The Chanukah Cornerstone

 

 

 

By Dani'el Rendelman

ravemet@comcast.net

To listen or download an audio presentation of this mesage click the picture above or CLICK HERE

This teaching will explore the festival of lights and discuss some of the deeper meanings found within this set apart holiday. 

When you think of a cornerstone, you probably don't think about Chanukah. You may think of a block or some type of masonry stone.  A cornerstone is usually a ceremonial piece that is set in a prominent location on the outside of a building. Many historic buildings, churches or even schools have these. Many times on these stones you can see when the building was built or be who financed the work.

Sometimes cornerstones actually have time capsules underneath. When the cornerstone is laid there is usually a ceremony of laying the stone.  The cornerstone is like the foundation that everything else is built upon.

The idea of the Chanukah cornerstone would be that Chanukah is the basis and the basics of our faith.  The Biblical faith is built on this eight-day celebration that is mostly kept by the Jewish people.  Chanukah is actually the cornerstone of the true faith.  Sadly for us Chanukah is not much of a cornerstone. We don't even know how to spell it. Is it Chanukah?  Or is Hanukah?  Does it have two 'k's'? Does it have one 'k'? Does it have a 'c' at all? What is it? How's it spelled? We don't even know how to spell it or how to say it so there is much that we need to learn

Most of us were raised in America and in a Christian home. If anything was considered to be our cornerstone, if any holiday was considered to be a focus of life, what would it be? Merry Mithras or Christmas, right? Everything revolves around Christmas. Everything revolves around Christmas. Stores make it or break it.  And children are good all year long to get a stocking full of goodiesl.  Even before Thanksgiving, radio stations start to play all Christmas songs all the time. We walk into a mall, and there are Christmas decorations you can buy before Halloween. Everything is based around Christmas. You have to be naughty or nice so you don't get coal in your stocking. Today, Christmas is the foundation or the building block of life in the Western society, everything is based around Christmas. You better be good so get that Play Station 3, or that Wii or that 360 at Christmas time because Mommy and Daddy have to go into $10,000 worth of debt to make their children, their spoiled brats, satisfied over Christmas, over a lie, over a jolly old elf, who's coming down their chimney. Oy vey!  What we're going to find out as we look at the message of Chanukah and what really happened with Chanukah is that this should be the cornerstone of our faith. 

Chanukah is truly the building block of the biblical faith.

Did you know that without Chanukah there would be no Christmas? Without Chanukah there would be no Jewish people. If it wasn't for Chanukah and the events that surround Chanukah, Y'shua could not have come!

With Chanukah we see the account of the evil ruler, Antiochus Epiphanies.  He wanted to annihilate the biblical Hebraic lifestyle and the people.  If he would have had his way, the temple would not have been standing when Y'shua came. And who knows, there may not have been Miriam/Mary and Joseph/Yosef. There might not have been the seed left there from the tribe that Y'shua came from. If Antiochus had had his way, the Jewish people would have all assimilated into the Greek Roman society and Y'shua would not have been a Torah keeper.

If there was no Chanukah, there would be no Judaism or Christianity today. Without Chanukah there would be no biblical faith today. Imagine a world without Chanukah and imagine walking through the Museum of Natural History, and you'd go through the Smithsonian, and there would be a display about the Jewish people, and how they were all killed out by this evil ruler. So if it wasn't for Chanukah, Y'shua couldn't have come. Let's keep that in the back of our mind!

Chanukah is also called the Festival of Lights. The word Chanukah literally means 'dedication.' It celebrates the military victory of a small band of brothers against this mighty Roman army. That's what Chanukah is all about. It's an eight-day festival commemorating this military battle that occurred in the second century BC, before Y'shua came.

