SEASONS - MARY'S CHOICE

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

I have often wondered how much Mary knew and understood about her ancestry.  She was a daughter of Abraham, a descendant of King David.  For the descendant of a king she appeared to be quite poor and lacking in many of the physical and material things of life.  She came from Nazareth.  It was a town not known for being the home of the wealthy or well to do.   No one famous ever came from Nazareth, no prophets, no kings, no one worthy of note.  It was just a little place in the Galilee region where the common every day people lived out their lives, that is; until the birth of Jesus. 

I have to wonder if we really know what we think we know when we ponder the life of Mary so many years ago.   Was she really poor?  She did apparently eventually share the income from Joseph's carpentry work.  Joseph was a descendant of King David but by this time in history the Jewish people were under the Roman occupation.  The glory days of being a descendant of David were over.  This helps to put the physical poverty of these two into perspective.  Joseph was just an ordinary man, a carpenter, who did ordinary work that might have been hard to come by in those times.  He was not living among the wealthy who could pay him high prices for his labor.  It seems though that the lack of material blessings did not matter one bit, they were very rich in spiritual blessings.

When we first hear of Mary in the scriptures she is pledged to Joseph but not yet living with him.  She is visited by an angel named Gabriel who greets her with the words:  "Hail Mary."   It was a greeting that greatly troubled her.

Why did this greeting trouble her?  The scriptures say she was "troubled" by the greeting and considered in her mind what type of greeting this might be.  Maybe it was the next line that caused her to be troubled:  "The Lord is with you."  My first thought is that would be wonderful! That wasn't Mary's immediate reaction though.  How odd it seems upon first reading this scripture that Mary would have been "troubled."   

Keeping her reaction in mind, you may begin to grasp the fact that most likely Mary  had somehow studied the Torah extensively.  Women were not taught to read in those days, nor did they have the opportunity to go to school like men.  It was a most unusual thing for a woman to grasp the deep significance of the Holy Word.  Can't you just visualize Mary sitting quietly and unnoticed at the feet of the great teachers when no one was paying attention?  Can't you just sense that she was listening and deliberately soaking in every word from the holy scriptures, even asking questions as a young child when she had the opportunity?   

Perhaps she had learned much from Elizabeth who possibly had learned much from her husband Zacharias who was a priest.  Perhaps Mary knew so many people full of the Spirit of God that she had soaked in The Word from all of them at random times and places as she grew up.   Who knows how it happened, but it is obvious that Mary knew the holy scriptures.    

This must have been the case because anyone who had studied the Torah in those days would have recalled the stories from the first five books of the bible and astutely recognized the fact that any time someone was being called out by God to do a daunting task the very same words spoken of by Gabriel to Mary (The Lord is with you) were always used. 

These very words had been repeated to great servants of God over and over, like a pattern neatly laid out by God.  When Mary's ears and heart heard the angel proclaim "The Lord is with you." she probably knew instantly she was about to receive an invitation from God to play a crucial role in His plan for mankind.  

She must have recognized the fact that these same words were used from God to Moses in Exodus 3:12.  Moses was told at a burning bush that God had a mission for him.  He considered himself unworthy and unequipped.  He was afraid.  God assured Moses by stating that He would be with him.  God was doing the same for Mary.  

Moses could not have led the people of God out of Egyptian slavery without the supernatural help of God; nor could Mary have given birth to The Savior of The World by herself; but she had faith, and she knew enough to realize that with God all things are possible.  

Mary knew this in her heart.  These were not just words to her.  Her love and devotion to God had prepared her for this day. She had been listening, praying, learning, leaning into God's will from her childhood.  She loved, cherished and knew the story of Moses.  She would have sensed the weight of this moment in history.  Perhaps that is what helped her to give the answer that she gave, the answer that greatly pleased God so much that He proclaimed her blessed above all women.

Though she sensed and knew what the greeting meant; she also knew that these divine callings throughout history usually entailed great sacrifices and challenges to the one being greeted by such sacred words.  She must have known she was about to be drawn out of her comfort zone, from a cozy simple life to a challenging and complicated life.  She must have felt from that moment that her whole world would change from a life that required simple day-to-day faith for small things to a life that required great exceeding faith of eternal consequences.  Things went from very simple to very complicated in one tiny moment.  Life is often like that for all of us.  When these things happen our answers are important.  In Mary's answer to God the most significant moment of all time was confirmed.

