Hanukkah
and the Birth of Jesus Christ, What Do They Have in Common?
Part I: Some Essential Background
Information
Background history
for the Festival of Lights, taken out of Josephus' "Antiquities of the
Jews", (translated by William Whisten, Kregel Publications,
pp. 256-257, 258-262.)
2.
Now Antiochus [Epiphanes IV], upon the agreeable situation of the affairs
of his kingdom, resolved to make an expedition against Egypt, both because
he had a desire to gain it, and because he contemned the son of Ptolemy, as
now weak, and not yet of abilities to manage affairs of such consequence;
so he came with great forces to Pelusium, and circumvented Ptolemy Philometer
by treachery, and seized Egypt. He
then came to the places about
Now
here is where we can get a real historic picture of just how evil this Antiochus
was. The Bible often uses a prior historic
type to represent a future coming event, and Antiochus is just such a fore-type.
The famous secular historian Santayana is often quoted as saying "He
who forgets the lessons of history is doomed to relive them."
We'd be wise to take note of this guy, as we live in such perilous
times with the world filled with weapons of mass destruction and mad dictators
with itchy trigger fingers. And when
we see a temple being built in
"3. King Antiochus [Epiphanes] returning
out of Egypt [Hereabout Josephus begins to follow the first book of the Maccabees],
for fear of the Romans, made an expedition against the city of Jerusalem;
and when he was there, in the hundred and forty-third year of the kingdom
of the Seleucidae, he took the city without fighting, those of his own party
opening the gates to him. And when
he had gotten possession of
4.
Now it came to pass,
after two years, in the hundred and forty-fifth year, on the twenty-fifth
day of that month which is by us called Chasleu…that the king came up to Jerusalem, and, pretending peace, he got possession
of the city by treachery: at which
time he spared not so much as those that admitted him into it, on account
of the riches that lay in the temple; but, led by his covetous inclination,
(for he saw there was in it a great deal of gold, and many ornaments that
had been dedicated to it of very great value,) and in order to plunder its
wealth, he ventured to break the league he had made.
So he left the temple bare, and took away the golden candlesticks,
and the golden altar [of incense], and table [of shewbread,] and the altar
[of burnt-offering;] and did not abstain from even the veils, which were made
of fine linen and scarlet. He also
emptied it of its secret treasures, and left nothing at all remaining; and
by this means cast the Jews into great lamentation, for he forbade them to offer to God, according to the law. And when
he had pillaged the whole city, some of the inhabitants he slew, and
some he carried captive, together with their wives and children, so that the
multitude of those captives that were taken alive amounted to about ten thousand.
He also burnt down the finest buildings; and when he had overthrown
the city walls, he built a citadel in the lower part of the city [this citadel
seems to have been a castle built on a hill, lower than mount Zion, though
upon its skirts, and higher than mount Moriah, but between them both…], for
the place was high, and overlooked the temple on which account he fortified
it with high walls and towers, and put into it a garrison of Macedonians.
However, in that citadel dwelt the impious and wicked part of the [Jewish]
multitude, from whom it proved that the citizens suffered many and sore calamities. And when
the king had built an altar upon God's altar, he slew swine upon it, and so
offered a sacrifice neither according to the law, nor the Jewish religious
worship in that country. He also compelled
them to forsake the worship which they paid their God, and to adore those
whom he took to be gods; and made them build temples, and raise idol altars,
in every city and village, and offer swine upon them every day. He also commanded them not to circumcise their
sons, and threatened to punish any that should be found to have transgressed
his injunction. He also appointed
overseers, who should compel them to do what he commanded. And indeed many Jews there were who complied
with the kings commands, either voluntarily, or out of fear of the penalty
that was denounced: but the best men, and those of the noblest souls, did
not regard him, but did pay a greater respect to the customs of their country
than concern as to the punishment which he threatened to the disobedient;
on which account they every day underwent great miseries and bitter torments;
for they were whipped with rods, and their bodies were torn to pieces, and
crucified while they were still alive and breathed: they also strangled those
women and their sons whom they had circumcised, as the king had appointed,
hanging their sons about their necks as they were upon the crosses. And if there were any sacred book of the law
found, it was destroyed; and those with whom they were found, miserably perished
also.
5.
When the Samaritans
saw the Jews under these sufferings, they no longer confessed they were of
their kindred…" Is that any wonder?