Antiochus Epiphanies conquered Jerusalem and tried to enforce the Greek way of life upon the world.  The name Epiphanies means 'God is with us.' You've heard of someone having an epiphany, or even the holiday of Epiphany. Antiochus gave himself the title of "Epiphanies" to proclaim himself as God.  He and his army showed utter contempt for the Holy One of Israel. He took a pig, and he sacrificed it upon the altar of YHWH. He actually put to death anyone who came against him. He ransacked Jerusalem. He took over the temple. History records that he broke every one of the Ten Commandments within the Holy Place.

Before these transgressions took place, laws were passed by him and by other Roman rulers that said that Jewish parents could not circumcise their children. The Jewish people were told that they couldn't study Torah. They were given a list of things, and if they did these things they would die, and many of them were killed.  Think of just the most beautiful building you've ever imagined, and think of it being totally destroyed. That's the picture of what Antiochus did to the Temple.

Many of the Hebrews at that time didn't fight back. They didn't do anything. They just went along with the flow because they didn't want to die. They said, "Okay what's the big deal?" Some of them even had their circumcisions reversed. It was done so that they could fit in.  They assimilated into the nations.

Then there was a man who rebelled against the Greek ways.  He was the son of Mattathias, a Hasmonean priest. His name was Yahudah or Judah. We call him Judah Maccabee. Now Maccabee was not his last name. Maccabee is a Hebrew word that means 'hammer.' The idea was that he was the leader of this group that hammered Antiochus and his army there in Jerusalem. They lead a revolt against this Greek oppression, and while they were fighting, his father, Mattathias, died.  Judah became the leader. He led this out-numbered, out-skilled group of guys to victory over the Syrian, Greek Empire. So when we celebrate Chanukah, we're celebrating a military battle.

Imagine that the National Guard of the small state of New Jersey defeats the entire Armed Forces of the United States. That idea will give you a picture, an adequate idea, of how big of a miracle this was. You're sitting there thinking, "That's impossible. The National Guard of New Jersey cannot defeat a paper bag probably. It's probably just a few 10,000-15,000 people." Yet, that's what happened. That's the great miracle that happened there.  Indeed, the word 'miracle' is heard many times when we talk about Chanukah. There is a phrase called "Nes Gadol Haya Sham," which means "a great miracle happened there" in Hebrew.  This phrase is often heard at Chanukah time and is used on the spinning dreidel.

The biggest miracle was the military battle; that the small group prevailed over the larger group.  The small group of dedicated Torah keepers prevailed over this large group of pagan worldly people. Get this!  Their victory led them into the Promised Land.  But the Holy City lay in ruins.

As the Hebrews came back into the Temple they began the process of cleansing and preparing it to function. That's where we get the word "Chanukah" from. They took what had been ripped apart, torn down, defiled, and they made it holy again. They rededicated it. In honor of this military victory and return to true worship, the eight-day festival of Chanukah began.

Chanukah is the Festival of Lights. We are told in the Talmud, that when they went to light the menorah in the temple that they did not have enough oil to light it. There was not enough oil for it to last this eight-day festival that they were going to have. There was only enough oil for one day. According to legend, the people had only one undefiled cruise of oil.  They poured that oil into this menorah and the one-day supply of oil lasted during the whole celebration. 

In the Bible it says that the oil used for the menorah had to be set apart or consecrated and took eight days to make. Again, Nes Gadol Haya Sham, a great miracle happened there!  Today, there's a special menorah used called a Chanukkiyah that actually has nine branches. The taller one is called the Shamash, the servant that's used to light the others. There is the miracle of the oil, but what is the greater miracle? The military battle, of course.

Today, Chanukah is celebrated on the 25^th day of the month of Kislev in Hebrew.  Chanukah falls in December and includes giving gifts, spinning a dreidel, and spending time with family.  The dreidel game is played, and on each side of the dreidel is a letter from Nes Gadol Haya Sham. There's a nun, gimel, shin, and hei, and you spin it to play.

The events of Chanukah happened, not in biblical times, but in what we would call inter-testamental times - between the last words written in the Older Testament or the Tanakh, and the first words of the New Testament.  The story of Chanukah is actually found in the Apocrypha.

