By Cathy Pribila

Hannukah is actually not a Biblical feast, but the Jewish people celebrate Hanukkah - also known as the Festival of Lights - in remembrance of the victory of a small band of Jews over the occupying army of Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes. Antiochus, who came to power in 175 B.C.E. forbade the Jews to practice their religion, and desecrated their Temple.

As background, more than 2000 years ago for a time the land of Israel was part of the Syrian Empire, dominated by Syrian rulers of the dynasty of the Seleucids. In 167 B.C.E. an elderly Jewish priest, Mattiyahu, was confronted by a group of Syrian soldiers in his town of Modi'. The soldiers attempted to coax Mattiyahu and his five sons to worship at an altar they had erected to Zeus, but he refused, and boldly tore down the altar. He then fled to the mountains along with his sons and a few followers.

This small group, known as the Maccabees, later initiated a revolt against the Syrian army and, fighting with little more than sticks and farm tools, won victory after victory over the Syrian army. On the twenty-fifth of Kislev, the Maccabees entered Jerusalem, and took back the Temple.

Because the Syrians had left it in a state of grievous ruin, the men set out to restore it, and the first thing they did was to light the golden menorah, which was supposed to burn continuously. Unfortunately, they only had oil enough to keep the menorah burning for 24 hours. But, as they worked fervently day after day to clean and repair the Temple, the oil in the Menorah never ran out. The Menorah burned for eight days, long enough for new oil to be made.

Thus, Hanukkah is celebrated for eight days, beginning on the 25th of Kislev. Hanukkah actually means "Feast of Dedication", because the Temple was restored to a holy place of worship and rededicated to the God of Israel, Adonai Elohim Tzva'ot. Hanukkah commemorates not only the miracle of the Menorah, but also the victory of the Maccabees.

How the Maccabees won, to this day, is both a mystery and a miracle - perhaps similar to the victory the tiny outnumbered state of Israel experienced in the Yom Kippur War in 1973.

When God designed the world, He designed a cycle of seasons, focusing on the planting, tending and finally the reaping of crops (later, He designed a cycle of feasts to celebrate the various key times in this cycle of seasons). With exquisite creativity He designed each season, and even every nuance of each season, to be a physical picture of the spiritual world, with each season reflecting various spiritual principles. Just as surely as spring is the season of natural rebirth and growth, winter is the season of miracles!

Hanukkah is the winter festival. Nothing grows "naturally" in winter. The season of winter, after all the crops have been gathered and the fields lie dormant and bare, is a season of austerity; a time when the ground becomes hard, cold and unyielding. The landscape in winter is bleak and barren, and the land produces nothing. Through winter seasons we depend totally on our Creator to sustain us. This is the season of Hanukkah, the season when the great miracle of restoration occurred in the time of the Maccabees. This is the season of miracles!

As winter descends on earth, it is the time to open our hearts in anticipation of miracles of restoration in our lives and the lives of our loved ones. It's a time to draw ever nearer to the "Ner Tamid" (Hebrew for "eternal flame") that brings warmth and light to the world in a dark season. That eternal flame is Yeshua HaMashiach. Yeshua said in John 8:12 - "I am the Light of the world, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light which gives life". He refers to Himself as "the Light" again in John 12:35.

Those of us who have the Ner Tamid of Yeshua burning in our hearts can expect to experience miracles during Hanukkah! Yeshua tells us in John 14:12 and 13: "Yes indeed! I tell you that whoever trusts in me will also do the works I do! Indeed, he will do greater ones, because I am going to the Father. In fact, whatever you ask for in my name, I will do; so that the Father may be glorified in the Son." Hanukkah is the time to pray for the restoration of your hope and the miraculous resolution of hopeless situations. The season of Hanukkah is the time for miracles!

It's also essential for those who love Israel to pray zealously for miracles in the lives of Jewish people. The word tells us in 1 Corinthians 1:22 that the Jewish people "look for signs". Let us always dedicate ourselves to praying for signs and wonders among the Jewish people. Let us pray Yeshua will remove the veil from the eyes of the nation of Israel, and that Jewish families around the world will receive a supernatural revelation of Yeshua as the Ner Tamid, the Light of the World. We'll proclaim to the people of Israel "Arise, shine, for your light has come...." Let's learn to expect the miraculous this year, and every year, at Hanukkah!