We can be assured in these life changing moments that God will be with us.  The angel continued to reassure Mary.  "Do not be afraid Mary, for you have found favor with God."

Again we are led to believe that Mary must have studied the Torah.  She knew that the first person to find favor with God had been Noah.  Noah had found so much favor with God that God saved him as well as his family and allowed him to be the father of a whole new world.  Through Noah God had made all things new.  Mary grasped this.  God covenanted with Noah.  Mary knew this was a covenant moment in her life too.  Would God also be using her to make all things new?  She might have pondered this.

Mary must have also thought of Abraham.  God found so much favour with Abraham that He made a covenant with him that would bring blessings to all nations of the earth.  God used the life of Abraham to make all things new.  Mary recognized this.   Mary must have sensed the responsibility that went along with having "favour" with God.   She must have known if you did not follow through and keep what God has asked of you, even when favoured - the whole world might never be right again and all hope of newness could possibly be lost forever.  She must have considered the responsibility that she would be stepping into when she gave her answer; but her faith was bigger than her fears and her God was larger than the earthly troubles she would need to endure.  

She gathered all the courage within her soul and said those beautiful  most perfect words:  "I am a servant of The Lord, let it be done unto me as you say."

And once again, God used one of His faithful servants to make all things new!

COME AS A CHILD - LESSON 146 - KEEPING THE SIXTH COMMANDMENT

THOU SHALT NOT MURDER

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

The sixth commandment, like all the other commandments, has everything to do with the sacredness of human life.  

God gave this commandment in Exodus 20:13 and when translated properly it reads “Thou shall not murder.”  The translations that say “Thou shalt not “kill” are mistranslations of the Hebrew into English.  There is a HUGE difference in the meaning of the word “kill” and the meaning of the word “murder.”  Killing is not premeditated or planned.  Usually it is more about self-defense and not about anger and hate.  It has been used as a form of judgments demanding justice in extreme cases.  Some are killed in wars.   Some are killed as punishment when justice is rendered by the courts under law.  Some are accidently killed.  This type of killing is not what the commandment is speaking of, though we can all agree that any ceasing of life is sad. 

 Life is sacred and it is to be honored in all circumstances.  It is never to be taken for granted.

This sixth commandment is talking about cold-blooded, premeditated murder, the kind that comes from anger, hatred, jealousy, pride, lust and arrogance.  It is when someone deliberately decides to take another’s life simply out of hate or anger or greed or selfishness.

As I have so often mentioned before this physical life is simply the training ground for our eternal life.  God breathed life into each of us and gave us the gift of living.  It is a most precious and sacred gift and God hopes to continue this gift for us throughout eternity.  

Everything godly is about maintaining life.  

Everything ungodly is about promoting death.

Murder promotes death and it is an ungodly act of the human will.  God wanted to make it plain to all humans while He was up there on the mountain with Moses that murder should NEVER happen among His people.  

Only God has the power to take life and to give life.  He is the only One wise enough to make that important decision.  We must respect this and honor it by keeping the commandment worded “Thou shalt not murder.”  To decide to take another’s life is to put yourself in the place of God.  That is yet another form of idolatry. 

Most of us look at this commandment, cheerfully sigh a sigh of relief, and move on.  We don’t consider it too long, and we are always telling ourselves that we at least don’t have to worry about violating this one commandment.  Most of us, though we know we are guilty of breaking the other commandments, think we are innocent of murder. 

 Most of us are NOT cold-blooded murders in the physical sense.   But in reality, it just isn’t that easy when you look at the whole picture carefully. Jesus explained this to us a little further than God did with Moses on the mountain; and when you consider what Jesus had to say; practically ALL of us have been guilty at one time or another.  I hate to bear the bad news to you, it is shocking but true!  Let’s just consider the spiritual intentions of the statements of Jesus in more detail and see if we all might need to take a closer examination of this sin in our day-to-day lives.

