Alright are you ready to get in to YAH's
word today? Amen. I am as well. I want you to open your bibles with me to Daniel
chapter eight and we're gonna pick up with verse three in just a moment and
I've entitled this message today, "Why Hanukkah is Biblical". All right, why
Hanukkah is biblical. And the reason that I'm having to preach this message is
because I'm seeing a lot of people on social media, and YouTube, and the like
who are discouraging people from celebrating Hanukkah and saying that
it's just religious, or it's just tradition, or it's about legend, and all
of that and, you know, they say it's not listed in Leviticus 23 as one of the
feasts of YAH and that's true, it's not but that doesn't mean it's not
biblical. All right. So when Leviticus 23 was written, the events of Hanukkah were
to take place well in the future and so, it is very biblical and that's what we
want to talk about today, why the feast of dedication is biblical. You may not
want to celebrate it, you may choose not to celebrate it because you say it's not
listed, it's not commanded as a feast of YAH, that's your prerogative, you can
choose to or not to, but you at least need to understand it. You need to
understand the events that took place in the events that will take place that the
feasts of Hanukkah our dedication commemorates. Can you say amen? So that's
what we're gonna talk about today, why Hanukkah is biblical and I'm gonna lay
it out scripturally. You know how I do it every week, I just bring scripture, after
scripture, after scripture. I'm building a case I'm like an attorney and that's
what I'm gonna do again. You don't have to celebrate it if you don't want to, but
you at least need to understand it. Because if you don't understand it you
could be deceived in the last days so it's very, very important. By the way, not
only does Daniel talk about it but so does Mosheh, and so does Yirme'yahu,
(Jeremiah) and so does a Zachariah, and so does Yeshua, and so does Sha'ul, the
Apostle Paul. They all talk about it, it's all in scripture, we're going to
many of those scriptures today. So why is Hanukkah biblical? Number one, because the
events that are commemorated are prophesied in the Book of Daniel and the
last I checked, Daniel is in the bible which makes it biblical.
All right so, Daniel chapter 8 and verse 3. Now, I want you to stick with me
because these are prophetic passages and I'm gonna do my best to explain them
from a general perspective. We can't dig too deeply into them because we have a
lot of ground to cover. Daniel chapter 8 verse 3 "And I lifted my
eyes and look and saw a ram," Everybody said ram. "standing beside the river and
it had two horns," That's important. A ram with two horns. "and the two horns were
higher," They were great. "and the one was higher than the other and the higher one
came up last." Okay so, this ram represents the Medo-Persian Empire and the Persians
were the stronger ones who came up last. Okay. Verse 4 "I saw the ram pushing
westward and northward and southward so that no beasts could stand before him
and there was no one to deliver from his hand while he did as he pleased and
became great." Okay so, this was the great empire of that day and this empire was
pushing westward, and northward, and southward and there were no forces of
opposition that could stand against the Medo-Persian Empire. Alright? Verse five
"and I was observing and saw a male goat," Everybody say a male goat. Your Bible may
say a he goat, means the same thing. "came from the west,"
All right. Came from Greece. "over the surface of all the earth without
touching the ground," So this is talking about the Greek Empire that seemed to
fly over the face of the earth, it was moving so fast. "and the goat had a
conspicuous horn between his eyes," So this is speaking of Alexander the
Great. "and he came to the ram that had two
horns," The Medo-Persians. "which I had seen standing beside the river and ran at him
in the rage of his power. And I saw him come close to the ram and he
became embittered against him," The Greeks were very bitter against the Persians
because the Persians mistreated them greatly. "and struck the ram and broke his
two horns and there was no power in the ram to withstand him but he threw him
down to the ground and trampled on him and there was no one to deliver the ram
from his hand." So this was the end of the Medo-Persian Empire at the hands of
Alexander the Great. Alright? Verse eight "And the male goat
became very great," Notice the Bible says the male goat became very great.
Alright, that's the name Alexander the Great. "but when he was strong the large
horn was broken," All right so, I don't know if you realize this but he died at
the height of his strength at the age of 32, as a very young man. "and in
place of it for conspicuous ones came up, four horns came up, toward the four winds
of the heaven," So Alexander's empire was divided into four kingdoms. "and from one
of them came a little horn," Everybody say a little horn. "which became exceedingly
great toward the south and toward the east and toward the splendid land or
Eretz Israel," The Land of Israel, and this is Antiochus Epiphanes the Greek king of
Syria, so the Greek king that ruled over Syria is the little horn and he
became exceedingly great and he pushed toward the south, into Egypt, he pushed
toward the east, and he pushed toward the Land of Israel. Verse 10 "and it became
great up to the hosts of the heavens," Now this is very important. It's interesting
how this passage is now talking about heavenly things, so the implication here
is that this little horn this Greek king of Syria is empowered by spiritual
powers. In other words, by forces of darkness. "and it became great
up to the host of the heavens," Implying the angelic armies. "and it calls some of
the hosts and some of the stars to follow the earth
and trample them down." So there was a spiritual battle taking place and what
was taking place in the spiritual realm was being manifested in the natural
round, that happens often in scripture. Okay? So that's important because we're
gonna talk about something that's going to transpire in the future and when Sha'ul talks about it in what's called the Apostoloic Writings he's going to say the
same things that the anti-messiah is empowered by Satan and he's going to
come with all sorts of deceptive signs and miracles.
So what has happened in the past is going to happen again in the future.
