Messiah in Chanukkah Chapter 15
- Shout for Joy!
- Messiah came to earth to liberate humanity on Chanukkah
- Immanuel, God With Us
- Messiah is the Perfect Man who is our Deliverer
- The Creator’s re-visioning process
- The Salvation of God came to Israel at Chanukkah
Shout for Joy!
From the moment the Chanukkah lamp was lit in the household of Miryam’s father, Heli ben Judah, a descendant of King David, we have never ceased to be without the means to be liberated from sin and to inherit the gift of eternal life. The root word for Miryam”s name in Hebrew is “mara,” translated “bitterness.” Heaven’s bitterness was a completely barren, spiritually dead, lost humanity (cf. Ruth 1:20-22).
ותאמר אליהן אל־תקראנה לי נעמי קראן לי מרא כי־המר שדי לי מאד׃ אני מלאה הלכתי וריקם השיבני ה’ למה תקראנה לי נעמי וה’ ענה בי ושדי הרע לי׃ ותשב נעמי ורות המואביה כלתה עמה השבה משדי מואב והמה באו בית לחם בתחלת קציר שערים׃
וַתֹּ֣אמֶר אֲלֵיהֶ֔ן אַל־תִּקְרֶ֥אנָה לִ֖י נָעֳמִ֑י קְרֶ֤אןָ לִי֙ מָרָ֔א כִּי־הֵמַ֥ר שַׁדַּ֛י לִ֖י מְאֹֽד׃ אני מלאה הלכתי וריקם השיבני ה’ למה תקראנה לי נעמי וה’ ענה בי ושדי הרע לי׃ וַתָּ֣שָׁב נָעֳמִ֗י וְר֨וּת הַמֹּואֲבִיָּ֤ה כַלָּתָהּ֙ עִמָּ֔הּ הַשָּׁ֖בָה מִשְּׂדֵ֣י מֹואָ֑ב וְהֵ֗מָּה בָּ֚אוּ בֵּ֣ית לֶ֔חֶם בִּתְחִלַּ֖ת קְצִ֥יר שְׂעֹרִֽים׃
She said to them, “Do not call me Naomi, my Delight; call me Mara, Bitter; for Shaddai has dealt very bitterly with me. I went out full but Shaddai has brought me back empty. Why do you call me Naomi, since the LORD has witnessed against me and Shaddai has afflicted me?” So Naomi returned, and with her Ruth (Companion) the Moabitess, her daughter-in-law, who returned from the land of Moab. And they came to Beit-Lechemat the beginning of barley harvest.
This bitterness changed to joyous laughter – Isaac’s name means Laughter – when Messiah’s ministry on earth led to humanity being reborn through the regenerating work of the Holy Spirit (cf. Ruth 4:17 and the Messiah in Shavuot, chapters 7-12).
ותקראנה לו השכנות שם לאמר ילד־בן לנעמי ותקראנה שמו עובד הוא אבי־ישי אבי דוד׃
וַתִּקְרֶאנָה לֹו הַשְּׁכֵנֹות שֵׁם לֵאמֹר יֻלַּד־בֵּן לְנָעֳמִי וַתִּקְרֶאנָֽה שְׁמֹו עֹובֵד הוּא אֲבִי־יִשַׁי אֲבִי דָוִֽד׃
The neighbor women gave him a name, saying, “A son has been born to Naomi” So they named him Obed, Serving. He is the father of Jesse, the father of David, Beloved.
Heaven is no longer barren for it is written, “Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; break forth into joyful shouting.” God replaced the barrenness of the old creation by instituting a new creation order.
One day God’s children who are born from above will be greater in number than the number of persons who are not. We believe that at the end of human history two-thirds of all humanity will be born from above and one-third not. This ratio perfectly corresponds to the number of angels who have not rebelled against the Creator God versus the number of fallen angels who have rebelled against him: “And I saw one-third of the stars of heaven fall…”
This means that an incredibly high percentage, over ninety-percent, of the future mortal populace living on earth during the one thousand year international reign of the Messiah will choose to receive the gift of eternal life that is the mark (seal) of adoption that proves one is a permanent member of the heavenly Father’s family.