Jesus encouraged us not to become angry without a cause and not to become violent or abusive to others.  We hear the words of Christ in Matthew 5:21-22.  They bear repeating here as we consider the real meaning of the word “murder.”  The scripture reads:  “You have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not murder, and whoever murders will be in danger of the judgment.”  But I say to you that whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment.  And whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca!’ (the meaning of this word is “empty head”) shall be in danger of the council.  But whoever says; ‘You fool!’ shall be in danger of hell fire. “

Of course we must note those little seemingly skipped-over and insignificant-at-first words after “whoever is angry with his brother’ that reads “WITHOUT A CAUSE” because there IS such a thing as righteous anger, and righteous anger is not sinful unless it is followed up by unrighteous acts.   

We see many incidents in the old and new testament scriptures where either God or Christ show righteous anger.  But, then again, they are God!  Their anger is different from ours.  Their perspective is different from ours. Their hearts are pure, ours are not.   Their anger is always controlled and tempered with patience and mercy.   

Even righteous anger must carefully exercise self-control and not always result in wrongful violence.   We humans do not have the right to judge; therefore where God can bring violence in certain situations to render judgment, justification and punishment; that isn’t our role. God is the ONLY judge of the universe.  We are to control our anger, even if it comes to us from righteousness and a clean and pure heart.

This self-control that must be exercised with anger (anger is not the sin; but the RESULTING ACTIONS of anger are actually the sin) requires more than just restraining from physical violence; it also requires that we be very careful with what we say and how we use our words.  

So many are surprised and shocked to learn that you can commit murder simply by the wrong use of your tongue!

Are you surprised to hear that the tongue can be deadly?  This is how my own sins of murder have been committed.  I have often prayed to God for forgiveness for things I have said that were wrong to others, and I’ve often asked God for help in overcoming this hurtful trait.  For many of us, murder with the tongue is like a generational curse that must be broken by a change of heart in the people of the present generation.   

Can you recall times from your past where you have used your tongue to commit murder of someone’s spirit?

The tongue is a very dangerous weapon and mature Christians have to learn to use it wisely.  The murders we commit by the use of the tongue usually stem from hate.   Whoever hates his brother is a murderer (1 John 3:15) and we know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.   We must get rid of the hate inside our hearts and replace it with love. This is the cure for spiritual murders.

When the tongue is spoken of in the book of Proverbs it is compared to a little fire that begins to grow and grow until it burns a whole forest.  So, be very careful how you use your tongue!  

 Never start fires that cannot be put out without damaging results!  

Stop for just a moment and think of the wounds you have received in this life from wrong words of the tongue, many of these words that have held you back from becoming the person that God intended you to be.  How many of these injuries came from an insensitive person using their tongue to speak something wrong into your life?  Thus, through the wrong words of someone’s tongue, you were robbed of the abundant life that God created you to live.  Someone’s tongue brought you death instead of life!  God has given us the power and authority to reverse this.  Try to forgive them and move on to a better and healthier life.  God does not wish for us to be living in negativity and condemnation; that is spiritual murder, and God has commanded that we do not murder.

The tongue is probably the most used weapon for committing murder; and this type of murder could be called murder of the spirit.  

There seems to be three types of murder, physical, mental and spiritual.  All three are wrong in the eyes of God.  

These three types of murder are typically carried out in one of twelve ways;  by the tongue (spiritual), by hand (physical), by the mind through malice and hate (mental), by maligning another or wishing evil against them (spiritual), by use of the pen (through the rule of unjust courts, rulers and laws) (mental and physical), through plotting and scheming against someone (indirectly physical and mental); by giving poison in a cup (physical), by witchcraft and sorcery (spiritual), by intending to kill whether or not you actually do (spiritual and mental), by being unmerciful (physical, mental and spiritual), and by not swiftly executing the law in a timely manner (physical, spiritual and mental). 

There are countless examples of such types of murders all throughout history and scriptural examples that can be studied and analyzed for each different type of murder.  Each story from the past has something to teach us about maintaining a godly character as we travel through time with the gifts of our sacred lives.  We can learn countless lessons about how to counteract murder from the lives of Joab and Abner and Amass, Pilate and Jesus, David and Uriah, Jezabel and Naboth, Herod and Christ, Saul and David, Saul and Stephen, and many, many more.  Stories of people committing different types of murder are sprinkled all throughout the scriptures.  They are there to teach us the sacredness of life, so that we may not murder but live in peace and harmony with one another.