It's very important for us to understand these things. Verse 11 "It even exalted
itself as high as the Prince of the host," So Antiochus considered himself a deity,
he had a deity complex. As a matter of fact, he took on the name Epiphanies and
Epiphanies means "the image of Elohim" or the manifestation on the earth of a
deity so he thought he was a deity. He thought he had the powers of
a deity and he exalted himself. It says, "as high as the Prince of the
host and it took that which is continual away from him," So what's this talking
about? Antiochus came into Israel, his plan was to hellenize all the land of
Israel, so he was bringing the Greek culture, and he brought in Paganism
and, he forbade the Jews to practice according to the Torah, he forbade the
Jews to circumcise their children, he forbade the Jews to celebrate Shabbat
and to keep the feasts, and he forbade them to live the Torah lifestyle
and the punishment for living the Torah lifestyle was death. His idea was he
wanted to hellenize or bring the Greek culture and the Greek religions of
paganism to the Land of Israel and so, this was an external force empowered by
forces of darkness trying to cause the people of Israel to be subjugated into
Pagan religion and Greek culture. So that's what this was all about,
and so what did he do? The scripture says he came in, he took over the temple, he
defiled the temple, he sacrificed swine on the altar, he took pig's blood and
defiled all of the furniture in the temple with the pig's blood, he burnt
Torah scrolls, he put up an image of Zeus in the most Set-apart Place - and by the
way, the image of Zeus had the face of Antiochus on it, give you a little
insight on what this man was thinking. It was the image of Zeus but it had his
face, his face was on the image and he demanded that the Israelites offer
sacrifices to the pagan deities. So they went from city to city and
they demanded that the Israelites would offer sacrifices to the Pagan
deities, and how it started with the Maccabees was that in a
particular city they demanded that the Israelites offer sacrifices and
Mattathias was the father, the senior of this family.
Maccabi means, the hammer came with Judas, but he refused for sacrifice. Instead, he
he killed the Israelite, he was about to offer sacrifice and the representative
of the king, and then he called all of the people of Israel that would follow
him to follow him, and that's when the revolution began. So that was
what was going on, it was empowered by the forces of darkness. Verse 11 it says
that he took the continual away, in other words, the sacrifices, the daily
sacrifices he took away in the temple and he threw down the foundation of his
Set-apart Place. He defiled the temple with swine's blood and pagan images. So all of this is prophesied by Daniel, in the Book of Daniel in the
bible, all right? Look at verse 12 "and because of
transgression and army was given over to the horn to oppose that which is
continual," In other words, to stop the daily sacrifices. "and it threw the
truth down to the ground and enacted and prospered." Now, what a lot of people don't
realize and this is very important to keep in mind especially when we start
reading the writings of Sha'ul, what a lot of people don't realize because this
part of the story is not told very often is that there were many Israelites who
wanted to be hellenized, they wanted to give up Torah, and they wanted to take on
the pagan religions. They were ready and quick to offer sacrifices
because they didn't want to be persecuted anymore they wanted to be
just as Greek as the rest of the world they built a gymnasium in
Jerusalem and in one place, in the book the first Maccabees, it says that
they tried to alter their circumcision so that they didn't look circumcised so
what does that mean? That means at this time there was a great falling away, if I
might say it that way. I want to use those terms because you'll be
reminded of what Sha'ul says about the future, there'll be a great
falling away before anti-messiah comes to be revealed. So even at this time
there was a great falling away of Israelites who wanted to be Greek, they
wanted to adopt the the Greek culture, and they wanted to offer sacrifices to
the pagan Greek deities so a great falling away was taking place then.
Verse 13 "Then I heard a certain set- apart one speaking," One angelic being
speaking. "and another set-apart one said to that certain one who was speaking,
"Till when is the vision concerning that which is continual," In other words, the
daily sacrifices and the transgression. "that lays waste," Another way of saying it
is the abomination of desolation, the image of Zeus that was set up in the
most Set-apart Place. "to make both the Set-apart Place and the host to be
trampled underfoot by the pagans and he said to me, "For two thousand,
three-hundred nights," Or nights and days. "then that which is set-apart shall be made right," Or shall be restored, or shall be rededicated, and that's what the feast of
dedication represents the fact that the Maccabees and the children
of Israel resisted this foreign power that was trying to force upon them
hellenization or Greek culture and paganism, they resisted and ultimately
they overcame them took back the temple, and they cleansed the temple, and they
relit the menorah that had gone out. So the light of Elohim was back in
the world and they rededicated this Set-apart Place, the temple, all right?
That's what the feast of dedication is all about, so why do I say that Hanukkah
is biblical? Because we see that these events historically you can look back
and see that Daniel prophesied in advance that these events would take
place and they happen just the way that he said that they would. Now, the second
reason that I say that Hanukkah is biblical is because Daniel prophesied
that history would repeat itself. As I mentioned before, there's nothing new
under the sun, what's happened in the past will happen again. If you learn
these things, then you'll be prepared when those times arrive.