Messiah came to earth to liberate humanity on Chanukkah:
It is, therefore, at the exact time of Miryam’s mother lighting the first lamp on the first of the eight days of Chanukkah that we believe the Messiah, the Light of the World, came down from heaven into the womb of Miryam.
Most definitely Christian tradition is wrong.
According to the God’s timeline of the festivals of Israel His Messiah did come into the world in the winter. However, he came into the world at the time of his conception. Not his birth.
It was on 25 Kislev on the first day of Chanukkah that Or Ha’Olam, the Light of the World, came into the world. Then two hundred eighty-five days later the Messiah was born at the beginning of the fall festival of Sukkot (Tishri 15, 5 BCE). Thereafter Yeshua ben David was circumcised on the day of Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah (Tishri 22, 5 BCE).
As the foretold by the prophets of Israel the Messiah was miraculously conceived by the Spirit of the Holy One in the womb of the virgin Miryam; who was a direct descendant of King David. All of the Spirit of the Holy One dwells in the body of our Rabbi Yeshua, therefore, rightfully he has been given the title of Immanuel, “God With Us.”
Immanuel, God With Us:
Now the beginning of the conception to birth narrative of Messiah Yeshua ben David is given as follows:
{Classical & Mishnaic Hebrew}
וְזֶה דְבַר הֻלֶּדֶת יֵשׁוּעַ הַמָּשִׁיחַ מִרְיָם אִמּוֹ הָיְתָה מְאֹרָשָׂה לְיוֹסֵף וּבְטֶרֶם יָבֹא אֵלֶיהָ נִמְצֵאת הָרָה מֵרוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ׃ וְיוֹסֵף בַּעְלָהּ אִישׁ צַדִּיק וְלֹא אָבָה לְתִתָּהּ לְחֶרְפָּה וַיֹּאמֶר אֲשַׁלְּחֶנָּה בַּסָּתֶר׃ הוּא חשֵׁב כָּזֹאת וְהִנֵּה מַלְאַךְ ה’ נִרְאָה אֵלָיו בַּחֲלוֹם וַיֹּאמַר יוֹסֵף בֶּן־דָּוִד אַל־תִּירָא מִקַּחַת אֵת מִרְיָם אִשְׁתֶּךָ כִּי הַנּוֹצָר בְּקִרְבָּה מֵרוּחַ הַקֹּדֶשׁ הוּא׃ וְהִיא יֹלֶדֶת בֵּן וְקָרָאתָ אֶת־שְׁמוֹ יֵשׁוּעַ כִּי הוּא יוֹשִׁיעַ אֶת־עַמּוֹ מֵחַטֹּאתֵיהֶם׃ וְכָל־זֹאת הָיְתָה לְמַלֹאת אֶת־דְּבַר ה’ אֲשֶׁר־דִּבֶּר בְּיַד הַנָּבִיא לֵאמֹר׃ הִנֵּה הָעַלְמָה הָרָה וְיֹלֶדֶת בֵּן וְקָרְאוּ שְׁמוֹ עִמָּנוּאֵל אֲשֶׁר פֵּרוּשׁוֹ הָאֵל עִמָּנוּ׃ וַיִּיקַץ יוֹסֵף מִשְׁנָתוֹ וַיַּעַשׂ כַּאֲשֶׁר צִוָּהוּ מַלְאַךְ ה’ וַיֶּאֱסֹף אֶת־אִשְׁתּוֹ אֶל בֵּיתוֹ׃ וְלֹא יְדָעָהּ עַד כִּי־יָלְדָה בֵּן (אֶת־בְּכוֹרָהּ) וַיִּקְרָא אֶת־שְׁמוֹ יֵשׁוּעַ׃
{Modern Hebrew}
כך היתה הלדת ישוע המשיח: מרים אמו היתה מאורסת ליוסף ובטרם התאחדו נמצאה הרה לרוח הקדש. יוסף בעלה, שהיה צדיק ולא רצה להציג אותה לחרפה, החליט לשלח אותה בסתר. בעוד שהיה מהרהר בזה נראה אליו מלאך ה’ בחלום ואמר: “יוסף בן דוד, אל תחשש לקחת אליך את מרים אשתך, כי אשר הורה בה מרוח הקדש הוא. היא יולדת בן ואתה תקרא שמו ישוע, כי הוא יושיע את עמו מחטאתיהם.” כל זה ארע למען יתקים מה שדבר אדני בפי הנביא: “הנה העלמה הרה וילדת בן וקראת שמו עמנו אל.” לאחר מכן הקיץ יוסף משנתו ועשה כפי שצוהו מלאך ה’. הוא לקח אליו את אשתו מבלי שידע אותה עד אשר ילדה בן, וקרא את שמו ישוע.פ
And this was the manner of the birth of Yeshua Ha-Mashiach: Miryam his mother was betrothed to Yosef but before he came to her she was found pregnant from the Spirit of the Holy One. Now Yosef her husband was a righteous man and did not want to subject her to disgrace. So he said, “I will send her away privately.” He was thinking this way, but then an angel of the LORD appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Yosef son of David! Do not be afraid to take Miryam your wife, for what has been formed within her is from the Spirit of the Holy One. She is giving birth to a son and you are to name him Yeshua because he will save his people from their sins.” All this happened in order to fulfill the Word of God that He spoke through the prophet saying, “Look! The almah is pregnant and giving birth to a son, and they will name him Immanuel,” which is interpreted, the “God is with us.” Yosef woke up from his sleep and did what the angel of the LORD had commanded. He brought Miryam into his house but he did not know her until after she had given birth to a son. And they named him *Yeshua.”
