Yeshua

January 14, 2021 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

2021: Revolution, Resolutions or Fulfillment of Prophecy?

Usually, when we start a new year, there is a sense of renewal, a fresh start and new resolutions to get us going on the proper footing. Let’s be realistic, there is nobody on this planet who doesn’t want 2021 to be better than 2020. The pandemic, the race riots, the economic rollercoaster and the presidential elections have made last year a memorable one, and not so much from a positive perspective. And yet, for several reasons, January 2021 is looking like an extension of 2020.

The upcoming changing of the guard at the presidential level is currently punctuating every aspect of American life. People have never been so polarized since the Civil War and there doesn’t seem to be much of a light at the end of the tunnel. Many people are being silenced, crippled and isolated. Where is this going?

When I look at the current exponentially growing censorship of conservatives by Big Tech, I am immediately taken back to what happened to my family in the 1930s and 40s in France. I know that some will be tempted to accuse me of using ghetto and Holocaust analogies flippantly when the topics should be left alone. Truly, too many people are using Holocaust comparisons cheaply to make their case more dramatic, but when the shoe fits!

I still remember my father telling me how his father–who fought the Great War of 1914-1918 as a French citizen– was one of many Jews being asked to bring their bicycles to the nearest Paris police station. Most of them, including my paternal grandfather, complied quietly, and self-imposed a forced limitation of their movements within their country, and it worked well for the Nazis.

Next, the Jews of France were asked to bring their transistor radios to the same police stations. Again, most of them complied and soon found themselves staying home with no means of knowing what was going on in the world. This was a time when exiled General Charles De Gaulle was broadcasting information from the United Kingdom on a daily basis.

The next step was to isolate the Jews even further by grouping them in ghettos, so that they could be concentrated in a specific area, with almost no way to communicate with the outside world. It worked very well for the enemies of the Jews. It still wasn’t enough as it led to Kristallnacht in Germany and the “Final Solution to the Jewish question” all over Europe.

Yes, I absolutely see some similarities between the times we live in and the 1930s and 40s. Christians and conservatives are being silenced and censored with a final agenda of isolation with almost no possible communication. Glenn Beck accurately compared where we are today to the era of World War Two when he said,“This is like the Germans with the Jews behind the wall, they would put them in the ghetto. This is the digital ghetto. ‘You can talk all you want, Jews, do whatever you want behind the wall’…And that’s where we are. That’s where millions of Americans will be.” It does appear as if we are being forced into a “digital ghetto.”

While most Jewish people lean more towards liberal, progressive views; we are usually the first ones to suffer and often for different reasons that are not connected to the economy, politics or a pandemic. We are targeted because we are Jewish, and even though it is incredibly irrational, Jews have been accused of bringing the virus to the world–strangely reminiscent of the Black Plague libel. We have also been accused of controlling the banks and the economy–also reminiscent of the Middle Age libel about Jews being greedy and controlling European wealth.

What about the vaccine? how many people will not want to take it? Will we have a choice? It is hard to tell this early in the game, but we cannot ignore the Bill the state of New York is working on, known as Bill A416. It is currently only at the committee level and has a long way to go before it becomes law, if it ever does. The gist of it is simply the establishing of a system by which the Governor of the state of NY has the right to isolate people he deems dangerous to the health of other people, and place them in detention centers until they are assessed and deemed fit to re-enter society.

No wonder quite a few people are feeling like a revolution is brewing in America. Our liberties seem to be at stake, but now is supposed to be the time when we all make new year’s resolutions, not new year’s revolution, so which is it? Frankly, America might very well be on the cusp of a new revolution, and yet, I strongly believe that it is still the appropriate time to make new year’s resolutions.

I need to confess that I have been pulled down into the cesspool of the current political debate for a good share of the last few months. I went from amazement to frustration to anger to resentment to bitterness. As a result, I completely lost my focus on what God has really called me to be, an ambassador of the Good News to the Jewish people and also to the Gentiles, as well as a watchman and soldier against antisemitism of all sorts.