So Daniel prophesized that history would repeat itself, he has a prophecy in here
where he is alluding to what's going to take place in the future - so Daniel
chapter 9, beginning with verse 20. "For seventy weeks," Or 77-year
periods, keep that in mind. Track with me if you will. 77-year
periods. "are decreed for your people," Speaking of Israel. "and for your
set-apart city," Yerushalayim. "to put an end to the
transgression and to seal up sins and to cover crookedness," That's
an atonement for sins. "and to bring in everlasting righteousness." So when you
hear those words, what are you thinking about? You're thinking about Messiah
Yeshua dying on the tree to make atonement for the sins of the world. Well,
that's exactly what this prophecy is about. It goes on to say, "and to
seal up vision, and profit, and to anoint the most set-apart," Verse 25
"know then and understand, from the going forth of the command to restore and
build Yerushalayim," So Yerushalayim was destroyed when the Babylonians came in
and destroyed the city, and destroyed the temple, and took Judah, the southern
kingdom, into captivity in Babylon and so, this is talking about when the decree
was given to rebuild Jerusalem, to rebuild the temple until Messiah, the
Prince, is how long? Seven weeks or seven, seven-year periods and
sixty-two weeks, if you add that together, is sixty-nine seven-year periods. Now, I
don't have time to go deep into what all this means but stick with me, you're
gonna get a very wonderful and general understanding of it. "it shall be
built again," Speaking of Jerusalem. "with streets and a trench but in times of
affliction," Look at verse 26. "and after the sixty-two weeks," Okay, remember it's
62 plus the original seven which is 69 seven-year periods, so after that has
transpired what's going to happen, look at the next few words. "Messiah shall be
cut off," Now isn't that interesting? This is where we have a prophetic passage in the
original Hebrew Scriptures that prophesies that Messiah is going to be
executed, Messiah will be executed. Daniel says he will. Daniel prophesied that
Messiah will be cut off, that means killed,
executed and it had to happen before the destruction of the temple in
70 AD. There's no other period that it could happen according to Daniel's
prophecy, it had to happen then and it did happen then. If it didn't happen then
Daniel is not a legitimate prophet, he's a false prophet, but we know he's not
because it happened just the way he said it.
"and after the sixty-two weeks," Including the seven which would make 69 seven-year
periods. "Messiah shall be cut off," Or executed. "and have naught and the people of
a coming Prince shall destroy the city and the Set-apart Place," So the Romans
destroyed the city in 70 AD, just a few decades after Yeshua
Messiah was cut off. "and the end of it is with a flood and wastes are
decreed and fighting until the end. And he," Now, this is interesting
because this is now moving forward into the future. There is a bit of a gap when
the prophets would see, oftentimes, they would see mountaintops and not so much
the valleys between the mountains so we see here in this next verse, Daniel's
talking about in the future. It says, verse 27, "And he," Speaking of the
anti-messiah. "shall confirm a covenant with many for one week again seven years," This is a seven-year period in the
future. "and in the middle of the week," How many years is that the middle of the
week? Three and a half years. He shall put an end to what? Slaughtering and meal
offering. What's he going to do? He's going to stop the daily sacrifices in
the rebuilt temple, that's exactly what Antiochus did. So
Antiochus is a picture of what anti-messiah will do, so that's why it's
important to understand what Antiochus did so that you can understand what the anit-messiah is going to do in the future. That's why this feast this
acknowledgment of what's happened in the past is so very important for true
believers. It says, he's going to put an end to slaughtering and meal offering
and on the wing of abominations he shall lay waste. So he's going to set up the
abomination of desolation, what is that? The image of himself in the most
Set-apart Place in the rebuilt temple. So the anit-messiah is going to do the exact
same thing that Antiochus did, he's going to set up an image of himself in the
Most Se-apart Place, of the Holy of Holies, and he's going to demand to be
worshipped so the anti-messiah in the future is going to be one who is hailed
to be a great peacemaker when they cry out peace and safety then sudden
destruction shall come upon them and he's going to make a covenant, you might
say a peace treaty which is going to allow Israel to rebuild the temple on
Temple Mount and they're going to begin the daily sacrifices and that's going to
continue for three and a half years and everybody's crying out peace and safety
and celebrating the anti-messiah who's done what no one else has been able to
do, forge a peace that would allow Israel to rebuild a temple. And yet, after three
and a half years anti-messiah is going to have all that he can stand of not
being worshipped himself and he's going to place an image of himself in the most
Set-apart Place and he's going to demand to be worshipped. Well, Israel is not
going to worship him and when they refused to worship him, that's when he
brings together a multinational military force,
they staged their campaign against Israel in Armageddon, which is a flat
plain area, it's the only place in this railway you could stage that grade of
military operation, and the anti-messiah is going to come against Israel because
they refuse to worship him and they refused to follow the one world religion
that he is the false Pope over, so to speak, and the false prophet doing his
thing as well. And so, we know there's gonna be a great devastation in the Land
of Israel, he's going to come against Jerusalem and there's going to be a lot
of destruction there. You remember what Yeshua said to the Jews before His
execution? He said you won't see me again until you cry out, "Blessed is He who
comes in the Name of the Lord of Adonai," the Jewish people are going to be
fighting back in Yerushalayim, the anit-messiah is going to be coming down hard
upon them, they're going to get to the place where there's almost complete
devastation, and destruction, annihilation, and Yeshua is going to come back and
according to Zechariah, they're going to look upon Him whom they pierced and
they're going to mourn for Him as one mourns for a lost son. Zechariah also
says that there's a spirit of favor and supplication, grace and supplication that
will be poured out upon them and when they look upon Him whom they pierced,
they're going to recognize who He is, He is their Savior, He is the One who's come
to save them from utter destruction and they will cry out at that time "Blessed
is He who comes in the Name of Adonai," and they will be saved, the remnant will
be saved, and that will fulfill Sha'ul or the Apostle Paul's prophecy that all of
Israel will be saved. Hallelujah. So you say, well only the remnant of the Jews
will be saved and all the Gentiles are gonna be saved,
though only a remnant of the Gentiles are going to be saved.