The New Testament mentions Chanukah. It tells us that Y'shua was there during the feast of Chanukah. So turn John / Yochanan 10 and read along.  We're going to look at Yochanan 10:22 through the end of the chapter. And again, every year at Chanukah, I get people sending me an email saying, "You should not teach that Y'shua kept Chanukah; it doesn't say that." However, it does say that!

Look at verse 22. "And it was at Yahrushalayim - " Where was the setting? Jerusalem (Yahrushalayim)?  It was at Chanukah, and it was winter. The King James says, "It was at Jerusalem at the Feast of Dedication and it was winter. And Y'shua walked in the Bet HaMikdash in Sholomo's porch."  Or in English, "Y'shua walked in the Temple at King Solomon's porch," or the New International Version says 'colonnade.' Then came the Yahudim (Jews) around Him and said to Him, "How long do you make us doubt? If you are Messiah, tell us plainly."

Let's just look at these passages in context. It says Y'shua is there in winter at Chanukah, and he's at a certain place. He's at Sholomo's porch. He's at King Solomon's porch, and the Yahudim (Jews) come to him. So what Torah-loving, YHWH-loving Jewish person wouldn't be there celebrating Chanukah?  It's crystal clear that Y'shua kept Chanukah.  By doing this, He put His stamp and seal of approval upon it for us.

It says He was there, and it was winter. It says in verse 23, "Y'shua walked in the temple, the Bet HaMikdash in Hebrew, in Solomon's porch." There's a certain conversation that takes place from this verse to the end of the chapter. The subject and the location are important.

So it says He is there, the Jews come to Him. Not just any Jews, not all the Jews, but it was the leaders, the Pharisees and the Scribes. They came to Him and they said, "How long do you make us doubt? If you are the Messiah, tell us." They just wanted to know if he was Moshiach. Was he the anointed one or not? And Y'shua said in verse 25, "I told you and you believe not, the works I do in my Abba's name, they bear witness of Me. But you believe not because you are not my sheep. As I said, my sheep hear my voice. I know them, and they follow Me."

Here they come to him.  Why are they cornering Him?  The Greek text shows us something very interesting.  Instead of reading, "How long do you make us doubt?" it literally says - "How long will you take away our very breath."

They had been holding their breath for the Messiah to come. They had been waiting anxiously for him to rescue the nation from bondage.  They wanted to know if he was the Moshiach or not. They wanted him to come out plainly and clearly and say "Yes, I am the Messiah." Perhaps, just perhaps, the Hebrew leaders here were ready to claim Him as Messiah. Think about that for a minute. Perhaps in the spirit of Chanukah, they were ready to crown Him as king and overthrow the Roman Rule.

What happened with Judah the Maccabee? Didn't he do that? Didn't he overthrow the Roman Rule and re-establish Torah? So perhaps here, while they were celebrating Chanukah, their minds went back to what this Hasmonean priest had done, and they said, "If this is the Messiah, we will exalt Him. We will praise Him. We will make Him king. We will set Him up, and overthrow the Roman Rule. We will make Him king."

Or perhaps they were coming to Him saying, "Who do you think you are? Do you think you're greater than Judah the Maccabee who freed us? Do you think you're bigger, better, and wiser than Solomon who built this temple originally?" And Y'shua answered them pretty interestingly here. He says, "I told you and you believe Me not. The works I do in my Father's name, they bear witness of Me."

What were His works? The blind see. The deaf hear. The lame walk again. The dumb would speak. These were works declared of the Messiah, only the Messiah would do these things. He says, "I've already told you plainly. Look at what I've done."

He says here in verse 28, "I give them eternal life. They shall never perish. Neither shall any man snatch them out of My hand." Verse 29 says, "My Father who gave them to me is greater than all. No man is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand." So here, look at what He does. He says in verse 28, "No man can snatch them out of My hand." Then He says, "No man can snatch them out of My Father's hand."

Do you know what Y'shua's doing here? He's saying that no man is able to take them out of His hand or out of the Father's hand. He's saying that He is the Father's hand. Praise YHWH! He is telling them, "No man can get them out of My hand." He was actually telling them how He was going to die. Because where did the nails go? In His hands.

He was saying that no man can take them out of the Father's hand; "I am the Father's hand." You can reference many verses in the Psalms, Colossians and Ephesians 1:20. He said, "No man can take them out of My hand; I am the Father's hand." Then look at verse 30. He makes them mad. He infuriates them at Chanukah. He says, "I and My Father are one." In Aramaic it's 'of one accord.'

In Hebrew, He said, "Ah-nee-vee-ah-vee echad." Ah-nee means 'I.' Vee-ah-vee means 'and My Father,' and echad means 'one.' One, not three, not fourteen, but one, full of power and authority, and of one accord. He is not saying that they are bodily one and the same, because there is a Heavenly Father and there is a Heavenly Son.

He is saying that they are one in accord.  They are one in the fullness of divinity. They are one. It's not two different mindsets. It's not the Son coming to save us from an angry Father.

By saying that He is one with YHWH, by claiming such unity with YHWH, He is claiming that they are of one accord. He is saying, "I am sinless."  By this statement He upset the religious establishment.

Instead of saying, "Yes, I'm the Messiah. I've come to save you." What does he say? He says, " Ah-nee-vee-ah-vee echad. I and My Father are one." They did not like that. Look and see what happens.

In verse 31, "Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him." Why would they stone Him? What had He done? That's what he asked them, "What have I done? Which of these good works are you going to stone Me for?"

They said, "Not for good mitzvah, but for blasphemy. You, being only a man, make yourself Elohim?"

They looked at Him and they only saw a man. What should they have seen? YHWH Elohim. We look with natural eyes. We look at a little boy and say, "Oh, he can't do anything." YHWH looks at him and says, "That's David. That shepherd boy, he's going to be king one day." We look upon Moses who has stammering lips, who can't even talk, and YHWH says, "I'm going to make him go before Pharaoh."

They were looking at Y'shua and they saw Joseph's son.  What should they have seen? The tifereth, the glory, the oneness, the unity of YHWH. They should have seen YHWH. But they didn't. They took up stones to stone Him.

Here they go to stone Him. Of course, they don't. It says in verse 39 that He escaped out of their hand. He left. So He came to Chanukah, He celebrated it at Sholomo's porch. Then he just disappeared.

All of this happened at this specific place and specific time. It tells us here, let's go back to verse 22, "It was at Yahrushalayim, at Chanukah. It was winter." Let's talk about the setting of this conversation because the setting of this is so important. Remember our teaching is called 'The Chanukah Cornerstone.'

It says specifically that Y'shua was at Jerusalem. It doesn't say He was at Zachariah's house, lighting the menorah. It doesn't say He was at Bethany, because He could have been there with Miriam and Lazarus.

Instead, it says that He was at Jerusalem at Solomon's porch. It says in verse 23, "He walked in the temple in Solomon's colonnade," or porch, or in Hebrew, Sholomo's porch. What's so special about that?  Now the Bible doesn't always record a pinpoint spot of miracles of where Y'shua was. It doesn't say, "He is on the corner of Caldwell and Spear Street performing this miracle," does it? It doesn't usually say that He's at Wall Street and Broad Street or something.

Here though it tells us specifically, He's at Sholomo's porch, King Solomon's porch. It clearly defines and says this.  Why?

We're going to look at this location a little bit and discover more about Chanukah and how it can be a cornerstone of our faith. Y'shua was where?  Sholomo's porch.  "Shlomo" is Hebrew for "Solomon."  While He was there, He was celebrating Chanukah, and He had this conversation with the leaders.

We are so separated from biblical times and places that most of us have no idea why Sholomo's porch is special.  What was it?  Do you think it was a wide screened-in area where he could get on a swing and drink mint juleps and iced tea and have a good time? That's what some people think of in a porch. You have a nice porch. You sit outside. You watch the lightening bugs during the summer. You hit the mosquitoes as they come at you. Is that what it was? Probably not.  Shlomo's porch was part of the temple. It was an important part of the temple, and we see that the temple during Y'shua's days was the same temple that was reclaimed by the Maccabees. It was the same temple that was dedicated by the priests and beautified by Herod.

Now when Herod came to beautify the temple, he took Sholomo's porch and he totally leveled it to make it wider. He built and re-built over the same place of King Solomon's porch. He built the temple just like Solomon's temple, just like the Bet HaMikdash or the Mishkon, the tabernacle. We know that there was the Holy of Holies, there was the Holy Place. There in the Holy Place was the menorah, the showbread where the priests would minister daily. Then there was the outer court - part of the temple.

Now this outer court was also called the Court of The Gentiles, where the Gentiles could walk. It was where anybody could come. It was here that was actually called King Solomon's porch, the outer court. It was an area of columns in an open space that made up the outer court of Herod's temple.

Herod said that it would be the "most magnificent part of the temple." He wasn't as concerned about the Holy of Holies; he was more concerned with what everybody saw. He wanted it to be beautiful, and it was. It was a place again where the Gentiles gathered for prayer, and here it's a place where Y'shua is celebrating Chanukah, where the Jews, the Hebrews, and the non-Jews were one; they were equal. Keep that in mind.

It is an interesting spot because the place of "King Solomon's porch" actually faced Mt. Olives. It tells us in the book of Luke, chapter 2 the story of Y'shua going to the temple as a little boy and He was teaching the teachers.  It says He was there, "And it came to pass that after three days they found him sitting in the Bet HaMikdash, sitting in the midst of the Torah teachers, both hearing them and asking them questions."

This mostly likely happened at King Solomon's porch. That's the only place in the temple that He could have gone to, it was the outer courts. This is a special place.  Inside of that you had the Holy Place where only the priests could go, and then inside of that you had the Holy of Holies where the high priests would go once a year.

The southern side of the colonnade or the porch was actually three stories tall. It was beautiful. It was called the Royal Stoa. "Stoa" is a Greek word for porch. It was at the southern side, or the Royal Stoa, where the Sanhedrin would meet. They would make decisions on Torah keeping for the people

The eastern side was more than 40 feet high with huge columns. It was this eastern side that was specifically called King Solomon's porch.  It was a relic of the temple after the destruction. Remember how the Babylonians came in and destroyed the temple? It tells us in 1 Kings 7:6, that Shlomo built the temple on the eastern side with huge columns.  This is his porch.  This is the exact place and porch where some amazing things happened.

You have the eastern porch which was called King Solomon's porch. You have the southern side which is where the Sanhedrin met. Remember this was 45 feet wide. The rest of the porch was like a commercial center and a place of prayer and public meetings. If you wanted to call a meeting, you would come there to King Solomon's porch.  This is that place.

It tells us in Joel 2, that this is where the priests prayed. Joel 2 says that the priests would pray between the porch and the altar, and they would beg YHWH. It says, "Let the priests, the ministers of YHWH weep between the porch and the altar. Let them say 'Spare thy people, Oh YHWH. Give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathens should rule over them.' Wherefore should they say among the people, where is their YHWH?"

You see this? It was here in Joel 2, between the porch and the altar, on King Solomon's porch, that they were told to pray, "Do not let the heathen rule over the Torah keepers." Who are the heathens? The pagans. Who are the pagans? The Greeks. Who are the Greeks? Antiochus, the Roman rulers, those who were causing the oppression when Y'shua came. They were told to weep between the porch and the altar. Do not let the heathens rule over them.

Is it any coincidence at this very same place that this prayer took place is where Chanukah took occurred?  It's the same place where Y'shua came, and said, "I and the Father are one." The eastern side is where Y'shua was, specifically called King Solomon's porch. It was here that the priests would take the curtain going into the Holy Place, and they would part it so that the light of the menorah would shine forward.

It is said that if you were on the Mount of Olives, during the time of Herod's temple. that you could look from the Mount of Olives straight down through Solomon's porch into the Holy Place and actually see the menorah standing there aflame. You could actually see the priests ministering from the Mount of Olives. You could look through the columns in a straight line and see this. It's a beautiful picture, as it led directly to the Holy Place.

One could wonder if when Y'shua came to keep Chanukah, if He watched the priests minister, if He wanted to overhear their conversations of how to properly burn the incense or to offer their worship. You see, it was on this majestic side that the glow of the temple menorah would shine its light and create shadows among the columns. Under this light is where Y'shua walked.

We read about the other side of the porch in Matthew 21.  It says Y'shua went into the temple of YHWH, not the Holy Place but the outer courts, Solomon's porch, and "He cast out them that sold and bought in the temple, overthrew the tables and the money changers, the seats of those that sold doves." Matthew 21:13, "And He said unto them, 'It is written, My house shall be called a house of prayer, you've made it into a den of thieves."

What does it say in Joel 2 was supposed to be happening at this temple? They were supposed to be praying and weeping, that paganism would not have power over them.  Here in Matthew 21 the people are making a profit!  Y'shua comes in, and He overturns the tables, the money changers. Because of what? Their unequal weights and measures. He rebuked the money changers. It was here that this happened.

In the book of Acts we find out that King Solomon's porch was an integral part to the early believer's (talmidim's) faith. It was here at this temple, in this specific area in Acts 3, that Kefa and John, Peter and Yochanan, healed people.  Here at Solomon's porch they proclaimed the good news.

It says this, "And as the lame man was healed, held Peter and John, all the people ran together unto them in the porch that is called Solomon's porch, greatly wondering. When Peter (Kefa) saw it, he answered the people, he said, "Ye men of Israel, why do you marvel at this miracle? Why do you look so earnestly on us? As though by our own power or holiness that we made this man to walk."

In Acts 3, he gave the besarot; he gave the gospel. He proclaimed, "This Y'shua, whom you impaled, whom you crucified, has been resurrected." It tells us in Acts 4 that thousands heard his message and were born again at King Solomon's porch.  Thousands were born again exactly at this very location.

It tells us in Acts 5, that this was the place where the early believers of Y'shua met for worship. They didn't put up a cornerstone and build the First Church of the Chosen Frozen; they didn't start the First Baptist, or whatever!  They went to the temple, to King Solomon's porch!

Look at this, it says in Acts 5, "By the hands of the apostles were many signs and wonders brought among them and they were in one accord on Solomon's porch." (Acts 5:12) So where did the unity come from, where did the miracles happen? On King Solomon's porch.

Did you ever wonder about the place where it says the people just came across Keffa's shadow, Peter's shadow, and they were healed? It wasn't just anywhere, it was at King Solomon's porch.

It says in Acts 5:16, "There came also a multitude out of the cities round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks, and them which were vexed with unclean spirits, and they were healed every one of them."

At King Solomon's Porch there was healing, there were miracles, and the shadow of Peter in Acts 5:15 healed.  It was a place that the power of YHWH was manifested, not just for the Jewish peoples, but for everyone.  Remember that this was called the "Court of the Gentiles."

Think of the transformation that took place here. King Solomon's porch, when King Solomon built it, it was a holy place. It was taken captive by the pagans, by the Babylonians, then by Antiochus. It was defiled by Antiochus. It was rededicated by Judah the Maccabee at Chanukah. It was cleansed by Y'shua. Then it became a place of meeting and a place of miracles for the early believers. Wow! Isn't that something? All of that took place on King Sholomo's porch.

