Messiah in Chanukkah Chapter 14
- Perfect timing
- The Sinless Second Adam
- The miracle occurred when Miryam’s mother relit the lamp
- Meaning of the Names
- Sarah, the Mother of us all!
- Isaiah’s prophecy
- Remedy for the bitterness of heaven
- The Word of God came a Second Time (Haggai 2:20-23)
Perfect timing:
The timing of the coming of Messiah from heaven to earth was perfect.
We believe the angel Gabriel visited Miryam shortly before Chanukkah. Just before sunset at the conclusion of Kislev 24, 6 BCE. On Chanukkah Eve the Jewess Miryam was told that she was cosen by God to be the mother of the long awaited Messiah. Miryam’s relative Elishevah who had been barren and was advanced in age, had already miraculously conceived a *child and was then in her sixth month of pregnancy. It was revealed to Miryam that the Spirit of the Holy One would come upon her, and the power of the El-Elyon would overshadow her; and that for this reason the holy child would be called the Son of the Most High and the Son of God.
The prophet Yochanan ben Zecharyah ben Aaron.
The Sinless Second Adam:
Therefore the Messiah like the first Adam did not come to be conceived through the agency of a mortal human father but he was made by the Holy Spirit after the likeness of Adonai the Father. However, unlike the first Adam the second Adam Ha-acharon (אדם האחרון) also referred to as the last Adam had a human mother—the Jewess Miryam. This fulfilled the prophecy of zera ha-ishah, the seed of the woman, who God promised would one day overcome the seed of the serpent; thereby bringing humanity deliverance from sin so that humankind might become reconciled to God. As it is written:
ואיבה אשית בינך ובין האשה ובין זרעך ובין זרעה הוא ישופך ראש ואתה תשופנו עקב׃
וְאֵיבָ֣ה אָשִׁ֗ית בֵּֽינְךָ֙ וּבֵ֣ין הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה וּבֵ֥ין זַרְעֲךָ֖ וּבֵ֣ין זַרְעָ֑הּ ה֚וּא יְשׁוּפְךָ֣ רֹ֔אשׁ וְאַתָּ֖ה תְּשׁוּפֶ֥נּוּ עָקֵֽב׃
[And God said,] “I will put enmity between you and the woman, And between your seed and her seed; he [the Messiah] shall bruise you on the head, And you shall bruise him on the heel.” (Genesis 3:15).
Therefore the Messiah who is Or Ha’Olam, the Light of the World, was conceived on Chanukkah (Kislev 25):
Messiah was born as the Son of David and *Moshia HaOlam on the first day of Sukkot (Tishri 15).
*The Savior of the World
The Messiah was circumcised on the eighth day as an infant and as zera’ Avraham, the seed of Abraham, on Shemini Atzeret and Simchat Torah (Tishri 22). Then as Seh HaElohim, the Lamb of God, he was sacrificed on the accursed tree on Pesach (Nisan 14). This Rabbeinu Yeshua did voluntarily to liberate redeemed humankind from the bondage of sin and death through his atoning sacrifice. Afterward as Habekhor hakam min-hametim (Firstborn of the dead) the Messiah was resurrected on HaBikkurim (Nisan *16/17).
*To better understand the mystery of Nisan 16/17 study the Hidden Day of Job.
Following his resurrection from the dead the Messiah ascended into heaven as our savior and advocate on the fortieth day (Iyyar 25/26). Therefore we now receive freely the Father’s gift of eternal life that was sent to our nation and people (Israel) on Shavuot (Sivan 6/7). This gift of the Father is the gift of the Spirit. The Spirit is the Seal of the Father that guarantees our perfection on the day of our resurrection:
ובו נחלתכם גם אתם; שכן בשמעכם את דבר האמת, את בשורת ישועתכם, ובהאמינכם בו, נחתמתם גם אתם ברוח ההבטחה, רוח הקדש, אשר היא ערבון לנחלתנו. פ
And in it you too belong; For when yo heard the word of truth, the besorat – good news of your salvation, and when you believed in it, you too were sealed with the Spirit of promise, the Spirit of the Holy One, which is a guarantee for our inheritance.