Amen? And so that's why it's important to
understand these things. So it says, "and on the wing of abominations he shall lay
waste. Even until the complete end and that which is decreed is poured out on
the one who lays waste." And then go with me quickly to Daniel 11. We'll pick up
with verse 36, and it says, "And the Sovereign shall do as He pleases and
exalt Himself and show Himself to be great above every mighty one and speak
incredible matters against the EL of mighty ones and shall prosper until the
wrath has been accomplished for what has been decreed shall be done and have no
regard," This Sovereign. "will have no regard for the mighty ones of His
fathers, nor for the desire of women, nor have regard for any mighty one, but exalt
himself above them all." Now why did I read that? This is in Daniel, this is in
the Book of Daniel. I'm reading this because when Sha'ul writes in 2nd
Thessalonians chapter 2, beginning with verse 3, he's applying this passage in
Daniel to the anti-messiah. You'll see it when we get there. I hope you listen to
those words. Why am I saying that Hanukkah is biblical? Here's another
reason, because Yeshua quoted Daniel's prophecy when teaching His
disciples about the end-time events, so Yeshua even talked about these things. Go
with me with a Matthew chapter 24, we'll pick up with verse 3. "And as He, Yeshua,
sat on the Mount of Olives the taught ones came to Him separately saying, "Say
to us when shall this be and what is the sign of your coming in of the end of
the age?" So they were asking Him when the temple would be destroyed and what the
sign of His coming back would be in the end of the age, so this is what He says
in verse 15. "So when you see the the abomination that lays waste,"
He's talking about in the future. "spoken of by Daniel," Daniel the prophet.
"set up in the Set-apart Place he who reads let him understand,"
So what is He doing? He's quoting Daniel chapter 11 verse 31. "then let those who
are in Yehudah flee to the mountains. Let him who is on the housetop not come down
to take whatever out of his house and let him who is in the field not turned
back to get his garments and woe to those who are pregnant and those who are
nursing children in those days and pray that your flight does not take place in
winter or on the Sabbath." Now isn't that interesting that Yeshua is expecting His
disciples to be keeping the Sabbath in the end-times? "For them there shall be
great distress such as has not been since the beginning of the world until
this time no nor shall ever be and if those days were not shortened no flesh
would be saved but for the sake of the chosen ones those days shall be
shortened." So what's He doing? He's saying the same thing that Daniel said, He's
talking about a future event, those things that I just spoke to you about.
Yeshua said the same things, He said when you see the abomination of desolation,
when you see that image set up in the Most Holy Place you better get out of
there. If you're on the roof don't go back down
into the house, get out of there. If you're out in the field, flee from there.
You don't have much time, you need to escape. So He's letting them know and
He's saying that Daniel was the one that prophesied these things and Yeshua,
Himself, is vouching for the validity of Daniels prophecies. Verse 29 "And
immediately, after the distress of those days the sun shall be darkened and the
moon shall not give its light and the stars shall fall from the heaven and the
powers of the heavens shall be shaken and then the sign of the Son of Adam, or
the Son of man, shall appear in the heaven and then all the tribes of the
earth shall mourn," Now this is a quote of
Zechariah chapter 12 verses 10 and 14. "and they shall see the son of Adam
coming on the clouds of the heaven with power and much esteem," He's quoting
Daniel chapter 7 verses 13 and 14 there. "and He shall send His messengers, His
angels, with a great sound of a trumpet," That's Isaiah 27:13. "and they shall
gather together His chosen ones from the four winds,"
That's Daniel chapter 7 verse 2. "from one end of the heavens to the other." So He's
quoting Deuteronomy chapter 4 and verse 32 there. So we see that Daniel spoke of
these things, Yeshua spoke of these things, and we're
going to see here in a moment that Sha'ul also spoke of these things, so
what's another reason why I can say that Hanukkah is biblical because Yeshua was
in the temple during Hanukkah and He didn't speak against it, he could have
spoke against it but He used it as a backdrop to proclaim
His Messiahship. All right? So there was a lot of activity in the temple and they
were thinking about what the Maccabees had accomplished and the fact that they
were able to drive out this foreign power and bring freedom and liberty to
the people and so they're asking Yeshua
a question about His Messiahship - are you the Messiah, and their understanding
of the Messiah is that He's a great conquering King who will liberate them
from the tyranny of the oppressors, so that's the backdrop to what happens here
in John chapter 10, picking up with verse 22. It says, "At that time the Hanukkah," Or
the Feast of Dedication. "came to be in Jerusalem," And it was winter. "and Yeshua
was walking in the Set-apart Place in the porch of Shelomoh." Or Solomon. So
this would have been a great time for Him to speak out against the Feast of
Dedication if that was His desire, if that was His concern. There are people
today that really are speaking out against the Feast of Dedication and
they're saying it's not biblical, and they're saying it's just traditional
and the like. Well, Yeshua had an opportunity right
here to take up their concerns and say, why are you here celebrating this feast,
it's not biblical, it's just traditional it's just based on legend and all
of that, you need to stop celebrating the Feast of Dedication, is that what He's
talking about here? Not at all. Look at verse 24.
"So the yet who deemed surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do you keep us in
suspense? If you are the Messiah," If you are the conquering King who will deliver
us from the tyranny of Rome. "say to us plainly." See they're implying, are you the
Messiah? Are you like a Maccabee? Are you going to
deliver us from the tyranny of Rome like the Maccabees did the tyranny of the
Greeks? That's the backdrop to this whole conversation. "Yeshua answered them, "I have
told you and you do not believe the works that I do in my Father's Name, they
bear witness concerning me but you do not believe because you are not of my
sheep, as I said to you." In other words, you don't hear my voice and follow me,
you don't follow my leadership, you're not my sheep. My sheep hear my
voice like a commander who gives who gives the command in battle. "My sheep
hear my voice and I know them and they follow me. And I give them everlasting
life and they shall by no means ever perish and no one shall snatch them out
of my hands." In other words, no force of power has the ability to snatch my
followers out of my hands. I am the ultimate deliverer from tyranny.