Of all the forms of murder we could consider; perhaps the saddest form of murder is that of one who murders his own soul.  This can happen in many ways; people can disregard that there is a God or a future in the life to come and commit physical suicide; or they can remain living yet let the things that murder their minds and spirits rule over them to the point that they do not really live anymore.  For some it is lust, hate, jealousy, bitterness; whatever the cause some people will allow things of the enemy of God control them in such a way that they are completely robbed of the things that God gives them for abundant and joyful lives.  This is yet another type of spiritual murder.   We all have choices to make; God does not make them for us. God allows us to chose the path that we will take.

Let us chose life in the fullest and that would be a life to give God glory! 

Remember the sixth commandment and keep it in your heart and mind as well as with your hands.  Choose life!

SEASONS - THE LIGHT OF ADVENT

(Written by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

What could be more wonderful than lighting advent candles?  This simple little act helps us to rise above our circumstances and experience the hope of Christmas.    

The last Sunday of November will be the time for lighting the first candle of Advent and the flame will burn bright and beautiful on our living room coffee table this year.  Where do you place your Advent Candles?  It is truly a time we anticipate and enjoy at our house.  

If you never had an advent wreath, you just might be missing out on one of the true joys of Christmas.  This is a very easy tradition to learn and it adds so much to your weekly celebrations in the weeks leading up to Christmas.  The tradition of the Advent wreath started way, way back in history.  Some of the wreath's history started with the Germans who say they burned candles in greenery because their winters were so very cold and the warm candle light reminded them that the warmth of spring was coming and gave them hope of a better day.  Hope is what keeps people going.  Hope is how the wreath of candles started, and eventually it evolved from a small message of the hope of warmth and spring into the great message of the hope of Messiah.      

The tradition today is still about hope for a better day, but it has been refined to a much higher and more spiritual level as we hope and wait for the second coming of the Messiah.  The second coming of Messiah as well as the first coming of Messiah are celebrated by the lighting of the advent candles.  We are hoping and we are waiting for a better day.  We are waiting on something more wonderful and new and fresh as spring.  We are waiting on a miracle that will change our lives completely, and so we light the first candle in our waiting. 
Of course for every good and Christian thing there is a counterpart  from the enemy.  Satan would love to desecrate all those things that we use to measure out sacred times and spaces.  He doesn't want us to have those reminders of things that are sacred and cherished that draw us toward a Great God.  He will twist and twist the truth into any shape or fashion that he can to turn you against anything at all that will draw you closer to Christ.  He always likes for people to be reminded that the pagans had their traditions too.  If you stop at that portion of the story, he will steal your advent joy away.  Don't let him.  For instance, in Scandinavia during the winter months the people lighted candles that were placed around a wheel and prayers were offered up to pagan gods of light to turn the wheel of the earth back toward the sun to lengthen the days and restore warmth.  This was the practice, that is, until these people began to become Christians and worship the true God of Heaven and Earth.  They realized their custom was wrong, and they began to change it to incorporate ways that would honor the true God.  Many people stumble and get stuck on step one of this history, and the devil loves when that happens.  He tries to keep them from getting to step two.  It is their loss.  When people turn and change, God is pleased.  Now the advent wreaths in Scandinavia symbolize a totally different thing.  They worship God, and I would say that is a very positive change indeed!  The true light is shinning now and the advent wreath is lit for Christian reasons instead of pagan reasons.  This is one way to win victory over the enemy.  Change your focus and direct everything you do toward God.  Light begins to appear.  

God's people have always used candles to honor Him.  It seems God Himself started this tradition with the instructions for how to build the Menorah for the Temple.  Since that day His people have honored him with the lighting of the candles.  Every Jewish family across the land will have two white candles adorning the table for the Sabbath and the woman of the house will light them and say a prayer for God's blessings on her family.  Candle lighting has always held a very special place in the history of the life of true believers.