New resolutions are not easy to make; and this is why people make them and often break them soon after. Going on a diet, quitting smoking or changing any habit or addiction requires sacrifice and self-discipline. As believers, we also can rely on the Holy Spirit to convict us and enable us to stick to our resolutions. Things might change. Only time will tell; but for now, I believe that new resolutions may be more important to believers in Yeshua than a new revolution.

For the time being, I desire to commit to the only agenda worth my time as a modern disciple of Yeshua, and that is the furthering of His kingdom on earth. This doesn’t necessarily mean that I will become a hermit, ignore the news and put my head in the proverbial sand of ignorance. I am a legal citizen of the United States of America for the remainder of my time on earth, and I have to respect that and the laws that come with it. Yet, if I am forced to do things that boldly go against what Yeshua teaches, I will be forced to make a choice. Mine is already made. How about yours?

There is plenty to do for those of us who can focus on what the Lord would have us do. I will continue to fight antisemitism the best way I can in writing, speaking, preaching and educating; because I know beyond the shadow of a doubt that it is one of the burdens that God has given me. I also believe that it will continue to open doors for me to share the love of Yeshua.

I might be a legal citizen of the United States, but I am also a citizen of heaven who was purchased by the blood of Yeshua at His sacrificial death 2000 years ago. My citizenship in heaven should always be my focal point, as I am reminded by the great prophet Moses in Psalm 90 (the only psalm written by Moses) where he said, “As for the days of our life, they contain seventy years, or if due to strength, eighty years, yet their pride is but labor and sorrow; for soon it is gone and we fly away…. Let Your work appear to Your servants and Your majesty to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us; and confirm for us the work of our hands; yes, confirm the work of our hands.”

Furthermore, our time here is but a breath or a vapor as James 4:15-17 tells us, “Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and also do this or that.” But as it is, you boast in your arrogance; all such boasting is evil. Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.”

We as believers have been entrusted with the propagating of the Good News of Yeshua the Messiah. It would be wise to remember that those who started following Him at the onset of His ministry in Israel, did so – no strings attached and without worrying about their legal rights. Again, I am not advising that believers give away all their rights as per the US Constitution, but some things are worth fighting for while others are not. At the end of the day, fighting so that we can share the Good News is of the utmost importance. However, we also need to realize that some of the most successful evangelists were those who were persecuted, imprisoned and/or went underground.

Prophetically, the Bible promises much turmoil during the end times. It doesn’t predict an American revolution (America is not even mentioned in the Bible). We are promised that the Lord will never forsake us, but that we will also suffer persecution because of Him. 2021 promises to propel us even closer to the final pages of the Bible. To be honest, sometimes I feel like the prophetic future isn’t so future anymore. Even if time is of the essence, the Good News is still the best message to be shared. So, if I must spend any time focusing on the future, let it be because I care about those who do not have theirs secured in Messiah’s embrace.

Is God trying to get us on our knees? That is entirely possible and that shouldn’t scare us because it is when we are on our knees that we are the closest to Him!

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Messiah Yeshua. (Philippians 3:14)

January 4, 2021 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Antisemitism 2020: A Year in Review – Part II

As I have been monitoring antisemitism domestically and globally for over two decades, I always review what events have made each year unique from that perspective. 2020 is no different. Events varied from wake-up calls to challenges to crimes, and they were both domestic and global. Keep in mind that even a global act of antisemitism has many ripple effects that will reach the United States. In my previous post, I reviewed January to June 2020, let’s review the rest of the year now:

July 2020: Israel’s Right to the Land

When the world struggles with a pandemic and increasing racial/cultural riots, Israel takes second place on the news. Don’t quote me wrong, there is still plenty of antisemitic rhetoric to be heard, and acts against Jews still abound. But, somehow, there had been a bit of a respite. That was until the approaching deadline for Israel’s annexation of territories from the West Bank became news. The day for the move was July 1st, but Benjamin Netanyahu decided to delay it a bit. Historically and politically, the 1917 Balfour Declaration followed by the 1920 San Remo Conference really made it clear that the land then known as “Palestine” belonged to the Jewish people. I see three reasons why this is true:

Biblically, Israel owns the whole land: Going back to the book of Genesis, God made a covenant with Abraham and his descendants (Genesis 12:1-3; 15:18-21; Leviticus 25:23.)