Also if you look at history in II
Kings 17:5-6, 24, Assyria in 721BC took all of Samaria captive and replaced
the population with other races, deporting the ten tribes of Israel to the
Caspian Sea region, never to return. So these Samaritans were a pretender race that
wasn't really related to any of the 12 sons of Joseph, the 12 tribes of
Now
let’s go back to Antiochus Epiphanes IV, where we see here, the temple has
been polluted with swine's blood. How
is the Messiah going to come to the temple, and go through all the ceremonies
prescribed by the law of Moses for a Jewish newborn male child? Think, if Jesus, Yeshua, didn't go through this,
he would have been disqualified as the Messiah and his death couldn't have
paid for the sins of the world. Yeshua,
Jesus, was totally sinless throughout his life, from the very beginning to
the very end. Here we see Antiochus
being used by Satan to try to thwart God's plan of salvation for the world.
What follows is truly miraculous, for Antiochus's army was huge and
powerful when compared to the forces Judas Maccabeus commanded.
Chapter
VI
1.
Now at this time there
was one whose name was Mattathias, who dwelt at Modin, the son of John, the
son of Simeon, the son of Asamoneus, a priest of the order of Joarib, and
a citizen of
This Mattathias and
his sons were really something, one courageous bunch of guys, as you'll read
here. Like father, like son, they were.
2.
"But when those
that were appointed by the king were come to Modin, that they might compel
the Jews to do what they were commanded, and to enjoin those that were there
to offer sacrifice, as the king had commanded, they desired that Mattathias,
a person of the greatest character among them, both on other accounts, and
particularly on account of such numerous and so deserving a family of children,
would begin the sacrifice, because his fellow-citizens would follow his example,
and because such a procedure would make him honoured by the king. But Mattathias said that he would not do it;
and that if all the other nations would obey the commands of Antiochus, either
out of fear, or to please him, yet would not he nor his sons leave the religious
worship of their country; but as soon as he had ended his speech, there came
one of the Jews into the midst of them, and sacrificed as Antiochus commanded
[probably swine]. At which Mattathias
had great indignation, and ran upon him violently with his sons, who had swords
with them, and slew both the man himself that sacrificed, and Appelles the
king's general, who compelled them to sacrifice, with a few of his soldiers.
He also overthrew the idol altar, and cried out, "If," said
he, "any one be zealous for the laws of his country, and for the worship
of God, let him follow me;" and when he had said this, he made haste into
the desert with his sons, and left all his substance in the village. Many others did the same also, and fled with
their children and wives into the desert and dwelt in caves; but when the
king's generals heard this, they took all the forces they then had in the
citadel of Jerusalem, and pursued the Jews into the desert; and when they
had overtaken them, they in the first place endeavoured to persuade them to
repent, and to chose what was most for their advantage, and not put them to
the necessity of using them according to the law of war; but when they would
not comply with their persuasions, but continued to be of a different mind,
they fought against them on the Sabbath-day, and they burnt them as they were
in the caves, without resistance, and without so much as stopping up the entrances
of the caves. And they avoided to defend
themselves on that day, because they were not willing to break in upon the
honour they owed the Sabbath, even in such distresses; for our law requires
that we rest upon that day. There were
about a thousand, with their wives and children, who were smothered and died
in these caves: but many of those that escaped joined themselves to Mattathias,
and appointed him to be their ruler, who
taught them to fight even on the Sabbath-day; and told them that unless they
would do so, they would become their own enemies, by observing the law [so
rigorously,] while their adversaries would still assault them on this day,
and they would not then defend themselves; and that nothing could then hinder
but they must all perish without fighting.
This speech persuaded them; and this rule continues among us to this
day, that if there be a necessity, we may fight on Sabbath-days. [And Orthodox Israeli soldiers could be seen
fighting alongside their non-Orthodox brothers-in-arms during the Israeli
war of independence in 1948, observing this same rule laid down by Mattathias.]
So Mattathias got a great army about him, and overthrew their idol
altars, and slew those that broke the laws, even all that he could get under
his power; for many of them were dispersed among the nations round about them
for fear of him. He also commanded that those boys who were not
yet circumcised should be circumcised now; and he drove those away that were
appointed to hinder such their circumcision.
3.
