He rescued us from the domain of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son whom He loves. Colossians 1:13, TLV
Light of the World. “The kingdom of the Son whom He loves.” Don’t you just love that? The Father gave His Son a kingdom. And only the Father’s redeemed children may enter. Jesus is the Light of the world, but He is also its ruler, now. All who are in His Light abide in a kingdom rescued from the domain of darkness.
Yeshua spoke to them again, saying, “I am the light of the world. The one who follows Me will no longer walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” John 8:12, TLV
For those of us who celebrate the memorial, Hanukkah, we will light our first candle on the Hanukkah menorah (Hanukkiah) the evening of December 17th. Hanukkah is Hebrew for dedication — as in the re-dedication of the Temple to the LORD.*
A little history
Seleucid Greek King Antiochus had conquered Israel and wanted to assimilate the Jewish people into the Greek pagan culture by forbidding anyone from following GOD’s Law (Torah). Antiochus’ people defiled the Temple with pagan, unclean rituals. Those who disobeyed Antiochus were killed.
The miracle was the Maccabees, a small army of rebels in Israel, who revolted against the great army of Antiochus, and won. Which was impossible were it not for our LORD.
The Hanukkah story continues with the story that once the Jewish people regained control of the Temple and cleaned it up, they needed to relight the Temple Menorah to re-dedicate the Temple to the worship of the only true GOD. However, the priests only had enough oil for one day. According to legend, the miracle that happened there was the oil lasted eight days — enough time for the Levites to make more of the pure olive oil needed.
Our Hanukkah to Celebrate the Light of the World
The wonderful thing is we whether we celebrate Hanukkah or not, we can re-dedicate our “temple” (1 Corinthians 6:19) to our Father. Allowing the Holy Spirit to light any darkness so that we can clean out the uncleanness in us from the world. As our Father’s redeemed children we can abide in the Light of His Son.
*Yeshua celebrated Hanukkah. He entered the Temple on Hanukkah where he had a profound argument with the priests (John 10:22-39).