Prophetically, Israel needs the whole land: There is an important factor that plays out in the future of the Jewish people. It is known as the Law of Return, which was passed in 1950 in the Knesset (Israeli Parliament.) The Jewish people are also promised by God that in the future they will all return to the land, even in unbelief. In other words, a Jewish person’s spiritual connection of lack of, to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, has no bearing on God’s promise to bring the Jewish people back to the land in the last days (Ezekiel 36:22-28.)

Geopolitically, Israel runs the whole land better: With their proverbial head in the sand, most people do not realize how much better life in Israel can be for all people. This tiny sliver of land in the Middle East truly is a beacon of light in a very dark place. It is recognized as the only true democracy in the whole region.

August 2020: The Abraham Accord and the Antichrist

From a human perspective, in a region that has been punctuated by wars since Israel’s birth as a modern nation on May 14, 1948, seeing peace between Israel and Arab neighbors is highly unexpected and very exciting. There has been a “proverbial” hatred between Arabs and Jews for at least 75 years. It’s complicated! But from a human perspective, peace is good. As long as we understand that humanly speaking, peace simply means the absence of war.

At the end of the day, the world is quickly getting ready for the Antichrist (Daniel 9:26-27), but the world is also ready for the Messiah. It is up to those of us who know the difference, to teach those who would be tempted to follow the Antichrist, and lead them to the only true Prince of Peace known as Yeshua of Nazareth

September 2020: It’s All the Jews’ Fault

As 2020 went on, just about everything has been blamed on the Jews. This is nothing new, as we have been the scapegoats of humanity for centuries.

Covid-19: The Jewish people have been accused of creating, causing and even spreading the virus to the world for two reasons: To “take over the world” and to “monetize” the vaccine/cure that they have developed. This hardly explains how Israel has been suffering from two huge spikes of new cases of Covid-19.

The Protests/Riots: Some people found it interesting to spread the rumor that American police officers were being trained by IDF officers in using methods that include the way George Floyd was choked to death. The group known as US Campaign for Palestinian Rights came up with that unfounded accusation.

October 2020: A Jewish Cabal!

QAnon: The strange attraction that people have for the mysterious group known as QAnon is also leading people to blame the Jews. It is supposed to ANONymously expose the international Jewish cabal to destroy Donald Trump and take over the world. The fact that it is based on a hoax from 1904–The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion- that has been debunked over and over, doesn’t seem to stop QAnon adherents. They claim that the Rothschilds are behind the whole agenda of controlling the USA behind the scenes.

November/December 2020: Hope Only in God’s Word

Bible Prophecies are directed by God Himself for the benefit of mankind. From that perspective, almost 30% of the Tenach (Old Testament) is prophetic, and almost 22% of the B’rit Hadashah (New Testament) is prophetic.

Now, let’s look at the one world event that we are living through today that is a guarantee that we are in the last days. I am speaking of the regathering of the Jewish people to the land of Eretz Yisrael. God promised to restore the land of Israel and He did when He allowed for the birth of the modern state of Israel on May 14, 1948. Beyond the restoration of the land, He also promised in Ezekiel that the Jewish people would return to it in the end times. Ezekiel 36:24 is clear, “For I will take you from the nations, gather you from all the lands and bring you into your own land.” This speaks of the physical restoration of Israel and it has literally been happening in front of our very eyes for the last few decades. Additionally, In Ezekiel 37, the prophet is given a vision known as “the vision of the valley of dry bones”, in which he is told that Jewish people will return to Israel. This is about Israel’s national restoration, which is controlled by the God of Israel.