*Salvation of ADONAI (the LORD).
Messiah is the Perfect Man who is our Deliverer:
The will of the heavenly Father was for the Messiah to reconcile to him all of humankind who would believe in him.
Rabbeinu Yeshua poured out his life on the accursed tree that many might receive forgiveness of sins. The tragedy of the first Adam ben Elohim’s sin necessitated the creation of a new Adam ben Elohim who would forensically remove (asaf) the reproach of sin from creation; rather than add the reproach of sin to (yosef) creation. This required Avi HaRachamim, the Father of Mercies to place on the human scene a newly created leader of the human race who was without sin; who would always hear, understand, and obey God. Therefore, the second and last Adam:
He was without sin because God’s original standard for human existence was moral perfection.
HaAdam Ha’acharon like the first Adam was expected to conform to the Righteous Father’s standard of perfect obedience. The first Adam failed. So death came into the world. The last Adam succeeded. Now eternal life is available to all who will believe in his name.
The Creator’s re-visioning process:
An outline of the God’s re-visioning of redeemed humanity, making all things new, can be observed in the festivals of Israel. In moving from the problem-saturated story of fallen humankind’s sin to the preferred story of Messiah’s perfect humanity, the narrative of Israel goes from being a life of bondage to sin through the bitterness of human error and rebellion to a life of liberating obedience and joyous righteousness; through the mercy, kindness and favor of the saving help of God.
The festivals of the Messiah and Israel are the defining ceremonies of God.
The festivals are prophetic templates crafted by the Spirit of God to provide us with a narrative testimony of the Messiah’s successes and explain how these accomplishments affect the children of Israel and all of the nations, peoples and families of the earth.
The re-visioning process of the Word of God actually uses the festivals to define the conception, gestation, and birthing of a new life story and a new creation that is solely experienced through a saving knowledge and indwelling relationship with the zera’ Elohim, the seed of God, who is the *HaMoshia l’chol Adam.
*The Savior of all humankind
The Salvation of God came to Israel at Chanukkah:
The holy day that is best suited to convey the conception of God’s re-authoring Israel and all humankind is Chanukkah:
Chanukkah has to do with El Shaddai, the All-Sufficient One, saving His elect people of Israel from the tyrannical rule of a wicked, foreign ruler.
The oppressive occupation of Israel enforced by the wicked Syrian leader Antiochas Epiphanes included his ordering an end to the worship of God at His temple in Jerusalem. Antiochas was a Greek king who ruled over the Seleucid empire from 175 BCE until his death in 164 BCE. Under his oppressive reign the people of Jerusalem experienced a state of incredibly harsh religious persecution. The practice of idolatry was aggressively being forced upon our ancestors by this wicked dictator who threatened to kill any person who was caught even studying the Torah of the LORD. Yet, the faithful defiantly refused to worship any of the pagan deities of Antiochas because they did not love their lives more than they did the God of our Fathers!