So He's declaring Himself Messiah, this is the opportunity that He used to
declare His Messiahship. Now let's go to 2nd Thessalonians chapter 2, pick up with
verse 3. This is the passage that I've spoken of already. Sha'ul spoke of the
same end-time events that Daniel and Yeshua spoke
of, we're talking about is Hanukkah biblical? Is it biblical? Second
Thessalonians chapter 2 verse 3 "Let no one deceive you in any way because the
falling away is to come first," The falling away. See many who consider
themselves believers will be deceived and embrace doctrines of demons in this
day. There's going to be a falling away of those who call themselves believers
in the same way that there were Israelites who embraced hellenization
they embraced paganism, they wanted to offer the sacrifices. They thought it was
an easier way, let's be like the Gentiles so we won't be persecuted by the
Gentiles, and what has happened in the past is going to happen again.They're
going to be people in what's called the body of Messiah or the church who are
going to prefer the ways of anti-messiah, they're going to prefer the ideas put
forth by the one-world religion and they're going to walk away from the true
belief, they're gonna walk away from Torah and from Scripture and
they're going to embrace doctrines of demons. There's going to be a falling
away in the days ahead and by the way, the mystery of lawlessness is already in
effect and you can already see if you're paying attention, if your eyes are open,
you can already see how organized religion is moving in that direction.
Organized religion is becoming more and more lawless. Organized religion has
abolished the Torah. Organized religion is moving away from the
principles of Scripture and coming up with their own ideas, they have preachers
that are preaching messages that are tickling their ears. They're raising up
preachers that will give them what they want to hear. I tell the people I don't
know what you want to hear but I know what you need to hear you need to hear,
the truth and love. Amen. Hallelujah. Well go ahead and rejoice. So Sha'ul saying, "Let no one deceive
you in any way because the falling away is to come first
and the man of lawlessness, the anti-messiah,
is to be revealed," So Antiochus was the man of lawlessness, he was anti-Torah, he
was anti-obedience, he was anti-Sabbath and anti-feasts, he burned Torah scrolls,
he defiled the temple, he was the anti- Messiah, so to speak, of his days. It says,
"and the men of lawlessness." Isn't that interesting? That the anti-messiah is
known as the lawless one and Yeshua is known as the Righteous One. So I see two
camps in the world, I see the camp of the lawless and I see the camp of the
righteous or the obedient. Which camp do you want to be in? The mystery of
lawlessness is already in effect, the line has already been drawn in the sand
and people are deciding which camp they want to be in. Do they want to walk in
lawlessness or do they want to walk in righteousness, which is obedience to the
scripture. It says, "the man of lawlessness is to be revealed, the son of destruction,"
Again, this is Daniel chapter 11 verses 36 through 39. Sha'ul is just quoting
these things. "who opposes and exalts himself above all that is called Elohim
or that is worshipped," Did we not just read that out of Daniel? We read the same
words out of Daniel. "so that he sits as Elohim in the dwelling place of Elohim
showing himself that he is Elohim." Now, this is all futuristic, this is not
Sha'ul talking about what happened in the past, Sha'ul understood what
happened in the past, he knows what Daniel prophesied and he
knows the exact same things are going to happen again. There's going to be a
falling away of those who call themselves believers. There's going to be
the revealing of the man of lawlessness. Amen? He's going to come in power, power
of the dark world, empowered by hasatan himself, he's going to deceive many,
he's going to erect a statue of himself in the most Set-apart Place and demand
to be worshipped, he's going to exalt himself as Elohim. The same things that
happened with Antiochus are going to happen with the anit-messiah in the future.
It's why it's important to understand what this festival is all about and I
would say those who are trying to demean it don't understand that they're
actually doing the bidding of hasatan by keeping people in darkness. Verse 5 "Do
you not remember that I told you this while I was still with you?" So He told
them all of this when He was with them in person. Verse 6 "And now you know what
restrains." All right so, what restrains? We just read it, the Messiah cannot come
until the anti-messiah is revealed. The anti-messiah cannot be revealed until
what happens? The falling away. So what is this talking about when it's talking
about what restrains? It's talking about here the falling away, the falling away
must come first. "for him," Let's continue in the verse. "the anti-messiah to be
revealed in his time." So the falling away must come first
so that anti-messiah can be revealed in his time. Verse 7 "For the secret of
lawlessness is already at work, the mysterious power of evil is already at
work bringing these things to pass, only until he who now restrains," Again, Messiah
cannot come until the anti-messiah is revealed. He who now restrains is the
anti-messiah. "only until he who now restraints comes out of the midst,"
In other words, emerges from the midst of the people in fulfillment of prophetic
scripture, he comes up from the masses, he comes up out of the midst of the people.