But the national physical restoration is only part of this world event because we will also see the spiritual rebirth of Israel as we read in Ezekiel 36:25-27. There are still some unknown elements to the end times, but, what we need to know, is that as we see the Jewish people repopulating their ancestral biblical land, we are living in these end times for sure, and this should encourage us and motivate us to share the Gospel with our people.

in 2021, let us all commit to learning more about the Bible, Israel, end-times and antisemitism so that we can make a better difference in our fight against the oldest hatred!

Happy New Year!

December 26, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

Antisemitism 2020: A Year in Review – Part I

There are many topics that could be covered to punctuate the year 2020. Most of them are unusually different from previous years. The race riots, the pandemic, or the elections are just three of them. It could also be argued that 2020 will be remembered as the year when we became the Divided States of America. Nobody in America ever saw such polarization between neo-liberals and conservatives, and the chasm will probably get wider as time progresses. There is also a way to look at Jewish life through the year 2020; Antisemitism! I have been monitoring antisemitism domestically and globally for over two decades, and once a year, I review what events have made each year unique from that perspective. 2020 is no different. Events varied from wake-up calls to challenges to crimes, and they were both domestic and global. Keep in mind that even a global act of antisemitism has many ripple effects that will reach the United States. So, let’s review the year a month at a time:

January 2020: International Holocaust Remembrance Day
Every January 27, we are reminded to commemorate International Holocaust Remembrance Day. As multiple heads of state and key representatives gather to pay tribute to the victims and the helpers (Righteous Among the Nations), the rest of the world is also invited to post a photo of themselves with the hashtag #WeRemember. But Hashtags will not defeat Holocaust deniers, historical revisionists and antisemites. Hashtags are the bumper stickers of the twenty-first century, they make a statement in passing as they move to their eternal abode in cyberspace. Instead, people can visit one of the numerous US-based (30 states) Holocaust memorial/museums, read on the topic, share with the next generation and/or attend conferences and peaceful protests.

February 2020: The Aalst Carnival in Belgium
The city of Aalst, Belgium has officially held its carnival since 1923. Parades of that sort actually go back to the Middle Ages. Aalst almost always makes the news for its 3-Day carnival. The organizers repeatedly claim that the satirical tone of the carnival is to be remembered when one considers any of its floats. They regularly ridicule the Jewish people.
The “Aalst Jews of 2020” were wearing oversized shtreimels (fur hats), dressed in black this year, but the bottom half of their bodies were that of insects or vermin; ants to be exact (don’t miss the extermination innuendo here). Joining the crowds were dozens of people wearing caricatural orthodox Jewish garb and large fake crooked noses, not to mention the many flyers with stereotypical renditions of Jews with side curls, crooked noses and curly hair, and the many people wearing Nazi uniforms…All of it in the name of innocent satire!

March 2020: The Covid-19 Vaccine versus BDS
As of March, 149 countries had been infected. The global number of cases exceeded 150,000 and deaths were over 5,600. We thought that it was bad, but we knew nothing yet. Several countries in the world were racing against the clock to research, discover, test and manufacture a vaccine for Covid-19. At the forefront of these modern countries was Israel.
And then, there were the usual BDS movement people across the globe, selling the false idea that Israel is an occupying, colonialist and human rights violating country. They convince a plethora of uneducated people to boycott Israel. Evidently, they boycott whatever is not going to be too inconvenient. So, here is the million-dollar question: “Would BDS people refuse the vaccine if it came from Israel?” They should if they were consistent and ethical.

April 2020: A New Bible Without Israel
The Danish Bible Society published a new Bible known as “The Bible 2020.” It should be called the RTV (Replacement Theology Version.) This Bible is no Bible at all, and it is a very dangerous document. It chose to inaccurately replace or just ignore the word “Israel” (73 times in the New Testament), calling it instead “the land” or “the people.”
It is just one more proof showing us how close we are from the final chapter in the “Real Bible”, where Messiah Yeshua returns to establish his kingdom after fighting all those who went against Jerusalem (Zechariah 12:10), and establishes His messianic kingdom with His people among which the Jews will be the head and not the tail. That is the biblical truth that includes Israel AND excludes the enemies of Israel.

