Sid: This week is a week of miracles. Do you know why? This Friday evening begins the first night of Chanukah. During the Chanukah season, I remember as a little child, I played a game with a little top; it was like a gambling game except you don’t play for money. You spin the top and it forms an acrostic, and the acrostic says “A Great Miracle Happened There.” Because on Chanukah against absolutely impossible odds, the Jewish people won not just a victory but a major victory; the salvation of the world was contingent on the Jewish people winning this victory.
Chanukah occurred approximately 168 BC when King Antiochus Epiphanes, and by the way that was his title. The word Epiphanes means God manifest, he was the Syrian king and he ruled Jerusalem. He was angry with the Jewish people because the Jewish people were not blending in, and he wanted all society to blend in it would be easier to control all society. So they had under Alexander they started what was called the “Hellenization of the world.” In other words, make the whole world have the Greek culture, but there was one group of troublemakers, the Jewish people. So they said “Jewish people you are forbidden to have circumcision, you are forbidden to observe the Shabbat, the Sabbath. You are forbidden to observe all of all your festivals, you’re forbidden to read from the scriptures or we will kill you!”
Well it got even worse, not only does Antiochus claim to be God manifest in the flesh… by the way I see so many parallels in every single one of the festivals of Israel. Now Chanukah, although it’s not mentioned in the Old Covenant, it’s most definitely mentioned in the New Covenant. We know that Jesus observed Chanukah and isn’t it interesting, except it’s not even called Chanukah it’s called the Feast of Dedication, which is another name for Chanukah. In John the 10th chapter, the 22nd verse we read “And it was at Jerusalem the Feast of Dedication and it was winter.”
Well we know Chanukah for sure is in the winter, we know of course Jesus was not born on December 25th. How do we know that? Because the scriptures tell us the shepherds were out in the field, and it was too cold on December 25th, it’s cold in Israel and Jerusalem December 25th. So we know that the Messiah definitely was not born on what is called Christmas. But we know about the Feast of Dedication or Chanukah.
Then we go on to John in the same 10th chapter the 30th verse. He says something that is outrageous but isn’t it interesting that Jesus picked Chanukah to make what the traditional Jewish community called an outrageous statement. He said “I and My Father are one.” Now the Jewish people understood exactly what He meant by that because in the 33rd verse they said “Wait a second you being a man make yourself God?” You see what He was doing? On the Feast of Dedication, on Chanukah, the true God manifest in a man occurred. Whereas the counterfeit Antiochus Epiphanes that occurred in 168 BC.
It’s also a shadow, all of these festivals are shadows of something that’s going to happen in the future. Another Antiochus Epiphanes is going to come on the scene, he’s the anti-Christ and he’s going to go into the temple, and he’s going to declare himself god, and he’s going to have the same fate as this King Antiochus Epiphanes did.
You know what happened? There was a very godly man by the name of Mattathias and he had 5 sons by the way. The final blow occurred… you know you can take so much then you say “Enough is enough.” That’s what happened to Mattathias. He actually saw a man getting ready to sacrifice a pig, and he said “Enough” and he grabbed his sword and he killed that man, and that’s when the guerrilla warfare started. It was like a tiny militant guerrilla band attacking the greatest army of its day. I mean it was absolutely impossible but they won, and that’s why the dreidel, the acrostic says “A Great Miracle Happened There.”
Well when Jesus said “I’m the real thing. You’ve seen the counterfeit on Chanukah, now you’re going to see the real thing Chanukah because I and My Father are one. I am God manifest in the flesh.”
Then here’s the point I was going for because Chanukah is a festival of miracles. It’s a release of oil, it’s a release of supernatural oil… are you beginning to see all the parallels? In the 37th and 38th verse of that same gospel of John in the 10th chapter, Jesus said “If I do not the works of My Father believe Me not, but if I do though ye believe not Me believe the works that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.” In other words, like that commercial used to be on television for a hamburger place “Where’s the beef?” Well Jesus said “You want to see where the beef is? If miracles are happening then you know that I and My Father are one.”
You know what happened on Chanukah? They had only one day’s supply of oil, and of course the scriptures say that “The lamp in the temple has to be lit continuously.” So there was only one day’s supply it would take a week to consecrate the oil after the Jewish people won. The great victory of Chanukah they cleansed the temple and that’s why it’s called the Feast of Dedication. I can’t think of a better time for someone to cleanse themselves and sanctify themselves than the Feast of Dedication. But what to do, we can’t have a temple with God’s presence without the oil being in the lamp, the eternal lamp. So a miracle happened, instead of the oil lasting one day something supernatural occurred and the oil lasted 8 days. That’s why a Chanukah menorah has 9 candles. Well you say “Sid it lasted 8 days why 9 candles?” Because you need one candle which is called the Shamash, which is a Hebrew word and it means servant. Remember what did Jesus call Himself? Yeshua, that’s His Hebrew name said “I am the light of the world.” So each day of Chanukah we take the Shamash, who is the servant, we light the Shamash and we have one candle the first night, two the second, three the third, till we have 8 candles to commemorate the great happened on Chanukah.
Why do I, the Messianic Vision, and It’s Supernatural television emphasize miracles? Because miracles according to Jesus prove that God is on the scene. Unfortunately Christianity, 21st century Christianity, would rather use mental arguments and apologetics to prove that Jesus is the Messiah than produce the beef, produce the goods, but things are about ready to change. God has given me insight, and I’m going to teach you something on tomorrows broadcast that I believe is going to be so exciting to you. This week we are going to feature probably one of the greatest verified miracles I have ever uncovered. We are going to interview the man that this happened to.
Could you imagine someone that surgically had organs from his body removed and supernaturally instantly the organs came back? Can you imagine that? How? One second in the name of Yeshua, in the name of Jesus.
Now this is Chanukah and on Chanukah you give gifts. You see it’s not just Christmas that people get gifts. As a matter of fact, I always liked Chanukah better than Christmas and I’ll tell you why, we had gifts for 8 nights, Christians only had gifts for one night. Such a deal!
I’ve got good news for you, if the blood of the greatest Jew who ever lived, Yeshua, Jesus the Messiah flows through your veins. I suggest you observe Chanukah, get your 8 presents, and Christmas, get your one present, we’re up to 9 that’s how many candles are on the menorah, the Chanukah menorah.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth