Hanukkah means dedication. The Feast of Dedication celebrates the rededication of the Temple and the vessels of Temple worship after they had been defiled. We could relate to Hanukkah as a mere historical event that is outside of ourselves. But I feel that the Lord is moving on our hearts to apply this feast in a deeper way. Let this Hanukkah celebration be about rededicating ourselves as the temple of God and as the instruments that serve Him.

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Show Notes:

Show Notes: The Feast of Dedication is all about the fact that the implements of worship in the Temple had been used in unholy sacrifices and therefore were unclean. The Jews had to rebuild the altar, rebuild the menorah, and remake the implements that were used for the sacrificial offerings in the Temple. All these things had to be purified, sanctified, and dedicated again to the Lord for the service of worship. We cannot think of Hanukkah as anything less than purifying ourselves and sanctifying our lives back into the service of God.

The Jews back then had to separate themselves from the Gentile worship that had polluted the Temple. It had polluted the city of Jerusalem and it had polluted many people who found themselves living according to a culture that God was not in favor of because it was not sanctified to Him. We also must realize that we are to put away everything surrounding us that is unclean. We do not give ourselves to it. We do not welcome it in our hearts and lives. We want to be welcomed by the Father. We want Him to call us His sons and daughters. We want Him to indwell us and use us in serving Him and ministering to the world.

God has always worked through His people to accomplish His will and His purpose in the earth. And He wants to work through us in this generation. As believers in Christ, we come to this time of Hanukkah and dedicate ourselves back to Him in every area where we have not had the sanctification that we need in our hearts and in our lives. We seek Him to rebuild us, spirit, soul, and body into that temple in which He can dwell and be the instruments that He can use.

Key Verses:

• John 10:22–24. “The Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; … and Jesus was walking in the temple.”
• Romans 12:1. “Present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, … your spiritual service of worship.”
• 1 Corinthians 6:19–20. “Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit …: therefore glorify God in your body.”
• 1 Corinthians 3:16–17. “The temple of God is holy, and that is what you are.”
• 2 Corinthians 6:14–18. “We are the temple of the living God; … ‘DO NOT TOUCH WHAT IS UNCLEAN.’”
• Ephesians 2:18–22. “You are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household.”
• Jeremiah 31:34. “They will all know Me, … for I will forgive their iniquity.”

Quotes:

• “I want to be confronted by the Holy Spirit in a way that brings me to a thorough repentance, which brings about a rededication of my life in every way under Him.”
• “Get rid of every agreement in your hearts with the idolatry of the age that we live in and sanctify yourself once again unto God. It is the Feast of Dedication.”
• “We want to see Him glorified in our physical body as well as in our spirit so that everything we say, everything we do is worship and service to God.”

Takeaways:

1. To rededicate the Temple, they had to sanctify the implements of worship. We also have to sanctify our hands, our mouths, our feet, and our whole bodies to the Lord so that we are purified and fit for the Master’s use. They had to rebuild the altar with new stones. And we need to take the new stones of the Word of God and rebuild our lives into what they should be as a sanctuary for His presence. They had to rebuild the menorah. And we should rebuild that which makes us the light to the nations.
2. This is what Hanukkah is all about for us as believers in Christ. It is a time of rededication, not a rededication of something outward, but instead a rededication of our own hearts and lives: spirit, soul, and body to the Lord. In so doing, we make a place on earth for Him to dwell and become sanctified so that He might use us according to His will.
3. As Christians we think in terms of the Church. But from the Day of Pentecost until now, the entire purpose of God in pouring out His Spirit on individuals was to make us His dwelling place. The Body of Christ is not about church. It is about being individuals who are the temple of God, cleansed and dedicated so that He may dwell in us.

Resources:

Eight Reasons for Christians to Celebrate Hanukkah – Episode 16

Hanukkah—Do Not Be Conformed to the World – Episode 122

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