May 2020: Trump, Ford and the Protocols of the Elders of Zion!
In May, President Trump made a very uncomfortable comment as he was visiting a Ford factory in Michigan. As he was addressing executives about the founder of Ford Motors, Henry Ford, he said, “The company was founded by a man named Henry Ford, good bloodlines, good bloodlines. If you believe in that stuff, you got good blood.”
Ford’s antisemitism is indelibly printed in the chronicles of history. It cannot be denied, it shouldn’t be minimized and will not be forgotten. I do not believe that President Trump was promoting Eugenics or racial superiority in the way that Henry Ford did when he published The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion, but his statement can be used against him by his enemies and also by those who espouse such a view, linking President Trump to a group of fringe antisemites that already are believed by some to support him.

June 2020: Black Lives Matter but BLM doesn’t
2020 saw the tragic death of George Floyd and the rise of the BLM movement. But before we blindly join and support the BLM movement based on somewhat of a knee-jerk reaction, from a mix of compassion, rightful indignation and misplaced guilt, we should investigate who the BLM movement supports and promotes.
Black Lives Matter clearly supports BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions). BDS has been pushing for a total boycott (academic, cultural and economic) of Israel and those who support Israel and Israeli products and companies. It has made great strides towards convincing people across the globe that Israel was the perpetrator of crimes against humanity, oppression, invasion and persecution. BLM is also one of more than 150 organizations within the coalition known as Movement for Black Lives (M4BL.) Let’s support all black lives, but not through a manmade movement that has a shaky foundation at best. Rather, because of our Messiah who supported all lives, enough to die for them. We all should support black lives and it definitely matters how we do it!

Part II with the rest of 2020 will be published next week.

December 18, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

There Wouldn’t Be Christmas If It Wasn’t For Hanukkah! – Part II

So, last week, I made the statement: “There wouldn’t be Christmas if it wasn’t for Hanukkah!” It sounded a bit controversial if not oxymoronic. We looked at the historical, biblical and modern aspects of Hanukkah, the Feast of Dedication also known as the Festival of Lights. Much of the background for the story of Hanukkah can be found in the book of Daniel as Antiochus IV Epiphanes rose to power, outlawed Judaism and murdered Jewish people. Eventually, through the Maccabean revolt, the Jewish people regained control, rededicated the Temple and were free to practice Judaism again. I also promised you that I would explain the correlation between the Feast of Hanukkah and the Jewish Messiah.

It is crucial to understand that throughout our history, several attempts have been made to completely eradicate our people. It goes back to the third chapter of Genesis when Satan realized that the Messiah would be coming from the seed of the woman (Genesis 3:15), eventually learning that He would be from the tribe of Judah (Genesis 49:10) and the line of David (2 Samuel 7:16-17; Psalm 89:34-37.) In other words, the Bible promises beyond the shadow of a doubt that the Messiah would be a Jew in His humanity. If Satan wanted to thwart God’s plans to bring the Jewish Messiah on the world’s stage and secure his job of the great deceiver, the best way would be to completely decimate the Jewish people and put an end to the Jewish race, something that God promised would never happen in (Jeremiah 31:35-37.) But Satan should know better than that!

This is God’s way of saying that nothing can be done to completely eliminate the Jewish people from the face of the earth, “Thus says the LORD, Who gives the sun for light by day And the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, Who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar; The LORD of hosts is His name: “If this fixed order departs From before Me,” declares the LORD, “Then the offspring of Israel also will cease From being a nation before Me forever.” Thus says the LORD, “If the heavens above can be measured And the foundations of the earth searched out below, Then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel For all that they have done,” declares the LORD.” Notice that God mentions at the very end that even Israel’s disobedience and idol worshipping couldn’t deter Him from preserving the Jewish people. In other words, their preservation is not depending on their performance, but on God’s character only. What a promise!