It was about the time of the middle ages that Christians saw the relation between the second coming of Christ as a King and the first coming of Christ as a child.  They started using advent wreaths as a symbol of hope while waiting on Christmas to come.  They recognized Christ as the true light of the world with their wreaths.  Both Catholics and Lutherans have made this a central practice in their homes all across the land.  Many others have joined them in painting the beautiful story with candles and a wreath.  The longer you look at life in the kingdom, the more beauty you will find in the different arts of worship that people use to honor God.  It is truly amazing to observe.  

How does God feel about beauty?  Have you ever looked at a sunrise?  The advent wreath is yet another one of those lovely art forms.

The symbolism today is so telling of the Christian story.  The green symbolizes everlasting life.  The prickly leaves of holly remind us of the crown of thorns that Jesus wore on the cross.  The circle of the wreath has no beginning or end and it symbolizes the infinity of God, the immortality of the soul and the everlasting life that Christ has given us.  Pine cones and nuts on the wreath symbolize resurrection and new life, because of the seeds found inside of them. 

There are four candles on the outside of the wreath and one is lit each week.  Each candle represents one thousand years, four thousand years all together from the birth of Adam until the birth of the Messiah.  Three of the outside candles are purple and one is rose.  The purple represents prayer, penance and sacrifice.  These are all things that we must be doing to get prepared.  The rose candle is lit on the third week and it represents joy.  By the time of the rose candle's lighting the people have arrived at the midpoint of advent.  The preparations are half over and their joy should be overflowing.  The progressive lighting of the candles represents the anticipation and hope in the first coming and the anticipation and hope for the Second Coming and the return of Christ again.  Both things speak of His coming to us and saving us from a world of darkness.  We are all waiting together and constantly anticipating the light that only He can bring.

There is much about the art of waiting in the lighting of the candles.  Life seems to be as much about the journey as the arriving sometimes.  Often what matters in the end is what we do in-between destinations.  This is where we must live out the lighting of the candles on the wreath.  This is where we must live in the day to day events of our lives. 

On Christmas Eve we light a larger white candle and place it in the middle.  This is symbolic of Christ.  It speaks of how He is the Light of The World.  It speaks of how He should always be living in the middle of our world.  It speaks of how He is our center and compass for finding the answers to life.  It announces Christmas and a time of blessing.   It says:  The waiting is over!  He is here!  The whole world has been waiting and He has now arrived!  We welcome the light in the center of the wreath and we welcome Christ into our homes to be the center of Christmas and the focus of all our adoration. 

Most people light their advent wreath each week before dinner and a traditional prayer is said.  The prayers from The Catholic Church are beautiful and compelling to use at this time.  If you have never read them, please find a copy and study them.  They will stir your heart.  There are a wide variety of advent messages and devotionals to chose from.   

It is okay to light the candles at any time or place you wish.  It is the idea of honoring God and His gift of Christ that is the important thing to remember.   I’ve known families to gather around the fireplace and light their candles on a coffee table as they share family devotions together.  Many churches throughout the land light the advent wreath in the services leading up to Christmas. 

As we take the time to prepare our hearts by lighting the candles of the advent wreath God gives us the blessing of helping us to prepare our hearts for His Second Coming.   Even this minute – we are waiting and watching the skies with hope.  Come quickly Lord Jesus!

May your time of Advent be full of God’s greatest blessings and may you find the Real Meaning of Christmas hiding in all that you do this season.

SEASONS - IS THERE A HANNUKAH FOR CHRISTIANS?

(Wriitten by Sheila Gail Landgraf)

The year of 2016 is almost finished.  We all have given thanks and celebrated yet another beautiful Thanksgiving.  Now we are enjoying the season of Advent and preparing for the time of  Christmas.  Days and festivities are abundant here in America, yet, dare we try to squeeze in yet another traditional holiday called Hanukkah? 

In this year of 2016 Hanukkah begins at sunset on Saturday, December 24th when many of us will be celebrating Christmas Eve, and lasts throughout the next eight days.  What do Hanukkah and Christmas Eve have in common?  They both speak of the light of the World - Jesus Christ!  Please don't get this twisted up because it is something you are not familiar with.  The miracle of the light of Hannukah is a shadow of the miracle of Christ.  God's gift to all of us was foretold in that great miracle of Hanukkah in that we realized that through God all things are possible, and God DID begin to make all things possible!