But when he had ruled
one year, and was fallen into a distemper, he called for his sons, and set
them round about him, and said, "O my sons, I am going the way of all
the earth; and I recommend to you my resolution, and beseech you not to be
negligent in keeping it, but to be mindful of the desires of him who begat
you, and brought you up, and to preserve the customs of your country, and
to recover your ancient form of government, which is in danger of being overturned,
and not to be carried away with those that, either by their own inclination,
or out of necessity, betray it, but to become such sons as are worthy of me;
to be above all force and necessity, and so to dispose your souls, as to be
ready, when it shall be necessary, to die for your laws; as sensible of this,
by just reasoning, that if God see that your are so disposed he will not overlook you, but will have a great value
for your virtue, and will restore to you again what you have lost, and will
return to you that freedom in which you shall live quietly, and enjoy your
own customs. Your bodies are mortal,
and subject to fate; but they receive a sort of immortality, by the remembrance
of what actions they have done; and I would have you so in love with this
immortality, that you may pursue after glory, and that, when you have undergone
the greatest difficulties, you may not scruple, for such things, to lose your
lives. I exhort you especially to agree
one with another; and in what excellency any one of your exceeds another,
to yield to him so far, and by that means to reap the advantage of every one's
own virtues. Do you then esteem Simon
as your father, because he is a man of extraordinary prudence, and be governed
by him in what counsels he gives you. Take Maccabeus for the general of your army,
because of his courage and strength, for he will avenge your nation, and will
bring vengeance on your enemies. Admit
among you the righteous and religious, and augment their power."
4.
When Mattathias had
thus discoursed to his sons, and had prayed to God to be their assistant,
and to recover to the people their former constitution, he died a little afterward,
and was buried at Modin; all the people making great lamentation for him. Whereupon
his son Judas took upon him the administration of public affairs, in the hundred
and forty-sixth year; and thus, buy the ready assistance of his brethren
and of others, Judas cast their enemies out of the country, and put those
of their own country to death who had transgressed its laws, and purified
the land of all the pollution’s that were in it.
CHAPTER
VII
HOW JUDAS OVERTHREW THE FORCES OF APOLLONIUS
AND SERON, AND KILLED THE GENERALS OF THEIR ARMIES THEMSELVES; AND HOW WHEN,
A LITTLE WHILE AFTERWARD, LYSIAS AND GORGIAS WERE BEATEN, HE WENT UP TO
1.
When Apollonius, the
general of the Samaritan forces, heard this, he took his army, and made haste
to go against Judas, who met him, and joined battle with him, and beat him,
and slew many of his men, and among them Apollonius himself, their general,
whose sword, being that which he happened then to wear, he seized upon and
kept for himself; but he wounded more than he slew, and took a great deal
of prey from the enemy's camp, and went his way; but when Seron, who was general
of the army of Caelesyria, heard that many had joined themselves to Judas,
and that he had about him an army sufficient for fighting and for making war,
he determined to make an expedition against him, as thinking it became him
to endeavor to punish those that transgressed the king's [Antiochus's] injunctions. He then got together an army, as large as he
was able, and joined to it the runagate and wicked Jews, and came against
Judas. He then came as far as Bethoron,
a village of Judea, and there pitched his camp; upon which Judas met him,
and when he intended to give him battle, he saw that his [own] soldiers were
backward to fight, because their number was small, and because they wanted
food, for they were fasting, he encouraged them, and said to them, that victory
and conquest of enemies are not derived from the multitude in armies, but
in the exercise of piety towards God; and that they had the plainest instances
in their forefathers, who, by their righteousness, and exerting themselves
on behalf of their own laws, and their own children, had frequently conquered
many ten thousands,--for innocence is the strongest army. By this speech he induced his men to contemn
the multitude of the enemy, and to fall upon Seron; and upon joining the battle
with him, he beat the Syrians; and when their general fell among the rest,
they all ran away with speed, as thinking that to be their best way of escaping.
So he pursued them unto the plain, and slew about eight hundred of
the enemy; but the rest escaped to the region which lay near to the sea.
2.
When king Antiochus
heard of these things, he was very angry at what had happened; so he got together
all his own army, with many mercenaries, whom he had hired from the islands,
and took them with him, and prepared to break into Judea about the beginning
of the spring; but when, upon his mustering his soldiers, he perceived that
his treasures were deficient, and there was want of money in them, for all
the taxes were not paid, by reason of the sedition’s there had been among
the nations, he having been so magnanimous and so liberal that what he had
was not sufficient for him, he therefore resolved first to go into Persia,
and collect the taxes of that country. Hereupon
he left one whose name was Lysias, who was in great repute with him, governor
of the kingdom, as far as the bounds of Egypt, and of the Lower Asia, and
reaching from the river Euphrates, and committed to him a certain part of
his forces, and of his elephants, and charged him to bring up his son Antiochus
with all possible care, until he came back; and that he should conquer Judea,
and take its inhabitants for slaves, and utterly destroy Jerusalem, and abolish
the whole nation; and when king Antiochus had given these things in charge
of Lysias, he went into Persia; and in the hundred and forty-seventh year,
he passed over Euphrates, and went to the superior provinces.