Verse 8, and then when he comes up out of the midst of the people, the lawless one
shall be revealed. In other words, everyone will see him, when he comes up
out of the midst of the people after the falling away, he's going to be revealed
and everybody's going to see him, and when he's revealed, then Messiah can come,
then Messiah is going to appear and notice what it says. "and then the lawless
one shall be revealed whom the Master," Talking about Yeshua. "shall consume with the
spirit of His mouth," So this is Sha'ul quoting Isaiah 11 verse 4. "and bring to
naught," He's going to bring the anit-messiah to naught. "with the manifestation of
His coming." So the Maccabees are a type of Yeshua
and they were manifest so to speak to destroy the works of Antiochus, and to
restore the temple, relight the menorah, rededicate the altar, start the daily
sacrifices again. Amen. And Yeshua is going to come and He is going to consume
the anit-messiah with the Spirit of His mouth, with the breath of His
mouth, with His words and bring to naught the anit-messiah with the manifest
station of His coming. So, we see again that Sha'ul who is preaching the same thing
that Daniel preached, he prophesied and wrote in his book. He's
preaching the same thing that Yeshua taught his disciples about the end-times.
So again, we have all of these powerful, biblical figures who are
preaching these truths. So let me take just a moment and talk about tradition
and legend because that's what some people want to emphasize and want to
want to make Hanukkah all about. Well, that's just tradition and it's just, you
know, based on legend. So the reality is, the story of the oil lasting eight day
is written in the Talmud and it was written hundreds of years after the
event and it cannot be proved, you may call it a legend, and
many believe it was written to explain why Hanukkah is an eight-day feast
well in reality, from a more practical perspective, they had missed Sukkot. Antiochus and his forces were still in
the temple, they had missed Sukkot, they wanted to celebrate Sukkot but they
couldn't and when they liberated the temple, drove these Greek forces out, and
then they rededicated the temple, relit the menorah, then they determined that
they would make Haukkah the Feast of Dedication an eight-day celebration so
that they could celebrate a feast like Sukkot at that time. I know the story of
the oil lasting eight days, you know, there wasn't enough oil, they only had
enough for one day and yet, they went ahead and lit the menorah and the oil
lasted for eight days and that's why Hanukkah is an eight day celebration. It's an it's a nice story, but it's not biblical and it's considered legend
by many. Now the Hanukkiah, which is a nine branch
menorah, you've got the servant branch in the
middle which is up higher and then you've got four on either side. It's a
means by which you can keep track of the days. You light, the servant candle
and the first candle, the first night and then you add a candle every night until
you've completed the whole Hanukkiah. Okay? There is no Hanukkiah in the Bible,
it's tradition, not every tradition is bad traditions that run contrary to
Scripture are bad. You don't want to participate in those,
but I would say if you allow those things to keep you from understanding
the biblical truth of what it's all about then the forces of darkness have
had their way in your life. So quickly, we still have a bit of time here. I want to
touch on the important themes of Hanukkah. Hanukkah is a Hebrew word that
means dedication. It's the rededication of the temple, it's
the lighting of the menorah again, establishing the light of Elohim in a
dark world, that's why also it's been called the Festival of Lights.
So what are some of the important themes of Chanukah? The first, I think it's one
of the most important, if not the most important themes of Chanukah, is no mixed
worship, no mixed worship. What I mean by that, let's go to Leviticus chapter 18
starting with verse 2. It says, "Speak to the children of Israel and say to them, "I
am your Elohim. Do not do as they do in the land of Mitzrayim where you dwelt." In
other words, when I bring you out of Egypt, don't bring Egypt. With you leave
Egypt in Egypt. Don't bring the worship practices of
Egypt with you. "and do not do as they do in the land of Kena'an where I
am bringing you and do not walk in their ways." So they were pagan and He's saying,
when I bring you into their land then don't take up their ways don't take up
the pagan ways, no mixed worship. So how are we supposed to worship Him? Look at
verse 4. "do my right-rulings and guard my laws to walk in them. I am Yahweh Elohim
and you shall guard my laws and my right- rulings which a man does and lives by
them. I am YAH." So the worship the Almighty wants from us is a worship
that's defined by Torah, it's defined by the scripture. He does not want a mixed
form of worship. In other words, you don't get to worship Elohim
in truth according to the Torah and drag in all your pagan symbols and traditions
and practices and Roman-rooted holidays. Come on, say amen somebody. No mixed
worship. That is a main theme of Chanukah.
Deuteronomy chapter 12 picking up with verse 29. "and when YAH your Elohim does
cut off from before you the nations which you go to dispossess and you dispossess them and dwell in their land guard yourself that you are not in snare
to follow them after they are destroyed from before you," Don't do like they do.
"and that you do not inquire about their mighty ones saying, how did these nations
serve their mighty ones and let me do so too. Do not do so to YAH your Elohim
for every abomination which YAH hates they have done to their mighty ones. For
they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their mighty ones," And so,
this is not the Almighty saying, although He does say this in other places, this is
not Him saying, don't worship their mighty ones, their are false deities. He's
saying, don't inquire of them how they worship their false deities and worship
me in the same manner. Now that's really, really important. Don't say, well that
doesn't mean that to me. I know it's pagan, this symbol is pagan, this
day is pagan, but it doesn't mean that to me. It doesn't matter what you think, the
Almighty is not asking your opinion. Amen? It's what He says and He says don't
worship me in the manner, in the same ways, with the same days and the same
symbols and the same practices as the pagans. In other words, my worship is
defined by Torah. Deuteronomy chapter 18 starting with verse 9. "When
you come into the land which YAH your Elohim is giving you do not learn to do
according to the abominations of those nations.
Let no one be found among you who makes his son or his daughter pass to the fire,
or one who practices divination, or a user of magic, or one who interprets
omens, or a sorcerer, or one who conjures spells, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one
who calls up the dead for whoever does these is an abomination to you and
because of these abominations YAH your Elohim drives them out from before you."
