Hanukkah: Rededicating the Temple

Over the past 3 almost 4 years now Yahweh has provided me with the opportunity to know Him more intimately through comprehensive reading and study of His Word.  The journey has not been easy and it has caused me to question many things and caused me to understand that many of the things that I once accepted because they were put into practice and accepted as tradition, long before I was born were in error and actually in opposition to everything that matters to God.  For nearly 4 years, I've been a Torah-believing, Sabbath keeper but the process to get here began in 1995 when I began to question the celebration of pagan holidays. After doing some research, but not a lot, I came to the conclusion that Christmas and Easter were not cool but I still celebrated them because it was what I had always done. About 2000, I became so incensed with the commercialism and materialism of the "holiday" that I believed that there was something sinister about the entire cause for celebration, I had also acquired information that linked Easter and the observance of Lent (which I, as a pentacostal, was raised to observe) was linked to Catholicism. I became increasingly uncomfortable with observing these days as days sacred to the birth, death and resurrection of my Savior, who I then knew as Jesus. I hadn't acknowledged or had ANYTHING to do with Halloween for practically 5 years or more prior to the birth of my daughter in 2002, so I decided a year prior to her birth that my children and I would not participate in Christmas or Easter either as I suspected that they were all linked to paganism. Apparently Christians of various backgrounds and denominations began to ask some of the same questions because Easter Sunday services became known as Resurrection Sunday services and I heard several high-profile preachers and even my own pastor at the time, admit that December 25 was not Jesus' actual birthday but they glossed over the celebration by stating that "no one" knew when He was born and that the church was essentially justified in celebrating December 25 as the birthday of The Messiah. Many of my family members, particularly my mom was not comfortable with my opposition to celebrating these days in the traditional manner in which they had been celebrated for at least a few centuries. Then I got the revelation to study the history of the church and as I got information regarding Constantine changing times and seasons I felt betrayed and deceived by organized Christianity. 

I felt even more incensed and troubled to find that December 25th is the historical birthday of the pagan god, Tammuz aka Mithra aka Nimrod. His mother was Ishtar aka Semiramis aka Columbia and the celebration of Easter is in reference to her as she is known as "The Queen of Heaven" and was worshiped by the Children of Israel in defiance of Yahweh. She is also referred to as the the goddess of fertility hence the presence of rabbits and eggs, which are fertility symbols at Easter. She is also said to be the female counterpart to Lucifer.

Roman Emperor, Constantine

The Roman Emperor, Constantine made it law for all Christians to celebrate the 25th of December as the birth of Yeshua and changed the day of the Sabbath from sunset on Friday to sunset on Saturday as it is in scripture to Sunday to cover his worship of the sun god, Tammuz.

Yule Wheel labeling the 8 Occult Sabbaths

The seasons of Easter and Christmas are important to note because they also occur with witches sabbaths this however was done on purpose, by design and not by coincidence.  Christmas is actually the occult sabbath of Saturnalia or Yule. These celebrations have their origins deeply rooted in paganism and the occult but because people have been duped into seeing Yeshua as another greek deity without even knowing it. They will never know or understand these truths because they refuse to accept that Yeshua as the Son of the Living God was a Hebrew, Jewish man when He walked this earth. He didn't have the Bible in it's current inception but He did have Torah and that is what He talked, what He taught, what He lived! Yeshua is the Living Word! He is and was Torah! 

Newspaper Clipping LA Daily Times Regarding The Azuza Street Revival

Martin Luther Early church reformer

In an attempt to distance the Christian church from its Hebrew roots the Anti-semitic Christian church forefathers who preached and taught hatred towards the Hebrew roots of Yeshua as a result people began to see Him as someone other than who He was and is and what He came to accomplish. The church accepted the very paganism and idolatry that Yahweh throughout scripture, made clear that He was opposed to and reverberated throughout scripture that such activity would separate us from Him as they are the very things that caused great terror to come upon The Children of Israel. Ever since the death and resurrection of Yeshua, the collective body of Messiah has been on a journey of progressive revelation. This is the progressive revelation that led the church to reformation to the Azuza Street Revival which brought about the biblical principles that are the foundation for pentacostals and other evangelicals. 

Now in these last days the progressive revelation of Torah as the foundation for a biblically sound lifestyle of holiness has occurred and it has changed my life and the lives of many like me, forever. It has changed the way that I live and has provided a sound and comprehensive foundation from which to teach my children and effectively minister to others  I am excited about my life in Yeshua and as the gentile world enters into another season of spending, debt and false works (doing things in the "spirit of Christmas" and not the Holy Spirit), my family and I will be celebrating Hanukkah. Below is an account that I got from a dear friend and sister in Yeshua, called The Feast of Hanukkah. This provides historical and scriptural context for the celebration of Hanukkah. I would also like to recommend a valuable resource called A Family Guide to Biblical Holidays. This book will provide information regarding the very celebrations that Yeshua celebrated when He walked this planet and why it is important for Believers to celebrate these true holy days! 