3.
Upon this Lysias chose
Ptolemy, the son of Dorimenes, and Nicanor, and Gorgas, very potent men among
the king's friends, and delivered to them forty thousand foots-soldiers and
seven thousand horsemen, and sent them against Judea, who came as far as the
city of
4.
And this was the speech
which Judas made to encourage them. But
when the enemy sent Gorgias, with five thousand foot and one thousand horse,
that he might fall upon Judas by night, and had for that purpose certain of
the runagate Jews as guides, the son of Mattathias perceived it, and resolved
to fall upon those enemies that were in their camp, now their forces were
divided. When they had therefore supped
in good time, and had left many fires in their camp, he marched all night
to those enemies that were at Emmaus; so that when Gorgias found no enemy
in their camp, but suspected that they were retired and hidden themselves
among the mountains, he resolved to go and seek them wheresoever they were.
But, about break of day, Judas appeared to those enemies that were
at Emmaus, with only three thousand men, and those ill-armed, by reason of
their poverty; and when he saw the enemy very well and skillfully fortified
in their camp, he encouraged the Jews, and told them, that they ought to fight,
though it were with their naked bodies, for that God had sometimes of old
given such men strength, and that against such as were more in number, and
were armed also, out of regard to their great courage.
So he commanded the trumpeters to sound for the battle: and by thus
falling upon the enemy when they did not expect it, and thereby astonishing
and disturbing their minds, he slew many of those that resisted him, and went
on pursuing the rest as far as Gadara, and the plains of Idumea, and Ashdod,
and Jamnia; and of these there fell about three thousand.
Yet did Judas exhort his soldiers not to be too desirous of the spoils,
for that still they must have a contest and battle with Gorgias, and the forces
that were with him: but that, when they had once overcome them, then they
might securely plunder the camp because they were the only enemies remaining,
and they expected no others. And just as he was speaking to his soldiers,
Gorgias's men looked down into that army which they left in their camp, and
saw that it was overthrown, and the camp burnt; for the smoke that arose from
it shewed them, even when they were a great way off, what had happened. When, therefore, those that were with Gorgias
understood that things were in this posture, and perceived that those that
were with Judas were ready to fight them, they also were affrighted, and put
to flight; but then Judas, as though he had already beaten Gorgias's soldiers
without fighting, returned and seized on the spoils. He took a great quantity of gold and silver,
and purple, and blue, and then returned home with joy, and singing hymns to
God for their good success: for this victory greatly contributed to the recovery
of their liberty.
5.
Hereupon Lysias was
confounded at the defeat of the army which he had sent, and the next year
he got together sixty-thousand chosen men.
He also took five thousand horsemen, and fell upon Judea; and he went
up to the hill country of Bethsur, a village of Judea, and pitched his camp
there, where Judas met him with ten thousand men; and when he saw the great
number of his enemies, he prayed to God that he would assist him, and joined
battle with the first of the enemy that appeared, and beat them, and slew
about five thousand of them, and thereby the battle became terrible to the
rest of them. Nay, indeed, Lysias observing
the great spirit of the Jews, how they were prepared to die rather than lose
their liberty, and being afraid of their desperate way of fighting, as if
it were real strength, he took the rest of the army back with him, and returned
to Antioch, where he enlisted foreigners into the service, and prepared to
fall upon Judea with a greater army [boy these stupid pagans just don't learn,
do they?]."
THE
FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS--WHERE IT CAME FROM
6.
"When, therefore,
the generals of Antiochus's armies had been beaten so often, Judas assembled
the people together, and told them, that after these many victories which
God had given them, they ought to go up to Jerusalem, and purify the temple,
and offer the appointed sacrifices. But
as soon as he, with the whole multitude, was come to Jerusalem, and found
the temple deserted, and its gates burnt down, and plants growing in the temple
of their own accord, on account of its desertion, he and those that were with
him began to lament, and were quite confounded at the sight of the temple;
so he chose out some of his soldiers, and gave them order to fight against
those guards that were in the citadel, until he should have purified the temple.
