It Was Soooo Much More....

This was my thought as I read the article in the "Reader's Digest" for the month of December 2009/January 2010. It wasn't an article as much as a blurb....On page 16, they had a short reference to Hanukkah. They give you the correct pronunciation, explain that it can be spelled with a Ch or an H; that it is not a major Jewish Holiday, which they are correct in this fact but - Maybe, it should be! Then they say - "What's the story? They tried to kill us; we beat them ; let's eat." I lost it. I mean I really lost it. Don't they know? Is this really all they think about Hanukkah? Haven't they heard? The miracle wasn't that they won the battle. They won many battles, hundreds of thousands died, not just thousands...one hundred eighty-three thousand in one day at one time, yet even that was not the focus of Hanukkah. That was merely a small point to the story. Hanukkah is totally about the fact that God provided once again for the Jews during a time of great affliction.

There is a lot MORE to this story. I am, by no means, an educated person. But, I do like Bible prophecy, hunting for truth, and being encouraged by stories of the underdog coming out on top. First, let's define a Jew. A Jew is a person from Judea. A Jew is an Israelite, but an Israelite may not necessarily be a Jew. We find the story of Hanukkah, yes, it really happened, in several books but I am going to limit myself to only a few references, a couple of which come from somebody elses' hard work off their web pages. All credit goes to them. This blog is simply my feelings about my reaction to someone elses' idea of Hanukkah. My sources are listed below if you want to search out more for yourself. Believe me, there are a lot more than these, I just found these to be rather concise. Also, for those who would immediately discount the story as myths and would say these are just stories consider the reference sources and the fact that you can find names and dates listed in other historical data. To the Christian who would immediately discount anything that mentions one of the lost books of the Bible as being unscriptural, consider the fact that the Bible mentions the book of Enoch which I mention because it gives witness to the fact that the books of Maccabees should be considered as historical books and not just discounted as being part of the lost books of the Bible. Sources are found below.

Hanukkah is known as the Festival of Lights. In the Holy Bible we find, starting in John, chapter 1, ...In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God...reading on down to verse 3 All things were made by him...verse 4, In him was life and the 'life was the light of men and the light shineth in darkness and the darkness comprehended it not. And if you read on you will find that a man John the Baptist, was sent to bear witness of that light. For me, Hanukkah is about remembering God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, who is the Light. But that is another story....

I knew this would not be easy to write. You can't just takes years of battle and shorten it or try to explain the law that God gave to the Israelites to follow, which is a part of this story of this war. Nor can you take a miracle of God and reduce it to 'they came, we fought and won the battle, we ate...this story involves having to study history, having to do a little more research outside of the King James Bible if you really want to understand it which means then you have to address the issue of the Lost Books of the Bible which some people just can't handle although Jesus Christ quoted from the book of Enoch and Jude, verse 14 states 'the book of Enoch'. After all, Jesus referred to their books when teaching. Ask yourself the question, "What books were around during the time of Jesus?" The reason I mention the lost books is that you will find the story of Judah, our hero of the battle referred to in the blurb, in the Apocrypha - the first book of Maccabees. During one of these ongoing battles, the Jews fled to the wilderness to survive. During this time was one of their feast observances, and they were not allowed by the law to go out and buy or sell, not that they could anyway because they were hiding out in the wilderness. So they only had enough oil for the lamps in the makeshift temple for three or four days but not for the full eight days of this sacred observance. They found, just like they did when wondering around in the wilderness that God provides for His people. The oil lasted, and lasted and lasted, kind of like the energizer bunny. You know, it keeps going and going and going....God supplied all their needs. None of the lamps died or ran out of oil, flickered or even hinted at going out. They all burned steadily and strong. Hence, Hanukkah is observed as the Festival of Lights in rememberance of the miracle that God did for them. It was so much more than they came, we fought and won, and we ate.

My apologies for any misspelled words, lack of references, offenses if you find particular terms and titles offensive, and remember, I prefaced all of this by saying I am not an 'educated' person.

Reference Sources:
1. King James Bible
a. 1 Samuel 5: 1 through Chapter 6.
b. Matthew 23: 35
c. John, Chapter 1
d. Jude, verse 14
2. The New English Bible with the Apocrypha
a. First Book of the Maccabees
b. Second Book of the Maccabees
3. The book of Enoch (you can find this online)
4. http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/868262
5. http://reluctant-messenger.com/enoch.htm
6. http://www.jewfaq.org/holiday7.htm
7. http://divine.blogs.starnewsonline.com/11259/happy-festival-of-lights-yall/
8. http://www.kolel.org/pages/holidays/Chanukah_intro.html

Curiosity Killed The Cat!

Sometimes I am just amazed, flabbergasted, totally shocked at what you can find on the internet. Just when I thought the world was as evil and as wicked as it can become, somebody finds a new way to make it worse or to bring out the worse in mankind. I know we all have struggles because God's Word tells me that "all have sinned and come short of God." Not one, not just a few but all, Christians included. Apparently the net has reached the depth of Soddom and Gomorrah and that saddens me. It also makes me fearful. I have always used the net as a tool....sometimes for research, sometimes for fun, sometimes, well....sometimes life hands us things and we handle them in bad ways. But I was really shocked the day I heard percentages of net usage were 98% pornography, and the other 2% were for research, entertainment, and such. Now I have known this for quite some time, but today, the shock of all shocks, free sex website. Sign up to find whoever you want, whenever, whatever, and all for free. I feel stupid, dirty, and like I need to go get a shower now after checking it out to see....surely they wouldn't, couldn't.. THEY DID! This is going to make it so much harder for spouses who their husbands or wives weren't exactly faithful. It's going to tempt those who have these issues. It's NOT GOOD! God help us. More than ever we need you, Lord Jesus, to save us most especially from ourselves. I labeled this in the Bathroom topics because, well, I wish there was a big toilet to flush all these kinds of sites, news, info....down the big cesspool.

As they say, curiosity killed the cat. I am too curious for my own good. Kind of an 'Where Angels Fear to Tread' type of an attitude. Star Trek fans would put it, "keep your friends close, your enemies closer." Give you an inside edge so to speak...or maybe so the enemy would have you think....So not wanting to be totally negative, I want to leave you with this story which I have read before but most recently have read again. I can't remember names and places, but the gist of it goes....

A man was working in a bank. To teach them how to recognize counterfeit money, they did not give them counterfeit money to look at, touch, feel, handle. They gave them REAL money. They looked at it, studied it, touched it, felt it...They found most of the time they could recognize the fake money when it came through. The reason why was because they had handled the real thing so much of the time, they knew instinctly when the fake stuff was given to them. There was just something about it and they trusted that 'gut feeling' which most of the time led them to a right conclusion.

I am going to go read my Bible now for it is truth. It is real and it will give me that edge that when fake or counterfeit is being handed to me, I will recognize it.