two elements to Sukkot: The Drawing of Water and The Illumination:

The drawing of water symbolised YHWH’s provision of water in the wilderness. From the second day of Sukkot on each morning, amidst the celebrations, the priests would shout prayers such as "With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation" (Is. 12:3). Remember, the word “salvation” in Hebrew is “Yeshua”. When our saviour said this: "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Whoever believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him" (John 7:37-38), He said it on the last day of Sukkot.

The Illumination was to symbolise YHWH’s presence with them in the wilderness (“tabernacling” with them) as the pillar of fire. At the time of Herod’s temple, there were 70-foot hight candelabras in the court of women, with massive bowls for lamps at the top. When they were illuminated, most homes in Jerusalem would have been illuminated by them. In John 8, it’s the day after the Sukkot when Yeshua was teaching in the Temple, and they brought him the woman accused of adultery. If the woman was permitted to be there, then Yeshua must have been teaching in the women’s court, alongside these huge lamps. It was there, after the “stone her” incident, that He said “"I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." (John 8:12) referring no doubt to the Sukkot lamps.

(Digressing slightly, but on the subject of the woman accused: How many people have asked "what did Yeshua write in the ground?" Many of these seemingly little details are hidden in some of those mysterious, obscure first testament prophesies. Check out Jeremiah 17:13. I reckon He wrote the names of all the accusers who left). Moving right along...

This is probably a little more like it! A Sukkah in Israel

Yeshua’s birth

Here’s the bit which challenges all our Christianised sensitivities. Yeshua was not born in an animal stall, a barn, or a stable. Not as such. In Luke 2 we see Josef and Miriam return to Bethlehem for the census. During Sukkot, Jerusalem would have been packed to the rafters with (mostly male) pilgrims and the surrounding towns would have also been busy, hence there being no room at the inn. All of the Christmas traditions are derived from Luke 2: And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. From that we get scowling innkeepers, stables, donkeys, cows, and a little straw basket.

Okay, so the word for manger in Greek was phatn’e, which is also used for stall referring to an animal stall (e.g. Luke 13:15). In Hebrew the word is marbek , but in Gen 33:17 Jacob built “booths” for his cattle and the word is Sukkot. In Jewish tradition, in their Sukkah, a family would put a receptacle there for the food, including unleavened bread to symbolise manna provided for them by YHWH. Manna was a prophetic event symbolising messiah (Ex 16:16-18). This receptacle was often referred to as marbek, or in English, a manger.

When Josef and Miriam arrived in Bethlehem the place would have been littered with Sukkot. They would have sought temporary shelter in one. That’s not to say there weren’t some animals in there since the shepherds would probably have let some take shelter. But, the Messiah was born in the very symbol YHWH gave the Jews to remind them of his dwelling amongst them, signifying the drawing of living water, and the shining of the light of the world. And, as an added touch just typical of YHWH’s attention to detail, the Messiah was laid in the very receptacle which resembled the housing of manna, and “swaddling clothes” was also the very same material used to light the huge candles in the Temple court.

To the orthodox Christian, some of this might sound a little "forced". Perhaps it is, but when it comes to explaining things to us, YHWH doesn’t miss much.

Folks, I'm not suggesting for a minute that we cease celebrating Christmas. Unity in the body is the core priority right now and besides, the Christmas season it still clinging onto some kind of relevance as an outreach opportunity, even though the truth does appear to be slowly disappearing under the weight of postmodern secularisation.

What I am saying is that getting intimate with YHWH's word should challenge us to add things to our life or remove them according to YHWH's will. He seldom forces us to do anything, rather He prefers that we want to do it. Who says that one day, down the track, you won't willingly and joyously take up Sukkot as the real celebration of YHWH's human birthday, the heralding of the time he arrived to dwell with us. Never say never.

After all, He has already given us the very festivals to commemorate (in advance) the different points of His redemption plans for the human race. Even simply recognising them can be pure joy.


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