Several biblical characters were used by Satan to further his destructive agenda. The Pharaoh who didn’t know Joseph decided that all Jewish newborn males should be killed, and as retold in the book of Esther, Haman wanted Mordechai and the rest of the Jews of the kingdom to be killed. Incidentally, as an example of the promise God made in Genesis 12:3, “And I will bless those who bless you, And the one who curses you I will curse”, all the first-born of Egypt were decimated as the result of the 10th plague against the Egyptians before the exodus of the Jewish people towards the Promised Land. Additionally, Haman and his sons ended up hanging on the very gallows that he had built for Mordechai. God’s covenantal promise to preserve the Jewish people, protect us and provide for us was strong then and it is strong now because God means what He says and says what He means.

So, when the events that led to the Feast of Hanukkah took place, even though many Jewish people tragically lost their lives, God wasn’t caught off guard and He had not changed His mind. Once again, the Jewish people prevailed, or more accurately, God prevailed on behalf of His people Israel. By the way, I often say that anyone who doesn’t believe in God should look at the history of the Jewish people, our preservation and growth against all odds. We shouldn’t exist if it wasn’t for God’s grace and His eternal, irrevocable covenantal promises (Romans 11:28-29), “From the standpoint of the gospel they are enemies for your sake, but from the standpoint of God’s choice they are beloved for the sake of the fathers; for the gifts and the calling of God are irrevocable.” God Has always known that the Messiah would come through a Jewish family and this was not about to change. If the Jewish line was interrupted at the time of the Maccabean Revolt, the Messiah couldn’t have been born and this why we can say with certainty and with hope, “There wouldn’t be Christmas if it wasn’t for Hanukkah!” It has always been God’s timing.

It is God who originally set the stage for the arrival of the Messiah, not a minute too soon and not too late either, “But when the fullness of the time came, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the Law” as Paul tells us in Galatians. Here again, it is confirmed that in His human form, Messiah would be born “under the Law”, another way to mean that He would be a Jew.

The Bible also promises us that the Messiah would be a light to the nations. The theme of light against the darkness shouldn’t be missed. The prophet Isaiah tells us, “I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, And I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, As a light to the nations.” Speaking for God, he continues, “It is too small a thing that You should be My Servant To raise up the tribes of Jacob and to restore the preserved ones of Israel; I will also make You a light of the nations So that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”

I find it fascinating that the prominent candle on the Hanukkah menorah, known as the shamash or “servant” candle, is the one that we light first and then use to light all the other candles. The servant brings light to all the others and adds light to fight the darkness. At the very least, I see some similarity with Yeshua the Messiah Who came as “the Servant of the Lord” to bring light to a very dark world. We read about the Servant in four passages in Isaiah: Isaiah 42:1–4; 49:1–6; 50:4–7; and 52:13–53:12.

The most poignant and life-changing passage is probably Isaiah 52:13–53:12 where the Servant is seen as being humiliated, suffering, and innocently killed for his own guilty people. This will remind anyone with an open mind of the fate of the servant of the Lord, Yeshua, who came to be a light to us all but ended-up being crucified for us all. Years later, in the context of the Feast of Sukkot (Tabernacles), He even stated that He was that light in John 8:12, ” Then Yeshua again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

But maybe even more important than the light He is and He brings, Messiah also brings deliverance which is another important theme found in Hanukkah. The Jews were delivered from Antiochus’ oppression and tyranny by the grace of the Almighty. Today, all people can be delivered from the tyranny of the enemy and our doomed destiny by trusting the Messiah and His finished work. The many miracles told in the book of Acts are a testimony to the atoning work of Yeshua on our behalf, for Jews and Gentiles alike, “rescuing you from the Jewish people and from the Gentiles, to whom I am sending you, to open their eyes so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the dominion of Satan to God, that they may receive forgiveness of sins and an inheritance among those who have been sanctified by faith in Me.

It is so refreshing to know that the light of the world came to pull us all out of darkness, but we have to believe what He did on our behalf as John tells us, “Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.” It should lead us to a desire to dedicate or re-dedicate our lives to God as we are advised in Romans 12:1-2, ” Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

Of course, dedication is also a theme that is part of the Hanukkah story as the Jewish people worked hard at cleaning the Temple and re-dedicating it with freshly pressed olive oil for the menorah while as the story tells us, the one-day reserve of oil burned for 8 days until more oil was available.