King Solomon's Porch is symbolic of our temple.  The colonnade was the outer courts of the temple. What do the Scriptures say? It says that our body is now the temple for the Ruach Hakodesh.  We have our body, the outer court, the Nefesh. We have our mind, the will, the intellect, the ruach. Then we have the Holy Place, the place where YHWH abides, the neshamah.

Our faith, though once pure and undefiled was taken captive by pagans. It was perverted by people; it was offered unclean pigs on the altar. Even today, the clean life, the obedient abundant life is sacrificed upon the altar.  It was taken captive by Constantine, by the Romans, by the pagans, and it was perverted, defiled.  Yet, what happened with Chanukah? A small group, a remnant of people said, "We're going to take a stand. We're going to fight. We're going to come against this paganism. We're going to take a stand. We're going to be willing to proclaim the truth." They reclaimed the ancient paths. They cleaned up the mess others left behind, and they set things right. Is that not what our movement is about? Is it not what we're doing?

We're coming into this faith, we're saying, "You know what? Judaism has perverted the faith. Christianity has perverted the faith. Judaism has all these rules and laws, man-made theologies. They don't accept Y'shua. Christianity has all its rules and laws and man-made theologies. They don't accept Torah."  We're kind of walking in the balance of the two, we're trying to grab a little bit from here, grab some truth from there.

We're taking a faith that's been perverted by man, that's full of paganism, and we're trying to clean it up. That's what we're doing every day. We're cleaning up the mess, we're trying to set things right. What do we have to do? Now we've got to rededicate it to YHWH. We must dedicate our faith and life to YHWH and follow Him fully

This is the message of Chanukah.  It's the message of our victory over paganism and our dedication to YHWH. That's the cornerstone of Chanukah. That's what Chanukah's all about. It's about victory over paganism, and the dedication to YHWH. That's the true theme of Chanukah.

Look at how and where Y'shua observed Chanukah.  It was at Sholomo's temple. What does that tell us? It tells us that if we are the temple of Ruach Hakodesh, and if we worship in the temple, if this place of worship is the temple of Ruach Hakodesh, then we are to do a couple of things. First of all, we are to rid it of paganism. We should get it out of our family, out of our life, out of our homes, out of our fellowship, and out of our worship center. It tells is in Jeremiah 10, "Thus says YHWH, 'Do not learn the ways of the pagans of the nations, of the heathens. Do not be terrified by the signs of the heavens, although the nations are terrified by them.'"

In Matthew 10:5, it says, "The twelve Y'shua sent forth and He commanded them, 'Do not go in the way of the Gentiles.'"  Do you know what that means? He said don't practice the way of the pagans.  Don't do as they do. 

In Deuteronomy 18:9, it says, "When you come into the land that YHWH has given you, you shall not learn to do after the abominations of the nations that surround you." Don't do what the world does. That's what Chanukah's all about. That's what our faith is all about. That's what Y'shua did. He came here to Shlomo's porch, the place that had been defiled, that had been dedicated, and He said, "I and the Father are one." Unity. One. Echad.  We must proclaim that we've gotten all the paganism out.  We must seek to announce that "I and the Father are one."  You can't have the defeat of paganism without the dedication to YHWH.

Nor can you have a dedicated life to YHWH unless you get rid of the paganism. We've tried that with our Easter bonnets and our Christmas trees.  Yet, there was something missing in our lives, wasn't it? Something just wasn't right. It was because we were worshiping Him in the way we knew how, but yet it was pagan.  It was the way of the world.

Chanukah is all about our victory over paganism.  YHWH wants to lead us to where we have victory over paganism.  He wants to lead us to where we're one with YHWH.  Then our places of worship, our temple, our fellowship center, and our homes will become places of miracles. That's what He wants to accomplish in us this Chanukah.

YHWH wants to cleanse us, just like He did with the money changers.  And He wants to re-establish that power that the new early believers had. That's what He wants in us. He doesn't want us to come and just have a dead worship service, or to have dead prayer at home. "My house should be called a house of prayer."  He wants us to be weeping for that.