 Most Christian families will laugh at the above statement.  They will simply look at you as if you have absolutely no intelligence at all, and say; “we aren’t Jewish!”   They seem to think that solved it all!   They automatically assume since they are not of the blood ancestors of Judah that they should never celebrate any Jewish holidays or holy days.  What would happen if they applied the same logic to Passover?  This statement I suppose  would be true if you only looked at bloodlines and race alone and never considered grace and adoption and the true history of the Hannukah story. 

But maybe we should take a moment to really ponder the WHOLE story.  Please do not

misunderstand and think I’m saying Christians are the “new Jews.”  Absolutely not!  I do not believe in replacement theology at all;  but there is a connection that we all hold and that connection is the belief in God and the belief of the Messiah.  Never mind right now that most authentic Jews think Jesus Christ was NOT the Messiah.  I know that – but listen to the the rest of this theory and tell me later if Hanukkah is not a Christian Holiday as well as a Jewish Holiday.

A Jewish sect of people were the first ones to mark the miracle of Hanukkah and write down the significance of the time and remember it.  That is certainly true, and also commendable.  But were they secular Jews or Christian Jews?  How could there be Christian Jews you ask?  Who do you think Jesus and the disciples were?  Let that sink into your thinking cap a bit and try to grasp the fact that most of the first Christians were from Jewish blood.  Some of the Christians were Gentiles, for sure; but the majority of the first believers in Christ were actually Hebrews, or people with ancestors from one of the twelve tribes of Israel. 

That is a very small point concerning the history we will discuss today, because when the first Hannukah happened, guess what?  Christ had not yet been born.  It wasn't about believers in Christ, it was only about believers in God.  Aren't they the same?  The Words of Jesus tell me they are!   God was just beginning, way back in those dark days, to proclaim that a Savior, a Messiah, would be born.  Is this not the same God that speaks to you and me (The Christians of today? )   I think so!  I think He is the same God!

This confusing mix of cultures and time period significance becomes even more apparent when you study the first Hannukah and you realize where and how the miracle of Hannukah was celebrated.  Some see clearly.  Some see dimly, and some do not see at all.  Is religion and following The One True God not always like this?  How can we truly discern right from wrong, truth from lies?  Let’s go back in time and look at the history of Hannukah.  Many of you may not even know the story, and many of you may not have noticed some of the astounding details of its history.

  

As we travel through the story you may be surprised to see that it has come to have prophetic implications, both about the birth of Christ and about the second coming.

 

That very first Hannukah took place long before the days of Christ and not so very long after the days of Moses.  The state of the world during that first Hannakah so resembled the state of the world we are living in today. 

That old Olive Tree called Israel had been thriving and surviving, just as God had planned out for them.  God was leading His chosen people to a place of preparing to receive a Messiah.   They had gone through the wilderness experience in the days of Moses and come out into the Promised Land where God had blessed them.  He had given them His law and they were careful to keep it.  They had passed the time of David and they had built a great Temple to honor The One and Only God of Heaven and Earth, and many worshiped God there with whole and clean hearts.  They brought their sacrifices, they made their confessions.  They worshiped in holiness.  They were constantly trying to be transformed into a people who were worthy of bearing the life of God’s Son, the Coming Messiah; who would save the world and make all the ritual and sacrifice unnecessary.  

David planned a magnificent Temple for worship, and his son Solomon carried out the plan.  Soloman had lived as the wisest and most blessed king of the earth before he too fell into sin in the end.   One Temple was destroyed and another came to be built.   The kingdom of God’s people then saw many kings and rulers and they often fell into sin, once they fell so hard they were exiled for 70 years from The Promised Land so that God could make up in the land the time of the lost Sabbaths they had not kept.  

Whenever the people followed God (the same God we worship today) He blessed them.  Whenever they did not, He turned His face and they fell into captivity.  The Greeks tried to conquer the world through Alexander The Great, a pagan man who did not know God.  When God’s people responded to his rule because of their earthly lusts and desires, God turned His back and did not look upon them.  They suffered. 