The miracle occurred when Miryam’s mother relit the lamp:
Shortly after Gabriel announced the good news (besorah) of Messiah’s miraculous birth to Miryam we believe her unnamed mother participated in the ceremony of lighting the first Chanukkah lamp in her own home (cf. first night candle lighting blessing).
However, if the mother of Miryam was deceased or unable to light the lamp then Miryam may have lit the lamp herself. However, due to her young age – most scholars say age 14-16 – we believe the mother of Miryam lit the Chanukkah lamp.
We believe the Jewess Miryam, whose name is derived from the Hebrew root word “mara” (מרים-מרי-מרה) that means “bitter,” as well as contentious, rebellious, etc., is a representative for all the nation and people of Israel; the physical descendants of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Meaning of the names:
Israel means the “Rule of God.”
The word bitter is used as a means to convey the bitterness that heaven had experienced up to the time of the Messiah. The womb of heaven was barren due to the first Adam’s sin. No one could enter heaven from the time of the first Adam to the time of the Messiah Yeshua, the second Adam. As the Prophet Isaiah has stated:
“All have sinned and come short of the glory of God.”
We believe that Miryam’s unnamed mother represents a type of the “heavenly Jerusalem” above. The shaliach Rabbi Shaul ben Benyamin writes a midrash on Isaiah Chapter 54 on the barrenness of heaven wherein he identifies the bitterness and barrenness of heaven prior to Messiah’s atoning sacrifice as being analogous to the bitterness and barrenness that Sarah suffered prior to her miraculous conception of Isaac whose name joyously means, “Laughter.” So it is said by Shaul:
.אבל ירושלים של מעלה בת חורין היא, והיא אם לנו
But the Jerusalem from above is a free woman, and she is our mother.
Sarah, the Mother of us all!
The Isaiah passage, therefore, allegorically refers to Sarah as the free woman who represents the heavenly Jerusalem, who is “the mother of us all.” This phrase refers to the fact that we are all reborn from above through the new birth process caused by the Holy Spirit. This refers to the miracle new creation that Messiah is bringing forth through his New Covenant:
Sarah, the free woman represents the heavenly Jerusalem.
And she is our mother. That is what Isaiah meant when he prophesied (Isaiah 54:1): “Rejoice, O childless woman! Break forth into loud and joyful song, even though you never gave birth to a child. For the woman who could bear no children now has more than all the other women!”
Isaiah’s prophecy:
רני עקרה לא ילדה פצחי רנה וצהלי לא־חלה כי־רבים בני־שוממה מבני בעולה אמר ה’׃
רָנִּ֥י עֲקָרָ֖ה לֹ֣א יָלָ֑דָה פִּצְחִ֨י רִנָּ֤ה וְצַהֲלִי֙ לֹא־חָ֔לָה כִּֽי־רַבִּ֧ים בְּֽנֵי־שֹׁומֵמָ֛ה מִבְּנֵ֥י בְעוּלָ֖ה אָמַ֥ר ה’׃
“Shout for joy, O barren one, you who have borne no child; break forth into joyful shouting and cry aloud, you who have not travailed; for the sons of the desolate one will be more numerous than the sons of the married woman, says Adonai.”
The problem put simply was that heaven became barren from the moment that the first Adam sinned up to the time of Messiah, who is the second and last Adam because like the first Adam God was his Father too. Due to sin humankind became estranged from the Almighty One and the “bitter” fact was that due to sin heaven had become barren. As long as sin existed in the dead soul of man the Holy Spirit had ceased to dwell within man; humankind was cut off from fellowship with God and citizenship in His heavenly kingdom.
Remedy for the bitterness of heaven:
Therefore, the Messiah is God’s permanent remedy to the problem of sin.