 THE FEAST OF HANUKKAH

The true story of Hanukkah is prophesied in Daniel chapter 7 and 8. The fulfillment of this prophecy is found in the First and Second Book of Maccabees, which are found in the writings of the Apocrypha.  Originally the writings of the Apocrypha were additional books of the Bible in the original King James 1611 version, but were later designated as being important historical documents.  Each winter Israelites celebrate the Feast of Dedication - in Hebrew: Hanukkah, the festive occasion in which we recall our deliverance from pagan sun-god worship. Hanukkah is one of the festivals that Yahshua (Jesus) kept (John 10:22-42), but was not one of the mandatory feasts for all Israel to keep at Jerusalem.  Hanukkah reminds us that Yahshua (Jesus) fights for those who would keep themselves pure from the pollutions of idolatry.  Yahshua (Jesus) tells us that the first abomination of desolation (Daniel 8:9, 11:31) placed in the Jerusalem Temple was a prophetic shadow picture of an even greater abomination that would confront the believer in the last days.  The feast of Hanukkah is a prophetic foreshadow of Yahshua (Jesus), his life and his return.  The story of Hanukkah starts with King Antiochus of Syria sending soldiers to a northern city in Israel, Modin.  Antiochus, surname “God manifest”, was called a “madman” by his enemies.  Antiochus was known for defiling the temple with pigs and statues of other gods.  Antiochus specifically place a gold statue in Modin, and his captain declares, “Bow or die!” to the people of Modin.  Mattathias, an 80 yr old Jewish priest with 5 sons, who was still tall and upright, and respected for his wisdom and courage, refused to bow.  Mattathias shouted, “If a man calls a statue God, does that make it God?”  Everyone was silent in Morin.  The captain responds, “You priest, you bow first.”  Mattathias turned away.  The captain approaches him, “Obey or be hanged!”  Mattathias turns eye to eye with the captain and says sternly, “I will never bow.”  Everyone in Modin stood silent for a few minutes.  A scared shopkeeper comes forward, “I’ll do it and bows.”  Mattathias punches the shopkeeper, and knocks him on his back.  All of Modin became scared for their lives.  Mattathias pulls out a knife, stabs the captain, and slams down the golden statue. Mattathias sceams, “Whoever is for God (YHWH), follow me?”  Mattathias, his sons, and a handful of men and boys ran for the hills.  The newly found rebels outran the soldiers who were on foot and horses.  Mattathias and the rebels hid in caves, and only came out at night.  Eventually, Mattathias dies, and blesses Judah to lead the rebels.  The rebels gradually grew, and became constantly struck hard against Antiochus’s soldiers nightly.  They became mighty men even with only a small number of men.  Due to the constant hard strikes, Judah began to be called the Maccabee, meaning “the hammer”.  Judah and all the rebels became known as the Maccabees.  For 3 years, the small number of Maccabees defeated thousands of Syrians.  King Antiochus is angered by the losses and sends a very large force.  The Maccabee soldiers began to fear, but Judah delivers a word from the Lord that gives them faith.  The Maccabees praise God (Elohim), and begin to blow trumpets.  The thunderous praise leads the Maccabees to victory over the Syrians.  With the loss of such a large army, the King is outraged, and sends 47,000 to crush the revolt.  As the gigantic army chased the Maccabees into the forest, the Maccabees turned back to fight and one a mighty victory.  The war was officially over!  The first order of service after the victory was to cleanse the temple of pagan rituals and statues.  The meaning of the Hanukkah story is about the removal of paganism, and the traditions of men.  Hanukkah is a yearly reminder to only bow to Jesus and his Holy Spirit, and not to man or your flesh.

 The pope, and many other preachers have banned the use of the Hebrew name of God (YHWH), just as Antiochus did to the Jews, and we will be standing against that band.  We will be tearing down the traditions of men that make the word of God (Elohim) of none effect, and rebuilding the traditions of God (Elohim).  People will be set free from being bound to the laws of men, so that they can freely follow God (YHWH).  As men and women quit bowing to the false religious rules of men, the Holy Spirit will be turning the hearts of the sons toward the Father, and the heart of the Father towards the sons.  

1 Corinthians 6:19–20

19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, 20 for God bought you with a high price. So you must honor God with your body.(NLT)

Rededicate your temple to Yahweh!

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Please do your own research from a truly historical and biblical perspective, consider your sources and understand that true history corroborates the Word of God as fact. Keep in mind that the man you have known as Jesus was known to the people of His time as Yeshua, as that is His Hebrew name. He was Hebrew and He was certainly a Jew. When you understand this, it'll fill in all of the empty spaces and will even provide answers to many questions instead of the vague, obtuse explanation of "it's the way we've always done things".

The video below is of the late Arthur Katz. He was a Messianic Jewish Torah teacher and minister. In this video, Arthur Katz gives the definitive and comprehensive scriptural reasons as to why it is important for Believers to know the Hebraic roots of the Hebrew Messiah that they claim to serve. I pray that you enjoy it and that it clarifies the need for you to understand scripture from a Hebrew perspective and not from the Anti-Semitic perspective of a Greco-Roman mindset or even that of a German church reformer.  Get to know Yeshua for who He truly is! More than that your children and their children need to know who He truly is! Stop using your children as an excuse to continue celebrating a pagan tradition. Christmas is NOT for the children! Christmas is NOT for Believers in Yeshua HaMaschiach!

Watch, pray, learn! Be great and let the haters, hate! Be abundantly blessed
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