Finally the ancestors of Abraham came to that dark time of history, the period of time between the Old Testament and the New Testament.  Syrian rulers supported the rule of the pagan Greek religions and cultures.  They worshiped Zeus and a host of other foreign and fake mythological gods.  None of their thinking came from the God of Israel who had formed a whole nation and led them from slavery to safety, which included parting the seas and raining food down from heaven, to mention just a few of the miracles of The One True God in looking after His people. 

With the coming of the Greek and the Syrian people into their lives immorality and idol worship were rampant in the land.  False religions were being forced upon the people of Israel, the little remnant that had survived so much captivity, yet always turned back to God.  

Antiochus IV, who was a shadow of the antichrist was actually spoken of as The Son of Perdition in the Holy Scriptures that recorded this time of history.  He and his men came into the happy peaceful lands and saw that as long as the people worshiped the One True God of Heaven and Earth their government would have no power.  These people groups began to force their mythical gods on the remnants of Israel.  Slowly they infiltrated the Second Temple.  The plan was to divide and conquer through false religion.  The godless leaders saw religion as the opium of the people, not as a way of knowing and worshiping The One True God.  They used religion to get their way, just as many before them and after them have also done.

It was somewhere between 167 – 160 BC when the Seleucid Empire took control of the land

by invasion and infiltration techniques.  They quietly and unnoticed at first seeped into the cities and the even seeped into the Temple.  They began to pervert the things of God, slowly and methodically.  Antiochus issued decrees forbidding the religious practices of those following The One True God.  There was no Messiah yet, but by all they had to proclaim, these professing believers living and worshiping in the temple times were the pre-Christians, the precursers of the Church of Jesus Christ,  because they followed The Father of the Messiah; God.  

Can you see how both The Christians of today and the Judean bloodline of the Jewish people too would BOTH identify with this time of trouble?  The God of Heaven and Earth, the One that Abraham knew, the ONLY TRUE God was being profaned.  Can you not picture your own self as a true believer in this scenario and know that YOUR God was being profaned?  Would you not fall into the group of people who were suffering this terrorism in its day had you been living there in that time?  I see nothing “un-Christian about this remnant people myself!  They were following the same God that we follow today, yet without even knowing the Messiah yet!  Now that is faith!

Antiochus was a cruel ruler who used religion to achieve his means of power.  He wanted these strong God professing people out of his way so that he could rule the land his way, the way of immorality and idolatry and evil.  Could this possibly be happening again in our own modern world?  You bet it could.  

Right now, look at the ancient times and get the story of Hannukah planted into your head and heart, because God was sending a message.  It was a multi-leveled message and it was prophetic for meany reasons.  

The Godly people of the day realized that God was preparing a people for something greater, something more wonderful.  There would be pain and suffering along the road to that special day.  This time period experienced great pain and suffering.   We should not forget what these faithful people experienced and went through from the enemies of God.  We should be remembering them, as well as recognizing those of our own times who suffer the same.

Antiochus took over the Temple in his jealousy.  He first tried to sneak in.  He set up men who were corrupt, men he would use to brainwash the people into thinking and worshiping his way and his gods.  Many fell for this evil plot, even among the faithful.  You could say they were victims of their own culture.   Not a man named Mattathaias though!  No!  Mattathaias would only follow God.  He would be true to God’s law.  He would not profane God’s Holy Temple by bringing in the thoughts and ways of the pagans.

Mattathias was one of the truest priests in the land and when the Seleucid Empire set up their pagan gods and commanded him to be their priest in God’s Temple, Mattathias refused to obey.  They sent another man in Mattathias’s place.  Mattathias would not stand for this.  He slayed the man who replaced him, noting his inability to stand for God’s truth.  It was not that the man offered worship to the idol that troubled Mattathias the most, it was that he did it in his place, in the name of Mattathias.  Mattathias could not stand for such falseness toward the people that he loved and the God that he served.  He defended his faith, even with the sword. 

Mattathias and his five sons fled to the wilderness of Judah after this.  Antiochus would

have their heads on a platter if he could.  About a year after Matthathias died, his son Judah led an army of Jewish descendants to victory over an army of the Seleucid Empire in gorillia warfare and won.  