Chanukah's is about craving His power.  That can be us, as we rid ourselves, as we cleanse ourselves, as we dedicate ourselves. This is the cornerstone of our faith. We're not just trying to be Jewish. We're not just trying to do what the Jews do.  We are trying to get back to the way it was when Y'shua came, to return to the ways of the Savior, to reclaim the faith of the Apostles, to rid our belief system of man-made doctrines.

Solomon's porch is a reminder of this. It's a place of miracles. The transformation and restoration that took place at Solomon's porch is what's taking place in our faith, is what's taking place in our lives. When someone says, "Why do you celebrate Chanukah?"  Simply suggest hat we do this, not because you get gifts for eight nights, but because it's symbolic of what Y'shua's done in you.

We're told that when the Maccabees and the priests were cleaning up after Antiochus, it was a bad horrible.  We know that they sacrificed the pigs, and they did some horrible things like sexual relations in the Holy of Holies. When the Maccabees were cleaning up and the priests were there, they had the altar, the exact stones that Antiochus had sacrificed the animals on, and they said, "We can't use this anymore." They said, "This just isn't going to work. A new altar is needed. We couldn't take these defiled stones that held up this larger stone and sacrifice animals to YHWH on it. How could we put this in the house of YHWH?"

As they were talking about it, one Rabbi said, "What are we going to do with it? What are we going to do with these old defiled altar stones?" So they wisely explained and said, "Take the dirty defiled altar and the stones, and take it to Solomon's porch, the eastern side of Solomon's porch, and when the Messiah comes, He'll know what to do with them."

They didn't know what to do, so they said, "Store it there and when Moshiach comes, He'll know what to do with it." Could it be in John 10, when the religious leaders were there at King Solomon's porch and when they were picking up the stones to stone Him, that they picked up these very stones that were used in the old sacrificial system?  Could it be that that they were going to hurl the sacrificial stones at the sacrifice of all mankind?

This brings new meaning to Psalm 118:22. "The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone."  This stone that was defiled by Antiochus has now become the chief cornerstone. It says, verse 23, "This is YHWH's doing, it is marvelous in our eyes." Verse 24, "This is the day which YHWH has made, we will rejoice and be glad in it."

Psalm 118:24 points directly to Chanukah, saying, "We will rejoice and be glad in Chanukah," because on this day, on this time, the Rock that the builders rejected, the temple that the people rejected, the person of Y'shua, the faith of the Hebrews that has been rejected by all mankind, by the Christians, even by the Jews, has become our cornerstone. Y'shua is the cornerstone rejected of men. Chanukah, dedication to YHWH, the season to celebrate these miracles to get rid of paganism is the foundation now. Didn't we say that it was at Solomon's porch that the Apostles were there and people were healed?

Guess what it says in Ephesians 2:20? "We are built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Y'shua Himself being the chief cornerstone." He was the chief sacrifice. It tells us in the next two verses, "In whom all the building we fit framed together we grow into the Holy Temple of YHWH, in whom we are also built together for the habitation of YHWH though the Spirit." That's what YHWH's doing in our midst. He's taking us, we've been rejected, we've been pushed aside, and yet, we've been rededicated to YHWH, and now YHWH is building us together as lively stones to be the house, the Bet HaMikdash, the habitation of YHWH. That's what Chanukah's all about.

The very stones that the builders rejected and said, "We can't use this, leave them for Messiah."  Those stones were perhaps chosen to stone the Messiah when He said, "I and the Father are One." They picked them up to throw at Him.  He would later offer His very life as a sacrifice for them. He took the sacrifice for us, and now we celebrate Him. He's the real reason for the season, because He dedicated that temple. He said, "Into Thy hands do I commit My spirit." That should be our prayer this Chanukah.

This is the day, this is the season, the eight days that YHWH has made, we will rejoice and be glad in them!

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