Re-dedicating our lives should really be a daily event. Each morning we ought to speak to God and offer to Him our day dedicated to His glory in everything we think, say or do. It is a great way to start our day and to stay focused on what is important.

As if all these parallels between Hanukkah and the Messiah weren’t enough, one of the best-kept secrets of the Bible is the fact Yeshua Himself recognized and celebrated Hanukkah in Jerusalem, ” At that time the Feast of the Dedication took place at Jerusalem; it was winter, and Yeshua was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon” (John 10:22-23.)

So, again, it is not a stretch to say that there wouldn’t be Christmas if it wasn’t for Hanukkah! So, whatever we chose to celebrate, being the birth of the Jewish Messiah or the deliverance of the Jewish people, we ought to recognize God’s hand in all of it. As for me and my family, we recognize and celebrate both the birth of the Messiah the Light of the world and the preservation of the Jewish people by the grace of God.

Happy Holidays to you all!

December 11, 2020 By Olivier Melnick Leave a Comment

There Wouldn’t Be Christmas If It Wasn’t For Hanukkah! Part I

What a statement to be making, “There wouldn’t be Christmas if it wasn’t for Hanukkah!” To most people, this might sound like an oxymoron, but I would beg to differ. So, let’s look at the biblical and historical origins of Hanukkah, its modern practice, and finally, let’s investigate to see if it has any connection to Christmas (you might be surprised!) The feast of Hanukkah is known as either ” The Feast of Dedication” or “The Festival of Lights”, and it actually is both. The word itself means “dedication.” As you will see, Hanukkah teaches us how God delivered and preserved His people and prepared the world for the arrival of the Messiah, Yeshua of Nazareth.

Historically speaking, the events that led to the creation of the Feast of Hanukkah are found in three of the four books found in the Apocrypha, known as “Maccabees I, II III and IV.” The reason that I speak of the historical record and not biblical is that evangelicals do not accept the Apocrypha as part of the inspired word of God found in the Jewish Bible. This doesn’t mean that their historical accuracy is in question, but simply that the authors of the story were not inspired by the Spirit of God to record the events. Details about the Maccabean revolt are found in I, II and IV Maccabees.

Additionally, the great Jewish historian Josephus wrote about Hanukkah in his Antiquities, in which he calls it “The Festival of Lights”, ” Now Judas celebrated the festival of the restoration of the sacrifices of the temple for eight days, and omitted no sort of pleasures thereon; but he feasted them upon very rich and splendid sacrifices; and he honored 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 a 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.”

Biblically speaking, Hanukkah is not included in the Levitical feasts of the Lord found in Leviticus 23. Similar to the feast of Esther known as Purim, Hanukkah is a post-biblical holiday. It is a celebration that was instituted as the result of a significant event in Jewish history. The prophet Daniel tells us quite a bit about this event and about the rise and fall of Antiochus IV Epiphanes. He also was a type of the Antichrist that will come to the world’s stage in the future. In Daniel 11:3, we are told “And a mighty king will arise, and he will rule with great authority and do as he pleases.” This is a reference to Alexander the Great, the mighty Greek leader who conquered the known world, mostly from 333 BCE to 323 BCE, before his sudden death at a young age.

Alexander the Great didn’t dislike the Jewish people, but after his death, when his kingdom was divided between his four generals: Cassander of Macedonia, Lysimachus of Asia Minor, Seleucus of Syria and Ptolemy of Egypt, things quickly changed. According to Daniel 11:4, “But as soon as he has arisen, his kingdom will be broken up and parceled out toward the four points of the compass, though not to his own descendants, nor according to his authority which he wielded, for his sovereignty will be uprooted and given to others besides them.” Daniel 11:5, 6, 9 and 11 tell us about the “King of the South” (Egypt) raging war against the “King of the North (Syria) for control over Israel, seen as a buffer zone. This took place between 331 BCE and 198 BCE, but in 198 BCE the Seleucids (Antiochus) gained control (Daniel 11:15, 18, 19).