When, therefore, he had carefully purged it, and had brought in new
vessels, the candlestick [menorah], the table [of shewbread,] and the altar
[of incense,] which were made of gold, he hung up the veils at the gates,
and added doors to them. He also took
down the altar [of burnt offering,] and built a new one of stones that he
gathered together, and not of such as were hewn with iron tools. So on
the five and twentieth day of the month of Casleu, which the Macedonians call
Appelleus, they lighted the lamps that were on the candlestick, and offered
incense upon the altar [of incense,] and laid the loaves upon the table [of
shewbread,] and offered burnt offerings upon the new altar [of burnt offering.]
Now it so fell out, that these things were done on the very same
day on which their divine worship had fallen off, and was reduced to profane
and common use, after three years' time; for so it was, that the temple was
made desolate by Antiochus, and so continued for three years.
This desolation happened to the temple in the hundred forty and fifth
year, on the twenty-fifth day of the month Appelleus, and on the hundred and
fifty-third olympiad; but it was dedicated anew, on the same day, the twenty-fifth
of the month Appelleus, in hundred and forty-eighth year, on the hundred and
fifty-fourth olympiad. And this desolation came to pass
according to the prophecy of Daniel, which was given four hundred and eight
years before; for he declared that the Macedonians would dissolve that
worship [for some] time. [There
was no doubt as to when Daniel 11 was written in Josephus’s mind!
I wonder what Amillennialists find so hard about believing a respected
historian from the first century (far closer to the event than we are)?]
7.
Now Judas celebrated the festival of the restoration of the
sacrifices of the temple for eight days; and omitted no sort of pleasures
thereupon; but he feasted them upon very rich and splendid sacrifices; and
he honoured God, and delighted them, by hymns and psalms. Nay, they were so very glad at the revival of
their customs, when after a long time of intermission, they unexpectedly had
regained the freedom of their worship, that they made it law for their posterity,
that they should keep a festival, on account of the restoration of their temple
worship, for eight days. And from that
time to this we celebrate this festival, and call it Lights. I suppose the reason was, because this liberty
beyond our hopes appeared to us; and that thence was the name given to that
festival. Judas also rebuilt the walls
round about the city, and reared towers of great height against the incursions
of enemies, and set guards therein. He
also fortified the city Bethsura, that it might serve as a citadel against
any distresses that might come from our enemies."
That's the background
history of the Festival of Lights, which the Jews call Hanukkah, as accurately
told by the Jewish historian Josephus. As brought out before, the Messiah, Yeshua,
Jesus, could not have gone through the special dedication ceremonies specified
for a Jewish male newborn. Without
following the Mosaic Law of God to the letter, he could not have been sinless,
and his sacrifice for the sins of the world would have been in vain. Luke
2:21-24-32, "And when eight days were
accomplished for the circumcision of the child, his name was called JESUS,
which was so named of the angel before he was conceived in the womb. And when
the days of her purification according to the law of Moses were accomplished,
they brought him to Jerusalem, to present him to the Lord; (As it is written
in the law of the Lord, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy
to the Lord;) and to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in
the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons. And, behold, there was a man in
In spite of the archaic language of Josephus, I think the power of God's divine providence and protection shine through, a power bestowed on Judas Maccabeus so he could fulfill a special mission from God, in preparation for the coming Messiah as Jesus, Yeshua of Nazareth. No, there could have been no Christmas without Hanukkah. If you've read about any of the battles of Jonathan or David against their enemies in the Old Testament, you will recognize God's divine hand in the life of Judas Maccabee, and his father Mattathias.
As we have seen, Antiochus
Epiphanes IV tried to end the religion of the Jews--pure biblical Judaism--before
it was corrupted by the Jewish leaders under the yoke of the Roman government
of Yeshua’s time. Satan through Antiochus IV tried to destroy
the line Yeshua was to be born into and through. Next we’ll look at some information that has
fueled an ongoing controversy, the time of Jesus’ birth. Also we’ll look at the Festival of Lights and
how it ties into the timing of Yeshua’s
miraculous conception. The following
article is written from a non-confrontational point of view, merely meant
to convey the facts as only Jews knowledgeable in temple detail and timing
of priestly duty cycles can best understand, a paradigm of understanding
often overlooked by other Christian historians.