Where the first Adam failed to remain sinless and be his wife’s Savior, the last Adam succeeded. By Messiah remaining faithful to God in all His Torah he was able to be humankind’s sinless Kinsman Redeemer (HaGo’el). The last Adam succeeded where humanity’s nearest kinsman the first Adam had failed (cf. Esther).
The Messiah overcame the temptations of Satan. He remained sinless. He is the only one who has fulfilled all of the Torah of of God given to Moses. Therefore, the Messiah is the only one able to die an atoning death for his people, redeemed humanity. Unlike the first Adam Messiah ben Ha-Elohim possessed the necessary power and virtue required to defeat Satan whose lies had led to the first Adam’s fall due to sin.
At Chanukkah there came down from heaven by the grace of God the Father the immortal life and virtue of the Holy Spirit. This the heavenly Father did to ignite in the of the womb Jewess Miryam a light that would shine forever in and through the Messiah and all of the lives of those who believe in God’s Message of His grace and truth:
“So Yeshua said to those Jews who had believed in him, ‘If you continue in my word, then you are truly disciples of mine and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free.'”
The Word of God came a Second Time (Haggai 2:20-23):
ויהי דבר־ה’ ׀ שנית אל־חגי בעשרים וארבעה לחדש לאמר׃ אמר אל־זרבבל פחת־יהודה לאמר אני מרעיש את־השמים ואת־הארץ׃ והפכתי כסא ממלכות והשמדתי חזק ממלכות הגוים והפכתי מרכבה ורכביה וירדו סוסים ורכביהם איש בחרב אחיו׃ ביום ההוא נאם־ה’ צבאות אקחך זרבבל בן־שאלתיאל עבדי נאם־ה’ ושמתיך כחותם כי־בך בחרתי נאם ה’ צבאות׃
וַיְהִ֨י דְבַר־ה’ ׀ שֵׁנִית֙ אֶל־חַגַּ֔י בְּעֶשְׂרִ֧ים וְאַרְבָּעָ֛ה לַחֹ֖דֶשׁ לֵאמֹֽר׃ אֱמֹ֕ר אֶל־זְרֻבָּבֶ֥ל פַּֽחַת־יְהוּדָ֖ה לֵאמֹ֑ר אֲנִ֣י מַרְעִ֔ישׁ אֶת־הַשָּׁמַ֖יִם וְאֶת־הָאָֽרֶץ׃ וְהָֽפַכְתִּי֙ כִּסֵּ֣א מַמְלָכֹ֔ות וְהִ֨שְׁמַדְתִּ֔י חֹ֖זֶק מַמְלְכֹ֣ות הַגֹּויִ֑ם וְהָפַכְתִּ֤י מֶרְכָּבָה֙ וְרֹ֣כְבֶ֔יהָ וְיָרְד֤וּ סוּסִים֙ וְרֹ֣כְבֵיהֶ֔ם אִ֖ישׁ בְּחֶ֥רֶב אָחִֽיו׃ בַּיֹּ֣ום הַה֣וּא נְאֻם־ה’ צְבָאֹ֡ות אֶ֠קָּחֲךָ זְרֻבָּבֶ֨ל בֶּן־שְׁאַלְתִּיאֵ֤ל עַבְדִּי֙ נְאֻם־ה’ וְשַׂמְתִּ֖יךָ כַּֽחֹותָ֑ם כִּֽי־בְךָ֣ בָחַ֔רְתִּי נְאֻ֖ם ה’ צְבָאֹֽות׃
Then the word of Adonai (the LORD) came a second time to Haggai on the twenty-fourth day of the month [Kislev 24, Chanukkah Eve] saying, “Speak to Zerubbabel governor of Judah, saying, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth. I will overthrow the thrones of kingdoms and destroy the power of the kingdoms of the nations; and I will overthrow the chariots and their riders, and the horses and their riders will go down, everyone by the word of another. On that day,” declares Adonai of Hosts, “I will take you, Zerubbabel, son of Shealtiel, My servant,” declares Adonai, “and I will make you like a Signet Ring, for I have chosen you,” declares Adonai of Hosts.