Eventually, Antiochus IV acted against the Jews as we see in Daniel 11:29-31, “At the appointed time he will return and come into the South, but this last time it will not turn out the way it did before. For ships of Kittim will come against him; therefore he will be disheartened and will return and become enraged at the holy covenant and take action; so he will come back and show regard for those who forsake the holy covenant. Forces from him will arise, desecrate the sanctuary fortress, and do away with the regular sacrifice. And they will set up the abomination of desolation. The next verse (v. 32) speaks of the Maccabees, “By smooth words he will turn to godlessness those who act wickedly toward the covenant, but the people who know their God will display strength and take action.”

Frankly, we get quite a bit of detail in the prophet Daniel to help us understand the Maccabean revolt against Antiochus, the rededication of the Temple and the inauguration of the Feast of Hanukkah. We do not get quite as much as in the three apocryphal books of the Maccabees, but the stories correlate nicely, considering that it took place a long time ago. That was almost 2200 years ago. Antiochus eventually desecrated the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, massacred many Jewish people and outlawed Judaism altogether. He even sacrificed a pig on the Temple altar to further humiliate the Jewish people. He simply hated the Jews. But a simple Jewish family from the village of Modi’in wouldn’t remain silent. Mattathias and his five sons known as the Maccabees (meaning “hammer” in Hebrew), led a revolt against their oppressor. It took eight years, but they managed to liberate and retake the Temple from Antiochus and free the Jewish people from Hellenistic domination. And so, the story continues to this day.

They proceeded with the rededication and decided to relight the eternal light of the Temple menorah. They needed special consecrated olive oil and only had enough for one day. They lit the menorah and went on to prepare more oil knowing that the process would take a week. The story tells us that the one-day reserve miraculously lasted for the whole week until the new batch was ready. And so, the Feast of Dedication was born. We celebrate Hanukkah for eight nights, as we light a candle on the first night, two on the next night, and so on. The menorah, also known as a Hanukkiah, has nine branches (a regular menorah has seven). One of the branches is either displayed forward or to the side, but always a bit higher. It is called the shamash or “servant” candle as we light it first and use it to light the other ones and recite the Hanukkah prayers, “Blessed are You, Lord our G‑d, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the Chanukah light.” and “Blessed are You, Lord our G‑d, King of the universe, who performed miracles for our forefathers in those days, at this time.”

We also eat a lot of foods that are fried in oil to remember the miracle of the oil. We eat potato pancakes called latkes, and jelly-filled donuts called sufganyot. Additionally, we spin little tops called dreidels on which four letters are inscribed meaning “a great miracle happened here” (for dreidels used in Israel) or “a great miracle happened there” for dreidels used anywhere else in the world. The modern observance of Hanukkah has often been called the “Jewish Christmas” because gifts are exchanged for eight nights, and the fact that it starts on the 25 of the Jewish month of Kislev which is believed to be the day that the Maccabees defeated Antiochus IV in 165 BCE, (almost always in December within a few weeks of Christmas.)

So, Hanukkah is a time of great celebration of how God preserved, protected and provided for our people. It is a festival of dedication and a festival of lights. It is often said that the Jewish people got a new holiday for each time that the world tried to kill them. And with that holiday, usually come special foods (Passover, Shavuot, Rosh Hashanah, Purim, etc.) So, in Jewish circles, we jokingly say, “They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat!” And yet, there is another aspect of the Feast of Hanukkah that cannot be missed, and it has to do with its connection to Christmas and the birth of the Jewish Messiah. Oh, and by the way, Yeshua, the Jewish Messiah did celebrate Hanukkah and we can read about it in the New Testament. But to find out, you will have to wait until next week for part II. So, do yourself a favor, go fry some potato latkes. Chag Sameach, Happy Hanukkah and see you next week for the rest of the story.

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