Don't do that because these are the reasons why they're being driven out. If
you do the same, then you deserve to be driven out yourself. Amen? 4:13 "Be perfect before YAH your Elohim,"
That means be obedient for these nations. "whom you are possessing do listen to
those using magic and to diviners but as for you, YAH your Elohim has not appointed
such for you," Can he get any clearer? How can we be so confused about this? How can
what's called "the church" be so confused about this? Well, we've Christianized it.
We waved the sign of the cross over it and what was pagan and what the Almighty
called an abomination and what He hated now He loves because we've Christianized
it. The reason you say that is because you don't have an understanding of Torah
and when you don't have an understanding of Torah, when you get into what's called
the New Testament and you get to certain passages and you can't figure them out,
you end up doing what making stuff up and that's what religion has done for
the past 2,000 years, made up a lot of stuff. You can't Christianize an
abomination. You cannot Christianize an abomination,
so find out what He hated then He still hates it today. Can you say amen? Jeremiah
chapter 10 verse 2 "Thus said YAH, "Do not learn the way of the nations and do not
be awed by the signs of the heavens for the nations are awed by them," So don't
worship the heavenly bodies, don't learn the way of the nations. Now, you think
well all of those are what's called Old Testament passages, we
don't read any of that in the New Testament. Well you're not paying
attention if that's what you're saying. Ephesians chapter 4 picking up
with verse 17. "so this I say and witness in the Master that you should no longer
walk as the nations walk, in the futility of their mind, having been
darkened in their understanding, having been estranged from the life of Elohim
because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart
who having become callous have given themselves up to indecency to work all
uncleanness with greediness." So what is Sha'ul will doing here? He's simply quoting
Torah, he's boiling down all of these wonderful passages that we've read and
others, and he's telling those who were former Gentiles that they're to no
longer walk as the nations. He told his people originally don't learn the ways
of the nations, then when the Good News came to the nations then his charge was
to no longer walk as the nations walk.
So he's even telling the Gentiles, you got to come out of all that pagan stuff.
Amen? And these days, we have to keep in mind that the capital or the heart of
what's called Christianity is Rome, and there's so many Roman-rooted things. You
say, I'm an evangelical, I'm not a Catholic. Yeah, but why are you worshiping
on Sunday, the day of the Sun? How come you're keeping all the pagan holidays
and not keeping the biblical feasts? See, this is a charge that good sincere truth
loving Christians need to take very dear to heart. "that you should no
longer walk as the nations walk in the futility of your mind," In other words,
you've lost your mind. "having been darkened in their
understanding," You don't understand. "having been estranged from the life of
Elohim," You can't do those things and expect to be in the life of Elohim.
"because of the ignorance that's in them," Many of them are sincere but they can be
sincerely wrong about a lot of things. "because of the hardness of their heart,"
They won't repent, even when they're told the truth, oftentimes. "who having become
callous," That's hard. "having given themselves up to indecency to work all
uncleanness with greediness." That's Sha'ul, that's the Apostle Paul in
what's called the New Testament. And then let's look at first Peter chapter four
starting with verse 3. It says, "For we have spent enough of our past lifetime
in doing the desire of the nations," Living like the nations. "having walked in
indecencies, lusts, drunkenness, orgies, wild, parties, and abominable idolatries
in which they are surprised that you do not run with them in the same flood of
loose behavior, blaspheming, who shall give an account to Him who is ready to
judge the living and the dead." And you know, they are usually very surprised
that you won't do what they do. They're very surprised that you embraced the
bible feasts and don't continue in the Roman holidays. They're very surprised
that you don't use the Sabbath as a play day because that's what the world does,
it plays on the Sabbath. It does all its fun stuff it does, all it's catching up,
it does all its commerce on Friday night, they go out to eat, right, and they're
surprised that you don't. So these verses in what's called the New
Testament really come to light when you understand these things. And then I have
two more - one is, don't be unequally yoked. That's a principle of Hanukkah and I'm
gonna read through this second Corinthians chapters
six beginning with verse 14. "Do not become unevenly yoked with unbelievers,"
In other words, people that don't believe the bible. You know, you can call yourself
a Christian and not believe the bible? And so there are some people
in religion that you're not supposed to be yoked up with. "for what partnership
has righteousness," That simply means obedience, what partnership, has obedience
with lawlessness, with disobedience? How are you going to be a partner with
somebody that doesn't want to obey? "and what fellowship has light with darkness
and what agreement has Messiah with Beliya'al? Or what part does a believer
have with an unbeliever?" The answer to all these is none. "and what union has the
dwelling place of Elohim with idols?" That's what Hanukkah was all about. I
mean, Antiochus brought in a statue of Zeus, he defiled the temple, he brought in
idolatries, the anti-messiah will do the same thing. "what union has the dwelling
place of the temple of Elohim with idols?" It doesn't. "for you are a dwelling place
of the Living Elohim as Elohim has said, "I shall dwell in them and walk among
them and I shall be their Elohim and they shall be my people. Therefore come out from among them and be separate," Says YAH" Holy means to
be separate, to be separated, set-apart. "come out from among them and be separate
and do not touch what is unclean and I shall receive you." That's a quotation of
Isaiah 52 verse 11. "And I shall be a Father to you and you shall be sons and
daughters to me," Says YAH the Almighty." And this is Sha'ul in 2nd Corinthians
chapter 6 verses 14 through 18, what's called the New Testament, telling people
that they need to come out from the midst of the nations and don't touch
what is unclean. And then, finally love the truth and don't be
deceived. That's a strong principle of Hannukah.