In this dark time, there were many ancestors of Abraham who had become Hellenized and they had gone the way of the Greeks both out of disloyalty to God and out of fear and out of the fact that they were more financially profitable if they did so.  Judah proclaimed these men traitors.  At first his fight was only against his own who had turned to tyranny and allowed Antiochus to take over their system of worship and life without a fight.    Then the Seleucid army joined in with the Hellenizes and Judah wound up fighting both people groups.   

Judah’s group of gorilla fighters became known as The Maccabees.  The Maccabees destroyed all the pagan altars that had been set up in their former cities.  They had a small rag-tag, worn and torn army, but they kept hammering away at God’s enemies.  Thus they gained their name “Maccabees” which means “hammer” in Hebrew.  

After they had won many, many seemingly impossible victories, the Maccabean army entered Jerusalem and cleansed the temple.  They re-instituted Jewish worship (remember Christ had not yet come) and they ordained Jonathan Maccabee to be the high priest of the Temple. On seeing this Antiochus IV stormed the temple with a great army, but Antiochus IV was killed and his men fled away from the mighty strength that God gave the Maccabees who defended His Temple well.  

On that defeat the reigning Syrian leader restored religious freedom to Jerusalem.  It was a great impossible victory!  It was a victory for God!  This victory, once again, preserved the sanctity of life for the chosen people of God.  It preserved the bloodline of Christ!

When the Temple was ready to be rededicated they proclaimed the festival of Hanukkah for the first time.  It was to be a great celebration of religious freedom for God’s people.  Everyone was free to come to the Holy Temple that had been ceremonially cleansed and restored.  They were once again free to worship in the way that God had given them to worship Him all alone.  What a fantastic moment in history!  If you believe in God, whether you are of Jewish blood or not;  can you not see the significance of how this great victory helped to bring the truth of Messiah to you down through the years?  Is it not cause for all the earth to celebrate?

Celebrate they did!  In the excitement of the celebration the remnant of the Maccabees could only find one small container of oil that the seal of sanctification had not been broken on.  They did not think it would be enough to last for but one day.  They decided to use it anyway.  The lighting of the lights of the Temple were so important!  It was like a beacon to the world saying "God is In His Holy Temple."    It was a sign to the people that God was still with them.  They lit the lamps with the sacred oil. 

To the great surprise of all, the oil of the Menorah of the Temple miraculously lasted for eight days!  Thus, the celebration of the festival went on for eight days, setting the tradition we follow today.   They would have oil for every day!  It was a HUGE miracle in the eyes of the people and a true witness and testimony that God was with them.  

This very festival celebration also came to signify the fact that God was the bearer of the light of the world, Our LORD and Savior, Jesus Christ.  Hannakah was a foretelling of the things to come for those who would have eyes to see and ears to hear.  Many agree that the lights of that great first Hannukah were the prophetic proclamation of the promise of God to send forth the Messiah.  

The lights of Hannukah stand for the hope of those who have faith in God to always save them.  The lights remind the people of God to continue to persevere even in times of great suffering.  Could there ever be a more Christian message than this one?  I think not! 

Hence, me and my house will forever remember the day and celebrate the whole eight days of the festival of lights just as Jesus Christ did with Mary and Joseph during the days of his childhood and in the days He became a man.  For what is faith without hope?  What people would chose to worship such a miraculous God?  Hopefully, the Christians of America as well as The Jews of Israel.  We all know Him.  Let His house not be divided.  Let us proclaim and bring forth the joy of the Father Of All.  Let us remember and celebrate our Creator who once said “Let there be Light!”

This year when I speak and wish everyone a blessed Christmas Eve, I will be adding Happy Hannukah Everyone!  

If you come to see me this season you will see a Menorah and a Christmas Tree displaying the truth of the fact that Jesus Christ is The Light of the World!  Our Menorah will be out on the table with the candles lit and burning through all eight days days after the first day that falls on Christmas Eve.  Before we celebrated the incarnation of The Christ Child, we also will be celebrating the hope that His coming will bring to the world, that of peace on earth and goodwill toward men.