Love the truth and don't be deceived. Second Thessalonians chapter 2 beginning
with verse 9. "The coming of the lawless one," Remember, there's two camps? "is
according to the working of Satan or Hasatan," Again, the lawless one is
empowered by Satan so it's not just something that's happening on the earth,
it's something that's happening in the heavenlies as well, just like Daniel
prophesied concerning Antiochus. The anti- messiah is according to the working of
Satan with a little bit of power? Is that what it says? Some power? "all power and signs
and wonders of falsehood," So the anti-messiah is going to have a lot of power,
he's going to be able to perform signs and wonders of falsehood. If you're a
person in religion and you're just a shallow individual and you haven't
developed a deep, personal, intimate relationship with the Set-apart Spirit
and you're not a person of the Word, you're going to hear the words of anit-
messiah and you're gonna think - man, that guy is speaking the truth. You're gonna
see the signs and the wonders, you're gonna see this guy do what no one's been
able to do, no president's been able to do, no kings been able to do and that's to
forge a peace that would allow Israel to rebuild their temple and start their
daily sacrifices again. When that happens, everybody's going to praise this person
and he's going to be praised as a peacemaker. They probably will give him
the Nobel Peace Prize and then they're gonna be crying out, what peace and
safety, peace and safety, but he's empowered by hasatan and he's doing
signs and wonders of falsehood and if you're not a person who's developed a
relationship with the spirit of truth and if you're not a person in the Word
you will be deceived. I'm not even going to say it's a possibility, you will be
deceived. You in the arm of your own strength you are not a force that can
reckon with hasatan. In the arm of your own strength,
you must be filled with a Set-apart Spirit. Verse 10 "and with all deceit of
unrighteousness," All right what does that mean?
Or deceptiveness that leads to unrighteousness. So let me read it all
together. "and the coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan
with all power and signs and wonders of falsehood and with all deceit of
unrighteousness," In other words, deceptiveness that leads to
unrighteousness in those perishing. Why are they perishing? Because they did not
receive the love of the truth in order for them to be saved. Now, quit thinking
on a superficial level, when you hear that you think they were
deceived and they didn't walk on out and repeat a prayer to get saved, that's not
what that's talking about. They didn't receive the love of the truth in order
for them to be saved from the deception. You have to have a love of the truth to
be saved from the deception. If you don't have a love of the truth I'm not talking
about somebody that hugs and kisses their bible and says, this is my bible
and I love it, I'm talking about your bible is so worn out you can hardly read
it because you've meditated on it over, and over, and over, and over, again and
you're full of the Word. When Hasatan came against Yeshua in the wilderness
and he tried Him - the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, the pride of life.
What did He do? How did He overcome? Okay, we like to say He quoted the Word and
that's a true answer but He actually quoted the Tanakh. Go back and
read what He quoted. The, what's called the New Testament hadn't been written so
there is devil defeating power in the Tanakh. Man shall not live by bread alone
comes from where? The Torah. All right so, there's devil defeating power in the
Torah. Now what do you do to yourself if you abolish the Torah? You've lost your power, amen. It's so
whether you say amen or not. "because they did not receive the love of the truth in
order for them to be saved." Implying, saved from the deception. "And
for this reason because they did not have a love of the truth Elohim sends
them a working of delusion for them to believe the falsehood," Now if it's not
enough for you to be deceived by the anti-messiah who's empowered by Hasatan
if you don't love the truth, the Almighty is going to turn you over to the
falsehood. This says He's going to send a working of delusion. I mean, you're going
to be so confused that you will believe the falsehood. Because they didn't love
the truth, Elohim gives them over to the falsehood. You say, is that possible? Well
go back and read the beginning chapters of Romans and you'll see that
progression of sin. They didn't acknowledge Him as Creator, they didn't
want to have anything to do with Him and His Word. What He do? He turned them
over and you read the progression or you could say the
fact that they devolved down into a pit of sin and transgression. "for this reason Elohim sends them a
working of delusion for them to believe the falsehood in order that all should
be judged who did not believe the truth but have delighted in unrighteousness."
And then look at 2nd Peter 3:17, this will be the last passage verses 17 and
18. "You then beloved ones being forewarned watch less you also fall from
your own steadfastness," You don't want to be apart of that great falling away, isn't
that right? That's coming, the great falling away. You don't want to fall from
your own steadfastness. "being led away with the delusion of the lawless." So
there is a delusion that those who believe there is no law have. It's the
delusion of the lawless and you don't want to be led away with the delusion of
the lawless. You don't want to think there's no law of Elohim. What does it
say in the book of Revelation, on a couple of occasions, that the end time
believers will be those who obey the commandments of Elohim and possess
belief in Yeshua Messiah. It's not one or the other, it's both. Religion is what
makes lawlessness, when religion abolished is the Torah it produces an
environment of lawlessness, but don't be led away with the delusion of the
lawless. Look at verse 18 "but grow in the favour and knowledge of our Master and
Savior Messiah, to Him be the esteem both now and
to a day that abides, amen." That's a good way to stop today. It's interesting that Peter is saying, don't be led away with the delusion of the lawless, in
other words, obey the commandments, but then in the next verse he says grow in
the favor, your bible may say "the grace" and never has been law versus grace. It's
always been law and grace. Grace gives you what's necessary for you to be
obedient, it's grace that provides the indwelling Set-apart Spirit who gives
you the want to obey and the power to obey. Noah found favor in the
eyes of the Almighty but it wasn't the grace that saved him, it was the fact that
he built the ark and obedience to Elohim. So you have grace and obedience
working together for salvation. Hallelujah.
